"Kate, I'm bored to tears. Let's do something," Johanna said, pacing. "This snowstorm may be keeping us from leaving the house, but it won't keep us from having fun." She walked over to Kate, who was curled up on the couch, book in hand.

"You want to color some pictures?" Johanna asked her daughter.

Kate looked up from her book, smiling. "Mom, I'm nineteen years old. I'm not a kid," she said.

"And I'm forty-seven years old," Johanna retorted. "You're never too old to be a kid. Come on, we've been cooped up in this house for two days. Let's have some fun." She held out her hand, smiling. Kate giggled and took her mother's hand.

"Look, Kate," Johanna said an hour later, a pile of drawings cluttering the kitchen table. "I drew our family. There's me and dad, with you in the middle."

Kate giggled at the stick figure family. "Wow, you really captured our likeness, Mom," she said, smiling.

"Here, you keep it," Johanna said, passing the drawing to Kate. "Hang it on your fridge when you go back to college. Promise?" Kate agreed and took the drawing, not intending to actually display it anywhere.

If only she'd known then what would happen five days later, after all the snow had melted…

"Kate? Are you listening to me?"

Kate jumped, the child's voice bringing her back into reality. The memory lingered in her brain, sadness tugging heavily at her heart.

"Sorry… what did you say?" Kate managed.

"I said," Alexis repeated with a tone of annoyance, "that I drew my family!" She held up the picture for Kate to see. "Here's me and Dad, and you, 'cause you're my big sister. And I'm holding you guys' hands. And there's my mom," she said, pointing to a figure on the edge of the page, far away from the other three. "I put her way over there 'cause she lives so far away… and she never comes to see me," the child finished resolutely.

"You're a very good artist," Kate said, doing her best to smile at the stick figures on the page. The drawing's simplicity reminded her so much of the picture her mom had made her; the picture she carried with her everywhere, folded and tucked into one of Castle's books for safekeeping.

"Thank you!" Alexis said, smiling. "Here, you can have it," she said, laying the paper in Kate's lap. "You should hang it on your fridge, so that you'll always remember me when you're at your house."

Oh, God. She couldn't do this. Tears sprung to Kate's eyes, threating to fall. She hated being reminded of her mom—it made it so much harder for her to control her emotions, and she couldn't afford to lose it in front of Alexis.

"I need to use the bathroom," Kate mumbled, standing up and turning before the child could notice the tears that were now beginning to streak her cheeks. She flung Alexis' bedroom door and began to run, but only made it a few steps down the hall before she ran into something. Or someone, rather.

"Kate?" he said with concern, taking hold of her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Kate opened her mouth to speak, fully intending to twist out of his grasp and run. But instead of words, a strangled cry came from Kate's throat. She collapsed in his arms, letting him hold her as she sobbed.

"I miss her, Castle," she managed. "I miss her so much."

He wasn't any good at this. He was the master of charm and wit; he knew how to make people laugh and was always the life of the party. But this? Comforting the young woman who was sobbing into his chest, telling him how much she missed her mother? He had no idea what to say. So rather than speak, Rick did something very uncharacteristic of himself: he chose to stay silent.

He wrapped his arms tighter around Kate, pulling her body into his, and gently rubbed her upper back as she cried. They stood there in the hallway for what seemed like several minutes, eventually drawing a curious Alexis into the hall. Castle immediately motioned her away, and she ducked back into her room. Finally, when Kate's sobs had been reduced to sniffles, Castle loosened his hold on her. He had a feeling she wouldn't want to talk about what happened, but he had an idea on how to cheer her up.

"Come on," he said gently, taking Kate's hand. "I want to show you something." She nodded, wiping her eyes, and allowed him to lead her down the stairs. They walked through the living room, past Martha in the laundry room, ironing Kate's jeans, and into the study, where Castle closed the door, releasing Kate's hand.

"This," he said with a grand gesture, "is my office." Kate looked around the room, eyes widening as she took in the hundreds of books on display. "I've written almost all of my best-sellers here," Rick continued proudly, "and as you can see, I'm a bit of a book collector. I've got Patterson, King, Craven, Connelly, Kellerman… and Castle, of course," he finished, gesturing to the shelf that contained his own books.

Kate's mouth was slightly agape as she finished taking in the room's treasures. "Wow," she breathed.

Castle chuckled. "You like it?" he asked.

"I kind of feel like Belle when she first saw the Beast's library," she said softly. "Or like…"

"Alfred in the Batcave for the first time," Castle suggested, instantly realizing that he and Kate had spoken the words simultaneously. He laughed, and a shy smile slowly appeared on Kate's face. Score one for the smile-books, Castle thought victoriously.

