Here be Dragons!

Chapter 26

Kate had no idea how she'd let Castle talk her into this. Okay, technically it had been Alexis that had gotten her to agree to this. So here she was packing an overnight bag and she was packing things that had her questioning just what she was doing. The two condoms that just went in her bag were one of those things.

Granted it wasn't her that had thrown those 2 things into her bag. It had been her Dragon. Just instead of starting a fight she allowed it. Then her cell phone rang. "Beckett." Kate was almost hoping it was dispatch telling her she had a body even if she did have the next 2 days off.

"Hi, Kate!" It was Alexis. It was then that it dawned on her that she hadn't looked at the caller ID. She clearly sounded happy. "We're downstairs waiting."

"Two minutes." Kate hung up. A quick trip through her bathroom and a quick look at her dresser had her grabbing another bikini. She knew there was a beach but Castle had said something about a pool.

Kate locked her door and took the elevator and went out the front door to find a car double parked with a smiling Alexis waiting on the sidewalk.

Sitting there was a high end Mercedes. She didn't know exactly what model but it looked nice. "This way." Alexis took her to the back of the car and the trunk magically opened. Though Kate knew it was because Castle had pressed a button. Surprisingly she didn't see anything else in the trunk. Still she dropped her bag in it and closed it.

"You get the front passenger seat." Alexis opened the door to the back seat and got in. Kate waited for an opening in the traffic for her to dash for the front seat and open the door.

"Castle." Kate saw him easily. She looked in the back seat and saw a smiling Alexis. However, she didn't see Martha. "What happened to your mother?" Kate had been warned that she would be coming with them but she was likely to never see her again.

"Grams decided another date with someone was more important," Alexis explained. Which was followed by someone honking their horn at them. Rick put the car in gear and drove off.

"Buckle up, Beckett."

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

The trip just getting out of the city took them half the time. Seemingly every block there was a stop light and they were lucky enough to stop at all of them.

"We should have taken your car," Rick joked.

"That would be a violation of police regulations on the use of government equipment," Kate told him.

"But we would get to use the lights and siren and avoid all this," Rick argued. Besides, it would be incredibly cool.

"Castle." She had just told him why they couldn't use her police car.

"You really do need a day off, Beckett." It was her day off and she was still all business.

"Have you been to the beach, Kate?" Alexis was curious.

"Does Coney Island count?" Kate asked. Even if her having been there had been shortly after her mother had died. Just to get away from the depressing event of burying her mother and having her home filled with what felt like strangers.

"No." Rick said. In his mind an amusement park and a beach were not the same even if the Coney Island area did have some beach access.

"You're going to love this, Kate. We have lots of beach and it's not cold yet." Alexis adored the house in the Hamptons.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

Rick had shown that he couldn't just sit there and drive like Kate was hoping for. What was worse was that he had infected Alexis with his need to talk. He also had to show her just what this car was capable of. He had his hands on the wheel and was going where his GPS told him to, not that he needed it since he knew exactly where he was going.

"Call Kate," Rick said and the car answered and a moment later Kate's cell phone rang.

"Really, Castle?" He couldn't just drive and talk? NO, he had to call her to talk. Then he got crazier and did the same with Alexis.

Kate snorted out a laugh when Alexis answered his silly call. "I'm sorry the number you have dialed is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, hang up and try your call again." Alexis hung up on him.

Once they were finally out of the city Rick was able to speed up and cruise down the road. It was only a two lane road but there weren't many people on it at the moment.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

Kate was expecting them to go toward the ocean but Rick turned west instead of east. He'd talked about the house being on a beach and the beach was east and not west.

The drive up to the house was long but not gated and Kate saw it as Rick drove up to the front door. The garage was in front of her but the house was on her side.

The sun was still up since it was only about a 2 hour drive. Kate opened her door and stepped out in awe. It was big and it was gorgeous. It was mostly white on the first floor and red on the second. The roof had a kind of barn look to it.

"You rich or something, Castle?" His loft in the city was bigger than any apartment she had ever had while this place was enormous.

"I'm not Patterson rich but I do okay," Rick responded. Kate still stood there looking at it all in amazement.

