Thank you for all your nice reviews and encouraging me to ignore the bullies. It really means a lot.

And I hope you like this chapter. It's the scene I constructed the story around, the first idea I ever had for A tale of two single parents.

O-o-o-o-o

Castle was currently sitting on a bench at a playground and watching Alexis play with another girl around her age. They seemed to be friends. Maybe they knew each other from pre school. Alexis had talked about a new girl at her school for the past few weeks. She'd even asked him if she could invite the girl for a play date. That had been just before his book tour so he'd told her it had to wait. And after the book tour… well, he hadn't really been in the mood to entertain Alexis' friends. She hadn't asked again either, probably picking up on his mood or to busy herself with processing the news of her parents break-up.

But he really didn't want to think about this right now so he focused on watching Alexis. She was currently climbing on the jungle gym, right behind her friend. He was thankful about Alexis' red hair. It always made it so easy for him to spot her between the other kids. The other girl had brown hair and was wearing dark blue shorts and a light blue t-shirt. Alexis' always insisted on wearing a dress, no matter how impractical Rick thought it was for climbing and running and all the other playground-stuff.

Alexis and the brown-haired girl had just used the slide, both of them laughing and running to climb up again. On top of the slide they stopped and talked to each other and at some point in the conversation Alexis pointed towards him and waved enthusiastically. He waved back and then watched as the other girl pointed to the opposite end of the playground, where a dark-haired man was sitting. She waved.

The man though seemed to be absorbed with the papers in his hands and didn't notice his daughter waving.

„Daddy" he heard the girl call. The man looked up and waved back. Then he scanned the playground for a short moment, noticing Rick on the other bench. Since they were the only ones on the playground right now it was obvious that he was the father of the girl his daughter was currently playing with. They made eye contact and nodded at each other. Rick didn't really feel like making conversation with a stranger right now though and remained on his bench. The other dad obviously wasn't interested in getting to know him either since he made no attempt to walk over. He looked at his daughter again for a moment who was animatedly talking to Alexis before he lifted his papers from his lap and continued reading them.

Rick continued watching his daughter play but that wasn't occupying his brain enough so his mind started to wander. The last two weeks must have been the most exhausting weeks of his life. In retrospect he should have thrown Meredith out of the loft and paid a hotel room for her or he should have booked a hotel room for himself and Alexis. Either way would have been better than sharing a home with the woman who had cheated on him after close to five years of marriage. Seeing her every day had hurt like hell.

It had been a dumb thing to think that they could stay friends and be there for Alexis together. In the beginning it had seemed like a good idea, the gentlest way possible for Alexis. But for Meredith friends seemed to mean friends with benefits which definitely was the worst way for him. Which in the end meant that it wasn't all that good for Alexis either.

But after a few days of living together separately Meredith had gotten that offer for a movie in LA and he had thought that he could take another week and a half. That was another dumb thought. He should have just told her that it was too hurtful for him to have her under the same roof. But somehow he hadn't found the courage to throw her out.

So he had waited patiently. This morning they had finally dropped Meredith off at the airport. She was finally moving to California. He couldn't even describe what a huge relief that had been.

Alexis had been upset at first but ultimately she was okay. Rick didn't want to think about what this was saying about his daughter's relationship with her mother. Meredith had never been too invested in the little girl's life so it wasn't that much of a surprise but it was sad anyway. They didn't even discuss who would be going to take care of Alexis after the divorce because of course it would be him. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

He was just scared that he would screw up. He was a single parent now. Alexis was the most important thing in his life. He wanted only the best for her. And didn't girls need female role models they could look up to?

Not that Meredith was really qualified for that role anyway… He didn't really want Alexis to become like her mother.

Rick shook himself out of his sulking. It wouldn't help him or Alexis to think about these things. He would figure it out. He would do anything to make his daughter happy. They were going to be okay. He would make it work. He didn't know how yet but he would get there.

And seeing his daughter running happily around the playground with the other girl made him really believe that. As long as Alexis was happy they were going to be okay. Currently Alexis and the brown-haired girl seemed to take turns chasing each other while laughing and giggling. He could hear Alexis' beautiful laugh all over the playground when the other girl finally caught her. But then Alexis stumbled and fell on her knee. Rick was up from his bench immediately, ready to run towards his little girl and tend to her injuries. But he sat down again when he saw that she wasn't crying and that the other girl was holding her hand out to help Alexis. The brown-haired girl then kneeled down to kiss Alexis' hurting knee and blow on it. When she got up they hugged and then continued to run around. This time Alexis was chasing her friend.

