A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews so far, I truly appreciate it. Now this chapter just kinda popped into my head today. Just a funny little chapter which includes the boys - I kinda missed them. The next chapter will follow from this one.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yada, yada, yada - I own nothing.

Chapter 55 - Movember

"But it's Movember, Kate!"

She shot him a look, raising an elegant eyebrow. "Is that your excuse for that, Castle?" She gestured towards his upper lip, her face twisting in disdain. He was proudly sporting a horseshoe/rock-star-styled moustache.

His wife, however, wasn't really a fan.

"Hey, I've worked hard on this killer moustache."

Kate rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of coffee; her first and certainly not last cup of the day. That is if her husband didn't drive to alcohol before that.

"Rick, you look like a Hell's Angels biker."

He grinned, his eyes glittering with excitement, a hand coming up to stroke the ridiculous-looking patch of hair.

"Really?"

Kate sighed – that wasn't meant as a compliment. "Or more like a sad cowboy."

He shrugged. "Eh, I'll take that too."

"You're not going like that to the interview today."

He frowned. "What? Why not?"

She sighed and sank down into a chair, her eyes on the newspaper. She had a few minutes to enjoy her coffee and page through the paper. If her husband would allow it, of course.

"Because, Castle, I don't want them to think Lizzy's father is some kind of. . ." She glanced at him again, her face twisting. "-hooligan."

He shook his head, his features morphing into a grin; a conceited little lift of his mouth.

"They won't, Kate. They know who I am. Trust me."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, her mouth twitching in amusement. Doesn't he hear himself? It was tiring sometimes, but mostly a little adorable.

Damn him and his twinkling eyes.

"Still, just at least trim it." He was wearing an unhappy pout. Kate bit her lip, turning her best doe-eyed look on him. He could never resist her doe eyes and fluttering eyelashes.

Men.

"Please, honey. For me," she implored, her voice turning soft; her eyes big and luminous. "If not for me then at least for your daughter."

His resolve broke - he could never ever deny her when she looked at him like that. Or if she brought his daughter(s) into the equation.

Damn.

His women were going to be the end of him.

"Okay, fine. I'll trim it," he muttered, still wearing a pout. Kate smiled, wide and beautiful. She got up and walked towards her husband.

"Thank you," she murmured, stepping into the cove of his body and pressing a lingering kiss against his mouth.

He was still wearing a sulky expression when they broke apart. "You know that I'm going to lose the bet Esposito, Ryan and I made, right?"

Kate rolled her eyes, her hands stroking up and down his chest. "Oh please, do you really think Lanie will have a lot of patience for Espo's ridiculous goatee? And Ryan? Can he even grow facial hair?"

Rick barked out a laugh. "That was harsh and incorrect. I've seen photos of Ryan sporting impressive beards. Don't underestimate that Irish-man." She grinned at that. "And Espo is very competitive. He'll do anything to win, even if it means risking the wrath of his wife."

Kate sighed and shook her head, trying, but failing to keep her smile under control. "Okay, how about this?" He lifted an eyebrow and cocked his head in interest.

"If you trim your. . . whatever that is today for the interview at the preschool, then you have my permission to grow a beard."

His eyes lit up immediately. "Yeah?"

She puffed out a laugh. "Yes, Castle."

"Cool. You sure?"

Kate nodded. "I think it will suit you."

He grinned like a little boy. "I've always wanted to grow a beard, but I didn't think that you'd like it."

"I think you'll look sexy."

He lifted an eyebrow, teasing her with his dancing blue eyes. "Oh, is that so?" He murmured, drawing her close again, his hands bracketing her waist, thumbs skirting over her hipbones.

"Mm-hmm." She kissed him again, sucking on his bottom lip and sweeping her tongue along his upper lip, darting it into his mouth before eventually breaking the kiss.

"Besides," she said with a feral, predatory look in her eye as she moved away from him. "I've always wanted to know how a beard would feel between my thighs."

His jaw grew slack, his eyes almost bulging out of his head as he stared after his laughing wife.

Good lord.

The woman was going to kill him.

"Yo, Beckett, we got the financials back."

