Amazed by the outpouring of love via alert emails in my inbox. You are all beautiful creatures, and I'm delighted to have you on board. So much love.

Forgot to put this in the last one, but I own nothing, and am in no way connected to ABC. I wouldn't say "no" to a job writing for Castle, however.

Castle knew he was going to be late when he left Rize at the time that Alexis, Tom, and Jake were supposed to be arriving at the loft, so he figured an extra fifteen minutes wouldn't hurt, and stopped to pick up flowers for Alexis. His daughter had always hated it when he was late…plus, he needed some time to think about what had just happened.

He allowed himself that time as he walked to the corner, and then down Lexington two blocks to Ariston Floral Boutique, staring up at the Chrysler building as he passed it.

What just happened?

Castle turned that question over and over again in his mind as he perused the store for something Alexis would like. It felt so odd, seeing Beckett again after all those years. They had been apart longer than they had ever been partners, and yet…once they had gotten past the awkward stage, it was almost as if no time had passed at all.

Of course, there had been certain telltale signs that actually quite a bit of time had passed, but everything else was overwhelmingly the same. Beckett still had long, perfectly curled brown hair. She still wore turtlenecks with blazers. She still had that same smile. The one that made him feel like…

No, he wasn't going to finish that thought. Like nothing. He felt nothing. At least, that was what he had been telling himself for years. There was a very specific reason why they hadn't seen each other in such a long time. He had had to remind himself of that reason a few times during their visit. He left That Night because it was a problem that couldn't be fixed. They couldn't be fixed.

Castle frowned down at some roses. Lord knows he had revisited That Night more times than he cared to admit. Heard her in his mind like a broken record asking him to just tell her what was wrong so that she could fix it, telling him he couldn't leave, couldn't just abandon her, asking him what happened to "always". There had been a while after that that every time he closed his eyes he saw that look on her face. He had seen it there before over the course of their time together, but things related to her mother's case, or the shooting had always put it there…never before had it been his fault.

Leaving his Kate had broken his heart too.

Castle sighed and shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate. He would be in here for the rest of his life if he tried to figure out Kate Beckett in a flower shop. He picked up an arrangement of brightly colored gerbera daisies – Alexis' favorite since she was a child – and made his way to the register to pay.

As he waited for the young African-American man behind the counter – "Tony" was embroidered on his green smock – to wrap and cut them, he stared out the window to the street. There was no denying that when things were good with Beckett, they were reallygood. Three hours of just talking had reminded him of that.

"I know that look," Tony said, pulling him back to the present. "You've got lady troubles."

Castle looked at him, a silent question displayed on his face.

"We get people coming in here all the time buying a couple dozen roses, racking up huge bills, writing, 'I'm sorry, please forgive me,' on their cards," Tony folded green tissue paper neatly around the stems. "And all of them look just like you."

"How's that?"

"I don't know, lonely, I guess. Like something's weighing on their heart," Tony hit a few keys on the cash register and then said, "That's going to be 42 dollars and 38 cents."

Castle dug his credit card out of his wallet and handed it to him.

"Credit or debit?"

"Debit."

Tony swiped the card and punched in a few things, and then handed the card back.

"The flowers are for my daughter," Castle informed him, sticking the card back in it's designated place. "I'm late for dinner."

Tony handed him the flowers and said, "Well, then I guess your lady isn't into flowers."

"You're late," Alexis stated, taking the flowers and lying them on the counter. She pushed her hair behind her ears and went around to the other side of the island, pulling rolls out of the oven. "I made chicken pot pie."

"Oh," Castle said, sounding surprised. "You didn't have to cook. I was planning on doing that…"

"You're late," Alexis reiterated.

"By half an hour," Castle said defensively.

"In Toddler Time, that's two," Alexis chided. "Especially when he's hungry. Besides, my other option was Gram."

Castle grimaced. "Point taken. I am sorry though, Alexis."

Alexis sighed, and then smiled softly at her father. "It's okay. And the flowers are beautiful, thanks Dad."

Castle smiled back at her. "Good. I just got kind of hung up at a coffee place."

Alexis furrowed her eyebrows. "What were you doing?"

"Well, it's kind of an odd story, I – "

"Grandpa!"

