Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Prompt #9: Wife - With all the advice, heartache, and laughs she gave him, she really was the closest he had to one.

Words: 485

She gave him advice on everything. Whether it had to do with his personal life, with Alexis, or with this job that he helped her with, Beckett was always there with a kind word or a guiding tidbit for him.

His personal life was always an interesting knot of writing, shadowing, hijinks and mayhem. Mostly around her. But whenever something in a case hit him just a little too close to home, Beckett could tell him the straight-up deal. A prime example was the Damien Westlake affair. He'd been fixated on proving that his old friend wasn't a killer, but Beckett had told him the truth - that his ideal for Damien Westlake had been created when he was the lonely fourteen-year-old kid in boarding school, craving attention and praise.

With Alexis, he did the best he could to be the greatest dad ever. But sometimes he knew he fell short. After all, Alexis was a growing teenage girl. Castle could imagine how to creatively murder people, but when it came to things that teenage girls said and did and thought, he didn't have that good of an imagination. Beckett, however, had first-hand experience into the wonderful world of a growing girl. From boyfriends to independence to emotional turmoil, she had all the answers.

Solving murder was something they had their own types of expertise. He fictionally did it for kicks, giggles, and, as a sidebar, a paycheck. She really did it for a living. So it was concieveable that she would know things that he didn't. That list got considerably shorter as the years went on, but there were still some aspects that Castle wasn't entirely sure about. Beckett helped him fill in those gaps.

The first person to mention it was Esposito. The boys had been waxing theory about a particular case when Esposito said, "Better call up your work wife and let her know what's up."

Castle's phone was already out and dialing Beckett's number before the sentence truly permeated his brain. Beckett answered, and his first reaction was to hang up. He was that shocked by what Esposito had pointed out.

He never had any use for the W-word anymore. After two spins around the block, it was just simpler to remain single. But a work W-word was something he hadn't ever heard used in conjunction with him.

The rest of the day was spent thinking over this realization. How Beckett had been there much like a W-word was. How Beckett was good with Alexis, just like he'd hoped a W-word could be. How she could always explain things to him, even when he thought he knew what they were talking about.

Oh God, he thought in shock. She is my work-wife.

This could have gone better, but I like it anyway.

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