"I feel fat now Castle" Kate laughed as she collapsed onto the couch, Rick smiling at her as he shut the door and walked over, lifting her legs up to sit under them before resting them back down on his lap, his hands removing her shoes quickly. "I don't think I've ever tried so much food in one day" she smiled at him as he began to massage her feet, a laugh leaving her lips as he nodded in agreement.
"You're happy with the choices aren't you Kate? You can say no if I choose something and you don't like it" he asked, worry covering his face as she stared at him and nodded, leaning forward to press a kiss against his cheek. "It's just I've chosen most the things trying not to make you worry about the day and now I feel like I'm not letting you have any say in what happens at our wedding" he admitted, her eyes rolling as she moved, straddling his lip quickly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently.
"Richard Castle, I've just tried around ten different desserts trying to find the two I wanted for our wedding, I think you've let me had the perfect amount of decision in our wedding. Anyway, most of the stuff you got from my book so I must say that everything is the way I would have planned it so you've done fine" she smiled, his arms wrapping around her as she relaxed. "And I must say your friend is an amazing cook, I don't think I've ever had a chocolate mousse that good" she smiled, their foreheads resting against each other's as they sighed. Hearing the apartment door open, they turned to see Alexis standing there, Johanna in her arms as the couple smiled.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" the redhead asked as Kate shook her head and slipped off Rick's lap, walking over quickly to press a kiss against Alexis' cheek, her arms taking Johanna quickly as Alexis smiled. "Kate, you smell of chocolate and wine. Did you have a good time?" she asked as Kate bit into her lip and nodded. "Please tell me you picked a decent menu Kate and didn't let dad have all he wanted" Alexis smiled as she walked over to the couch with the brunette, the two of them sitting on the sofa beside Rick who immediately ran his finger to his youngest daughter's cheek who immediately held her arms out for him.
"I've barely had her five minutes and she wants to go running off to you, she's such a daddy's girl it's unbelievable" Kate smiled as Rick took their daughter from her and pressed a kiss against the small child's head, Alexis rolling her eyes as he beamed. "But I guess you have an effect on both of them" Kate smiled, her eyes moving from Johanna to the smiling redhead.
"So what did you choose for food? I want to know what I'm having before I get there, I don't want another surprise" Alexis asked as she glared at her father. "When he married Gina, it was unbelievable the menu they chose together, I've never felt so ill after a meal" Alexis smiled as Rick rolled his eyes, watching as Kate slipped an arm around the teenager who rested her head against the detective's shoulder, the smile growing on the writers face. He loved how close Alexis and Kate were and it made the idea of them getting married so much easier because his daughter was already in love with her and Kate adored everything about the young redhead.
"Don't worry; the menu's simple so you shouldn't feel sick afterwards hopefully". Kate smiled, pressing a kiss onto Alexis' head as she smiled. "And you're dad only got a say with the dessert really, I didn't think he could go wrong that much there" she beamed, Alexis laughing as Rick rolled his eyes and smiled. Hearing her phone ring, she groaned as she reached across and grabbed it, slipping off the sofa before answering it. "Beckett" she smiled.
"Beckett, is there any chance I can talk to you tonight?" Esposito asked, worry immediately filling her veins as she slipped up the stairs and entered her bedroom, shutting the door behind her as she sat herself down on the bed.
"So what's wrong?" she asked, crossing her legs quickly as she waited patiently for him to answer. "Look Esposito if you can't say it over the phone, I'm quite happy to meet up with you and discuss whatever it is face to face" she announced as he sighed and agreed, the two of them settling with Remy's before hanging up, Kate creeping down the stairs quickly as Rick watched her.
"What's wrong?" he asked as she began to pull her coat on. "Kate?" he asked.
"Esposito wants to talk to me about something, do you mind if I take this one with me?" she asked, looking at Johanna as he nodded and passed their daughter to her, Kate holding her close as she smiled. "I'll be back soon and then we'll discuss the wedding meal" she smiled, looking at the redhead who nodded and smiled as Kate slipped out of the apartment with Johanna.
XOXOXOXO
Slipping into one of the booths with Johanna on her lap, she smiled as Esposito joined her and beamed at the child in her arms, his arms immediately stretching out as Kate laughed and let him take her daughter into his arms.
"Hey little one, it's been a while. Do you remember me?" Esposito beamed as he continued to look at the child before looking up at a smiling Kate. "You weren't doing anything important were you?" he asked, Kate shaking her head quickly as she watched Johanna play with the buttons on Esposito's shirt, her eyes rolling as Javier stared down at her and laughed.
"She likes to explore everything, she takes after Rick there. Honestly, she touches everything she can get her hands on" she smiled, the detective nodding in agreement as she sighed. "Why have you called me down here Esposito?" she asked quickly, the waitress coming over and taking their drink orders, neither of them wanting food as Johanna began to sing again, both adults laughing at her as their drinks were brought over and they sat in silence for a moment except for Johanna's random noises as she sat on Esposito's lap, one of his arms gently around her to support her.
"We got a call today at the precinct, Demming wants you to see him" he explained, her eyes opening wider as she slowly shook her head. "He keeps screaming that he needs to see you about something important" he admitted, hating himself for bringing everything back to her as she stared down at her drink, her hands wrapping slowly around it as she shut her eyes. "He also said that he wants to explain what he did but he only will to you" he sighed, watching as Kate shook her head.
"I can't, not after everything he did to us" she explained, staring at her daughter. "I have Johanna to think about now, I have my life back and I don't want to remember anything about that time Esposito" she announced, her hands running through her hair as she remembered the abduction, her father being murdered, Rick being shot and Alexis being taken from them by the obsessive detective. "He killed my dad Javier, I can't go and talk to him about it after it's all been buried away" she admitted, feeling the tears run down her cheeks as she remembered her father dying, leaving her with no family.
"Come here" the detective sighed, watching as the brunette walked over and sat herself beside him, one arm remaining around Johanna as the other wrapped around the brunette detective, comforting her as she began to sob into his side. "You don't have to go and see him Beckett, he just wants you too and I couldn't keep it from you because if I didn't tell you someone else would and I thought it would be better coming from Ryan or me rather than one of the others" he explained as she nodded, her finger running to Johanna's cheek as she smiled at her.
"If I went would you go with me?" she asked, shocking him as the child in his arms began to sing again, bringing a small smile to Kate's face as she ran her finger down her daughters cheek.
"What about Castle?" he asked quickly, thinking about the protective writer who wouldn't like the idea of Kate going to visit the man who had caused so many issues in their life without him.
"He can't know about any of this, I don't want him worrying about it when he's all excited about the wedding and everything. He's put this all behind him" she explained, Esposito nodding slowly as she smiled at him. "Can I think about it and then tell you tomorrow?" she asked, receiving another nod as an answer as she bit into her lip, thinking about everything that she'd wanted to know about why it had happened and whether she could get those answers from Tom Demming.
So what do you think? I know it's a bit of an odd direction and if you don't know what happened in Expressing My Emotions, tell me and I'll write a brief summery above the next chapter. Thank you for all the past reviews and all the favourites and things this story has received. I do love hearing from you and remember reviews make me write faster, it's a true fact!