"I believe," Martha interrupted quietly, but with strain apparent in her voice, "that Detective Beckett is here to inform you that Aris is your sister."

...

Kate flinched at the shocked looked on Rick's face. Aris fidgeted uncomfortably and Martha looked slightly ill.

"Really? That's why you're here?" Castle finally recovered enough to ask. Kate and Aris both nodded. "You're my sister?" he cried to Aris. She nodded again. Kate watched Rick closely. Gone was his cocky assurance and swaggering arrogance. Vulnerability and confusion filled his features now. It was a little unsettling to the detective.

"You knew about her?" Castle asked his mother.

"I didn't darling," Martha replied.

"Then how –?"

"She looks like her father – a lovely version of her father," she acknowledged their guest graciously, "and incidentally, your father, Richard. I figured it out the moment I saw her."

"My father is Gio Miron?" Castle asked no one in particular.

Finally, Aris spoke up. "Was Gio Miron. I'm sorry Richard, but he died a few months ago. It was his dying wish that brought me here."

The news of his father's death did nothing to impact Rick. "Oh, yes, I had heard," he said, emotionlessly. "I'm very sorry Ms. Miron."

"Actually, it's Miron-Whit-" Kate started to correct Castle, but Aris quieted her with a shake of her head.

"Thank you Richard," she said.

"You said you were here because of Miron's dying wish," Castle said. "What does that mean?"

"Yes, you're right. I am." Carefully, moving like she might shatter the tension in the air if she turned too quickly, Aris turned to Martha. "Mrs. Rogers, my father told me, a few days before he died, that his greatest regret was walking away from you after he found out you were pregnant. He said he didn't even give you a chance to tell him yourself – he heard it through the grape vine and left without any notice or anything. He said he knew he was the father of your baby but he felt that he was better than having to be saddled with a wife and child, or even just the association of family obligations. He thought himself too important and up and coming to have to face consequences – so he didn't.

"He wanted to make things right – at the end – but he was a coward. I won't deny it. And as he lay dying he asked me to do what he never would. I'm here today with his apologies for all he put you through, and this," Aris handed the older woman an envelope. "I'm asking you to just accept what's inside without hesitation."

Martha opened the envelope with tension marring her attempts. Finally she pulled out a check and gasped when she saw the zeros.

"My dear girl, I cannot accept this," Martha said, tears in her eyes.

"Please do," Aris insisted simply. "It was Gio's sincerest wish that you have this. He had his lawyers figure the amount of child support he would have paid over the years, as well as tuitions and other sundry expenses – things he should have paid for that you shouldered on your own."

"But I never asked for his help," Martha replied, pride and even anger in her tone. "I could have pitched a fit, made a scene, but I knew what the stakes were, and I also knew I would be just fine on my own! I don't need his money!"

Their visitor cried openly. She looked at Richard and Kate with anguish on her face, but they both remained quiet. This was between Martha and the memory of Gio Miron.

"I understand why you don't want the money," Aris said quietly. "And though he wrote the check to assuage his guilt, I'm asking that you keep it to help assuage mine." She stopped for a moment, choking on a sob, and then continued. "Can I tell you a story? It will help me explain why I want you to have this money." Martha nodded and Aris cleared her throat.

"When my own mother found out she was pregnant with me, I became her meal ticket. She milked Gio for everything she could. Finally, when I was 10, my father got smart. He started checking into what she was doing with all the money he gave her for my tuition, clothes and therapy bills. He found us living in a crappy apartment with my mother using the child support payments to live the high life. My tuition money went for Georgio and Jimmy Choos and Harry Winston's, and my doctor's bills were actually spa trips and botox. When he cut her off, she got angry and found herself another sugar daddy. And even though I'd never actually met my father, she dropped me off at his house while she went on a trip to Europe with her new boyfriend. Gio wasn't even in the country at the time. I stayed with his housekeeper for almost 2 weeks before he got home and found what my mom had done."

"What did he do?" Martha asked quietly.

"He tried to get a hold of her, make her come back and take me home," Aris answered. "I can remember hearing him yell at Mrs. Baker – the housekeeper – that he couldn't afford to have a kid around the house. That it hurt his image and therefore his company."

"Did he find your mom?" Richard asked.

"No," the woman carefully replied. "The police found us. My mother had been in a car accident on the Autobon. Her boyfriend was drunk and collided with another car – killing everyone in both vehicles instantly."

Everyone gasped. "I'm so sorry," Kate whispered.

"I didn't tell you this story to make you feel sorry for me," Aris said, with a wry grimace. "Truly I didn't. I tell you this story to offer a blatant comparison. I knew from a very young age that my mom didn't love me," she cut off Martha's protests, "no honestly, she didn't. I knew she needed me, but there's a stark, glaring difference. When my mom got pregnant, she used. When you were pregnant, you loved. Where she was all selfishness and angles, you were pride and hard-work. Where she had no shame in using her own child to manipulate and blackmail, you loved your child enough to see that he wasn't exposed to an unloving, selfish father."

"My dear, I'm sure Gio loved you, despite what he said," Martha reassured her guest.

"You hear people say 'they loved me in their own way'. I wish I could say that Gio loved me in his own way, but I don't think he knew how to love. He knew how to write checks and make deals. And my mom knew how to takes those checks and wind up on the right side of his deals. My mother didn't deserve a single dime from Gio. But you? You did everything right – you loved and you cared and you worked hard. You deserve this money – it is rightfully yours. Please take it so I can know that not all my father's money went for empty things and empty people."

