Author's Note: The first of two chapters about Beckett's Thanksgiving dinner with Castle and his family.

Then Came Love

Chapter 39

Kate wasn't sure why she was facing the prospect of this Thanksgiving dinner with her dad and Castle's family with such trepidation. There was nothing to be nervous about. It was a perfectly natural invitation and nothing to fear at all. Her dad already liked Castle and Alexis was a dear and Martha had never been anything less than welcoming so there was nothing to worry about. At all. Really.

She grimaced. It was possibly the hundredth time or so today that she had assured herself of this and it wasn't getting any more convincing with the repetition. Well, okay, she wasn't worried about her dad not getting along with Castle; they had already met and she knew her dad liked Castle. What was more, she knew her dad was happy that she had taken his advice, as he put it, and decided to take a chance on a relationship with Castle. She was also not concerned about Alexis; she really could not imagine there was any way her dad wouldn't be won over by Alexis.

The issue was Martha or rather, the combination of Martha and her dad. Oil and water, as she couldn't help but fear, because they were so different. Martha, as kind as she was, was also, well, flamboyant and not overly blessed with discretion. Her dad was more traditional, not to say staid, and not the most gregarious of people, especially on meeting them the first time. He could come across as being somewhat stiff on first acquaintance. Martha was just the sort of person whose colorful personality would either amuse her dad enough to put him at ease or–rather more likely, she was afraid–make her dad want to hide behind his shell. Her mom had been the sociable one, the one who had always been able to draw her dad out. And her mom–oh her mom–her mom was the one who would have been more likely to get along with Martha. Her mom had appreciated colorful characters, would have found Martha to be a hoot. (Oh, how she missed her mom…)

And it wasn't just the potential for an awkward dinner that was weighing on her either. This whole thing just felt so… important–was so important. Not only because she and Castle were together now but because of the baby. No matter what happened today, her dad and Martha were integral parts of the Sprout's family, the only grandparents on either side that the Sprout had. If her dad and Martha didn't get along, it would make things difficult in the future, she knew that. Oh, she trusted that both her dad and Martha would do their best to play along for the baby's sake, if it came to it, but she also expected that neither she nor Castle would be very willing to force such a situation. Well, she certainly wouldn't and no matter Castle's usual manner with Martha, she knew how much he loved his mother and suspected he could be almost as protective of her as he was of Alexis. As he would be of anyone he loved, he was that sort of man.

So yes, she was nervous, couldn't seem to help it. The stakes just felt so high for this dinner. And on top of all that, the whole day, the holiday part of it, weighed on her. Most holidays were difficult for her and her dad without her mom and Thanksgiving was one of them, not nearly as painful as Christmas, but still difficult. The memories of their past Thanksgivings always intruded–there was a reason she and her dad had a tradition of going out to a restaurant on Thanksgiving, something as far removed from the traditional family celebration she had grown up with. But this year–and oh god, in all the future years too–that wouldn't be an option. Because of the baby. This was just the first holiday that would be different. And the first one was always the hardest, she knew.

Not a reassuring thought.

All in all, Kate could not say that she was in a very festive mood, her insides seeming to be busy tying itself into knots, as she approached the loft. She had deliberately told her dad to arrive 15 minutes after the time Castle had given her, partly because she'd hoped that her being settled in would allow her to be the one to greet her dad and ease him into the atmosphere and also (although she wouldn't have admitted this to her dad at gunpoint) to give her time to discreetly scan the beverages on offer and ensure no alcohol was included. From what she'd seen and what Castle had told her, Martha was almost never without a glass of wine at dinnertime, and while she trusted Castle, she just wanted to make sure.

She knocked briskly on the door, belying her nerves, and the door immediately swung open to reveal Castle, whose expression lit up (as usual) at the sight of her, and at least some of the knots of tension loosened a little just at the sight of him.

"Beckett, you're here! Where's Jim?"

"We're coming from two different directions so he said he'd take a cab on his own," she prevaricated.

