Thank you all for your continued enthusiasm and interest in this story. I hope you continue to enjoy the journey.


Esposito had just checked the pot of soup, which was simmering on low on the stove burner, when Alexis suddenly jolted awake, screaming, sobbing, and gasping for breath. He dropped the lid on top of the pot, dropped the oven mitt he'd been wearing to the floor, bolted to the living room and knelt on the floor beside the couch, where Alexis was sitting up and melting down, still caught in the throes of her nightmare, great gulping sobs for Castle and Beckett tumbling from her lips almost incoherently. He gripped her upper arms firmly, and gently shook her. "Alexis, your dad and Beckett are safe and alive! Wake up! Wake up, Alexis! Your dad and Beckett are all right!"

Esposito's words reached Alexis at the exact moment Martha came rushing down the stairs, her clothes and hair rumpled because she had been woken out of a sound sleep by Alexis's screaming. Shaking like a leaf in a terrible storm, Alexis's tear-filled eyes slowly cleared as she wiped at them furiously. "They're okay?" she asked breathlessly.

"They're okay," Esposito repeated firmly. "You were just having a nightmare."

Alexis gulped, scrubbing at her face, which was soaked with tears, and nodded miserably. "It was yesterday all over again, but neither of them had a pulse when we got here, and the paramedics couldn't bring them back." Then she burst into tears all over again, throwing herself at Esposito and clinging to him tightly.

"It was just a nightmare," he repeated, wrapping his arms around her, knowing she needed both a hug and some solid grounding in the waking world. "They're in the same ICU room at New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan that you arranged for them, and they're going to be all right."

Martha approached slowly, tentatively, not wanting to spook Alexis. "Alexis, darling?" she asked softly, placing her open palm in the middle of Alexis's back, beneath Esposito's arms, and rubbing her back in slow, soothing circles.

Esposito released Alexis and gently turned her into Martha's waiting embrace. "I'm sorry," Alexis wept.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Esposito assured her.

"Of course not," Martha said. "What you saw yesterday was awful. Of course it's going to take time for you to get past it."

"I don't know how I fell asleep," she said, scrubbing at her face once more and turning to look at Esposito from the shelter of her grandmother's embrace. Alexis glanced at the TV over his shoulder and saw Robert Hays converting his Navy pilot dress white uniform into a modified version of John Travolta's disco suit from Saturday Night Fever as he approached Julie Hagerty for the first time, on the dance floor of the dive bar, knowing that this scene was only a few minutes into the film. Sniffling, she asked, "I was only asleep for a few minutes?"

"You were asleep for almost two hours," Esposito replied. "I left the movie playing, and it started over again while I was making the soup."

"That's what that delicious smell is," Martha mused. "It was very thoughtful of you to heat up some soup, Detective."

"I didn't 'heat up' the soup, Mrs. R.," Esposito replied. "I made it."

"You made it? You mean from scratch?" Alexis asked, surprised.

"Yeah," he said. "My grandmother's recipe. I thought something light, and some comfort food, would be good. It's simmering on the stove, just about ready to eat."

"You didn't have to cook for us," Alexis said.

"I wanted to," Esposito told her.

"You're going to make some woman a wonderful husband, Detective Esposito," Martha said. "A man who cooks from scratch! I'll bet that soup tastes even better than it smells."

"My mom and I always thought so," he replied. "It's my abuela's recipe. My mom's mom."

"It does smell really good," Alexis said.

"It's ready to eat whenever you ladies are," Esposito replied.

"Only if you join us," Martha insisted.

"Will you?" Alexis asked.

"If you insist," Esposito said.

"We insist," Martha said firmly. She gently nudged Alexis to her feet and stood with her. "We'll go and wash up, and then you can do the same, Detective."

