Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: As always was very glad to see the feedback for the last chapter, and need to get some thank yous out to those that sent me a review! vetgirlmx (I was glad to see that you enjoyed the flashback with Beckett and Lanie having dinner together. I thought some readers might. But I was pretty happy to see that you liked the whole flashback, not just that part. And you are right, still more to this case; you'll be seeing what happens next with it. And of course, am glad to see you want to read more, and now you can!), sammysgirl78 (Was really happy to see first off that you liked the opening of the chapter, I thought you might, lol. And I loved seeing that you enjoyed the whole morning with Castle and Beckett getting Julia ready to go to school. I nearly had Castle going to get Julia up on her own, but decided it would be better if they both did it, so wrote that. And I'm really glad I did, lol, since it got that reaction from you. Was also happy to see that you enjoyed the flashback, like I said, thought some readers would like reading it, am so glad I was right! Pleased to see your mention of the nightly routine that Castle and Beckett have with Julia, I read somewhere that it's good to do that… I think it was referencing benefiting a marriage… or was it the kids that benefited? Well, I think both would actually, lol, so nice of you to mention it again. I thought you'd enjoy the love scene in the flashback as well, and I was so happy to see that you did. Also have to say I love how you reference them, and also that you think they're hot, as I mentioned to you, those I have a bit of trepidation about, so love seeing you mentioning them! Back to the case though, you'll find out more about it of course, don't want to give out any spoilers. And since we're past it now, hope you had a wonderful Easter. Oh, and of course, very pleased to see you want to read more, which you'll be able to do so now!), TORONTOSUN (It was interesting to see you comment about Julia not really being affected by Castle and Beckett kissing, liked seeing the comment too. And of course I was very happy that you enjoyed the love scene. Oh, and wanted to tell you, Ryan actually does know about Castle and Beckett, 'cause I've kept the fact that he's found out about them, so just wanted to let you know about that. And liked your last comment, because yeah, am really trying to convey that Beckett is very happy with Castle, so loved seeing that in your review) and 41319always41319 (Nice to see you here at this story, I'm hoping you'll enjoy reading it as it continues. And I am very glad that you're liking that Julia and Castle are getting closer). Thanks so much for those reviews; I definitely appreciate them and the time taken to send them to me, as I always say!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Helter Skelter by The Beatles, from their album The Beatles, or The White Album.
Don't Let Me Break You
"So Martine was strapped for cash, but he was getting paid," Castle said as he and Beckett were about to sit down at her desk. "So it wasn't so much he couldn't afford a child, as he didn't want one?"
"I know," Beckett said in response to his tone of voice. "It doesn't make any sense to me either. But," she said as she was sitting down. "You ever think that maybe the vic found out about Longueville's pregnancy and pushed him to make her end it?"
"The money excuse is weak though. You saw how thrilled she was to be having his child," Castle said, nodding to the room where they had Longueville to protect her until Martine was arrested. "Her alibi?" he then asked.
"Oh, solid as anything, there's a record of some e-mails around the time of death being sent from her home computer. And I also checked the security camera footage, no one but her went in and out of that apartment all day and all night until yesterday morning when she left at eleven for her class again," Beckett said. "I had that thought too, that she was lying completely to us."
"The e-mails-" Castle started to say.
"To her students and parents of students that were minors," Beckett said. "Telling them she was pregnant and her assistant would take over. And then to a company that sells baby furniture."
"Okay, so now we just need Martine," Castle said. "Who in the end is just an accessory, so I could still be right about it being a woman."
Before Beckett could reply to that, she looked up as she saw Esposito and Ryan walking up to them. "Nothing?" she asked, standing up.
"Nothing, and believe me, we checked everywhere we knew to," Ryan said. "He's completely gone."
"Excuse me," Beckett said, starting to head to the room Longueville was in. "Wait there Castle," she said to her fiancé when he started to get up to go after her. "Do you know if Martine has any place he goes to get away? A hotel, or-" she started to ask the teacher as soon as the door was open.
"'e owns an apartment off 86th and Lexington," Longueville said after recovering from the shock of Beckett opening the door. "But 'e rents it out and it's in 'is sister's name."
"Is anyone there now?" Beckett asked. When Longueville shook her head she then asked, "What's the number?"
"16F," Longueville said in a near whisper.
"He has-" Beckett said, going back out to her desk.
"We got a report of shots fired," Esposito said. "An anonymous tipster just called and said it's Martine."
"Where?" Beckett asked, snatching her keys from her desk and jogging to the elevator with the men.
"Near 86th and Lex," Castle answered.
"That's his apartment he rents," Beckett said, shaking her head as the elevator doors closed on them.
"We need him alive," Esposito was telling the other tactical team members that were behind him and Ryan. "So shoot only if necessary."
"Stay in your apartment ma'am," Beckett said, behind the team as she was letting her partners take point. She smiled at the baby in the woman's arms before the tenant went back inside. "Castle-" she said as she turned to him then.
"I know, stay outside until you call for me," he said, since they had started doing that once she had adopted Julia. "Be careful," he whispered, something he'd started doing after San Francisco.
Nodding, Beckett made her way up to the door and nodded to Ryan who banged hard on the door with his fist calling, "Lorenzo Martine, this is the NYPD, open up!"
When there was no answer or sound of movement inside, Esposito kicked the door in, and followed the three men of the team inside before Ryan and then Beckett entered.
Going to a room on the right as the others were going left, Beckett lowered her gun as she saw the body of Martine sprawled on a bed, his face almost unrecognizable from the gunshot wound to it. She had only recognized the man because of the tattoo on his wrist of a snake wrapped around it.
"Apartment's… clear," Ryan said, coming up to her.
"No wonder," Castle said, having come in when he didn't hear Beckett call him. "Any note?"
"Here," Beckett said, holstering her gun and putting on a pair of gloves. She unfolded a piece of paper on a nightstand and said, "He said he didn't know what was going to happen, but he didn't deserve to live."
"And?" Castle asked when Beckett didn't continue.
"And that's all there is," she said, showing him the very short, typewritten note. "So I think it's safe to say-"
"It's not a suicide," she and Castle said at the same time.
"Really, because he typed it?" Esposito asked.
"Did you see a typewriter anywhere?" Castle asked.
"No, but bro, he could have typed it somewhere else and then brought it here with him," Esposito said.
"It's doubtful, but of course it'll be almost impossible to prove it wasn't a suicide just by that note," Beckett said, hanging up her phone. "Get the team out and stick around for CSU."
"What are you going to do?" Ryan asked as she left the room.
"Look back into our second vic, because he obviously can't tell us who his accomplice was," Beckett said simply.