Rick opened the trunk to get her bag. "Come on, Kate, I'll give you a tour." Alexis took her hand, pulled her behind her. Then she unlocked the front door and took her inside.

"Dad remodeled the second floor and after that he just had to remodel the first floor," Alexis told her though Kate wasn't really listening as she walked through the space. Kate barely noticed as Rick went past her and up a set of stairs with her bag. "This way, Kate." Alexis tugged her over to the back door which were French doors with narrow windows on either side.

Outside was just a small hard patio with a walkway leading to the left. However, out in front of her was grass. Lots and lots of perfect looking grass. No plants, no trees and no weeds until you reached the beach. Barely a cloud in the sky and she could see water past the beach.

She didn't see him or feel him. Rick came up beside her. "This is the greatest part of this house. I've done a lot of my finest writing out here. Best purchase I've ever made."

Kate was still taking it all in. She had questioned if she should really come out here with Castle, with or without his daughter and mother. But this! This made it all worth while.

"The pool is to your left," Rick said but she didn't look. Kate was still focused on the grass, beach, and water.

"I'll turn on the heat." Alexis jogged to the pool house to turn on the pool's heater.

"You ready for some lunch?" Rick inquired. "I had someone buy and deliver something for our weekend."

"Sure." Kate was still awake enough to hear him talk about food. However, instead of going inside he walked over by the pool and had Kate follow him.

"Grab the table, pumpkin. I think Kate might like eating outside on the grass for lunch."

Kate saw the pool that had a gate, large lounge area, pool house, and lounge chairs. Alexis grabbed a small table and walked past her. Then she watched Rick pick up an Adirondack chair that was white like the table and went out of the gate. She picked up one too, and followed him.

Soon they had three chairs and one small table several feet out from the house on the grass. Then she followed both of them back into the house.

"You want to fire up the grill for me?" Rick asked Alexis since he was thinking grilled chicken sandwiches.

Alexis grinned. "Already did, Dad. I'll get the buns."

"Can I help?" Kate figured if she was going to eat it she should help.

"You can slice the tomatoes," Rick nodded at them.

"Garlic powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper grinders, red pepper flakes, honey, red wine vinegar, and olive oil," Alexis called out and placed each item where Rick could reach it next to his grill. Then she sat down and watched.

Kate was done quickly and sat down next to Alexis, waiting for Rick to finish grilling the chicken and making the sandwiches.

Soon all three of them were sitting in their chairs out on the grass when Alexis jumps up. "I'll get the grapes." She ran inside then came back out with a bowl of green and red grapes.

"This is really nice, Castle." He was ruining her and she knew it. She could see herself expecting this every weekend if she wasn't careful.

"Wait until New Years. Dad has hundreds of dollars of fireworks around here somewhere. We light them at night right out here on the beach. You can help this time," Alexis said excitedly.

"Hundreds of dollars?" Kate queried and looked at Castle.

Rick defended himself. "I like fireworks. You want to see fireworks come out here with us on the 4th."

"Dad hires a small company to do a show. They're out there on a small barge. It only lasts about 15 minutes but it's beautiful," Alexis explained.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

Kate was shown her room and while she really didn't need to unpack since she was only spending one night here she still did just to get her bag off the bed.

They hadn't made any plans so Kate made her own plans. She stripped off her clothes, put on a bikini, and cursed that she hadn't thought to bring sunscreen. Not that she had any in the first place. She didn't have any flip flops either.

When she went to steal a towel she did some looking and found a bottle of sunscreen; she grabbed it and a towel and went back downstairs barefoot.

The house was so big she didn't see anyone and went out the backdoor and closed it behind her. She thought about the pool but she saw lots of grass and the beach. She was out here partly for the beach so she walked across the grass in her bare feet and loved the feeling of it.

Followed by loving the feeling of sand between her toes. However… "HOT, HOT, HOT!" She was paying the price for not going to a beach often enough and for not having flip flops. She did what she could to lesson the pain while she walked fast to reach the darker and wet sand that was much cooler. She sighed. "Much better."

Kate spread out her towel and sat down to apply the sunscreen. Once she was done with the sunscreen and putting what she could on her back she heard the water calling to her. She was up and walking out into the water.

