Author's Note: This is a bit longer of an update... thought that you would appreciate that though. Sorry for not updating this week, as it has been a bit crazy in my life... but now... read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I would own at least two more houses if I owned them...

Castle looks at Kate, not knowing if she wanted the news known or not known to the rest of the family.

"I was talking to your dad about our ruined plans for the evening."

"Oh… what did you have planned?" Alexis asks, not understanding how Kate could be thinking about ruined plans when her father almost died tonight.

"Dinner, candlelight, showing him my sonogram of the baby…" she says casually, causing Alexis to almost do a double take in her mind.

"Wait… you mean… are you pregnant!?" she asks, her entire face lighting up.

"We are, yeah." Kate says, smiling as the younger Castle comes rushing to her side to give her a hug.

"Wait! Gram… how are you not freaking out about this right now?"

"I may have heard Katherine telling your father when he woke up that first time." She says with a flit of her hand that only Martha can do.

"And you kept it from me while we were downstairs! This is huge news!"

"Not mine to tell."

"Well… regardless… this is awesome." Alexis says with a huge smile on her face, looking at Kate.

"Thanks, Alexis."

Through the good and the bad and the ugly.

we'll grow old together, and always remember whether rich or for poor,

or for better, we'll still love each other forever and always

"Hey Kate?" Alexis says, knocking on the doorframe that leads into her father's bedroom.

"Hmmm?" Kate says, still asleep on the bed, sans Castle… who had an early morning meeting on her day off.

"Detective Beckett?" she asks again with a bit more force.

"Alexis? What… What's wrong?" she says, sitting up quickly in bed and squaring her shoulders towards the younger girl.

"I… umm… I need to ask you a favor… and it's a weird one…"

Kate takes in the younger Castle, noting the way she has a slight blush and bites her lip nervously. "Whatever you need, Alexis." She says confidently, knowing that she would do anything for the girl. The relationship they had was an odd one, but good. They weren't terribly close, but moving in that direction slowly.

"Okay… not to offend you or anything like that, but I did ask Gram about this first, and she's busy that day… I don't even think you can get off work for this. Dad always talks about your schedule, and if you're on call…"

"Alexis…" Kate says, putting her hand over Alexis' as it rests on the bed beside her own. "Ask me."

"Will you come to tea with me?"

Kate's brows knit together in confusion, not understanding why Alexis was so concerned about asking her.

"It's a mother/daughter tea."

And there it was.

"Oh…I… umm… I can clear my schedule, just let me know the date."

"Really?"

"Of course… why wouldn't I go?"

"Well… you aren't… and uh… you and dad… this isn't coming out right." She says, getting frustrated trying to explain herself. "Okay… can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you love him?"

"Alexis… I'm marrying him… of course I love him."

"Well… yeah, but… why?"

Kate sits for a moment, never having actually had any kind of conversation with Alexis that was this deep in nature. Again, they had a good relationship, but not one that was this close and personal… not that she didn't want that for the two of them, but because of the nature of her relationship with Castle. So, that's where she began.

"Your dad was so annoying… that first case we were investigating. I really couldn't stand him because I had this image of Richard Castle in my mind that didn't match the picture."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if your dad ever told you this, but his books saved me when my mom died. He was who I read and he was one of the reasons that I wanted justice for everyone. And then this man comes in and he isn't at all what I thought he would be… and then it all changed. He brought me coffee, he finished a sentence of mine, he saw through my bullshit, he had enough research to write a million books but stayed, he made my job… more. He changed and I changed, and all of a sudden, he morphed into this person that I wanted next to me through all the crap, through the joy, through all the ugly that the world threw at me. Our thing was always… I think that was us saying 'I love you' without actually uttering the word, and for the first time in my life, I knew that someone meant always. He would always have my back, he would always search for me, he would always be there… so… I love him."

"Kate… that's why I want you to come with me. I asked Gram because, Gram was like a mother to me growing up later in life… and then my thoughts went to you. I'm old enough to understand my dad and my mom. She wasn't there for me… which I know is terrible of me to complain about because of what happened to your mom, but for me that's the truth. I know that I acted like a brat when I came back, and I know that I told my dad I was upset about the engagement… but I'm not… well… not really. God, this makes me such a spoiled brat."