"Phone calls, papers, everything we could ever have wanted to find out about Martine, and yet, nothing about who he could have been fraternizing with," Castle commented. He and Beckett were back in the conference room, looking through the papers they had on their suspect turned victim. She had also called the man's friends and family, trying to see who might have wanted to help him kill their first vic. But no one was suspicious in the man's life, and the only person anyone could think might possibly be was Longueville, who had been escorted back to her apartment, Gates having a guard placed outside her apartment since she and her baby were still at risk.
"Of course not, this was a secret," Beckett said. "Have I mentioned I hate those?"
"Me too, except when they're going to turn out positive," Castle said. "Like a surprise."
"Then it's a surprise," Beckett said. Her phone rang, and she looked down, a little surprised to see it was Julia's school. In the next instant; once her mind told herself again it was her daughter's school; her heart started to pound nervously and she hurriedly answered saying, "Beckett?"
Looking up as her voice was a little worried, Castle watched as a look of relief appeared on her face before she asked, "The wrong day? How exactly did that happen?"
"Okay, thank you for your help, we'll take a look at it right now, bye," Beckett said before she hung up. "That was Julia's school; apparently they sent the wrong footage to us. That was from the night before the murder, not the night of."
"How did that happen?" Castle asked, slightly shocked.
"They're not sure something about the date," Beckett said, standing up.
"So we're taking a look at it," Castle said, shaking his head.
Turning to him, Beckett saw that was rhetorical, and knew he was thinking the same as her. She stepped into the room and turned on the TV, getting the footage that the school had sent to her. She played the clip, and took a deep breath as she went through the day, easily recognizing her daughter at the time of the practice. She couldn't help it, pressing play to see her.
"She's gotten really good," Castle murmured, knowing why Beckett was delaying. He knew how much Julia loved Amber as a teacher, and was concerned it was going to turn out her alibi was not as solid as they'd been led to believe. "But, you know, it doesn't make sense that Ryan wouldn't see what he had wasn't the right day."
"No, look at the time stamp," Beckett said.
"How… okay, I'll guess someone didn't really learn how to set up the date that well," Castle said when he saw the date was for the day after the murder. "Are we sure the time's correct?"
"Yeah, look when they stop practicing, it'll be five," Beckett said softly, her eyes still on Julia. She glanced at Castle, a small smile on her face as the little girl had been stretching with her friend Celia, obviously giggling heavily as they talked together. Glancing out the windows then, she took a chance and squeezed his arm when she saw the same kind of proud smile on his face she knew was on hers. "We should continue," she said, but made no move to fast forward the clip.
"Hey," Ryan said, coming into the doorway then.
Relieved she'd let go of Castle's arm before he'd come, Beckett paused the clip and asked, "Anything?"
"Absolutely clean," Ryan said. "But we took a look at the trash and there was a working typewriter that-"
"They threw away the typewriter?" Castle interrupted. "That's completely bar… baric… Sorry," he said when he noticed the looks Beckett and Ryan were giving him.
"Anyways, sent that in for testing, but we're pretty sure it's the one used for the note," Ryan finished.
"Then it's definitely not a suicide, I can't imagine Martine would toss out the typewriter, that he would care about it if he'd typed that note," Beckett said, playing the clip again.
"Why are-" Ryan started to ask.
"Apparently whoever set up the date and time stamp on this messed up," Castle told him. "What you had was the night before the murder."
"Yeah, do you want me to take over or do you have it?" Ryan asked Beckett.
"I think we're fine," Castle said when she didn't respond. "Okay?" he asked, watching her once they were alone.
"Yes, just, it bothers me," Beckett said. "What if this murder wasn't because of the pregnancy?"
"I've been thinking about that too," Castle agreed with a nod. "But then what exactly is it? Longueville's cleared at the moment… but it could still be Costa, it could be a different motive though."
Beckett didn't reply to that, instead fast forwarding the clip until it got to the time Amber had said she'd been practicing at the new barre. Playing the footage she watched with Castle as the young woman was doing the positions before suddenly turning to look off camera. "She's…" she began to say as someone rushed into the room and hugged the dancer.
"She's gay, did you know that?" Castle asked as they watched Amber Holsten kissing the woman holding her.
"No, not that it matters," Beckett said. She suddenly trailed off, as the two women on the screen let go of each other and left, hand in hand. She didn't want to, but her gaze went to the screen, and she swore inwardly as she saw the time.
"Maybe she comes back," Castle said a little grimly as he saw as well.
"We'll see," Beckett said simply, fast forwarding until she saw the dancer back in the room. She looked at the time stamp, and turned around, slamming the remote in her hand on the desk behind them. Leaning against it she then said, "I have to go talk to her."
"Am I staying?" Castle asked as he followed Beckett out of the room.
"I'd prefer you come, but again, let me talk to her," she answered once she was at her desk and switching her blazer for her coat. "Amber Holsten's alibi just disintegrated."
"She wasn't at the classroom?" Ryan asked as he'd joined them.
"No, she left with another woman, came back well after one thirty," Beckett said. "So she had more than enough time to kill her mother and return again."
"Ms. B- Detective, can I help you?" Amber asked as she opened her apartment door slightly, her eyes growing wide when she saw who it was.
"We need to speak with you Ms. Holsten," Beckett said simply.
"Come inside, please," Amber said.
Before he could follow his fiancée inside, Castle heard a door across the hall open, and turned to see it was the young woman from the security footage, carrying a box. "Beckett," he called.
"We need to speak with you, come inside," Beckett said, when she turned and saw the woman. "You are?"
"Yvette Viñas," the young woman said as she walked inside the room, her accent thick. "What is wrong?"
"We just need to speak to your girlfriend-" Beckett started to say.
"Fiancée," Amber immediately said.
"We'll need to speak with Amber for a moment, and then speak with you," Beckett said, nodding at that. "I'll ask you to stay here in the apartment."
"Of course," Yvette said. "I am moving in my things, so I have no need to leave."
"Is there somewhere we can speak?" Beckett then asked Amber.
"Yeah, this way," Amber said, turning and leading them into a separate bedroom that had been made up into a dance studio. She closed the door after Castle and asked, "Is everything okay?"
"We've run into some problems with your alibi," Beckett said.
"I was where I said I was-" Amber began.
"Actually, we saw you leave with Ms. Viñas," Castle said. "When did you get engaged?"
Closing her eyes tightly, Amber said, "This morning."
"You were hiding this from your mother," Beckett said.
"She would have gotten me fired," Amber said, opening her eyes that had tears in them. "And you know I love teaching those kids. So Yvette and I hid what we had with each other."
"So she helped you?" Castle said.
