Kate is anxious throughout their drive to the Hamptons.
Even as he notices her persistent efforts to calm her nerves, he still catches her continuously checking over her shoulder, the similar glances in his direction as he drives. Lily's presence helps, though, providing a fantastic distraction while she bops along to David Bowie in the backseat and tries to remain inside the lines of her coloring book.
The moment they enter the charming town, farther than he had made it during his last attempted trip on their wedding day, he witnesses Kate visibly begin to relax. Her shoulders loosen and her smiles come easier. She rolls the windows down, lets the sea breeze, the salt air, and sound of waves, rush into the car. Once they actually drive onto his property through the code-required gate, the tension has drained from his wife's - shit, he needs to stop indulging the habit of thinking of her with that title - spine and Lily is gasping in amazement.
She pushes up from the backseat to gain a better view.
"This is your house?" she questions at his shoulder and Kate chuckles.
"I had a similar reaction the first time your dad brought me here."
"Your house too," Castle corrects, placing his hand under Lily's fallen jaw to ease it closed. "What's mine is yours and your mom's. And Alexis's. Well, legally, it's divided between the three of you, but-"
"Wait, are you being serious?" Kate inquires under her breath.
"As soon as I found out about Lily and was out of the hospital, fully competent, I put your name on everything," he shrugs, because really, it's not a big deal. But by the subtle widening of Kate's eyes, maybe it is to her. "Kate, I was literally hours away from marrying you the day I was abducted, you're the mother of my child, it should have been this way six years ago. Don't freak out."
"Yeah, Momma," Lily parrots. "Don't freak out."
Kate huffs and Castle unlocks the doors to allow Lily her freedom, but he doesn't tear his gaze from the woman still sitting beside him in the passenger seat, biting her lip.
"You do know I intend to marry you, right?"
Her eyes drift back to him and her lips purse, repressing the smile that threatens.
"I've had my suspicions," she murmurs, watching Lily roam the driveway, spinning in circles and venturing towards the massive front porch.
"Good, because I'm so in love with you, Kate. And that's never going to change."
Beckett leans across the console, pressing a kiss to his mouth that has him drowning. He lifts a hand to cradle her jaw, stroking the hinge of bone with his thumb. The tease of her tongue along the seam of his lips makes him wish they could carry out their tradition when arriving in the Hamptons, taking her straight to bed, or the floor, the table…
"It's mutual," she mumbles, nuzzling her nose at his cheek. "But I'm still going to help pay for stuff."
He exhales a sigh against her lips, but the smile on his doesn't falter. Kate withdraws, nods to their daughter bouncing back to the car with impatience.
"Ready to give the grand tour again?" she chuckles, pushing her door open while he pops the trunk to grab their bags.
"Can't wait," he grins, already anticipating Lily's excitement. He's so eager for his little girl to explore their second home, experience the beach, the sun and the sand.
What he doesn't anticipate is the sight of the front door swinging open to reveal his mother on the other side.
Kate's eyebrows rise as Martha Rodgers steps out from the mansion that is Castle's Hamptons home. His mother looks as nervous as Kate felt on the ride over, but her face lights up as Lily bounds up the stairs to meet her. She's not sure how Martha managed to get here, how she knew they were coming, but it's the additional shout of "Grandpa Jim!" that has Kate's brow falling into a furrow.
She circles around the car, comes to a stop next to Castle. He glances to her when she brushes his side. "Did you know about this?"
"No," she answers with a shake of her head, sensing the tension threatening to ribbon around his spine. She reaches out to hook her fingers in the waistband of his jeans, tugging. "She looks a lot better, though." Kate takes in the clarity of Martha's gaze as she listens intently to Lily's animated greeting. Martha appears far more alert now, standing tall and put together like she used to before Rick's disappearance.
"Yeah," Castle murmurs, accepting the twine of her hand through his, but she can feel his reluctance to walk with her towards the house.
Martha straightens as she catches sight of them approaching, inhales a quick breath as if to steady herself. It's so strange to see his mother frazzled, especially when it's her son evoking the apprehension, but Beckett is aware that there may be a deeper reason for the anxiety. She knows words were exchanged between the two the night Martha left for rehab, hours before Jim volunteered to escort her to the site of the treatment program.
