Disclaimer: All these characters belong to ABC and Mr. Marlowe
Hearing a knock on the door, Rick quickly wiped his hands against his novelty apron.
"I'm coming, hold on!" he called, giving his ingredients one last stir, before he hurriedly made his way to the person on the other side.
With a wide grin plastered on his face, he eagerly pulled open the door. "Bonjourno, my dear- Kate?" he greeted, struck with confusion.
"Castle?" she questioned with a curious glance.
"Ah, sorry, I thought you were Alexis," he clarified. "You're early."
"No, I'm not, actually," she responded, looking at her watch. "I'm about ten minutes late."
"Oh, I guess I lost track of time," he replied with a shy smile.
Standing opposite her, Castle watched as Kate slowly gazed over his attire, before she paused, eyes fixed on something. "Kiss the cook?" she queried with a raise of her eyebrow.
"What?" Confused, Castle lowered his head, before his eyes drifted over the large words printed across his torso.
Oh-
"You don't, you don't have to do that," he quickly clarified. "I'm wearing it cause it was a Father's Day present from Alexis, not because of-"
Sucking in a deep breath, Castle let out a sigh and stepped aside. "Come in."
With a nod of her head and a slight curve of her lips, Kate made her way through the loft. Placing her paperwork on the kitchen island, she nonchalantly pulled out a stool.
"You're actually cooking?" she questioned, getting herself comfortable in the seat.
"Yeah, why?" he enquired, strolling towards the stove top.
"I just didn't think you had it in you," she casually informed with a shrug, opening up her files.
"Ah, Detective, there are many hidden talents behind this handsome exterior," he responded in his best attempt at an Italian accent.
"And clearly talking in Italian isn't one of them," she dryly mumbled. "What's with that, anyway?"
"Well, I'm making my famous Italian bolognaise," he explained, grasping a large spoon. "And for the best results, it's essential to immerse yourself in the experience," he further informed, giving his creation a sensational stir.
Attempting to sound completely professional, he narrowed his eyes and overdramatically waved his free hand above the saucepan. "That's how we experts create our culinary masterpieces," he finished, closing his eyes as he inhaled the scent of the simmering ingredients in front of him.
Trying to contain her amusement, Kate shook her head, before turning her attention to the notes in front of her.
Placing the last of his chopped ingredients in the saucepan, Castle once again looked over to Kate. While he had been cooking, he tentatively watched her. Not for long periods of time, but just for a few seconds here and there, all while she was in deep concentration.
Currently, she was thoughtfully reading the information displayed on the page, her lips shaping out the words as her eyes glanced over them. Although, his favourite part occurred every three minutes or so, when she would seemingly become frustrated and subsequently draw her eyebrows in a tight frown and slightly chew her lip.
Castle smiled to himself. Being so immersed in her work, she was oblivious of him, allowing her little quirks to be on display.
As intriguing as he found it, however, he looked over to the high stack of papers he presumed she was yet to get to. He realised her work was important to her, he really did, but he made a decision.
She needed a break.
He took one last glance at her, before he made his way to the kitchen cupboards. "You know, I've come up with a theory," he mischievously began, searching for the ingredients he was after.
"Oh, please, do enlighten me," she mumbled with disinterest, turning over a page.
"Well, with all of this paperwork you do, it can't be healthy for our relationship," he flippantly offered.
"Excuse me?" she questioned, her head now up and directed at him.
"It's true. All the attention you give it, I can't help but feel a little neglected," he responded, placing a hand over his heart.
Kate gave him a quizzical look, and opened and closed her mouth as she attempted to construct a reasonable reply. "There are so many things I disagree with in those comments that I'm not even going to respond," she said, narrowing her eyes unbelievingly.
Castle let out a chuckle and made his way back to the bench top. "You know, I would love to date me," he optimistically reflected.
Looking up, Castle caught her glare.
She obviously held a differing opinion.
"Oh, come on, now. I haven't been that bad."
