Charlie III

Answer - Yes during the course of the story you will learn how Castle died.

Chapter 4

Kate could easily tell that Alexis had been crying again and now she looked happy. "Well technically –"

"Dad offered to buy me a pony once, not that he really meant it. I never really asked him for a puppy. I was pretty sure he would say no." Alexis hugged her puppy and kissed his head.

Rick had heard every word and while he did have something to say about that, he was just happy to be home and being held by Alexis. Even if it was a bit of a role reversal. However, he kept silent.

"Alexis…" Kate really needed to explain that she hadn't gone out and gotten her or anyone a puppy. Let alone this one.

"Did you buy puppy stuff? Puppies need a lot of stuff." Alexis was convinced that Kate had bought it and needed to know if the puppy had everything it was going to need.

"Well actually…" Kate tried again and looked for Lanie to get some help but she didn't see her and feared she had left like she'd planned.

"I'll get dressed. We need to go shopping for puppy stuff." Alexis let go of her puppy and scooted out of bed.

"Time for you to suffer my puppy dog eyes, Kate." Bark, whimper, whine. Rick got up, walked to the end of the bed, and looked up at Kate, giving her nothing but eyes for her to look at. He even bowed his head down a little just to enforce the look.

"I…you." Kate looked at the puppy that was clearly looking only at her. "You win this one but this isn't over yet. We both know I didn't buy you," Kate told the pup that just kept looking at her with those cursed eyes of his.

"Okay I'm ready, you can drive." Alexis picked up her puppy off the bed.

"You're taking it with us?" Kate questioned her.

"Of course. He needs a collar so we need to make sure it fits and he needs to sniff all the dog food to decide what smells good to him," Alexis explained then put her puppy down since she forgot her purse.

ooOoo

"Alexis…" Kate needed to explain.

"So why did you select an Irish Setter? You look more like a Labrador person." Alexis waited for her answer and kissed the head of her puppy as Kate drove.

Kate finally got a chance to set things right. "I didn't. I opened up the front door to find out what the noise was and in came this puppy. He scrambled up the stairs before I could stop him."

"You mean he's a stray?" Alexis held her puppy tighter and looked at Kate with eyes that were filling with tears. She had a puppy and she felt better. Now Kate had crushed her heart without meaning to, she was sure.

Kate looked at the two of them. "Will you two cut that out! Enough with the puppy dog eyes already! We can buy his stuff but he got to our door somehow. We need to find out if someone in the building owns him. I'm not stealing someone else's dog!" It was just the facts and not up to her.

"No one owns me! …Okay, you two own me. God, this is embarrassing." Bark, whimper, whimper, whine.

"What owner would let this handsome guy get away from them, and we live on the top floor. How did he get all the way up here in the first place?" Alexis argued even if Kate had a point.

Kate put her foot down. "We buy him stuff then we knock on doors to find his owner." This was how it was going to be.

"And when no one in the building claims him?" Alexis asked her.

Kate huffed impatiently. "We take him to a vet to get checked out, get shots, then we'll talk."

Alexis could see the need for a vet visit but this was her puppy now. "If you don't want him I can take him with me to Honolulu."

Kate groaned. "I never said I didn't want a puppy. I just want a puppy that we aren't taking from someone else and ruining their lives."

Alexis remained silent the rest of the way to the pet store since Kate had a point. It was just that giving up her puppy to someone else was going to hurt. She didn't need any more pain in her life.

Rick got carried by his daughter into the pet store and instantly his nose was assaulted with all kinds of smells he had never smelled before.

Kate grabbed a cart since she was betting they would be leaving there with a whole lot of stuff. Far more than any puppy was ever going to need.

A Star Wars collar and leash went into the cart. Then in went puppy shampoo, puppy flea and tick stuff. Puppy pee pads, four stuffed animals, three tennis balls, each of which were a different color. Then a big 20 pound bag of dry puppy food and a case of canned puppy food.

"Ooo!" Alexis found something else and out came the 20 pound bag of dry puppy food and in went every Fresh Pet tube of puppy food that was in the glass front refrigerator.

"Why that food?" Kate queried.

"Because if it needs to be refrigerated that must mean it's fresh, not freeze dried and impossible to chew," Alexis argued.

Kate pointed out why she might want to rethink this choice. "Puppy teeth."

"Pig ears, cow hooves, and greenies. Rawhide is bad for the stomach." Alexis threw in a number of those things and one big box of greenies.

"So how do you know so much about puppies?" Kate asked her since their cart was getting more and more full.

"Research. I was thinking I was going to have to argue with Dad about getting a puppy but I chickened out in the end," Alexis explained.

"I'm so sorry, pumpkin." Whimper, whimper.

"What am I missing?" Alexis stood there and looked around. "Doggie beds!" Alexis hurried toward the beds as Kate sighed and followed her. Kate was sure they were overdoing it for someone else's puppy but she didn't want to tell Alexis no. They were both hurting enough already.