While Alexis washed her face and hands, and Martha freshened up herself, Esposito turned off the movie and the television and was giving the soup one last stir when Alexis and Martha returned downstairs. The bags under Martha's eyes and the tension in her face and the set of her shoulders were no longer as pronounced as they had been, but the change in Alexis wasn't as noticeable or as deep; she still looked exhausted, and the tension in her shoulders was more pronounced than ever after her nightmare.

Grandmother and granddaughter set the table while Esposito excused himself to wash up. Alexis was dishing up the soup, while Martha had poured glasses of water for all three of them and sliced and set out some French bread from a nearby bakery to go with the soup, by the time Esposito returned to the table.

Alexis and Martha both looked somewhat surprised when Esposito took his seat, after seating the two of them, crossed himself, folded his hands, bowed his head, closed his eyes, and prayed, "Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord, and thank You for bringing Beckett and Castle safely through the last 24 hours. Amen," and then crossing himself again before lifting his head and opening his eyes.

Before Esposito could say anything, Alexis and Martha both echoed his, "Amen," and then they all dug in to his grandmother's homemade chicken noodle soup and the French bread.


When Jim Beckett walked into the ICU room, he was surprised to find Rick's bed empty and Kate sitting up in her bed with a scowl on her face. "Katie? Where's Rick? Is everything all right?" he asked anxiously.

"They've got him up and walking the halls again," Kate replied sourly. "But they wouldn't get me a wheelchair so I could go along, or at least sit out there and watch."

"Are you really up for that yet?" Jim asked, pulling the visitor's chair up to his daughter's bedside and then sinking into it.

"Well, it's my turn to get up and moving tomorrow, so I don't know why they didn't let me sit up in a wheelchair tonight while Rick walks up and down the corridor with his IV pole," she grumped.

"Maybe because they think you need these extra hours of bedrest first?" Jim suggested. Katie gave him a look so like Johanna's, a look of mingled incredulity and peevishness, that it took his breath away for a moment, and reinforced for him why he was there. "I know you want to be with Rick right now. But if I can be selfish for a few minutes, I'm glad you're not."

The expression on Kate's face changed then. She knew her father wasn't just there to check up on her and Castle. He was there for the talk she had promised him. "I didn't mean I'm not happy to see you, Dad," she said.

"I know that," he replied. "You just don't want to be away from Rick any more than you have to, especially right now." Jim shifted in his seat, making himself more comfortable. "He's a good man, Katie."

"He's the best," Kate replied. "I was so broken for so long, and he gave me a reason to put myself back together again, to look beyond the job." She paused. "This is not for public consumption just yet, but I'm leaving the force, Dad. It's time."

Jim exhaled a breath so forceful, it nearly collapsed both his lungs. "I thought that's what you were hinting at earlier," he said thickly. He swallowed hard, clearing his throat a few times. "I was almost afraid to believe that you were serious."

"I am serious," Kate replied firmly. "And I'm serious about us having a better relationship too, Dad."

"I want that too, Katie, more than anything," Jim replied. He ducked his head for a moment, then looked up at his daughter. "I know that I really let you down when your mom died. I wasn't there for you the way I should have been."

"Dad, you already made amends for that when you got sober," Kate reminded him. "And as for you not being there for me..." She trailed off, gathering her thoughts, then said, "Mom was the center of both our worlds, and when we lost her, instead of turning to each other, we turned away from each other. I threw myself into becoming a cop, hellbent on finding out who killed her and catching them..."

"And I dove into the bottom of a bottle and stayed there for five years," Jim said ruefully. "For those five years, in effect, you had lost both parents."

"But I got you back," Kate said emphatically. "I got you back, Dad, when you decided to get sober, and you've been sober for ten years. 10 years, Dad! I am so proud of you for that. I never told you how proud I am of you for getting and staying sober. I should have told you this a lot sooner, instead of keeping you at arm's length for so long."

"You were protecting yourself," Jim replied. "I had let you down so badly once, and you couldn't afford to take the risk again. I've always understood that. I've always hated it, but I've always understood it, Katie."