The water was maybe a little brisk but nice. She submerged to get used to the temperature and it wasn't so bad. Now she started swimming.

Yeah, she could get spoiled living like this. "What am I thinking?" She stood up and realized her toes barely touched bottom so she took a step back and ran into something.

Kate squealed and turned, ready to defend herself only to find a bare chested Castle standing there. "Castle! …Don't do that." Kate put a hand on her chest and willed her heart to slow down.

"Sorry. Alexis spotted you headed for the beach so we changed and thought we would join you. Unless you want to be alone?" Maybe they shouldn't have.

"Your house, your beach." She watched as Castle backed up and the more he did the more of his bare chest he exposed. He wasn't ripped and didn't have six pack abs but he still looked good. Just behind him she could see Alexis in a one piece entering the water. Soon all three of them were standing in the water.

"Are you okay out here, Alexis?" She still looked just a touch pale to her.

"I have a lot of sunscreen on but I still can't stay out here long or I'm going to pay for it later," Alexis admitted.

"Then we should make the most of it." Kate grinned and poked Alexis in her shoulder. "Tag, you're it." Kate jumped farther into the water and swam away like mad.

Kate didn't see it, hear it or really feel it, but she knew Alexis was hot on her heels.

Rick stood there watching Kate and Alexis getting along so well. They were actually playing together and that made his heart swell. He had always hated that Meredith refused to have anything to do with her own child. He had wished Alexis had had a real mother. He wasn't a fool. It was too late now for Alexis to have a mother. But she could really use an adult female friend besides his mother that she could turn to.

Rick watched as Kate stopped to look around and looked and sounded shocked when Alexis tagged her and swam away just as hard. "WHAT!?" Kate yelled and swam after Alexis. This young girl was good. Kate knew she wasn't the greatest swimmer since she didn't get in a lot of practice but she hadn't thought of herself as being that bad.

Kate swam for shore until she had to stop and stand up, watching Alexis running for her towel.

Kate had longer legs and did a lot of running so she caught her by the time Alexis had reached her towel. Kate grabbed her and wrapped her arms around her. Alexis squealed and then laughed. Kate still had her arms around Alexis. "I'm glad you said yes, Kate." So far her being here was perfect.

"So am I." Kate was having fun, smiling and laughing a little. It felt different.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

"Why are you dressed?" Alexis caught Kate coming out of her room dressed in blue jeans, a top, and simple tennis shoes with ankle socks. Alexis, though, was still dressed in her one piece though now she had a wrap around her waist and flip flops.

"We're eating dinner," Kate replied since she feared she was missing something.

"Grilling at the pool for dinner, yes," Alexis corrected her. "Don't move." Alexis raced to her room and was back seconds later.

"Here, you can have one of my wraps. Go put your bikini back on and keep the shoes. We'll be at the pool when you're ready." Alexis smiled at her and went down the stairs. "And bring another towel," Alexis called over her shoulder.

Kate quickly found out that since Alexis was shorter than she was so her wrap didn't fit quite right and she had to place it lower on her hips to try and make it look right. It even had a touch of the same color as her bikini.

While she wasn't self conscious about wearing a bikini, she just wasn't sure about wearing it for dinner in front of Castle. Even if it was poolside.

Kate arrived just in time to see Alexis doing some slicing while Rick was taking them and sliding them onto some skewers. "Kabobs for dinner, I see." They were definitely spoiling her.

Kate watched a piece of steak slide on, green pepper, onion, then something else that he folded. "Are those tortillas?" She had never had a kabob with that before.

"Steak fajita's using tortillas. You'll love it," Rick said with a grin.

It was interesting. All she saw was those items, olive oil, salt and pepper. It certainly looked simple enough. She also found a patio set with an umbrella off in the corner. The Roman looking columns gave the pool area a flair.

While they cooked Kate roamed around and peeked into the pool room. This space she saw was actually two rooms. There was a bar where she found a panel that could swing up so she did just that and found a latch to hold it in place.

