A/N: This is dedicated to AC (NoOrdinaryLines), a dear friend and dirty thinker who's been using her birthday as an excuse to get drunk and have fanfic writers updating their stories this whole week. So… here you go, AC. Enjoy your most likely last birthday present this year ;)
"I can't believe I'm being robbed in my own home!" Rick complained when Beckett beat him for what seemed to him like the hundredth time that evening.
The group had been playing cards for over four hours, having stopped only to eat some pizza sometime around 9:30pm – Alexis had even joined them for their impromptu meal. The teen had bid them good night an hour after that, but Castle had refused to let his guests feel pressured into leaving then, his mother a helpful influence when she had explained that the only reason Alexis had already left for the night was that the teen was far too responsible for her age.
So they had carried on with their poker night, glad to still be able to enjoy their companionship and easy conversation as they continued to take turns on winning – as it had been going on for the entire evening. So far, Beckett was without a doubt the greatest winner of the night, Castle following in second place, while the other players had had their fair share of wins, except for Martha, who hadn't won a single round yet.
"You're not being robbed, Castle," Kate replied to the writer's mock complaint. "You're getting wiped – there's a difference."
The female detective smirked as the novelist, who was seated to her left, pretended to look chagrined. The Captain and the boys laughed at the brunette's words, while Martha watched the scene in front of her in delight.
"Well, you've definitely found someone who can give you a run for your money, Richard," The older woman commented fondly as she got up to refill her wine glass.
"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Castle replied casually, throwing a warm smile in Kate's way as he shuffled the cards in preparation of the next round of Texas Hold 'Em.
Beckett looked down surreptitiously, trying her best to hide any sign of the blush that threatened to color her cheeks because of Rick's words.
The tenderness on her son's features and the shyness in the brunette's reaction did not go unnoticed by Martha, who had been watching them from the kitchen. She smiled to herself – she definitely liked Kate Beckett.
Before returning to the poker table, the older woman stopped by the stereo system to put on some more music, since the last CD that had been playing – Bob Dylan – had already come to an end.
Ryan started dealing the cards as the first bars of The Rolling Stones's Sympathy for the Devil started to play. "Nice choice, Ms. R." The Irishman said approvingly.
Montgomery, who was sandwiched between Martha and Esposito at the poker table, nodded along but then yawned. "Well, I think this is my last hand for the night," He said, checking his watch.
"Oh, phooey!" Exclaimed Martha as she took her seat. "It's not even midnight!"
"Some people have jobs to go to in the morning, Mother," Rick stated acidly as he checked the cards he'd been dealt.
"Unlike you, you mean," The redhead deadpanned.
"Funny," The bestselling author accepted, voice still laced with sarcasm, while the guests just snickered.
Ryan was still checking his cards after taking a swig of his beer when Martha announced, "I fold."
Esposito looked at her funny before remarking, "If you don't mind me saying, Ms. R., you fold a lot."
"I just don't believe in stringing along a bad hand," She replied theatrically. "Why waste time?"
Rick picked up his phone and started typing something in it while he commented, "Actually, Mother's game isn't really Texas Hold 'Em – it's strip poker." Putting his mobile down, he then added conspiratorially towards the boys, who were seated to his left, "It keeps things humming along, if you know what I mean."
Before the detectives had a chance to digest that information, Martha declared, "Well, frankly, I prefer strip because even when you lose, you win." The diva then winked at the female detective sitting to her left.
Kate and the rest of the room burst into laughter, but the brunette quickly took advantage of the commotion to put her cards down and check her phone, which she had noticed vibrating during Martha's short speech. The younger woman only half paid attention to Esposito placing his bet while she read the text she had received – a message from Castle. 'Stay over tonight', it read.
Her heart beat a little faster.
"Beckett?" Castle gently bumped his shoulder into hers in order to catch her attention. "Are you going to place a bet or just keep playing Tetris on your phone?"
Ryan let out a quiet laugh while the other people in the room looked at the brunette in amusement. Rick only smiled at her.
"Right," She conceded as she put her phone down and checked her cards again.
"Montgomery raised to twenty bucks," The novelist said so as to situate her.
Beckett once again took a look at her cards before announcing, "Let's make it a hundred."
Esposito choked on the beer he was drinking. "A hundred bucks?" He asked, surprised.
