Chapter 7

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The trill of Kate's cellphone woke her up. She glanced at the time and the caller and groaned. "Castle, it's my day off," she answered, without preamble.

"Happy 4th of July!" His voice on the other end sounded irritatingly chipper. "Now open up. We're outside."

"We?"

When she swung open her front door, she saw Castle standing behind Alexis, using her as a human shield. "Just look at this adorable face and tell me how you could still be mad at me," he said.

"I'm still mad at you," said Kate dryly. "Alexis, I'm happy to see since I'm sure it wasn't her idea to come and wake me up at 6:30 in the morning on my day off."

Castle had already wormed his way into her apartment, bustling around the kitchen to make her a cup of coffee. He knew that would be the only way to get back into her good graces.

"Well… it was partly my idea," said Alexis, sheepishly. She held out her own consolation gift to Kate – bagels and lox. "They're really fresh."

Kate rolled her eyes at the two equally mischievous yet annoyingly endearing Castles. "All right," she said, taking the box and heading to the kitchen herself, "What do you guys want?"

Zoey chose that moment to poke her head out of her bedroom and upon seeing the visitors, excitedly made her way over to join them still clad in her footed onesie. "Lexi!" she said, wrapping her arms around one of Alexis' legs.

"Do you get the feeling that Zoey likes her better than us now?" said Castle to Kate.

"Well, Alexis lets Zoey play with her hair. Would you be willing to wear pretty pink ribbons in your hair, Castle?"

Castle popped a couple of sliced bagels into the toaster and pretended to consider Kate's question. "If you could guarantee that there would be no taking of pictures and it wouldn't be used against me? Absolutely."

Kate grinned. "I'll remember you said that."

"Mommy," said Zoey, now looking up at Kate, "Swimming!"

"What?" Kate responded, confused.

"Oh right. Our plan."

"What plan, Castle?"

"Dad and I sort of have a 4th of July tradition…" started Alexis.

"…We drive to Montauk and spend the day at the beach," said Castle, "Swim, build sand castles, watch the fireworks, gorge ourselves on ice-cream and junk food, you know – typical 4th of July fare."

Kate chuckled. "Right."

"So, this year, we wanted you and Zo to come," finished Alexis.

"It's gorgeous outside today and Zoey would have a lot of fun," said Castle, already seeing Kate's scepticism.

"And I would really enjoy the company…" Alexis said with a hopeful smile. "Especially because Grams and Paige couldn't join us this year."

"I—"

Castle cut in before Kate could say anything. "—Listen, Kate. What else could you possibly have planned today?"

.

"Castle, what are you doing in here?" Kate was rummaging around in her dresser for her swimsuit.

He plopped himself on her bed and then, at her glare, opted to lean against her desk. "I'm helping you pack."

"I don't need help packing," she said, "Why don't you go help Alexis with Zoey?"

"Oh, Alexis doesn't need any help," said Castle with a grin, "She's a pro with Zoey, now. She's been staying at home a lot, hanging out with Zo more than I have been sometimes."

"Oh, I know," said Kate. She triumphantly dug out a one-piece from the bottom of her drawer and then scrunched her nose up at how faded it was. Castle was secretly pleased – hoping that she had a slightly more risqué suit.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"You do know that Alexis talks to me, right?"

"About Zoey?"

"Yes. And also about other things—" Kate waved her hand around, "You know."

Castle crossed his arms, "Uh, no. I don't know. Does she tell you things that she doesn't tell me?"

"Well, that depends," said Kate, "I don't know what she tells you."

"What does she tell you?"

Kate smirked. "I can't tell you that."

"Is it about the boy?" Castle asked suspiciously.

"Maybe."

And then his eyes widened, "Oh my god, do you two talk about me?"

Her voice took on a teasing quality. "Maybe."

"Okay, that's just unfair," Castle huffed. "She's my daughter! I mean, you would tell me if she started doing drugs, right? Even if it's just, you know, the gateway ones."

Kate shook her head, amused. "Do you really think I would be okay with Alexis taking drugs even if she did decide to share that information with me? I mean, besides the fact that I'm a cop and they're illegal."

"Okay. You've got a point…" Castle's eye caught the blue scrap of fabric that Kate was about to toss aside. "Wear that one," he said immediately.