Castle looked over to the other girl's father. The other man hadn't witnessed this adorable moment though because he was still preoccupied with his papers. His lose, Castle thought. He studied the other man for a while. He wasn't careless but he wasn't really interested either. He checked on his daughter occasionally but didn't watch her play. He looked up at every unexpected yelp his daughter made but when he saw that nothing had happened he focused on his papers again. He wasn't all that interesting but since Alexis currently played with his daughter Rick switched between watching the girls and wondering what it was that had the man so enthralled. At least that kept him busy enough to shove all thoughts of Meredith to the back of his mind.

A few minutes later the father of the brown-haired girl got a call. Rick watched him. It seemed to be important. Probably work-related. At first he seemed to listen and with every passing second he seemed to sit up straighter until he stood up from his bench. His gaze was on his daughter who had just started to build a sandcastle with Alexis. He said something, scratched his head as if he was debating something before he nodded and then said something else. He was still on the phone when he made his way to the girls but ended the call with a last nod before he started talking to his daughter.

The girl looked up, a smile on her face. She pointed at the sandcastle they had just started building but her father interrupted her, said something himself and held his hand out for the girl to take. Rick couldn't understand what was being said because they were too far away from his bench but he prided himself on being good at reading people's nonverbal language. Right now the girl she shook her head at whatever her father had said and just turned away. The man said something again. And even from the distance Rick could tell that the girl didn't like what her father was saying. The girl got up and Rick thought she was going to go with her father now because that had clearly been his goal.

Instead the girl crossed her arms over chest and stomped her foot in the ground. Her father said something again that Rick couldn't understand. Probably something along the lines that they really needed to go now. The girl shook her head again. The man started to look really annoyed and impatient. Rick knew that that was going to get him nowhere. Impatience was never good with kids. After another minute of arguing with his daughter the man wanted to just grab her but with what seemed to be a practiced move she quickly stepped out of his reach.

"I don't want to go yet!" The girl then started to yell at her father, so loudly that even Rick could hear her from the other side of the playground. "I want to play with my friend Alexis! You always have work work work! I'm not going yet!" Rick watched the man talking to his girl, trying to get her to finally go. But he seemed to be getting more and more restless and impatient with every minute this fight was going on.

Rick noticed that the man wasn't really listening to his daughter when she said something and only went on with what he wanted to say. In response he got more yelling about not wanting to go yet and wanting to continue playing.

„I hate your work!" the girl yelled, almost jumping up and down in anger. „You promised that I can play here until dinner. I'm not going!"

This continued for a few more minutes. Rick contemplated getting Alexis. Until now his daughter had just like him followed the fight with curiosity but she seemed to be getting uncomfortable. But just as he was about to get up the father seemed to be giving in. With fast steps he walked towards Castle's bench.

The girl's anger seemed to vanish as soon as her father left the sandpit. She sat down beside Alexis again and took her yellow shovel, gladly continuing to shovel sand on a pile.

The man's expression though was grim as he approached Rick.

"Are you Alice' father?" he asked, trying to sound at least a bit friendly but Rick could see that he was beyond annoyed.

"Alexis. But yes, I am" Rick replied, not yet knowing what he wanted or why he was even talking to him. But after his horrible last two weeks watching other peoples troubles were a welcome change.

"Great" the other man said. "Look, I really have to go to work. It would be great if you could watch Claire for ten minutes. Just give my girlfriend a call so she can pick her up." He said in a rush, faster than Rick could comprehend what was happening. It wasn't like he expected this stranger wanting him to watch his daughter he didn't even know. Because obviously that was insane.

Before he knew it though the other man was jogging away.

"Wait" Rick called after him when he finally understood what was happening but the man was too far away by now and couldn't hear him anymore. And he couldn't follow him because he had to watch Alexis. And apparently the other girl too. Claire. That was not the name of the new student in Alexis' class. "I don't even have your number. Or your girlfriend's" Castle muttered to himself since there was no point in calling after him since he wasn't even in sight anymore.

Great, Castle thought. Now he had to figure out what to do with the girl. At least now he really had no time to thing about his wife anymore.

