Hey guys I'm deeply sorry for the long wait, but I'm at the end of my apprenticeship and I have my final exams in May, which leads me to the bad news I have for you. I have to fully concentrate on my exams so there won't be any updates until the end of May. I'm very sorry to disappoint you all, but those exams are very important for me and my future.

I tried to update this story sooner but I had problems with my internet. Right now everything seems to work again and I hope it stays like that!

I promise as soon as they're over I'll update again!

Thanks for all who favorited/followed and reviewed this story. You guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Chapter 7

"We could build another tower over here."

Kate and Alexis sat at the table, making a plan for their next sand castle while Castle was preparing dinner. Kate had asked him several times if she could help him, but was declined every time. So now she was sitting with Alexis at the table while waiting for dinner.

"If we're generously with the space we could include stairs leading down from the walls." said Kate.

"If you two continue like that you can take part at a competition soon." remarked Castle. He had a great time watching them working excitingly at a plan for a new sand castle. Though he didn't completely understand their connection yet, it seemed like Kate and Alexis got along very well.

"There's an official competition in building sand castles?" asked Kate disbelievingly.

"Nowadays there're competitions for anything. This makes life so interesting. The individuality."

"You're right. There's nothing that should surprise me anymore."

"I like it. It allows our imaginations to be free and run wild." Castle grabbed three plates and the cutlery to set the table. "Dinner is ready."

He put the spaghetti and the sauce on the table before joining them. "Spaghetti Bolognese a la Castle. Bon Appetite."

"'A la Castle'? What's in there?" asked Kate who looked now rather skeptically at the sauce. Did she even want to know? Now and then she had glanced over to him and she never once had seen him looking at a recipe. But he and Alexis were still alive, so it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"If I'd tell everyone it wouldn't be so special anymore, would it?"

"Dad likes to experiment with food. Mainly with different spices no one would even think about doing it in." told her Alexis who found it funny how her dad made such a secret of the sauce. It was just a sauce.

"Oh, thank you very much my beloved daughter of mine. Why don't you just tell her straight away what's in it." scoffed Castle.

"Okay, well there's-" began Alexis but was cut off by Castle who had reacted quickly and put his hand over her mouth, the mischievousness noticeable in her eyes. Apparently she was enjoying every minute she could tease her dad, but Kate was sure that she'd never rattle out one of Castle's dear secrets. The two were just a well-functioning team, but she enjoyed their banter.

Kate took the first bite. At the first moment it tasted like a normal Bolognese sauce. Of course there were little differences, not every sauce was made by the same recipe, some were more thick while some were thin, some were spicy some were not. It was not easy to find one that everybody liked.

But after a few seconds she noticed a difference. It tasted more intensively as before, but not in a bad way. It was good, in fact it was fantastic. Whatever he put in there, made the sauce better and Kate loved the taste of it. She didn't really think that he was that he could cook that well.

"Mmh, Castle, this is really good." she said as she took the next bite. Castle acknowledged the compliment silently, watching her with a smile.

They just helped themselves to seconds as the door to the loft opened and a red headed woman came in. "Hello, kiddos, how was your- Oh, who do we have here?" asked the woman when she saw Kate. The unknown woman was nicely dressed and in spite of her age looked still rather young and full of life.

"Mother, this is Kate Beckett. Kate, this is my mother Martha Rodgers." introduced Castle. Kate got up and offered friendly her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Rodgers."

"The pleasure is all mine and please call me Martha. Mrs. Rodgers makes me feel so old."

"Well, you are a grandma." murmured Castle which drew a giggle from Alexis, Martha however seemed unimpressed and ignored his teasing. She was used to it.

"Do I know you from somewhere? You seem familiar."

"No, we haven't met yet. At least not that I know of." Martha looked intently at her, but it seemed that she still couldn't remember from where she knew Kate. Kate had really no idea from where she could know Martha. She was proud of the fact that she never forgot a face but she couldn't place her in. Of course anything was possible in a city like New York. Maybe they passed each other on the street and Kate hadn't noticed her then.

"Would you like to join us, Mother? The food is still warm." asked Castle.

