Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm for this story.
Alexis was up early on the 4th of July, and she decided to go for a run on the beach. She hadn't gone very far when she saw a familiar figure several yards ahead of her. Accelerating slightly, she jogged until she fell into step beside Javier Esposito, who didn't break or slow his own stride when he saw her fall in step next to him. "I didn't know you ran," he greeted her.
"I just started recently," Alexis replied. "It's a good stress reliever, and I want to stay in shape. I avoided the Freshman Fifteen when I went to college, and I don't want it catching up with me in law school."
"You'll be too busy for that to happen," Javier replied confidently.
"Hopefully at Columbia," Alexis muttered.
"You'll get there," Javier said.
"I wish I had your confidence," Alexis replied.
"Why don't you?" Javier asked curiously. "I'm not judging you, Alexis, but you've always been a go-getter. Why do you think Columbia Law School would turn you down?"
"I've just never wanted anything this much in my life," Alexis replied. "I never even wanted to go to Stanford this badly. I was so devastated when they rejected my application for early admittance. Then they accepted me later on, and I realized I didn't want to go there after all. I went to Columbia instead, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made."
Then Javier understood. "So you're afraid to set yourself up for another Stanford experience," he said.
"Exactly," Alexis replied.
They jogged along in silence until Javier suggested they start walking to cool down. They turned around to head back down the beach to the house.
"When it comes to most of life, there's no such thing as a sure thing," he said as they began their cool-down walk. "Sometimes we get so caught up in something that we believe there is a sure thing. Math and science have sure things. If A, then B. But as for the rest of it? There isn't. Too many variables factor in, too many unknowns, too many forces beyond our control. We can do everything right, and all of the evidence can be flashing like a fifty-foot-high neon sign that this is the definite outcome, nothing else could possibly happen...and then that something else does happen, and we're devastated, and we start questioning ourselves, questioning everything we thought we knew, everything we believed. We wonder how we could have been so wrong when it was so obvious, and it was so certain." He paused. "Exercising caution is always a good idea, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a cop. But you have to leave room for hopes and dreams, because sometimes, reality bites, and when it does, it's our hopes and dreams that help to get us through those times when reality does bite us, and it bites us hard.
"Now, personally, I don't believe for one second that you're not going to be at Columbia Law School come January. But if you're not there in January, you'll get there, Alexis. I know you will. You might have to start off somewhere else, but you can transfer to Columbia Law sometime in the future. Even if you don't get to go to Columbia the whole time, don't give up on getting there eventually. You'll make it."
"Did anyone ever tell you you're good for a woman's ego?" Alexis asked.
"No," Javier replied honestly. "Is the 'maybe it's a joke, maybe it's not' thing a genetic Castle trait?"
"Yes," Alexis replied honestly. "But for the record, it's not a joke."
As they neared the house, Alexis asked Javier, "How are you at breakfast?"
"Cooking it or eating it?" Javier asked.
"Cooking it," she replied.
"I'm good at pancakes," he told her.
"Then you can be on pancake duty," Alexis said. "We'll cook for everyone else...after we've cleaned ourselves up." She gestured between them, although Esposito's clothes were much sweatier than hers, because he'd been running longer than she had.
"Deal," Javier replied, smiling as he took off sprinting for the house, fifty yards from where they stood.
"Hey!" Alexis shouted indignantly as she sprinted after the laughing Javier. "No using all the hot water!"
"I can't control how much hot water comes out of the shower," Javier tossed over his shoulder. He made it to the house first.
"Maybe you can't, but I can control whether or not I flush the toilet in one bathroom while you're showering in another," Alexis said as she reached the house and stopped herself.
Javier looked at her, considering, then finally confessed, "I honestly don't know if that's more of a Beckett move or a Castle move. Probably Beckett."
Alexis beamed. "That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, comparing me to Kate. Thank you, Javier."
He smiled back as he held the door open for her. "Ladies first," he said.
"Really?" Alexis asked.
"My mom and abuela raised a gentleman," he said solemnly. "I'll wait to shower until you're finished. Pancakes don't take long to make anyway."
"Thank you, Javier," Alexis said before heading into the house.
