Chapter 31

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"It's make-your-own-pizza night!"

Kate could only make out a flash of red hair as Alexis ran past her and up the stairs. She had just gotten home from work and had barely stepped through the front door. "What is she talking about?" Kate asked as Castle walked out of his office.

"She's going upstairs to get some suitable tunes," he answered, "She and Zo decided they want to make their own mini-pizzas tonight."

Kate smiled, "Dinner followed by a movie, right?"

"Well, it is Friday." Castle pulled Kate towards him with a tug of her wrist, "Alexis is heading back to school next week. We have to honour Castle-household traditions while we still can."

She leaned in to kiss him gently, like they always did when she got home. Instead of the usual quick greeting, though, she felt him secure his arms around her waist and tighten his grip.

Her eyebrows rose slightly before she smiled against his lips, opening her mouth readily when she felt his tongue brush against them.

"Mm," she said, after a minute of heated kissing, "What was that for?"

He shrugged, releasing his hold on her with a smile, "Just because."

She shook her head and gave him another kiss. "You make me really happy, Rick Castle," she said, then added with her own smile, "Just thought I should tell you."

Zoey ran up to them then, hugging Kate's leg and giving her a very enthusiastic, "Hi! Hi!"

"Hi there, Zo," Kate said with a chuckle. She bent down to pick Zoey up, tickling her a little and making her giggle. "What did you, daddy, and Lexi do today?"

It didn't take Zoey long to reply with the most exciting thing they had done. "We eat playdough!"

"You ate it?" Kate asked, turning to Castle.

"It was edible playdough," Castle clarified, "Alexis found a recipe online. Tasted like Kool-Aid."

"It was yummy, mommy."

Castle grinned, "We saved you some."

Kate rolled her eyes, "How thoughtful."

"Okay!" said Alexis, stampeding back down the stairs, "I've got my iPod and a pizza-making playlist."

"Are we making the dough, too?" Kate asked.

"We made it this afternoon," Castle answered, "It needed time to rise."

"Plus, dad needed time to clean up the kitchen afterwards," Alexis added with a smirk.

"Which reminds me – I should probably change," said Kate and then looking at Zoey's nice, clean clothes added, "And so should Zo."

"She has a smock somewhere in her closet," Castle said, "You two go; Alexis and I will set up the kitchen."

When Kate and Zoey joined them a few minutes later, the kitchen counter was crowded with ingredients and the music was blasting. Alexis was slicing mushrooms while Castle was grating the cheese.

"Can you cut up the green peppers, Kate?" Alexis asked.

"Sure," she answered, plucking two from the counter.

"I want to help!" Zoey declared, jumping up and down beside Kate.

The three of them stared at all of the knives and sharp objects. "Oh!" said Castle, always the one with the ideas, "I have a special job for you, Zo. Why don't you start putting sauce on the pizzas?"

"Really?" said Kate, watching Castle fill a plastic bowl with red marinara sauce. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

Even Alexis looked sceptical, "You're totally cleaning up after her," she said.

Castle flipped open the little table embedded into the kitchen island and set the bowl, a spoon, and the dough that he had rolled out onto it. "Relax," he said, completely unfazed, "What's the worst that could happen?"

He found out pretty quickly.

By the time Alexis thought to put plastic garbage bags around Zoey's 'cooking' area, the little girl had already spilled a lot of sauce on the floor.

"Well, she's already dirty, right?" said Castle, watching as Zoey clumsily spooned a gob of sauce onto the edge of the pizza. "At least it's not the edge of the table anymore."

Kate gestured to the sticky strands in Zoey's hair, "That is all for you," she said. "Alexis and I will be eating our dinner guilt-free while you get that all out."

"Yup," Alexis echoed, smiling at her dad. She sprinkled a handful of cheese onto her pizza. "So, Kate, what do you want to do on Sunday?"

They always tried to have some sort of family outing on Kate's day off.

Kate shook her head, "Lanie and Esposito have me hostage on Sunday. Again."

"Oh?" Alexis said, always interested in how the wedding preparations were going, "What is it this time?"

Kate's eyes flicked to Castle, who was whistling as he artfully arranged his toppings to ressemble a face. "It's kind of a secret thing that they're doing," Kate said.

True to form, Castle stopped what he was doing immediately and perked up. "Tell me or I'll guess."

"Is that a threat?" Kate asked.

"You know it is."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll find out anyway," she said, "Ryan and Esposito are nerding out over it."

"Oh, this is gonna be good, isn't it?"

"Well, not for me," Kate replied, "Lanie and Esposito want to do one of those dance entrances down the aisle and on Sunday, they're making the entirety of their wedding party learn the choreography."

"Oh my god, I am so there," Castle said, gleefully clapping his hands.

"Last I heard, you weren't a bridesmaid, Castle," Kate retorted.

Castle didn't seem to hear her. "For the first time, I actually wish I was a groomsman…"

"Are you telling me you would actually want to dance down the aisle to Beyoncé's Crazy in Love?"

"Omigod, omigod. Is that the song they're using?" Castle practically squealed, "You have to let me come and watch."

"You forget you're talking to my dad," Alexis said to Kate, "He doesn't mind making a fool of himself in front of a hundred people."

"Well, I was betting on the fact that he's one of those guys who feel super awkward on the dance floor."

Castle grinned, "Kate, my mother is in theatre."

"Uh, hey dad?" Alexis said, "I think Zoey's done with her pizza. She's just eating the ingredients now."

Kate and Castle both turned to look at Zoey. She was seated on floor, munching on sliced pineapples.