"Castle, the past three weeks have been the longest of my life."
"Well, you look perfectly fine to me," he noted, before being struck by a realisation. "Hey, you're right, though, it has been three weeks."
Holding out his hands, he used his fingers for a quick calculation, as he tilted his head in thought. "Three weeks exactly, actually-" he mumbled to himself.
All of a sudden, Castle let out a dramatic gasp and turned to Kate, his eyes wide. "It's our three week anniversary," he smiled.
"Oh my-" Kate immediately narrowed her eyes. "You're kidding me, right?" she unbelievingly questioned.
"See. You should stop your paperwork for the sake of this momentous occasion. I can't possibly see how our relationship could survive otherwise," he nonchalantly responded, mischievously twisting his lips.
Kate dropped her pen and crossed her arms. "Are you seriously trying to use our fake relationship to guilt me out of doing paperwork?"
"Yes. Yes I am," he replied, gripping a jar of tomato pasta sauce, "But only because you do it all the time."
Castle watched as Kate stared at him, weighing up her options.
Receiving no response, he continued. "What if you come and stir my bolognaise for me, while I use my highly muscular arms to open this jar?" he offered, attempting to loosen the item's lid.
Ignoring his suggestion, Kate instead pounced on his choice of words. "Highly muscular?" she questioned with a teasing tone, referencing to his clear struggles.
Unfazed, Castle bit down on his lower lip. "I'm just a bit out of practice. They simply need time to warm up a bit," he grunted.
Kate watched him, before letting out an amused grin. "You sure it's not too much for you, Castle?"
"Nah, don't worry. I've got it covered."
He was struggling.
"Castle, you've gotta run it under some hot water. Loosen it up a bit."
"Please, there is no way that would work. I can do it, trust me," he reassured her with a smile on his face, before spinning around. With his expression now hidden from her view, Castle scrunched up his face and desperately twisted at the lid.
Letting out a forceful grunt, he wasn't even trying to straighten out the creases in his forehead anymore. "Argh."
He could feel the skin slowly stripping off his palms, but he was determined. There was no way he was giving up, and most definitely not in front of her. The unspoken laws of manliness simply would not allow him.
Regrouping, Castle loosened his grip and closed his eyes. This was ridiculous. He was only trying to open a jar for goodness sake. He could do this.
Grabbing a tea towel for extra grip, he used all of his remaining energy and began to purely will the jar to open.
Apparently tired of watching him struggle, Kate lifted from the stool and walked over to him. "Castle, you're probably just going to reinjure your wrist. Give it here," she sighed, before she grabbed the jar and made her way towards the sink.
"Seriously, it's just completely stuck," he justified, watching her as she placed the item under the tap. "There's no point even trying, I mean it's probably one of hundreds in a faulty batch, or-"
It opened.
"Huh," he sighed, unbelieving that it actually worked. "Great team work, I guess."
Trying to hide her grin, Kate held the jar and its now separated lid out in front of him.
"What?" he questioned.
"Nothing," she teasingly shrugged, before placing the detached items on the bench.
"Yeah, well I loosened it," he informed.
"I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you were not saying anything very loudly," he responded as he tipped the contents into the pan.
Letting out a chuckle, Kate stepped aside him and grasped the spoon resting in the mixture, before giving it a stir.
Apparently hearing his unspoken curiosity, Kate offered him a soft glare. "I'm only doing this out of sympathy for your palms."
Briefly looking over to her abandoned paperwork, Castle let out a smile.
"Well, thank you," he replied, collecting a pile of vegetable scraps.
Closing the lid on the bin, he looked up to find her dipping a finger in the edge of the saucepan, before bringing it to her lips.
"What do you think?" he nervously questioned. "Mind you, it's not quite ready yet. I mean, if you just waited a bit longer for the ingredients to simmer and infuse with each other..." he elaborated, watching in anticipation as she narrowed her eyes in thought.
