Finding a Date. Chapter 2. The Loft
Kate rode the elevator up to Castle's loft, pleased with her talk with Lanie, the ME.'s squeal of delight still ringing in her ears.
She'd hitched herself onto a scrubbed table in the morgue as her friend bent over yet another victim. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I didn't think he was your case, "indicating the body she was examining.
"It's not about him" Kate tucked some hair behind her ear, giving herself time to think. Taking a deep breath she decided to come straight out with it "Would you be my bridesmaid?"
The ME gasped and peeled off her gloves as she hastened over to Kate. "Hey girl, I thought you'd never ask! You try and stop me. Have you set a date?"
Kate jumped down, returning the embrace her friend offered. "No, I need to talk to the family but I thought I'd check with you first as I know you're going to be away next week."
Dr. Lanie Parish was due to speak at a Pathology conference in Miami in the New Year and had taken the opportunity to have a break in the warmer climate beforehand. It hadn't escaped Kate's notice that Esposito had also asked for time off over the holiday. Ryan had volunteered to cover as he would be taking leave when his new baby arrived.
"What about the venue? Have you seen a dress? What's the colour scheme? Spill girl," commanded the diminutive but feisty medical examiner.
"Not even started." Kate replied. "God, there's so much to think about."
"Hey, don't worry!" Lanie reassured the detective, knowing Kate's former penchant for avoiding things she did not want to deal with. "Soon as I'm back we'll go shopping, it's not as if cost is a factor!"
Lanie twirled around the brightly lit room. "It'll be great fun you'll see." She stopped; realising there was still a body on her slab." I got to work, sorry girl. We'll talk soon!"
"Thanks Lanie." Kate crossed towards the swing doors
"Wouldn't miss it for the world Kate! I want to see Writer-boy's face when you say ´I do´!"
"That's Writer-Man, Lanie. Definitely Writer-Man!" Kate assured her, smirking as she left, somewhat relieved that at least one thing could be ticked off from her mental list of things to do.
Kate closed the door to the loft behind her. The huge train set was chugging around the excessively decorated room, lights and tinsel sparkling everywhere but no one was in sight. She hung her coat in the closet & put away her badge and gun in the small safe Rick had had installed there for the purpose.
She made her way across to Rick's office hearing a burst of laughter and identifying it as from the two men she loved most in the world. As she opened the door her Dad looked up from a comfy chair opposite the big writers' desk, a smile still on his face. "Hi Katie, is it that time already?"
She lightly patted his shoulder " I left early, needed to see Lanie" she told them, moving across to her fiancé perched on the edge of his desk and sat next to him, snuggling an arm around his waist.
"Hey, babe" she whispered as he turned his head to place a chaste kiss on her cheek, respecting the older man looking on.
"What's up Dad? I didn't expect to see you here. Wait - don't tell me you came over to play with Rick's train set?" Both men chuckled again.
"No sweetie, just dropping off some papers for next week's Foundation Board meeting and then Rick asked me for some advice on a couple of companies he's thinking of investing in."
She gaped, not knowing Rick had asked her father for help. She knew her Dad was a more than competent commercial lawyer but these days he tended to deal with claims against the big corporations and she presumed Castle's investments were in those multinational bodies.
She suddenly realised her old habit of making assumptions about Castle might have misled her again. This was another subject on which they needed to talk. Things between them were much easier now but she was still learning to express her feelings in words as well as actions.
She knew that he was a very rich man, that he spent his wealth generously on his family and friends and lived well in a prime location but other than his two properties and the Old Haunt she had no concept of his investments and business interests. She'd made it abundantly clear early on in their working relationship that his wealth did not impress her.
She came out of her reverie realising her Dad was speaking "Are you going to make to the Board meeting next week?"
Kate nodded, she did try to attend when she could. The Johanna Beckett Foundation had been set up by Castle nearly three years ago to help a student attend the law school where her mother used to teach. It was a project close to her heart, not just because it honoured her mother but because it showed Castle in his true light - generous, thoughtful and caring.