Castle looked down at the two-year-old that was now tugging excitedly at his pant leg. "Hey, buddy!" he beamed at him and squatted down on the floor to speak to him on his level. "How're you doing?"

"I'm hungry," Jake frowned and poked his stomach.

"Hungry, huh? Hmm…" Castle pretended to ponder the information for a moment while stroking his chin, and then snapped. He lowered his voice, "You know…if you go into my office…and open up the top drawer, there just may be a couple of pieces of candy you could have…"

Jake's eyes lit up, and he high-fived Castle before dashing off in the direction of the study.

Castle stood up and leaned against the counter.

"I can hear you, you know," Alexis said with a small smile, pulling the pot pies out of the oven.

"I know," Castle grinned. "But he doesn't have to."

Alexis shook her head. "You're going to spoil him."

"Hey, I tried to give you candy before dinner too. You wouldn't take it because you said it was inherently wrong," Castle grabbed a beer from the fridge and twisted off the top. "You were also six."

Alexis laughed lightly, and then called out, "Dinner!"

Martha came sweeping in, followed closely by Tom. "Richard, it's about time you showed up," she admonished, swatting her son on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I got held up," Castle held up his hands. "I'm only a half hour late."

"What could possibly be so important that you would be thirty minutes late to a family dinner?" Martha put her hands on her hips.

"Well, I was just trying to tell Alexis, I-"

"It doesn't matter right now, I'm too hungry," Martha cut him off.

Castle shook his head, and directed his attention toward Tom, nodding in his direction, "And how're you doing, Tom?"
"Not bad too bad, sir," Tom reached out and shook his hand. "Yourself?"

"Can't complain," Castle said, even though he could. "You're not going to lecture me on being thirty minutes late too, are you?"

Tom chuckled. "No, sir."

"Good," Castle sighed. "Then you are the first simple person I've encountered all day, bless you."

Tom laughed again. "Definitely had those kind of days."

Alexis got down a stack of plates and handed them to Tom. "Would you mind setting the table, please?"

"Sure thing," Tom smiled at her, took to steps away, and then turned around. "Um, silverware?"

"Oh, right," Alexis grabbed a bundle from the drawer next to her, and then set them on top of the plates. "Thank you, dear."

Tom swerved on the way out to avoid Jake who came running in at the same moment, covered in chocolate.

"Jacob," Alexis called the child's attention to her. "What do you have all over you?"

"Um," Jake stopped and looked between his mother and Castle for a second. "It's not chocolate."

The corners of Alexis' mouth twitched upward, but she did her best to keep her face looking stern. She crossed her arms. "Then what is it, pray tell?"

Jake looked at the floor for a moment, and then looked back up at Alexis, face serious. "Mommy, I gotta tell you something."

Alexis cast a sideways glance at Castle and then said, "Okay…"

"New York is getting invaded by aliens."

Alexis blinked a few times. "Aliens?"

"Yupp."

"Aliens don-"

"What kind of aliens, Jake?" Castle asked, giving Alexis a look. Just let him go.

"Big ones. They're brown. Exactly the color of chocolate. It's funny, because they aren't chocolate. Mom, I wasn't eating chocolate," Jake lowered his voice and looked around the kitchen conspiratorially. "I was defeating aliens."

"You were, were you?" Alexis fought another smile.

"Mmhm," Jake nodded. "See, I went into grandpa's office to…I went in there 'cause I heard their Evil Call of Evil. And I didn't want them to ruin the dinner, so I killed them with lasers. They exploded all over the place."

"That sounds like quite the mess," Alexis remarked.

"Yeah. I cleaned it all up though, so it's okay," Jake explained. "They almost ruined our lives, but I killed them dead."

"So the brown on your face…"

"Alien goo parts."

"Right," Alexis nodded. "Come here, my brave little warrior, let's get the 'alien goo parts'," she hooked air quotes. "Off of your face before dinner."

Jake grinned and held his arms up obediently, allowing himself to be lifted onto the counter by the sink.

"Aliens," Alexis muttered, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it down with warm water and soap. She began to gently clean her child's face and arms.

"Quite the tale of valor," Castle remarked, smirking.

"I was brave too," Jake informed him. "Mom?"

