She knocks on his door, and not even a second later its swinging open. Rick's out of breath but once he sees Kate on the opposite side, his face softens and a smile begins to spread across his face.

"Kate! Thank god you could make it. You're a lifesaver!" He grins at her and she can't help but match it when he ushers her inside.

It'd been over four months since Kate had shared with him one night about the death of her mother, and ever since then, they'd grown so much closer. She found it easy to open up to him, even if she still held a few things back. But he was patient with her, and never pushed for her to open up to him.

Any free time she had, she usually spent it with Rick. Whether it be going for coffee, lunch, or being invited over for dinner or having a movie night; most times with Alexis being there. But Kate didn't mind one bit, she enjoyed the little girl's presence as much as she enjoyed Rick's.

Which is why she had agreed to babysit Alexis.

Rick had called her no more than ten minutes ago asking her if she could mind Alexis. He apologised for the late notice, but apparently his mother was busy with a show she was in the middle of working on, and the babysitter had cancelled no more than twenty minutes before rick had called Kate, informing him she'd been hit with the flu.

Rick was out of options and thought he'd have to reschedule the meeting he was having with Meredith and his lawyers, but luckily his daughter had reminded him about Kate. At first, he was hesitant, because although they'd grown closer and had spent so much time together – considering one another as close friends, he didn't want her to think he was using her. But when he'd called her up, she had said yes before he could even finish his sentence.

"Hey, it's no problem. I love spending time with my favourite Castle." She teases, her tongue sticking out between her teeth as Rick closes the door behind her and quickly narrows his gaze over at her, the teeniest of smirks playing upon his lips.

"Now that's just rude. I am wounded, Kate." His eyes fall closed, head shaking as his hand comes to rest over his heart.

Kate only rolls her eyes and chuckles before she's glancing around the loft. "Speaking of… where is she?" Her brow quirks, gaze landing back on Rick.

"Oh, she's upstairs getting dressed. Informed me that she's more than capable of picking her own outfit and dressing herself. She's such a diva, I think she gets that from my mother. Coffee?" He asks as the pair wander towards the kitchen and Kate nods as she slides onto the stool next to the island.

"Yeah, it's your mother who's the diva, Rick. Wouldn't come from your genes at all. I mean… how many hair products do you have again?" She smirks and he squints at her as he starts up the coffee machine.

"Is this pick on Rick day?" He shakes his head, starting to make Kate her coffee. "It's sure gonna be a long day if it is." A sigh falls from his lips and Kate chews on the edge of her lip.

"Hey, I'm only teasing."

"I know… just, Meredith is definitely going to drain the life from me today. And my money." He adds, another sigh falling though he quickly masks it with an airy chuckle. He turns around to place Kate's coffee in front of her before leaning his body against the counter. "Which is why I'm so glad you could look after Alexis, especially at such short notice. I just want to get this divorce over and done with, she's dragging it out as long as possible I swear." His brows pull together, arms coming to fold across his chest.

Kate reaches for the mug he'd placed before her and takes a quick sip before placing it back down on the counter. "I thought you came to agreement last month with everything?"

"We did. But then she decided she wanted something else, and thought that'd I was getting more – which I'm not. All I'm getting is Alexis, the loft and the house in the Hamptons. Which is what I'm fine with, she can take everything else. I really don't care If she bleeds me dry. I just want this to be over with so I can move on from it. And I want it over with before Alexis' birthday comes in a few weeks."

Kate's brows furrow, lips pulling to the side as her arm extends across the counter, her fingertips gently placing atop of Rick's hand currently resting on the counter. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this, Rick. You deserve more." She squeezes his hand gently, the edges of her lips pulling up into a soft smile.

The edges of his lips twitch slightly at Kate's hand on top of his and he turns his fingertips over, lets theirs intertwine before he squeezes their palms today.