"You said you're a reader," Castle continued, "and I know you like mystery books, and that's mostly what I have, so consider this your library. Any time you're here, you can borrow whichever book you like."

Kate had taken a few steps away from Castle, further surveying the room, but immediately froze and turned to face him when he made his offer. Her eyes were wide, and for just a moment, a look of pure elation decorated her features.

"I… wow," she said, her elation quickly turning to awe. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before… thank you." She moved as though she were about to give Castle a hug, but quickly stopped, confusion momentarily showing in her eyes.

"I just…" she started, looking to the ground for a moment, then raising her gaze to meet Castle's. "Can I take one now?"

"Of course," Castle said, smiling as she moved toward the books. He wasn't sure what had just happened with Kate, but it was apparent that she was holding herself back somehow, almost like she was hiding herself behind a wall. It was probably just a self-preservation technique she'd developed to try to avoid getting hurt. Based on her earlier actions, Rick figured it was safe to assume that it wasn't him that was the problem. He'd just settle for being there for her for now, and hopefully, he'd be there when her walls came down.

He watched as Kate moved slowly from shelf to shelf, running her index finger along the spines of the books as she browsed, considering. She finally selected a book, pulling it from the shelf confidently. Castle studied her book of choice.

"When the Wind Blows by James Patterson? Good choice," Castle approved. "That's his newest book. You know, Patterson's a friend of mine, and he invited me to play poker with him and a few other authors. My poker skills are a little rusty, though—I'd hate to show up and be badly beaten in front of all of those great authors."

"What, Castle, can't stand to have your ego crushed?" Kate asked with a smirk.

"Ha ha, very funny," Castle answered, glancing at his watch. "Oh, we can talk about that later. But for now, where do you want to go to lunch? And before you protest," he started before Kate could speak, "cheaters have to take both ends of the bet. Castle family rule, long-established. And," he continued, cutting Kate off from speaking again, "if you don't know what to choose, there's a perfect little burger place a few blocks from here." He smiled.

Kate shook her head. "I'm just not going to win, am I? Fine," she sighed. "Burgers it is."

"Great!" Castle exclaimed. "But you should change. I think you'd get some funny looks if you walked around town wearing that," he said, gesturing to the large red T-shirt and rolled-up lounge pants she was wearing. Kate rolled her eyes as she opened the office door. "And hurry, Mother can only keep Alexis for two hours," he called, closing the door behind him as he followed Kate out.

Castle only made it a few steps down the hallway before he encountered a very concerned Alexis, who had stopped Kate.

"Did I hurt your feelings?" the child asked hesitantly.

Kate knelt down, placing a hand on Alexis' shoulder. "No, baby, it's not your fault," she said reassuringly. "It's just that… my mom went to Heaven a few months ago, and sometimes, I think about it, and it makes me sad," she said. "It wasn't your fault, don't worry."

Alexis nodded, wrapping her arms around Kate. "I'm sorry about your mom," she whispered.

Rick smiled as he slipped past the two girls, headed for the laundry room to find his mother. She had another performance that evening and had to be at the theater in the early afternoon for preparations. Lunch with Kate would have to be quick. But that wouldn't matter. He was confident that Kate would be returning home with him that afternoon.

"I have something I want to talk to you about," Castle said. Their burgers were finished, and both were slowly slurping their milkshakes at their booth in the restaurant. Kate rested her elbows on the edge of the table, folding her hands together and placing them under her chin as she looked at him.

He'd carefully planned out this entire conversation in his head, but now that it was time for him to speak, all of his well-thought out phrases had slipped from his mind. Don't screw this up, Rick, he thought to himself, taking a deep breath.

"I want to keep you as my babysitter, Kate. You get along great with Alexis, and she loves you," he started. He watched as Kate grinned, her eyes lighting up. "So do you accept my job offer?"

"Of course," Kate answered, smiling. "I love Alexis."

"Great!" Well, that had been the easy part. Castle took another deep breath. "But that's not the only offer I have for you, Kate." He watched as the smile faded from her lips, replaced with a look of confusion.

"I've been wracking my brain, trying to figure out what I can do for you. I'm not just going to let my babysitter stay homeless, Kate," he said, stopping Kate before she could speak. "I want to help you. You deserve it. Anyway, I don't need a live-in nanny, so that ruled that option out," he continued. "But then I remembered that I have a friend who needs a secretary. He's a judge in Manhattan," Castle said. "His secretary just gave her two weeks' notice, and he needs someone. So I told him I had just the girl for him. He wants to interview you on Monday."

