"Yo, Beckett!" Javier Esposito came up behind his partner, flipping pages in his notebook. The Brunette who had been staring at the murder board for the better part of an hour, turned to look at her friend. "We just checked the girlfriend's alibi. It cleared; she was in Reno at the time of the murder.

"Ok thanks Espo," she said turning back to the board. Kate was slightly disappointed. The girlfriend was their only suspect. Now that they lost her, they were back to square one on this murder.

"Ryan, look into his-"Beckett was interrupted when the office door opened and an angry looking Captain Gates came out.

"Detective Beckett, could I talk to you for a minute?" she asked motion Kate to come.

"Look into his financials, I want to know everything," Kate said to Ryan as she made her way over to her commanding officer.

"Yes sir?" Kate asked. She wasn't sure why Gates called her over, she wasn't sure she did anything wrong.

"Why am I having your husband calling me to ask for your time off? Beckett, if you needed to take some personal time, all you had to do was ask. You don't have to get Castle to do it for you."

Kate was now very confused. She had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't know what you are talking about. Castle did what?"

"He called me and asked if you could have the weekend off, now of course I told him to stop calling me and hung up on him. It's not his right to ask for time off for you. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Honestly sir, I have no idea what Castle was talking about. Let me ask him tonight. I'll get this whole thing sorted out," Beckett said. Gates nodded and went back into her office.

Beckett had that 'butterflies in your stomach' feeling-Castle was up to something. She could feel it.

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"Mommy I made dinner!" the three year-old proudly proclaimed as soon as her mom stepped foot in the loft.

"That's fantastic Jojo, I'm so proud of you," Kate said scooping the girl up for a hug.

"Well daddy helped," she giving her dad credit for 'helping' make dinner.

"Thank you daddy, "Kate said smiling watching as Rick stirred something on the stove. "What are we having?"

"Seafood lin-lin-daddy what is it called?" the girl asked after trying to pronounce the word.

"Linguini. Shrimp, scallops, crab, all of mommy's favorites," He said leaning over the counter and planting a kiss on Kate's lips. She smiled her green eyes sparkling.

Finally all three Castles were seated at the table, plates of food in front of them. The older two had glasses of wine, while the littlest one had a cup of lemonade.

Kate hated to bead around the bush, so she just got right to the point.

"Castle why did you call Gates and ask if I could have time off?" she asked. Rick glared at her, a mouthful of pasta still hanging from his lips. He finished chewing, Kate still waiting for his answer.

"I called because I needed to make sure you weren't going to be bothered with work," he said wiping the pasta sauce off his chin.

"Why is that? What's up your sleeve Castle? You're not going to pull one over me." Kate said

"Yea daddy, mommy had eyes in the back of her head," Johanna said giggling.

"Wait here, I have a surprise for you," Castle said racing for his office. He quickly dug through the piles on top until he found what he was looking for.

He comes back to the table and drops a full envelope in front of Kate.

"That's why I called Gates.," he said taking his seat, the excitement in his voice faltering a bit.

Kate opened the seal and let the contents spill out onto the table.

"There are three tickets to Chicago. I want you girls to come with me to kick off my book tour. I already cleared it with Gina, everything's been set up," This had been something Rick had wanted for a while. As soon as his book tour had been finalized he began preparations to get his family to come with him. After serious homesickness had wracked his body during his last book tour, Rick desperately wanted Kate and Johanna to come with him, if only for a while.

The silence in the room was so loud it was deafening. Rick sat waiting for Kate's reaction, which could be unpredictable at best.

"You should have told me instead of going behind my back and telling Gates like that," Kate finally said after a while, he voice more annoyed than mad. "But man Gate's face when she came out of her office! Castle it was priceless," She said laughing, her green eyes beginning to sparkle.

Rick smiled and let out the breath he had been holding. He helped clear the plates and get Johanna down from her booster seat. "So you're coming?" he asked.

"Well of course we're coming. I missed you too much the last time. I wouldn't miss this for the world," she said wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him a few time before turning back to putting dishes in the sink.

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"It's late, you should be in bed," He said to Kate who was half asleep on the couch. Rick grabbed her hands and pulled her off the couch. He kissed her on the lips and forehead. She smiled and walked zombie-like up the stairs. "I love you," He said but only got a grunt in return.

Richard smiled to himself as he slid into his desk chair. He woke his computer up and continued work on his newest project.