Turning to face him, she let out a shrug. "Hmm, it's okay. Maybe a little bit salty," before returning to her stirring.
"A little salty?" Castle questioned, unbelieving. "Let me taste that," he said, covering his finger in the deep red sauce.
"This is delicious. Try some more," he instructed, eyes fixed on the pan. "You just probably didn't get the whole spread of flavours, so-" Looking up at her, Castle paused.
She was grinning at him. Oh-
"That so wasn't funny," he sighed with a shake of his head.
Kate didn't even try to hold back her laugh this time. "Really? Cause where I'm standing that was hilarious."
"You're mean," he retorted, wiping down the bench top and standing next to her.
Slowly straightening out her smile, Kate continued to stir. "Your sauce is actually surprisingly good, Castle."
"That's because of this," he smiled, holding up a colourful, laminated sheet of paper.
"What is it?"
"A Castle family tradition," he replied, placing it in front of her.
Picking up the sheet, Kate smiled. "Alexis and Daddy's secret bolognaise recipe," she read aloud. "This is adorable. How old was your daughter when you made this?"
"About five," he informed, gazing over the decorated page. "I thought I lost it, but I was going through the shelves today and there it was, so I thought I'd make it for all times sake. She's going to love it."
Catching her curious glance, he elaborated. "She went through this stage where she was determined that she wanted to be a chef. Her favourite meal at the time was spaghetti bolognaise, so every weekend we would invent different bolognaise sauces, interchanging the ingredients every time. After many attempts, she finally decided that this recipe was the best, and it soon became a household favourite. She considered it essential for us to set the dining room out as a restaurant, and we would have to arrange all of her teddies out, which of course were our customers," he reflected with a chuckle.
"But now the recipe has a few more stains on it, the teddies are gone, and my little girl is growing up," he sighed.
Coming out of his reminiscence, Castle shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you."
"No," she quickly interceded. "It's sweet."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's quite refreshing actually, seeing this different side to you," she cautiously responded with a sigh. "I do have one question, though. If it's a secret, then why would you write out the recipe?"
"Please, give us a bit more credit than that. Just in case this recipe was to get into the wrong hands, we kept three key ingredients off the list."
"So you can still remember them, even after all this time?" she questioned, intrigued.
"Of course. I don't think I could ever forget," he sincerely considered.
"It sounds like she's lucky to have you as a dad," Kate shyly smiled.
Looking up at her, Castle grinned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but was that just a compliment? If you keep it up, I may get the impression you're starting to tolerate me."
"Don't speak too soon."
"What if I persuade you by letting you in on one of the ingredients?" he offered with a curve of his lips.
"Ooh, willing to spill your secrets, Castle. That's risky," she teased, a playful spark in her eyes.
Castle smiled, but attempted to straighten his features. Acting like it was no big deal, he casually shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. I've seen you naked, so just evening out the score," he replied, pursing his lips.
Watching her mouth open wide, Castle comically narrowed his eyes. "Too soon?"
Grabbing the tea towel left on the bench, Kate threw it at his face. "Castle, you said you didn't see anything!" she growled.
"Argh, spouse abuse!" he chuckled. Noticing the frown still displayed on her face, Castle innocently held up his hands, "I'm joking, I'm joking."
Offering him one last glare, Kate turned back to the pan in front of her.
Clearing his throat, Castle continued to clean up his mess. "You know, if today marks the three week point, it means that we're already halfway through," he cautiously noted, watching to gage her reaction.
Kate looked up. "Three weeks until this is over," she reiterated, eyes locked on his. "I can't wait," she hurriedly replied, quickly dropping her gaze.
Castle widened his eyes and rapidly agreed, nodding his head. "Yeah, neither can I," he reminded himself, before he too looked away.
Hearing the unlocking of the front door, the silence was suddenly broken. "Richard, darling, that smells divine," his mother greeted.
Lifting his head up, Castle watched as both his mother and daughter entered the loft, shopping bags crowding their arms.