"You're welcome," Javier replied as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and returned outside, to the deck, while he waited for his turn in the shower.
The 4th of July in the Hamptons was a major celebration. Everyone went to the parade after breakfast, Sarah Grace perched on her daddy's shoulders so she could see everything and everyone.
They all put in more pool and beach time. Ryan and Jenny stole some private time while Sarah Grace and Nick were napping. Lanie and Alan also split off from the group for some private time of their own. Rick and Kate wanted to split off for some private time, but fought the temptation since they couldn't spend that private time doing what they really wanted to be doing, at least not yet.
Much macho posturing went on when it was time for dinner, as all the men, including Alan and Jim, had opinions on the proper way to grill steaks.
Kate, Alexis, Martha, Lanie, Jenny, Sarah Grace, and Nick watched as Rick, Jim, Alan, Javier, and Kevin kibitzed and kidded at the grill.
"It's nice to see Richard with so many male friends," Martha said before taking a sip of her drink. "I know he had male friends when he was growing up, but they were usually encouraging his escapades. These gentlemen don't."
"I don't know about Alan," Kate said, looking at Lanie with a teasing glint in her eye. "Rick said something last night about us double-dating to Comic-Con next year."
Lanie choked on her drink, spraying hard pink lemonade at everyone's feet. "I am not dressing up!" she insisted.
"I'm not the one you have to convince," Kate said. "Apparently Alan has a thing about Doctor Who."
"Doctor What?" Lanie asked.
"No, Doctor Who," Kate corrected.
"'What's on Second, I Don't Know is on Third,'" Jenny quoted the old Abbott and Costello routine.
"Oh, great, Kate, you'll be some sexy Star Trek babe, and I'll have to wear blue body paint and put a third eye in the middle of my forehead," Lanie said.
"Hey, be grateful Alan doesn't have Rick's sci-fi cinematic knowledge," Kate said.
"Oh, my," Martha realized. "That could change very soon if they start spending time together."
"Dad does have a knack for finding really weird sci-fi movies nobody's ever heard of, like The Brain That Wouldn't Die," Alexis said.
Kate and Lanie both looked at Alexis now. "The Brain That Wouldn't Die?" Kate asked.
"Scientist's girlfriend is killed in a car accident," Alexis began. "He keeps her head alive in his lab...just her head...and he roams beauty pageants and street corners looking for a woman whose body he can steal to attach his girlfriend's head to."
All the women but Martha and Alexis, who had sat through the movie exactly once with Castle, looked appalled. "That's a real movie?" Lanie asked, horrified.
"That's disturbing," Jenny said, shuddering.
"Castle!" Kate called. When he turned to look at her, all the other men followed his gaze. When she was sure she had his attention, Kate continued, "I am not going to Comic-Con as The Brain That Wouldn't Die!"
"Of course you're not," Rick said. "I was thinking Wonder Woman."
"In your dreams, Castle!" Kate retorted.
"There too," he replied with an unrepentant grin.
Kate just smiled and shook her head before returning to her conversation with the women.
Ryan and Esposito looked slightly disturbed. "Great," Ryan said. "Now I have this image of Beckett dressed as Wonder Woman in my head. Thanks a lot, Castle."
"Yeah, bro, that's not cool," Esposito replied.
Everyone turned to look at Jim Beckett, who was coughing and red-faced.
"Jim, do you need some water?" Rick asked anxiously.
Jim's coughing gave way to uncontrollable laughter. "Katie dressed as Wonder Woman for Halloween when she was seven," he said when he had recovered himself.
"And just like that, the fantasy dies," Rick said. He looked at Jim mournfully. "I thought only my mother was capable of killing moods like that."
"It's a parental gift," Jim replied, clapping his hand on Rick's shoulder. "I'm sure you've used it a time or two on Alexis yourself."
Rick silently acknowledged that he had, recalling walking in on her and Ashley making out on the couch, carrying a dueling pistol, and sending the freaked-out high-school boy all but shrieking from the loft, which embarrassed Alexis to no end.
He let his mind drift to the distant future, and using the same kind of parental gift, as Jim called it, on his and Kate's future daughter.