Kate rolled her eyes. "It's way too inappropriate. I bought it with Lanie as a joke to wear to the Caribbean with—" she cut herself off, clearly she was about to say the name of an ex-boyfriend but she didn't want Castle to know exactly who, in case he decided to use it against her later.

But, Castle only seemed to have heard the part of it being 'inappropriate'. "Did you end up wearing it?"

"No!" said Kate, "It's barely even a bikini."

"I can be the judge of that," said Castle, now incredibly intrigued. "Put it on."

"I thought we were in a rush."

"Not for this—" Castle stopped himself and amended, "—I mean, Alexis and Zoey are going to take forever."

Kate recognized an opportunity to mess with Castle's head when she saw it. "You want me to wear it for you?" she asked, a dangerous glint in her eye.

"…Yes."

"Close the bedroom door."

"You're going to change in front of me?" Castle squeaked.

Kate grinned and pointed to the adjoining washroom. "No, but I don't want our children seeing what this—" she dangled the bikini "—looks like."

Castle gulped and diligently got up to shut the door as Kate disappeared into her bathroom. He rested himself back onto her desk as casually as possible. Just as he was about to place his palms on either side of him, she walked out and the shock caused his hands to slip off the desk. He stood up immediately.

Kate had been right. The thing was barely a bikini. Hell, it was barely anything. The bottoms sat low on her hips, the back basically a thong, with the whole thing tied together with string that could have been easily undone with one tug from him. His gaze wandered up her toned midsection to the top, which was tied at the neck and covered just enough of her breasts that she couldn't be arrested for public indecency.

Kate actually felt a little embarrassed by the attention now that she had followed through on what was supposed to make Castle feel uncomfortable. But, the way he was looking at her – because he wasn't staring or gawking which, strangely, would have made it easier – made her feel sexy and incredibly wanted. She cleared her throat and tried to sound teasingly seductive. "So," she said. "Isn't it inappropriate?"

Castle took several steps until he was less than a foot away from her. Before he could stop himself, his left hand reached out to her waist and pulled her to close the remaining distance. She gasped, whether at the action or merely his cold hands, he wasn't sure.

Her skin felt hot under the pads of his fingers as he travelled up her side. He hit the edge of her top and followed the string around her back until his arm was wrapped fully around her. He leaned forward and breathed against her ear, "It's completely inappropriate." Before he pulled back, he inhaled deeply to absorb her intoxicating scent and felt her shiver against him.

His hands started to trail off of her body but before they slid off completely, his eyes met hers and he said in a low, even tone, "You are exquisite."

He had to leave the room after that or else he would have ended up doing something completely inappropriate.

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"Do you want to go back in the water, Zo?" Castle asked. The four of them were sitting underneath two giant beach umbrellas – Alexis on a towel and Kate and Castle on chairs. They were just finishing up their lunch and Zoey was digging her sixth hole in the sand, clearly getting restless.

"Yes." Zoey nodded enthusiastically. At first, she had been a little reluctant to go near the water but after building sand castles and walking around searching for seashells for a couple of hours, she had gotten braver.

Kate had had no idea that Castle had bought water wings and a whole bunch of inflatable swim tubes and floats for Zoey. She hadn't believed him when he had said that they had been used to help Alexis learn how to swim even if Alexis hadn't been shaking her head and mouthing 'no' behind his back.

"Come here, Zo," Kate said now, "We have to put on some more sunblock."

After Zoey had been sufficiently slathered, Castle stopped Kate from getting up. "I'll go," he said, "I'm already done. You should stay and finish your lunch."

Alexis sat down onto the Castle's vacated chair when he left with Zoey. "If it weren't for my dad, I would never have learned how to swim," she said to Kate.

"Did he teach you how to swim?"

"No, I took lessons. But my mom was terrified of the water – she still doesn't know how to swim." Alexis smiled, "Dad just taught me not to be afraid."

Kate looked out to the calm area of shallow water where Castle had taken Zoey. He rarely let go of her but even when he did, she was always less than an arm's length away. Zoey looked like she was having a blast, splashing around and laughing when Castle used a tiny bucket to pour water on her. He bent down his head and let her pour water on him afterwards, which only made her want to splash him over and over again. Kate looked back at Alexis. "He was probably very good at encouraging you to be fearless," she finally replied.