While Kate had explained to Lily that her grandmother was just going away to 'camp' for a little while, Castle had pulled his mother aside for a private goodbye in the study. But he'd been the one to walk out first, retreating to his bedroom before Martha even left the loft to meet Kate's father outside. That was over two months ago, only a week into Rick's return home, when he was still so fragile and Martha was still so wrought with devastation, disbelief, and the stench of vodka.
That night, Kate asked him about it, but whatever Martha had said before her departure had wounded him and he wasn't willing to talk about it. She hasn't thought to bring it up since.
"Katherine! Oh, and Richard," Martha greets, her voice soft but thick with emotion. Kate squeezes his hand before she lets him go, exchanging a brief, one-armed hug with the older woman before she proceeds to the front of the house where Lily is talking excitedly with her grandfather.
"And then Mommy said Daddy has a house on the beach and that we're going to stay for a whole week! It's going to be as fun as when we stay at the cabin only this is a beach instead of a lake."
Jim chuckles at Lily's enthusiasm while Kate climbs the porch steps, combing her fingers through her daughter's hair once she reaches the top. The chocolate locks nearly reach her shoulders, almost long enough to tie it into the braid Castle attempts every other night.
"We'll go to the lake this summer too," Kate murmurs. "Your dad loves it there."
"Daddy's been to your cabin, Grandpa Jim?" Lily asks, leaning against the white railing of the porch.
"A few times," Jim confirms, directing his attention to his daughter. "Hi Katie." He smiles as he opens his arms and Kate steps into her father's embrace under the cool shade of the magnificent awning. She relishes the firm band of his arms around her, the comforting scent of smoke and wood and old books.
"Hey Dad," she returns with a smile of her own, almost surprised by how glad she is to see him, how much she's missed him. "What're you doing here?"
"Well, Alexis called-"
"Ah."
That explains it. Alexis isn't joining them here until tomorrow afternoon, but Kate knows how desperately the younger woman wants things to be mended between her father and grandmother.
"And since Memorial Day is a holiday and Martha has been doing so well at… camp," he supplies with a flick of his gaze down to Lily. "She was permitted to spend it with family as long as I, her sponsor, am present. But I was under the impression that you knew, Katie, I'm sorry-"
"No," she murmurs, following her dad's gaze back to the driveway, watching the interaction between Rick and Martha. She observes the deflate of his body from its tightly wound state, how Martha cups his cheek with one ring-dazzled hand. "I think it was a good idea after all."
"Are you going to stay with us for the entire week, Grandpa?" Lily inquires, swaying into him. He cups the side of her head, brushes his thumb to the apple of her cheek.
"No, sweet pea, just today, tomorrow, and maybe for breakfast on Monday morning."
"Because Gram has to go back to camp?" Lily inquires.
"Exactly."
"How much longer is she going to be at camp?"
Jim hesitates, glancing to Kate, but she merely shrugs in response; there's likely no one who could handle this specific conversation better than her father can and she trusts whatever direction he chooses to take it in.
"Well, until she feels completely better," he decides, patting Lily's shoulder as she sighs. "But don't worry, your gram is doing great and she's so excited to be here with you for the weekend. She talked about it the entire ride over."
"I bet she's even more excited to see Daddy," Lily chirps, casting her attention to Castle and Martha.
Their conversation has come to a stop, Castle accepting his mother's embrace even if he does seem to be the one consoling her. He winces as she unknowingly squeezes his back, where fresh wounds still heal, and Kate has to suppress the urge to jerk forward. His eyes lift over his mother's shoulder and he stills her with a mollifying glance. She doesn't realize she's been holding her breath until Martha lets him go.
"I'll go help with the bags," Jim announces, Lily skipping along after him with a chipper "I'll help too!"
"Dad, don't worry about that," Kate insists, prepared to follow them both. "I'll-"
"No, you won't," her father answers, narrowing his gaze on her before flicking it to her shoulder. "You're still recovering, shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting."
Kate rolls her eyes, rolls her shoulder too, just to spite him; it doesn't hurt, only twinges with mild discomfort at times. But her dad ignores her, makes his way down to the car, around to the already open trunk, and hands Lily her small, purple backpack first.