But then he pulled himself up short when he realized that he and Kate would be meeting any future boyfriends their daughter had together...and that all Kate had to do was go Detective Beckett on any teenage pile of raging hormones with less-than-honorable intentions toward their little girl, and the teenage dirtbag would scurry out of the loft faster than Ashley had the night Rick barged in on him and Alexis carrying a dueling pistol.
The thought put a big smile on his face. This time, he wouldn't be parenting alone.
Although if they really did have a mini-Beckett, Rick mused, if their daughter would go out with a boy with less-than-honorable intentions, they'd probably be picking her up at the 12th before the night was over for breaking his nose.
"I thought you said Beckett's dad just killed your Wonder Woman fantasy?" Ryan's question interrupted Rick's reverie.
"He did," Rick said, none-too-regretfully this time. "I was just thinking about something else."
While Rick had been daydreaming, Alan had taken over at the grill to avoid burning any of the steaks. "Well, the medium rares are ready," he declared. "The well dones need a few more minutes."
Soon everyone was seated on the deck and eating steak, corn on the cob, and fresh watermelon.
As darkness fell and they split off into small groups once more to get ready for the fireworks, which they would have an excellent view of from the beach, Kate and Rick got one of their few moments alone all day.
"So, did my dad tell you about the year I dressed as Wonder Woman for Halloween when I was a kid?" Kate asked her husband as she pulled one of his short-sleeved button-down shirts on over her tank top to ward off the chill coming in off the ocean at night.
"He did," Rick replied. He sighed. "He completely killed the fantasy."
"You have the most incredibly vivid imagination, Castle. I'm sure you'll come up with something even better than Wonder Woman," Kate assured him.
Rick considered something then. "Have you ever wanted to see me dress up like a superhero?" he asked.
"I've never had a burning desire to see you in tights and a cape, no," Kate said, smirking. She wound her arms around his neck and quickly grew serious. "Honestly, my biggest fantasy about you right now is you in our bed, wearing nothing but your wedding ring and the look in your eyes that's only for me."
Rick wrapped his arms around Kate's waist, pulling her closer. He lowered his head as she raised up on her tiptoes until their lips met, and the fire between them flared hot and bright as they let the kiss linger and crescendo, their tongues seeking and finding each other, and Kate moving so close to Rick that no space remained between them.
Rick finally broke the kiss, panting, eyes still closed, and sighed on a whisper as he touched his forehead to Kate's, "Officially nine more days."
"Almost eight," she whispered back just as breathlessly before pecking one more quick kiss to his mouth.
"Almost eight," he parroted. He reluctantly released Kate, then said, "I can't wait until we can make our own fireworks instead of just watching them."
"You and me both, babe," she replied, reaching back for his hand before they headed out to meet the others on the beach to watch the fireworks.
The others were all gathered on the beach, sitting in stadium chairs or on beach blankets. Alexis had set up a couple of chairs for Rick and Kate next to her; Martha was seated on her other side. Lanie and Alan were sharing a beach blanket, and Ryan, Jenny, Sarah Grace, Nick in his infant carrier, and Esposito had put together three beach blankets, with one canvas chair, which Ryan and Esposito both insisted Jenny take. This being his first 4th of July, no one was sure exactly how Nick would react to the fireworks, and if he hated them as much as Sarah Grace had when she was a baby, Jenny would be taking him inside while Ryan stayed outside with Sarah Grace to watch the fireworks.
Rick and Kate had just taken their seats, Rick between Kate and Alexis, when the fireworks began. "Here we go!" Alexis exclaimed, and everyone but Nick Ryan trained their eyes on the sky as the first burst of color exploded with a resounding boom and a shower of red, white, and blue sparks.
Two things happened simultaneously as that first explosion shook everyone's eardrums: Nick Ryan began wailing shrilly...and Richard Castle grabbed Kate Beckett's hand and hit the sand stomach first, pulling her with him and scrambling to cover her body with his own as he shouted, "KATE, GET DOWN!"
Because that first explosion whirled Rick back to the loft on that horrible morning. The booming of the fireworks was, to his suddenly-PTSD-triggered mind, the sound of Kate returning fire on Caleb Brown, since her gun hadn't had a silencer.