"Helped me what?" Amber asked.
"You left the studio at around eleven, and you didn't come back until after one thirty," Beckett told her. "Your mother was killed between twelve and two."
"I didn't kill her!" Amber exclaimed, looking horrified. "My mother and I fought about my wanting to teach Saturday classes, but-"
"Why was there an argument about that?" Castle asked. "Because you wanted to teach ballroom?"
"Yes, I have permission from the school, but they told me it's up to my mother if they happen… or it was up to her," Amber said. She sighed and said, "I guess they're out of the question now."
"You're not going to try and keep teaching at the school?" Beckett said, glancing at Castle.
"Well, if I'm assistant to the new teacher, then I guess I'll stay, but they might not want me," Amber said.
"So you don't know," Beckett stated. When the young woman looked at her in confusion; and she could tell it was genuine; she continued, "Your mother made arrangements for you to continue teaching since she was going to leave with Lorenzo Martine to open her own studio."
"You… she did?" Amber asked, looking flabbergasted. When Castle and Beckett both nodded she suddenly burst into tears, and a moment later her fiancée entered the room.
"What is it?" Yvette asked worriedly, hurrying to Amber.
"I think I can speak with you now Ms. Viñas," Beckett said. "Where did you and Amber; Ms. Holsten go after you left the studio at the school two nights ago?"
"We went out to Le Circe," Yvette said simply. "Her mother never goes there, so we took the chance since she was feeling ill, and had a date."
"And you stayed until after one?" Castle said.
"Tell them," Amber said, having stopped crying but shaking a little in her fiancée's arms.
"We came back here, it's not that far from the school, and we… stayed until Amber remembered her things were still in the studio, so she went," Yvette said simply growing a little uncomfortable in the middle before she finished quickly.
"I'll need you both to come with me," Beckett said. "But I want to ask you, was there anything going on with your mother financially?"
"Oh, money wise, of course," Amber said quickly, drying her eyes with a tissue. "I didn't know she was getting a studio, but she was worried about her inheritance."
"Inheritance," Beckett said.
"Yes, my grandfather from France left a large sum of money to her ten years ago, but under her married name, Costa," Amber answered. "She discovered that someone had taken money from it, and was furious and also upset as I suppose that was going to the studio you mentioned and her baby."
"Who has access to that account?" Castle said after he and Beckett had exchanged a look.
"I think my dad, sister and I all do," Amber said, her voice trembling then as she realized she was again implicated.
"So looking at the footage from Le Circe and then the apartment building, I can clear Amber Holsten," Esposito said, walking up to Beckett who was at her desk.
"And I can confirm the inheritance," Ryan said, standing next to him. "There were some withdrawals that were unauthorized and actually, she was wrong, her sister, dad and her do not have any access."
"Okay, then let me talk to her again, and we can let her go," Beckett said, hoping the relief she felt didn't show up in her tone. She stood and walked over to holding, going to the last cell.
"Am I free to go?" Amber asked hopefully, looking up and seeing her.
"You are, but you do not have access to the account like you thought," Beckett told her before gesturing to the officer in the doorway. "Does your dad think he does?"
"If he did he would have tried to get some money when he went bankrupt. I think, like I said, I don't remember really seeing my dad, so…" Amber said, stepping out. She started to leave but then stopped and turned to Beckett. "If the school still allows me to teach, would you have any problem with it?"
"No," Beckett replied simply. She watched as the young woman smiled faintly and then left, seeing Castle coming up behind her. "She's guessing about her dad," she told him as she walked down to him, taking her blue mug he held out to her. "Thanks."
"I wonder if her sister knows more about him?" Castle suggested as he followed her out to her desk.
"Espo, call Amy Holsten, see what she knows about her dad, tell her we need any information she can give us," Beckett said when her phone rang. Taking it from her pocket, she saw that it was Lanie and she answered.
Watching his fiancée, Castle was a little surprised when she said, "Really? Alright, we'll be there." "She's got something?" he asked once she'd hung up.
"She does, which means it's another murder," Beckett said simply. "Ryan, we're heading to the morgue, I want you to find out how exactly the vic could get that money from the inheritance account, see if you get security footage of any kind."
Riding down in the elevator Castle said, "Think they'll keep her at the school?"
"I hope so," Beckett said, shaking her head. "And that this was the last time we look at her as a possible suspect."
"You're not going to tell Julia about this," Castle pointed out to her.
"No, but I don't want to have to tell her her favorite teacher was arrested for murdering her mother," Beckett said simply. She then sighed slightly and said, "Our daughter is too surrounded by death."
"With your-" Castle started to say.
"Our," Beckett cut in quickly.
"Line of work," Castle said. "It's bound to happen."
Stepping out of the car into parking, Beckett had to concede he was right, but she pushed the thought aside as she turned her focus to the case again. She couldn't help wishing she could pick up Julia from school, knowing her daughter was going to miss dancing especially. But she checked her watch and saw there was no chance, Julia was already out, and she herself was far from being finished with work. Shaking the thought, she got in the car trying to get her attention on what Lanie might have for them at the morgue.
"So I'm just going to get it set that this was no suicide," Lanie was saying as she led Beckett and Castle to the body of Lorenzo Martine. "You're right about that. What we have is a double murder."
"Because there are two victims?" Castle asked.
"No, I mean murder as in two methods, though one was enough," Lanie said. "First, we did toxicology; and it's why I took so long to get back in touch with you again."
"Succinylcholine?" Beckett asked. "Well, if he bought a big enough vial, I'm pretty sure the killer finished it off with him."
"Waste not, want not," Castle commented. "And he was shot."
"That's the interesting part, the succinylcholine's going to relax the muscles, so having him pull the trigger would be pretty difficult," Lanie explained.
"He had help," Castle said.
"He did, and there were some fibers in the trigger of the gun he used," Lanie said. "Also on the body and they match; which is why I'm telling you and not CSU."
"So the killer got his finger caught in the trigger," Beckett said.
"And was wearing gloves so it got caught. But CSU told us there were absolutely no fingerprints," Castle said. "Which doesn't make sense."
"Unless the killer took the vic to the apartment already dead," Beckett said. "No one saw anything in the canvass though, and there's of course no security footage of them since they probably went through the maintenance entrance and then stairwell. Is there anything else?"
"He was stabbed with the needle," Lanie commented. "In the face, here," she said, gesturing to the vic's left cheek.
"Which suggests anger," Beckett said.
"And a psychopath," Castle said. "He gets Martine to buy the drug he's going to use to kill the mother of his child; children; and then kills him with it too. You think it's them both he wanted?"