He took his bag and made his way to the girls.

„Hi girls" he said when he approached them. He kneeled down so he'd be on their eye level.

„Daddy" Alexis smiled back at him. „Do you wanna help us?" she asked and gave him the blue shovel he always had to use when they were building sandcastles because the pink one was hers, obviously. He took it.

"Look daddy, this is my friend Claire" Alexis introduced the other girl who had interesting eyes. They were a fascinating mixture between brown and green.

"Hello Claire, nice to meet you" he greeted her and she smiled a beautiful smile at him, no trace of the earlier tantrum.

"Likewise, Mr …um…" she turned to Alexis "What's your last name?"

"Castle" his daughter replied proudly. He had recently taught her all the important details about herself, including her last and middle name, address and his cell phone number.

"Likewise Mr Castle" Claire replied. It seemed like she was better reared than he would have guessed from the interaction with her father. And the first impression he got from the man.

"Do you know each other from school?" Rick asked them hopefully.

"No. We just met and decided to be friends" Alexis told him with a proud smile. He always told her how proud he was of her for befriending other kids so easily. In this case though it wasn't so good since he didn't have a clue how he would return the girl to her parents now.

"That's great, Alexis" he praised nonetheless. „But we don't know Claire's parents. And her dad didn't give me his number. Didn't you tell your dad that the two of you just met?" he asked Claire.

"I tried but he wasn't listening" Claire complained, the hurt and anger shining in her eyes. "He never listens when I want to explain something" Tears were shining in her eyes though she tried really hard to stop them from falling.

Then she seemed to register what Rick had said about the phone number. "If you don't have daddy's number how do I go back to my daddy? And my mommy?" she asked distressed. She was about to start crying. But her crying would help anything so Rick quickly jumped in.

"Don't worry. We are going to figure it out" Rick promised. He was contemplating calling the police but that would probably scare her further. He decided to try to return the girl to the girlfriend of the man who was hopefully her mother and see if she was any better than the father. If she wasn't or he couldn't find her he would call child services. What parents left their child with a complete stranger?

"Yes! Like a mystery!" Alexis called excitedly. "Daddy loves mysteries. He is really good at solving them."

"Okay" Claire nodded bravely, swallowing a few times and biting her trembling lip.

"Great" Rick exclaimed, pretending to be super excited about this mystery. "That's going to be such a funny game." He tried to cheer the girl up with his cheerfulness and it seemed to work. Her face brightened up again.

"How does this game work?" she asked and she and Alexis looked at him expectantly.

"We are following leads" he explained. "First I need you to tell me some things. For example: Do you know your mommy's phone number or any other phone number?"

She shook her head sadly, her eyes clouding again.

"No problem" Rick said. "That was just the first try. We don't want this game to be over too fast, do we? That would just be too easy and no fun."

The girl smiled again and Ricked inwardly sighed in relief. He wouldn't mind this game to be over soon.

"Do you know your address?"

"Yes. But nobody is home. Daddy just went into work. And mommy needs to work tonight too. Daddy was supposed to take me to my aunt later."

Rick was about to ask if she knew her aunts address then when Alexis said something.

"What does your mommy work?" Alexis asked.

"Good question" Rick praised.

"She is a police officer. Ah no. Detective. She's a detective" Claire responded proudly. Oh well. That was certainly interesting. Again Rick thought about just calling the police. Since her mom worked with the police she wouldn't be scared about it either. But then again, when he explained why he was calling they would immediately sent child services and Claire's mom would probably lose her stand in the force. And he just didn't want that yet. He got the feeling that her mother was a way better parent than her father was. Claire wouldn't be so well-behaved and smart with two parents who didn't really pay attention to her.

"Would mommy's name be a good lead too?" Claire asked.

"Of course" Castle replied. "What's her name?"

"Katherine Houghton Beckett. But her colleagues only call her Beckett. And daddy calls her Kate or sometimes babe but she doesn't like that. And grandpa calls her Katie but we don't see him often. And my full name is Claire Johanna Beckett"

"That's great, Claire. You really know a lot about your mommy" Castle praised and Alexis nodded.

"Do you happen to know which precinct she works for?"

Claire shook her head.

"No problem. Do you know the names of some of her colleagues?" Castle asked. Not that he knew that much police officers but last year he'd met at least some at Roy's birthday party so maybe he'd recognize a name.