"Rick, I'm okay," Kate said urgently. Since Castle was a dead weight frozen in panic and fear on top of her, and since she didn't want to make things worse for him than they already were, she forced herself to stay calm as she tried to wriggle out from under him.
The booming explosions of the fireworks display, one on top of another, sounded louder than the report of several cannons. Jenny had hustled Nick into the house immediately, and Kevin assured her that he and Javi had Sarah Grace.
Alexis, Martha, and Jim had surrounded Rick and Kate, and Lanie and Alan were also hovering nearby, having abandoned their beach blanket the second they saw Castle hit the sand and throw himself on top of Kate, but none of them were sure exactly what to do.
Kate became aware in the next instant that Castle was hyperventilating and that his whole body was shaking. "Babe, it's okay," she said urgently. "I'm all right. I'm not hurt. I'm not hurt."
For his part, Castle was trapped back in that morning so completely and intensely that he was hurting in the same places Caleb Brown had shot him. He was back in that moment. "I'm...hit..." he gasped out. "Not...not...you too..."
Lanie finally sprang into action. "Alan, Javi, Mr. Beckett, we've gotta get Castle off of Beckett!" The men all hurried forward, each of them taking hold of Rick as carefully as they could, Alan and Javi taking his arms, while Jim wrapped his arms around Castle's torso from behind. Working together, Alan, Esposito, and Jim lifted Castle off of Beckett...at which point he burst into tears.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted, trying to fight against the three of them as he stretched his arms out toward Kate as far as he could.
Alexis swallowed back her own tears and hurried to Kate, but Kate waved both Lanie and Alexis away. "I'm fine, I have to take care of Rick," she said as she sprang to her feet, stumbling after him because one of her feet was half asleep.
Rick was sobbing now, which wasn't helping his hyperventilating, and calling out brokenly for Kate. Everyone was surrounding them now except Ryan, who was trying to keep Sarah Grace back some distance and keep her interested in the fireworks, even though he was looking over his shoulder at everyone else every other second.
"Rick, Rick, look at me!" Kate shouted to be heard over the fireworks as she finally reached him and dropped to her knees at his side. "Babe, concentrate on my voice!" Inwardly, she cursed the fireworks, wishing the damned show would just end already, and then instructed her dad, Espo, and Alan to let Rick go. They all released him and stepped back, leaving Castle sitting on the sand with his legs outstretched and his fists clenched, still screaming for Kate through his sobs. Kate crawled up his body and pried his clenched fists apart, kissing each of his ten fingers as she pried his hands open.
Finally, mercifully, the last explosion came and went, and silence fell on the beach like a shroud. Kate was kneeling on Rick's outstretched legs, her bent knees resting on his knees, and she leaned in as close to him as she could. "Rick!" she shouted.
Through the ringing in his ears, and the erratic pounding of his heart, Kate shouting his name finally got through to Rick. He blinked owlishly, aware that his face was wet and his eyes were blurred with tears. He slowly came back to himself, realizing he was on the beach, surrounded by his family and friends looking at him worriedly, with Kate, looking not only worried but even a little scared, kneeling on his outstretched legs. "Kate?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yeah," she said as a tidal wave of relief rolled through her. She moved so that she was sitting on Rick's lap, winding one arm around his neck and wiping his wet cheeks with her other hand.
"You're okay?" he asked urgently.
"I'm all right," she assured him. "What about you?"
"I..." He faltered, wrapping his arms around Kate, pulling her against him until she was seated on his lap, and burying his face against her shoulder, smelling a mix of her and him, from her tank top and the short-sleeved button-down of his that she was wearing over the tank top.
Kate wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she could, and whispering directly into his ear over and over, "I've got you. I've got you. I love you."
Slowly Rick calmed down. The others relaxed gradually as they saw Rick was returning to normal.
Before Ryan could stop her, Sarah Grace walked over to Kate and Rick. "Uncle Rick?" she asked.
Rick lifted his head from Kate's shoulder, and they both turned to look at Sarah Grace. "Yes, Sarah Grace?' he asked, his voice still hoarse.
