Hour 11, well, 13 actually…

Ok, so, having brunch in the couch with Kate, my mother and Alexis on our first morning after wasn't high on my "Beckett in the morning fantasies". Brunch was. Her on my shirt and boxers was. But the couch should have been the bed. And my mother and daughter would have been, hopefully, in another city, just to prevent any really embarrassing interruptions. And we wouldn't have spent our first night together in my bed just cuddling.

Alas, life has its way of showing you the finger when it comes to fulfilling fantasies. Then again, to have the three women I love the most, together, alive, healthy and happy and openly sharing is a great turnabout.

I've never been happier to see my mother than when she came in today, as a warrior in a shining armor to protect me from Beckett's evil poking finger. Note to self: stop betting on Kate and you without telling her! (She'll always bet on us, which means, more winnings!).

I really wasn't expecting my mother this morning. She left for the Hamptons not five minutes after Alexis' graduation ceremony was over and usually it takes her at least a few weeks on the beach to get ready for facing summer in the city. Her reasoning? Alexis leaving for California for an undeserving mother-daughter week and my leaving-Kate-to-fend-for-herself-the-day-she-found-her-shooter meant a depressed, maybe drunk, possibly extremely immature Richard Castle.

Apparently, wouldn't have been able to concentrate on having fun if she knew I was in such state. She rushed through the door, shouting something about me getting a bag ready and "stop mopping, we are turning that switch off right this minute", only to stop dead on her tracks, seeing us three (Kate, Alexis and yours truly) and mutter something about me making her waist a perfectly sunny day with my, once again, overreacting to a fight with Kate.

And in that moment, my wife to be (mind my words, she will allow me to marry her) opened her mouth and said: "Martha! It's so good to see you. I feared I wouldn't have the chance to wish you a good summer! And for what is worth, there was a moment, when I was hanging from that roof when I regretted that my last words to your son would have been spoken in anger, instead of the 'I love you' they should have been. And if it wasn't for that eye opener I probably wouldn't be here, so he wasn't overreacting, I really screwed up the last time I saw him."

And then she turned and looking at my daughter she said: "Alexis, I know you don't fully trust me with your dads heart, but I love him, and I'll do my best to be worthy of your trust. I'm not here just to save him from being a hostage during a bank robbery, I'm here for the long run. At least, I hope so…"

At which point I just can't take seeing her standing there, alone and fragile under the scrutiny of my mother and daughter, so I go to where she is and hug her to myself. She hugs me back, holding on to me as if I was a life line. Finally, she turns to me and with a little crack in her voice she says: "I love you. I really do. And I have many more things to say to you, but if it's all right with you all, I'm starving and breakfast is getting cold! Martha, will you be joining us before going back to the Hamptons?"

My mother's quicker than me so she says: "I sure will be my child. And let me just say it's really good to know you've finally allowed yourself to be loved". After which she hugs Beckett, grabs her hand and leads my woman to the couch.

Second note to self: wait for a bit until you call her that out loud, she might not be as pleased as you are with that prospect.

Alexis and I pick the trays with all the food – drinks were already at the table- and as I walk to the living room I fully grasp the meaning of what Kate just said. And I'm once again reminded that she was apparently thrown off a building and she's thus far failed to explain just how much truth there is in that statement. "Kate, did you just say you realized you couldn't fight you heart's desire while you were hanging from a rooftop? What on earth does that mean?"

"My heart's desire? Really Castle? Isn't that a bit too Temptation Lane even for you?"

"Stop avoiding the subject Kate! What the hell happened yesterday?"

"I told you last night when I first got here! 'He got away and I didn't care. I almost died and all I could think about was you'. Why does the how I almost died matter? Can't you at least wait until we finish eating?"

Resigning myself to an uncomfortable brunch, full of awkward silences, I sat down next to Kate. Alexis was on the floor and my mother on the reclining chair next to us. And for the second time in one hour, I don't think I've ever been more thankful for my mother than right this minute, when she asks: "Alexis dear, how was the graduation party? You must tell us absolutely all about it!"

And just like that, the tension is gone, Kate, coffee in hand is perched to my side, eagerly listening to what my daughter has to say. "Oh, it was amazing! We had so much fun, but at the same time, so many tears were cried. Paige and I, we kind of said our goodbyes. She is going to England next year, and her parents thought it'd be good to go over there now, so she has some time to prepare herself. And it was good for us you know? I felt like we hadn't really talked in ages, with my internship and all, and to give ourselves the time to actually do it now was really good"

Getting up from my comfortable place on the couch I hunch down next to her and I hug her to myself. "I'm so proud of you, oh so wise daughter of mine!"

"Dad! I'm being serious!"

"And trust me Alexis, so is he! He's been rambling about you pretty much since the day we've met, and I can't recall a single phrase he's spoken about you that wasn't tainted with pride and even a little admiration"

Oh Kate, I love you so much. If you only knew just how much I've bothered them talking about how proud I'm of you. How happy I'm and how blessed I feel for knowing you.

Thankfully, my mother interrupts once again: "And can you blame him my child? I'm not only saying this because we share the same blood, but because I know for a fact this is true: my granddaughter is by far the greatest thing this family has ever produced."

And I can barely fill my lungs after Kate says, with suspiciously shining eyes directed at me: "And she had some pretty high standards to beat. Let's just hope she can avoid the whole 'stealing a police horse while in the nude' phase. I'm more than willing to use my connections to get you out of jail Alexis, but I really hope you've learned something from raising your father…"

To which all three ladies start to laugh.

"Oh great, we haven't even been on a proper date yet and you've already managed to turn both my mother and child against me? I'm so not going to be able to beat this gang…! Maybe I should start following the gang squad..."

"Oh no you won't! You will not follow anyone belonging to any sort of force- cops, FBI, CIA, MI7 or whatever the British have other than myself. And since I'm no longer a homicide detective, unless you write and solve the murders yourself, the whole putting criminals behind bars thing is over for you mister."

To which all two women in the room who happen to be blood related to me silently leave the room. Well, the loft actually. Thank God for Alexis thoughtfulness…this talk is going to take longer that I first anticipated.

And so the 14th hour begins…