"Since they waited so long to kill him, I'm thinking it's because the killer was afraid Martine was going to spill to us who they were; likely out of guilt once he realized that he contributed to her death. He must have found out after we talked to him and went to the accomplice," Beckett answered. "If you have anything else Lanie, let me know."
"Of course," the doctor said, before giving her a look.
Narrowing her eyes for a moment, Beckett shook her head and turned around, leaving as Castle rushed after her. "Before you ask," she said, turning to him in the hall.
"I got it," he quickly said. "A hint to you… something about me?"
"Something like that, I try and ignore them," Beckett said. She had her phone out and just as she was going to call Ryan, her phone suddenly started to ring. "It's Esposito," she said. "Beckett. Wait, she what? Just now… okay, Manhattan General? Okay, we'll go ahead and speak with her. Thanks Espo, bye." Hanging up her phone she took Castle by the arm so they were walking down the hall to leave and said, "He just got in touch with Amy Holsten." She saw Castle's questioning look and said, "She was just assaulted in an alley by her father."
"Detective, oh… I thought Detective Esposito would be coming to talk with me," Amy Holsten said as she saw Beckett and Castle walk into her hospital room.
"I'm leading the investigation," Beckett said simply, trying not to get irritated as she recalled what the woman had said; indirectly; about Julia. "Are you up to telling us what happened?" she asked, since Amy's face was awash with bruises and thin cuts.
"Yeah, I'm, a little woozy from painkillers, but not out," Amy said.
"Why don't you start with where you were, do you remember what time it was?" Beckett asked as the woman didn't continue.
"Um, it was just after lunch, after I ate lunch… twelve thirty or around that," Amy began. "And I was leaving the café, the Bellagio Café. I was looking at my phone, and just as I put it away, I was pulled into this alley and that's all I can remember in detail before the attack happened."
"You remember it was your father though," Castle said.
"How do you remember it was him though? According to what we know of your mother, she left him and never let you see him," Beckett said.
"She had one picture of him, so we would know what he looked like," Amy said. "And even though he had a horrible beard and was dressed like a homeless man, it was him. And… I have seen him actually," she said.
"Before two nights ago?" Beckett asked.
Nodding, Amy said, her hands twisting the blanket that was covering her lap, "He came to me about three weeks ago, and demanded that I give him money or else he'd kill me and my sister."
"And you did," Castle said.
"Yes, my mother has… had an account for an inheritance she got," Amy said. "And I was able to pose as my mother on the phone, and give her code which I found one day, and I took the money and gave it to him."
"How did you get it to him?" Beckett asked.
"He would mail postcards with an address instead of a message," Amy explained. "He asked three times, and then that was it, and then my mother was dead."
"Do you think he killed her?" Castle asked.
"I do, he… he always hated my mother for taking us out of his life," Amy said.
"But why would he do that now if he did kill them?" Beckett asked.
"Because my mom was pregnant," Amy said.
"How did you know?" Beckett said, looking at Castle.
"He told me," Amy said. "My father, he… the reason my mom left him, or kicked him out; whatever; is because he was so possessive he would never let her dance, see her friends, anything. She was supposed to stay home with me and Amber, and that was it. And cater to him."
"How did he find out?" Castle asked.
"He kept an eye on her," Amy said. "He said he dressed as a homeless man-"
"Actually, he was homeless," Beckett interrupted. "He has nothing, which would explain why he came to you for money."
"I wondered that myself, if he was rich why he was trying to get more money from me, I thought what I heard of him going bankrupt was just a rumor," Amy said slowly. "I thought it was just because he hated Maman."
"You mentioned your mother saying she was bothered by a homeless man before," Castle said. "Could that have been your father?"
"Maybe," Amy replied. "I'm sorry I can't really tell you anything else besides that."
"You're sure there was never any way to contact him?" Beckett asked, knowing they desperately needed to find Costa.
"No, if he's homeless, then I'm not surprised I had to get in touch with him the way I did," Amy said simply.
"Did you know he's become mentally unstable?" Beckett asked as she and Castle stood up.
"Oh," Amy breathed. "That would explain why he was so angry and then a little… tender towards me, calling me his baby girl."
"Can I ask how you don't remember him if you're three years older than your sister? You have absolutely no memory of him from before your sister was born," Castle said before Beckett nudged his side.
"My mother kicked him out of our lives about six weeks after I was born, and took him back right before she got pregnant with my sister," Amy said. "I was only two and a half then, so I don't remember him then. And when she found out she was pregnant he actually left; my mother was pretty demanding; but he tried to come back when Amber was born and she wouldn't let him close to the baby. So she's never seen him at all."
"We'll be keeping an officer outside your door, for your safety," Beckett said, knowing there was nothing else she could tell them. Before she turned to follow Castle out she asked, "Do you know a Lorenzo Martine?"
"Sure, he's the chorographer for the Sleeping Beauty show my troupe is doing. I'm going to be in the Romeo and Juliet show that'll start tomorrow actually," Amy said. "At least I hope so," she said as she touched her face, grimacing.
"Do you have an understudy?" Castle asked.
"Yeah, but I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that," Amy said. "Why did you asked about Mr. Martine?"
"Well, it turns out that your mother was going to leave Mt. Surrey to open a dance studio with him," Beckett said. She hesitated to continue, but knew she had to finish saying, "He was also the father of the twins your mother was carrying."
"He's… wait, he was," Amy asked, looking up at them in surprise.
"He was killed this morning," Beckett said. "Can I ask where you were between five and seven?"
"It… I was practicing again at the Met, from five to seven, after I practiced with the other cast members and then went to lunch with them and it was after I was leaving that I was attacked," Amy said, looking suddenly frantic.
"We'll check on that," Beckett said. "If you hear from your father in any way, contact me," she told the young woman, handing her her card.
"I'm not going to forgive her for what she said about Julia," Castle said after they had left once Beckett had spoken to the officer outside the room. "But I get the feeling she's telling the truth." He wasn't surprised when his fiancée didn't say anything, and asked, "You don't?"
"Oh, I do, I just have a very hard time believing Costa could do all this," Beckett said. "And what he would do with that money…"
"He's Spanish," Castle said. "Remember the case with Asturias?"
"You make a valid point," Beckett said as she realized what he was talking about. "Time to broaden our search."
"So we got nothing on Philippe Costa," Esposito said, walking up to where Beckett was standing at the murder board.
"Nothing? No bank statements, or homeless shelters?" she asked as she and Castle turned to him.
"Afraid not, and I used both names, Costa and Bueno," Esposito said. "Drawing a blank with both, so he is a shadow."
"Or a ghost," Castle said.
"Might have to agree with you bro, he's pretty much gone," Esposito said.