Kate leaned back against her pillows. "Going around in circles apologizing for and defending the past isn't exactly what I had in mind here," she admitted. Jim looked confused. "You don't have anything else to apologize for, Dad. But I still owe you some apologies, and I still have some forgiving to do."

"What on earth could you have to apologize to me for?" Jim asked, more confused than ever.

"I was going to Stanford," Kate replied. "I was going to be a lawyer like you and Mom. And when Mom died...That all went out the window. I became obsessed with becoming a cop, obsessed with finding out who killed Mom, who took her away from us, and why, and I wanted to get them and have them thrown behind bars, locked up with the key thrown away. And I know it wasn't easy for you, knowing I was putting my life on the line every time I went to work. And this is far from the first close call I've had over the years. I'm sorry I put you through that hell, Dad, and I know it had to be hell. You had already lost Mom, and it's had to have been in the back of your mind all this time that someday you'd lose me. A couple of times, you almost did."

"But I didn't," Jim said firmly, urgently. "Yes, I worried about you. But I would have worried about you even if you had become a lawyer. And I wasn't surprised when you gave up law school to become a police officer. You don't flinch, Katie. You never have. The bigger the challenge, the better you like it. If someone tells you that you can't do something, you'll go full tilt until you've proven them wrong. You've been like that since you were a little girl. That didn't bother me. I've always been proud of you for that, and your mother was too. It was not knowing exactly how reckless you were being that scared me the most."

"I was reckless to start out with," Kate admitted. "A lot more reckless than I should have been, especially when you and I weren't on the best of terms. I felt like my life wasn't of any value. Everything had been broken. I had been broken. When you feel like you don't have anything, you feel like you don't have anything to lose." She paused, then reached out for her father's hand, holding it tightly in her own. "I'm sorry I worried and scared you so much, Dad. I wasn't exactly thinking rationally on a regular basis at the time, which is no excuse. But you deserved better."

"You couldn't count on me," Jim said. "I know that. I will regret it for the rest of my life that there was ever a time when you couldn't count on me, and when you felt that your own life meant nothing."

"Life is too short to have regrets, Dad," Kate said. "When you got sober, I let you back into my life, but not all the way back in. I didn't trust you." She hurried on when she saw her father open his mouth to speak again. "I know you're going to say that at first, I didn't have any reason to trust you. But it's been a decade, Dad. You haven't had so much as one slip in all that time. And every time I had a close call these last ten years, every time I came to you with news about Mom's case... The temptation had to be there."

"It was," Jim admitted quietly. "At times, it was. More than once, I would actually go out and buy a bottle and bring it home. Sit it on the coffee table, or the kitchen counter, and then just stare at it, sometimes for hours. But in the end, I would always pour it out, the whole thing, right down the kitchen sink, because I worked too long and fought too hard to get sober, and to never let you down again, Katie."

Kate knew she had to tell her father that she had seen and spoken with her mother while she was in surgery. She just wasn't sure how her dad would react to that news.

"Dad," she began. "I saw Mom."

"You saw your mother," Jim repeated.

"Yeah," Kate replied. "Rick and I both saw her...and talked to her. While we were in surgery. I never believed in out-of-body experiences, or seeing spirits, but Dad, it was real. Mom was here, and I talked to her. We talked. She and I."

Jim's reaction surprised Kate. "I know your mom was here," he said. "I felt her here. I was talking to her in my head, and I could hear her answering and I could feel her by my side. I pleaded with her to do whatever she could to make sure you and Rick pulled through. And I felt her kiss my cheek. I told her to go to you, that you...and Rick...needed her more than ever."

Of all the reactions from her father Kate had prepared herself for, calm acceptance, and the information that he had felt Johanna Beckett's presence in the hospital and heard her voice for himself, was not among them. But she took a deep breath and continued talking.

