Charlie III

Chapter 2

Alexis was tired of crying, really tired. Even worse she hadn't been to school for two whole days and that only made the entire thing hurt even more. She hadn't left her room save to use the bathroom for the last two days either and thankfully no one had bothered her. She didn't need for everyone to see her broken heart spilling out and spreading across the floor.

She knew Kate had knocked just to make sure she was still here and maybe still alive but otherwise she had left her alone.

She was maybe a little hungry but wasn't in the mood to cook anything. Maybe something to just munch on. It was what got her out of her room, not caring what she looked like since she also hadn't showered for the last two days.

Looking downstairs she didn't see anyone. Not Kate, not Grams, and certainly not her dad. Who was never going to be down here ever again.

Taking it basically one step at a time she finally made it to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. That only reinforced the point that her dad did all the shopping and most of the cooking so it was a little empty.

Alexis slammed it closed and leaned against it. No eggs, no produce, and no fresh fruits. Maybe something simple like cereal. She found that easily enough and opened it before looking for a bowl. Except she didn't make it that far. Instead the pain latched hold of her and she started pounding the box against the edge of the countertop. The cereal was flying everywhere but she didn't care and barely noticed.

Alexis only stopped when there wasn't enough box left to smash. She threw what was left of the box and the plastic inner liner out of the kitchen and slid down the cabinet until she was sitting on the floor and sobbing. It hurt too much to do anything else.

Kate was letting Alexis keep to herself. It had the added benefit of her or anyone else not seeing her falling apart in what had been their bedroom.

Her heart couldn't take this. It just couldn't. Losing her mother had been devastating. Losing Castle was so much worse. She knew letting him follow her around was a risk but she thought she had been handling it pretty well. It never even occurred to her that he would be killed doing something else. What she did was dangerous but to have him die like this was tearing her apart.

She had called in telling Gates that she was taking the week off and possibly longer. Amazingly Gates hadn't pressed her. Granted having Castle die in the city was big news. He was now off page 6 and on the front page for all the wrong reasons. He was even making it on late night TV.

So the paper got thrown in the trash; the TV had been turned off and even unplugged. She had even allowed her phone to remain off the charger so now it was dead and she couldn't get phone calls from anyone. Certainly not from the press asking her how she felt. If she had any comment. How she and Castle's family were handling his passing.

Kate got out of bed and headed to the bathroom so she could use the toilet. Then she saw herself in the mirror. She decided that she looked the same way she felt. LIKE SHIT!

Kate was thinking of climbing back into bed so she could curl up and die. Right up to the point her toe hit something that hurt like a son of a bitch. "OW! DAMN IT!" She limped her way over to the bed so she could sit on it and examine what she had done to herself this time.

It wasn't cut but she was betting it was going to swell up on her and make walking more of a chore and hurt with every step. Then she heard something else. It started out sounding like something was being destroyed.

Then it stopped, however, that was quickly followed by someone sobbing loudly. Hurt foot and all, Kate was up and walking carefully out of the bedroom into the main room. It was there that she got a hint of what the first sound had been.

The place was covered in something. The floor, furniture, countertops, and stove top. Limping over to the first one she saw that it was cereal. Still she headed for the sobbing sound and found Alexis sitting on the floor in the middle of a mess.

She had no idea how her heart could possible hurt any harder but now it did. Alexis was on the floor falling apart. Kate sat down next to her and pulled her into her. Alexis grabbed hold of her, still sobbing, only now she was sobbing into her.

It was enough that Kate began crying with her. Kate knew how Alexis felt. She'd felt like this when her mother had died and now she was feeling it again. Only now did she really understand that she loved Alexis, too.

Alexis wasn't hers and Kate wasn't interested in trying to be her mother. Even after she had married Castle. Now they were both broken and crying while sitting on the kitchen floor surrounded by cereal that was spread everywhere.

ooOoo

Kate still felt her tears rolling down her face and could feel and hear that Alexis was still crying, just not as hard. "I can't do it! I can't! It hurts too much," Alexis sobbed and barely noticed Kate holding her a little tighter.

Kate wasn't sure how she was going to get through this, either. She wasn't one to think about suicide. She was too damn stubborn for that. Though what she was going to do was another matter.

ooOoo

They were both still on the floor holding onto the other thinking the other would be able to help. That somehow the news and seeing his dead body would just go away like some bad dream. Then the front doorbell sounded. They both ignored it and didn't move. Then it sounded twice and still they ignored it. The doorman was doing a good job of keeping the press out and almost everyone else, thankfully.

Then whoever it was pounded on the door. "Kate, I know you're in there! Open the damn door," a woman's voice yelled through the door.

"Lanie," Kate whispered. While she considered letting Lanie just go away, she was also a friend and she didn't have too many of those. "Stay here, honey." Kate slowly extracted herself from Alexis then stood and crunched whatever piece of cereal she stepped on. Truth be told, she couldn't care less.

