Yay! Another chapter. Thanks to all who are following along!

Also, because I haven't said so in a while, characters are not mine…and the standard yada yada. Mistakes are mine, and I apologize for those. I hate when I read back through and realize it says "thing" when it should say "think" – but unless it's a bigger mistake, I typically don't find it worth the hassle to re-upload or otherwise edit.

Enjoy!

Chapter 36 – Chi

Castle left earlier than usual to make it across town. Getting away from his mother and daughter's hovering had nothing to do with his early departure. They were worse than Kate! Or maybe he only thought that because he got Beckett in his bathtub out of the earlier deal. This morning, he was making a special trip to Sheryl's bakery to fulfill his promise and to get Beckett a little something to thank her for the titillating, awe-inspiring imagery. He genuinely wanted to do something special for Kate; it was the best way he could think of to thank her for staying with him at the hospital and then at the loft without making too big a deal about it.

Though it wasn't out of the realm of possibility, Castle hadn't expected to run into Kate's father. So, when Jim Beckett saw him there, shook his hand and insisted Rick join him for breakfast, Castle didn't put up much of a fight. Castle hadn't spent much time with Kate's father, but he liked him and he wasn't about to miss out on an opportunity to gain more insight into the lovely Katherine Beckett—especially when the insights were almost certainly going to be of a more personal, childhood-come-back-to-haunt-you nature.

They walked down the street to a quintessential little 24-hour diner with the old-timey vinyl-covered stools in a row along the Formica counter. They chose to sit there, where they were assured a bottomless cup of coffee from the lone waitress and chief cashier. From where they sat, they could watch the cook prepare their meals. Rick's mouth watered. If he had to choose between bacon and whipped cream, he wasn't sure which would win.

They made small talk for a while. Castle learned a few new things about Kate—one of which he was going to put to immediate use. He even asked Jim's opinion and, he was pretty sure, earned himself a co-conspirator. Jim inquired about Castle's favorite topic, Alexis. He asked about her prom and how things were going with Ashley. Rick was surprised he remembered Ashley and so many other details having met them only once. Castle filled him in, showed him a picture of the two of them from prom, and one of Kate and Alexis that he knew Jim would appreciate.

"She's beautiful," Jim said.

"Yes, she is." Looking at Castle and a father himself, Jim knew there was no way Castle was thinking of his red-headed daughter when he said this.

"It's good, you know? How she lets you in." Rick wasn't sure which 'she' Jim was referring to. He didn't answer. They sat there a while longer, each eating, thinking about their girls.

"I screwed up, not telling Kate about Sheryl sooner. And, the way she found out—there was no easing her into it. Tell me, Rick, you know her better than anyone—"

"I very much doubt—" Castle was being modest, but he didn't want to appear fanfaronade in front of Kate's father.

"I don't. Is she okay? She won't talk to me about it, and she won't tell me about her boyfriend. I keep alluding to him, but I get nothing. She's not rude; she's not telling me to mind my own business. She's just not talking to me—about that anyway. Everything else is normal…well, our kind of normal."

"So you think she's trying to pretend nothing's changed?"

"Isn't she?"

"Ugff."

"Rick, if she's said anything to you…"

"If she had, I wouldn't betray her confidence."

"And I respect that. More than you know, but…has she? Said anything?"

"No."

"So, you can tell me what you think."

Castle paused, thinking. "Well, I don't think she's pretending. It's just…not something she'd do about something like this. Avoid? Hell yes."

"I've tried talking to her. I'd like her to get to know Sheryl better—I don't want to push—but you know…even though she's an adult, if she and Sheryl…"

"Kate wouldn't ask you to change anything about your relationship, especially seeing you happy. That would be bad. You know the guilt would eat at her. I think she just needs time to…adjust. Or accept."

"We used to be more like you and Alexis, freer with…everything, but now there are some things we just don't talk about."

"There are some things I don't want to know about—"

"Same."

"But I dread that day."

"I don't want you to think were not close, or that I don't know my own daughter. It's just a different closeness now. And, even though we don't talk about some things, Katie and I are closer than we were before."

"She's told me."

"I know. Do you think she's told the boyfriend?"

"No."

"Is he good to her?"

"I think he wants to be."

"But she won't let him?"

Castle shrugged.

"She lets you."

"Sometimes."

Castle insisted on paying this time since Jim picked up the tab at Veselka's. Jim let him and they walked back to the bakery, where Castle picked up Kate's coffee and a glazed pecan monkey bread concoction that Jim heartily recommended.