"Oh, okay. Well, come in, let me get your coat." Castle ushered her inside, dropping a kiss on her temple as he did so. "And what's this? Beckett, I told you not to bring anything."

She smirked at him. "You didn't really think I'd listen to your instructions, did you?"

He laughed aloud at that. "Taking a page out of my book and being disobedient, are we, Beckett?"

"I was brought up to think it's rude to show up empty-handed when you're a guest," she returned primly, handing him the bag she was holding as she shrugged out of her coat.

For the occasion, she had decided to wear a dress, a different one than she'd worn on their date (of course), this one of a dark maroon wool and again designed with a high waistline, intended for pregnant women. His eyes took her in from head to toe. "You look amazing."

She flushed a little. "Thanks."

He slid his free arm around her waist, dipping his head and she lifted her face for his kiss.

His lips touched hers but before the kiss could deepen, she heard the sound of a cough and they both started apart, Kate feeling heat scorch her cheeks. Oops, she had momentarily forgotten that other people were here.

Castle sighed and made a beleaguered face at her but released her while Kate faced Martha, trying without success to cool her blush. "Hi, Martha, happy Thanksgiving."

Martha raised her eyebrows slightly at Kate, an amused smirk tugging on her lips. "Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Katherine. Richard mentioned that you and he were a couple now and I'm glad to see the proof of it."

If she'd had any chance of subduing her blush, Martha's words ended that and Kate bit her lip. "Oh, well, I…" she began, not at all sure what she was going to say but fortunately, Martha waved a hand and drew Kate in for a scented hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I must say, Katherine darling, I'm thrilled to see you again and positively glowing at that! Now, I don't expect much of that is due to Richard here, I know him too well, but I'm so glad to see you're looking so well."

"Mother," Castle interjected with a sigh.

Martha waved a dismissive hand at him. "I'm sure you have something to see to in the kitchen, Richard, especially since Alexis has briefly run upstairs. Now Katherine, I want to hear everything about how you've been doing. I hear you just had a doctor's appointment on Monday?" Martha led Kate to sit down on the couch as she began her questioning.

"Yes, didn't Castle tell you?"

"Of course, but I want to hear it from you. How was it? How are you feeling these days?"

She managed a smile. She was a cop; she refused to feel so pinned down just because Martha was questioning her about such personal things. "I'm really fine, just hungry a lot." She wasn't comfortable sharing some of the other less comfortable side effects of pregnancy.

"You haven't felt nauseous at all?"

"No, not much at all recently." She'd found–somewhat upsettingly, that the smell of coffee still didn't quite agree with her, although recently, it stopped short of outright nauseating her. She still missed the taste of coffee, though, even if the smell of it rather turned her stomach, strange as it was.

"That's wonderful to hear. As I told you, when I was expecting Richard, I was still feeling sick well into the sixth month and it wasn't pleasant. Any other changes you've noticed? I found when I was–"

Fortunately, whatever Martha was about to say was interrupted as Alexis appeared, running lightly down the stairs and then smiling. "Oh, Kate, hi! I didn't know you were here already."

Kate smiled and relaxed slightly as she stood up to greet the girl. "Hi, Alexis, happy Thanksgiving."

Alexis came over to give Kate a quick hug. "Happy Thanksgiving! You look great!"

"Thanks, Alexis. So do you." Alexis, too, was wearing a dress, in a dark forest green with a black sweater.

"Alexis sweetie, I could use a hand over here," Castle called. "And Mother, if you don't mind taking a break from interrogating Beckett, why don't you offer her a drink?"

With that, they all turned towards the kitchen, which gave Kate a chance to quickly scan the kitchen island where a little army of beverages was sitting out. There was cranberry juice, soda, and apple cider, but not so much as a bottle of wine or champagne or any alcohol in sight. She should have known she could count on Castle for that.

"Katherine, darling, do forgive me but what would you like to drink? In addition to what's out, we also have water and orange juice in the fridge and all sorts of tea as well as coffee," Martha offered.