A comfortable silence fell between them as Kate settled back into the book she had brought with her and Alexis listened to her music while working on a crossword.

"Hey Kate?" Alexis said, suddenly interrupting the quiet.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Kate marked her spot on the page with her finger and looked up. When Alexis lifted her sunglasses up to rest them on her head and Kate saw the seriousness in her eyes, she put her bookmark in and put it down, instead. "What is it?" she asked.

Alexis started to fuss with a strand of her red hair but Kate waited her out, patiently sitting through the silence instead of pressuring her to continue. It was the complete opposite of how she normally interrogated suspects but Kate used to be a teenage girl and she remembered how quickly teenage girls clammed up when provoked.

"Do… can you…" Alexis took a deep breath and then blurted out, "IthinkIneedagynecologist."

Kate nodded slowly as her brain quickly jumped from possible STIs to pregnancy. She knew it probably wasn't either.

Sure enough, her "is something wrong?" was followed by Alexis vehemently shaking her head, "I just thought, you know, that I should probably go get an examination…"

"You haven't gotten one before?" Kate asked.

"Well, I haven't really needed to," Alexis cleared her throat uncomfortably, "And I kind of wanted to get a prescription too… my family doctor is a guy and he's also friends with dad so I didn't want to ask him about…"

"…birth control pills?" Kate finished.

Alexis nodded gratefully that Kate had caught on. "Don't tell my dad, okay?"

"Of course not. Besides, it's not really mine to tell."

"I mean, he would freak out if he knew I was having sex."

"Alexis, your dad's not stupid, I'm sure that he suspects," Kate quirked her lips, "But you're right, he would probably like to remain ignorant for as long as he can help it."

"Definitely." Alexis grinned, knowing Kate would understand.

"And I can give you the number of my doctor," said Kate, "You'll like her. She's really nice and I guarantee she won't make you feel embarrassed when you start asking her a ton of questions."

Alexis smiled. "Thanks, Kate." She paused for a second before finally asking tentatively, "Do you think that you could come with me? It would be my first time and I'm kind of nervous about what to expect."

"Of course I can," Kate responded without hesitation.

Alexis nodded and then sat back in the beach chair looking relieved. After a beat, she slid her sunglasses back into place and went back to listening to her iPod.

Kate smiled. She and Alexis had gotten a lot closer since the start of the summer and she was happy that the girl had decided to trust her. Kate understood, first hand, how hard it could be to not have a mom around when you wanted to talk about such sensitive topics. She was glad that she could at least be Alexis' confidante although it also made Kate feel good that by playing this role in her life, she could also make sure that Alexis was being safe and staying well informed.

Castle's voice broke through her reverie and she looked up to see him making his way back to their spot with a shivering Zoey in his arms. Kate sat up and reached for a towel. "Aw Zo, are you cold?"

"Little," she answered, teeth chattering.

Kate dried her off as quickly as possible and wrapped her up in the towel. She pulled Zoey onto her lap, rubbing the side of her arms to warm her up. Castle was seated beside them, flicking little droplets of water onto her body when he grabbed for his own towel.

"You had a lot of fun, didn't you?" Castle said to Zoey as he rubbed his towel through her dripping brown hair. Kate was still in her bikini top, albeit much more demure than the first one she had tried on for him, and wherever his skin met hers, a line of goose bumps would appear. She hoped he didn't notice.

He did. Zoey was leaning back on Kate's shoulder and Castle used the pretence of untangling Zo's curly tendrils with his fingers just so he could have an excuse to brush his fingers down Kate's neck.

Alexis chose that time to poke her head between the two adults. "Can we go get ice-cream now?"

A/N: Just to forewarn you (or make you more intrigued?), the rating for this story will officially be bumped up to a 'T' in three more chapters. But, for now, I'll leave it where it is (since there was really only that one bit in this chapter that was slightly more suggestive…)

Also, to those who celebrate: Happy Christmas! (And to those who don't, I apologize for the lack of update until after the holidays... but I will do my best to keep it as close to my usual updating schedule as usual!)

Would any of you care to leave me a nice little present in the form of a REVIEW? :) J'espère que oui!