"I've already eaten, but thanks. But I think I'll join you, I'll just get something to drink."

While Martha poured herself a glass of red wine, they quickly finished their meal. The whole time Kate tried to thing of the things Castle may have put into the sauce. It was just too good. She didn't know when she last ate a real meal rather than some take out. If she made something for herself, it usually wasn't that much. Her decision to join them for dinner felt more and more right.

"Now-" said Martha as she sat down at the table. "Where do you know each other from?"

"We've met in the park the other day. She sat alone on the swings and I joined her while watching Alexis play."

"The swings?" mused Martha thoughtfully. "I think I know now why you seem familiar. Weren't you sitting on the swings in the bad weather, during those days where it never stopped raining? Alexis had seen you and asked me whether she could look after you."

Right. She remembered Alexis saying that she was with her grandmother. But she had never seen Martha personally, which was the reason she couldn't place her and she was impressed that Martha, even though the bad weather, had seen her and remembered.

"It's always fascinating how fate interferes with our lives." replied Castle. "First she got to know Alexis, then I met her almost the same way like my daughter and before I knew it I saw her again at the Old Haunt. It's as if somebody or something wants that we got to know each other."

"'Something'? Really, Castle? I don't believe in fate and other supernatural things. The only thing that happened was that we met again. I know it doesn't happen often in such a big city, but things like that can happen occasionally."

"You believe in boring coincidence and me in fate, because fate is the only rightfully answer." She rolled her eyes.

"Kate helped me with my sand castle today! We already made a plan for the next one. Wait, I'll show you!" said Alexis excited and showed her grandmother the drawing of their castle, telling her their plans.

Kate noticed Castle carrying the dirty dishes to the kitchen. She grabbed one of the pots and followed him. It felt strange to be served like that if she wasn't in a restaurant. It was normal for her to help otherwise she'd feel useless.

"You don't have to help me. You're a-"

"-guest, I know." she cut him off. "But I'd like to help. I'm not someone who just sits and does nothing."

"If you insist."Castle let water flow into the sink while Kate put the leftovers into bowls, Castle had gave her. After that she dried the dishes, a comfortable silence between them.

"So you really don't believe in fate?" he smirked at her.

"Castle, I won't discuss things like that with you. I just don't believe in it, so what? I don't have to write a book with all the reasons why I don't believe, do I?"

"I just can't believe that you don't believe in such wonderful things. Have you never asked yourself if there's more out there than we see?"

"God, please don't tell me that you just turned our already ridiculous conversation about fate into one about aliens, because then I have to admit that it could get more absurd than it already had been."

"I think it's pretty arrogant of us to think that we're the only living intelligence in the whole wide universe." Kate rolled again with her eyes. Somehow she seemed to do it more often around him.

"Okay, let's make a deal. I'm ready to admit that it could be possible that there's intelligent life somewhere in the whole wide universe, far away from our earth, if you tell me what you put in your Bolognese."

"You want me to tell you my secret ingredient and you will admit something you don't believe in, just to satisfy me?"

"Yes or no, Castle."

He frowned while he thought about the deal. Kate waited patiently, waiting for his decision. Would he tell her? She was really interested in it and if she had to tell him that such things as aliens could be possible, then so be it. It will be the only time she would say this.

"As tempting as this offer is, it's not a fair one in my eyes, which is why I won't accept it. But nice try."

Kate shrugged, accepting his decision. She won't force him into anything and she'll definitely won't beg for it. She wasn't that desperate. Maybe she could try and see if she could get something out of the weaker part of this duo though: Alexis. Maybe she could find something that was good enough for Alexis to make a deal.

She glanced at her watch and was stunned as she saw that it was already 08:32pm. She should go home now. When she had accepted the offer for dinner, she thought that it wouldn't be so late, but somehow she had enjoyed her time with the Castle's that she had lost track of time.

"I think I should go now." Kate folded the towel and laid it back on the counter.

"No!" screamed Alexis and ran to the kitchen. "I thought we could watch a movie. And I wanted to show you the pictures dad and I made of our sand castles we made in the Hamptons!"