Kate opened the door. "Hey, Lanie."

"Woo, you look like shit." Lanie never did have that much of a filter

"Thanks." Lanie certainly knew how to make her feel better. Though at least she looked the same as she felt. Kate closed and locked the door again after Lanie let herself in.

"How are you holding up?" Lanie finally asked her. But she heard something and went looking for the sound. Except the place was littered with something; she wasn't yet sure what just yet. Missing all of them was impossible so some of them got crushed.

Finally at the end of the counter she found a sniffling mess that was Alexis sitting on the floor. "Oh, sweetie!" Lanie was down on the floor to hold her. Lanie watched as Kate sat down next to her and those two looked like perfect bookends. They both looked like shit.

"What can I do to help?" Lanie asked. "Besides finding the vacuum cleaner or the broom." She was done today and off tomorrow. The day after that was yet to be determined.

"Thanks for coming, Lanie, but I think we've got it." Kate wanted to cry in peace or with family. Maybe the loft would just blow up and kill all of them. Just because she couldn't or wouldn't do it herself that didn't mean someone else couldn't do it for her.

"Yeah, I can see that." Lanie looked around and saw what she was pretty sure was breakfast cereal. "Have you two eaten lately?" Lanie questioned them and got silence, save for a lot of sniffling from all the tears.

Lanie offered her assistance at more than just cleaning up this mess. "I'm not the greatest of cooks but I can make something." She didn't wait for an answer and got up to open the refrigerator and saw what Alexis already had seen. They had almost nothing. "Ooo, this is trouble."

Lanie at least found the basics. They just didn't have anything else. Nothing was fresh and nothing was frozen. "I know if I order take out you two won't eat any of it. Then you'll put it in here and leave it forever." Lanie was betting that even with Castle in her life Kate's habits hadn't changed any.

"Okay, I'm going shopping. Do not lock me out and not let me back in. Is Martha here, too?" She didn't see Martha but that didn't mean she wasn't there.

"She should be," Kate told her and suddenly wondered how Martha was doing. She was so wrapped up in her own grief she'd only barely checked on Alexis and had somehow forgotten about Martha. She had lost her only child, her beloved son. Now Kate felt worse than she looked.

"I'll be back and if you lock me out I'm going to be furious with you." Lanie pointed at Kate who was still sitting on the floor.

ooOoo

While Lanie was gone Kate left Alexis on the floor and went in search of Martha.

With a little work Kate kept herself together and got Alexis and Martha into the living room and now all three of them were sitting there drinking wine. It was about all they had. Alexis hadn't even said anything and was sipping her wine right next to the other two.

Kate apologized. "I'm so sorry, Martha, I hadn't really thought how this was affecting you."

"I'll be fine, Katherine, we Rodgers are made of sturdy stuff." Martha couldn't help but notice that Alexis was really hurting and she put her arm around her. "We'll get through this, kiddo."

Alexis wanted to believe her but she wasn't so sure. The present pain was so great she didn't see how.

All three were still sitting in the living room and sipping wine when someone was at the front door. Kate got up, betting on it being Lanie and was soon proved to be right.

Kate let her go into the kitchen with two very full, very large paper bags. "You don't have to do this, Lanie."

"I'm still your best friend and I know you have to be hurting. I'm no fool, Kate. I know even after you tried so hard, that you loved Rick with all of your soul. With him gone now you have to be hurting. So I'm cooking. I'll force feed you if I have to." Lanie smiled at her.

"Thanks." Kate didn't really hear force feed, she heard hand feed and wasn't happy about that thought, either.

ooOoo

Lanie watched the three of them mostly move their food around while she ate. She might not be a top chief but it wasn't that bad. Still all three of them did eat a little something.

Lanie got all three of them back into the living room after she was sure they were done eating. She cleaned up after herself and cleaned up the cereal. The box looked like it had taken a beating. Once she was done she told all three of them that she would be right back.

ooOoo

Right back turned into an hour later and Kate opened the door to see her carrying an overnight bag. "What are you doing, Lanie?" Kate might be hurting but she wasn't blind.

"I'm spending the night to keep on eye on you three and before you try and stop me, I have tomorrow off and I'm not letting you all out of my sight until I have to. Besides I'm sleeping on the sofa." Lanie threw her bag into the living room where it landed with a bang.

Kate opened her mouth to try and change her mind, however, she knew Lanie. She might as well cut her loses while she could. "Besides I'm betting you have the best wine." Lanie smiled at her, went to sit down next to Alexis, and did her best to do what she could for the girl.

ooOoo

Lanie had gotten all three of them back into the bedrooms and made sure they were comfortable and not presently crying. She made use of the master bedroom bathroom to get ready for sleep and closed the door of the bedroom behind her.

Kate was running out of clothes that still smelled like Rick and she was going to really hate the day when that time came. For now she was going to wrap herself around what little she could still find of him. That stupid picture of a lion, though, still wasn't being allowed back in.