"Did you contact the Post Offices that the postcards were postmarked from?" Beckett asked, having received them from Amy Holsten shortly after they'd gotten back to the station.
"They're going to send the footage tomorrow," Ryan said. "Because no one was there when I called."
Looking at her watch, Beckett sighed as she saw it was five and said, "Anything from the cameras around the homeless shelter Costa was last in?"
"He goes into the nearest subway station, and I called them for the footage and they're sending it over in an hour," Ryan said.
"Okay, well, you guys stayed late last night, so go ahead home, I'll wait for the footage," Beckett said to Esposito and Ryan.
"I got this," Esposito told the others. "I don't have plans, he's got dinner with Jenny's parents tonight," he told Beckett and Castle as he nodded to his partner.
"Thanks man, I didn't want to explain to my wife that we were going to have to cancel this dinner," Ryan said as he and Esposito bumped fists.
"And you can go home to Julia, you to that girlfriend of yours," Esposito said.
"She's working, so I guess I'll just head out," Castle said. "Call me if you get any major breaks?" he asked Beckett.
"Sure," she said before she turned to Esposito. "I'm going to spend a few minutes in the gym, but I'll come down when I'm finished and-"
"Your daughter Beckett, come on, you said she's worried about us finding who did this to her teacher," he said as Ryan headed to his desk to pack up. "And I'm guessing it's stressing you out if you need to head to the gym."
"Yeah," Beckett sighed. "Okay, once you get the subway footage, you can head home yourself or to a bar or whatever. Thank you."
"You're welcome, go," Esposito said before he went to his desk.
Grabbing her things to take upstairs with her, Beckett read the text message that Castle had sent her, and sent a reply before heading up. She tried to shake off her exasperation at what he'd told her in the text, but knew there would be no convincing him otherwise as she headed into the locker room.
The thud of the punching bag being hit repeatedly soothed her, and she didn't stop until her muscles in her arms were begging her to. As she stretched them, stepping away from the bag, Beckett glanced around and breathed out heavily. She'd been punching for a while by then, trying to get all her frustrations out on the bag. But she didn't feel all that better and decided to stop, starting to take off her gloves. She knew the only thing that she could do was go home, and hope that Julia understood they hadn't found the killer yet.
The sudden memory of Julia crying after she'd arrived at the Precinct made Beckett so angry that she lashed out, socking the punching bag one more time, as hard as she could. Luckily the glove on that hand was still on, so she hit it a few more times before stalking away before she broke her hand even with the protection she was using. Going inside the locker room, she showered hurriedly, as she still wanted to see her daughter and fiancé, though she knew Castle was still likely waiting.
Thinking of that, Beckett texted him as he'd asked her to do once she was finished, and left as soon as she was bundled up since it was threatening rain that night. Leaving through the lobby, she wasn't too surprised when Castle fell into step next to her as she was going down the steps. "What did you do?" she asked simply as he handed her a cup from a coffee shop down the street.
"Had some coffee, caught up on e-mails… read," he answered simply as he tried to hail a cab. "That's spearmint, to calm you down," he told her. "I figured you'd be rough on yourself whatever you were doing in the gym."
"Thank you, that's very thoughtful of you," Beckett said before taking a sip.
"Of course it is," Castle said confidently in the hopes of coaxing a smile from her. But he wasn't all that surprised when his fiancée only rolled her eyes, and he hurried to open the door to the cab that had stopped for them. Once they were on the way to his place he said, "I called my mom, she said Julia's doing alright but is asking about us."
Watching as Castle took her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles she quickly said, "I'm okay, just… going to be sore."
"I figured," he said before they continued in silence. "Did you check on Espo when you left?" he was asking her as they walked through the lobby of his building a little later.
"No, I know he'll call once he gets something," Beckett said. "I'd like to focus on Julia now; she's going to want to know if we caught the killer."
"I was thinking about that myself. What should we tell her?" Castle asked.
"The truth," Beckett said, though it was accompanied by a slight sigh. By then they were nearly to his floor, and she leaned against him saying, "I was a little too rough with the bag."
"Legs?" Castle asked.
"Arms," Beckett said.
"Okay, I still have the cream here last time you decided to assault the bag in the station gym, so just let me know when to get started," Castle said, clapping his hands together. He was relieved when he got a little smile out of her then, and wrapped his arm around her as they left the elevator.
"Dad," Beckett said in surprise as Castle let her walk into his place first. "What are you doing here?"
"Watching Julia," Jim Beckett said, standing up as Julia rushed to her mother with a squeal. "I swung by the school at the same time as Martha, so we decided to take her out for a snack."
"Oh sweetie, I missed you too," Beckett whispered into her daughter's ear as she could tell from Julia's grip what she didn't say. She kissed her temple and then handed her to Castle, smiling when Julia pressed her cheek to his.
"I missed you and Castle Mommy," the little girl said to them in a matter of fact tone of voice.
"We missed you too," Castle assured her. "Did you order Mother?" he asked as Martha was walking to the kitchen with her nearly empty wine glass.
"I did, it should be here in ten minutes," Martha answered. "We decided, after our snack," she told Beckett. "To have a review of all the steps she has learned so it stays fresh. Remember what I told you Julia."
"Practice makes perfect," she said with a wide smile on her face. "Martha and Grandpapa said I was good still."
"Good to hear," Castle said, kissing her temple before he set her down. "Why don't you get changed for dinner though?"
"I'll take her," Beckett said, taking Julia's hand before heading upstairs.
"How goes the case?" Martha asked her son.
"We have a lead… of sorts, the father of the vic's daughters," Castle answered, looking at Jim since he was listening to their conversation.
"Miss Amber's father?" Martha said.
"Yeah, do you remember ever seeing the older daughter, Miss Amy there?" Castle asked.
"Not really, but Miss Amber isn't a suspect is she?" Martha asked.
"She almost was which put Kate in a really bad mood and I don't blame her," Castle answered.
"Julia loves Miss Amber doesn't she?" Jim asked. When Castle nodded he said, "So she isn't a suspect anymore. What about the father?"
"We're trying to look for him, Esposito's actually still at the station, looking through subway security footage," Castle explained.
"Is Katie alright," Jim then said.
"I think so," Castle said, glancing up and ending in a whisper as he saw Beckett was coming down, Julia in her arms. He suddenly remembered her arms, and he hurried to her, taking the little girl.
"It's okay, they'll be sore later," Beckett said with a slight smile at his consideration. She kissed Julia's cheek and went to her dad saying, "Do you have any plans Sunday?"
"No, oh, it's Easter isn't it?" Jim asked.
