Here is the next chapter. Sorry I'm updating longer than usual. I really liked how this one turned out. Oh, expect some singing and dancing from caskett in the future. After Monday's epsiode I have an idea.
Thank you: FelixtheSax
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle
Chapter 9
Kate stopped and took a deep breath. Today was going to be big. Not only was it Alexis' birthday, with Kate having received the first invitation to the party, she would also be meeting Meredith, Alexis' mother, for the first time. She didn't know how it would go between the two of them, but Kate knew she was going to try for Alexis' sake.
Now, she stood outside of their door dressed in her dress blues, from before her promotion to training detective. Lanie had suggested the uniform after deciding that Kate had been stressing over the decision for too long. Kate clutched the bag holding Alexis' gift close to her chest and knocked on the door.
Rick opened the door, followed by Kate's jaw hitting the ground. He was dressed in a police costume, similar to hers but consisting of significantly more spandex. His eyes took Kate in with a grin, clearly amused.
"Was that your uniform when you were a cop?" He asked.
"I'm still a cop," Kate told him. "I've just been promoted."
"Is it?" He asked again.
"Yes," Kate sighed.
He bit his lip, staring at Kate. She glared at him. Eyes widening, he tried to change the subject. "Ah… Please, come in."
Shaking her head, she entered the apartment, turning around to find him staring once more. "Rick, stop staring at my ass."
His eyes jumped to meet hers. "What?"
She crossed her arms. "Nothing."
A red headed Hermione Granger came bounding down the stairs then, running into Kate at full force. "Kate! It's my birthday, Kate!"
"I know," Kate exclaimed, hugging the little witch. "Happy birthday!"
"Thank you," the girl giggled. "You and daddy are matching."
"We'll be partners for the day," Rick grinned.
"God help me if I had a partner like you," Kate said. "Now, are you ready for your present?"
"Yes!" Alexis exclaimed, taking Kate's hand and bouncing on the spot in excitement.
The two of them sat down on the sofa, Alexis keeping close to Kate as she handed the girl her present. Kate watched with a nervous smile as Alexis opened her card, followed by her present. Alexis opened the box, revealing the necklace inside. Her face lit up, holding the piece in her hand. "I love it! Thank you, Kate!"
Kate pulled out the other half of the necklace which was hidden by her shirt, holding it out for Alexis to see. "I have the other half."
"You do?" Alexis moved closer, putting her half against Kate's to form the full shape. "It's a heart."
"Another shape," Kate smiled. "Kate and Alexis."
Alexis's arms wrapped around Kate's neck, hugging her with a massive smile. "Thank you. It's the best present anyone has ever gotten me."
"It is?" Kate asked.
"Yes," Alexis said.
"Let me help you put it on," Kate said, taking the necklace from Alexis and helping her to adjust the chain so that the charm rested just above her heart. "Its a promise. A promise that I will always be your best friend and that I will always be here for you."
Alexis took Kate's hand. "I will always be here for you too."
Kate smiled, watching as Alexis fiddled with her new necklace with a smile on her face. Turning around, she saw Rick watching them with a smile, knowing how much that promise had meant to both girls. Having that necklace was a reminder that maybe she didn't need to be afraid of the future, that she should focus on the here and now.
Soon, after Alexis had shown off the presents she had gotten from Rick earlier, Martha turned up in a… unique costume that Kate knew only Martha could pull off. Including the necklace from Kate, Alexis received a new scooter and the third Harry Potter book from Rick, and tickets to see Lion King, one of Alexis' favorite musicals, on Broadway from Martha. Kate smiled, seeing Alexis constantly playing with her necklace with a smile of her own.
"That was very lovely, what you got her," Martha said, as they watched Alexis and Rick blow up the balloons. The living room had been turned into a party den, where they planned on having games and dancing. Streamers already hung from the ceiling and the balloons were soon following. The food was cooking, and people would be arriving soon, including Alexis' mother.
"Thank you," Kate smiled. "The tickets were a great idea as well."
"I brought three, you know," Martha said. "Around the time of your birthday."
"You did?" Kate was touched.
"It's been three months, dear, that practically makes you family," they both laughed. "I'm serious, Kate. You're part of the family. You make my son and granddaughter happy."
