Finally have Chapters 9-11 up. Took me a while with all the stops and starts. Full time mom, full-time at work. Maybe you know how it goes?

Hope you enjoy my escape as much as I enjoy reading other peoples' Castle imaginings. I'd love to know what you think! I know a lot of you have mentioned liking how in character they seem to be…hope you won't mind this chapter. Kate's way off kilter—but don't worry. Rick's there to support her!

Chapter 9 – Dinner

Kate pulled open the door to Veselka's letting Alexis pass through first. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust in the dim entry, but her eyes had already found Castle's. Rick took in her relaxed appearance and shifted his eyes to his grinning daughter, wondering what was making her so happy. She was normally happy, but she had that extra spark just now. Instinctively, he knew it was Kate.

"Guess what?" The girl spoke excitedly to her father and grandmother, as Kate glanced around taking in the small waiting area. It was her habit to check portal points and size up the people around her. Her eyes flicked briefly over a family of four with two young kids and a man with his back to her watching a woman who'd stepped off to the corner of the waiting room to answer her phone.

Kate's attention was drawn back to the family before her as she felt Alexis' arms circle her waist. "Kate's going to help me find a new prom dress. Isn't that great? She even invited Lanie and I invited Paige so we can have a girl's day!"

Rick's eyes moved between the two of them. He was thrilled to see Alexis so happy, and even though Kate was smiling, he was worried that maybe she somehow felt obligated.

"Are you sure you?" he looked questioningly to Kate, and then to Alexis. "Because I'd be happy to take you, Alexis. I have great taste."

Kate was suddenly worried she'd overstepped. She knew Castle loved spending time with Alexis—and he was actually a man who didn't mind shopping. Kate felt Alexis pull back and look at her.

"Oh, Detective Beckett, I didn't think—Do you not want? I mean, you don't have to—" Kate shot a glare at Castle. How dare he make her think I don't want to spend time with her?

Kate looked back at Alexis and softened immediately. "Of course I want to go. I told you. I'm looking forward to it." She stressed that last part as she pulled the girl into a tight hug and kissed the side of her head. Over her shoulder, looking directly as Castle, she said, "I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise."

From the corner of her eye, Kate saw the man in the corner turn around. She glanced to him.

"Katie?"

"Dad?"

Jim Beckett was used to seeing his daughter. But not with her arms wrapped around a teenage girl. His Katie wasn't much of a hugger. Him, yes. But he was her father. He stepped forward, walking past Martha and Rick, whose heads had whipped around to stare at the man Kate called "Dad."

The two met in a hug as Kate was asking him what he was doing here. Dinner, of course, he'd answered, laughing. Kate, remembering her manners, turned to introduce him to Alexis, who'd moved closer to Castle and Martha. Briefly, Kate wondered how she would explain who these people were to her. She decided to start with Alexis.

With her hands on Alexis' shoulders, she said "Dad, this is my friend, Alexis." Alexis politely shook his hand.

"Jim Beckett. Pleased to meet you." He clearly had questions about this girl, but wasn't about to ask them now.

"And this," Kate said waving her hand to the woman across from them, on the other side of her father, is "Alexis' grandmother, Martha Rogers."

Jim reached out to shake her hand, saying, "Aren't you?"

Martha looked eminently pleased as she took his hand, saying "Yes, yes I am."

"And this," Kate said, gesturing to Rick, "this is, Richard Castle."

"Mr. Beckett, sir." Rick held his hand out to the man, "Please call me Rick."

Kate watched stunned as her father briefly touched Rick's hand, only to release it quickly and clasp the man in a tight embrace. She'd have laughed if she weren't so shocked. Her dad did not hug. Well, her—but she was his daughter.

Rick was uncertain how to react. He hugged aplenty. But not usually emotional men. Definitely not Beckett's emotional father. He never wanted to imagine hugging Beckett's emotional father because he could only imagine bad, very bad reasons for him to be hugging Beckett's very emotional father. Yet here he was. He lifted his arms to pat the man's back. It was awkward at best, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, Rick heard the man in his ear. "Thank you. Thank you."

