And now it's time for some fluffles! Yes, I know that's not a word. You can stop looking at me strangely.

"That was pretty awesome."

Alexis laughed. "Did you see his face when the door opened and he saw Kate? Oh my gosh…"

Oliver grinned. "I love your laugh."

Alexis blushed. "Um, thanks."

"So, Columbia, huh?"

Alexis nodded. "I really wanted Stanford, and Oxford as well, but I finally realized that I couldn't go so far away from home."

"No, it's great." Oliver replied. "Means it's only a half hour subway ride to see you."

Alexis blushed again. "I will have classes, you know."

"Hey, I've got classes too – NYU isn't all fun and games." Oliver insisted.

"Sure." Alexis rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

They strolled for a few minutes in silence. When they reached the door to the lobby of Alexis' apartment building, they stopped.

"Want me to help you move in?" Oliver asked.

"I'd like that, but I think my dad's got it covered." Alexis said. "But you could pick me up for dinner that night if you want."

He kissed her gently on the lips. "I'll call you."

Alexis stood there, watching him walk away, until someone grabbed her by the shoulders from behind. She yelped and jumped a mile.

"Hey there, lazy. Are you finally gonna help me and Castle carry up all of Kate's crap?" Eddie said. "Or are you gonna stand there like a lovestruck doofus all day?"

"I heard that!" Beckett called from the curb, where she was unloading a rather heavy-looking box.

"I am not a doofus." Alexis muttered, but she went to help take up boxes.

:::::::::::::::::::

If you had told Kate Beckett that she would be moving in with a man after only dating him for three and a half months, she'd have told you that you were crazy and she had a great therapist to recommend. And yet, here she was at the end of August, lugging up boxes of clothes and a few things she couldn't bear to sell. Most of the stuff in her apartment was just that – stuff – and she was fine with getting rid of it. But a few things, like her mom's collection of dishes and her book collection (not to mention her science fiction DVD collection, which included Alien and Firefly), she was taking with her.

Castle was happily finding room for said dishes in his kitchen cupboards, while the girls lugged the boxes of clothes into the master bedroom. Kate set her collection of films by Castle's DVD rack to be sorted later.

"I think that's everything." She said. There'd been enough boxes to fill up the backseat and trunk of her squad car, but that had been it.

"Finally!" Eddie said, flopping down onto the couch.

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body." Alexis quipped, looking down at her cousin. "And, maybe, if you worked out with me, you wouldn't be so out of breath."

Eddie mumbled something about exactly where Alexis could stuff her workout routine.

Castle looked across the loft to Beckett and grinned. He had been uncharacteristically nervous when asking her to move in, but now he was nothing but giddy and excited, like a puppy that knows its going for a walk or is getting a new chew toy.

Speaking of toys, where was her box of…?

"Oh, hey, Kate, that one box labeled 'Private'?" Eddie said from the couch. "Can I borrow some of that stuff?"

Kate flushed bright red.

"Although, Alexis is the one who'll really be needing the fluffy hand–"

Alexis' hand clamped over Eddie's mouth so fast it made a smacking sound.

"I better not be hearing what I think I'm hearing." Castle called.

Beckett bit her lip to keep from laughing. Oh yes, she would need to have a talk with those girls very soon…

She looked up, and her eyes met Castle's. She had just moved in with him. She had just moved in with Castle. A big step, one that would have scared the living daylights out of her no more than six months ago, now felt insignificant and no big deal. It felt… natural.

And realizing that was the greatest feeling in the world.

:::::::::::::::::

"What are you taking, the entire contents of your room?" Eddie grumbled. "This is the second time I've had to help someone move in two weeks. My arms were not built for this."

"They would be, if you exercised." Alexis said breezily, setting down her box. "And be grateful I put all of my book collection on Kindle, or you'd have to help me move all of those in, too."

Eddie groaned.

"Wow, does this ever bring back memories." Beckett said, stepping into the room with a box. "This is your bedding, honey, where do you want it?"

"If you could just put it on my bed, that'd be great." Alexis said.

"Are they the kind of memories we could re-enact in bed later?" Castle asked Beckett in a low voice.

"Sure. You can be the crazy roommate who takes up all the room, and I'll be the long-suffering girl who tries not to murder her in the middle of the night." Beckett replied cheerfully.

"You're an evil woman." Castle responded.

"Oh, darling!" Martha said, spreading her arms wide. "Does this ever bring back memories!"

Castle looked from his mother to his girlfriend, his eyes wide with panic. "Did you two just…?"

"The boys I would bring back to these rooms…" Martha said, giving a romantic sigh.

"Gram!"

"Mother!"

"Martha!"

"Go on." Beckett grinned devilishly. Seeing Castle's horrified face, she winked.

Alexis and Eddie made disgusted faces that were shockingly identical.

Between the four of them (Martha was no help at all), they were able to get Alexis completely unpacked and settled in with twenty minutes to spare before dorm meeting.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" Eddie said. "You won't have me there to get you out of trouble."

"Or get me into it." Alexis reminded her. "And you'll be joining me in a year, once you get your GED and take care of the SAT."

"And the ACT. Don't remind me." Eddie made a gagging noise.

The two girls looked at each other for a beat, and then hugged fiercely.

"I'm gonna miss you, freak." Eddie whispered.

"You too, chess nerd." Alexis replied, tightening her grip.

They pulled back, laughing to cover up the tears in their eyes.