"They make me happy, too," Kate said.
"I can see that," she smiled. "I can see a lot, you know."
Kate looked away, hiding her blush. "He didn't tell you?"
"He told me what happened," Martha said. "You want my advice?"
Kate braced herself. "Sure?"
"Go for it," she told her. "Don't let anything hold you back."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kate smiled, looking over to Rick and Alexis.
There was a knock at the door. Everyone tensed, knowing who the knock belonged to. Kate looked to Alexis, seeing her nervously fidgeting with the clasp of her robes. Rick went to get the door, slowly. She kept her eyes on Alexis, smiling at the girl in hope to give her some confidence. Alexis smiled shyly back at her, holding onto her necklace.
"Alexis!" A voice called, followed by the clicking of heels on the wooden floors. A beautiful red headed women dressed in a blue dress with a fur coat greeted Alexis with a kiss on each cheek. Kate was shocked and annoyed that Meredith wasn't in costume. She could have at least put in some effort, perhaps dressing as one of her many characters. "Happy birthday, sweetheart!"
"Thank you, mommy," Alexis said, hugging the women.
"I brought you a present," Meredith said, handing a large gift bag over. "You're going to love it."
Alexis smiled, taking the present. Kate bit her lip, watching as Alexis pulled out a girly pink dress with a puffy ballerina skirt. She liked dresses, but Kate knew that dresses that ostentatious weren't Alexis' style. Still, she smiled once more and thanked her mother.
"Mommy, come meet Kate," Alexis said pulling on her mothers hand.
Martha gave her an encouraging wink. Kate held out her hand for Meredith, wanting to make a good start and to have a friendly relationship with Alexis' mother – not necessarily as friends, but at least as two civilized adults. "It's nice to finally meet you, Meredith."
"You're the nanny?" She asked, her eyes trailing Kate from head to toe.
"No," Alexis said. "Kate's my best friend."
"Best friend?" She questioned.
"Yeah," Alexis nodded, holding her new necklace up. "See. Look what Kate got me for my birthday."
"It doesn't seem very appropriate to me," Meredith said. "You befriending my daughter, buying her this necklace."
Kate froze, not believing what she had just heard. Yes, it may seem inappropriate to someone looking in, but to the other four in the room, the dynamic was clear. If Meredith was half the mother she was supposed to be, she would know this. Kate didn't know how to respond to that. She wasn't sure of her place here.
"Meredith," Rick warned. "Kate is a family friend. She makes Alexis happy."
"And Kate's a cop," Alexis added.
Meredith shot Kate a glare, the possibility of being two civilized adults was out the window. "Come on, Alexis. Come tell mommy all about school."
Kate watched an excited Alexis sit on the sofa, telling her mother all about school and what they was currently doing. Kate could see how Alexis's hopes were being built up by her mother and she didn't want Meredith to let her down again.
Giving them their space, Kate disappeared into the kitchen with Rick to finish cooking the rest of the food. The other guests, seeing as parents are also coming would be arriving in an hour. Kate was reminded of her own birthdays as a child. Opening presents with her mom and dad, watching as her mother prepared the fruits and vegetables for her and her friends. She flinched at the sudden memory, the knife slicing her palm.
"Kate!" Rick grabbed the towel, wrapping it around Kate's hand. "God, Kate, are you okay?"
"I-I," she bit her lip, the stinging in her palm reminding her where she was. "I spaced out."
He sighed. "Hold that for a second."
Kate held the towel to her hand, keeping the pressure on to stop the bleeding. She didn't think it was too bad. Rick came back with Martha following close behind.
"Oh, Kate what are we going to do with you," Martha sighed. "I'll continue here. You go sort her out, Richard."
"Throw the fruit away," Rick told his mother. "And use a different chopping board."
"I know," she shuffled them out of the kitchen after Rick picked up the first aid kit from the cupboard.
He sat her down in the dinning room, thankfully, she didn't want Alexis getting panicked about her. Thank you, Meredith. Kate held both of her necklaces with her free hand. She couldn't believe that she had managed to cut herself, to zone out again. Things had been going well the past couple of months, those moments coming fewer and further between. But the memories had caught her off guard.