Kate glanced towards Esposito and had to, for the umpteenth time that day, suppress her smile. Esposito and Ryan were sporting even more ridiculous facial hair arrangements than her husband, clearly taking this competition way too seriously. The Hispanic detective was sporting an elaborate goatee ala Robert Downey jr. while his partner was going for a 'porn star'/Magnum PI-look.

Someone was clearly a Tom Selleck-fan.

She schooled her features. "Yeah? What did you find."

"The vic made a withdrawal of ten grand a day before he was murdered."

She turned back to the murder board, her face drawn in concentration, a hand against her mouth. "Okay, okay. We didn't find the money. So, we can assume the killer took it."

"That's what I thought."

"Ryan." The Irish detective got up from his desk.

"Yeah?"

"Did you get anything from surveillance yet?"

He came to them before the murder board. "No, not yet, but I did talk to his wife and she told me that Carter had a standing appointment on Thursdays at 17h00 with his therapist."

Kate's brow furrowed, her attention turning back to the timeline on the murder board. "He died around six, six-thirty. So, the therapist might have been the last person to have seen him alive."

"Or the first person to have seen him dead," Esposito said, arching his eyebrows.

Ryan was stroking his moustache in thought. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe the therapist blackmailed Carter about some deep-seated secret he had and demanded ten thousand dollars-"

"-So he agrees to bring the therapist the money, but then the therapist gets greedy and demands more-" Esposito added.

"-Which leads to an argument and eventually with our vic with a bashed-in head."

They turned to her, grinning like little boys; clearly impressed with their theory-building skills.

"Thank you, Castle, for that. Who needs proof?" Kate shot back sarcastically.

"It's plausible," Ryan countered, pouting slightly.

"Proof, guys. We need proof."

"Ah, who needs proof when there's a good story?"

The three detectives swung around and was met by Rick Castle Theory-Builder Extroadinaire. He was grinning at them while pushing along the stroller with his sleeping daughter in it. Kate rolled her eyes, her mouth curving into a smile. She was always happy to see him, them - her little family.

"Of course that's what you would say. What's next? The CIA or the mob did it, right?" Kate said, shaking her head at him.

He shrugged and put a hand on her hip, guiding her to him. "Actually, that's not bad, but I'd prefer the butler," he said, giving her a smile.

"They didn't have one," Ryan pointed out unnecessarily.

"Eh, semantics." Rick waved him off, his eyes on Kate anyway. "Hi."

"Hi," she returned, coyly biting her lip. His smile grew at that adorable habit his wife had. He darted in for a quick peck on the lips, soft and familiar.

She lifted a hand to his mouth, stroking the skin beside it. "I see you trimmed it."

"Told you I would," he murmured, going in for another kiss, a longer one this time. Behind them, someone loudly and deliberately cleared their throat. The two broke apart and turned around.

"You guys need a room or something?" Esposito jibed, his mouth creasing into a lopsided grin.

"Shut up, Espo," Kate muttered, bending down to get a better look at her sleeping daughter.

She swept a hand over the girl's face, trying to brush the curly bangs off her forehead. The little girl slowly opened her eyes, unfocused as it latched onto her mother. When she saw Kate, Lizzy immediately held out her arms and stretched out towards her mother. Kate smiled, undid the clasps and picked her daughter up out of the stroller. Lizzy yawned and rubbed her bleary eyes before burrowing into her mother.

The two other detectives moved closer, immediately growing softer at the sight of Lizzy.

"Hola chiquita," Esposito said quietly to the little girl, grasping one of her small feet and jiggling it. She rewarded him with a small puff of a giggle. "You're a beautiful girl, aren't you?"

"She's getting big," Ryan commented, turning his attention to the Castles' daughter. "Hey Lizzy, you have to come visit Colin and Liam sometime. They miss you, Squirt."

Kate smiled at her partner. "We'll set up a play-date."

"Boys, it's good to see you too," Rick greeted boisterously, throwing his arms around their shoulders.

"Hey, man."

"What's up, bro?"

The men greeted each other with elaborate handshakes and manly one-armed hugs.

"Wow, check out those mo's. Impressive guys," Rick commented. "Very Boogie Nights," he said to Ryan before turning to Esposito, a teasing glint flickering across his features. "And Desperado."

Both men frowned, clearly taking offense.

"Boogie Nights?"

"Desperado?" They said simultaneously, glaring at the writer.