"We're gonna look for eggs Grandpapa, will you come too?" Julia asked, running to him since Castle had set her down.
"I think so," Jim said, leaning down and picking her up.
"You're invited to Easter dinner as well," Martha said. "The more the merrier of course, since we don't have Alexis here."
"How is she doing?" Jim asked when the doorbell rang.
Watching as Castle took two bags of food from the delivery man, Beckett asked, "Italian?" unable to really pinpoint the smell of the food at first.
"Your favorite," he answered simply, setting the bags on the counter. "Hong Kong Gate."
"I get the feeling you're trying to suck up to me," Beckett said, her eyes narrowed at him playfully.
"No, I just thought, since this case was a little harder, you might appreciate this," Castle said.
"And I do, thank you," Beckett said, kissing him on the lips. It was brief, and she wasn't too surprised at feeling unsatisfied as they parted and started to get plates ready so they could eat.
Dinner was more cheerful than Castle had expected, they all talked to Julia about her class that day, and the little girl responded. She still sounded a little sad, but he was relieved that she seemed to be doing a lot better. He wasn't too surprised when half way through the meal she climbed up onto her mother's lap, eating there. "Stay," he told Beckett when they were finished. "I'll take care of this tonight; you can handle the dishes tomorrow."
Watching as Martha joined her son in the kitchen, Jim asked, "Are you staying over that often?"
"Go get your picture you drew for me sweetie," Beckett told her daughter. When Julia had gone to the coffee table she quickly said to her father, "We are, we're actually thinking of just moving Kauai here, but luckily we found a feeder for him. But yeah, we do stay here mostly."
"She doesn't mind?" Jim asked.
"Oh no," was all that Beckett could say in response as Julia was coming back to them with a piece of paper. Taking her daughter on her lap again she had her explain her drawing while Castle was setting out dessert.
"I think I should head back home," Jim said once they had finished their slices of cheesecake. "It's still not raining so I should take the chance I have to go."
"Thank you for my milkshake Grandpapa," Julia said, hurrying around the table to where he was standing.
"You're very welcome," Jim said, picking her up and kissing her cheek. "I'll pick you up tomorrow remember."
"No trials Dad?" Beckett asked, walking after him to the door after he'd thanked Castle and Martha for dinner.
"Some paperwork, which doesn't take all that long," Jim said. "And I feel like I haven't spent enough time with my granddaughter lately. So I'm taking her to the movies tomorrow."
"Yeah, the one with the puppy like I saw at Christmas," Julia said.
"That should be a good movie," Castle said with a smile. "Get back safe Jim."
"I will, thank you Castle," he said, nodding in response. "Okay, goodnight Julia, I love you," he said as Castle and Martha went to the kitchen to give them some privacy.
"I love you too Grandpapa," Julia said, sharing a kiss with him before she hugged him. "See you at my school tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Jim said, setting her down. "Are you alright Katie?"
"My arms are sore, and I'm frustrated with this case," Beckett said since Julia had gone to Martha. "But other than that I'm just glad to be home."
"I know, I can tell Julia's feeling the same way too. Is she okay?" Jim then asked.
"I think so, we're hoping tonight she doesn't have a nightmare, like she did last-" Beckett started to say.
"She told me," Jim interrupted her. "Do you need to take her back to her doctor?"
"Not unless it becomes a recurring thing," Beckett said.
"Let's hope it doesn't," Jim said. He hugged his daughter before he told her, "I'll take her home after the movie, and we'll have dinner together. Just let me know where to bring her."
"I will Dad, thank you for getting her today," Beckett said as he left the apartment. "Night." She closed the door when he was down the hall, and locked it after her before she looked at her watch.
"She doesn't have to go to bed does she?" Martha asked as she and Julia walked over to the couch.
"Pretty soon," Beckett said. "But I think we can do something before I need to give you a bath."
"Play a game?" Julia asked.
"I'll grab some popcorn," Castle said, turning to the cabinets.
"I'll get her some milk," Martha said, returning to the kitchen.
"Come here sweetie," Beckett said, holding her hand out to her daughter. "We'll pick the game together okay?" She smiled when Julia skipped over to her, taking her hand. As they went to where Castle kept the few games he'd had already in his office, she couldn't help hug her daughter to her tightly for a moment, smiling when Julia hugged her back tightly in response as she murmured she loved her, relieved she seemed to be doing alright.
"That was an epic game of UNO I have to say," Castle said. "I thought you'd pick something else… Candyland maybe."
"I like to say Uno," Julia giggled. "It's fun, did you like playing?" she asked Martha then seriously.
"Of course darling," Martha said, cupping her chin. "It was very fun, and we'll have to play it again sometime, just us two. Do you think you can?"
"If you play with just colors, not the numbers," Beckett said. "Though you could play practice games with her to get her used to reading the numbers."
"That's fun too," Julia said, getting off her chair then with her mother's help. She ran around the table to Castle who was shuffling the cards and asked, "How do you do that?"
"Well, it takes a while to get it just right," Castle said, showing her as he flicked the halves of the deck together to her smile. "And I think you need hands just a little bit bigger than yours are right now. But I promise once you get older, I'll teach you if you want."
"Might as well get started teaching her poker," Martha said, standing up with her glass. "Goodnight everyone."
"Night Martha," Beckett said as Julia went to her.
"Thank you for my snack, it was fun going with you and my grandpapa," Julia was telling Castle's mother.
"It was a pleasure kiddo, sweet dreams," Martha said, leaning down to kiss her cheek before the little girl kissed hers. "Goodnight Julia," she said before she went to the stairs.
"Okay," Beckett said, watching as Castle put the deck of cards into its box. "Now you need a bath and to bed Julia." She started to stand up when her phone rang, and she saw was it Esposito. "Beckett," she said when she answered.
Looking on as she began to talk to Esposito, Castle let Julia put the cards back where they'd been, and listened in on his fiancée's half of the conversation.
"Yes, okay, I'll… wait, actually, I need to talk to Julia for a second, let me put this on hold," Beckett said as Esposito had information on Costa for her. She put her phone on mute and called, "Espo?" to check it was working. With no answer on the other end she looked at Castle and Julia and said, "Can you give her a bath?"
"Oh, sure," Castle said. When Beckett went back on the phone, he looked down at Julia who was looking up at him a little seriously. "Come on," he said, knowing she didn't want her daughter to hear as Beckett went to his office then. He picked Julia up and said, "You don't have to let me give you a bath okay?"
"But Mommy said," Julia said softly as they went into Alexis' room.
"I know, but if it makes you uncomfortable, we'll wait for her to finish on the phone okay?" Castle asked.