Jim pulled back, his voice so heavy with emotion. "You saved her life. I cannot thank you enough." And he hugged him again.

Rick and Kate shared a bewildered look. Kate knew her father hated her job, that he'd been affected, worried. But, she'd talked to him, explained what happened, assured him she was safe. She'd apparently left him thinking that the man he was hugging was the only reason she was safe. And while that may be true, some part of her was irked that her dad didn't think she could manage on her own.

"To be fair, sir, she saved my life, too—in more ways than one." He knew Kate could hear them, but he didn't acknowledge her. Her father, however, looked right at her when he said, "Mine, too."

He swiped quickly at the corner of his eye, still trying to regain his composure. Kate was about to reach for his hand, when a woman stepped to his side.

"Jim, are you okay?"

Kate's head snapped up. She heard the concern in the woman's voice, but wasn't able to process it. She was much shorter than Kate, dark blond with short cropped hair and lighter highlights. She was neither trim, nor plump. Kate's mind settled on buxom-y. Kate took in the details of her face. Dark hazel eyes, set close together under carefully arched and penciled eyebrows. A snub nose perched on her full, round face. Expertly applied make-up hid the small pock marks on her cheeks. Wispy green and silver earrings, matching her shirt, dangled nearly to her shoulders.

"Yeah...there's someone I'd like you to meet. This is my daughter, Katie." She saw her father put his hand at the small of the woman's back. "Katie, this is my friend, Sheryl."

"Oh, OH." Kate's eyes widened. She held out her hand and felt a slight tremor, but hoped no one else noticed. No such luck. In an instant, she felt Rick behind her. "I'm Beckett. Katie. Detective Beckett." She was flubbing her way through an unnecessary introduction. "I'm Kate," she said again.

She turned a bit to Rick. Not really looking at him, or at anything really, Kate introduced him.

"This is my partner, Richard Castle."

"Partner?" Sheryl said. She looked to Jim. "In my day, we just called them boyfriends." She paused and flushed, "Oh, God! How old did that make sound?"

When Kate didn't object to the terminology, Rick knew something was really wrong. He'd been with Kate in a lot of different situations, some fun, some dangerous, some light, some not—but this what out of the realm of his "how to handle Kate" repertoire he'd been steadily contributing to over the last three years.

Martha chose that moment to introduce herself and Alexis to Sheryl. She informed them that their table was ready, and that she'd taken the liberty of requesting a table for six. Rick guided her to their booth and she slid in beside him, their backs to the wall. To her right was Sheryl, the woman her dad was having dinner with and next to her, at the table's edge sat her father, who leaned in to whisper something in Sheryl's ear. Kate looked away, across the table at Martha, who gave her a kind smile.

"So, Kate, what do you recommend?" Ah, Alexis. Kate turned to her. Thank God for Alexis. Alexis was safe.

"I usually just order the varenyky special." Alexis looked at her questioningly. "Varenyky are pierogies. The have so many different fillings. You can pick which ones you want. They have arugula and goat cheese, plain cheese, meat filled. My favorite is sweet potato. Sometimes I just pick the ones I want and order the borscht—creamy beet soup—to go with it."

Alexis didn't look like she was too sure about the beet soup.

The waiter was there to order their drinks. "What do you think, Richard? A bottle of Château le Grand Vostock?"

Rick looked at Kate. She looked uncomfortable, like she could use a drink. He was feeling like one himself. Maybe something stronger than wine. He glanced to Jim, knowing that a bottle of alcohol could make the recovering alcoholic uncomfortable if he had to decline a glass. "Why don't you just order a glass, Mother? I'll have a Coke he said to the waitress." Everyone had placed their drink order but Kate. Rick nudged her gently.

"Wine?" he asked. She nodded slightly, so he ordered for her and requested lemon for her ice water.

