FF giving me fits. Wouldn't allow an update

Chapter 40

"They're here, Rick. Remember your stitches and don't swing Alexis around like you normally do when you've been separated for a while. And don't go into detail on your injuries and not ONE word about how I acted like a complete idiot, okay? Alexis has forgiven me but I think I'm still on probation."

Rick smirked and just took his place on the settee on the porch and waited…and waited and suddenly…"

"Daddy!" His world was complete. He stood to greet her and she easily slipped into his arms and gently wrapped him in hers. And started to cry.

Rick eased her down on the rattan settee and let her cry. She soaked the t-shirt he was wearing but he didn't care. She was like a little girl again, wiping her nose against his chest but this time it wasn't a bad dream or a skinned knee. No. This time it was because she had come face to face with her father's mortality, right on the heels of losing Martha.

He tried to lighten up the situation. "Hey, Pumpkin, do you think it's a good idea to leave your mom and Kate alone in the same room?"

She sniffed up her tears and then whispered, "Not really but I think they have to come to terms with each other. Dad, this summer has meant a lot to me. I missed you but being with her has been nice. She's really trying to make up for everything. She's clean and sober and she goes to AA meetings all the time."

"Good. Maybe she'll luck out like Kate's dad, and stay sober. It's hard, little girl, to kick it."

"You need to quit drinking, too, Dad. It's not good for you and it makes you stupid. Oh, we saw Natalie in Los Angeles and she said to say 'Hi'. She's really nice, too, once you get past all that Hollywood crap. She and mom are friends, kinda."

"Maybe we should go in and let me say 'Hi' to your mom. Kate's trying, Pumpkin. Cut her some slack, okay?"

"We talked. It's okay." Rick knew that she was trying to accept Kate back into their lives after all that had happened. He wouldn't push for now. Maybe he wouldn't have to push at all.

Meredith's reaction was a total surprise. She did the almost exact same thing as Alexis had done, minus the'Daddy', of course. Hers was 'Ricky' and she's started as soon as she saw the bandage over his eyebrow. He glanced over Meredith's shaking shoulder at Kate who was looking at him with the strangest look he'd ever seen on her face. He couldn't place it.

Dinner was lively and went quite well. Kate had made baked chicken and Meredith was all compliments as was Alexis. The conversation centered around Alexis, what she'd been doing over the summer and then, eventually to her boyfriend.

Kate hid her smile behind her napkin. From the faraway look on his face she knew he was thinking about their earlier conversation.

'Rick, how do you feel about being a grandfather?'

'Grandfather? Who? Me? Alexis? Shit! I'll kill Meredith! She's only a child. She can't pregnant! I'm too young to be a…oh, shit. That makes you…'

'Don't go there, Richard! I was kidding. But Alexis has a boyfriend and he's a 'killer skateboarder'. Just thought you'd like to know is all.'

"So, Alexis, tell Kate and I all about this new guy." He didn't exactly glare at Meredith but it was close.

Alexis laughed and started describing her 'boyfriend', glancing every once in a while at Kate, whether for moral support or just acceptance, even she wasn't sure.

"He sees me, Dad, not these," she gestured towards her forehead and cheeks. Kate looked at her with a gentle smile and she knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Rick, I think it's great that Meredith's so close to this guy's mother and that they have 'adult supervision' but mostly that he doesn't seem to mind these," she said, pointing to her own cheek. She wore her hair in a ponytail and Rick had been so proud of her for her courage. Meredith's skin was flawless by comparison.

Rick leaned back and glared at Alexis in mock anger and then smiled. "I think you need to hang on to this guy. He seems a lot like me and you know how much you love and adore your old Pops."

Whatever tension there was in the room evaporated and soon everyone was talking and laughing. Kate looked over the rim of her ice tea glass and sent him a silent 'thank you' and he just nodded. He didn't want Alexis to go through the same 'adjustment' problems as Kate.

The visit raised Rick's spirits immensely and Kate was actually sorry to see Meredith and Alexis leave early Thursday morning for Los Angeles. She and Alexis had repaired a lot of the damage done by Kate's breakup with her dad.

Kate drove Rick back to the hospital to have his stitches in his abdomen removed. The doctor assured them that he would be 100% within the week. On the drive back, Kate kept glancing over at Rick as if he might disappear. She'd been thinking a lot about them lately and had made some decisions.

"Rick, I'm going to call Lanie and the guys and ask them to come up this weekend. I know you want to see them again and it's the perfect opportunity for me to get back in their good graces but I have another reason: I want the guys to move my stuff into the loft because I'm letting the apartment go. Is that okay with you?"

"Perfect. We'll grill some steaks and…and, yeah, grill some steaks. Perfect." He'd have to pass on the steaks. He was on a 'light' diet and that meant more damned fish and chicken when he craved meat.

After Kate had made her calls and confirmed that 'her boys' plus Lanie were coming the following morning, she left to clean the rooms and put fresh linens on the beds. She was also plotting how she was going to con the boys into doing all the moving.