Kate watched as Rick pulled the towel away, already noticing that the bleeding had already started to slow down. "You want to talk about it?"
"Not really," Kate said. "I'm sorry I ruined your fruit."
"I'm sure the kids won't mind," he smiled. "At least it wasn't the sweets."
She watched him take her hand in his, as he wiped the cut clean before putting a band-aid on top. A smile appeared as he wrapped a bandage around it, maybe going a little over top. "Maybe you should have dressed as a doctor."
He smiled back, keeping her hand in his. "Are you sure your alright?"
Kate kept her eyes on his hand on their hands. "I, um…" Kate paused, taking a deep breath. "I was thinking about when I was a child. My mom, she used to do all of the food at my birthday parties."
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked softly.
Kate shook her head. "Its your daughters birthday. We need to finish getting everything ready."
"Kate, my mom will take care of it," he said.
Kate sighed. "I'm fine, Rick."
"You sure?" He asked.
She thought about it for a few moments. The memories hadn't left any serious after effects. When this had happened in the past, she had spent hours shifting between crying and just sitting dead to the world as she let the past flow over her. This time, she had zoned out and accidentally injured herself, but beyond that short slip, nothing had happened. Wellington would be proud. "Yes," Kate replied. "I am."
Kate released her uninjured hand's hold on her necklaces, letting it rest on top of Rick's. She looked up, meeting his eye. "Right, let's go help Martha."
He watched her with concern for a second longer. "You'll come talk to me if you need it?"
Kate nodded her head, smiling. Letting go of his hands, she stood up leaving the dinning room with Rick following behind her.
"Oh, Kate," Martha said, taking sausage rolls out of the oven. "Hows the hand?"
She waved it. "Bandaged."
"The food is almost done," Martha said. "You still have sausages and all kinds cooking. I've managed to use what fruit we had left and cut up some vegetables."
"It looks great, Mother," Rick said. "Let's get it covered and put on the table. Then we'll go see what they're doing in there."
Kate helped carry out platters of food, laying them on the dinning room table. The monkey shaped birthday cake sitting in the middle of the table. When it was all done and ready, they joined Meredith and Alexis in the living room. Kate was surprised when she found Meredith doing Alexis's hair, but didn't question it.
"Kate!" Alexis jumped up, running over to hug her. Then she saw Kate's hand, grabbing it to inspect herself. "What did you do?"
"Little clumsy with the knife," Kate said. "You having fun?"
"What am I going to do with you?" She shook her head, dismissing it for now. "Kate, Mommy did my hair!"
"That looks very nice," Kate said, seeing the plaits. "You're very good at this, Meredith."
"Thanks," she mumbled, looking to her daughter, who smiled in approval.
Kate decided to change the subject. "Are you excited about your party, Alexis?"
Alexis nodded her head. "Yeah!"
"Well, we have exactly five minutes before before your friends should start arriving," Rick said with a smile. "Are you ladies all ready?"
Kate thought she was ready, but the number of children that had turned up was far more than she had expected. Each friend greeted Alexis, wishing her a happy birthday and placing their presents in a slowly growing pile. Then the music came on as the dancing began. There were fairies, princesses, pirates, cowboys and aliens. They even had a few Harry Potters.
They played pass the package, musical chairs and Simon says. Kate smiled, enjoying how Alexis was having fun at her party. At some point Meredith had moved to stand next to her.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked.
"What are you trying to accomplish? Are you using my daughter to get to Rick?" Meredith asked.
"What?" Kate turned to her. "Is that what you think?"
Meredith shrugged.
"No," Kate said. "I'm here for Alexis. You may not be happy with it, but everyone else around here is, including that little girl."
"You're young, do you really want to tie yourself to this life?" Meredith asked. "I know I wasn't ready for it."
Kate bit her lip. "I do, actually."
"You won't take her from me," Meredith said. "She's my daughter."
"I know she's your daughter. I don't don't want to take her from you, I never planed that. Look, you may not like me being around Alexis, but you need to get used to it because I'm not going anywhere," Kate told her.
She saw a vein pop on Meredith's forehead, clenching her fists as she walked away. They wouldn't be friends any time soon, but Kate wasn't going to let Meredith get to her.