"I saw myself on the operating table, which was really scary," Kate said. "I couldn't find Castle. I started screaming for him, I heard him screaming for me, we found each other, I saw him on an operating table, which was even scarier than seeing myself on one. He and I were talking, and then Mom was there. She said we weren't supposed to see her, and I didn't get to hug her or touch her, but I saw her, Dad, and I spoke to her. And so did Rick. He didn't speak to her as much as I did, but he saw her too. He remembers. We both do."

"I've wished so many times that I could see Johanna, hear her voice, even feel her presence, just one more time, for just one more moment," Jim said wistfully. "I hate the circumstances, but I just can't be sorry that I got to feel her near again, that I felt her kiss on my cheek and I could hear her voice. And you...you got to see her and talk to her. That has to have done you a world of good, Katie. We didn't get to really say goodbye when we lost her. And even now, I feel like it's not 'goodbye,' it's just 'until we meet again.' I'm so glad you got to see her and talk to her."

"You know, I am too," Kate replied. "And that's exactly how it feels: like 'until we meet again.' I never thought much about an afterlife, but now...now I think maybe there is one, and she's waiting for us someplace, Dad."

Kate and Jim were both silent for a minute. "Knowing your mother, she had quite a few things to say," Jim finally said.

"Oh yes," Kate replied, the flash of a smile on her lips. "It all happened so fast, but I remember it all. I promised Mom I always would, and Rick said he would help me remember it."

"Rick would do anything for you," Jim murmured. "So, what did she say to you?"

"Mom said that when you and I lost her, we lost each other too," Kate went on. "I don't know how she knew that, but she was right. And she said that we mended some fences, but not all of them...and she was right about that too." Kate tucked her hair behind her ear, using the hand that didn't have an IV in it. "So I want to let you all the way back into my life, Dad. No more sporadic phone calls, or visits or dinners when we can fit them in around my work. Work isn't going to be an issue for a while, for one thing. But even if it were still an issue, I want to see you more, I want to spend more time with you,I want you to spend more time with Rick and me, and really get to know Alexis and Martha."

Jim smiled. "When you and Rick were in surgery, Martha suggested I take a page from Rick's book and just keep showing up until you had to let me in, no matter how many times you pushed me away or tried to shut me out. That's exactly what I had planned to do."

Kate reached for her Jim's hand again. "I'm not going to push you away or shut you out anymore, Dad, I promise. We've lost too much time already. We're not going to lose one more second. And..."

She trailed off and swallowed hard. This part, admitting that she needed people, was still difficult for her, though not as difficult as it had been before she and Castle finally got together. But she knew from past experience that while she could recover alone, and she and Castle could leave everyone else out of their recovery if they chose to do so, Castle would never go for that, and neither would Martha or Alexis, and she also knew that this time, Lanie, and for that matter Ryan, Jenny and Espo, wouldn't let her and Rick go off somewhere to lick their wounds and recover alone.

But more importantly, Kate knew that this time, she didn't want to go it alone, or even just go through it with Castle, either. The bottom line was, she and Rick were going to need help, especially here at first, and they had family and friends ready, willing, and able to give that help in whatever form it was needed or wanted.

Kate looked Jim right in the eyes and continued, "And I want you to be there to help Rick and me this summer while we recover."

Jim couldn't contain his grin. "I had already planned on it. But it's nice to have a formal invitation," he said. Now he leaned closer to Kate. "Nothing and no one is going to keep me away from you this time, Katie, including you."

"Good," Kate replied. She pulled Jim closer, giving him a hug and laying her cheek against his shoulder. "I love you, Dad," she said softly.

"I love you too, Katie," Jim replied, hugging her as hard as he dared.

"And I trust you," Kate said as she leaned back to look into her father's tear-filled eyes through her own tear-filled eyes. "I know you won't let me down or hurt me again. But I also know it's going to take time for us to get close again, but we have that time now."

"Then let's make the most of it," Jim said.

"Yes, let's," Kate agreed.