Rick saw that she was busy, off in her own world as she moved around the beach house. He stepped out onto the porch and called Esposito.

"Yo, Castle, 'sup, man?" Esposito liked Castle and he really approved of the Castle/Beckett relationship, probably more than anyone else.

"When you come here tomorrow, I want you to bring copies of everything you have on Coonan and his connections. Copies of everything. Don't tell Beckett, Esposito. I don't want her to know until we have something more concrete to move on. Also…"

He sighed and tried to find just the right words…

"Espo, Kate's thinking about quitting the force and I think it's more a reaction to what happened to me than what she wants. Feel her out for me. I need her to stay the course. If she quits now or even takes an extended leave of absence she'll never go back. You know it and I know it. She's the one in denial."

'And if I bite the Big One, she'll have a constant in her life, something to do and feel good about.'

"I'll talk to Lanie and maybe between the two of us we'll be able to make some headway but don't expect a lot overnight. She's a stubborn one and thinks she's always right."

"She almost always is, Esposito."

"Man, you're so whipped!" He looked over at Ryan and mouthed 'Castle' and they fed the birds. Ryan told him to ask Castle if Jenny was invited.

"Castle, Ryan, another whipped boy, wants to make sure the invitation includes Jenny." He shot Ryan a disgusted look.

"Of course. Ah, I assume you and Ryan will be sharing one room and the ladies the other? I don't mean to imply that…" It was his turn to jab.

"Whoa! No way. I thought you knew that Lanie and I…"

"I do now. That was too easy, Esposito. Too easy. Don't forget the files."

He hung up the phone and grinned. Some of Kate's interrogation techniques had worked their way deep within him. He could only imagine the look on Esposito's face.

He turned around carefully, momentarily dizzy from changing positions too quickly and saw Kate staring at him through the closed French door. 'Uh oh…think fast!'

"That was Esposito. He wanted to make sure that Jenny was invited, too. That was alright, right? Jenny?"

"Were you dizzy just now, Rick? Are you okay? No headache or anything? You'd tell me if you were, right?"

"Kate, I just got up too fast. It happens to you, too, if you'll think about it. Quit overanalyzing every move I make, okay? I'm not dying, Kate. I have much too much to live for. What about Jenny's invite?"

"Yeah, fine. I'll go find something else to do." She walked away.

"Damn it, Kate! Don't run away from this. I'm not going to die. You're not going to be alone again. I'm going to hang around for a long time if only for the incredible sex." He knew it was the wrong thing to say the second that the words formed in his head. He was too slow to stop his mouth.

"Don't you dare make light of my concerns for you. You have a damned tumor in your brain that could end your life, take you away from me and Alexis. I understand denial, Rick, I really do, but now's not the time for it."

"I don't do denial, Kate. I'm way past that and I'm in to acceptance. If it grows, it grows. Can't stop it. Can't do anything so I refuse to let it dictate my life just like…"

"Just like what, Rick? Just like I let my mom's murder dictate mine? Just like I let the fear of being hurt by you dictate my actions? I thought we were 'way past that', too, Rick."

"We are. If it grows, it grows. If not, why waste time worrying about it when we can be cramming as much into each day as we can?"

She'd been inching toward him, unconsciously and he'd been doing the same. They were only and inch apart and he could see how her eyes were glistening with the beginnings of tears.

He leaned forward and kissed her, sucking her bottom lip between his and worrying it with the tip of his tongue. Their only contact was the kiss.

She sighed and brought her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, trying to convey how much she loved him with it. Rick broke off the kiss and worried her ear with his lips and tongue. She squeezed his neck tightly and moaned when he ran open-mouthed kisses down her neck. Easing her grip around his neck, she leaned her head back, giving him full access to her neck and throat.

"Let's take this to bed, Kate. We'll just go very easy and I promise, at the first sign of a problem, we'll…regrettably…quit, okay?"

"Oh, Rick, a week. We just have to wait a week until you get a clean bill of health. I'm just as anxious as you are, Rick, probably more so but we will wait. Now, I've been reading some of Lanie's favorite blogs and I've come to find out there are other ways, honey. I feel like experimenting. I could use a willing subject. Are you willing?"

"These blogs that Lanie reads, Kate…she's a medical examiner…"

"They're her guilty pleasure, Rick. Some of them are quite…innovative."

"Lanie? Sweet, innocent Dr. Lanie Parrish reads…smut?"

"Let's find out."

Two hours later, exhausted but extremely happy, a pain-free Castle ran a finger up the inside of Kate's thigh and then across her center. She giggled and rolled over against him.

"Rick, still think Lanie's so sweet and innocent?" Lanie had recommended an illustrated website devoted to the Kama Sutra.

Much later.

"Kate, I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Lanie and not blush. The 'Monkey pulls the Turnip'? I may never walk right again."

She laughed and nipped his ear. "Wait until we get to the section on biting, scratching and... We'll have to wait until you're a lot better."