Zoey looked up at them, face the picture of innocence, "I'm finished," she said.

"Yeah, you really are," said Castle.

.

In the middle of the movie, Castle turned to Kate and poked her in the arm. "So… we didn't actually decide if I could come with you tomorrow," he said.

Without taking her eyes off of the screen, Kate tossed the phone at him, "Take it up with Lanie."

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"I can't believe you actually said he could come," said Kate to Lanie the next morning.

They were standing in the middle of the dance studio, waiting for everybody else to arrive. Lanie had five bridesmaids and a maid of honour, which meant that aside from his best man (the honour had gone to Ryan), Esposito had to have five groomsmen.

"He could be our backup," Lanie replied, "In case one of Javier's cousins can't make it."

Kate raised her eyebrows, "You sound like you want that to happen."

"Okay," Lanie began in a confessional tone, "Javier's two brothers? They're fine; I like them but his cousins? They're going to ruin my wedding."

Kate smirked, "Your wedding? It's his wedding, too."

"Uh, hell no!" Lanie exclaimed, sounding very bridezilla.

"Right," Kate said.

"Besides," Lanie added, "The choreographer promised to give us a discount if she could take a picture with your boy."

Kate shrugged, "Well, at least it's for a good cause."

Castle returned with Kate's coffee then, confused about why she and Lanie were laughing so hard.

"Don't worry about it, writer boy," Lanie said. Then, to Kate, "You'd better inhale that coffee, girl, 'cause everybody's here."

The day went better than Kate had thought it would. In fact, with the exception of one awkward dance move that Esposito vetoed – his granny would be in the audience, after all – it was fun. Of course, the choreographer had insisted that the girls wear something ressembling what they would be wearing on the actual wedding day – to mimic the range of movement they would have – so, by early afternoon, Lanie had four bitching bridesmaids on her hand. Kate, of course, was used to wearing inappropriate footwear on a daily basis.

It didn't mean she was any less glad for their dance lesson to be over.

"You guys can stick around if you want," said Lanie to whoever was listening. "Javi and I are taking the next class so that he – we – won't look like fools during our first dance. The studio advertised it as open to everybody."

People immediately started making up excuses. With the exception of Natasha, who just flat out said 'no'.

"Sorry Lanie," Kate said, "Zoey and Alexis wanted us to join them in the park when we were done."

Lanie nodded and then flicked her eyes in Esposito's direction, "I'll tell you how it goes."

Kate was about to tell Castle that she was ready when she spotted him fiddling with the CD player in the corner. "Castle!" she called, making her way over to him, "What are you doing?"

Castle held up a finger. Before Kate could respond in annoyance, Frank Sinatra filled the air and Castle turned around. "May I have this dance?" he asked charmingly, offering his hand.

Kate rolled her eyes, "Castle, I don't—"

"Afraid I'm better than you?" he taunted.

She took the bait.

"Are you sure you can lead?" she shot back, placing her left hand on his upper arm.

He grinned, restarting The Way You Look Tonight before clasping her right hand with his left. "Has anybody told you that dancing is just a vertical expression of a horizontal desire?"

"You stealing other authors' words now?" she teased as they slid smoothly across the dance floor, her red chiffon dress billowing out behind her.

"Borrowing," he said.

It was no surprise that they continued to banter between steps even as the communication between their bodies required no words.

She knew to spin out when he released her hand and he didn't miss a step in catching her in his left arms when she curled back to him. Pulling her up from the dip, he replaced his hand on her waist and said with a grin, "You never told me you knew how to dance."

"You never asked," she said.

They made a swift, complete turn. "Well, I'm asking now," he said, "It can't be more embarrassing than the fact that my mother taught me how to ballroom dance in between her Broadway numbers. So, who taught you?"

Kate looked out at their clasped hands. "My mom did."

"Oh."

She smiled at him, not sadly – just a little bittersweet. "I saw her and my dad dancing one night – I think I was, like, ten – and they looked so…"

"—Graceful?"

"No… enchanting."

He lifted up his left arm and she pirouetted underneath, spinning out before Castle tugged her back towards him – their bodies much closer now. "She taught you well," he said, his voice low against her ear, "And not just in the field of dance."

Their eyes locked. He was twirling them rapidly, starting a series of turns that extended from one side of the dance floor to the other. The dizzy feeling only rushed over her after the song had ended, when Castle continued to look at her like she was the only person in the entire world worth looking at.

He snapped out of it when a petite woman with a high voice broke through the crowd. "Bravo!" she said, walking up to them, "What lovely form and passion."

Castle took a little bow, accompanied by a cheeky smile in Kate's direction.

"This, ladies and gentlemen," the instructor continued, "Is what you are all aspiring to today!"

"Yeah right," Kate heard Esposito mutter. "Those two have some sort of creepy connection."

"Come on," Kate said, tugging Castle's hand. Then, to the instructor, "Sorry for the disturbance."

"Nonesense," she said, "That instinctual, intuitive partnership is a rare sight. It was a pleasure to watch."

Kate smiled politely, "Thanks."

As the two of them passed Esposito and Lanie on their way out, Esposito whispered, not so softly, to Castle, "Hey bro, I think that lady's trying to tell you: if you like it then you should put a ring on it."

Kate turned back around just so she could smack him on the head.

A/N: I've been getting a lot of questions about this so I absolutely swear I'm not stringing you guys along with the wedding anvils! My brain writes and stuff unfolds and yeah… so, can I say 'it's coming' and beg for patience and have you all not smash your own anvils onto my head?...Souvenez-vous que je vous aime! :)