Chapter 23

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Kate nearly forgot about mother's day.

Last year, Castle and Alexis – the two people in her life who celebrated everything – had been out of town and the holiday had passed before she had even noticed.

Secretly she had been glad.

It had taken Kate a long time to get over the fact that she would never be able to celebrate a real mother's day again, to make herself forget about all of the traditions that she had created with her mom and dad. Like how she had always made her mom a card instead of buying her one and how her dad had always woken up super early to make Johanna Beckett breakfast in bed. Kate had always snuck into her mom's room before her dad had finished and the three of them had always ended up eating the meal – whether it be a giant stack of pancakes or bacon and eggs or, one time, a brunch quiche that had gone horribly wrong – together.

So, when that particular weekend arrived, Kate hadn't treated it differently from any other weekend. In fact, on Sunday morning, she had been too exhausted from working late the night before to sense Castle getting out of bed at 5:30. Kate didn't even begin to stir until she heard Zoey's voice saying, "I want to hold it!" loudly from down the hallway.

She groaned a little and rubbed her eyes. She was just about to get out of bed and grab her robe when the door flew open.

"Don't you even think about moving," Castle said. He was carrying a tray in his hands.

Zoey, who was gripping a small vase – full of water - of white and yellow daisies, was jumping a little in excitement. Alexis took the flowers out of her hands so that the little girl could run up to her mom. The bed was a little tall for Zoey so Kate lifted her up and was immediately engulfed in a giant hug.

"Happy Mother's Day, mommy!" she all but shouted.

Kate laughed. "Thanks, Zo."

Alexis walked over and handed Kate the daisies and a picture, the frame constructed out of an old CD case. She grinned, "Happy Mother's Day, Kate."

Kate looked down at the photo and saw that it was one of Alexis and Zoey, laughing into the camera and embraced in a hug.

"Mommy, mommy," Zoey exclaimed, pointing at the frame, "Me and Lexi did it. I put all the stickers!"

Kate pulled both of them into a hug, eyes just a little bit moist. "It's beautiful. I love it."

Alexis jumped up onto the bed after, settling beside Kate and pulling Zoey into her lap.

"Is it my turn yet?" said Castle, feigning petulance.

Kate smirked. "Is that tray getting too heavy for you, Castle?"

Castle chuckled, making his way to them carefully. He set the tray down on the bedside table before leaning down to give Kate a kiss, mouthing 'I love you' when he pulled back. He plopped down beside her before placing the breakfast in front of her. In addition to the plate of heart-shaped French toast, the bowl of cut-up fruit, and the cups of both coffee and orange juice, there also lay a single long-stemmed red rose.

Kate picked it up and brought it up to her nose.

"Zo and I got you the daisies," said Alexis, "But dad wanted to get you—"

"—Something a little extra?" Kate finished, looking at Castle.

Zoey giggled when Alexis covered both of their eyes with her hands. "Trust me, Zo," said Alexis, playfully, "You don't want to see what your mommy and daddy are doing."

"Okay, okay," said Castle after a moment, settling back against the bed. "Kate and I promise to behave."

"Alright," said Kate, picking up her fork and knife, "Who wants some French toast?"

"Me!" said Zoey, raising her hand.

Alexis plucked a strawberry out of the bowl. "You should've made more, dad," she said.

"He'll know better for next year," Kate teased.

"Well, there's plenty more downstairs," Castle said.

Kate and Alexis looked at him expectantly.

He threw up his hands in a dramatic surrender. "Oh, all right. I'll go get it."

"Don't forget to bring the maple syrup!" Alexis shouted after him.

Kate forked a piece of French toast and offered it to Alexis. "Did you call your mom yet?"

Alexis shook her head, swallowing before answering, "Mom got back early from her trip so it's still way too early in Los Angeles."

Kate nodded. "So you could have gone to visit her after all," she said, knowing that Alexis had visited Meredith after her finals last year and would probably have done the same this year had Meredith not decided to go to Sydney.

"I thought about it," said Alexis, "But I—"

Kate put down her coffee when Alexis didn't continue. "You… didn't want to?" she asked.

"Not... I mean, I'm planning to visit my mom later, of course… I can visit her anytime I want." Alexis faltered a little, "But I kind of wanted to spend Mother's Day with…"

Kate's eyes glimmered. She was unbelievably touched. "…with me?" she finished.

Alexis smiled. "Yeah."

Kate pulled Alexis into a side hug, kissing the top of her head. "I'm glad you did."

"Am I interrupting a moment here?" Castle had returned carrying another loaded tray. "I could come back later."

"Don't you dare, dad," said Alexis, "I'm starving."

Castle sat down on the other side of Alexis this time and he and Kate took turns cutting up pieces for their daughters.

It was as close to a perfect morning as Kate had gotten in a long time. She realised that while mother's day would never be exactly the same again – nothing could replace the fact that her own mom was no longer around to celebrate it with her – it didn't mean that it couldn't be just as wonderful. Looking across at Alexis, Zoey, and Castle, she realised that the four of them were already starting to make their own traditions.

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"So Kate," Alexis began, crunching down on her apple, "When are you and Zoey going to officially move in with us?"

Alexis' question was deceptively nonchalant. She hadn't even looked up from reading the newspaper to ask it. If she had, she would have noticed Kate pausing briefly in the cooking of her omelette.

Castle, who had just walked into the kitchen, stopped to give Zoey a kiss in her highchair. He wisely refrained from chiming in even as his expression became one of amusement.