"Dog brushes." Alexis wasn't done just yet.

ooOoo

"Did you find everything you need?" the young woman at the check out register asked them.

"Fork lift?" Kate questioned and listened to her laugh, ignoring the look Alexis was giving her.

"Dog bowls!" Alexis handed the puppy to Kate and ran to find two of them. One for water and one for food.

"Hi, Kate! You think I'm still ruggedly handsome?" Bark, bark.

Now getting everything from the parking garage up to the loft wasn't that simple since Alexis was carrying her puppy instead of carrying what they had just bought. Using Alexis's money.

"I need a drink," Kate groaned. "We can knock on doors and leave behind something if no one's home tomorrow." She was done with today.

Kate watched Alexis fill one bowl with water and they both watched as the puppy almost drank it dry. "Thirsty, I'm guessing."

"Better take him outside after you feed him. Or you're going to have a mess to clean up," Kate warned her.

"I forgot cleaning fluid for the carpet and poop bags." Alexis hung her head.

"You can take a taxi and go get them tomorrow," Kate suggested.

"Sandwich bags!" Alexis came up with an alternative to not having poop bags. Then she cut the refrigerated dog food into slices and put some into the other bowl.

Rick sniffed it a lot first. "Aren't you hungry?" Alexis asked him. Actually he was starving, but this was dog food. Not steak, lobster, spaghetti, or even Chinese food. It was DOG FOOD!

Rick taste tested it and while the taste wasn't going to win any awards, his stomach was rejoicing so he wolfed it down, almost swallowing it whole. Then he licked his bowl clean since he'd been starving to death.

"See, he likes it," Alexis said smiling.

"If he keeps eating like that he's going to get fat," Kate told both of them. "Better put on his new collar and take him outside so he can do his business." This puppy was Alexis's idea and she was more than old enough to care for it without her help.

Alexis had the collar on him and got his leash connected. She made sure she had her ID, sandwich bags, and her key to get back in. "Call the police if we don't come back," Alexis teased her and went out the door with her puppy right next to her.

Kate sat at the breakfast bar. Alexis looked alive again and Kate was so relieved. Now she had a problem. What if the puppy actually did belong to someone else in the building and she was forced to give it back to them?

Kate lay her hand on her belly and wondered if this was her first parenting decision. She had a lot of them in her future. "Please let him be just a stray and not owned by anyone. He can stay just don't force me to take him from Alexis. Is that too much to ask?" Kate asked no one since there was no one else in the room.

"Talking to yourself, Katherine?" Martha made an appearance as she came down the stairs.

Kate was all set to say yes but chose not to. "You missed it. A stray dog managed somehow to make it all the way up here then up to Alexis's bedroom. We went out shopping for him." Kate picked up a lone stuffed animal and tossed it to Martha who caught it. "Alexis is out walking him. …Promise not to tell anyone? I was praying to whatever deity or spirit that might be listening that I didn't want to have to take him from her because he belongs to someone else. I think Alexis is already in love with him."

"And you aren't?" Martha challenged her.

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't want to disappoint Alexis. I remember years ago having Castle ask me to watch after her if anything ever happened to him. I said yes but never actually thought I would ever have to. I was just being nice to him."

"And now you're going to have one of your own," Martha pointed out.

Suddenly Kate was the mommy. Raising her child on her own with no father.

"You'll do fine, Katherine. You have a very good base of support to help you." Martha didn't see any obstacles she couldn't handle in her future.

ooOoo

Martha turned when she heard the front door and watched an Alexis who still didn't look very good walk in with a small red dog that was clearly a puppy. However, based on the size of his paws he was going to get a lot bigger.

Then the puppy yanked itself away from Alexis and raced straight for her. "Mother! Bark. He might never admit it but he did love his mother and was happy she was here. But he forgot about the smooth floors and slid right into her legs.

Martha bent down to pick him up and instantly he tried to lick her face clean. "He is certainly friendly." Martha gave the dog that. Plus she saw those puppy eyes. "Does he have a name?"

Kate opened her mouth to stop everyone before they even learned that they could keep him. Except she wasn't fast enough.

"Charlie. I named him Charlie while we were out. I'm not really sure but I think he already knows his name." Alexis wasn't certain but maybe.

"Charlie." Martha said the name and got the puppy to bark at her.

"You may be right, dear," Martha said though it might have just been a coincidence.

Kate hung her head. Alexis had named it and that made it hers. Maybe the owner would sell it if she offered enough for the dog. Anything to keep from breaking Alexis's heart yet again.

"I need something to drink." Martha put the puppy down and went over to the refrigerator to see if there was an open bottle then hunted for a clean glass.

Alexis meanwhile removed the leash and let Charlie go where he pleased. "I feel like a mess. I'm going to go take a shower then go to bed. Good night." Alexis hurried up the stairs.

"Good night, Alexis," Kate said.

"Good night, dear," Martha called out.

"What?" Kate looked down at the puppy that was just sitting at her feet.