The game was much more about fun than money – and even if Castle had complained every single time he had lost a hand, it was clear that he and everybody else had been having a great time tonight. By the evening standards, twenty dollars was already a considerable amount of money, so Kate could see why Espo had been startled by her bet.
It didn't get her to backtrack, though. "Man up, Bro," She told him teasingly.
"Really?" The Hispanic protested. "I'm out."
Ryan and Montgomery also folded.
"What about you, Castle? Not scared of a little action, are you?" Kate taunted him.
Rick smiled feigning self-assurance as he threw his chips in the pot in acceptance of her bet. "'Action' is my middle name."
"Don't worry, Sweetheart, he's bluffing," Martha was quick to assure Kate, affectionately patting her hand. "Whenever he blinks too much, it means he's got a lousy hand."
"Mother!" Rick complained as Ryan dealt the flop. "Stop siding with Beckett, I'm your only child."
Kate laughed while a smiling Martha just shrugged her shoulders and told him, "I like her, Richard."
The younger woman's grin faltered slightly as she considered the redhead's words. Martha had just announced that she liked her, and Kate wasn't stupid – she had noticed the hidden meaning in that sentence. She liked her for Castle.
Oddly enough, Beckett couldn't help but feel… happy. She knew that Castle liked her and now it seemed his family kind of liked her too. Okay, granted, it was somewhat intimidating to think that she could be starting a real relationship with a guy who was much older than her (he has a teenage daughter, for crying out loud!), but even so Kate herself had already taken a liking to Martha and Alexis as well. And of course she liked Castle, there was no discussion about that – actually, after watching him interact with his family, she liked him even a little better. What worried her the most at this point was that this whole evening had been going great, and she couldn't help but feel… happy. It really scared her, this feeling of pure, unadulterated joy. It made her think of everything she stood to lose if she went ahead with this and things went south after a while.
But she was starting to genuinely enjoy feeling joyful anyway.
After checking the new cards on the table, the writer had started eagerly tapping his index finger on his cards, an action that certainly hadn't gone undetected by Martha.
So as Kate snapped out of her short-lived reverie and tried her best to hide her lack of enthusiasm at the flop, she also heard Martha whisper a "Uh-oh" in her ear. Turning to look at the older woman inquisitively, the detective asked what she had meant by that.
"He's not blinking anymore – now he's tapping," The extravagant redhead observed. "That means he might have the nuts."
Castle watched the two women bonding over his poker habits – still a little irked by his mother's lack of loyalty to him – and smirked arrogantly at Beckett when she looked at him. "What's the matter, Detective? You're not afraid of a little action, are you?"
Oh, so that's how he wants to play this?
Kate pushed all of her chips towards the center of the table without taking her eyes off his. "All in."
The flamboyant diva then smiled, pleased by the sassiness in the younger woman's actions. Yes, this lady would definitely give her son a run for his money.
The Captain and the other two detectives had also been watching this entire interaction with interest and, the moment Kate decided to go head to head against Castle, they all started cheering animatedly.
Beckett laughed as cries of "Take him down!", "Yeah, make him pay!" and even a "Do me proud, Detective," were heard in the room.
Martha watched her son intently as he glanced down at his hand before looking up at Kate's face, his expression showing nothing. Then she noticed as the writer glanced around the table at the other players for a moment, and then silently rested his cards on the table, face down.
He folded.
Kate laughed gleefully as she pulled the pile of chips toward her, and Montgomery, Ryan and Esposito's catcalls completely took over the room, the sound of The Rolling Stones's Brown Sugar suddenly barely audible in the background.
"Way to go, Beckett!" Ryan told her.
"Maybe someone should change their middle name to 'Loser"," Esposito added, provocatively.
Rick took it all in stride. "What can I say? Guess it just wasn't my night." He smiled lightly and finished his beer before adding, "Maybe I should've invited you to a night of Xbox gaming instead."
"Dude, you're a gamer?" Espo asked excitedly, Ryan suddenly appearing next to his partner with an eager look on his face as well.
"Of course!" Castle replied, just as enthusiastically. "You want to play some Madden now?" He asked, already turning around to go into his office and motioning the boys to follow him.