Beckett was next. Alexis nearly bowled her over with the force of her hug and Beckett laughed, squeezing her tightly. "Be sure to call or Skype with any questions, okay baby?" She asked.

"Okay." Alexis replied, burying her head into the juncture between Beckett's neck and shoulder. "I love you, Kate." She whispered.

Beckett nearly pulled back in shock, but recovered. "I love you too, Alexis." She kissed the top of the girl's head, stroking the red hair fondly.

"Oh, come here, darling!" Martha pulled Alexis into a hug. "Just think of all the fun you're going to have! Oh I'm going to miss you so much…" She kissed Alexis with a loud 'mwah'. "I do love you darling. Be sure to enjoy this – you only get to experiment once."

Upon seeing the faces of her son, grandniece and sort-of-daughter-in-law, she made a scandalized noise. "I meant with academics and what she wants in life! What did you think I meant?"

Nobody wanted to answer that loaded question, although Eddie muttered something about toga parties and copious amounts of liquor. Alexis laughed.

Alexis said goodbye to her father last.

"I'm going to miss you." She murmured. The words barely even began to cover how she felt. He was her first, last, and best friend. He was there for her no matter what. He had done his best to be a better man for her, and while he wasn't always the most responsible of people, he was the most fun, open, caring, generous, loving parent she knew. She wouldn't trade him for all the world.

And now, she had to say goodbye. Not forever, certainly, but to this stage of their relationship. She was an adult now, entering an adult world where he couldn't always be there to catch her when she fell. She was going to have to go it on her own in a way that she had never done before, and while she'd been responsible and independent almost from birth, it was always with the knowledge that if she had to, she could let go and he would catch her. He would always be there. Now, it was all on her, and it wouldn't ever be the same. Not worse, just different and new.

It was a little scary.

Their hug lasted the longest by far.

"I love you, Pumpkin." He promised her. "And if you need me, no matter what time it is, or where I am or where you are, or what the reason is, I'll be there. And I don't care if you experiment – or with what or with whom. I don't care if you go partying every night or if you stay cooped up in here and study every day. I'll always be proud of you, and I'll always come running if you call."

Alexis nodded into his chest.

"And I'm going to miss you every single minute of the day, and I'm going to need severe distracting to get through the grief and trauma."

"Gee, I don't know who could help you with that." Alexis chuckled, winking at Kate.

She pulled back so that she could look into her father's face. "I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, sweetheart. Always."

Alexis smiled.

"Now go!" Castle said, waving her off. "Go have fun! Make friends! Be crazy! All that stuff! Just ask yourself, 'what would my dad do in college?' and then do the exact opposite."

Alexis laughed and waved as they filed out of the dorm room. Eddie was last, tossing her a box of something.

"Until you get up the courage to buy 'em yourself." She winked. "I okay'd it with Kate, but don't tell your dad."

Alexis looked down at the box of condoms and burst out laughing.

Only her family…

:::::::::::::::::

Castle relaxed against the couch, a glass of wine in his hand. Beckett sat down next to him, leaning back against his chest.

"I have to admit – it's nice to have the house to ourselves." He admitted, wrapping an arm around her.

Beckett hummed in agreement.

Martha swept downstairs in a cloud of color, scarves, and perfume. "Well, I'm off to the theater, darlings! And Richard, I know you're awfully cut up about Alexis, so I wanted to allay any fears – I have no intention of moving out any time soon." She placed a hand over her heart. "It's a sacrifice, but it's the responsibility of a mother." She then smiled. "Have fun! I'll be back sometime after midnight… or two. Depends on how many cocktails I've had."

As Martha made her exit, Eddie shouted down the stairs.

"Now that you've officially adopted me, does that mean I can use your credit card to buy a new chess set?"

Castle sighed and looked at Beckett. "Well, it's kind of to ourselves."

Beckett laughed, standing and pulling him up with her. "C'mon, Writer Man." She said. "What do you say we take this to somewhere a little more private, hmm?"

They retreated to the bedroom, laughing and chasing each other the entire way.

::::::::::::::::::::

"Hey, freak."

"Heya. Did he say yes to the credit card?"

"He didn't answer."

"Hold on… there. I text you the number."

"Thanks. You're not half bad sometimes."

"Ha, ha. What are they up to?"

"Well, judging by the disappearance of the wine I was going to sneak a drink of and the locked bedroom door, I'm going to hazard a guess at–"

"Too much info, Eddie; too much info. So what's your theory about Leon?"

"I think once he saw that we took care of things he went back into the shadows. I doubt he'll come out again unless he feels he has to."

"He better not be the reason I got accepted to so many colleges."

"Aww, is your pride wounded?"

"Shut up."

"Shall we get back to the game?"

"All right. Rook to F-7."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Checkmate."

"You little-!"

"Remember, dear cousin – in chess, every move counts."

There's really nothing more to say except for thank you. Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting me, thank you for taking the time to review when you could. Thank you, my beloved readers, because you are the ones who give me the inspiration and the drive to keep writing. And to the more discerning readers who should know better but read my stuff anyway and are thoughtful enough to give me advice, you are the ones who make me strive to do better and help me to constantly improve. So to all of you, thank you.

I'm being a little sentimental because as far as I know, this is the last multi-chapter plot-centric Castle story I'll be doing. I will always be writing Castle one-shots, but I do not see any big undertakings like this in the near future. So thank you all, always!