"Please pick me up, Kate. I've missed you." Bark, bark.

Kate just knew this was going to happen once the puppy had reached Alexis. Her heart was shattered in pieces and her walls were long gone. Now this puppy with its puppy dog eyes was looking up at her and in a heartbeat it had found its way into her heart.

Kate bent down to pick Charlie up and held him in front of her. Just far enough away so he couldn't lick her face. "Charlie, huh? I still prefer Rick but Charlie will do." Bark, bark. Besides he was a dog and a puppy at that. Did he really have a choice?

"I'm so sorry, Kate. I didn't mean to get myself killed." Whimper, whimper.

Kate was sure she saw tears starting somehow. That or his puppy dog eyes made him look like he was crying. Now Kate had no choice but to hug him and hold him in her arms. "Don't you start crying on me, too. You'll get all of us crying again."

"Sorry." Whimper.

Kate easily decides that holding him actually made her feel better. He was small enough to be cuddly and he wasn't getting all wiggly in her arms. He seemed to be content in being held by her.

"You're a lap dog, aren't you?" Kate could just picture having Charlie resting or sleeping in her lap as she sat there.

"You better believe it!" Bark!

That had Kate looking down at Charlie. She had to be wrong. He was simply responding to their voices. It was just he always seemed to say something when he was being talked to.

"I'm going to go to my room. You and Charlie are on your own. You do look a lot better now, Katherine." Martha squeezed Kate's shoulder and made her way to the stairs.

"Night, Martha," Kate called out and watched her leave.

"Just you and me, huh?" Kate asked Charlie and set him on the floor. "I'm going to join them and go to bed. Do not do anything you're not supposed to." Kate wagged her finger at Charlie.

"Puppy pee pads." Kate opened a bag and pulled out three. "Now where would I want to poop or pee if I was a puppy?" Kate knew his food and water bowl was in the kitchen and the first floor was all hardwoods.

"This will do." Kate folded out the three and made sure they overlapped. "You have water, puppy pee pads, and a dog bed, your stuffed toys, and tennis balls." Kate went through the bags just to be sure. "How about a pig ear to keep you busy?" Kate put one of those down. "The place is yours." She yawned and walked over to her bedroom.

After finishing her nightly routine she stepped back into the bedroom and didn't see Charlie. She assumed he was keeping himself entertained so she got into bed after finding something of Castle's to sleep with.

ooOoo

Rick was left with a quandary. Kate was his wife and he should be in bed with her. However, he was a puppy and he was betting Kate would be Kate and banish him from the bed. Besides, if he remembered correctly their bed was rather tall. Too tall for him.

Sleeping alone out here in his doggie bed was out of the question. His mother always closed her door and actually kept her room just the way she liked it. He had maybe set foot in her bedroom twice since she'd moved in.

He went over to the stairs and looked up at them. He had done it once, he could do it again. So one step at a time he went up the stairs and was rewarded with a partially open door to Alexis's bedroom. Not wanting to catch her in her room naked since he was a good father, he peeked first and saw her sitting on her bed with her laptop in her lap. "Perfect!" Bark. Rick ran and jumped, just barely making it after scrambling the rest of him up onto the bed.

"Hi, Charlie!" Alexis was actually happy to see him and watched him head for her lap and stand on her chest so he could lick her face. "Okay, enough kisses." Alexis laughed a little and spun him around to face the computer.

"Word document. Perfect." Bark. Rick reached out with a paw and typed the old hunt and peck style.

"What are you doing, Charlie?" Alexis stopped him and looked at what he had done to her document. She tried to read what he had typed. "Rtgefcvxklji cvda swqtgyl poerdw" She shook her head. "Sorry, Charlie, but your typing skills are terrible." Alexis picked him up off her keyboard and moved him to one side.

"STUPID PAWS!" Whimper.

"I'll be with you when I'm done, okay?" Alexis told him.

He was going to need a lot more practice if he was ever going to be able to tell these three that he used to be Richard Castle. Right now her computer was his best bet.

Rick got back up on her lap and looked down. Using the same paw he tried again only as he watched what he was doing and the screen, he was still screwing up big time. His paws were just too big. He needed a new plan.

"Very cute, Charlie, now off my keyboard." Alexis picked him up, set him to one side, and erased what he'd typed.

Rick lay down and tried to think of something that would work.

"All done." Alexis shut down, closed her laptop, and put it away. "Okay, Charlie." Alexis smiled when Charlie got up and climbed onto her.

"If you're going to sleep up here with me you better not pee on my bed," Alexis warned him. She reached across to turn off her light, snuggled under the covers, and put Charlie where she wanted him. "Now go to sleep. We have all day since there's no school tomorrow." She'd missed enough days already and didn't need to miss any more of them or risk falling too far behind.

Rick adjusted himself where he wanted to be so he could watch her as she went to sleep. He really was sorry he'd gotten himself killed trying to buy a Christmas present. It had seemed so simple at the time.