"It's okay." He pauses, gaze dropping to their hands still intertwined. "At least I've got Alexis – and you." He adds, and had he looked up sooner he would've seen the way Kate's chest hitched; how her pulse sped up from his words.

Truth be told, if it weren't for Kate being by his side the last few months, he's sure he would've been completely miserable – probably gone crawling back to Meredith just so he didn't have to be alone with his thoughts.

Kate was different from anyone he'd ever met. There was so much to her that fascinated him, that had him wanting to just sit and listen to her for hours – even if it was about nothing. She inspired him. Had him hitting the keys so effortlessly that his publicist was telling him to slow down with how fast he was sending chapters out to her.

Having both Kate and Alexis in his life, Rick felt a fulfilment like no other. He'd be even more content if things moved further between them. But, he also didn't want to rock the boat – ruin the friendship they had between them, because Rick wasn't entirely sure if Kate felt the same, or if she only saw him as a broken man in the midst of a divorce with a young girl he could barely take care of. He tried to not let his thoughts run in that direction, mainly Meredith's voice ringing through his ears telling him that nobody would ever love him, that he wasn't good enough.

"Rick?"

He snaps from his thoughts to see Kate giving him a quizzical look and he blinks a few times before turning to see Alexis now standing before him and his brows pull together.

"Daddy, are you okay?" The young girl – now dressed in a pink dress with flowers, tilts her head and looks up at him concerned.

He quickly pulls together a smile – never being able to fake it when it comes to his pride and joy. He bends down to pick her up and presses his lips against her cheek as Alexis' face scrunches up. "Of course, I am. I've got you, don't I?"

Alexis' hands come to cup Rick's cheeks as she pushes them together. "You're cheesy, daddy."

Kate watches the interaction between the two, with contentment and awe – something that happens a little too much. She'll find herself with the duo and will end up getting lost in the beautiful relationship between father and daughter. It made her think of her and her father when she was a little girl – it made her miss those times so terribly; when things were so easy and full of love and life between her family.

"Now, you be good for, Kate. I'll be back around lunch time, okay?" Rick says, placing Alexis down on the ground and she nods up at him before looking over at Kate with a smile.

"You're always good for me, aren't you, Alexis?" She grins, and Alexis nods her head rather enthusiastically as she comes around the kitchen island to Kate's side and tries climbing up the stool positioned next to hers.

Kate reaches over to help lift the girl up and place her on top of it.

"Alright I should get going. She hasn't had any breakfast yet, you don't mind putting something together for her?" His brows arch and Kate shakes her head, glancing over at Alexis as she reaches out to run her fingers through the girls red hair.

"Not at all, I'll make you whatever you want, Alexis."

"Can I have cereal?" Alexis' hands come to rest on top of the counter, her legs dangling from the stool as she looks over at Kate.

"Of course, you can."

"You've got my number if you need me. I should be back around lunch time. Thank you again, Kate." He leans down to kiss Alexis forehead. "Love you, pumpkin." He almost leans down to kiss Kate's forehead as he passes her, but luckily stops himself and passes it off as him tripping on air – which Kate buys, and only raises her brows at him as she stifles a laugh.

He grabs his keys and wallet as he heads to the door, glancing over his shoulder to call out to the pair. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"You mean, don't do anything that you would do." A smirk plays on her lips as Kate looks from Rick to Alexis, a laugh eliciting from the girl's lips.

"Ha ha, very funny." He rolls his eyes, a smirk creasing his lips as he shakes his head and takes one last glance at Kate and Alexis before disappearing behind the door.


"Alexis, lunch will be ready in five minutes." Kate calls from the bottom of the stairs and waits till she hears an 'okay' from the young girl before she retreats back into the kitchen to finish making the young girls lunch.

Her phone begins ringing while she's in the midst of finishing up Alexis' lunch, and quickly wipes her hands before glancing down at her phone to see Rick's name across her screen. The edges of her lips pull upwards as she presses accept and brings the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Rick. How far away are you? Lunch is almost ready."

