Beckett stared at Martha and Alexis, struck dumb. She knew she should understand the words they said but found it impossible to wrap her mind around their meeting. It was like she had stood at the foundation of the Tower of Babel, God striking down upon her and leaving her unable to understand a tongue she had used not moments before.

"I think we broke her, Grams," Alexis said, waving her hand in front of Beckett's face and getting no response.

"Come, a shot of brandy and a sit will do her good. Your father will be on the phone for a while, if I know that shark he calls an agent." Martha led the slack-jawed Beckett to the couch, retrieving a tumbler and filling it with the amber liquid. Placing it in Beckett's hands, she urged the officer to drink; Beckett's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the liquid fire ran down her throat. "There there, see now. The best medicine you can find and you don't even need a prescription."

Beckett blinked, trying to get the stars to stop flashing about her eye line. "Wha...what gave you the idea..."

"That you are in love with my dad?" Alexis asked. She gave Beckett a teasing smile, one Beckett was use to seeing upon Castle's own face. "No offense, Detective Beckett, but you didn't really hide the fact."

"I didn't?" Beckett gulped, chancing a glance at Castle's office, as if expecting him to pop out at any moment and cry "Ha!" and rub it in her face he knew all along.

As if sensing her thoughts, Martha clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Don't worry, my dear. Only women would see how much you long after him; men are too stupid to notice such subtle things...and when it comes to love my Richard is the dumbest of them all."

Beckett did her best to hide the slight grimace that tugged on her lips. "So, what exactly have I been doing to tip you guys off?"

Alexis shrugged. "It's hard to describe. My dad was all mopey the last few days, mostly just sitting in his office, not talking to anyone...I wasn't for sure what was wrong but no matter what I tried he wouldn't open up. Then, a few days ago, he walked in and it was like this big weight had been lifted off his shoulders."

"I made a comment, asking him if he'd finally worked up the nerve to kiss you, but Richard merely looked at me and said in the plainest tones that he didn't love you and you two had agreed to be friends." Martha reached over, taking the tumbler from Beckett and downing the remains of the brandy in one gulp. "That was my first clue something was wrong...only men think they can go back to being friends with a woman."

"How did you know I was...that I am in love with him?" Beckett asked, startled by how GOOD it felt to say the words to another soul.

Alexis picked up the story. "Dad went back to acting like himself, or at least close to it. He would mention little things, like you bringing him pastries or some joke you told... he sounded like my friend Becky talking about Frank Stipano."

"Except he didn't see that those little things weren't the actions of a friend...am I right?"

Beckett took a breath, lowering her voice a few octaves before speaking. "You're right. I was ready to tell him I loved him...when he told me he didn't love me."

"Oh darling," Martha said with sympathy, wrapping her arm around Beckett's shoulder. "Damn Richard and his pigheadedness."

Another scowl tried to take hold of her lips but Beckett fought it off. "I got drunk later that night..." Martha muttered something about 'best medicine' but Beckett just plowed ahead, "...and I realized that it was my fault this had happened."

"Detective Beckett..." Alexis began but Beckett held up her hand.

"I didn't do enough to earn his love. I took it for granted...and I had no right to be upset that Castle didn't wait for me like some puppy. I screwed up...and I plan to fix it."

"I'm glad to hear that!" Martha said, going to mix herself another drink. "Now tell me, darling, what can Alexis and I do to help you snare your son?"

"Yeah, Det. Beckett," Alexis said, rather excited, "there must be something we can do to help."

Beckett pursed her lips. "You two seem awful happy that I want to date Castle..."

"Detective, let me tell you something: I've seen Richard date many women. And I have made my opinion clear to him that none of them were right for him. I know who my son deserves...and that's you."

"I've never seen him so happy as when he gets a phone call from you," Alexis stated. "He talks about you all the time...it's love and I want him to be happy."

Beckett nodded, considering their words. She was happy to have their support, but as she stared at their eager faces she knew what she had to tell them...and knew it could go sour very quickly.

"There is something you guys can do to help me," Beckett said, steeling herself for the fight to come.

"Name it," Martha said.

"Show Castle that he is loved."

Alexis and Martha blinked, not quite understanding what Beckett was getting at.