Kate straightened and looked at him, dumbfounded. When she still hadn't spoken after a few seconds, Castle continued.

"And until you build up enough savings to have a place of your own, I have a spare bedroom you can stay in. You don't need to be at that shelter any…"

"Castle!" Kate interrupted, finally having found her voice. "You can't do this! I mean, I'm not a charity case. I'm not staying at your place rent-free. There's no way." Her gaze was challenging, and her voice was laced with anger.

"It wouldn't be rent-free, Kate," Castle said gently. "Look, I hate grocery shopping, so if you'll buy groceries for me, do the laundry, and watch Alexis when I need you to, we'll call it even. And," he added, "my mother said that if you weren't going to live with me, she was going to make you live with her. Those were her exact words." Well, close enough.

He sat back in his seat, fully expecting more protests from Kate. Instead, though, Kate sat frozen for a moment, eyes wide and mouth open slightly. She finally sat back, running a hand through her hair, and sighed.

"Why me?" she asked. Her words were so soft that he could hardly hear them, and she looked into his eyes imploringly.

Because I think you're extraordinary, Castle thought. He wasn't ready to admit that to Kate, though. He'd have to try something else for now.

"The first time I saw you, Kate, you were sitting on that bench, and you looked so sad," Castle started. "You were holding a sign that said 'Homeless and jobless. Please help.' And I thought, 'You know what? I can help.'" Okay, so that wasn't all he had thought, but it was true.

"So I took you to lunch, because I figured you'd be hungry," Castle continued. "But when we started talking, I realized that I…" he faltered, taking a deep breath. "I mean… I realized that you're actually a pretty cool person." He watched as a smile began to play at the corners of Kate's lips.

"And when I saw the way you lit up when I showed you Alexis' picture, I knew that I wanted to let you babysit, at least once, for a trial run," Castle continued. "I don't regret my decision to choose you, at all. And now that I've chosen you, I can't just quit on you. That wouldn't be right."

"Castle…" Kate sighed. "I mean, that's really sweet, but you could have done that for any person with a sign in the park. Why did you choose me?"

Rick thought for a moment. "You want to know the real reason?" he finally asked. Kate nodded, looking into his eyes.

"Because you're tall," he offered.

Kate's eyes shifted upward as the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly. She shook her head slowly, grinning.

"So do you accept my offer?" Castle asked. "Well, it's not all my offer—the judge helped, and of course, my mother…"

"Castle," Kate interrupted, reaching across the table to lay a hand on his arm. "Yes. And thank you," she added with a smile.

Castle could hardly contain his glee. He'd found a way to not only help Kate, but to keep her in his life.

That evening, after Alexis had thoroughly beaten Kate and Castle at Monopoly (Alexis insisted that Monopoly was an easy game, much to the adults' chagrin), Castle methodically went through the spare bedroom, ensuring that Kate had everything she needed for the evening. Despite Kate's protests, he made a thorough list of everything he'd need to buy the next day to make sure that the room felt like her space, and not just a guest room. He insisted that Kate make a list of all personal effects that she would need as well, promising to provide them for her. Castle finally bid her goodnight, promising a full day of fun the next day.

As soon he closed the door, Kate ran toward the king-sized bed, squealing as she leapt onto it. The mattress was so soft that she sank deep into it. I'm going to sleep so well tonight, Kate thought, sitting up. She slid off the bed and walked toward the large closet, where she'd stored her backpack. She unzipped it and carefully unwrapped her mom's elephants from the sweater. After hanging the sweater on a spare hanger in the closet, Kate carried the row of five elephants into the room, setting them carefully on the corner of the desk. Her mom had always called them "the little family," even referring to them once as her "guardian elephants." You're my guardians now, Kate thought, stroking the biggest elephant with her finger.

The stick figure she'd made with her dad took its place beside the elephants, and the two drawings of her families, both old and new, were tacked into the wall beside the closet. Her decorating complete, Kate stepped back, surveying the room.

She had a home. It wasn't her own, but it felt more like home than any place she'd lived all year.

Author's note: I have many people to thank for this chapter. Firstly, my story wizard, Cathey. You're awesome, times a million. Secondly, Ellie, who let me bounce a few ideas off of her and gave me her opinion on a few things. Third, CaskettFan5, who helped me when I was stuck and gave me the idea for Castle "knowing a guy" who could get Kate a job. They're all amazing.

Jay, my reviewer who doesn't have an account on here: your review for chapter 6 made me smile. Thank you.

Speaking of reviews, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter/ideas on what you'd like to see in the future! I read all of them and really appreciate your thoughts and kind words.