may flowers

Thank you all for reading! This one's a little longer than I'd anticipated, but hopefully quantity hasn't reduced quality.

Chapter Eleven

"Little Red Riding Hood?"

Kate rolls her eyes, cheek pressed against his chest as she nudges his leg with her foot. His laughter rolls through her ears as his arm drifts around her waist, tugging her against him, deliciously naked.

"She was not a fairytale character, Castle."

"You just told me she was dressed - "

"In a costume. She's not actually Little Red Riding Hood."

"But you found her in the woods. It could've been a wolf…"

"So the signed confession I have back at the precinct is a lie, huh?"

Castle huffs and she laughs, lifting up on her elbow to stare down at him. It's nice - to have him, here, at her apartment. Usually it's so… empty. Quiet. Deafening. She's not quite sure of the exact way to describe it, really. Intimate? Oh. Yes. With him it is.

She leans down, ghosting her lips against his, teasing. He growls, a low sound from the back of his throat, making her shiver as she drifts closer. His hands settle on the small of her back when she plants her hands on either side of his head, moving to straddle him. To her delight, he gets that glazed-over, aroused look he always does with her like this; utterly enthralled. She's never met anyone who's as mesmerised by her as he is. Someone who takes note of every little thing she does, in ways that should be annoying, or creepy, but are utterly endearing. He cares.

"I love you," she tells him, because the words are free now, because she can.

"Well, I am ruggedly - "

He yelps when she twists his ear, and then she's giggling into the darkness when he flips them and blows raspberries against her neck.

Kate juggles her keys, duffel bag and her cell in her hands as she attempts to unlock her cruiser and answer the call at the same time. February frost is tickling the back of her neck and all she wants to do is get to Castle's apartment as soon as possible. Martha has taken Alexis away for the weekend to the Hamptons, claiming they were in need of some girl bonding time. Kate suspects that the older woman had ulterior motives, had given she and Castle some time alone. Not that she begrudges his daughter, but it is nice - it being just them.

Now it's Friday and she has the weekend off and she's leaving for Castle's. She knows he's waiting for her with more food than the two of them can possibly eat and a bottle of wine - the thought already has warmth curling in her stomach while she opens the car door.

"Hello?" She answers, tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder as she throws the duffle onto the passenger seat and settles in the driver one.

"Katie?"

Her eyes slam closed as she shuts the car door and leans her head back against the chair. Her dad. He doesn't - sound drunk. No slur to his speech. But still. Her dad. The one who always knows how to switch her mood from high to low with just slurred word. And she's supposed to be having a nice evening alone with her boyfriend. Will her life ever be simple?

"Hey, dad," she says softly. No need to go on the attack just yet.

"I - uh, I just wanted to check in on you. See how you were doing," he adds, and she feels tears prickling at her eyes.

That had always been her role. For years upon years she dragged him out of bars, out of precincts, out of puddles of his own sick. No matter his mood, happy or sad, he was still drunk - would lash out at her, tell her she was too much like her mother; would cry, tell her how he and her mom had first met, how happy he'd been with their small family of three. And then - to have had bordering on nine years without that. To have had her dad back - a little more reserved, but still her dad. It had been freeing.

And to have lost him again -

"Katie?"

She snaps out of it, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hands.

"I'm doing good, Dad. And - and you? You're okay?"

"I'm doing really good, Katie," he tells her, and just like all of those times before, she tells herself not to fall for it. For the faux optimism in his voice, the idealistic promises. "You know, it's - it's been three months. Three months sober, Katie."

"I'm really proud of you, Dad," she tells him. She is. Really.

"Thanks, Katiebug."

She takes a deep breath and counts to ten. Exhales slowly, like Doctor Burke had taught her. Hand on her stomach to make sure she really is breathing, not just puffing her chest in and out, not just pretending.

"Do you think… We could start meeting again? For lunch? Once a week, like we used to."

