In this chapter, not much happens between Kate and Castle, but we do see what secret he'd been keeping from her. We also see there's a closeness between Kate and Alexis.

Kate was regretting her decision to drop Josh off at the hospital. He wanted to talk, and his hands kept finding their way to rest on her thigh. Or he's reach to rub her shoulder. She'd been in bed with the man less than an hour ago and now she was fighting the urge to shrug his hand from her shoulder. Instead, she reached to turn the radio up. The worst part was…now his bike and his helmet were at her place and she had no doubt he'd head there when his shifts were up.

It wasn't that she didn't want him around, but she could really use some time to herself before heading back to work. At least I'll have tonight, she thought.

Kate dropped Josh off near the side entrance, giving his hand a squeeze and allowing him to press a kiss into her cheek. As soon as he stepped up the curb, she pulled her car toward the exit. She hated the one-way navigation along this street, but as she sat waiting to pull out into traffic, a man with a familiar gate, broad shoulders, thick hair and—she was sure—the same jeans she admired earlier suddenly reflected in her rear view mirror.

The red-headed women flanking his sides only confirmed her suspicions. Immediately, Kate wondered if something was wrong. Someone honked behind her. Seeing traffic had cleared, Kate pulled onto the one-way. She navigated to the nearest turnaround to head back in the direction she'd come. When she reached the hospital parking lot, she pulled into the first open space she saw.

Briefly, Kate wondered if she shouldn't leave it alone. It was a hospital. Maybe they were dealing with a personal, family matter. And Castle had been odd and elusive about his afternoon plans all morning. But he didn't seem stressed or worried. Kate's spidey senses were telling her this had to do with what he didn't want to tell her. But—she remembered—Alexis wanted her to know. She was a detective; she had an insatiable need to know. And she did not, in fact, have better things to do, as Castle had earlier surmised.

Kate pulled out her phone.

Did I just see U heading into the hospital? Everything OK?

Y

Dad seriously didn't tell U?

?

Oh, U R gonna LUV this!

Where R U?

5th Ave entrance

Take elevator to level 3C. I'll meet you there ;-}

Kate was too curious. She pulled her lip gloss from the cup holder and checked her appearance in the rear view mirror. After tucking her purse under her seat, she stood and headed for the elevators. She couldn't imagine what Castle had gotten himself into now. Kate shared the elevator up with an elderly woman. When she stepped off on the third floor, she looked around for Alexis. Not seeing her, she walked off to the window and admired the gardens down below.

"Kate!" she heard Alexis call from behind her.

"Hey!" Kate spun around. "What's going on?" And then, before Alexis had a chance to answer, "And why are you wearing that?"

Alexis' hair was pulled back at the nape of the neck with a large white fabric bow. She wore a ratty looking light blue dress that looked like a young child may have worn in the early 1800s. Over this, she wore a half apron, and on her feet were hospital slipper socks.

"Come," Alexis said, hooking her arm through Kate's. "I'll explain. But Gram will kill me if I'm not back in two minutes." Alexis was walking quickly, but Kate kept pace as Alexis guided her through the hospital corridors, until they came to rest in front of two heavy, wooden doors. Above them, Kate read Rogers Play Atrium. Kate looked at Alexis, waiting for an explanation, wondering where Castle was.

"We're getting ready to do a play for the little kids. Hansel and Gretel. We do one every year. Last year we did Little Red Riding Hood, year before that it was Sleeping Beauty. Gram committed us to it years ago – and it's fun. The kids really enjoy it."

"Wow—Lex. That's too funny. I'm so relieved. I was worried something was wrong."

"I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing this side of Dad. He really gets into it."

"Hmm, yeah—"

"Oh, Kate. I'm sorry. I've gotta go in. But stay here. This will be so much more fun if Dad doesn't know you're here!" Alexis gave Kate a quick hug. "Five minutes, okay?"

Alexis slipped through the double doors before Kate had a chance to respond. Uh, Break a leg? Kate wasn't sure she'd ever seen Alexis in such a whirlwind. She chalked it up to nervous excitement and looked around. The room was at the end of a hallway that looked like mostly administrative offices.

Kate turned back to the Rogers Play Atrium. Rogers? She turned to read the plaque on the wall.