Alexis danced with her friend Paige, the two girls giggling together. Kate smiled at the scene. Rick came up next to her with a smile.
"I saw you and Meredith talking," he said. "Do I want to ask what that was about?"
"Nope," Kate said.
"You'll get used to her," he said.
"It'll be a while before we're on friendly terms," Kate admitted.
"That'll be impressive if you get to that stage," he grinned. "Thank you for helping put this together."
"I enjoyed today," Kate said. "A part from the cutting my hand part."
"You know, for a cop, you're pretty clumsy around us," he said.
"Shut up," Kate replied, smacking his chest.
Alexis came running up to Kate, then pulled her by the hand to dance with her. Laughing, Kate held Alexis's hands while dancing with the girl as she jumped around. Her friends came to join her, three other girls including Paige, allowing Kate to twirl them around. She found herself thinking back to when she was a child, dancing like this with her mother, but this time she smiled at the memory.
They cut the birthday cake as the kids piled their plates with the food. Two-hundred sausage rolls disappeared in minutes along with the sweets. Soon, the party came to an end as parents arrived to collect their children. Kate was surprised when a few of the kids hugged her, telling her how cool she was. What had Alexis told them to prompt that?
"Kate, can I come over and see you again?" Paige asked.
"Daddy can Kate and Paige come over for a sleepover?" Alexis asked.
"Can I?" Paige asked, getting excited.
Kate looked at Rick, who was grinning. "I'm sure we can work out a time."
The girls cheered, hugging Kate. "We'll have a slumber party soon then."
She smiled at the idea, knowing it would be a couple of months before she can swap her days off again. Paige hugged Kate again before running to her mother, telling her all about the coming sleepover. Kate watched her mom raise her eyebrows at Kate, but smiled.
"Alexis, sweetie," Meredith called out as she came over. "Mommy has to go, too."
"You do?" Her face fell.
"Yeah, I have a meeting with my agent," she said. "But I'll come see you again soon."
"Can't you stay for a little while longer?" Alexis asked.
"This is a big role, Alexis, I can't miss it." Meredith replied. Kate couldn't believe what she was hearing. Meredith hadn't even been here for half a day and she was leaving. The look on Alexis's face made her even more angry.
"Oh," Alexis said, hugging her mother.
"We'll go shopping next time, yeah?" Meredith hugged Alexis.
Alexis nodded her head, her bottom lip wobbling. Kate looked over to Rick, standing with his arms crossed, a look on his face she had never seen before. How did he deal with this? How did Alexis? The girl watched her mother leave, giving a small wave as she closed the door behind her followed by the last of the children. Kate's heart broke as she saw the tears fall from Alexis's eyes, watching as the girl disappeared up the stairs.
"She gets her hopes up every time," Rick sighed. "Only to be let down again."
Kate knew exactly how she felt. It was the same between Kate and her father. Countless times over the years, she had gotten her hopes up for him, only to be let down once more."Let me talk to her."
"Would you?" He asked.
"Yeah," Kate said. "I know how she feels."
She found Alexis in her room, the quilt pulled up over her head. Kate sat down on the edge of her bed, resting her hand on Alexis's back. "Alexis?"
Alexis sniffled. "Why do you stay when mommy doesn't?"
"Your mommy works," Kate said. "She wants to stay but she has to work."
"You work and you still stay," Alexis said.
Kate bit her lip. "My dad works a lot, too. I don't see him much and when I do he has to leave. But he still loves me just like your mommy loves you."
Alexis came out from under the quilt. "Every time, I think she'll stay, then she doesn't."
"I think my daddy would stay too, but he doesn't," Kate said.
"But he still loves you?" Alexis asked.
Kate nodded. "Just like your mommy loves you."
Alexis's small hand wrapped around her necklace. "I wish you were my mommy."
"Oh, Alexis," Kate's arms wrapped around the girl, letting her head fall onto her chest as she cried. "You know I'll always be here for you."
"I love you, Kate," she whispered, touching Kate's necklace.
"I love you, too." She whispered back, kissing the top of her head.
Almost there to the part you're all anxiously waiting for. I hope you all liked the chapter, please do tell me what you thought. And if you have any ideas or cute fun things for the trio to do then let me know:)