Julia was quiet as he sat on the end of the bed with her, and she finally asked, "Did you give Alexis baths when she was like me?"
"When she was five too you mean?" Castle asked. Julia nodded and he smiled a little saying, "Of course, up until she was old enough to take baths and showers on her own. She showed you those pictures I took of her in the bath with her bath toys, well, I was helping her wash up and wash her hair too."
Biting at her lower lip for a moment, Julia then said, "You can give me a bath. Mommy's tired," she continued as Castle looked surprised at that. "And that way she doesn't have to work more."
"That a good point," Castle nodded, remembering as well that Beckett's arms were starting to become sore from her workout. He was touched, since he knew; though Julia wouldn't say; that she trusted him more with that. Picking her up again, he carried her into the bathroom and let her help him fill the tub with water, bubbles and a few toys before he helped her undress. He was worried she was going to panic once she was stepping into the water, but she didn't really react and he had to wonder if him telling her about giving baths to Alexis; as well as the pictures of Alexis with her bath toys; helped her. But he had to focus then on Julia, since he knew Beckett had planned to wash her daughter's hair and he couldn't leave her in the water for too long. So rolling up his shirt sleeves, he knelt next to the tub, getting the second strongest feeling of déjà vu he'd ever had since that morning.
Julia watched as Castle picked up the cup her mother used to rinse her hair and leaned back her head a little. "You did this too?" she asked, shivering as he ran his hand after the water.
"I did, she didn't like it too much," Castle said. "That's why I'm glad I get to give you a bath. I almost would have to throw her in the tub… well, not really throw her. But to get her in…" He whistled to Julia's giggle as she wiped water from her forehead, and got some shampoo on his hands before saying, "But once she was in and she had her toys, she would calm down. So thank you for not making me promise to let you have sugar for breakfast to get you in here."
"Mommy would be mad if you did that," Julia said in a matter of fact tone as he was lathering her hair.
"She would be, so I think we're both pretty lucky," Castle agreed.
"That she's my mommy?" Julia asked before he rinsed her hair.
"And that she wants to marry me. I'm really lucky," Castle said in an exaggerated tone of voice, seeing the little girl's smile.
"Can I ask something?" Julia asked after they were quiet for a while.
"Ask away sweetheart," Castle said, rinsing the conditioner from her hair by then.
"When… when are you and Mommy gonna get married?" Julia said shyly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye but then looking quickly away.
"Do you want us to still?" Castle asked, pausing as he picked up her washcloth. He was relieved when Julia nodded hurriedly and he said, "Your mom and I explained to you that we need to wait until the summer to get married. But we will get married, I promise. And I know if your mom was here she'd promise too."
"Kay," Julia said as she held out her arm for him to start washing. "I wash my legs and my feet by myself."
"I know, you're growing up," Castle said as he washed her back last and rinsed her off before handing her the washcloth. He cleaned her ears while she took care of her legs under the water, and then said, "You can play for a little, but just really quick because I think you're running late for bed today. Oh, do you want to wait for your mom to get you out?"
"That's kay, you can do that too," Julia said, picking up the foam shapes floating around her and sticking them on the wall.
Castle sat down and watched her make different buildings with the shapes before she attempted a horse. After he'd admired it for her, he got her out and dried her off, waiting still to see if she'd be nervous or panicked. But she seemed to be fine as they both worked to get her dressed in her pajamas and he dried her hair the best he could. "Okay, stay here because I forgot to grab you some socks," he told her, putting her in her robe. "I just want to get the water drained and everything cleaned up before we go out."
Julia stood by, watching as he cleaned everything before he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. "Thank you," she said suddenly as he was putting her socks on.
"You're welcome," Castle said, sitting next to her when he finished. "Can I have a kiss?" He smiled when Julia nodded, and he leaned down to kiss her before pulling back and putting her on his lap.
"Can I tell you something now? And you won't tell Mommy?" Julia eventually asked as they could hear Beckett was still on the phone.
"Go ahead," Castle told her.
"I asked Mommy what I asked you, she said you will get married, but later in summer maybe. And she wants to still get married still," Julia told him nervously.
"I'm really glad to hear that," Castle said, kissing her forehead. He started to speak when he heard that his fiancée had stopped speaking and he said, "Here she comes."
"Sorry, I had to wait for Espo to look at something," Beckett said as she entered the room to see Julia in Castle's arms, her hair wrapped up in a towel. "Thanks for giving her a bath," she said with a smile as she took her daughter from him. "Her hair?"
"I want you to brush Mommy," Julia said quickly as her mother set her down on the bed. She giggled when Beckett took off the towel and her still damp locks; turned a deep brown by the water; fell around her eyes.
"Sit still sweetie," Beckett said as she took Julia's brush Castle handed to her. She grabbed his wrist before he could leave her, and pulled on slightly until they shared a quick kiss.
Castle was tempted to linger, but knew they needed to get Julia to bed; and there was the fact that she was watching them. So he sat in front of the little girl on the edge of the bed and said, "I almost forgot, you didn't tell us about the flowers you learned about today in school."
"Oh!" Julia said, perking up instantly at that. "Remember I said we learned about the months and birthday?" When both her mother and Castle nodded she continued with, "She told us about January and February, and the last one is different, but the first one is carnations and then the next one in England are violets and the next one here is a primrose."
"Did you see pictures?" Beckett asked finishing brushing out Julia's hair.
"Yeah, the last ones are pretty. Oh, and Mrs. Clayton said the first one, the carnation, comes in lots of colors and it's the flower for Spain," Julia said.
"Sounds like you're learning a lot, more than I knew," Castle said as he picked up Julia, lifting her above his head a little before laying her down on the bed.
"Did you know about that?" Julia asked as he pulled the covers up until she could put her arms over them.
"Not about the Spain part," Castle said. "One day, I'm taking you and your mom there."
"Like Grandpapa goes?" Julia asked eagerly.
"Yep, but for now, we've got Sunday to look forward to," Castle told her.
"I can't wait to see the eggs," Julia told him. She hugged him as he leaned down then, and shared a kiss with him before lying back down.
"I love you Julia, sweet dreams," Castle said, not surprised she only nodded. He kissed the top of her head and then moved to let Beckett say goodnight.
Squeezing his arm as he passed her, Beckett sat down next to Julia and hugged her tightly saying, "Sweet dreams Julia, I love you so much."
"Love you too Mommy," Julia replied, smiling before they shared a kiss. She settled under the covers as Beckett covered her completely, holding her Stitch doll to her. She watched her mother and Castle stand in the doorway, watching her, and that was all she remembered before nodding off to sleep.
Downstairs, Castle asked, "Anything new?"
