AN: Thank you for all your reviews. gets me to update faster ;) A lot of you want Beckett to suffer after what she did... well I've already written ahead a few chapters.. Im in the process of editing them.. and so it may or may not go the way you guys want :O but i hope you see my understanding of the situation and still read my story :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle

Chapter 3

Kate was broken... she couldn't believe what had just gone down between them at the loft… what happened between them… one minute she was asking him to explain why he left Alex unattended and the next minute they were questioning their marriage..

The argument played on and on in her head... making her heart ache… she hit the acceleration and drove faster now that there was a clear road ahead...

she looked into the rear mirror... adjusting it to check on her sleeping boy in the back seat... she had to wipe her teary eyes to get a good look of him…

He had no fault in this… Yet here she was... a mother taking her son away from his father… how was she supposed to explain all of this to her son... what if he wakes up in the middle of the night asking for his daddy…

Kate wanted to turn the car around and go back home.. But her mind told her not to... for fear of another horrible fight with the love of her life… she'd stay one night without Castle... and when she's had her space... she'd call him up… but for now.. she needed to be away…

Jim Beckett was just finishing rinsing his plate when there was a knock on the door… he looked at the clock on the wall and found it odd that someone was at his door at this hour of the night…

he dried his hands and went to see who it was.. And the sight of his daughter with his sleeping grandson through the peephole made him worry...

he quickly unlocked the door and let them in… he didn't stop Kate to ask her anything yet... he knew there was probably a reason why her daughter was here.. Without her husband. There was probably a heart breaking reason behind the puffy red eyes his daughter was sporting... and if the reason was Castle himself… Jim was ready to go murder the man...

but he knew Castle was not a man to break Kate's heart... so he waited for Kate to tell him the real reason for her tears.

Kate walked upstairs to her old bedroom which was still well kept and laid her son down... she tucked him in and kissed him and came back down stairs to where her father was patiently waiting for her… the minute she came downstairs she walked straight into his arms and cried her heart out on her dads shoulder.. .

Jim knew that words would not help yet... and so he gave back to her the best form of comfort he knew... he held her tight and allowed her to cry it all out… she sobbed bitterly into his shoulder, letting the tears flow freely.. Not wanting to hold back anything here in her own home…

this was her father… the only man she never held walls up against. He was always on her side. She shook in sobs in her dads arms and it scared him a little to think that his daughter was so broken over something…

when she seemed to calm down a little… he led her to sit with him on the couch and then he said

"What happened?"

"Dad... I don't know… it's just been one of those days you wish never happened…"

"How about I make you a nice cup of coffee and you run me through everything that has happened today"

Kate shook her head and Jim went into the kitchen and returned soon with 2 warm cups of coffee for them.
Kate took a sip and let the warmth fill her throat and relax her insides... it wasn't as good as Castle's coffee… and that hurt... but it was something…

"I went to the precinct this morning to be called to a crime scene straight away… and when I reached there… I wished I hadn't…
Dad... it was a 3 year old boy... murdered along with his mother"

Kate was choking up again... the images still fresh in her mind… her dad reached out to hold her hand while she spoke.. In an attempt to comfort her...

he knew such a scene would hit home for her… Alex had just turned three and he knew her mind would have been conjuring up images in her head at that moment…

"Go on Kate…"

"We interrogated suspect after suspect and now were stuck with no leads and nowhere to go"

she paused then and continued after a few seconds...
"We decided to sleep over it and come back with fresh minds tomorrow to catch that son of a bitch. But when I came home and saw Alex..."

Kate narrated everything that happened after that to her Dad...

she told him the things that were said... the accusations made and things that went down after that, that led to her at his front door… and when she was done telling him the entire story..

"I'm just so tired dad… my body aches... my chest aches… and I just don't want to fight him anymore... but I feel like if I go back now... if I see him... I'll just start yelling again and it will only make things worse..."

"I know what you mean Katie… but did it occur to you that just as you felt the need to bring Alex here with you because you can't stay without him… Rick would want to be able to hold his son too… you can't just take a child away from his father…"

"I know dad… I wasn't thinking at all when I left... I'm not going to keep him away forever... I'll go back home tomorrow afternoon" she decided…

"Katie... you and Castle need to talk... but I suggest you go and try to get some sleep… and you can go back home tomorrow morning… you need to rest.."

Kate nodded and said goodnight to her dad and went upstairs to join her son. And as she snuggled in beside him... protectively putting her arm around him... all she could think of was Castle.

She had treated him horribly tonight.. she had said things that were not really what she wanted to say...

She had no right whatsoever to comment on his parenting, let alone bring up the issue of his failed marriages. What was worse was the fact that she knew he wasnt the reason for his failed marriages.. yet she made it sound like he was the problem.

Castle is a great husband and a great father and all she did tonight, was criticize him for no good reason.

and whats her excuse? that she had a rough day?!

Kate felt unworthy, un-deserving of him.

She had accused him of not being able to take care of their son.. when actually he was the one looking after Alex all day while she was at the precinct putting killers behind bars..
and she had the audacity to tell him her job was far more hectic compared to his!

Kate knew she may have ruined her relationship with Castle after this..

all she could do now.. was pray that they would talk tomorrow morning... and she could get him to forgive her...
She'd take whatever he'll give her as long as he doesn't leave her.

There were around 50 missed calls from him on her phone... and it just kept ringing... and she was forcing herself to ignore them for now… she closed her eyes and concentrated on the slow rise and fall of Alex's chest as he slept... and that eventually lulled her to sleep...

AN: well.. what'd you think? :)