Her hand drifts from her stomach, scratching against her mother's ring through the fabric of her t-shirt. She'd worn something bold, a sapphire blue, because Castle had told her he liked that colour on her.

"Dad - "

"It really is different this time, Katie. I don't - I don't dream about your shooting anymore. I don't wake up in a panic thinking you're dead."

She holds back her response. But I do.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet actually," she replies, choosing to believe him, choosing hope, because if there's anything being with Castle has taught her, it's that optimism isn't always a vulnerability. "We could meet tomorrow? At our diner?"

That nugget of information piques his interest. "A special someone?"

Kate huffs a laugh, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, Dad. We've been together about four months now."

"Four months," he repeats quietly. She hears everything he doesn't say. And you didn't tell me.

"He has a daughter, Dad."

"He does?"

"A beautiful, charming, seven year old daughter. So Dad, I can't - I can't have false hope with this one, you know? You can't… Dad, he has a daughter."

She cuts off her own rambling by pressing her fingers against her lips. They taste dusty, reminiscent of the crime scene they'd found their victim in yesterday, and she realises that she hasn't showered since four in the morning before that. Hmm. Castle does have a big bath. Maybe it's time to put it to use.

"I won't mess this up, Katie," he promises. "It's really different this time. I swear."

In spite of her brewing pessimism, Katie feels a smile growing on her lips. He sounds like her dad. He's acting like him, too. And she's missed him desperately. He's the only family she has left, really. Of course she has aunts and uncles and cousins, and her makeshift family at the precinct with the boys. But it's not the same. She's wanted sitting around the Christmas tree and stockings above the fireplace and laughter over turkey - and the closest she's come to that lately is Castle. Which should scare her off. Should send her running in the opposite direction. But even when she leaves, she always runs back to him.

"I know, Dad," she says softly. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She can hear the smile in his own voice. "See you tomorrow."

Even outside the loft, she can smell the meal he's made, something that makes her stomach grumble and her heart whisper home.

He appears at the door immediately, her hand still falling away from knocking when he ropes an arm around her waist and tugs her to him. She comes willingly, melting for him when their lips meet and she drops her bag by their feet to wrap her arms around him, comb her fingers through his hair. Despite her intentions, her hips nudge into the cradle of his when he groans against her, feeling her blood molten. She laughs against his mouth when his hands slip around their ass, because they really are quite ridiculous - but she never wants this honeymoon period of theirs to end.

"That was quite the welcome," she mumbles as he smatters kisses across the length of her jaw.

"I'd missed that."

"I saw you two days ago," she replies, laughing when he growls and kisses her again, fiercely, until she's weak at the knees for him.

He raises his eyebrows when he pulls away. "You were saying?"

"Point taken."

Grinning, he moves to take her bag, ignoring her protests and indicating she move to the kitchen. She hangs her coat up and moves to the glass of wine he's left out for her, peering into the oven to see what he's cooking. Chicken. So he's planning on spoiling her - with just one sip of the wine she can tell it's her favourite, the kind that makes her bubbling for him, and the meal he's cooking one of her favourites too.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," he tells her, appearing from the room and wrapping his arm around her hip, kissing the side of her head just because, and this small moment of domesticity has her heart pounding in ways that aren't fear.

"I said I was."

"I know, but you were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago."

Her brows lift. "And you can't last for that long on your own?"

She regrets the words as soon as she's said them, because then he's laughing into her hair, lips brushing the shell of her ear when he whispers. "I think I've shown you exactly how long I can last, detective."

Rolling her eyes, she shoves him away lightly. He laughs and watches as she settles on one of the stools at the island opposite where he's standing.

"I was… On the phone to my dad, actually."

"You were?"

He's leaning down to take the chicken out, but pauses to gauge her expression. There's nothing to hide from him, so she just shrugs, tracing her finger against the rim of the wine glass, listening to its low hum. Yes, she was, and yes, she's a little shaken up, and no, she doesn't want to talk about it.