Martha looked long and hard – first at the check and then at the woman who'd brought it. Finally, she put an elegant hand to Aris' cheek and smiled. "Well, I can't thank Gio for this gift, but I can thank you. My dear, you are a wonderful surprise. I'm sure your mother would have been proud."

Aris smirked. "I doubt it," she whispered.

"Then," Martha smiled as tears filled her eyes, "on behalf of the rest of the mothers of the world, I'm very proud of you."

The smirk left Aris' face, replaced by extreme vulnerability. "Thank you," she whispered. She seemed lost for a moment, and Martha scooted over next to Aris and folded her in a hug.

Kate's eyes misted up. She knew just what Aris was getting in that embrace. Martha had a way of giving exactly what you needed in a hug. They were never any different – she put her arms around you the same, she patted you the same with her beautiful hands, she squeezed with the same pressure – there was just some sort of magic in Martha Rogers that gave you just what you needed. Smiling, she turned to the woman's son, but Kate couldn't read the look on his face.

"You okay Castle?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"You okay?" Kate tried again.

"Oh, yeah," he answered, never taking his eyes off of his mother and half-sister as they pulled apart and continued to talk in hushed tones.

Right, she thought, but didn't press him. There would be time when this was all over to make him talk honestly.

Finally, Aris looked up from where she sat with Martha. "I have one more bomb to drop, although, I think this one will be a little easier," she said. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out another envelope and gave it to Richard.

"Do you know what this is?" Richard asked, suspicion written all over his face.

"I have a fairly good idea."

"I don't need any money from him."

"Neither did your mother."

Richard sent an apologetic glance toward Martha, who dipped her head in acquiescence. "Just open it Richard," she murmured to her son.

Still the author hesitated. Kate reached over and put her hand on his knee, squeezing reassuringly. Then Castle opened the envelope and read its contents out loud.

Dear Richard,

As my daughter has probably explained to you, I am your father. I offer my apologies that I did not support you and your mother while you were young. However, if I had my life to do over again, I must honestly admit that I wouldn't change anything.

I tell you this so you will understand why I do not send Aris with a check for you. My company is my greatest love, my best accomplishment, and so, it is with great pride that I tell you that it was Miron Productions that got your book to Universal. And Miron Productions proudly broke our mold to help bring your work to the silver screen. I offered what I loved best in hopes that you will not think too unkindly of me as the years go on.

Sincerely,

Gio Miron

P.S. Also, I would ask that you take care of your sister. She took good care of me when I didn't deserve it. She loves having family around and I'm sure she is anxious to know you better.

Long moments stretched into the silence. Finally, Richard looked up from the missive and saw Aris – red-faced.

"He wasn't a sentimental man," she offered lamely.

"Obviously not," Richard replied not unkindly. Silence reigned again as Castle struggled to assimilate what he'd read. "So if it hadn't been for him, Heat Wave wouldn't have been a movie?"

"That's not necessarily true Richard," Martha interjected.

"Your mother's right," Aris assured him. "From what I understand, everyone talked about the buzz your Nikki Heat books were making before anyone thought about turning the first one into a movie. He wanted to give you something, and he knew the moment the opportunity arose that that was what he could do for you. So, he jumped at the chance and snatched it up before anyone else could."

Castle just nodded and lapsed into thoughtful silence. Finally, Aris stood up and gathered her purse. "Well, I'd better get going," she said. "I think I've caused enough chaos for one morning." She stood awkwardly for a moment until everyone else caught her hint and came to their feet stuttering and talking over each other. Martha finally won out.

"You have not caused chaos my dear. You've offered healing. Thank you for coming and we'll be in touch very soon." She briefly hugged the woman again and guided her toward the door, asking after contact information, and leaving Castle and Beckett by themselves for a moment.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Kate asked without looking at Rick. He just shrugged.

"Aren't you going to drive her home? Didn't you get her here?"

Kate gasped and darted toward the door where Martha and Aris were. "I'll get you back to the precinct Aris."

The woman smiled. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "But I actually took a cab there, so I'll just grab one from here. Is that okay?"

The detective nodded, grateful she could stay. "I'll get your financial information back to you. I'll have some uniforms drop it by your hotel."

"Sounds good. It was really nice to meet you all," this she said with a raised voice – obviously for her brother's benefit still in the living room. "Despite the circumstances, I'm glad to know you. Glad to know I've got such nice family underneath the same sky."

With a smile, Aris walked out of the apartment. The door clicked closed behind her and she felt deflated as she slowly trudged down the hallway toward the elevator. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel like – but truth be told, she'd envisioned meeting her half-brother and immediately feeling that familial connection. Like she'd felt with her husband's family – only this was hers.

It hadn't been anything like that. Richard had hardly said two sentences to her during her whole visit. And Kate had gone from being a strong ally to a hovering presence. Only, she'd hovered over Richard. Aris laughed quietly as she stepped the elevator into the lobby. Kate Beckett was in love with Richard! Aris loved a good romance, and she thought her brother and the beautiful detective looked good together – natural and comfortable. She hoped that Richard loved Kate back but the thought brought a wave of depression. She probably wouldn't ever get to see if he did.

Battling a sense of the blues, Aris looked at the floor as the elevator doors shut off her view of the Castle loft.