Hi there!

Prompt: Kate and Rick are together in 3x07 while Martha is having Alexis do breathing exercises.

Sorry it's short!

Enjoy!

"Oh that's pleasant." Beckett rolled over, stuffing her face into her pillow. She pulled Castle's arm from around her waist and laid it over her exposed ear.

Somewhere beyond the bedroom, Martha could be heard leading Alexis in high pitched, highly obnoxious "exercises" for God knew what reason.

Castle propped himself up by his elbow, squinting largely in the direction of the symphony happening in his living room. "What in the? I was having the best dream."

Kate opened one eye and skillfully rolled it at him. "Is this a regularity in your house, writer boy?"

He ignored her question. "Maybe if we ignore it, it'll stop."

Kate forced herself to lift her head and look towards the source of their waking. "That doesn't seem to be happening." She huffed and fell back to her pillow.

Both Castle and Beckett pulled themselves out of bed and sulked towards the living room.

In the living room, Martha had her arms extended, projecting her voice while Alexis mimicked her, a perturbed look on her face. "Mamamama Ho, ha. Mamamamama ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha and relax."

Castle stood behind Beckett and wrapped his arms around her neck, letting his head rest on her shoulder. "I had a dream that I was floating on a lily pad. And the Swedish bikini team was reciting positive reviews of Naked Heat."

"Oh you were?" Kate whispered, turning her head towards him.

"None were as pretty as you." He whispered into her neck.

Martha smiled at him, all of her grace and elegance shining through before the sun's debut. "Well that sounds lovely."

"Yeah." He tried offering her a smile in return, but the circumstance didn't feel right.

"Why are you telling us this?" Martha raised an eyebrow at her son.

"Well because of you my Swedish paradise turned into a wailing cat shelter." A sour look registered on his face.

"You call it wailing cats. I call it cat murder." Kate rubbed at her eyes and wrapped her robe tighter around her waist.

Alexis plopped into the couch, rubbing at her eyes. "We're doing voice exercises to strengthen abdominal breathing."

Castle squished his face up in exaggeration. "At five am." He sat down, rubbing his eyes, desperate to wake up just a little.

"A little excessive, even for me." Kate grumbled, dragging herself into the kitchen, thanking God that Martha had made coffee.

"Preparation is the foundation to an inspired audition." Martha waggled her finger at Alexis and tapped her chin. She sipped her coffee and wondered into the kitchen.

Alexis tiptoed over to Rick and perched beside him on the couch. "I mentioned to Gram last night that I was thinking about trying out for Grease at my school." She whispered, hoping Martha wouldn't hear her.

Castle talked in hushed tones as well. "Oh. The whole Gram goes over board because acting is in your bones routine."

"Yeah." Alexis nodded once.

"Rookie move telling her about the audition."

"I even know not to tell her I was in drama in high school." Kate handed Castle a mug and sat on the opposite side of Alexis. She laid her head on Castle's shoulder.

"I wasn't sure I would have time with all of my other clubs, but I thought it would be fun. I didn't know she would wake me up when it was still dark outside." She shrunk into Castle's side.

Martha, obviously hearing everything, sauntered back over, still wagging her finger around. "An actor needs to learn to make sacrifices for his craft. Besides, we'll all have plenty of time to sleep when we're dead." Martha laughed heartily while Beckett, Castle, and Alexis yawned simultaneously.

As if on cue, Beckett's phone rang.

"Speaking of dead." Castle chimed in.

Kate answered her phone. "Beckett? No, no," she rolled her eyes, "of course I was up." Kate yawned again and flopped into Castle's shoulder again, before hanging up and huffing in exhaustion.

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