Her dad was Chairman of Trustees but her job meant it wasn't always possible for her to attend the quarterly meetings. This time she had arranged a swap with Karpowski.
"Yes Dad. I'll be off that day but I've got to cover New Year's Eve for Karpowski instead." Rick pouted but knew crime did not cease on public holidays and Kate was dedicated to keeping watch over her city.
"Is Alexis still here?" She asked. "No she's gone back to spend the evening with Pi; he's going home to Amsterdam for Christmas, I get my little girl all to myself again." Castle was elated.
"I suggest you try to tone down that enthusiasm," Kate admonished, "she'll be missing him and it won't help if you're so obviously thrilled at his absence."
He huffed, "I know," he nuzzled his forehead against his fiancée, "I'll be good."
He looked across at his future father-in-law. "Did you ever hate Kate's boyfriends?" he queried.
"Many of them," Jim admitted, "but I approve of this one!"
Rick and Kate grinned. Jim stood up placing an empty mug on the table alongside his chair. "Thanks for coffee Rick. I'll see you next week."
"Jim, no, I was hoping you'd join us for Christmas Eve dinner – it's a Castle family tradition and we managed to persuade Kate to join us last year, won't you come?"
Jim looked desperately at Kate. "Well, er... thank you but I don't think so. I usually go up to my sister for Christmas day and she lives upstate, so um..."
Kate stepped in to help, knowing her father was floundering. "My Aunt Theresa is a retired teacher of Russian Literature at NYU. She's lives alone now so Dad usually visits at Christmas."
Castle shrugged disconsolately. Jim picked up his coat and briefcase and led the way to the front door. Rick took Kate's hand as they followed him across the wide expanse of the loft.
"Thanks for coming, Jim" he said shaking hands. Kate leant in to place a kiss on her Dad's cheek.
"I'll see you again before Christmas" she promised. "I've not wrapped Aunt Theresa's present yet"
"Oh, that reminds me!" Rick exclaimed. He dashed into his office grabbing an envelope from the desk drawer and hurried back to where the two Becketts stood by the now open door.
"Have a great Christmas, Jim!" He handed the sealed envelope to the surprised lawyer.
Jim flushed "I've not got anything for you."
"That's ok." Rick smiled. "You're giving me your daughter, that'll do."
"Do! " Squeaked Kate, smacking his bicep "You'll pay for that, mister"
Jim grinned, he loved their banter. It reminded him of the fun and loving relationship he'd had with Johanna. "Don't worry Katie, he didn't actually ask my permission to marry you; we both knew it was your decision alone."
She stared at them both. "You asked my Dad?" She exclaimed.
"Only for his approval, not for your hand." Rick admitted.
"When?" Demanded Kate.
"Uh, um ..."
"While you were standing on a bomb as I later found out," supplied Jim, "that's why when you called me to say g- goodbye, it went to voicemail." Jim stuttered, remembering the awful feeling he'd had as he listened to the message of love she'd left him, expecting it to be the last words she spoke on this earth.
"But then I decided I couldn't marry a dead body, so I came back to save your life, yet again!" Castle said triumphantly.
"Yeah, yeah you did" she remembered, softly gazing up at him.
"Um, I'd better go" Jim winked at them. "I don't need to see anymore!" He could feel the intensity vibrating between them.
She was still blushing as the door closed behind him. She rose up on her toes to kiss Castle, it was gentle and grateful and loving and he tried to deepen it but she took a step back, glaring at him, "But you didn't propose for months after that?"
"I got scared," he admitted, "scared you'd turn me down. Scared I wasn't good enough, you'd met Vaughn and were obviously impressed and I couldn't compete with him."
She leaned up to brush her lips across his jaw "He wasn't you," she assured him, again. "I only want you".