"Hey. I thought you were going to be back ages ago."
"Yes, well, the stores just wouldn't allow us to leave," Martha smiled, before noticing the woman standing behind the stove top.
"Ah, you must be Detective Beckett."
"Please, call me Kate," she shyly responded.
Catching his daughter's glare, Castle quickly spoke. "Oh, Kate, this is my mother, Martha, and my daughter, Alexis," he introduced.
"Hi," Alexis waved, standing next to her grandmother.
"So, cooking dinner together," Martha hinted with a quirk of her eyebrows. "That's awfully domestic of you two."
"Oh, no, we're not-" Kate quickly fumbled.
"Mother," Rick quickly warned.
Getting the hint, Martha straightened her smile. "Okay, well, I'm just quickly going to put my bags in my room," she announced before heading to the stairs. "I won't be long."
Watching her grandmother ascend the steps, Alexis made her way to her father. "Hey, Dad," Alexis greeted as she offered her father a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey, Pumpkin. Did you two have fun?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "Is that our secret bolognaise?" Alexis questioned, her excitement bubbling.
"It sure is."
Alexis spotted the recipe resting on the bench. "Where did you find this? I thought we lost it."
"Believe me, so did I," Castle responded.
Placing the recipe back down, Alexis turned to Kate.
"So, has my Dad been behaving?" she questioned.
Kate looked over to Castle with a smile, before turning back to the young red head. "He has his moments," she teased.
"Oh, come on now. And on our anniversary of all days," he moaned with mock disappointment.
Castle could do nothing but watch as the pair shared a chuckle together.
Descending the stairs, Martha re-entered the kitchen. "Is that almost ready, Richard?"
"Yeah, I've just got to put the pasta on, and then I'm done."
"Excellent. So, Kate, are you going to join us?" Martha hinted.
"Oh, no," she quickly declined. "Thank you for the offer, but I have a shift at the precinct." Looking down at her watch, she noted the time. "I should actually get going."
"Oh, what a shame. Well, maybe next time," Martha sighed as Kate worked her way around the bench.
Collecting her work files, Kate turned to the two women. "Well, it was nice to meet you," before focusing back on the writer. "Castle, I guess I will see you next time," she said, before making her way to the door.
Watching her as she pulled open the handle, Castle turned back to the sauce sitting on the stove top.
"Hold on, Kate," he called, quickly running to the cupboards.
Pulling out a container, he generously filled it with the bolognaise, before he jogged to the door.
Securing the lid, Castle held out the container for her. "Here."
"What's this for?" she curiously asked.
"Dinner," he answered. "Well, you've got to boil up some pasta, but you helped make it, so I figure you deserve a share."
Kate looked up at him. "Castle, I just stirred."
"No way. You didn't just stir. That's the trickiest part," he confidently replied. "You see, if your stirring abilities weren't up to scratch, then this tastebud extravaganza would have turned out very differently."
He could literally see her mind ticking, so offering further persuasion, he lightly shook the container out in front of him. "Please, just take it," he finally offered in his grand Italian accent.
With a suspicious smirk on her face, Kate tentatively took the container from his grasp. "Thanks."
Castle watched as she held the warm bolognaise, before shifting to make her way to the elevator.
Just as he was about to spin around and head back inside, she called out to him. "Castle?"
"Yeah," he questioned.
Looking over her shoulder, Kate pursed her lips and displayed a teasing smirk, "Happy anniversary," before letting out a chuckle and walking into the elevator.
So, massive apologies to everyone for this extremely late update. My studies started up again last week, and I really didn't anticipate how difficult it would be to write, all while trying to study and begin assessments. I genuinely felt terrible, but I had to put this on the side for a bit, just until I was able to get myself organised and into the flow of things. All is good now, so updates will be coming out much quicker than this one.
On another note, all the comments that were left for the last chapter were hilarious. I seriously couldn't stop smiling reading your reactions, so thanks :)
BareWriter