Halfway through dinner, Kate was picking at the food on her plate. She'd cut into a few pierogies, but hadn't done much more than move them across her plate. Kate didn't remember walking through the restaurant. She didn't remember sitting down. She didn't remember ordering. She knew she'd talked Alexis into trying her borscht. Alexis hadn't been a fan, but Rick liked it. She'd convinced Alexis to tell her father and Sheryl about the play and then about Ashley and prom. She realized she'd put a lot on Alexis, constantly steering the conversation to anything and everything that had nothing to do with her, her job, Rick or her father. Alexis was safe.

Kate mentioned their shopping plans for the next day. Her voice sounded loud to her. Am I really here? She felt like she was on the outside looking and listening in. Am I having an out-of-body experience? And God, she felt warm. Maybe it was the wine? She glanced to her wine glass. No, it was near-full. Maybe it was Rick? She suddenly became aware that she was leaning heavily into his side. She reached for her wine glass and settled back in.

In the space around her, she heard Martha's laugh. She'd been telling about the time her wig had become entwined in her suitor's vest buttons during a play. From there the conversation turned to the other woman, what she does, and how the woman with hint of a southern accent ended up in New York. Kate heard "bakery" and "cakes" and "sister" and some talk about weddings and baking. Rick mentioned that their friends Ryan and Jenny were getting married and that they'd be needing a wedding cake. He said he'd be happy to pass along her card.

"Cups'N'Cakes," Castle said looking at her card. "Cute."

"Mostly we serve coffee, pies, pastries."

"Bear claws?" Rick asked.

Sheryl nodded, "Cookies, too. We take special orders for cakes. My sister does all the baking. I run the bin, manage the bills and help with the cake decorating. Couldn't bake to save my life. I'm not allowed to even look at batters and pie crusts. Can't touch the oven, either."

"Hey, I'll have to stop in for Kate's morning coffee and bear claw. Right, Kate?" Rick laughed, and turned to Kate. She didn't answer. Rick nudged her again.

"Hmm?"

"Sheryl was just telling us about her bakery and all the goodies. We should go for coffee and a bear claw sometime, right?"

"Oh, yeah." Kate looked back at the woman and her father. She knew she hadn't been paying attention, but wanted to try to make up for it—be friendlier than she had been. Make a gesture.

"You should make oatmeal scotchies, too. They're Dad's favorites." She smiled.

The woman lowered her head and shifted uncomfortably, then glanced at Jim. "I'll…I'll keep that in mind." She looked disheartened. Kate wasn't sure where she'd gone wrong. She was a baker, right? Hadn't she just shared an insight about her dad? Acknowledged that they were together?

"Katie, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fantastic." She looked up at Rick. "Aren't I fantastic?"

Rick held her gaze for a moment. Most would see the sometimes green, sometimes brown depths and move on, unable to see anything more. Not Rick. He looked into Kate's gorgeous, if not slightly glassy eyes, and saw pain and confusion. Again today. But this didn't flash and fade. She either wasn't trying to hide it from him or she was unable.

Her eyes reminded him of Alexis' after her mom had left and didn't come back. Not quite the same, but similar. But Kate's eyes also held a layer of fear and anger that he didn't like seeing in her eyes. He suspected it had more to do with how she felt about the reaction she was having to seeing her Dad with another woman rather than that the fact that he was actually with a woman. But then, Kate didn't seem to even be aware of her actions, so maybe that wasn't it.

If she were more aware, she wouldn't have downed her wine and started on another. She wouldn't be burrowed into his side with her father sitting there. And she wouldn't still be staring into his eyes waiting for him to tell her she's fantastic. Rick put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder pulling her closer to him.

"Of course you're fantastic." He wanted to drop a kiss on her head and hold her to him, but he knew he couldn't without everyone at the table watching and wondering exactly what was going on between them. Especially when he was the only one who knew that the sad answer was "nothing." He settled for dropping his arm behind Kate's back. He rubbed her back, offering support in the only way he knew how—without everyone knowing.

So, what do you think? Liking it so far?