"How does that make you feel?"

She splutters a laugh. "Seriously, Castle? What are you now - my therapist?"

"Sorry," he says sheepishly, leaning across the counter to land a kiss on her forehead. "I mean, where do you guys stand with each other now? You mentioned you don't have much contact now."

"We don't," she admits, pursing her lips. "But he's… He's been sober three months now. Not one of his longest periods, but he sounded so happy. So certain he was going to do it. Last time he sounded like that, he did, and he was sober for nine years."

"It's okay to hope, Kate," he reminds her gently and she nods.

"I actually… I told him about you."

"You did?"

Glancing at him, she sees his eyes widen. Why is that such a shock? She's met his family, has regularly had dinner with them ever since their first dinner together a few weeks ago. And they're serious about each other. At least she is about him. She'd thought he was serious about her too.

"Yes?" It comes out as more of a question than she'd hoped. "I actually - if you don't mind - agreed to us meeting him for lunch tomorrow."

"Of course I'll meet your dad, Kate. No question about it."

Kate grins, reaching across the counter this time to kiss him. It's soft and she pulls back all too quickly when the timer of the oven goes wild, but he's still got the dazed look he gets because of her. Even as he dips to get the chicken out of the oven.

Looking down at her plate, Kate frowns. "Uh, Castle?"

"Yup?"

He pops up with steam surrounding his face. A little ridiculous, but a whole lot adorable.

"Are you aware that there's a key on my plate?"

"Oh, yeah, it's for you."

Kate grabs the key from the plate so that he can serve her her food. Frowning, still confused. It's just a plain key. For her?

"For what?"

"It's a key to the loft."

That hits her hard, breath leaving her instantly.

"Castle - "

"Don't read into it more than it is, Kate," he tells her, a little strained, and when she meets his eyes he's almost pleading. Oh. "It's just a key, the same way you gave me one to your apartment."

"Yes but that's different, Rick. It's just me at my apartment."

"What, I can only use that one for a booty call?"

She laughs while blushing, running a hand through her hair. She's let it fall straight today, capturing the first glimpses of sunlight they've had this year, and she knows he likes it. It's longer than when she wears it curled. There's more to grab. Even now, his eyes follow the path of her hand as it wades through her hair, strands falling neatly around her shoulders and dusting between her shoulder blades.

After, his eyes move back to hers, a little earnest, and she sighs. Slipping from the stool she moves over to under the stairs, rifling through her coat pockets for her keys. She watches the delight smother his face as she walks back over to the kitchen island and makes a show out of slipping the key onto her keyring. It clinks against the one for apartment, and she feels her heart flutter. She has a key.

"Happy now?"

"Very."

She rolls her eyes and moves away to put her keys back. By the time she's returned he's dished out the food, making her hum and his eyes move over her legs when she sits beside him. Oh, yeah, she knows exactly what he's thinking.

"This looks delicious," she practically purrs, and he grins.

"I like your t-shirt," he responds, fingers trailing over her spine through the cotton material.

"You do, huh?" She replies, slipping a hand over his thigh and watching his throat bob. "You should see what I've got on underneath."

If she'd thought she was the nervous one for this lunch with her dad, she'd been wrong. Ever since she'd reminded him of their lunch that morning, he'd been acting strange, a little too jumpy for her taste. He'd even shied away from her touch, and she'd never known the man to turn down sex with her. Ever. When she'd tried to tug him into the shower with her as they were getting ready, he'd hissed what if he can tell, making her laugh even as he tried to slip his hand out of her grip. Once her hands had found a place a little lower, however, his arguments had escaped him and he'd joined her.

Now, as they walk the last few blocks to the diner hand in hand, he's shifty. Apologises to every stranger he accidentally knocks shoulders with on the sidewalk and rushes across roads to make sure cab drivers don't yell at them to hurry up. She observes him, bemused, as he stops just before the diner to check his hair in a shop window.