"Well now you' ve got me and we've got the loft to ourselves tonight, any ideas what we could do?" Castle wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well," she responded, smiling up at him, "we could get something to eat; we could watch TV," she hesitated, "unless there's anything else you can think of?" She looked up at him from under her lashes, biting her lower lip which she knows gets to him every time.
He inhaled sharply, but just then her stomach rumbled and they both burst out laughing. "Food first, there's a casserole in the oven. I'll just do the veg if you want to change into something more ... he waved a hand in the air, not daring to make the shape of a woman's outline. He's sure she'll look amazing in whatever she puts on but she usually changes from her more formal office attire to something more comfortable and relaxing when she's home.
"Yeah," already unbuttoning her shirt, she swayed her hips as she walked towards their bedroom, "I'll do that." Castle licked his lips and wondered yet again how he came to be so lucky that this woman loves him and lives with him.
Later, with the dishes stacked and the kitchen cleared he brought her a large glass of her favourite wine as she reclined on the couch. She made room as he settled in behind her, leaning back against his chest, his legs bracketing hers.
"What was in the envelope?" She queried, gently. "Um, oh, for your Dad," replied Castle, "it's a season ticket for his baseball team."
"Wow," she said, "he'll enjoy that."
"Yeah, and it comes with guest passes to home games so you can go with him if you want... or he could take Mother?" They giggled, remembering the tension the sporting topic had raised the first time it came up at a family dinner.
"Pity about your Dad," Castle mused, "it'd be nice to be all together for Christmas." Kate knew how important family was to him; the man whose childhood had been spent with a single actress mother, an ever changing list of apartments to call home and not a few of Martha's temporary male admirers.
"It's this." She admitted, holding up her glass of wine. "You know he's a recovering alcoholic, which means he has to be on his guard whenever there's booze around. He can't relax, he can't enjoy himself."
Castle eased her up, leaning forward and turning to look at her closely. "God, I didn't think of it like that." he gasped. "I mean I know never to offer him alcohol and not to allow anyone else to but I really didn't think it through. I'm so stupid."
"No babe," she hushed, "it's just difficult for him, especially at Christmas and New Year. It's bad enough coping without my Mom," her voice faltered but Kate sucked in her breath and continued, "everyone else is knocking it back, having a good time and he has to be extra careful. So he avoids the parties and dinners and goes to my Aunt who is a teetotaller, and then on to his cabin, until he feels it's safe to come back to the city."
She felt protective of her father now. It hadn't been easy when he'd started coming home reeling drunk and stinking. As it got worse and more regular, she'd moved out and hadn't seen him for months at a time, until eventually as a uniformed cop she'd been called to a drunken brawl and found herself arresting her own father. He'd hit her as she tried to remove a bottle of whisky from his grasp and as the incident had been witnessed by other uniforms she'd had no option but to put the cuffs in him.
Sobering up in the cell next morning he'd been appalled to see the bruise on her face and let her book him into a rehab clinic. There had been relapses and tears, renewed promises and periods of relative sobriety until at last with continuing help from a sponsor and the support of his daughter and his own determination he'd managed to control his craving. He hadn't had a drink in nearly ten years and she's proud of him for his perseverance.
So many people, good, well meaning, intelligent people didn't realise alcoholism couldn't be cured, there was no off switch. It was now a case of avoiding temptation and resisting it when it came.
Castle watched the expressions flitting across his fiancée's face reading her sorrow and regret and pride. "Well he's sober now, and he loves you" he stated, turning her body until she's underneath him on the couch; he pressed gentle kisses along her brow line. "I'm sorry I made it awkward," he apologized, "I never meant to embarrass him."
"I know, it's ok," she answered, softly. Then, as she returned his kisses and their caresses become more heated, further words were unnecessary.
A/N Thanks so much for your encouragement, I'm overwhelmed! This is particularly for guest reviewers and those who have followed & favourited - hope it meets expectations.