"Well, we have an area to look around to find Costa," Beckett replied as they went to his office where she'd left the pad of paper she'd been writing on. "Around Harlem, there's apparently a homeless shelter he prefers to use when it rains."
"Any clue which one or do we need to wait for tomorrow?" Castle asked.
"That was what took me so long, Esposito was looking at the camera footage he could get to track Costa, but there was a gap and we lost him. It's about two square miles; the security gap, but there are about four shelters there and since they're basically closed…" Beckett explained.
"We have a better chance now to find him though," Castle pointed out.
"We do, which is great," Beckett said, tearing off the paper she'd written on. She was going to take it to her bag so Julia wouldn't find it, when Castle took it from her. "Thank you, but you didn't need to," she told him as she followed him out.
"How're your arms?" Castle asked as he walked back to her.
"Yeah, I know, but putting a piece of paper away isn't going to be that much of a struggle," Beckett said, knowing he'd been helping her out because of that.
"No, what I'm saying is, how do you feel about taking a bath," Castle asked, taking her arm and leading her to his room. "With me."
"It depends," Beckett said, looking at him.
"Not that kind of bath," Castle said honestly.
"Good, because I'm a little tired," Beckett told him as he closed the door behind him but didn't lock it.
"Well, that'll happen when someone wakes you up at who knows what time and is a little needy…" Castle said jokingly as they went into the bathroom.
Beckett didn't reply to that, instead turned to him, and slid her arms over his shoulders as he was quick to hold her. She kissed him, Castle meeting her halfway and their lips locking together firmly, in a way making up for them not being able to do that since they'd made love that morning. She could feel his hands sliding up under her blouse, and she shivered in pleasure, pulling away to look into his eyes intently. She leaned into him at the same time he was, kissing passionately and more than a little frantically as they clung to each other tightly.
Watching Beckett closely as he worked the muscle cream into her right shoulder, hearing her groaning lightly under her breath in response, Castle said, "How badly did it get beat up this time?"
"Bad enough," Beckett said shortly, looking over her shoulder as he moved to her left side. She sighed as he rubbed against her back and worked up to her shoulder. "You sound a little… annoyed, I thought you love doing this."
Castle didn't answer that, instead mumbled a few words before he finally spoke saying, "You notice at all I've had to do this more and more often?"
Turning to him, and a little surprised he didn't look down at her bare breasts, Beckett said, "What do you mean?"
"Don't give me that," Castle sighed, closing the tube and getting up to wash his hands. "Ever since the plane crash you'll do this when you need to wear your vest."
Crossing her arms over her chest though he was finished, Beckett didn't say anything until he was sitting across from her. Finally she had to sigh and said, "I can't help but be afraid every time I put it on. Afraid that I will not get the chance to take it back off again and come home to her."
Nodding, since he could still see her scar even with her arms in the way, Castle said, "I don't know if it's such a great idea for you to do that though. But… it probably helps you get your frustrations out. And at least it's not me you're working that out with. It would be pretty rough."
"It wouldn't be sexually," Beckett said.
"Oh, then really good you don't take it out on me," Castle said, getting up as he realized she was shaking from cold.
"It's not just me I'm concerned about," Beckett said as he came back to the bed with her shirt. "Thanks."
"Me too," Castle stated, not surprised at her nod. He waited for her to put on the blue, long sleeved shirt; taking a quick moment to admire her breasts as she raised her arms; before saying, "Is that why you added my mom to your will?"
"Even though I really, really didn't want to," Beckett sighed deeply.
"It's better that way… just in case," Castle said, taking her hand and pulling her to him. Once she was in his arms; sitting on his lap; he whispered, "You didn't ask me how the bath went," as he wanted to change the subject badly.
Smiling, Beckett said, "I was there, it was nice." She couldn't help but softly laugh at his exhale, which sounded irritated, and then said, "How was it?"
"It went pretty well, I really thought she was going to freak out at the idea of me helping her undress," Castle said. "But before we went into the bathroom, she did ask if I had done that for Alexis at that age."
"That helped then," Beckett said with a nod. She smiled again and leaned her cheek against his shoulder saying, "So she was fine the entire time?"
"She was," Castle said, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. He felt her moving, and a second later heard her yawning and smirked a little saying, "You really wore yourself out this morning."
"You would have done the same thing. And you are too, we had a normal bath for once," Beckett said, rolling her eyes as she moved to slide under the covers as he let her go. She sat up as he started to walk around the bed, and heard a soft knock on the door.
Going over to it quickly, he knew already who it was but wondered why she was there. "Sweetheart?" he said when he didn't see her outside in the entry to his room. He then looked at the shadows next to the pedestal, and spotted her striped pajamas. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, picking Julia up and carrying her into the room.
"Julia, did you have a nightmare?" Beckett said when she saw Castle carrying her. She held her arms out to her daughter and cuddled her close once she was in her embrace.
"No, I woke up and I was alone, I didn't like it," Julia replied, shaking.
"You're freezing," Castle said, getting on the bed and feeling her bare feet.
"Of course she is, you took off your socks sweetie, you know you're not supposed to," Beckett said, kissing her forehead as Castle tucked her legs under the covers.
"I don't like them," Julia said. "Can I sleep here with you and Castle?"
Sighing as she looked at her daughter and then fiancée, Beckett knew she needed to take Julia back to bed. But looking at them, she found she couldn't say no and instead said, "Why don't you ask Castle?"
"Oh, I think she knows what I would say already," he quickly responded. "You can stay," he told Julia, who was looking up at him expectantly.
"Thank you," the little girl said with a smile.
"Just for tonight, tomorrow you're staying in your bed okay?" Beckett said, moving down to lie on the pillow with Julia next to her. They watched as Castle climbed in under the sheets and she kissed her daughter before she watched her kiss him goodnight. "Get some sleep sweetie," she whispered as he turned off the light before lying back down with them. She watched as Julia's eyes began to flutter open and closed as they were quiet, and was relieved when finally she fell asleep.
"You want to know something?" Castle asked.
"What?" Beckett said, whispering as he was.
"I think she came down here as much for you as for herself," Castle commented.
"She knows I have you," Beckett replied.
"Not on nights when you're more tired or stressed out," Castle said.
Smiling a little and brushing her lips over Julia's temple as she realized he was right, Beckett motioned to him with her hand and when he leaned over to her she whispered, "Then I have you both at least," before they kissed.
The room was quiet, only the whispers of, "I love you Castle" and "I love you too Kate," breaking it before the two lay down on either side of Julia. The shadows of rain trailing over the windows ran over the wall opposite the bed, where they all slept deeply, calmly, through the storm.