Kate thought that the look of pure elation on the faces of these three grown men at the prospect of playing videogame resembled the look of little boys who just got to visit Disney World for the first time in their lives. It made her smile.
Similarly, Martha was shaking her head warmheartedly.
Montgomery finished his beer as he noticed the men in the other room discussing who got to play first. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave," He said, more to Beckett and Martha than to anyone else, as he put on his coat. He then addressed his protégée directly when he asked, "Are you coming or staying?"
Martha watched the brunette closely as she decided what she should do, until Castle reemerged from his office and noticed Montgomery was ready to leave. "Running home to Evelyn, Roy?" The writer asked.
The older man smiled at his friend. "When you are surrounded by a bunch of men arguing over playing a videogame and you have a beautiful woman who loves you waiting for you at home, there's really not much of a doubt about what to do."
Rick smirked and looked at Kate. "You're staying, right?" At Beckett's deep, panicked breath, Castle realized how his question sounded. "For Madden," He amended.
Of course he wanted her to spend the night. He had even already asked her to stay – and she hadn't replied yet, had she? –, but at that moment he had honestly meant to ask her to stay just to play with his Xbox. He wouldn't put her on the spot by asking her to spend the night with him in front of her boss and his mother.
Kate seemed to still be considering how to respond to his invitation, so he decided to force her hand. "Unless you're afraid I'll beat you and embarrass you in front of your friends."
That did it for her. "I'm staying, all right."
Montgomery smirked at Beckett's determination and said his good night to everyone before leaving the loft. Martha then moved to clean up the poker table just as Rick asked Kate, "Would you help me get some more beers for us all?"
"Sure," The brunette replied, already moving ahead of him.
Castle followed Kate into the kitchen and, as he opened the fridge and she bent over to pick up some beer bottles, he bent down next to her and spoke into her right ear in a low voice, "So, will you stay over tonight? I promise I'll be good."
Still crouching, Kate passed two Heinekens to Castle and turned her head to whisper close to his lips, "If you'll be good, then why do you want me to stay?" She raised her left brow at him sinfully before turning her attention back to picking up the beer bottles from the fridge.
"See, I was hoping you'd say that. I can totally be bad too if you want," He immediately replied eagerly.
Beckett stood up carrying two Heinekens in her own hands and then settled the bottles on the counter before resuming her conversation with the man also standing in front of her. "Castle, I'm not staying over when your Mother and daughter," she emphasized, though still managing to keep a low tone, "are in the loft. Do you bring every woman you sleep with into your home and near your family?"
"Of course not," He was quick to reassure her. "Actually, aside from Alexis's mother and my second ex-wife, I think maybe just two other women have stayed in the loft when my kid was around, and at that time Alexis wasn't even old enough to realize they were my girlfriends."
The full meaning of his words sank in – she's not just a woman he's slept with, he doesn't easily let his girlfriends hang around his family – and Kate froze to her spot. The quietness between them attested to the seriousness of the moment, and she couldn't think of anything to say to him at that point to break the silence. Neither could Rick – he'd made this first step; he needed to see how she'd react to it.
Almost a minute had passed and then the two of them became aware of The Rolling Stones's Let's Spend The Night Together playing in Rick's state of the art music system. He saw a flicker of amusement in Kate's eyes and he decided to jump in. "See, even the music Gods think that you should stay," He told her then, hoping for levity, as he tried to break the tension.
Her smile grew a bit, but she still felt nervous. "Castle, I…" she trailed off.
"Are you making the beers, Kiddo?" They both heard Martha loudly ask in sarcasm from where she was standing near the poker table and as they turned to face the older woman they also noticed the boys back in the living room.
"We'll talk later," Rick told her before walking back towards his guests, beer bottles in hand.
While her son and his companion had been interacting in the kitchen, Martha had taken advantage of the fact that she had been alone at the poker table and furtively checked the cards Richard had discarded in the final round. She had been surprised – and then not so surprised – to learn that he had actually thrown his hand in order to let Kate win.
Her son, the misguided gentleman.
The older redhead had then lifted her eyes to look at the duo in the kitchen, taking notice of the tension between them. Deep in her heart she had wanted to give them some privacy, but she had found it impossible not to watch them, this romantic couple definitely in development.
