It took a few days for Alexis to go back to her normal self after the Meredith incident on her birthday but everything was back to normal by the time they left for the Hamptons. When Kate received a letter from her father telling that he was now allowed visits, she and Rick decided to go to the Hamptons for a whole week, make the most of Kate's short summer break. They left New York on the Wednesday of her first week off so that she still had some time off if they decided to stay a bit longer.
Rick had told her that he had a house there – which happened to be next to the town where her father was staying – but she never imagined it to be like that. When they arrived, Kate just stayed in front of the house, eyes and mouth wide open.
"Come on Kate, let's go inside." Rick said, smiling at her.
She followed him and Alexis inside. This house was absolutely gorgeous. It was huge, modern, very Richard Castle with state-of-the-art gadgets but yet it felt very homy. Maybe even homier than the loft. She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Rick at her back, his arms coming around her.
"You like?" he asked.
"It's gorgeous Rick! Did you decorate it?"
"Yeah, I like coming here in the summer or for the holidays so I made it feel like home. I only bought it two years ago, after Meredith left. I needed somewhere she hadn't spoiled." he explained.
"Well, I think you did a great job. This house is perfect. You have very good taste." Kate said, turning to face him.
"Wait until you see the bedroom. I have a jacuzzi in the en suite." He said, winking at her before going to look for Alexis.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
On the Friday afternoon, after having made the most of the beach, the sea and the jacuzzi, Kate went to visit her father. Rick had asked if she wanted them to come with her but she preferred to go alone, at least for the first time.
She was worried about going to see her father. He had always sounded good when they talked on the phone but she was a bit scared to see him. She really didn't know what to expect. She worried about their meeting the whole car ride to the center but all fears disappeared when she saw her father waiting for her at the entrance. Kate locked Rick's car and run into her father's arms immediately.
"Hey Katie." Jim laughed, hugging his daughter really tight, as if to make up for the lost time.
"I love you Dad." Kate whispered in his neck.
"I love you too Katie. Now come on, let's go to my room." He said, taking her by the hand and leading her through the corridors.
At six o'clock, the visiting hours ended and Kate had to leave.
"Do you have the right to get out for some time?" she asked as she arrived to the car.
"Yes, on Sundays we can go around between 10 and 6. Why?"
"Would you like to come to the house on Sunday and have lunch with us?"
"I would love to Katie. I can't wait to finally meet that man of yours and his daughter. You'll have to come and get me though, I didn't bring my car."
"It's ok Dad, I'll come pick you up. See you on Sunday then." she said, smiling.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
It's only once she arrived at the house that she realized that she didn't check with Rick if it was ok for them to have her father over.
When she entered the house, nobody was to be found. She put her things in the bedroom and headed for the beach where she knew Rick and Alexis loved to build sand castles. When she got on the back deck, she just sat on the steps and looked at them. The looked so great together. They looked like two children playing, and that's one of the things she liked the most about Rick. His ability to fit no matter what. Be it on the beach with his daughter as a friend, at a parent-teacher meeting, at a book signing … He seemed to fit right in no matter where he was. And he was hers. She still had some trouble believing that but there was no way she was letting anyone take him … take them from her. They were her family now.
Thinking about family brought her back to the summer holidays she spent in Florida with her parents when she was about Alexis's age. She had absolutely loved these two weeks away from everything and her parents playing with her all day long. It was heaven. And she would never have it again, her and her two parents playing, laughing, eating ice-cream. She had not really thought about her mother as much as she used to do since she met Rick. He was so distracting and so full of stories … but seeing her father today and the two Castles on the beach … it reminded her of everything she had lost.
She did not have time to think about it much more because she heard Alexis come running to her.
"Kate, Kate, look at what I found. It's a really pretty shell. It's for you." Alexis said, handing her the shell.
"Oh, it's so beautiful. Thank you so much Sweetie, I love it!" Kate said, smiling and hugging the girl.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Later, once Rick and Alexis had showered from their afternoon at the beach, Kate remembered that she still hadn't told Rick she had invited her father.
"Oh, I forgot to ask you, how did it go with your father? Was he better?" Rick asked, as if he could read her mind.
"Yes, he is much better." Kate answered, smiling as she continued to prepare dinner with Alexis's help. "I … Uh … I hope it's ok, I invited him here for lunch on Sunday. It's the only day of the week he is allowed out of the center and I thought it would be good for him. But if you don't want to it's ok, I'll just call him and cancel, he'll understand and ..."
"Hey hey hey Kate, don't worry about that. It's great that he's coming over. You don't have to ask me permission. You do as you want Kate, and I completely understand you need to see your father." Rick stopped her rambling.
"But it's your house and I didn't even ask you if it was ok and ..."
"Kate, you do everything you want. As long as we're together – and that is going to be the case for at least the next 90 years – you can invite whoever you want here, or to the loft. Even more if it's your father. I love you Kate, and what's mine is yours. If you didn't realize it yet, now you know. And saying that I just realized what it meant and I'm scared you're going to run away because I'm such a jerk talking about forever when we met just over a month ago and ..."
In turn, his rambling was cut short by Kate. She kissed him silent and poured all her feelings in that kiss.
"Thank you so much Rick. And I'm not going to run. I have to admit, thinking about forever at 23 is a bit scary … well … a lot scary but I love you, like I've never loved anyone before. And if I want forever with someone it can only be with you. God that sounded more than cheesy, didn't it?" Kate laughed.
Rick could not resist anymore. He grabbed Kate and kissed her like he had never done before. Having completely forgotten that Alexis was with them, they started to get more … passionate about it, only to be cut by Alexis asking:
"Does this mean that I will get a baby brother or sister?"
That made them stop instantly.
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