"It works both ways with Castle...he talks about me to you guys...and he talks about you to me. And, if I can be honest...I don't think he believes you two really love him anymore."

"What?" Alexis shouted, only to clamp her jaw shut and glance at Castle's office, thankful he hadn't heard.

"Darling, I think you are gravely mistaken."

Beckett shook her head. "I don't think so. I've been partners with Castle for a while now... and more times than not, when he talks about you guys it's because he is confused. Both of you do things he doesn't understand, and when he reacts you make him feel like the bad guy." Beckett sighed, lowering her head. "Of course, I am just as guilty...I supported you guys, teasing him and berating him for his actions...it's a wonder he's stayed sane, with the three of us coming at him."

Alexis stared at the detective, trying to wrap her mind around Beckett's statement. "I don't...I don't understand..."

Beckett sighed. "Ok, I'm not a shrink here, so forgive me...and this is only my opinion...Castle feels with you that he can't win, Alexis. You act like you want him to be a parent; but when he tries to do lay down the law, both of you make him feel guilty and question his choices. So then he tries to be more of a friend to you...and the cycle begins again. He sees you growing up and he doesn't know how to act around you anymore."

Licking her lips, Alexis considered some of the fights she had gotten into with her father over the last few years. She'd wanted him to treat her as an adult, to trust her and her decisions...but honestly, if it weren't for her father putting his foot down, she would have messed up a lot more. Alexis had always been mature for her age, and with that wisdom she tried to picture herself years from now, her own daughter telling her she was going to a summer program where she would be bunking with boys... her daughter rearranging her entire life just so she could spend more time with a boy she'd only been dating for a year... her daughter deciding to work for the police and not telling her...

And then she considered having said daughter always quilting her, making her feel bad for just trying to protect her...

It was a bitter pill to swallow...but Alexis sucked it up.

"I think you are being a bit hard on her, darling," Martha said, chiding Beckett. "Alexis is a teenager...they are expected to give their parents hell. Lord knows Richard did...that boy was always trouble..."

"Do you love him?"

It was Martha's turn to blink.

"It's a simple question...do you love your son?"

"Of course!" Martha said, offended.

"When is the last time you said the words?" Beckett pushed. Martha opened her mother, only to find silence to be the only thing on her tongue. "When is the last time you thanked him for letting you live here?" Again, Martha found her voice gone. "When is the last time you let him know you appreciate him...that you are proud of him."

Martha set her glass down.

She wanted to argue that she only acted the way she did to keep Richard grounded. That while she had an acid tongue Richard knew she loved him, that she was proud of him and all he had done...

But she couldn't speak the words. Not with Beckett staring at her, daring her to whisper them.

Beckett laughed bitterly. "What a trio we make. We bounce Castle around so much, playing down his strengths, offering only crumbs when he offers us the whole cake... God, no wonder he thought he wasn't in love with me...he probably thinks love doesn't exist."

Martha collapsed on the couch, all the humor that had filled the evening draining away. She had expected to gossip and plan with Beckett, to plot how to trick her son into realizing he was in love with the detective. But now, that game had suddenly changed and she found herself wondering if she truly had the time to help Beckett...as she had a lot of making up to do.

Alexis sniffed, not wanting to shed the tears the pooled in her eyes. Guilt ate away at her as she thought of her father and all the mistakes they had made.

"But..." Beckett said at last, "its not too late." She grabbed Martha fingers in one hand, gathering Alexis' in the other. "We can fix this...all of us. We can prove to him that he is loved... that he deserves love and we deserve to get it back."

"How?" Alexis whispered.

Beckett smiled, like the Cheshire cat. It was fun to find the tables turned...her now the one with the power and the others hanging on her every word. "Oh...I have a few ideas..."

Martha and Alexis leaned in...and their tears dried up as their smiles grew, listening to Beckett's plans. If they worked...oh boy, Richard Castle would not know what hit him.

"Ok, sorry about that..." Castle said, emerging from his office 10 minutes later. he looked at the three women in his life, nervously taking a step back as they all glanced at him. Now he knew how Macbeth felt upon seeing the Weird Sisters. "Uh... you guys alright?"

"Yes darling."

"Yup."

"100%, Castle."

All three women laughed (or cackled, in Castle's opinion), and every man in a 20 mile radius suddenly felt a shiver run down their spine.