Rogers Play Atrium
Made Possible with Generous Support from
Martha A. Rogers
and R. Alexander Rogers

Kate knew Rick was a generous man, but she didn't always think of him as humble. She had little reason not to. As far as she knew, no one outside of those in the room knew that he'd put up money…a significant amount of money…to help find her mother's killer. It hadn't worked out the way they planned, but, still, it had worked. Castle had also been adamant that his name was not to be publically associated with the scholarship in her mother's honor. At the time, Kate thought that had to do with her and her discomfort being in the limelight as Nikki Heat.

But seeing this…Kate knew R. Alexander Rogers was Richard Edgar Castle, one and the same. In a way, it warmed her heart to know that Castle's generosity extended beyond his desire to somehow compensate his muse. Still, it seemed out of character. Castle loved attention.

Hearing the chatter and pitter-patter of children, Kate looked up to see about a dozen children heading her way. Two were in wheelchairs, a couple were being carried by parents who pushed IV pumps, three had telemetry packs attached to their tiny waists. She saw some crutches and a couple of casts, but, overall, she was impressed by their lightness. They were smiling—obviously excited for something new. She stepped to the side and let the children pass.

A moment later, Kate realized she was, again, alone in the hall. So she pulled the door open and stepped inside. She glanced around the Play Atrium. The whole room was a kid's play paradise. To the front, there was a small stage, complete with theatre style curtains. She could see where a puppet show set had been pushed off to the side, and three small rows of padded chairs sat facing the stage.

Kate looked to her right and noticed a padded red bi-plane that seemed to be quite popular with the boys. One child was leaping through the wings while another was spinning the propeller just as fast as he could. Another little boy sat in the second seat back, reading a book. Beyond the plane, there were craft tables, oversized bean bags, and Legos galore. Shelves with books and puzzles and board games were tucked into various spots around the room.

Kate looked to her left. Appearing to be an extension of the wall, there was a padded castle. Of, course, she thought smiling to herself. The castle appeared to have three levels that the kids could crawl through. The entrance had a mock iron gate that the kids could raise or lower. Kate saw small arms sticking out of castle windows, kids peeking out of the tower, and from the top, kids could slide down, landing not too far from where she currently stood.

Kate moved to the chairs arranged in the center of the room and sat just into the back row. Music began to filter into the room. On cue, the volunteer's marshaled the kids to the chairs. Kate looked up to see Alexis peeking out. The girl found her, and satisfied that she was there, grinned. A few minutes later, the music crescendoed, and then it was quiet. The curtains rose to reveal what looked like a very real, oversized gingerbread house.

Kate watched as Hansel and Gretel entered the stage from the side, dropping bread crumbs as they went. Alexis, looked just as she had before, but now her cheeks had a rosy hue and her feet bore wooden Swedish clogs. Rick, on the other hand, was dressed as she'd never seen a man dressed. And she lived in New York!

Rick wore a billowing, creamy white shirt. This was tucked into light brown bottoms that looked akin to an old lady's bloomers. They tied just above his knee to truly emphasize the "bloomer" effect. His shirt (or pants?) was held in place with red suspenders, with some sort of Nordic or Celtic looking design along the straps. But what really had Kate biting her lip to prevent her laughter from escaping was the tights! Nice, creamy white tights. She would never let him live this down!

Kate was so busy taking in Rick's appearance that she wasn't sure what was happening in the play, until Rick yelled, "Look, Gretel! A Cake House! And it's covered in CANDY!"

She watched as Hansel sprinted and Gretel clacked her way toward the house. While Alexis pretended to pick bits of candy off the structure, Rick dove onto the roof head first and came up with a face full of frosting. He earned a gusty laugh from everyone in the room, Kate included. She watched as Rick's eyes narrowed. Somehow, through all the noise, he'd recognized her laugh. His eyes locked on hers. He seemed to freeze and she couldn't look away. Rick didn't snap to until Alexis shot an elbow into his ribs.

Kate kept watching. She was shocked when Martha first made her appearance. She was actually made up to look quite frightening for a children's play, but given the setting and Hansel's continued mocking of her, the children and Kate herself delighted in the make-believe world the three actors were creating. She laughed particularly hard at the trickery Castle employed with his bony finger and the relish with which he shoved Martha into the oven. If she hadn't suspected it through the witch-razzing Martha endured, she'd have recognized this as a Castle adaptation through the sly references to the Brothers Grimm and Humperdink.

When the play was over and the curtains settled back into their starting places, Kate marveled at how much she'd enjoyed the last hour. She also conjured up an image of Castle in his tights and laughed out loud. She couldn't wait to see him again.

Thank you for reading (and reviewing). You're invited to join Beckett, Castle, Martha and Alexis for dinner…to be served up next chapter.