"Alexis, I love you, but I'm not a talking in circles person… you need to just put it out there."

"This is the first time that I feel like I could be replaced… or not replaced, but… you aren't leaving. You guys are going to get married and have babies and have this perfect ending, and I'm just worried that I'm not included in that for you. So I want you to go with me to the mother/daughter tea because I want you to understand that I care about who you are to me… and who I want you to be to me. Cause I need it. I love my dad and he has done a great job being a great dad, but I need something else, and I wanted you to understand that I… I want it to be you… because I know you aren't leaving."

That is when it hit Kate that this young woman had held a lot in for a lot of time. Her detective's ear heard more than what was said. She felt abandoned by the women in Castle's life. Her own mother left them and from what she understood of Castle's second marriage, Gina was more interested in Castle than in Alexis.

"I'm here… and the tea sounds wonderful… but, Alexis?... No pressure."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I will be whatever you need me to be… a friend that you can talk to, another adult to ask advice from, or more than that. Whatever you need. We aren't just going to magically be that to each other, just like Castle and I didn't start off as what we are now. You just have to know that I love you, and I'm here for you."

"Thanks Kate…" she says with a smile, squeezing the hand of the older woman before starting to walk out of the room.

"Oh, and Lex?"

Alexis turns with a smile.

"Just so we're clear… if you ever wake me up without bringing coffee to have a meaningful conversation… I may disown you. And…. No more Detective Beckett." She says breaking into a small grin after saying it.

The tea was still a few weeks away, and with the news of the baby, she was thinking that maybe this was all something that was going to come together. She was actually going to get that happy ending that everyone wanted in the end… the only problem was that she wanted it now. Like right now… she didn't want to wait.

"I'll be right back." She says, standing up from her spot to let Martha and Alexis step in at Castle's bedside.

When she gets into the hallway, she makes a mental list of everyone that matters and realizes how short that list is. She doesn't know how to respond to the thought in her head because while she doesn't have many friends, the ones she has matter so much to her that maybe it's worth it.

She dials the first number and a groggy Jim Beckett picks up the phone.

"Katie, what's wrong?"

"Um… nothing… well actually, Rick is in the hospital, but that's not why I'm calling."

"Rick's in the hospital? What happened?"

"He got hit by a drunk driver on the way home tonight, but he's okay… I just… Can you come down here for something?"

"I can… what do you need?"

"All I need is you." She says, which she knows will worry her father more that she should.

"I'll be right there then, which hospital?"

"Presbyterian."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"More than…" she says cryptically, hanging up the phone.

Her next call is going to be met with resistance, because it's late… or rather early depending on how you look at it, and this person doesn't like being called unless someone is dead.

"Where's the body?"

"No body."

"Katherine Beckett, you called me… God, Kate! Do you know what time it is? What the hell?"

"I need you to come down to Presbyterian hospital… Castle was in an accident, but he's okay… I just… I want you here."

"Kate are you all right?"

"I am… I uh… I just need you here for something."

"I'll get dressed and be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks Lanie."

All right, now there were just two other calls that she had to make, but she stopped for a minute to think about her decision. She knew that there was no more hesitating, but then realized that she might not have the resources to pull this off the way she imagined. Maybe she does need to talk to Castle before she does this.

"Beckett?"

"Espo?"

"Lanie just called me and told me Castle was in an accident, you okay?" he asks, coming to a near skid in front of her.

She looks around in confusion for a moment before asking, "Espo, I just got off the phone with Lanie, how the hell did you get here so fast?"

"I uh… Jenny went into labor and Kev couldn't drive himself to the hospital cause he was flipping out. We grabbed her and are waiting for the appearance of baby Ryan upstairs."

"She's having the baby?" Kate's eyes lit up at the thought and then realized that this would be a perfect day in the life of this small and awkward family group.

"She is… what's going on down here?"

"Um… well, I may need some help with this, but I uh… I have to talk to Castle first."

"Whatever you need Beckett."

"What room are you guys in upstairs?"

"I'm not in there, just sitting in the waiting room near the maternity ward… so whatever you need, let me know."

She nods, and heads off to the nurses station to ask about whether or not something was possible….

It was…