"You know, Castle, my dad isn't superficial."

He grimaces, guilty.

"I know - I just, I want to make a good impression, you know?"

"You will do."

His whole face lights up as he turns back to her, wrapping large hands around her hips. "I will do?"

"Sure, as long as you don't act like yourself."

He scowls. "I walked right into that one."

She tips her head back as she laughs, and she feels his smile against her chin, moving down to press an open-mouthed kiss to her throat. His hands are shaky around her hips and she sighs at the tail-end of her laugh, curling a hand around the back of his neck to pull his lips to hers. He jolts, a little surprised when she slicks her tongue against the roof of his mouth in broad daylight surrounded by strangers, but when she pulls away she just has a self satisfied smirk on her face.

"Not that I'm complaining - but what was that for?"

"Because you're nervous when you shouldn't be and I don't think my dad will appreciate it if I make out with you in front of him," she responds easily, like it should be obvious.

He swallows. "Right."

She takes his hand again then, tugging even as he still looks a little nervous. The bell chimes above their heads as they walk into the diner, and she spots her dad at their usual table, his hands clasped together and staring at them with a mug of coffee cooling in front of him. He looks up at the sound of the bell and smiles, not as wide as she'd like, his eyes widening when he drinks in the man holding her hand.

Jim stands as they weave through the diner towards him, and she drops Castle's hand to greet him with a hug. It had made her laugh when she'd first grown taller than him and had to stoop to rest her cheek on his shoulder when she was just sixteen. Now she revels in it, and smiles at the smell of coffee, and ink, and woodshavings. No trace of whiskey, his drink of choice, or vodka, his desperate seconds. Just - her dad. Real.

He murmurs her name and she squeezes him a little tighter before letting go. He looks good. He looks healthy, and she turns to Castle smiling to find he's already watching her for her reaction.

"Dad, this is Rick Castle. Rick, this is my dad, Jim," she introduces them, watching as they step forward to shake hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure's all mine. Katie failed to mention that she was seeing her favourite author."

Kate flushes red and elbows Castle in the rib when he murmurs I knew it.

He follows her into the booth when she slides in, carefully maintaining distance from her even as she rolls her eyes and her father watches their exchange with amusement in the seat opposite them. Some part of her wants to make a joke about not being a nun - but then she takes a second look at Castle, sees his hands curled nervously in his lap and decides to let him off the hook. Instead she slides one of her hands around his until he opens his hand for her and loses the white-knuckled look of nerves.

"You look good, Katie."

"You too, Dad."

He gestures sheepishly at the coffee in front of him. "I would've ordered for you - but I didn't know how Rick took his coffee. Plus I uh, got here a little early."

"It's fine, dad. Really."

As soon as she says it, their waitress appears to take their lunch orders, along with their coffees. Castle copies her order even as she pokes her tongue out at him, and she doesn't miss the delight that glimmers in her dad's eyes at the action. Let him see how happy he is. How the world keeps turning even when it feels like it shouldn't.

"So, Rick… Katie tells me you have a daughter."

Wow. Really? They're going into it this early?

"I sure do," Castle replies, beaming proudly the way he always does when he talks about Alexis. He reaches into his coat to get his wallet, pulling out a photo of his daughter and handing it to Jim. "Her name's Alexis. She's away with her grandmother at the moment, but she'd love to meet you, I'm sure."

"She's beautiful."

"She is," Kate agrees softly and Castle squeezes her hand, using the other to accept the photo back from Jim and put it away.

"And her mother?"

"Dad," Kate chides, shifting uncomfortably.

"It's okay. Her mother - Meredith - she gave me sole custody when we divorced. She's lovely with Alexis, she's just not… She's not the every day parenting type."

Jim nods and lets it pass, much to Kate's delight. The subject of single parents sets her father on edge sometimes. She knows how much of a failure he felt as one, despite how she'd had both parents for the entirety of her childhood.

