A week before Beckett's birthday, Castle was in his office wrestling with chapter six of his latest book and winning, RJ in his playpen beside his desk when he heard Shane and Alexis come in the loft.

'Hello? Anyone here?'

'Boys' club in the office!' Castle hollered back, smiled at RJ who was putting his stuffed bunny into a hammerlock worthy of Hulk Hogan. 'You get him, RJ.'

He glanced up when Alexis and Shane walked in. 'Hey, thought you'd be at work, Shane.'

'Just finished at five, and I thought I'd take a walk with my girl.'

'You two have any plans for tonight, or would you like to come shopping with me and the man for Kate's birthday present?'

'Actually I have some shopping to do of my own,' Alexis said in a rushed voice, hoping to escaping her father's innate nosiness, 'and I'm meeting Mom soon, so-'

'What kind of shopping?'

'Just...shopping.' Alexis gave Shane a quick kiss on the cheek. 'Why don't you go? I know you wanted to get her something too.'

'Okay,' Shane said at length, and his hesitation cost him precious seconds, because Alexis was out the door again, leaving him alone with his hands stuffed in his back pockets and feeling more than a little awkward. 'Are you cool with that?'

'Sure, but why was Alexis so hush-hush about shopping on her own?'

'Let's just say we have a big date tomorrow night and leave it at that for your own sanity.'

'I trust your judgement. Anyways, you wanna come with?'

'Sure, I suppose.' Shane shrugged, the edge of his tattoo peeking out from the edge of his t-shirt sleeve. 'Where are we going?'

Castle bent over to scoop up RJ, who was smiling and giggling as he had his tummy tickled. 'I have no idea. Shall we start in the Village?'

It was more than a little weird to go shopping with a man who was both his friend and his daughter's boyfriend, Castle mused as he manoeuvred RJ's pram around a divot in the sidewalk. He liked Shane and had even said a couple of times that if he were ten years younger he'd be perfect for Alexis. As it turned out he was perfect for her anyways despite the age gap, and clearly, Shane was just as crazy about her as Alexis was about him.

'How's it feel having Alexis back in town?' Shane asked as they went into a jewelery store full of glass displays of polished stones and shining precious metals.

'It's great. She's so excited to spend time with RJ, she takes him for a walk almost every morning to get a bagel and the paper.'

'That's sweet.'

'And it's great because she actually volunteers to babysit so we can have a night out, you know?'

'Yeah, she invited me over for one of those nights,' Shane said. 'It felt like high school, the baby's upstairs asleep while we're eating pizza and watching the Stanley Cup playoffs.' And necking on the couch, he added silently; that wasn't a detail Castle needed heard though he probably knew it happened.

Castle grinned. 'I guess I don't have to ask you the same question back, huh?'

'It's great, it's... you know that feeling that on a hard day, that you've got someone who not only will be there to listen while you bitch or vent, but also gives a damn about how it affects you? There's nothing like that.'

'Agreed.'

'Hey, those look neat.' Shane pointed to a jewelery display tree of what looked like antique Victorian beaded bracelets. 'Would she like something like that?'

'I think so. Miss?'

The counter girl came over and beside him, Castle could sense Shane tense. His warm friendly expression he'd worn as they'd walked into the store vanished and a dark cloud settled in place. 'Ah, miss, what can you tell me about these bracelets?'

'These are produced by a Manhattan artist, Chloe Van Dyke. We're one of two shops where all hand-crafted and unique, no two designs are replicated. All the beads are Austrian crystal, precious and semi-precious stones on platinum, gold and silver jeweler's wire.' The woman answered Castle but kept her face on Shane. The sneer on her face was subtle, but anyone with a trained eye and ear could hear it. 'How's it going, Shane? Still playing with the preschooler?'

'Diana, not now,' he said in a low, very un-Shane-like voice.

'I thought you'd be past the rebound sex phase of your break-up, considering that you and Cassie were done over a year ago.'

'Diane, really, not now.'

Castle being an astute study of human behaviour and quick to deduce the subtext had no problem with this one - he'd bet his whole Nikki Heat advance this was one of the people Alexis had mentioned on Memorial Day weekend who might not be so cool with Shane dating her. With a charming smile, Castle held out one hand. 'I'm sorry I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Richard Castle, the father of Shane's preschooler, as you so sweetly called her.'

'I-' Diana's face blanched as Castle continued his smooth steam-roll.

'Do you happen to know the name of the other shop where Miss Van Dyke sells her work?'

'Morton and Sons, about three blocks east of here. Sir, I-'

'Perfect, there's a little gelato shop on the way. You interested in a double-scoop, Shane?'

They left the shop with RJ babbling away in his pram, and Shane leaned down to speak to him. 'Take it from me, little man, when it comes to handling girls, listen to your pops, he knows what to do.'

It was nearly ten when Castle heard the door to the loft open, and the chattering voices of his two favourite women; it wasn't a moment too soon. He'd just finished tidying up the paper scraps from wrapping Beckett's birthday present and had sat down with his laptop and a pitcher of iced tea to appear like he'd been hard at work writing instead of being Castle the Wonder-Hubby preparing for his wife's birthday the following week. He sent them both a wide smile as he watched them haul in their loot, Becketting dropping hers by the living room couch.

'Hey, it's my shopping girls, how did it go?'

'Long, but productive. We went to just about every shoe shop in town for Alexis to find something that would match her dress she picked out,' Beckett informed her husband, dropping into the chair beside him and stealing his iced tea. 'I haven't had puffy feet like this since last November.'

'Hey, Lex where's the fire?' he called out when his daughter headed directly for the stairs to take her bags up to her room. 'Aren't you going to show me what you got?'

'Nope,' she said cheerily over her shoulder.

The moment Castle heard her door slam, he turned to his wife. 'Okay, this is getting weird. Shane said this afternoon they have some big date tomorrow night and she's refusing to show me what she bought to wear for it.'

Beckett set down her glass of iced tea before her would-be sip ended up coming out her nose. 'Oh, you've got your daddy blinders on again, don't you?'

'What?'

'Alexis told me this afternoon they are celebrating their six month anniversary tomorrow. They're going to see a comedy show of some type and spending the night at the Ameritania.' Beckett paused for dramatic effect, arched an eyebrow. 'Do you really want to see what she went shopping for?'

'Oh. Oh!'

'There it is!' she said triumphantly.

Castle looked up the stairs and gave a little shudder. 'Forget I even asked.'

R&R&Enjoy