Jim Beckett knows practically every twist and turn of the rollercoaster these last few months have been. Granted, some parts have been summarized for his sake - the details of Castle's torture, hers and Lily's time with Nieman, the emotional trauma their little family is working through. He's been supportive through it all, despite his physical absence, doing his best to share the weight of her anguish, stop it from crushing her.
Her dad was the one who helped her raise Lily, helped ease the overwhelming guilt she so often drowned in over those six years without Castle. Both she and her father have suffered similar losses, a widow and a widower, only hers has been reversed, her love given back.
He understood better than anyone and even now, he continues to fortify and reassure her throughout all of her decisions regarding Rick's return.
"He's the love of your life, honey," he told her one night on the phone, the day she realized she was letting her marriage crumble and die. "And you're both getting a second chance. Tom's a good man, treats you well, treats Lily well, and I like him. But if the same thing had ever happened to me with your mom… I wouldn't even have to think twice. There's nothing or no one - save for you - that I wouldn't give up to have her back."
And that sentence alone made all the difference.
"Hey," Castle murmurs, jogging up the steps of the porch to meet her. "Your dad won't let me carry anything."
"Join the club," she smirks, flicking her gaze to their parents and Lily hefting duffel bags from the trunk.
"My mother's been sober for over a month now. It'll be two next week," he says suddenly. Her eyes jerk back to him. "She explained it all, apologized for everything, for blaming me."
"What?" Kate murmurs, her brow creasing at the words and her hands automatically reaching for him. She really needs to get this excessive touching thing under control. Not that Castle seems to mind, stepping in closer at the curl of her hands at his sides. "Rick, she never blamed you. She-"
"I know that now," he nods, glancing back over his shoulder, ensuring the trio at the trunk is out of earshot. "But on that night she left, she was still - she wasn't herself. She was upset, a little drunk, and just so... hopeless. She started crying, asked me why this all had to happen, why I had to leave all of you like that."
"Oh, Castle," she breathes, just imagining Martha saying that to him while all of his wounds were so fresh and raw, when the guilt and the shame were eating him alive. It shreds her heart to pieces all over the pretty white steps of the front porch.
"Kate." He towers over her, curving one of his palms at her shoulder. "It's okay and it's in the past. It hurt, but even then, I knew she didn't mean it, didn't mean anything she said when she was drunk. I don't think she even knew what she was saying at the time. But even if she did, she's already forgiven."
Kate struggles to nod, to accept the fact that he seems to be genuinely okay. She faced similar situations with her own father once upon a time and she forgave him too. She knew even then that he never meant any of the drunken accusations he threw at her after the death of her mother, that he was just hurting, drowning in a bottle of grief. Just like Martha, even after her son rose from the supposed dead; she was still trapped in that bottle, unsure how to get out on her own.
"Besides, you were there the entire time, reminding me that it really wasn't my fault even when I started to worry that it was."
Her gaze snaps back to him, the gentle blues of his eyes staring back at her. His lips quirk, that soft, lopsided smile stretching across his mouth and soothing the ache in her heart. Kate arches on the tips of her toes, fitting a kiss to his mouth and gripping the front of his button down.
"I love you," she whispers, his smile infectious as it blooms beneath her lips.
"I know," he mumbles, squeezing her waist and skimming a kiss to her forehead before he lets her go. He tilts his head towards the house. "Now, let's get Lily inside, wow her with the place, and then take her to the beach."
"She's never going to want to leave," Kate chuckles, hearing the approaching slap of her daughter's sandals on the porch steps.
"Well, we can stay as long as she wants, as long as you want," he adds, causing an unexpected wave of relief to wash through her. It pulls to shore the question of whether it's just Lily who may never want to leave.
Lily skips up the stairs with her backpack on her shoulders to grab Kate's hand, captures Castle's next, swinging her arms between the two of them.
Kate grins, puts everything to the back of her mind, and focuses on the giddy little girl between them.
"Can we go in now?" Lily asks, bouncing on her toes.
Castle reaches forward to turn the handle of the unlocked door, gestures his unoccupied hand forward.
"Lead the way," he announces.
Lily tugs them both in along after her.