"Hmm. Coffee's different, Castle." It was Kate's only comment after accepting the cup from Castle. She looked him over, assessing whether or not he was really well enough to be there. He'd stayed away two full days, in part on Martha and Alexis' insistence, and in part because he was exhausted and run down. He'd texted Beckett earlier in the morning to say he was coming and assure her he was fine, but she needed to see for herself that he didn't look strained or stressed.

"Yes, yes it is. Went to Cups-N-Cakes this morning." Kate gave him a look, wondering why it was vaguely familiar and why he would change it up. "Sheryl's bakery?"

"Oh," Kate said, frowning. "Not as good."

"No, the coffee's not, but try the pecan roll. It'll be much better."

Kate looked at him hesitantly. "You tried one?" Castle wondered if that was yet another restriction on his diet plan?

"No, but trust me. The place smelled sinfully delicious. Nice place."

Castle went on about all the different kinds of pies and pastries and cakes they made. Kate ignored him. She could really care less about Sheryl's bakery. Kate had spoken to her dad only once since he returned from Atlanta. He spent most of the call talking about Sheryl's kids and grandkids and how great they all were and how much fun he had watching the little ones at the Home Depot Aquarium. He assured her she'd really like them. He also invited her to dinner to get to know Sheryl a little better, but Kate declined, citing work.

"Your dad was there," Castle threw in. "He says hi."

Kate was in her own little world, mindlessly looking over the paperwork on her desk. She'd had a strange few days. When Alexis arrived home Sunday morning, she'd found Kate and Rick asleep together on the couch. That wasn't a first, but Alexis had never found them curled around one another because it hadn't happened—at least not quite like that. After sleeping the afternoon away, they'd awoken just as the night sky was settling in around the loft. They opted for movies.

"Actually, your father was abducted by alien body snatchers from the evil Mondork Empire. They've taken him to the Interstellar Space Command to impregnate the Mondork Chieftain."

Kate remembered most of Revolutions. She'd been sitting with her legs tucked under her, curled into the corner of the couch and cuddling a large pillow. Castle had propped a sofa pillow against her knees while they watched the last movie in the Matrix trilogy. They had fallen asleep like that. At some point, Kate must have stretched out. She ended up on her side, back to the couch, nestled in the crook of Castle's arm with her own arm stretched across his chest.

"Your space cadet half-siblings will be immune to Earth's atmosphere and will journey from a galaxy far, far away to launch an attack on the human race and take over the world."

Kate hadn't been aware of the position they were in, or even that Alexis was home, until the girl flopped on them. She'd landed more on Rick than Kate, but Kate had lifted her arm to form a protective cocoon over Rick as soon as she felt the weighty disruption. Rick grunted and Alexis ended up with an elbow in the chest and slid unceremoniously off the angle of Kate's arm, landing on the floor. Kate sat up, exclaiming "Alexis!" and immediately asked, "Rick, are you okay?" He'd assured her was fine, just surprised, while Alexis sat on the floor, rubbing her chest, staring at them in confusion. Kate smiled internally. The look on Alexis' face was almost worth being caught in Rick's arms.

"I had breakfast with your dad's replacement."

Castle had watched Kate the entire time for any hint that she was paying even the slightest bit of attention. She wasn't. She even broke for a sip of coffee and tilted her head back without lifting her eyes from the papers in front of her. Castle looked her over and decided that now was not the best time to ask. Instead, he found his phone, updated Twitter with a recommendation for Cups-N-Cakes and started in on Angry Birds.

Kate was still thinking about Alexis and how things had subtly shifted between them. She had moved to a sitting position and helped Alexis off the floor. She ended up sitting on the couch with Castle's legs behind her and Alexis half on her lap, while the girl hugged her.

"You're here."

Kate remembered wondering what she meant.

"I just wasn't sure after Dad…"

"Ah, well, I guess it not always your father's fault."

She'd wanted to change the subject.

"How were the rollercoasters?"

"Ashley tried to ease me into it. I did two smaller non-twisty, right-side-up ones. But then he took me on some spinny ride— we ended up walking around, playing games because I got sick."

"You're not the only one."

"Hey! You promised you wouldn't tell her!"

"I promised I wouldn't call her."

"What? You got sick? And you didn't call me?" Alexis had turned to look at Kate then. "You knew he wasn't feeling well and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't want to ruin your trip until we knew how serious it was and…I promised your dad."

"How bad was it?"

"Not bad."

"Castle! Alexis…" She'd paused to make eye contact with her. "He spent some time in the hospital."

"My dad was in the hospital and you didn't call me? Jesus, Kate! What if it had been something serious?"

"Alexis!" Castle squawked.

She had nudged Alexis, feeling the sentiment was deserved and honest, but she'd also wanted to lighten the mood.

"So now the truth comes out…don't trust me to take care of your dad, huh?"