Lanie was finding that Castle's sofa wasn't just comfortable to sit on, it was pretty good to sleep on, too.

ooOoo

Lanie was up and while she wasn't yet dressed she was in the kitchen making coffee. She was betting everyone was going to need something to wake themselves up with.

What she didn't know was how to make the pain go away. She could count Castle as a friend and while she was hurting as well and was going to miss him, she didn't love him like these three did. She knew the boys were hurting, too, and had told her they would do anything to help. She just needed to tell them what. That was the real crux of the problem. Was there anything any of them could do?

ooOoo

Lanie was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking her own coffee when she heard a door open and saw a disheveled looking Kate come walking out wearing a robe. "Good morning, sunshine." Kate grunted as she shuffled over to the coffee and poured herself a cup; she hummed as the hot liquid hit her throat and made its way through her system.

Kate decided to fight it head on. "What am I going to do, Lanie? I stupidly spent too long fighting it and now look at what I've got." She had yet another hole in her heart was what she had.

"What you've got is a daughter that needs you. A mother-in-law who just lost her only son and you, Kate, have me and all your friends. Plus your dad. You survived last time, you'll survive this time too," Lanie said to her.

"What I don't see is how. Castle helped me solve my mother's murder. Rick wasn't actually murdered by anyone. There's nothing to solve this time. And we both know Alexis isn't mine." Granted she was actually starting to think about having kids with him, but now that was never going to happen.

"Pa-lease! You've been more of a mother than her real mother ever has been. Do you see her anywhere around here?" Lanie waved both hands at the loft. "Do you see her here hurting that Castle's gone? Do you really think she cares?"

Kate wanted to think better of Meredith but was afraid Lanie had a point. Then the doorbell rang. "I'll get rid of them." Lanie left her coffee behind to answer the door.

"Yes?" Lanie saw a middle-aged man with a briefcase. She'd had to get past the doorman so this fellow had to as well.

He showed Lanie his business card. "I'm Richard Castle's personal lawyer. I need to speak with Katherine Castle, Alexis Castle, Martha Rodgers, and yourself if you are Elaine Parrish."

"Lawyer." Lanie was just now catching up. "Um, yeah, they're all here though not all of them are awake yet." Lanie let him in then closed and locked the door.

"Henry?" Kate knew him but wasn't really awake enough to think why he would be here.

ooOoo

Everyone was up and downstairs even if everyone was still dressed like they had just gotten out of bed, which was precisely what they had just done.

Henry opened his briefcase and went over the Richard Castle will with each of them. They all soon learned just how much Rick was worth and how much real estate Rick owned.

Martha now owned the house in the Hamptons. Rick had money put away that she could only tap to spend on the house in addition to another account that was hers to use as she pleased.

Alexis found out that she had a college fund that was enough to get her into and through any college of her choice for a total of six years if she chose to go for her doctoral degree. Furthermore she had a separate account for her personal use. Besides that they all learned that Rick owned a small condo in Honolulu that none of them knew anything about. All she had was an address.

Kate was told that she now owned the loft. She also had a separate account for her personal use. Kate owned both cars owned by Richard Castle, the car that had replaced the destroyed Mercedes along with the Ferrari. And she had a tiny piece of the moon, of all things.

Lanie found out that Castle had left her something as well.

"Rick also left each of you three a flash drive." Henry handed out small manila envelopes that were still sealed with wax seals to prove it. "I believe that you will find a message meant for each of you.

"I have to find a Javier Esposito and a Kevin Ryan next. Any questions?" Henry asked them.

"Mother?" Alexis asked him.

"I'm going to assume that you don't mean Kate but your birth mother. There's nothing in his will that's meant for her. The divorce papers that Meredith Lee signed at their divorce indicates that she has already received all that she's ever going to get. What you choose to do is up to you.

"Anything else?" Henry asked yet again and saw four shaking heads. "On a personal note, if you need my help in arranging his funeral or anything involving his estate I'll be happy to help and provide my service free of charge. Rick was a good friend and I'm going to miss him. I am sincerely sorry for your loss. Rick had touched a lot of peoples' lives over the years and they're going to miss him. I'll let myself out. Remember call me if you need anything at all. I will be happy to help." The door snapped shut behind him.

"It's your house, Katherine." Martha slid the keys across the table to her.

"Nonsense. Rick wanted you to have it so it's yours." Kate pushed them back across the table toward her.

"Honolulu? Dad never said anything about Honolulu." Alexis didn't understand that. She was also still trying to wrap her mind around just how much money her dad had left her.

Kate was trying to come to terms with just how much money she now had, too. She certainly hadn't married Rick for his money and didn't know what she was going to do with it.

She picked up her flash drive, wondering just what was on it. What could Rick possibly have to say? She watched as the other two did the same thing.

"Castle really was a good man." Lanie had stated the obvious. She truly was going to miss having him around. The morgue was going to feel empty without having him show up next to Kate.