"I'll have some water for now and maybe some apple cider later with dinner," Kate answered.

"Water and apple cider, coming right up," Martha declared, and had just suited action to the words when a knock on the door heralded the arrival of her dad.

Kate had been intending to be the one to greet her dad but having just accepted two cups, she was not quite as quick to react as she should have been. She had to set her glasses down on the table and could only follow a few steps behind Martha.

Martha flung the door open wide so dramatically Kate was half-surprised not to hear a trumpet fanfare, an impression that was rather heightened by Martha's brightly-colored dress. "Oh, you must be Jim! Come in, come in!"

Kate's dad had fallen back a small step in surprise at Martha's dramatic opening of the door but Martha didn't give him a chance to respond, only grasped Jim's hand and tugged him inside. "I'm Martha Rodgers, Richard's mother, as I'm sure you've guessed. I'm so glad to finally meet you!"

Jim smiled. "Hello, Ms. Rodgers, the pleasure's all mine."

Martha waved a hand. "Oh, you must call me Martha, please! I don't stand on ceremony. And after all, we're practically family now, aren't we?"

This blithe declaration had her dad blinking and Kate hurried to step in. "Hi, Dad."

Her dad's smile eased as he turned to her with almost palpable relief. "Hi, Katie." She stepped into his hug and accepted his kiss on the cheek. "You look wonderful."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Yes, doesn't she?" Martha chimed in. "I was just telling Katherine here that she's practically glowing."

This compliment to her made her dad soften, his smile warmer as he turned to Martha. "Well, I'm probably biased but I'd have to agree with that."

Kate nudged her dad. "Dad, come and say hello to Castle and meet Alexis."

Castle was already hurrying around the kitchen island, hurriedly rolling down the sleeves of his shirt. "Jim, welcome and happy Thanksgiving."

Her dad smiled as he shook Castle's hand. "Thank you for the invitation, Rick, I appreciate it."

"And this," Castle added, turning to grasp Alexis's hand and draw her near, "is my daughter, Alexis. Alexis, this is Jim Beckett."

The girl gave Jim a smile that was tinged with just a bit of shyness as she shook his hand. "Hi, Mr. Beckett, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Alexis. I've heard a lot about you," her dad greeted.

Alexis flushed a little. "My dad does talk a lot," she said with some embarrassment.

Her dad's smile widened a little. "Actually, what I've heard has mostly been from Katie. She told me you made quite an impression at the precinct over the last week."

"She really did," Castle inserted proudly.

Alexis hurriedly interposed, "It was fun and I didn't really do that much."

"She's being modest," Kate chimed in, smiling at Alexis. "She pretty much single-handedly streamlined our property processing system, to say nothing of what she did for Anna Knowles, returning her family photos, and she did it in only a few days."

"Yes, if she'd stayed at the precinct for much longer, she would probably have kicked Captain Montgomery out of his job and started running the place," Castle joked.

Her dad chuckled. "From what I know of Captain Montgomery, he has an eye for talent so at the very least, he would probably have tried to recruit Alexis."

"I'd better check on the sweet potato casserole," Alexis hurriedly said, by now blushing almost as red as her hair, and hurried back into the kitchen.

Kate would have felt a twinge of remorse at embarrassing Alexis but it had helped ease the atmosphere, brought her dad in to make this feel more like a family gathering. She felt a spurt of hope that everything seemed to be going perfectly. Certainly, her dad had clearly been entirely won over by Alexis already, not that she'd had any doubt of that, and found a new ease with Castle too. Which Kate had expected because, as she well knew, Castle in his father mode, was endearing and it was a side of him which her dad too would appreciate.

"I can see why you're so proud of her," her dad said to Castle, his voice lowering a little so Alexis wouldn't hear.

Castle glanced at Alexis, his expression softening as it always did. "I lucked out with her," he agreed quietly.