"Yes, baby?"

"You have a real pretty face."

"Thank you, you're a sweet boy."

"That's why I killed the aliens."

"Because you think my face is pretty?"

"Because I didn't want them to ruin your face with evil."

"Oh," Alexis pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "Thank you. That was kind and very brave. Now," she lifted him again, and put him on the floor. "I want you to go take a seat at the table and wait for dinner, okay?"

"Okay," Jake agreed easily, and departed.

The minute he was gone, Alexis lost it. "He 'killed them with lasers'," she managed out between fits of laughter. "Oh my gosh."

"He's quite the little storyteller," Castle grinned.
"Is he ever," Alexis began putting pot pies onto a platter. "He uses that little journal you have him last month to write us stories all the time."

Castle beamed. "Maybe he'll grow up to be like me."

Alexis shot him a look. "Don't say that," she deadpanned. "Only someone like Gram could have handled your wild child phase, and I am decidedly not that type of parent. He needs to have Tom's wild child phase."

Castle raised his eyebrows. "Tom had a wild child phase?"

"He drove his parents car into a ditch once and didn't tell them about it," Alexis told him, feigning a badass tone.

"What a rebel," Castle smirked.

"Exactly," Alexis picked up the tray. "Hey, Dad, could you bring the bread, a beer for Tom, and a bottle of water for me in with you?"

"Sure thing," Castle set his drink down and got the other two bottles from the fridge. If Jake turned out like him, he could stop him from making the mistakes he made. Talk him out of the wild child stunts before he did anything he regretted because he'd know what to say.

Granted, Castle didn't view any of it as a mistake, but it would definitely be a mistake if his grandson did any of that.

Oh, God. He froze.

Reno.

Castle balanced the drinks on the edge of the platter of rolls, and decided that it would be best if he kept an eye on him in his late teens.

Ten minutes later, they were chatting with each other as they ate, discussing whatever came to mind and cracking jokes. Having everyone over at the loft for dinner was one of the places that Castle felt the most comfortable. Everyone he loved the most was in one place and having a good time, enjoying a meal.

The prospect of having Beckett there, and That Night never having happened entered his mind, and he pushed it back out again.

"How's your dinner, Jake?" Tom asked his son.

"It's very good," Jake said. "But I think I fought really hard, and heroes deserve ice cream."

"Well, we've got plenty of that little man," Castle told him. "We'll have that for desert, since your mommy never thinks about making anything for that."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of missing things," Martha began. "You never told us why you were so late."

"I tried," Castle pointed out. "You cut me off."

Martha waved a hand. "Details. Tell us now."

"I was uh," Castle took a swig of his drink. "I was with Kate."

Alexis furrowed her brows again. "Who's Kate?"

"Kate Beckett," Castle looked down at his plate and took another bite.

Someone's fork clattered as it hit his or her plate.

"Kate Beckett," Martha said slowly. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"Why were you with her?" Alexis asked, an edge coming into her voice.

"We ran into each other at Rize Coffee in Midtown East," Castle shrugged. "We talked for a bit."

"How long is a bit?" Martha asked.

"Three hours. Until closing. I left there at seven," Castle explained. "I lost track of time."

"Fourteen years later and she's still stealing you away from your family," Alexis said under her breath, poking at the food on her plate.

Castle sighed. "Alexis, now that's not fair."

"The hell it isn't, Dad," Alexis looked hard at him, making eye contact now. "She got you to spend every day with her, got you shot at, locked in a freezer, trapped in a car in the Hudson, and then broke your heart. It's plenty fair."

"…I'm…confused…" Tom said as if testing his place in the conversation. "Who's Kate Beckett?"

Alexis opened her mouth to speak, but Martha put her hand up. "I'll take this, darling."

Alexis closed her mouth and sat back in her chair.

"Kate Beckett is a homicide detective with the NYPD. Quite some time ago, there was a series of murders based on Richard's books. She came to question him, he got involved with the investigation, and was very…taken with her," Martha explained. "He used his connections at the mayors office to pull a few strings, and got himself a gig following her around for research for a new series of novels. She's the real Nikki Heat."

"O-oh," Tom said, processing. "So…what happened?"