She hears him sigh from the other end and her brows soon pull together.

"About that…"

Kate's tongue slips from her lips, teeth slowly digging into the flesh.

"It looks like this is going to go on for much longer than I thought…"

"How much longer?"

"Till about five."

"Five?!"

"I know, I know… Like I said this morning, Meredith is really dragging this out. You know she showed up half an hour late?" From the other line, Rick shakes his head, another sigh eliciting from his lips as he stuffs his free hand into the pocket of his pants. "You wouldn't be able to keep looking after Alexis for longer, could you?"

Kate chews on the edge of her lip, her hip pressing against the side of the counter as she contemplates Rick's question.

When he'd asked her this morning if she could mind Alexis for the morning, she'd jumped at the chance to help him out. She didn't have work, and wasn't on call till the afternoon. So, everything worked out perfectly. She wasn't worried about it because she knew he'd be back by lunch time. But now he wouldn't be back till the evening, and Kate was on call from midday till onwards. If she were to get a call about a body drop, she'd have to go in, she couldn't not. But she also couldn't take a four-year-old to a crime scene.

"Kate, you there?"

She swallows the small lump in her throat, her chest rising before exhaling. "Yeah – I can keep looking after her." The last thing Rick needed at the moment was to worry about somebody taking care of Alexis. She knew how much this divorce was getting to him, and she wanted to help in any way she could. There was also a 50/50 chance she'd get called in, and considering she wrapped up a case a few days ago, surely, she'd be okay.

"You truly are a lifesaver Miss Beckett."

"Anything to help."

Kate glances to the staircase as she hears Alexis coming down the stairs and she smiles at the young girl.

"I better get back, say hi to Alexis from me, okay?"

"Will do. Bye, Rick."

She hangs up after he says goodbye to her and she slips her phone onto the counter as Alexis comes round to her side.

"Was that my daddy? Is he gonna be home soon?"

Kate reaches out to the girl, her hand gently smoothing back her hair.

"Turns out your daddy is going to be out a bit longer than he thought. He says hi, but I'm going to keep minding you. Is that okay?"

Alexis nods her head, her face lighting up. "Of course! I like when you take care of me."

She grins, and Kate's heart can't help but melt.

"Why don't you go pick out a movie and we can watch it while we have lunch, okay?"

Alexis nods and quickly scurries off into the living room while Kate turns back to plate up their lunch.


They sat and ate their lunch on the couch while watching the movie Alexis had picked out – Cinderella. But no more than an hour into the movie and the pair had both fallen asleep.

It wasn't till Kate's phone started going off that Kate began to wake from the unplanned slumber. She yawns, her hand lifting to rub at her eyes as she adjusts to the soft sunlight filling the living room in the loft. It's then she feels something warm and heavy against her side, and as Kate looks down her heart can't help but burst with joy as she takes in Alexis curled up asleep beside her.

Her phone goes off again, snapping her from watching Alexis, and that's when Kate remembers what had woken her up to begin with. Carefully, she removes herself from the couch, replacing her body with a pillow that Alexis could curl up against before Kate headed into the kitchen where her phone was.

"Beckett." She murmured into the phone as she pressed it to her ear.

"Hey, Chica. There's been a murder." Esposito's voice fills the other line and Kate refrains from groaning. Because of course, on the one day she hopes and prays there's no body drop so she can take care of Alexis, there's a body drop.

"Beckett?" Esposito repeats into the line and Kate blinks back to reality.

"Yeah, okay. Send me the address. I have to make a pit stop at the precinct, but I'll be there."

She hangs up and quickly heads over to the living room where Alexis resides. Kate chews on the edge of her lip as she watches the young girl fast asleep and she hesitates before gently shaking her.

"Hey, Alexis. Wake up."

The young girl slowly wakes, her eyes fluttering open as she yawns and stretches out her arms.

"Is my daddy home?"

