Chapter 6

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Kate used her key to open the door to the loft and was greeted with the wonderful scent of freshly baked cookies. She smiled as she walked into the kitchen but it immediately dropped off her face when she saw the scene in front of her. "Oh my god."

"Oh, hey Kate. You're early."

"How did you even manage to—" Kate gestured to the kitchen, which was now covered in a fine dusting of white flour. Zoey was sitting on the counter, happily chewing a chocolate chip cookie. She was also covered in flour and cocoa powder as well as… "Is that dough in her hair?"

Castle, who was standing in front of the counter to make sure Zoey didn't fall off, tilted his head and tugged at a clump. "Huh. I guess it is."

"Mommy! We make cookies!" Zoey told her cheerfully.

"Yeah, I can see that."

"I was going to clean this up and give her a bath before you got here," he looked at the clock. "Why are you here? It's only four."

Kate took off her coat and dropped it, along with her purse, on the living room couch. "We solved the case and Montgomery told us to leave and enjoy our weekend."

"You wanted to finish the paperwork, didn't you?"

Kate huffed. "Yes. I mean, it can wait until Monday but I just hate leaving a case unfinished."

"But you caught the guy."

"Well, yeah. I just mean, all the other stuff." Kate shrugged and then surveyed the mess once again. "I am not putting Zoey in my car looking like Frosty the Snowman."

"I could give her a bath."

"No," said Kate. "Why don't you clean all of this—" she gestured to the kitchen as a whole, "—up and I'll give her a bath."

Castle grinned. "We had a lot of fun."

"Flour fight!" Zoey exclaimed.

"Well, that explains it," Kate said dryly. She started to unbutton her blouse.

"Uh, Kate," Castle stammered. "Not that I don't want to see you naked but what are you doing?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "I have a camisole underneath, Castle. I don't want to ruin yet another work shirt."

"Right. Yeah, that makes sense." He was still stammering.

Kate threw her blouse on the couch next to the rest of her things. "Can you bring Zoey over here?" she asked. "I really don't want to step in there."

Kate ended up holding Zoey as far away from herself as she could manage. Zoey thought it was the most amusing thing in the world, swinging her legs back and forth while being dangled in the air.

"You know where everything is," said Castle as she was walking up the stairs.

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Castle finished cleaning up the kitchen and took a quick shower himself before making his way into the guest bathroom. He still heard Zoey's happy shrieks from the other side of the door. He knocked lightly.

"Come in," Kate called.

He stepped into the room and witnessed Zoey trying to squirt water at Kate with a plastic blue whale. By the looks of it, she had already succeeded multiple times before. "I thought you guys would be done by now," he said.

Kate chuckled, "She wouldn't get out."

Castle grabbed a couple of towels from the cupboard and tried to wipe some of the water that had splashed out onto the floor. "Are you waiting until the water gets cold?" he asked.

Kate raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

He sat down next to her and leaned against the edge of the porcelain tub. "I do the same thing."

"Rick! Look!" Zoey grabbed at Castle and ended up soaking a part of his sleeve. "Fishies." She was holding a toy rod and had just managed to hook one of the plastic floating fish.

"That's really good, Zo," he said.

"These bath toys are great," Kate spoke up, "The water drum and the magnetic letters and numbers on the tiles to help her spell… when did you get all of this stuff?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "A lot of them I kept from when Alexis was little and some I just bought because they looked cool and I wanted to see how they worked."

He was glad when Kate laughed at his comment instead of asking him more questions. In truth, Alexis had done a massive spring-cleaning several years ago and gotten rid of most of her toys from her toddler days. Only her treasured stuffed animals remained.

When Zoey started splashing around in earnest, Kate said, "Okay, I think bath time is over."

She lifted Zoey out of the tub and onto the tiled floor where Castle was ready with a towel. Zoey was chattering on about their day but Castle couldn't help but pay attention to Kate instead. She was just as engaged and animate as her daughter and her movements were quick and efficient so that Zoey wouldn't get cold. It was an entirely different side of Kate that Castle loved seeing and that he only saw when she was around her daughter. He knew it was a privilege that she let him be a part of this side of her life at all.

"See something you like, Castle?" Kate said, eyebrow quirked up, when she realised how quiet he had been. It was only then that he noticed she was leaning forward to help Zoey put on her t-shirt.

He could very clearly see down her tank top.

And the lacy red bra she was wearing.

"Now I do," he replied with a smirk.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Castle."

"Kate, you could be wearing a full-on space suit and my mind would still be in the gutter," he teased and he thought he saw her blush a little. "Don't forget, I have an excellent imagination."

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There was a quick knock at his study door before a familiar face poked her head in.