It allowed her to look out onto the pool. There was a small sink off to one side. A row of cabinets behind her. Opening them she found picnic stuff including wooden tiki glasses. A few mixers and alcohol. Under the counter she found a small refrigerator that had beer in it.

It had a name that she didn't recognize but she grabbed a bottle, searched for an opener, then took a sip. Finding that she liked it she went back out to the pool to watch Rick grill.

"Is there another one of those?" Rick asked her.

"A few." Kate left him and returned with his already opened.

"What's Brux Domesticated Wild Ale?" Kate had never heard of it before but it was nice. It was kind of reddish in color.

Instead of answering her question Rick simply pointed. Kate read the line across the top. "Russian River and Sierra Nevada Collaboration. It's Russian?" Now she loved it and wondered where he got it. "A dry and complex Belgian-style ale refermented in the bottle. Russian River Brewing Co." Okay, so it wasn't technically Russian, still it was nice.

What Kate didn't read because she didn't look was that this beer was 28% alcohol. Meaning it was way stronger than local beers that were popular.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

Kate was eating and was watching that Castle kept looking at her breasts. At least he wasn't staring at them. However, she wasn't exactly innocent herself. Castle was wearing a shirt but he was using almost none of the buttons. It meant his chest wasn't hidden and she couldn't stop looking each time he moved a little.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

Kate was told not to bother while Castle and Alexis cleaned up. So she sat at the pool with her second bottle of beer.

"Are you the type that says not to swim right after eating?" Rick queried since the pool should be warm enough by now.

Kate answered him by kicking off her shoes, taking Alexis's wrap off, and walking to the far end. "Get down here, Castle. We're racing and I'm going to kick your ass."

Kate watched him kick off his flip flops literally. He took off his shirt and stood next to her. "Alexis?"

Alexis smiled wide since Kate was turning out to be so much fun. She raised her arm. "Ready… Set… Go, Kate!" Alexis lowered her arm and Kate launched herself into the pool and swam for all she was worth.

Rick shot his daughter a look of betrayal then jumped in and swam underwater while Kate was on the surface until he reached the far wall where he turned and pushed off.

Rick could see Kate kicking and swimming hard. He was doing his best to dolphin kick while still underwater and thought he was catching her. Still he lost and he knew it and he blamed it on his own daughter.

"You win. …Even if you did cheat. With a little help." Rick shot his daughter a look who simply smiled sweetly back at him. "So what do you want for your winnings?" Ricks and was hoping for kiss.

Instead Kate got out of the pool. "Another beer," Kate told him and helped herself.

}{ }{ = }{ = }{ }{

Kate was enjoying herself and they had moved back out onto the grass to watch the sun set. The backyard faced west so they had a good view.

Kate was feeling a little light-headed and was sure it couldn't be the beer. She was only on her third. She could do shots that had more alcohol and drink most men under the table. It wasn't lost on her that her dad was a recovered alcoholic so she didn't do it very often.

"So what are you going to major in after high school?" Kate asked Alexis since she had already worked out that she had wanted to be a lawyer by her age.

"I don't really know. I like most everything I've done up to now," Alexis answered. She was taking a multitude of different classes to try and figure out just that.

"Okay, what don't you want to be?" Kate tried reversing it. Instead of what she wanted, what didn't she want?

"I don't want to be a lawyer. No offense." Alexis added the latter quickly.

"None taken." Kate knew it wasn't for everyone. Even now she was happy not being a lawyer.

"I don't want to teach. I'm not interested in sports except maybe to watch a few. Just not the ones that are violent looking like football. I'm not tall and can't run for long so soccer is out." Alexis tried to think about it.

"I like to discover things so maybe archaeology. I'm not sure I want to dig in the ground month after month, though." Alexis took that off the list.

"Biology, maybe? Marine biology, for example?" Kate queried.

"I haven't taken any classes about that so I guess no. I haven't taken many medical classes either so I don't know," Alexis shrugged.

Kate kept questioning her. "Forestry? Geology? Save forests from bugs. Find more oil or something less fossil fuel? Safer for the environment? Or fusion power, maybe? Get away from nuclear power?"

"Maybe, I do like physics classes. Thanks, Kate." Now Alexis had something to think about and what classes she needed to take to accomplish just that.