Ok so here is another new chapter!
Enjoy!
When the morning comes Kate and Rick wake well rested and as Rick showers Kate enters the kitchen with the aid of her crutches, there she finds Alexis. The girl is making her lunch and her breakfast simultaneously and Kate immediately persuades the girl to let her help.
Alexis smiles at the help and gives Kate a job she can do sitting down, They laugh and chat as they work and are both unaware of Jim who stands at the top of the stairs and is remembering a slightly different scene from many years ago.
Martha comes up behind him and startles him out of his revere, she also smiles at the scene, and gently pats Jim on the arm, in a comforting motion, she understands where his memory had taken him. When he nods in response she sweeps down the stairs and greets the women in the kitchen.
By this time the lunch is ready and they are eating their breakfast, Alexis is telling Kate all about her boyfriend while Kate tells the calmer stories of her teenage years. The trio soon switch onto talking about the night before and the videos, Alexis is amazed by the first one in particular, the one with her dad in it amazes her too but she decides not to mention it yet.
"I can't believe the first one, I would have freaked, in fact I think dad as he is now would have freaked out and you just stayed calm. He was cute though wasn't he?"
"For as long as I can remember he has always been cute, always. I think my mum used to refer to him as adorable, when he was really tiny. The older he got the more he objected to it. I was working with him for a year before we realised."
Martha stays silent through the entire conversation and just listens intently, she won't let anyone know but she herself is intrigued by the woman who owns her son's heart.
"How come? I mean you were so close, what happened?"
"I was still quite young at the time, eleven or twelve, so I don't really know. I don't think anyone really knows, it's one of those things but the time between seeing him got larger and larger until he was just a memory, a cute little boy who I'd adopted as a brother for a while. Then when he transferred to my team He seemed so familiar until we were talking one day and I mentioned something and he recognised it."
"Really? And then you realised but did it change how you acted around one another or did everything stay the same?"
"Basically stayed the same, he'd already became a little brother to me again and I knew that if I still looked at him like I did that little boy then things would be weird. At the time we decided not to tell anyone at work, our little secret, over time it became unimportant, our present friendship was more important than distant memories. Although he has gotten closer to dad again, that's one thing I wouldn't trade about this."
"Is anything going to change now?"
"Yeah, everything is. I think I'm going to let it be common knowledge, if Kev agrees. The important people know, and accept it, I don't care what anyone else thinks. And the past few years dispel any thoughts of favouritism. And people will be more focused on my relationship with your dad."
"You're going to let people know about it? I thought you would want to keep it a secret for a bit, so you can have the time just as you two without all the pressure and the eyes and stuff."
"I think it's pretty obvious don't you? And I work with detectives and Saturday night kind of spilled the beans. Besides, I've been with him constantly for the past few days, and for a lot of the past few years, I know we can work."
"That is true isn't it? So I get to keep you for a while?"
Kate smiles but grows serious before answering, Alexis is trying to hide her worry and Kate understands her concerns.
"Alexis, you will always have me, nothing will ever change that."
Alexis brightens at the words, only one doubt lingers but she doesn't want to voice it. She doesn't have to however as Kate can see it running through her eyes.
Kate puts her hand on Alexis' and speaks softly, so softly that Martha has to strain to hear it and Jim cannot. The words are for Alexis but Kate doesn't mind if Martha hears them too.
"Honey, I don't plan on letting him go at all but if that were to happen, I would never let you go, I didn't just fall in love with him, but you too."
Alexis practically runs around the counter to hug Kate, her smile wide and her eyes sparkling with joy. As she hugs the detective close, Alexis whispers in her ear, words that not even Martha knows.
"I'll never let go of you and I don't think dad will either, we love you too much"
When Kate pulls away there are unshed tears in her eyes as she kisses the girl on her forehead in a gesture of unconditional love and they turn to Martha who is openly crying at the emotional display. Before anyone can speak, Rick walks in, his hair still damp from the shower his face turning to worry when he notices his mother.
She waves him off before he can question and Jim comes down the stairs, pretending that he hadn't seen the exchange. The men look at the women, all of who are drying the last of their tears, even the unshed ones.
Alexis walks up to her dad and hugs him tightly, he hugs back with just as much love, despite not understanding the situation. Once again Alexis whispers words of love and everything makes sense once more.
"Daddy, she wants to keep us forever, both of us"
As realisation dawns Rick pulls back and unknowingly mirrors Kate's actions, which causes Martha to begin to cry once more. Once more confused Rick looks up to see his girlfriend comforting his mother and he realises that he never wants to lose this sight, that one day he will beg for Kate to be his wife.
HI, so what do you all think?
I've been getting so many reviews lately it's great, I love all your thoughts and some of you can almost read my mind sometimes!
Next chapter should be up soon but until I mention it the chapters will be unbeta'd. If anyone objects to this say.
I DO NOT OWN CASTLE.
Otherwise there'd be little castle toddlers making castle run in circles. Oh and mini Ryans too!