She had said it with an uneven smile and a hesitant laugh, very much concerned with the answer. They were close and she knew, realistically, that Alexis trusted her, but she also knew the girl felt responsible for her dad. She needed to know that Kate did, too, and that she could depend on her to be there.

Kate recalled the relief she felt when Alexis relaxed and leaned into her. "No, it's not that…we've just never had anyone else to take care of him before."

"I can take care of myself you know."

They ignored him.

"I promise, Lex. I had a handle on it. If it had been serious, I'd have called you. I'd have sent Kev and Javi to come get you and race you back. Your dad was just a little sick and dehydrated. He has gastritis, but luckily, no ulcers."

"Gastritis?"

"Yeah. So you have full permission to tell him what he can and cannot eat for the next two months."

Kate had gotten up and grabbed the discharge papers from her purse. She went over them with Alexis and then they used the search function on Castle's new TV to get more detail and tease Castle with all the things he couldn't eat.

Kate didn't come out of her reflective trance until her phone rang.

"Beckett," Kate answered.

"Hey Katie!"

"Hi Dad. What's up?"

"Has Rick made it back yet?"

"Back?"

"From breakfast?"

"Breakfast?"

"Yeah."

Kate put her hand over her phone.

"Castle!" she hissed, loud enough to get Esposito and Ryan's attention. "Did you have breakfast with my father?"

"Um…yes?"

"You can't have breakfast with my father!" she hissed again.

She heard Ryan snicker and shot a glare in his direction.

"Katie," she heard in her ear, "Of course he can. It's a free country."

"Why not?" Castle asked.

"You know 'why not'."

"Yeah, why not?" her dad asked.

"Ughh! Daaad!"

"So? Can I talk to him?" her father asked.

"Uh, no."

"Katie."

"You could give me his number."

"Pass."

"I'm in town you know. I could just stop by. Tell everyone how you cried when we watched Toy Story."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Are you going to let me talk to Rick?"

"Here." Kate said, holding out the phone to Castle. "It's for you. Apparently, my own father doesn't want to talk to me."

Castle smirked at her childish behavior.

"Hey, Jim."

"You didn't tell her we had breakfast?"

"I did. Even told her about the body snatchers and evil half-siblings, but she has an impressive and annoying ability to tune me out."

Jim was still mulling over his explanation when he heard Katie pipe up. "It's not hard, Castle."

"I see you've got her attention now."

"Yes. Thank you for that."

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, mostly I was wondering if you've asked her yet, but now, I kind of just want to mess with her."

"Well, no, I haven't, but I will. And I'm definitely game for the latter."

"I have some gear you guys can borrow—whether she says yes or not. I can bring it by if you like."

"I appreciate the offer, but let's wait and see."

"She still intent on getting her phone back?"

"Absolutely." Castle got up and walked to the break room. Kate followed.

"Well, I hope this isn't too painful for you."

"Oh, it will be, but I can take it."

Jim chuckled. There was a slight lull in the conversation.

"You know I saw the lilacs at Johanna's grave. Katie told me what you did for her."

"It was nothing."

"It was something. Johanna would have loved them."

"I'm glad."

"You mentioned speakers for the benefit. Do you have anyone lined up yet?"

"I've run it by a few people, but nothing solid. It would be great if at least one of the speakers actually knew her. We checked with her old firm. They're still debating."

"One of her old friends, a colleague where she taught is now the chair of the department. He might be a good choice."

"Do you know his name?"

"Charles Blaisdell. I could talk to him if you like. I still see him around from time to time."

Castle walked into the rest room, enjoying this opportunity to get Kate's dander up. That it was her father's doing made it all the more enjoyable for him.

Kate debated following Castle into the men's room, but decided instead to seek out Lanie. She'd sympathize, right? Besides, she needed Lanie's advice. She'd spent the last few days considering the weekend. She kept replaying Josh's messages over in her head, wondering for the millionth time how he could be so insistent that they'd work it out?

She needed input. Madison was completely out of the question. She'd probably jump for joy, dump Todd and ask if Josh liked blondes. Lanie wasn't exactly impartial, but at least she was there—and she already knew what had happened between the two of them. If it weren't for Lanie, Josh's messages would have come as more of a shock, and there's a chance Castle would have overheard them.

In the morgue, Lanie was busy working a body. Contrary to what most people believe, the NYPD medical examiners didn't just determine the causes of death related to homicide. They were city coroners, and by law, any suspicious death or death not in the presence of an attending physician required a cause of death determination for the death certificate. It was easy for the lab to get backlogged, especially with only two MEs on staff at the 12th.

Today, Lanie's body was a very obese woman.

"Whatchya got, Lanie?"