Kate linked her arm with her dad. "Just like you lucked out with me, right, Dad?" she quipped.

Her dad gave her a teasing look. "Can I plead the Fifth on that, Katie?"

"Dad!"

Castle laughed. "Fishing for compliments now, Beckett? You really are taking a page out of my book, aren't you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Hush, Castle."

His eyes danced. "Oh, I think–"

"Dad, can you give me a hand here?" Alexis called, interrupting him.

"Excuse me, my taskmaster is calling," he said drolly and hurried off.

Kate turned back to her dad to see him smiling–no, smirking–at her. "What?"

Her dad pasted on a look of spurious innocence. "Oh, nothing, Katie, nothing at all," he answered airily.

"Da-ad."

Her dad allowed a small smirk to tug on the corners of his lips again as he studied her. "It's just nice to see you and Rick interacting like this, that's all."

She flushed a little, in spite of herself. "We do still tease each other."

His expression softened and he lifted a hand to briefly touch his knuckles to her chin in one of his occasional caresses. "You're happy with him, aren't you, Katie."

In spite of the phrasing, it wasn't a question. She flushed hotter, biting her lip a little. Their relationship was so new, barely a few weeks old, and she still wasn't sure how much and to what extent she trusted it would last, and yet… "Yeah," she admitted very quietly, but then had to add, even more quietly, so only her dad could hear her, "for now."

"Oh, Katie," her dad sighed, "life is made up of a collection of moments. Enjoy it for what it is while you can, because you can never know what will happen to a relationship going forward."

There was a shade of melancholy in her dad's eyes, in his voice, and she knew he was also thinking about her mom. And it occurred to her that her dad was braver and stronger than she was because even having lost his love so painfully, he still believed in lasting relationships, could still encourage her to take a risk with her own heart.

But the poignant moment was interrupted, perhaps inevitably, by Castle announcing, "Dinner is ready. Kate, Jim, why don't you go ahead and sit down? Mother, can you help us carry the food out to the table?"

Kate accompanied her dad to the table to the spot next to where she had already placed her own drinks. "What do you want to drink, Dad? I can get you something."

"Water's fine, Katie, thank you."

She smiled at her dad and went to pour him a glass of water, observing as Castle, Alexis, and Martha busily shuttled serving plates to the table. "Sure I can't help?"

Castle waved a hand. "No, no, we have everything under control. You go sit, Beckett. We'll join you in a minute."

She duly obeyed, handing her dad a glass of water, and taking her seat.

The Castle family was finished bringing the food over soon and when they were done, the table was all but groaning under the weight of the dishes. Castle and Alexis had prepared enough food to feed half the precinct, let alone the five of them, with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, a salad, bread rolls, roasted brussel sprouts, and a sweet potato casserole.

"First, a toast," Martha declared. "Richard, would you like to say a few words since words are supposedly your forte?"

Castle made a face at his mother but duly lifted his glass as they all followed suit. "Well, first, I'd like to welcome Beckett and Jim to our Thanksgiving dinner, hopefully just the first of many Thanksgivings we spend together." He paused to give Kate a small, private smile. "I know that I, for one, am beyond thankful to have all of you in my life. So here's to family and friends–and a lot of good food."

Family, that would include the Sprout by this time next year.

"Cheers," they all murmured and clinked their glasses.

"This is quite a feast you've prepared," her dad began. "You must have been cooking for days, Rick."

"Oh, it wasn't that much trouble," Castle demurred, predictably. "Alexis and I have Thanksgiving prep down to an art by now. We did about half yesterday and half today. And in case you're wondering, my mother only put together the salad so everything will be edible," he joked.

"Richard, honestly!" Martha scolded without any actual annoyance while Alexis swatted at her dad's arm and Kate and her dad chuckled.

"I take it cooking is not one of your strong suits, Martha," Jim addressed Martha as they each started to fill up their plates.

"Well, not really," Martha admitted. "I sort of save my creative energy to perfect a more worthy craft, acting."