Nowadays mornings went much like this one. Zoey had always been an early riser but Kate had often made sure that Zoey was brushed, dressed, and fed before heading off to work. This had given Castle at least an additional hour and a half of sleep. But, with Alexis home for the summer, the noise of all three of them getting ready at the crack of dawn (and all three by choice) did a thorough job of waking him up as well. (Mostly, though, he just didn't want to feel left out of their morning routine).

So, they prepared breakfast together and talked about their plans for the day. (Though Castle always kept his pyjamas on so that he at least felt like he had the option of going back to bed after Kate had left.)

This morning's conversation topic, however, wasn't one of their normal ones.

"I hadn't really thought about it," Kate finally replied.

"Well, think about this," said Alexis, folding up the Arts section and sounding like she was making a presentation in one of her classes, "When was the last time you stayed at your house two nights in a row?"

Kate opened her mouth, as if to answer, and then promptly shut it again. The fact that she had to stop and think immediately made Alexis' question a valid one. Not that she would ever admit that, of course. She was sure that Alexis' sudden interest in her permanent lodgings was the work of the man innocently preparing toast on her right. "Well, when my dad visits, he needs a place to stay," she said, knowing how weak that sounded.

Alexis responded the way Kate knew she would. "He can stay here!"

"You guys don't actually have a guest bedroom anymore," Kate said.

"Oh, about that," said Castle, grinning, "I'm turning the upstairs study back into a bedroom."

"I thought you were finished with all of that construction," Kate replied.

"Well, there's no real construction involved. I just need to move a few pieces of furniture."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and get rid of all that crap you stuffed in there ever since Grams left."

"She said I could do whatever I wanted to her room," Castle said.

"I don't think she meant for you to use it as storage, dad."

Castle shrugged. "The point is," he looked at Kate, "We'll have a guest bedroom."

Kate glared at him, annoyed at having been defeated. "Well, Zo and I go back to the apartment sometimes," she said, sounding defensive.

"Yeah, when you've forgotten something," Alexis replied, "Which you then end up bringing back here anyway. After a while, your apartment will just be filled with furniture. You and Zo should just move in for good."

Kate turned to Castle. "Did you put her up to this?"

He held up his hands, "No! I swear."

"No, he didn't Kate," Alexis echoed. She walked over to the garbage can to dispose of her apple core, saying cheekily, "But I've been taking economics and really, paying for two apartments when you're only living in one does not make much fiscal sense."

Alexis purposely left the kitchen before Kate could respond, exchanging a wink with her dad as she passed him.

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Kate left Castle hanging for the rest of the day. That hadn't really been her intention but just as Castle had looked like he wanted to say something, her cellphone had rung, informing her of a fresh body in midtown.

She had been glad for the interruption though. It gave her some time to think. Or, at least, to work out some logistics.

"Girl, I don't know what you're waiting for," Lanie said to her.

The optometry office where the victim had been stabbed was not the most appropriate place to discuss her situation but as soon as she had arrived, Lanie had seemed to sense something was up and had refused to let it go until Kate had told her.

"Lanie, do you think we could maybe talk about this after you've determined cause of death?"

"Oh, I can tell you that right now," Lanie replied, using her pen to point to the deepest looking gash on the victim's left thigh.

"He bled out?"

"Almost instantaneously." Lanie made some notes on her clipboard. "Now, I've told you mine. Why don't you tell me yours?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "He didn't exactly ask me. Alexis just sort of mentioned it."

"I don't think he wants to risk having you run away again," said Lanie, always cutting right to the chase.

"I already told him that he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. He knows I'm just as committed as he is."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Lanie, standing up.

Kate gestured to Esposito and filled him in on C.O.D. before handing him the victim's wallet. She and Lanie were walking back out onto the busy street before Kate finally replied, "Are you questioning my commitment?"

"I don't know. Are you?"

"No," Kate emphasized.

"Well, then why don't you throw writer boy a bone for once and be the initiator in the next step of your relationship?"

"You think?"

"Honey, I know."

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That night, Castle picked her up from the precinct with just Zoey in tow since Alexis had decided to hang out and catch up with some of her old high school friends.

On the way back from their dinner out, Zoey started to fall asleep in the car.

"Have you got her?" said Castle once they had gotten back to the loft.

"Yeah," Kate replied as she lifted Zoey into her arms. Castle placed a hand against the side of the elevator, letting Kate and Zoey enter before he did.

"I'm sleepy," Zoey mumbled, with her head on Kate's shoulder and her thumb in her mouth.

"I know, Zo. I know." Kate smoothed her daughter's back.

"Are you tired?" Castle asked her just as the ding let them know that they had reached their floor.

"I'm okay," she answered, waiting for him to fish out his keys.

"Mommy?" Zoey murmured again, "Are we home?"

Kate hadn't told Castle that she had been thinking about that whole 'moving in' conversation all day. She had expected him to bring it up during dinner but he hadn't even hinted at it.

Now, Kate considered what Lanie had told her and suddenly, the answer to Zoey's question just seemed so completely obvious.

Kate walked through the threshold, pausing in front of Castle. "Yeah, baby girl," she answered softly, "We're home."

A/N: I am posting this chapter early and I MAY update a tad more frequently because I have this plot bunny in my head for a new story that I just can't shake... And I promised myself that I couldn't start a new story until I finished the one I was working on... though, I might wait until I see what happens in the two-parter episodes in case I get majorly Jossed. Anyway, enough rambling from me - I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)