Sarah Grace came closer, and Ryan hunkered down on the sand behind her. "Did the fireworks scare you?" she asked with all the earnest seriousness that only a preschooler possesses.
After a beat, Rick answered Sarah Grace. "Yeah, they did, Sarah Grace," he replied.
"They scared Nick too," Sarah Grace said, still serious. "That's why Mommy took him in the house. It's okay if you got scared, Uncle Rick. They're really loud, but they can't hurt you."
"You're right, Sarah Grace," Kate said then. "I wouldn't let the fireworks hurt your Uncle Rick. I'd never let anything hurt your Uncle Rick."
"'Cause you love him like Mommy and Daddy love each other," Sarah Grace said, and now a bright smile lit up her little face.
"I really do," Kate said, returning Sarah Grace's smile.
Sarah Grace leaned over and gave Rick a gentle kiss on the cheek. "It'll be okay, Uncle Rick," she told him. "Aunt Kate will make sure it is."
Rick looked from Sarah Grace to Kate and back again. "Yeah, she will. She's really good at that," he said.
Ryan picked up Sarah Grace then, settling her on his hip. "Somebody's up way past her bedtime," he said. "We made an exception because of the fireworks, but now that they're over, it's time to get ready for bed, sweetie. Tell everybody good night."
"Good night!" Sarah Grace exclaimed.
Seeing Ryan's concerned look, Castle assured him, "I'm okay now."
"We got this," Kate added, "but thanks, Ryan."
"If you need anything, let us know," Ryan said. Then he nodded once and headed into the house with Sarah Grace, who waved and called "Good night" to the others repeatedly as they went.
After Kate and Rick got to their feet, Alexis and Martha both hugged first Rick, then Kate. Jim hugged Kate, and then pulled Rick in for a hug. "If you need anything overnight," he said, "come and get me. Or even just call my cell, it'll be on my bedside table."
"Yes, wake me if you need me, Dad, Kate," Alexis added.
"That goes for me too," Martha said.
"And me," Esposito piped up.
Rick scrubbed at his face with both hands before wrapping one arm around Kate's waist. He gave a rueful half-smile to Alan and Lanie then. "Some host," he said wryly.
"After what happened to you guys, I'd be more surprised if you didn't react like that," Lanie said honestly. "No one here thinks any less of you for this, Castle. We never could."
"Wasn't it Hemingway who said, 'The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places'?" Alan said. "Rick, Kate, you are the strongest people I know. I'm glad I know you, and I'm glad to be your friend. If Lanie and I can help you in any way, all you have to do is say the word, and we're there."
"You know it," Lanie said, squeezing Kate's shoulder, then Rick's hand.
"Thank you," Rick said. "Really."
"We wouldn't be where we are right now if not for all of you," Kate said, "and Ryan and his family, and Gates, even though she isn't here."
"I think we'll give you two some time alone now," Martha said as she began herding everyone toward the house.
"Thank you, Mother," Rick said.
"Thanks, Martha," Kate added.
Alexis hugged them both one more time before heading inside with the others.
When they were alone on the beach, Rick opened his mouth to say something, but Kate said fiercely, "Don't you apologize, Rick. You have nothing to be sorry for."
He closed his mouth, then opened it again and said, "Maybe I should talk to somebody. Not your therapist, but he could refer me to somebody, right?"
"If you want, I will absolutely call Dr. Burke for a referral for you," Kate promised. "First thing tomorrow morning."
"It's probably a good idea," Rick said. "Burke helped you a lot."
"He did," Kate agreed, "with a lot of things. And learning how to live with PTSD was one of them." She tucked her arm through his. "Let's go inside and sleep in each other's arms all night."
"That's the best offer I've had all day," Rick replied. Kate tilted her head so it was resting against his shoulder as they headed inside and upstairs to go to bed.
I have to thank my sci-fi fan brother, who regaled me with the plot of The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which is a real movie. (My reaction was a combination of Lanie's and Jenny's.)
Also, since so many have asked and commented on it, I wanted to let you all know that Operation Baby Beckett-Castle will officially be launched in the next chapter. :-)