"Four years, three books, one unsolvable case, the longest almost relationship I've ever seen in my life, and one broken heart later, he walked away," Martha replied. "It was sad, actually," she added quietly.

Alexis looked at Martha and her eyes softened, her anger ebbing away. "Are you going to see her again?" she asked softly.

Castle sighed. "I don't know, maybe. She gave me her number."

Alexis nodded, but said nothing more.

Gradually, the tension left the table, and the group began to return to their normal conversations. They cleared the table, fixed bowls of ice cream, and moved into the living room.

"Oh, Richard," Martha began at one point.

Castle swallowed a bite of ice cream. "Yes?"

"I met the loveliest woman at the school today," she informed her. "Her name is Kim."

"Here we go," Castle sighed.

Alexis laughed lightly.

"Don't you 'here we go' me," Martha scolded. "She was very pretty. Short blonde hair, brown eyes, very trim…"

Castle rubbed his temples. "Mother, I do not want to be set up with anyone, thank you."

Martha put up her hands. "Has one run in with Kate Beckett after fourteen years and all of the sudden he doesn't want to be set up with anyone."

"I've never wanted to be set up with any of your acting cronies," Castle said. "Not before, not now, not ever."
"Darling, you're not getting any younger," Martha informed him.

"That's a saying for mothers whose children haven't married or had kids," Castle put down his bowl. "I've been married twice, have had a kid, and that kid has given you a grandkid. You've been relieved of your nagging duties."

"Oh, I just want my son to find love!" Martha insisted theatrically. "To see him happy…before I die."

"You're 84, not on your death bed."

Martha scoffed and folded her arms. "Well, it was worth a shot."

"Dad, can you help me gather everyone's bowls and take them into the kitchen?" Alexis asked, standing up.

It didn't take Castle long to get the underlying message.

I need to talk to you.

"Sure, kiddo," Castle stood too, took Jake and Tom's bowls, stacked them on top of his own, and followed Alexis into the kitchen.

"I don't like this, dad," she told him, placing the bowls in the sink.

"Don't like what?" Castle asked cautiously, putting his in as well.

"Her. You seeing her again," Alexis shrugged. "I don't want to sound like some grown up brat, but…"

"Yeah, I know," Castle said softly. "I don't even know where it's going yet. It's hard to say right now."

"But that's the thing, isn't it?" Alexis leaned against the counter and folded her arms. "It's always hard to say with her. She's a nice enough woman, but she tore you apart, Dad. Not just at the end, either."

Castle's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

Alexis sighed. "I mean, all of the sudden you were never home, you were trying to solve her mother's case, taking on all of her burdens and putting them on you. You were desperate to get through to her, and for four long years, I watched her hold you at arms length while simultaneously putting you in danger. You weren't happy all the time like you used to be for the second half of all that. You weren't as lighthearted. You spent less and less time doing things like finding new things to do or reading that ridiculous Time Cube thing off the internet to me, and more time playing detective."

"I thought you liked Beckett," Castle said. "I know there was a little while there where you were mad but…wow."

"I did like her at first. I thought she was a good fit for you. She got you into actual clothing and back out into the real world. She made you happy," Alexis took a deep breath and looked down. "Things changed after the shooting," she said softly.

"I thought you forgave her," Castle was beginning to think he was wrong often.

"I was grateful that she got you out of that bank," Alexis admitted. "But then everything else happened, and we discovered that she's a liar, and I reformed my previous opinion."

Tom rapped softly on the wall just inside the kitchen. "Ah, am I interrupting?"

"Not really," Alexis straightened. "Are you guys ready to go?"

Tom nodded. "Yeah, Jake's getting pretty tired, I think we should."

"Okay," Alexis followed him out to the foyer where Martha was standing with Jake and began her goodbyes. She saved her dad for last, and then wrapped her arms tightly around him and whispered, "Just be careful, Dad. I don't want to see you get hurt again," into his ear.

"Will do, Pumpkin," Castle patted her back lightly.

Shortly after they left, Castle tiredly began to get ready for bed. It was only ten, but he was exhausted. He turned off the light and climbed into bed, staring at the ceiling.

And in a way that was both foreign and familiar at once, for the first time in quite a while, he fell asleep with Katherine Beckett on his mind.