CH15
Martha almost floats into the apartment. "Oh there you are, oh hello Katherine dear. And you're eating well I won't keep you long.
How was your trip Richard?"
"A little bit of helpful and a touch of not so helpful, but I'm hoping for some more news tomorrow. I'm sorry Meredith descended on you." Rick really was sorry. Usually he was around when Meredith showed up.
"It's alright dear, Katherine here swooped in and took care of everything. I never would have thought she would stoop so low as to go after Alexis like that." Martha dismisses it all with a wave of her hand.
Rick however had not heard about that and looks at Kate. "I'll explain later." Kate whispers.
Satisfied for now Rick turns back to Martha. "Is there something you need mother?"
"Just checking up on my son and granddaughter before I head out. I have a date and he's taking us to that new place for dinner. Should be exciting, don't wait up for me." And Martha heads for the door. "And it's nice to see you again Katherine." And she sweeps out the front door.
Rick gets up and re-locks the front door and comes back to finish dinner.
Once everyone is done eating. "You want some wine Kate while Alexis and I clean up?" Rick asks.
"Yes please."
Kate is sitting on the sofa sipping her wine while waiting for them to finish. Alexis is the first to join her followed shortly by Castle with his own wine glass.
"Can we play cards dad?" Alexis asks.
Rick knows this means he is going down but he responds. "Sure." Getting a soft "Oy" from Kate.
After Alexis takes off looking for the cards. "I take it you've met the resident card shark?" Rick asks Kate.
"Yea, I've lost a couple of times already." Kate confides still not sure how she did it.
Rick chuckles. "Don't feel bad, I've been losing since I taught her to play. I still don't know how she does it."
"She's terrific Castle. I don't know how you got so lucky with her." Kate tells him.
"Yea, she's the light of my life. Even though I have to put up with Meredith I wouldn't change a thing." Rick is almost glowing and Kate can see it.
Before she can stop herself. "I hate that woman!" Kate tells him with clear venom in her voice.
Rick puts down his glass and slowly takes Kate's from her hand and sets it down. "I'm going to kiss you now. You need to tell me to stop if you don't want me to." Rick tells her.
And Rick leans in and slowly inches closer until his lips meet Kate's. Rick slowly works at deepening the kiss and brings his arms around to bring Kate in closer.
Kate meanwhile let's him kiss her and by the time his arms are around her she uses her tongue and asks for entrance while wrapping her arms around his neck and starts kissing him back with interest.
Both of them don't notice Alexis come back with two packs of playing cards and she just stands there watching them with a big grin on her face. Dad is teaching her too. Is what she is thinking.
It isn't until Alexis has cleared her throat for the third time that they notice Alexis.
"Oh sorry pumpkin kinda got carried away there." Rick tells her while Kate backs off and turns a brilliant shade of red.
"So what card game are we playing this time?" Rick asks her.
"313?" Alexis asks.
"Sure we are going to need pencils and paper." Rick reminds her.
"Oh yea." And Alexis takes off.
"313?" Kate asks.
Objective
The objective of this game is to have the lowest points total in the end. Each numbered card is worth its value (i.e. the 3 is worth three points) Face cards are worth 10 points. The ace is the lowest card and is worth only one point.
Scoring
The cards in your hand equal your score. Each card is worth its value. For example, if at the end of the first round, you have 9 , 4 , and a K , your score will be 23 points. You will always have as many cards at the end of the round as when you started. The only way to decrease your score is get three or more cards that are the same or to get a run of cards in sequence of the same suit. For example, if, in the first round, you had three 9's of whatever suit, your score would be zero. If you had 4 , 5 , and 6 , your score would be zero.
Making runs of cards or having more than three of the same card are the only ways to reach zero in a round. You can have more than three cards in a run. For example, if you are playing a round that has six cards in it, you could have a run of 6 ,7 ,8 ,9 ,10 , and J , and your score would be zero, but you must have a minimum of three cards in any run or grouping to decrease score.
Dealing the Cards
Decide who should be the first dealer. This can be done in any manner. Take two decks of cards and shuffle them together. Every subsequent deal after the first should be from the person to the left of the previous dealer.