"Yes, of course. I don't know if Rick mentioned that my–wife and I saw your performance in Blithe Spirit years ago."

Martha's expression brightened as she preened a little in a way that reminded Kate of Castle. (Kate made a mental note to tease Castle about it at some point.) "Thank you, it's always nice to meet a fan."

Kate shot a glance at her dad to see if he would make a characteristically dry rejoinder that he hadn't said he was a fan but her dad, at least, was behaving and only smiled slightly.

It was Castle who jumped in to distract from the slight awkwardness. "What about you, Jim? How's the law treating you?"

"Oh, good. I've got a class action lawsuit that's keeping me pretty busy," her dad answered.

"Dad has been busy," Kate contributed. "He even cut our last dinner together short because he said he needed to get some work done." She was exaggerating; her dad had simply declined going somewhere after their dinner to get dessert.

"Well, I hope you find time to cut loose, Jim, and just do something fun," Martha interjected.

Kate blinked a little. Her dad, cut loose? Only Martha would phrase it like that.

"I do try," her dad agreed. "I read when I can and, of course, meet up with Katie here. And it's the offseason now but during the baseball season, I try to go to a game now and then."

Martha made a small face. "Good lord, baseball. Isn't that dreadfully dull?"

Kate tried not to choke and sensed her dad stiffen slightly. So much for everything going smoothly.

Alexis–good girl that she was–asked her grandmother to pass the sweet potato casserole in a voice that was louder than necessary.

Jim cleared his throat. "Well, I know baseball isn't everyone's cup of tea. It does require a certain patience."

Martha gave a little laugh. "A certain lack of pulse, you mean."

Castle coughed. "Alexis, how is school going?" he asked just a shade too loudly in what Kate knew had to be a desperate attempt to change the subject since she had no doubt that Castle already knew perfectly well the details of Alexis's school day.

"Good. We just had a chemistry test on Monday that I got an A on. But," Alexis made a small face, "my English teacher assigned an essay that's due this coming Monday so I'll need to work on it over the weekend. I hate when teachers give us assignments over a holiday weekend."

Alexis's valiant attempt to change the subject came to nothing as Martha went on, "I must admit that I never have been able to understand the appeal of baseball.

Kate met Castle's eyes in a moment of shared dismay.

Kate tried frantically to think of a way to change the subject–talking about the weather wasn't likely to work, would be too obvious–but before she could, her dad went on. Damn it, Dad. Could he not leave off the subject of baseball? But, as Kate knew, baseball was almost sacrosanct to her dad, partly because it was wrapped up in his memories of his own childhood and growing up, and then more recently because baseball was what had served as the bridge between Kate and her dad in the shaky years of their relationship before and after he'd become sober. In those times when she and her dad could hardly carry on a conversation about anything with much ease, baseball had been the one thing that had still connected them.

Jim spoke in what Kate recognized as his diplomatic tone–which didn't bode well for his opinion of Martha. "Well, I suppose it does appeal to the more serious, more discerning crowd."

Kate inwardly winced. She might know her dad didn't mean to be as tactless as he sounded but no one who didn't know her dad as well as she did would.

Sure enough, Martha's tone cooled noticeably as she went on, "What exactly does that mean?"

Kate shot her dad a pleading look that he didn't see, focused on Martha as he was. "Just that actors by their very nature aren't the most serious people in the world, right?"

If Kate could have, she would have thumped her head on the table. And she had certainly made a mistake in not sitting on the side closer to Martha's end of the table rather than Castle's so that she could provide a physical barrier of sorts between her dad and Martha. Well, hindsight was 20/20 and it was too late now.

As it was, it was left to Castle to cough. "The food is delicious, if I do say so myself," he declared loudly.

"It really is," Kate hurriedly chimed in. "I love the stuffing. Did you make it, Alexis?"

"Actually, Dad made the stuffing," Alexis answered, giving Kate a small smile, tinged with apology as if on Martha's behalf. "I made the mashed potatoes though."