Rick grinned at them, loving the fact that he could still get under their respective skins. He lifted his hands defensively.

"Hey, that was meant as compliments."

The Hispanic detective huffed. "Yeah, right. At least we'll win the bet. Don't what you've got going on with that vanilla 'stache, bro, but it ain't gonna win any rewards."

Ryan nodded, his mouth sliding open into a cocky grin underneath the impressive patch of hair covering his upper lip.

"Just remember our bet, Castle. It's either the Ferrari for a week or Yankees box tickets."

Kate's brow furrowed. "I thought you were a Red Sox fan, Ryan." She shifted Lizzy to her other hip, trailing a hand down her back.

He shrugged. "I am, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy going to an odd baseball game in a box that's got that little fridge stuffed with goodies."

"Guys, guys, don't get ahead of yourselves," Rick said with a cunning curl of his lips. "This competition is far from over."

"Is that so?" Esposito asked, crossing his arms across his puffed-out chest.

"Oh, yeah. My wife has given me permission to grow a beard."

The other two men's faces fell comically.

"Would your wives allow that?" He glanced at Kate, winking at her. She rolled her eyes and took that as her cue to leave them to their ridiculous bet; her little girl seemed hungry anyway.

Ryan narrowed his eyes, stepping closer to the writer. "So, you wanna make this interesting, huh, Writer Boy? Okay, okay - two can play this game."

Rick lifted his eyebrows. "Is that a challenge?"

The Irish detective's features hardened into determination. "Damn straight it is. Espos, you in?" When his partner did not answer immediately, Ryan turned to look at him, eyebrows raised in question.

Esposito was giving him a sheepish smile, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck. "Nah, man, I. . . Lanie's not gonna be cool with that. She's already not happy with this." He gestured to his creative goatee.

Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Okay, fine." He turned back to the writer. "Looks like it's just you and me, Writer Boy."

Rick clenched his jaw, taking a step closer to the shorter detective. "Bring it on, Honey Milk. I'm gonna bury you," he growled menacingly.

"Oh, yeah? Man, you don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of." Ryan took a step closer as well in an effort to get into the writer's face.

Esposito cleared his throat. "Guys, you probably need a new set of rules." The other men turned to look at him, considering his suggestion for a moment and nodded.

"Yeah, okay," Rick said, leaning back and taking a seat on his wife's desk, cradling his chin in thought. "Okay, how about this?-"

"Castle, come on! We have to go," Kate called, stepping out of the the break room after giving Lizzy a bottle of milk. He whipped around and immediately scampered off towards his wife, grabbing the stroller along the way.

"Guys, I'll be back in an hour, two hours at the most. Follow up on the therapist and try to figure out where our vic was in that window of time."

"Sure thing, boss."

Ryan nodded. "On it, Beckett."

Before they were out of sight, Rick turned back.

"I'll call you later - work out all the details," he said to Ryan. He gave the other men two thumbs up, grinning like a little boy.

"Yeah, that's fine man," Ryan called back amicably, lifting a hand in greeting.

"See you, bro," Esposito greeted.

Kate just sighed and shook her head at her daughter who was more interested in her mother's necklace. She snagged her husband's hand to drag him into the elevator.

"You ready for this?"

He was still grinning like a fool. "Oh, yeah, so ready. I'm gonna crush him."

She shot him a look. "I meant the interview, Castle."

He whipped his head to her. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, sure." He gave her a goofy smile and leaned in for a quick kiss. After a quiet moment, he lifted a hand to his face and stroked it along his chin and cheeks.

"What about an Abe Lincoln beard?" He mused before turning to her with lit up eyes. "Ooh, or how about that guy from the Hunger Games? What was his name? Seneca or something. That was a pretty awesome beard. Am I right?"

Kate let out a breath and drop her head into her hand.

What on earth has she done?

[][][]

If you start me up (uh)

Kick on the starter give it all you got, you got, you got

I can't compete with riders in the other heat, yeah yeah

I'll make a grown man cry,

I'll make a grown man give it a shot

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this - especially the banter between Castle and the boys. Hopefully, it was enjoyable for you too.

Review please - I crave it.

Lyrics at the end: A Glee mash-up of 'Start me Up' and 'Living on a prayer'.