The door opened and Castle entered with one of the nurses right behind him. "That was very good, Mr. Castle," the nurse said.

"Good enough that I can lose the oxygen thing here?" Castle asked, gesturing to his nose.

"Maybe in the morning, but you have to have it overnight," the nurse said in a tone that brooked no argument.

She started to help Castle back to his bed, but he said, "I can do this."

The nurse, Jim, and Kate watched wordlessly as Rick settled himself in bed once more. "Very impressive, Mr. Castle," the nurse said as she reconnected the heart and pulse-ox monitors to him and set the oxygen tank beside his bed.

"Yes, it is," Kate agreed. Rick turned to look at her, and the look in her eyes told him that she remembered his earlier promise to sneak into her bed after lights out...except that there really wasn't any "lights out" in the ICU. The look Rick gave Kate in return let her know that he would be sneaking into her bed just as soon as they were alone.

The nurse left, after making sure Rick and Kate knew where their call buttons were. Seeing the looks they were sneaking at each other, and having a pretty good idea what those looks were about, Jim said, "I should get going, let you two get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

He hugged and kissed Kate goodbye, then clapped his hand on Rick's good shoulder once more. "You remember the first time we met?" Jim asked.

"Every detail," Castle replied.

"Thank you for proving me right," Jim said.

"My pleasure," Castle said. Jim just looked at him, much the way he had looked at Rick that first day, when they were discussing Naked Heat. Belatedly realizing how that must have sounded, especially with the way he had just been looking at Jim's daughter, Castle tried to backpedal. "I mean, ah...you're welcome. That is, I, uh..."

Kate's chuckle broke the awkwardness. Jim laughed too. "I know what you mean, Rick," Jim said with a smile. "And like I told you then, I think you're doing just fine. Keep it up."

"For the rest of my life," Castle replied seriously.

Jim looked from Rick to Kate. "I'll see you both tomorrow. Good night," he said.

"Good night, Jim," Rick replied.

"Good night, Dad," Kate said. "And thanks for getting Rick and me our wedding rings back." She held up her left hand, looking at the band of white gold glinting there.

"It was Martha who noticed the two of you didn't have them and first said you'd want your rings as soon as you woke up. I said that we'd make sure you got your rings back as soon as you asked for them, so I was just keeping my promise when I did that."

Kate smiled at her dad at learning this. "Thank you," she said.

"Yes, thank you, Jim," Rick echoed. He hated being without his wedding ring. He'd never really paid much attention to his wedding ring when he'd been married to Meredith or Gina, and taking their rings off when they split up hadn't bothered him. He'd removed his wedding ring almost right away both times, in fact, and had even gotten rid of both those rings.

But the ring he now wore on his left hand had been placed there by Kate, and because she meant everything to him, the ring she gave him as a symbol of her love and fidelity, and the vows she made to him on that November day, meant everything to him.

He was glad that he hadn't realized he had been forced to go without his wedding ring during surgery, that one of his first conscious memories was of Kate returning his wedding ring to its rightful place on his finger, because he never wanted to be without that ring for the rest of their lives, and he knew she felt the same way about her wedding ring. He had seen after he and the boys found her standing over Kelly Nieman's dead body, and she had quietly asked him about her ring on the ride back to the 12th, the pain and regret at even the thought she had lost her wedding ring from him so clear in her eyes and her voice, and he had whispered so only she could hear that he would get her ring back as soon as he could. Indeed, with help from Ryan and Esposito, and unofficial clearance from Gates, Kate's wedding ring was back on her finger before they left for home that night, after they and the boys had given their statements about Tyson and Nieman and everything that had gone down in bringing those two to their ends.

Jim left then after bidding one last good night to his daughter and son-in-law, closing the door to their hospital room behind him. He then leaned against the door and looked heavenward. Thank you, Johanna. Katie and I, we won't let you down. We won't let each other down, either.

Then he pushed off the closed door, walked down the corridor, and headed home for some much-needed sleep.