In fact, she doesn't think she's ever dated anyone with kids before. This is new. To both her and her father. She can understand his misgivings, because she's had her own. Maybe not the same ones - she knows Castle, knows how fiercely he loves his daughter, how he would do anything for her. But sometimes she catches herself at dinner, laughing with his family, wondering what it is they're doing. What is she to them? Is she just the girlfriend? Does he expect her to be a mother to Alexis? Does she want to be?

Their food arrives then, interrupting her panic before Castle can ask her what's wrong. She's grateful for it - communication and honesty may be key to a long-lasting relationship, but she's not quite ready to discuss this yet.

"So what's new with you, Dad?"

"Uh, well - you remember my old friend, Nick? He offered me a job on his legal team and I - I was thinking about taking it."

She feels emotion rush from her toes and up through her body. Her dad would be a lawyer again, just like he used to be - he loved that job. He and her mother would sit around the table after dinner debating different aspects of their cases, enjoying every second of it, and she remembers watching them and hoping to be just like them one day. And sure, she's not a lawyer like she'd hoped, certainly not Chief of Justice, but most evenings she and Castle bounce theories off of each other about her recent cases. And it feels like what she'd wanted all those years ago. It feels right.

"That's great, Dad."

"I'm a little rusty," he admits.

"I'm sure you'll get back into the swing of things quickly."

Her dad looks pleased at her support, and Castle squeezes her hand. She's missed this. Him.

"And you, Katie? Besides this, of course."

"Oh, well - you know, the same old. The boys drive Lanie crazy and Gates glares at us from her office."

Castle laughs beside her, and they both look at him curiously.

"Ah, sorry," he says quickly, setting his knife and fork down. "It's just - the fact that you can call that the same old. It's amazing. Here I am writing a book about you and you're shrugging at your work like it's nothing."

Kate feels her face flood with heat as her dad asks a book?

"Oh, did Kate not tell you? I'm writing a new series based on her. I'm about halfway through the first novel now and it's better than anything I've ever written - and I say that modestly. Your daughter is… " Castle looks at her and smiles. "She's quite an inspiration."

Kate dips her head, kissing his shoulder as she waits for her reddened cheeks to pale. She knows her father is watching, but lays her cheek on Castle's shoulder, her free hand tickling patterns on her palm as she tries to cope with the swell of emotion he always lifts in her.

"She certainly is," she hears her father agree.

After their lunch, Castle slips away to the bathroom. Her father helps her with her coat and pulls her in for a long, tight hug, one that she knows he feared to give her in front of Castle. She wants to tell him he knows and he understands and he's not like the others. But she keeps her mouth shut, and lets him have his moment.

When he pulls away, he's smiling. "He makes you happy."

It's not a question. "Yeah, he does."

"He's a good man. I'd - I'd love to meet his daughter. Alexis. Someday."

Kate bites her lip. Her father really does seem like he's doing better, like he's actually committed to being sober again. But can she risk that little girl on hope? Would Castle agree to that too?

"Maybe, dad," she replies, watching his face fall. "It's not a no. Just. Give it time?"

He nods. "I understand, Katie. But you - I'll see you here next week?"

"Yeah, dad. You will."

Castle emerges from the bathroom and joins them then, exchanging a hand shake and pleasantries with Jim before they make their separate ways. The little bell above the door chimes again as they leave and she looks back, waving goodbye to her father as he heads in the opposite direction.

The shaking in Castle's hands has gone now as they walk back to his loft.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

Castle nods, smiling a little. "You were right. Though I don't know how he keeps his cool like that. Alexis isn't having a boyfriend until she's at least thirty."

"I don't think that's your choice, Castle," she points out, and when his expression goes sour she rolls her eyes, tugging him to a stop and raising her hands to cup his cheeks. "But how about we deal with that when we get there, huh?"

He's breathless. "We will?"

"Yes," she replies, leaning in to close the distance between them. "We will."

TBC