Only she had spotted the two male detectives coming out of her son's office and knew she would have to interrupt the twosome in the kitchen. So, staying put by the poker table, she had raised her voice and asked sarcastically, "Are you making the beers, Kiddo?"
Martha watched the pair walk back towards the living room, her son passing the Heinekens he was carrying over to his new two buddies and then taking one of the beer bottles Kate had with her – the one she was holding in her outstretched hand – for himself.
That small, unrehearsed act was also one of the things that brought a smile to her lips.
Soon enough, the four younger people had fallen into conversation, and Martha decided to finish cleaning.
As they all started making their way into Castle's office to start their gaming, Beckett noticed Martha carrying some empty beer bottles into the kitchen. Feeling ashamed for her manners, she walked back towards the poker table to help with the cleaning. "I'll take care of this for you, Martha."
"Nonsense, Darling!" She replied from behind the kitchen counter.
But Kate was already picking up the last empty beer bottles and moving towards the kitchen. "Really, it's no trouble. We've already invaded your privacy, the least I can do is clean this all up."
The older woman gracefully acquiesced, stepping from behind the counter and giving a startled Beckett a hug before announcing, "I hope to see you again, my dear."
And with that, Martha asked Kate to pass her wishes of a good night along to the boys and went up the stairs to her room.
The brunette was still trying to comprehend what had just happened when she felt Rick coming up behind her. "Where's Mother?" He asked, careful not to touch her.
"She went to bed," Kate replied, skillfully avoiding looking at Rick while she picked up all the poker chips. "I told her I'd clean this up for her."
Rick's arms then went around her frame as he pried the chips out of the detective's hands. "You don't have to do that. I'll deal with this in the morning."
She tried to get away from him, but the writer only strengthened his grasp on her. "Castle, no," She said then. "The boys can come in at any minute."
"Pff, are you kidding me?" He said, turning Kate in his arms so she was facing him while pressed against the poker table. "They're already playing Madden. They're totally 'in the zone' by now." Castle brought his left hand to cup her cheek while he ran his right hand up and down her waist before whispering, "Plus, I've been waiting the whole evening to do this." And then his lips met hers, finding no resistance.
It was close to 2am when they all decided to leave. Well, when Kate prompted them all to leave.
She had been sitting on one of the leather chairs in Castle's office as the host had been going over his selection of games, half standing, half bent over the lower shelves by the windows, the boys still battling each other over Madden. At first, she had been admiring the view outside, the concrete landscape magically complimented by the street lights and the night sky, but then her eyes had drifted of their own volition down towards Rick's form, taking in his strong, broad shoulders, his hulking biceps and thick triceps, the solid muscles on the back of his torso and then finally – oh, man! – the impressive round shape of his backside.
Hmm… that really is one hot bubble butt, she had thought to herself.
She had been so lost appreciating his impressive – yummy – physique that she had failed to notice him turning his head back to look at the boys and then catching her staring at his body. So, really, it had been the sound of his throat clearing in obvious haughtiness that had brought her out of her stupor.
And when her eyes had finally met his, he had smirked.
His overconfidence should have been a turn off for her – before they got together, it would have been – but as he had held that look to her, she had felt butterflies fluttering inside her. So she had decided then to do what she did best: run.
"I think I should call it a night," She had announced to the room.
Despite Castle's numerous attempts to stop her – none of which had carried any hint of personal pleas since they had still been in the presence of the boys –, Kate had been resolute to go back to her place.
Her determination had forced the boys into thinking it would be best for them to leave as well, so they had both gotten up to take their beer bottles back into the kitchen and at last left Rick alone with Kate for a while.
"You really can stay, Kate." Castle said, taking a step closer to her. "I want you to."
"I know you do." The brunette sighed. She tried to come up with an excuse, but decided to be honest for once, even if the reason she was about to give him was only the tip of the iceberg for her. "I'm just not sure I'm ready to face your family that way yet."
The novelist's eyes widened a little, as if he had been startled by her bout of honesty, and Beckett wondered how bad it was when someone who was just getting to know you could already tell how closed off you were.
Rick tried to come up with something that could convince her to stay, but came up short. The only think he could think of was doing a celebratory dance in his head for the fact that Kate had said she wasn't ready "yet" – he even congratulated his mind for focusing on the bright side of her speech. Without thinking, he suggested stupidly, "You can leave before they wake up." The moment the words left his lips he realized what he had said and hastily added, "Not that I think you need to do that!"