There are eleven rounds in 313, so there will be eleven deals. The first person to deal will give each player three cards. The cards should be dealt in rounds of one until every player has the required amount of cards. Each round will increase the card count by one. So, for the second round, the players will have four cards instead of three. This will go on until in the last round you deal thirteen cards to each player.
Playing a Round
Each round starts when the dealer deals out the required amount of cards. After the last card is dealt, the dealer will flip over the next card in the deck and place it in a discard pile.
The person to the left of the dealer is first to act. They can either take the card that was flipped over by the dealer and replace one of the cards in their hand, or they can flip over the next card in the deck and chose that as a replacement. You must keep the same amount of cards throughout each round. In other words, if you pick up a card, you have to put a card down.
Once the first person has completed this process, the person directly to their left gets a turn. Like the first player, they can chose the card that's on top of the discard pile or they can flip a card over from the deck. This process continues around the table until a player has ended the round. Once the round has ended, the scores are recorded and the entire process begins again with the new dealer.
Ending a Round
A round ends when a player reaches zero points. Once a player reaches zero, they must inform the table. The winning player must lay out their cards for inspection. Once a victory has been declared, every other player, starting with the player to the winner's left, gets one more chance to make adjustments to their cards. Once all players have had one more chance to improve their hand, the round is over and all players must count up their scores. It is possible for multiple players to reach zero in a given round.
Wild Cards
In each round there is a designated wild card. The wild card serves in any capacity you need for improving your hand. Each round the wild card changes. The chart to the right explains what card is wild in what round.
A Note on Aces
In addition to being the lowest scoring card, the Ace can only serve on the low end of a run. For example, a run that begins, Q , K , _ cannot end with A . The ace can only begin a run (A , 2 , 3 ).
Wild Card Table
Round
Wild Card
1
Any 3
2
Any 4
3
Any 5
4
Any 6
5
Any 7
6
Any 8
7
Any 9
8
Any 10
9
Any Jack
10
Any Queen
11
Any King
Alexis is back with three pieces of paper and three Crayola crayons from her room.
Kate wins dealing first and deals out 3 cards to everyone and they start to play.
Alexis has one the first eight (8) rounds and is giddy with excitement. Rick had resigned himself to losing before they even started playing and was mostly silent. Kate however was a natural competitor and she had something to say at every round.
Alexis and Kate would tease each other at every round.
Kate had managed to win the next two rounds and got Alexis's score to start climbing. Kate needed the last two rounds bad in order to win. After getting her cards. "You are going down Kate." Since she liked her cards.
"Oh really? Care to put your money were your mouth is sweetie?" Kate raises the stakes.
Alexis thinks about it. She has an allowance from dad and she has saved a little of it. Not much but a little. However Kate has a job and probably more money than her. Maybe?
"You have to spend the 'Entire' next three days with us. Except for work and my school which starts tomorrow." Alexis challenges.
"Make it five AND you have to clean your room. Your room is a mess." Kate raises the stakes.
Alexis thinks it over. Kate stays with them for the next five days was a dream come true. But cleaning her room was the last thing she wanted to do. But it didn't seem fair to her either. What was Kate going to do while she was cleaning if she lost?
"And you have to make dinner for two days instead of me cleaning." Alexis alters the bet.
Kate hadn't cooked since before her mother died and even then they had done it together. Maybe she could convince Alexis to help her?
"DEAL!" Kate accepts.
"Deal." Alexis accepts.
"It's my deal." Kate tells them.
Rick meanwhile was sitting back watching these two fight it out not sure who he wanted to win. He wanted Kate to stay with them very much but he had been after Alexis to clean her room for weeks. And Kate was right, it was a mess. Still having Kate stay seemed to be the better of the two choices.
Alexis won round 10 and was grinning wide. Kate was going down.
Rick dealt the last hand and managed to slip Alexis an Ace that was on the bottom of the deck. It was cheating but he wanted Kate to stay too.