God, those eyes! She should absolutely start building a resistance so that it wasn't always that hard to tell her no. If her dad wouldn't depend on her she'd readily submit to her fate, but she really had to go home. What should she say? That they'll do all of those things the next time they meet? Was there a next time?

Uncertainly she looked to Castle who smiled reassuringly back. She had no idea how to interpret his reaction though and he thankfully seemed to notice and helped her out.

"Alexis, Pumpkin. Kate has to go, but I'm sure that you can show her the pictures some other time. If she has time."

"Of course. If you give me your phone number I'll give you a call and tell you when I have time."

"Sure, no problem." replied Castle and went to write down their phone number of the loft and the one of his cell, just to be safe.

"And you'll really call?" asked Alexis again. Martha walked over to the three and put a calming hand on her granddaughters shoulder.

"Promise."

"Richard, why don't you drive her home? It quite dark out there already." said Martha with an expressive look.

"This isn't necessary. I'll take a cab."

"That's not necessary. It's not that far, I'll just drive you."

"Castle-" she tried again but was cut off immediately.

"No argument. You would be faster home if you'd surrender to your fate." smirked Castle looked over the other two who watched rather amused. It was obvious that they found their exchange funny.

"Well then, lead the way." she surrendered.

Before following Castle out of the loft, she waved Alexis and Martha goodbye. She was old enough to be out in the dark of the night herself. She didn't need a babysitter, especially not at half past eight! There were still enough people out there at this time, decreasing the chance of being robbed. But if he was so set on driving her, then she won't make a discussion out of it.

The drive was relatively comfortable. He asked her a few more about the academy and she asked him about his books, trying to not look too eager at getting information about his new novel. His ego was big enough, it didn't need to get bigger by realizing how big a fan she had become in the last months.

The drive didn't take long and soon he pulled up at her house. She tried to ignore the slight disappointment she felt, she really enjoyed their time. If she wasn't so guarded and closed up, she'd tell him to drive a few times around the block while continuing their conversation. Shaking her head at her silliness, she went to open her door when he spoke again.

"Red wine."

Now taken aback she looked confused to him. What did he want to tell her? Red wine? It completely put her off. "What?"

"I do some red wine in my sauce. It intensifies the taste."

"Red wine?" she frowned.

"About two gulps. And the alcohol boils away, so it's harmlessly."

Red wine. She'd never would have thought about that and he was right, the alcohol would boil away making it harmless.

"Why did you tell me after all?"

"I had the feeling that you were really interested in it. And I don't think that I'll find the recipe on the internet tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Castle. Your secret is safe with me." Kate opened the car door and saw him getting out too.

"Seriously?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Humor me."

Wordlessly she turned around and went to the front door when she suddenly stopped. There, on the porch, was her dad sitting on the cold floor, gripping a piece of paper in his hands. Did he want to leave the house? "Dad!"

She hurried to him, casually noticing Castle following her. She gently put her hand on his cheek, willing him to open his eyes. God, hopefully he was alright! After a few seconds in which her heart hammered in her chest, he opened his eyes. "Katie?"

She let out a relived sigh. "Yes, dad. It's me."

"What time is it now?"

"It's late. What are you even doing outside?"

"I wanted to go to the bank. But apparently I haven't gotten far."

To the bank? What did he want at the bank? Out of any place he could go to? "What did you want at the bank? You could have said something to me, I'd have gone for you."

He wordlessly held out a piece of paper to her that he seemed to have hold onto the whole time he had been sitting at the front porch. She looked at it and realized that it was a letter from the bank, quickly reading the words on the page and with every word her eyes widened more and more. Were they serious? She had thought that they were already at their end, but she had been wrong. It really could get so much worse.

Through the letter, the bank announced the eviction of their were losing their house.

I wish you all happy easter and sorry again for putting a break on my story.

Next update is planned around the end of May/begin of June.

Maybe I'll finally find some time during my break to answer your reviews. I already feel very very bad for not having it done by now!

Please feel free to get in touch with me via PM or my twitter account (at tv_addict007).