Kate couldn't help but laugh a little at his uneasiness over being misinterpreted. "It's okay, I know what you mean. I just –"
"We called the cab company, they'll be here any minute." Ryan unknowingly interrupted as he walked into the room. He noticed Castle and Beckett standing relatively close together and crooked his neck, looking at them funny.
"We should probably head downstairs!" Esposito added from the living room as he put on his coat, his voice affording Beckett enough distraction to take a step away from Castle.
When Ryan's attention was back to the pair in front of him, Kate was already leaving the office and thanking Castle for having them over.
The writer found himself saying goodbye to the boys with an elaborate handshake – something that Esposito had taught him how to do sometime during their evening – and then placing a chaste kiss on Beckett's left cheek. Although he did manage to cover it well, Rick was reluctant to escort his guests to his door and end the night.
After the trio had left, the only sound Rick could hear in the loft was The Rolling Stones's You Can't Always Get What You Want playing in the background.
"I can take my own cab, you know," Beckett said to Esposito and Ryan as they waited for the elevator in Castle's hallway.
"Don't sweat it," Esposito told her. "We'll share the cab – it's only a few blocks out of our way."
"Chelsea is not just a few blocks out of your way to Brooklyn," She rebuked him good-heartedly.
He just shrugged as Ryan said, "It's still okay."
The elevator doors opened and the three of them stepped in just as she said, "Thanks, guys."
During the entire ride down to the lobby, Kate's mind was still reeling from Castle's implied admission that he thought of her as his girlfriend. She recalled that, when he asked her out a couple of weeks before, he told her that he wanted something real, but she didn't think he was serious about it. At least not serious enough to introduce her to his family as the woman he was in a relationship with – which was sure to happen if she spent the night at his place. Then again, his family had already met her – and they liked her (if she hadn't already been sure about that, the fact that Rick probably wouldn't have asked her to stay over if he thought it would be a problem with his mother and daughter would have been a great indicator too).
So, apparently he was serious about her. If she wanted, she could be Rick Castle's girlfriend.
Huh.
Kate wondered then if Castle and she could make the relationship work. He was, after all, a world-renowned, bestselling mystery novelist whereas she was just a police detective. Not only that, she was a broken police detective, with so many personal issues she wasn't sure he'd even consider being with her if he knew the half of it.
But, so far, he only seemed to be pushing her into revealing her problems to him. He knew she had a lot of barriers – he most likely didn't grasp why they were there in its entirety, but he could tell from the get-go that she had been fighting personal demons for a long time – and still he wanted to be with her.
By the time the elevator reached the ground floor, Beckett realized that here she was, trying to convince herself that being with Castle wasn't a good idea, when just a few weeks ago she almost had to be forced by Lanie to go on a date with the guy. The fact that, subconsciously, she had come to accept the thought of maybe being involved with Rick had to count for something, right? Maybe – just maybe – she could let herself be in a real relationship with him – including spending time with his family – and see how it would go.
As the boys got settled in the cab, she made a decision. Stopping by the sidewalk, she said, "Shoot. I forgot my piece upstairs."
Ryan was kind enough to offer, "Okay. We'll wait for you here."
"Nah, that's okay," She deflected. "You're going to Brooklyn, guys. There's no need to be a burden to you – I'll take a cab on my own."
"You sure?" Espo asked.
She nodded. "Don't worry about it. Night, guys."
They said their goodbyes to her and as the cab sped off Kate walked into the lobby again, signaling to the doorman that she was going back upstairs. She got into the elevator and put her hands in her pockets, anxiously waiting for the lift to stop at Castle's floor.
Once she stepped back into the hallway on Rick's floor, she pulled out her phone.
The Rolling Stones's Start Me Up had just started playing on the sound system when Rick's phone vibrated. Putting away the deck of cards, he checked the text Kate had sent him and almost ran to the front door.
Forgotten on the poker table, Castle's phone still displayed the text he had received – 'I'm outside your door. Are you going to let me in or not?'
TBC
(All characters and even some of the quotes in this fanfic don't belong to me. This is made available for entertainment only and not for profit. No copyright infringement is intended.)