"Yes!" Claire grinned, she obviously seemed to like her mother's colleagues. "There is Uncle Javi Esposito. And Uncle Kev Ryan. And Aunt Lanie Parish. But she works at the morgue, not in the precinct. But she's mommy's very best friend. And she's so cool. And funny. She always makes fun of mommy and mommy pretends she doesn't like it. But in reality she thinks it's funny too" Claire told them and laughed. Her aunt seemed to mean a lot to her. „She's my godmother too."

„Oh and then there is Uncle Roy Montgomery. He is mommy's boss" Claire added as an afterthought.

"Did you say Roy Montgomery?" Rick's eyes peeked up at the familiar name. Now they were getting somewhere.

Claire nodded.

"We know him!" Alexis exclaimed. Then she turned towards Claire. „Daddy plays poker with him."

"That's right. You did pretty well, Claire. I think we have enough leads now to find your mommy." He told them. "I'm going to make a call now. You can go play some more if you want. Or eat some apple pieces. There are some in the bag, Alexis. And after I finish my call we can go and follow the leads we just found, okay?"

When they nodded he told them to stay where he could see them before the girls ran off to the swings. But not before they took the box of apples out of his bag to take with them. He waited until he saw that they were seated on the swings without swinging, eating apple pieces.

Then he pulled out his phone and called Roy.

"Montgomery" answered the police captain after the third ring.

"Hey Roy. This is Rick Castle. I have kind of a situation here and need your help" he told him.

The other man groaned, remembering the horse incident from last week. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Rick chuckled a little embarrassedly. "Nothing too bad. And it wasn't even my fault this time. But I need to come by anyway to tell you the details. Which precinct is yours again?"

O-o-o-o-o

When Rick and the girls emerged from the car half an hour later, Alexis and Claire had bonded even more. They had proclaimed to be friends for life and longer. They chatted about anything and everything. It was totally cute.

Rick took both their little hands in his and walked them from the parking lot through the heavy traffic towards the 12th precinct. Once inside he tried to come up with an idea how to get past the desk sergeant without explaining the whole situation and bringing the mysterious Katherine Houghton Beckett in an inconvenient situation.

But as it turned out he didn't have to worry about that since the man immediately recognized Claire. After she introduced him to her friends Alexis and Mr Castle they were let up towards the homicide floor. Rick hadn't thought about which diversion Kate Beckett belonged to while figuring out how to return Claire to her. But homicide was definitely the coolest.

They walked out of the elevator. Alexis and Claire holding hands and Rick behind them. Claire spotted Montgomery and pointed him out to Alexis. The girls ran towards the man and Rick followed them.

After they had hugged him and told him about their unbreakable friendship, they went to detective Kate Beckett's desk to look at the books she kept there for Claire.

"I didn't know you and Beckett knew each other" Montgomery raised an eyebrow. Secretly he had always thought that they might make a good couple but of course they both were (or had been in Castle's case) in relationships. But nonetheless, Montgomery thought they would be a perfect match.

"We don't" Castle said and began to tell him what had happened.

When he was finished Montgomery stated: "She is going to kill Josh."

He shook his head. He had never really liked the guy. Had always thought that Kate was too good for him, that doctor Joshua Davidson wasn't good enough for his best detective and her smart and beautiful daughter. Kate wasn't happy with him either but Roy knew she wanted her daughter to grow up with her father. But this was going to end things between them. Montgomery was sure of it. Not being happy herself Kate could deal with, Roy knew. But letting her daughter be neglected by her own father was inexcusable.

"So she is a better parent than Claire's father?" Castle asked. "Because I was thinking about calling child services"

Montgomery's eyes grew wide. "Thank god you didn't. She would have been devastated. I mean she would have gotten her back but alone the fact that she would have had to deal with child services… She would have lost all the respect in the precinct she has so hardly worked for."

He shook his head again. "And to answer your question: yes, she is a better parent than Josh. I think you could compare it to you and Meredith. She is as devoted to Claire as you are to Alexis."

"Where is she anyway?" Castle asked while he watched the girls through the window of Montgomery's office. They were playing some sort of card game they had found in Beckett's desk drawer.

"She is out following a lead but they should be back soon. But I'm calling her now to tell her to come back here as soon as possible."