"Asian female, 45. Obstructive sleep apnea. You know? This right here? You ever let me get like that…"

"You're not your mom, Lanie. You know better. You're hot and you know it."

It was part of the reason Lanie and her mother didn't get along. Her mother was large, had diabetes and breathing problems, but she wouldn't take Lanie's advice. Instead, she was disapproving and condescending, even when Lanie was clearly successful and talented. Lanie worked her way through med school, but her mother refused to acknowledge her accomplishments. Now, it seemed whenever she saw her mother, she was accused of being snooty and too good for her own. Over the years, Lanie had come to agree.

"Yeah. That's the COD though. Being fat. All that extra weight on her neck. 'Course the PC version goes on the death certificate so everyone can feel good about themselves." Lanie paused. "Think I'll hit the gym tonight. Wanna come sweat with me?"

"Can't. I have plans with Alexis."

"Where is your shadow, anyway?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Just tell me Javi's not involved and I'll be happy."

"Well, you can breathe easy."

"And you?"

"Still can't get ahold of Josh. When he was in Haiti, he had phone service and Internet. Same in Senegal. Not Japan, but that was different."

"I don't see what the problem is."

"Maybe that he somehow managed to send flowers even though he's supposed to be on the other side of the continent?"

"I saw those. Same as the ones from Friday. He's not very original. You know you coulda passed 'em to Javi for me."

"Yes, but Jenny can think they're from Kev—you'd know they weren't from Javi. Still, how can he send flowers, yet be unable to take my call?"

"You're a detective, Kate. I'm sure you can figure it out. But I think it's a waste of time. You broke up with him. You're free to move on."

"Not if he thinks we're still together. There are just too many ways for that to come back and bite me in the behind."

"Girl, you've already screwed this up six ways from Sunday."

"Don't sugarcoat it."

"I'm jus' sayin'…if I didn't love ya, I'd be laughing my ass off. It's like watching Rachel and Ross on Friends." Lanie shook her head. Then she pointed at Kate with a collection tube in her hand. "I'm tellin' ya, you got some kinda karma. The bad kind of karma. Time to call in the feng shui experts. Get your Chi checked out."

"I think you're mixing genres or ideologies or whatever those fall under."

"Excuse me, Miss Fancy Pants. Point is, you could have taken care of this a long time ago, but you didn't. You almost deserve it."

Kate mumbled something that sounded like "yeah-um" as she turned from Lanie. She didn't run out, so that was saying something, but she didn't say anything intelligible either. She just walked up to the morgue's one small high window and looked up and out at nothing.

Lanie couldn't see Kate's face, but she saw her hands go up to cup her neck. Lanie often spoke before thinking, but that wasn't really the case here. She had been wondering what kind of reaction she would get out of Kate. She didn't expect Kate to take it to heart or to buy into the idea so readily.

Lanie walked up to Kate. "Come on, Girl…you know I don't really believe that. And you shouldn't either." She steered her into a chair where they could sit facing one another. "It would be cruel, what I said, but I said 'almost.' If you were anyone else, Kate. I don't think for a moment that you deserve even a moment's more heartache."

"You're right, though. You've been right. And I hate you a little bit for it." Lanie nickered, and squeezed her friend's knee.

Kate's lip quivered and she put her head down to hide her reaction from Lanie. "I brought it on myself. Dragging things on with Josh. Not forgiving Castle." Kate choked out the next part, her eyes pitiable. "God, Lanie, I even made him sick. How could I do that to him?"

Castle chose that moment to sweep in with the flourish worthy of Martha Rodger's red carpet moment. The two looked up at him. Lanie was shooting daggers at him for his inopportune timing, but he barely registered her presence. His only concern was Kate, whose eyes were sad and distressed even through the shock of him barging in.

Castle could hear Jim still talking in his ear while he and Kate stared at one another a long moment. He immediately understood that this was about Josh. Why else would she be so upset and in need of a little Lanie time? Castle's expression softened in empathy. He had intended to hand the phone off to Kate, but he could tell she wouldn't want to talk now.

"Uh, your dad?" Lanie's head shot from Castle to Kate and back. "Wants to know if he can take you to lunch?"

He watched Kate frown a little. He covered the phone with his other hand and whispered "Just you two?" Kate's head didn't really move, but Castle sensed when she acquiesced.

"Noon?" Castle asked into the phone, while asking Kate simultaneously. She nodded.

Castle gave Kate a reassuring smile and then turned to walk outm telling Jim that she couldn't talk now because she was helping Lanie with an autopsy.

"He talks to your dad now?"

Kate's eyes were still glassy with emotion, but her quizzical smile completely transformed her expression to one of amused perplexity.

"They had breakfast."

Review please? Makes my day a little brighter! Ok, A LOT brighter! :o)