"So you think I'm not a serious person?" Martha's clipped tone cut across the table.

Now–belatedly–Kate saw her dad realize how he'd slipped up and Kate took pity on him. "I'm sure my dad didn't mean that, Martha," she hurriedly interposed. "I think he meant that baseball is a game of traditions and history so it's not always the most attractive for those who are more unconventional."

"Like in the movie Field of Dreams," Alexis contributed, bless the girl. "The movie is set in modern times but so much of it draws from, and is about, the lasting impact of the past, with those historical baseball players and the main character's father too."

"Very good, Alexis, that's a perfect reference." Jim gave Alexis an approving smile. "Do you know much about baseball? I know I taught Katie all about it when she was little."

Alexis gave Castle a look of mock reproach. "I think that aspect of my education was neglected by my dad so no, I don't know that much about baseball."

Jim brightened up further. "Would you like to learn?"

Kate gave Alexis a small smile. "You can feel free to say no, Alexis. My dad likes to proselytize about baseball but you don't need to indulge him. Right, Dad?"

Alexis actually laughed. "Oh, I really wouldn't mind learning. Some of the boys at school really like baseball so it might be nice to actually understand what they talk about."

"I don't think I like that reasoning," Castle muttered in an audible aside.

"Shush, Castle." Kate turned back to Alexis. "If you really mean it, Alexis, my dad can probably talk for hours on the subject."

Alexis smiled. "I do mean it. It works out perfectly. It's another kind of generational knowledge that gets passed down, just like Grams taught me about Broadway musicals and plays, now Mr. Beckett can teach me about baseball."

Kate stilled, catching Castle's eyes, at Alexis's easy inclusion of Jim as another grandparent of sorts. And she couldn't help but think that the whole lesson plan, as Alexis summarized it, would be repeated with the baby too.

Oh, the baby. And of course, with Alexis's words, everyone was reminded of the baby, that hadn't been referred to that directly since Jim's arrival, at least. Now, the reality of the baby's existence seemed almost tangible.

"I think that sounds pretty perfect, Alexis darling," Martha spoke up. Kate wondered if it might at least partly be the tacit reminder of the baby that had softened Martha's tone and expression as she sent Alexis a loving smile.

"I agree," Jim concurred and directed a conciliatory smile in Martha's direction before turning back to Alexis. "And feel free to tell me if you find that baseball really isn't for you. I've always thought I lucked out that Katie took to baseball so well."

"You didn't make it sound optional for me. You told me that liking baseball was genetic," Kate interjected with a look of teasing reproach at her dad.

Her dad gave a small smile. "Well, I thought that too. Certainly, you inherited a liking for baseball from me and not your mom."

The mention of her mom made everyone sober and it occurred to Kate that of course, everyone present knew about her mom, was aware of the poignance in her dad's words, no matter how lightly he spoke. There was an odd sort of comfort to that.

"Mom didn't dislike baseball," Kate temporized quietly.

"No, but she didn't find it particularly interesting either. There's a reason she was so happy to let baseball be something the two of us did without her." Her dad paused and then turned to Martha. "So I can certainly understand that not everyone likes baseball as much as Katie and I do."

"Naturally, to each his own," Martha agreed. "I'm certainly not one to judge how others choose to spend their time."

"'One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other,'" Kate quoted, glancing at Castle.

"Austen," he identified immediately, exchanging a smile with her that she returned. "Nice one, Beckett." He paused and added more generally to everyone, "Everyone should feel free to help yourselves to seconds. As you can see, there's still plenty of food."

He reached out and grasped her hand briefly, giving it a light squeeze.

Kate allowed herself to relax for what felt like the first time since arriving at the loft. Crisis averted, as both Jim and Martha appeared to have reached a form of common ground. And she hoped with this initial awkwardness past, they could move forward more congenially.

~To be continued…~

A/N 2: Thank you, as always, to all readers and reviewers.