A/N: I forgot to post this last time...so I'm doing it now. Thanks to all the alerts and adds and stuff. Also, thanks to those of you who pointed out my last name error on Martha. The minute I read it I was like: "DUH", but that's why I have you guys. Also, I should warn you that I am taking lots of liberties. This isn't a character study or even something that I'm working overly hard to align exactly with the show. You could say it's almost AU-ish. But if something is confusing because I've gone too far OOC, let me know and I'll try to make some changes. Insert standard non-ownership disclaimer

Martha slowly clicked the door closed behind their visitor. Kate stood near her, anxiously waiting for the older woman to say something.

"I'm going to go upstairs," she whispered finally. "Tell Richard I'll come down and talk to him in a while."

"Are you all right?" Kate asked.

Martha Rogers smiled, a little sadly. "Kiddo, don't you worry about me. I just need to grieve for a minute – let go of old mistakes and forgive for old slights. I suppose I need to ask my son for forgiveness too. Oh," she softly gasped, "he must be so angry with me."

Kate hesitantly put her arm around Castle's mother. "Of course not Martha!" she exclaimed. "Come talk to him, you'll see he's not. He's just...in shock." Kate sought a worthy excuse for why the normally talkative writer sat, clammed up, in the living room.

Martha sighed. "Kate, I'll be down in a little while. Tell him, will you?"

"Of course."

Kate watched as Martha walked up the stairs and disappeared behind the loft door, and then she returned to the living room where Castle still sat in silent contemplation.

"Are you all right?" she asked this Castle, this time. Give her a few hours for Alexis to get home and she'd ask that Castle too, just to cover the whole family.

"Was I rude to her?" Rick asked, a serious look on his face.

"No, of course not," the answer came easily to Kate, and she felt desire to smooth the worry lines between Rick's eyebrows. Palms tingling, Kate kept her hands clasped in her lap lest Castle think she'd lost her mind.

"So, she's my sister."

"Yes, she is."

"She's not just scamming me? Did you check her out?"

"Yep, that's why she came to me first. She wanted someone you trusted to be able to vouch for her. Obviously there is no paternity test proving it, but Mr. Miron seemed to know you were his son, and your mother confirmed it."

Castle sat silently for a minute more before he jumped up from the couch and ran for the front door. He whipped back around, grabbed Kate's wrist, and dragged her with him out of the apartment and down the stairs. Bursting into the lobby, Rick and Kate saw Aris waiting with the doorman at the curb.

"Ms. Miron!" Rick shouted. "Ms. Miron!" He continued to drag Kate behind him.

Aris turned Rick's second call, and smiled at the picture of her half-brother dragging the detective behind him.

"Ms. Miron, er, Aris," Rick gasped for breath as he caught up with her. A cab pulled up at the same time and the doorman moved to open the car door for her.

"Yes Richard?"

"Call me Rick – only my mother calls me Richard," Castle said, liking the way Aris' eyes lit up at his request. She nodded and he continued. "I'm sorry I let you go without saying anything. Truth is I don't even know where to start."

"That's completely understandable."

"Would you, uh, how would you like to come for dinner this evening? You can meet my daughter, Alexis, and we can get to know each other a little better. Would that be all right?"

"I would love that Rick!" Aris exclaimed, joy shining in her eyes. "Will Kate be there too?" she added, indicating like she would like for Kate to join them.

"Of course," Castle answered.

"Oh good," Aris' smile had a glint of mischief, which she wiped away when she notice Kate looking at her. "Well, I'll see you tonight."

"6:30?"

"6:30."

Rick and Kate watched Aris climb into the waiting cab and disappear into traffic. Only then did Kate address something.

"Castle?"

"Hm?"

"You can let go of my wrist now."

Rick looked down at the grip he had on Kate. Grimacing, he released his hold and watched while Kate rubbed some life back into her fingers. "Sorry about that," he offered.

"It's okay," Kate assured him. "Hey, I need to go back to the precinct."

Castle felt panicked for a moment, but he forced it away. "All right. But you'll be here tonight?"

"Of course I will."

"And," Castle hedged, "will you come a little early? Maybe as soon as you get done this afternoon? I have a feeling the Castle clan will need some back up – there's no telling how Alexis will react to this."

"I just need to finish off some paperwork and then I'll head back your way." Kate dug her keys out of her pocket. "I'll see you in a little while Castle," she said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Kate?" Rick asked, making Beckett turn around to him again.

"I have a sister!"

Kate laughed. "Yes you do, you lucky devil."