Hello all! Thanks for the great reviews! I'm so psyched and worried for the season finale. One of those things I can't wait to see and don't want to watch. I'm also waiting to see if/how it will correlate with this story line. I'll let you all know tomorrow whether you'll have to ignore 3x24 for this story to correlate with the story line. From the looks of things, it may fit, if we all pretend it happens later. But, I won't force it…we'll know soon enough. Or, I'll know soon enough…this story is still creeping toward Mother's day, so more than a week behind…

Chapter 18 – In Sync

Kate had made all her calls, updated her murder board and entered the evidence details in the case file. Now she was debating. She was still upset with Castle about making a big deal about her spending time with Alexis. She was sure she got more out of it than Alexis, but she wasn't quite sure why and she couldn't explain it. Why did she like spending so much time with the teenager?

She looked over at Castle. He'd finally stopped staring at her about ten minutes ago. She didn't have to look up to know.

"Hey, Castle?" It was a different tone. She either wanted to ask him something or tell him something. Either way, she was going to get his undivided attention. He pushed his phone into his shirt pocket. He turned to her, and inquired with his eyes.

"I'm not really mad."

"I know."

"And thanks for the carnation."

"You're welcome."

"But I still don't want you to thank me for spending time with Alexis. I like to. She's an amazing kid. And you thanking me—it's like you think it's a chore or something I don't want to do."

"That's what makes it so special. I've had other women try to get to me through Alexis. Dropping her notes at school, following her around when we're out to see what kind of ice cream she likes. It's just nice for her to have someone—a woman, besides Mother—who's there for her, and not trying to use her to get to me."

Kate laughed. "You're quite safe, I assure you. More like I'm using you to get to Alexis. And I already know her favorite ice cream, so no creepy stalking from me."

"Meredith's flying in tomorrow. She doesn't even know her favorite ice cream." Kate saw a sadness creep into his eyes.

"Her loss, Castle." But a sadness crept into her eyes, too. She'd met Meredith only once, but she couldn't imagine any parent willingly leaving their child behind. Especially if that child was Alexis.

She hated seeing Castle hang his head like that. She knew he was thinking he hadn't done well by his daughter, when the truth was, she may not have had the mother she deserved, but she had Castle and she was hardly lacking. She wanted to cheer him up.

"Hey. I found something for you while we were out shopping, but you can only have it if you don't make a big deal about it." Kate turned and reached for the gift bag under her desk.

Rick lifted his head in surprise. "You bought me a present?" Ooh, is it naughty?" Kate pulled the gift bag onto her lap. "Never mind, bag's too big for it to be decently naughty."

"Decently naught, Castle? How can anything be decent and naughty?"

"Happy to clue you in, Detective."

"Only decent, Castle? I'll have to lower my expectations."

"Glad to know you're thinking about it, Beckett," he teased.

"Do you want this or not?"

"You know I do," he said, intentionally misinterpreting her.

Kate threw the gift bag at his head.

"So, what is it?"

"Why would I tell you? Especially when you're a surprise-loving kid and discovery is imminent?"

"Imminent, huh?" So hot.

"Just look in the bag." Kate leaned back to watch him. He moved the tissue paper out of the way and lifted the fuzzy, green ball out of the bag. He began to turn it over and the moment it dawned on him, she knew.

First he chortled. Then he tossed it up in the air only to catch it and pull it to his face, laughing into it to suppress a belly laugh. "Where did you find this?" He nearly squealed, tears seeping out the corners of his eyes.

Kate grinned enjoying his reaction. "Oh, I know people who know people."

She looked over to Ryan and Esposito who were heading to her desk with Lanie coming up behind them. She realized it was almost time for lunch, and they were clearly wondering what was up.

They stopped at the edge of Beckett's desk with questioning eyes turned toward Castle, the discarded gift bag and the stuffed ball he was holding. He held it up, turning the red pimento toward the boys.

"Look, Guys. A stuffed olive." He laughed.

Neither laughed. Esposito crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.

"He gets presents?" Ryan asked, turning to Beckett.

"Yeah. It's not his birthday." Esposito followed up.

"Just proving a point."

"This is totally going behind the bar. Free martinis to those patrons who can appreciate a little phrenic humor." He looked pointedly at Ryan, Esposito and Lanie. "That means you're out."

"We already get free drinks." Esposito pointed out.

"And I laughed on Sunday."

"At me." Kate stressed. "I told you it was funny."

"You're using Castle as your measuring stick?" Lanie asked.

"Trust me. I've got a lot to measure by." Castle said.

"Castle, bro, filter."

"Yeah, man. We talked about this." Ryan backed up his partner.

"Right. Lunch then?" Castle asked, shoving the stuffed olive back into the gift bag, still smiling.

Kate grabbed their case file and they all walked to the elevator. Within minutes, Castle was speaking again, and Kate was wondering why the boys had bothered wasting their breath trying to get Castle to implement a filter. Anyway, she was glad he was back to flirting a bit today. She'd missed it.

The restaurant was only a couple of blocks away, so they walked, hoping the overcast sky wouldn't open up on them. It was still early when they arrived, so Remy's wasn't busy yet, and they snagged a corner booth without having to wait. Ryan slid in first with Lanie on his right and Castle on his left. They placed their orders and immediately started grilling Ryan for wedding-related details. The boys planned their next poker night and Castle showed off his latest app.

When their burgers arrived, Kate passed Rick their drinks while teasing Esposito about his best man duties. She set both their plates down, with Rick's a little closer to hers than was normal. She rotated her plate so that her fries were closest to Rick's plate. Then while, Rick was pouring sugar packets into her tea, she took the pickle from his plate and bit into before setting it back on her own.

While Rick was stirring Kate's tea with his spoon and asking Lanie if what he'd seen on CSI was really possible, Kate was peeling back the bun on Rick's burger and using her fork and fingers to remove first the tomato, which she set aside on her plate, and then the pickles, which she added to her burger. Then Castle, who had already opened straws and put them in their drinks, was handing Kate the catsup—which she applied to the burgers and dolloped onto their plates—while he salted their fries. Kate handed the catsup back to Rick, and he set it at the end of the table with the salt and other condiments. They each picked up their bun tops and replaced them on their burgers.

The two were so in sync, they never missed a beat, even while talking the whole time. Burgers in hand, poised for a first bite, they looked at their friends across the table. Finding three slack jaws and six eyes on them, the asked in unison, "What?"

But the three across the table had no real response. Lanie just stuttered "Na-na-nothing," though she looked a little sad, even as she smiled. One of the boys uttered, "Damn," but no one was sure what it was in reference to. Instead, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito sat, wondering when the two had gone from finishing each other's sentences to whatever this was and why didn't they pounce on it?

Confused as to why the mood around the table had gone from jovial to reticent in a matter of minutes, Kate pulled out the case file determined to make something make sense. "Maybe it's the weather?" she thought as the restaurant visibly darkened and the heavens opened up.

Can I just say? I never started this looking for review, it was more for me, to get this out of my head and I hoped that others would enjoy it…but your reviews mean so much. Also, I'm a little disturbed at how easily some of you came up with creepy ways to kill people. I guess it's good motivation to keep writing stuff you like…and remain anonymous! :o)