Kate needed a zero (0) hand while Alexis needed a large card count. Problem was Kate didn't have any aces and no wild cards and her cards were all over the place. This was looking bad.
In the end Alexis won easily and without the help Rick gave her. Alexis got up and did a victory dance.
Kate pretended to be a sore loser for a few seconds. However the thought of cuddling the next several nights with Alexis in her messy room got her to stop quickly. Even if she did have to cook.
COOK? Oh great what am I going to cook? I'm soooo screwed.
"It's your bedtime pumpkin, say goodnight to Kate and go get cleaned up, brush your teeth and get ready for bed. I'll be down to tuck you in soon." Rick tells her.
"Can Kate help?" Alexis asks quietly.
"I'll be down in a minute sweetie." Kate volunteers herself and Rick just smiles at Kate. Kate wasn't yet ready for Castle to see that her suitcase and all her clothes were in Alexis's room instead of the guest room just yet.
Alexis takes off for her room happy as can be.
"You don't have to do that Kate." Rick gives her an out if she wants it.
"It's ok Castle I want to and I've had a couple of days of practice while you were gone." Kate tells him honestly.
Rick and Kate clean up the card game and Kate heads for Alexis's room to tuck her in.
Kate enters her bedroom to find her already in bed. So Kate sits down on the edge. "Are you going to stay?" Alexis asks. It was just a game, did Kate really mean it?
"Of course sweetie, a deal is a deal. I might get called in early sometimes so I may not see you every morning. Or tomorrow morning for that matter." Kate warns her.
"That's ok you'll come home to us here and that's enough." Alexis accepts.
"I'm sorry sweetie but I have a job to go to unlike your father. And it may call me out in the middle of the night even sometimes." Kate cautions her.
Alexis gets up slightly to hug Kate. "It's ok Kate." Then whispers in her ear. "I love you." Then kisses her on the cheek before laying back down.
"I'll try not to wake you when I come back for sleep," Kate tells her.
"That's ok you can wake me up I don't mind." Alexis actually would like for Kate to wake her. She wants to cuddle with Kate almost as much as Kate does.
"Go to sleep I'll be back in a little while." And Kate bends over to give Alexis a kiss.
Kate is out of the bedroom when the tears start and she makes a detour for the guest room bathroom. Sitting on the toilet the tears arrive full force.
Kate knows Castle has kissed her in earnest now at least a couple of times. And she wanted him to the last time. And Alexis keeps telling her that she loves her. And Kate wants very much to sleep with Alexis in her arms tonight let alone nights to come.
Now she is having trouble breathing and the crying is turning into sobs that shake her body.
"Jill I don't know what to do?" Kate barely manages to get out.
"Breath Kate, thru your mouth. In, … now out. Once more, in, …. now out.
Does Alexis scare you?" Jill asks searching for an answer so she can help her.
"No, … yes, … I don't know." Kate can breathe again but the tears are still coming.
"Alexis loves you, do you hate her?" Jill starts with her.
"NO, heavens no. If I thought there was a way to take her with me 24 hours a day I would. She is amazing." Kate counters.
"So you love her and that's what scares you?" Jill more states than asks a question.
"She's not mine Jill, she belongs to Castle."
"And yet Castle likes you and kissed you and unless I'm mistaken you kissed him back. And tell me again what you packed in a suitcase instead of just a small overnight bag?" Jill asks her.
Kate grins while the tears slow down. "Are you suggesting that I change into one of the sexy things I brought and show up in the living room with a condom in my hand?" Kate asks.
"You're the one that packed them for a one night stay, you tell me." Jill counters.
Kate giggles a little. If she was honest with herself that is exactly what she was thinking. Although to be honest she was thinking she would be sleeping in the guest room so didn't have to carry the condom with her.
Then suddenly she became scared. What if Castle was only after a one night stand and she was out after they had sex for the first time? No more snuggling with Alexis. It would devastate Alexis if she really did love her. Kate would chalk it up to another one night stand. But was that what she wanted?
Not going to find any answers sitting in here. So Kate got up and washed her tears away and fluffed her hair a little and headed for the living room, quaking in her boots.