Kate shakes her head, gently brushing the strands of hair out of Alexis' face. "No, not yet. But, I thought we could take a little road trip? Maybe go see where I work?" She smiles down at the young girl, watches the smile that spreads across her face, and in seconds Alexis is sitting up and wide awake.

Before leaving the loft, Kate leaves a note on the counter for Rick telling him where she's taken Alexis. She would call or leave a message for him, but she also didn't want him to worry or to know that she'd been on call for the afternoon.

It doesn't take them long to get to the precinct, and once they've arrived Kate finds one of the officers on duty and gets them to mind Alexis in one of the family rooms.

"I'm not going to be gone for that long, okay? I just have to go do some grown up stuff. But Matt here is going to take very good care of you, and whatever you need. You just ask him, okay?"

Alexis nods at her as she settles in front of the coffee table where pieces of paper and colouring pencils have been laid out for her.

"Good girl. Why don't you draw something for your daddy? I'm sure he'd love that to come home too. Okay, I'll be back soon." She's hesitant on leaving Alexis, isn't sure how Rick would feel. But Kate trusts all of her colleagues and she's built up a reputation around the place that they'd all do anything for her and take care of anyone she needed to like they were their own.


She arrives to the crime scene slightly later than she would've anticipated. Lanie's kneeling beside the body, and in the distance Kate can see the boys talking to who she presumes is a witness.

"Hey, Lanie. What do we got?"

"Well look who decided to show up." Lanie smirks, and Kate rolls her eyes.

"I had to drop Alexis off at the precinct."

Lanie stops writing notes and glances up at Kate, a brow arching. "Alexis? As in writer boy's daughter?"

Kate nods her head, bending down to Lanie's eye level as she rakes over the corpse in front of her.

"He asked me to look after her while he sorts out divorce things. I didn't think I'd get called in." She shakes her head, a small sigh slipping from her lips.

"Well aren't you super mom today." Lanie teases and Kate shoots her a look. "Bet that'll get you brownie points for sure."

Kate rolls her eyes once more. "It's not like that Lanie, we're friends."

"You sure? Cause as much as I love my friends and children, I sure as hell wouldn't waste my day off to babysit a child."

"It was only supposed to be for this morning but he called and asked me to look after her for longer." Kate shrugs.

"Mhm hmm. I'm sure that's the only reason. Not like your face doesn't light up whenever you talk about him." Lanie points her pen at Kate who lets a groan fall from her lips as her hands place atop of her knees while she rises to her feet.

"Can we not do this?"

"Do what? I just want to know if I need to leave nights open to baby sit my future niece when you two have date nights."

"Who's having a date night?" Esposito adds in as the boys come to Kate's side.

"Nobody." She grits, shooting Lanie another look as heat starts to flare across her cheeks, her pulse pounding as her body tenses. "Can we please focus on the body at hand? Now, for the second time. Can you tell me what we've got?"

Lanie puts her hand up in surrender, and the boys share a look between each other before leaving it, deciding to not pry any further.

While Lanie goes on about the corpse before them, Kate's mind can't help but drift to Rick, and what things really were between them.

She found him attractive, there was no doubt about it. She also enjoyed his company and found him easy to talk too. She cared about him, they cared about each other. Plus, his writing had gotten her through some pretty tough times, but that didn't mean she liked him in that way. She couldn't. He was in the midst of a divorce; his heart still mending from being broken. She'd only be a rebound, and he was the complete opposite of who she usually went for.

They were strictly friends, even if her heart pounded whenever she saw him or her face lit up whenever she saw his name come up on her phone, it meant nothing. It had to mean nothing. She wasn't stable enough for a relationship, she had things to figure and sort out and he was already a mess, they'd be a complete disaster together.

She shrugs off the thoughts now running round in her head, deciding to not let her mind travel to dangerous territory and instead starts focusing on the case so she can head back to the precinct and keep minding Alexis like she'd told Rick she would.