"Alexis! I didn't even hear you come in!" Castle stood up to give her a quick hug. "So, tell me. How many keggers did you go to this year?"

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Dad."

"Wait. I thought you were coming home tomorrow. I was going to pick you up at the station with balloons!"

"Well, that was the plan. But, I finished my finals yesterday and I thought it would take me a lot longer to pack up my dorm room. And James was leaving today anyway, so I just got a ride with him and Elise."

"And how is the boyfriend?" Castle said in his best stern father voice.

"You met him, dad. You know he's not a thief or a murderer."

"Yes," he said with a grin, "But I just don't trust those Canadians."

Alexis chuckled. "He's not going back to Toronto this summer. He got a job at a law firm in the city. That's why he was coming back with me."

"Did you bring home a lot of things? Need any help?"

"No, that's okay, dad. It's not really that much. Mostly clothes and books."

"Ah, the collegiate life."

Alexis suddenly wrapped her arms around Castle, squeezing tightly. "I really missed you, dad," she said.

Castle smiled, "I missed you too, pumpkin. I'm glad you're home for the summer."

Alexis gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go unpack."

Castle went back to his writing and heard the occasional grunt from Alexis as she dragged a suitcase up the stairs. Less than five minutes later, she reappeared at his door.

"Uh, dad?" she said, a look of confusion on her face. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why is there a child sleeping in the guestroom? Do I have a long-lost sister that I don't know about?"

"Not that I know of," Castle chuckled, "No, that's Zoey. She's Beckett's daughter. Remember? I told you about her."

"Oh! Yeah, I remember. So, what are you doing? Baby-sitting for her today?"

"Well… yes… but, not just for today."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been looking after Zoey while Beckett is at work."

Alexis' lips quirked up into a tiny smile, "So, you're like her nanny?"

"Sort of… I guess?"

"And how long have you been doing this?"

"What is it? May?" Castle looked at his computer screen to check and then shrugged. "A couple of months, probably."

Alexis nodded knowingly. She wasn't an idiot. She knew how her dad felt about Beckett and apparently the feelings were mutual since Beckett was entrusting him with the care of her daughter. "How come you didn't tell me?" she asked.

"Well, when you call me, I want to hear how you're doing. And the weekends you've been home, Zoey hasn't been here so I guess it just never crossed my mind." Castle's expression suddenly became one of concern. "Are you not okay with it? She's probably going to be here for a little while longer."

Alexis smiled at the fact that her dad didn't specify what 'a little while longer' actually meant. "No, that's totally fine," Alexis answered, "I've been wanting to meet her."

"She's been pointing to pictures of you and asking who you are," Castle said.

"Aw, she sounds really cute."

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When Zoey woke up from her nap, Alexis was the one who heard her since she was still in her own room sorting out books. Alexis debated whether or not to get her dad but Zoey was already wandering out into the hallway, rubbing at her eyes.

Alexis shuffled some papers just as Zoey walked past her open door so that the little girl wouldn't be surprised at her presence. Zoey turned to see where the noise had come from and her eyes only widened slightly at seeing another human being.

"Hello," Alexis said, still sitting on the floor. She thought it would be better if Zoey chose to walk towards her first. She could see the little girl examining her and Zoey must have decided that Alexis was harmless because she started to pad slowly into her room.

"What's your name?" Alexis asked, wanting to see if she would respond.

After a slight pause, Alexis heard a whispered, "Zoey."

"Do you want to sit next to me, Zoey?" Alexis patted the empty space on the carpet.

Zoey didn't respond verbally but she did make her way over to Alexis, plopping down next to her. Her grey eyes stared intently at this new stranger. And then, as if remembering, Zoey turned her head towards Alexis' desk and pointed at a picture of her and Castle. "Picture!" she said.

"Yup, that's me. My name is Alexis." Alexis laughed a little when Zoey tried to repeat her name and failed humorously. "How about 'Lexi'?" she suggested, thinking it sounded close enough to the little girl's own name.

"Le-xi," Zoey repeated.

"Yup! You got it." Alexis held out her palm for a high five and to her surprise Zoey gave her one.

"Hey," said Castle, whose smiling figure suddenly appeared in the doorway. "I thought I heard my two favourite girls."

"Lexi," Zoey said again, pointing to Alexis.

Castle grinned. "Well, my darling daughter, it seems as though you've already charmed her with your wiles."

"What can I say?" said Alexis, "It's a family trait."

A/N: Okay, confession? That first baking cookies/bath time scene was just gratuitous fluff that really did absolutely nothing to advance the plot (well, I suppose it could be like 'look how C/B's relationship is developing…') but honestly, I just really wanted to write fluff. Does anybody want to file a complaint? No? How about a review, then?