Sorry for the wait, but the amazingness of Mr Marlow and Co. made me loose my mojo... Hope you enjoy and a special thank you to my beta and to all those who review!

Hour 66

"Ok, so we've already determined that we can't decide who's arriving first without being evident about a plan. But, we agree that, no matter who gets here first, we tell either of them that the other is coming and that we're all going to talk, each one of us with their love interest as a buffer." Castle says.

"Right. Ryan has Jenny, Espo has Lanie and we have each other."

"Yeah. Unless you have someone else you'd rather have as a punching bag?"

"Nope, you'll do just fine. Nice, broad expanse of manly man package to get my frustration in place."

"Should I wear some sort of padded clothes underneath my shirt in case you get all rough with me?"

"Nah… It wouldn't do you much good. I figure if we're going to be seated a knee cup would suit you better."

"Haha, very funny."

"Don't worry Castle, I'm not planning on sending you to the hospital tonight. At least not for using you as a punching bag…"

"Good to hear. Feel free to send me there for any non-violence-related reason…"

"Do you think we should give Jenny a fair warning? We did tell Lanie what we're planning…"

"You're right, we should call her to warn her! Why don't you do it? She'll be less scared to be hearing from you. You know, girl bonding thingy."

"Really? You gonna go with that? Girl bonding thingy? What's that even supposed to mean?"

"You know, she's a girl, you're a girl, meddling with someone else's lives… both trying to fix a man's problem… girl thingy!"

"And once again Castle, for a man who plans on finding our family with words, you really suck at finding them when you need them…"

"Sure, fine, whatever. You get your phone while I go… uhm" He looks to the kitchen. God, he's actually dreading I'll force him to talk to Jenny. So much for a usable punching bag. He'll probably poop in his pants before round one. "Finish that mac and cheese you left unattended."

"Do I need to remind you who made me leave them unattended?!"

"Oh no, you're not going to blame me for the fact that your sexiness is way too much for a man to handle…"

"Nice save stud. Now go to the safetiness of your kitchen while I make this dreadful call."

"Will do. And Kate? You have nothing to worry about. I can't think of a single thing you wouldn't be able to manage…"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, but I applaud your courage to at least try!"

"Thank you." And with that, he leaves me alone in this big dangerous living room, calling an amazing woman who might or might not want to help me. Then again, this is Jenny. And she knows that Espo and Ryan are like brothers. And considering that I'm responsible for her husband's quite predictable bad temper, I owe her an apology as much as I owe one to the guys. I take a deep breath and dial.

"Kate? Hi! What's wrong? Is Ryan Ok? Are you OK? Are we still on for tonight?" Jenny answers on the third ring.

"Yeah Jenny, everyone is OK, and tonight is actually why I'm calling! We just wanted to make sure you guys were still on!"

"Oh, we are! Ryan needs some reassurance and you're the only one who can give it to him."

"I'm so sorry for that Jenny. I know I screwed everything up, but I'll do my best to try and fix it."

"Kate, each one of you did what thought best. No need for you to beat yourself up about it!"

"But I still want to fix it Jenny. And that's actually why I'm calling you. I talked to Lanie yesterday and we both agreed that the best way to make sure the guys make up is by locking them up so they can talk. It won't be pretty, but someone has to force them to talk, and I think I owe it to both of them to make that meeting happen."

"Is this your way of telling me it won't be just the four of us tonight?"

"Yeah, kind of… I know we should have talked to you before making any arrangements…"

"No Kate, it's fine. Better than fine actually. These past few days Kevin hasn't been himself and I know this hatch between him and Javi is killing him. He's dying to pick up the phone, but you know men, they won't admit they had something to do with the problem. It's always the other man's fault…"

"Yeah, I know. So… you're ok with this?"

"I'm better than Ok with it! Now, where will this dreaded meeting take place?"

"Castle's loft, tonight, around 6?"

"Sound great. We'll be there with bells on and a nice bottle of wine just in case."

"That won't be necessary! As long as you guy have the bells on, you should be fine."

I hear her chuckle before she says: "I insist."

"Ok, fine. Bring some wine." I give in fairly easily.

"Red or white?"

"Whatever suits your taste to drink with homemade pizza."

"Yummy! Ok, I gotta go Kate! My boss is looking at me! Whenever he goes ballistic over something it's usually the fault of whomever was on the phone!"

"OK, bye Jenny! See you tonight!" And she disconnects the call. Wow. She really was in a hurry to hung up!

I turn around to look behind me and I find Castle in the kitchen, busy with getting the pizza dough ready to be put in the oven. I briefly consider going over there to help him, but he seems to be doing fine on his own and I truth be told, I'm too comfortable to move without being asked to do so. I turn once again and find the discarded, but not forgotten, copy of Frozen Heat that Castle had handed me last night.

Now that is a good enough reason to move. I lazily reach for it, get comfortable against the left arm of the sofa, with my back to Castle so as to not get distracted by him, and pick up right where we stopped reading last night.

I've always loved reading Castle's book. Ever since my mother and I started sharing our interest for mystery novels, I've found myself going to them whenever I was feeling down, nervous or lonely. I find a comfort in his stories that I have yet to find in real life. Though I have a feeling Castle will be more than willing to give me that comfort if I manage to ask for it really nicely.

As I begin to read, I'm struck with the realization that this experience might be forever ruined. After having him read it to me last night, reading it in silence doesn't hold the magic it did yesterday. I fear this experience has been forever ruined for me. But as I hear him mumble some incoherent words of complaint towards the pizzas, I realize that not everything is lost. So maybe I won't be able to enjoy reading his books as I used to do. But I'm planning on enjoying him and his reading for as long as we both shall live. And that's going to be my vows when we get married. Funny. Thinking about my wedding day is not as scary as it used to be. Who knows, maybe I'll even start cutting up magazines with wedding dresses in them…