Early December, Water Ridge Recovery Center
They were both up early the next morning, the nerves of their upcoming task too daunting to sleep much past 7AM. The anticipation led them to hit the road even earlier than planned, especially when they woke to a less than promising weather forecast for the day. They'd skirted the worst of the snow this far, but their luck would be surely be tested as another system came hurling toward western New York. That meant that the earlier they got there and moved Jim out, the better.
"No, no, you can always call. I'm sorry. We've been working on that. Okay, I will be getting in late in the evening. Yes, perfect. Yes, thank you, mother. Bye."
Kate only hears Rick's side of the phone call with his mother, but she could already tell that Alexis had a rough night away from her dad. And that was before Rick lets out an exasperated sigh when he sets down his phone.
"Alexis okay?" She asks.
"Doing okay now, I think," Rick tells her. "But it sounds like last night was pretty rough."
"Poor baby," Kate sighs. "How's your mom?"
"Tired," Rick chuckles. "But I have never been more grateful for her than right now. Hopefully when I'm home tonight things will go back to normal."
"I'm sure they will," Kate reassures him. She momentarily offers her right hand from the steering wheel. Rick grabs on to it and she squeezes it three times before putting it back to help her make a left turn from the highway exit ramp. "Thanks again for being here. I don't take it lightly."
"Of course, Kate," Rick says. "Alexis needs to get used to me not always being there anyway."
"She's just a daddy's girl. Can't blame her for that," Kate jokes.
"Guess not," Rick laughs. "Breaks my heart knowing she misses me almost as much as I miss her."
"Hey, we'll be home soon," Kate says as she parks her car in the parking lot of Water Ridge Recovery. Neither of them get out of the car immediately, the gravity of the day hitting them simultaneously. Eventually, Rick audibly exhales and turns toward his girlfriend.
"Ready?"
Kate nods with a smile and the couple enters the facility as flurries start gently falling on the sidewalk.
"Katie!? Katie! You're here early," Jim says when he spits his daughter from the cafeteria entryway. "I just finished with breakfast. Wasn't expecting you until 11."
"I know-" Kate says as her dad pulls her in for a warm hug, catching her slightly off guard. "We, we wanted to beat the snow."
"That's a good call," Jim says. "My bags are all packed, just gotta get 'em in the car and we can hit the road." Jim starts walking toward his room, Kate and Rick following behind.
"Uh, dad," Kate says when Jim gets to his room and starts filling his arms with luggage and boxes. "This is Rick."
"Oh, right, sorry, son," Jim chuckles, setting his things back down and reaching out his hand. "Got a bit ahead of myself here."
"Mr. Beckett, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Rick says in the most boy scout-ish voice he could muster.
"Likewise, likewise," Jim says. "Thanks for helping us out today. Although, Katie's perfectly capable."
"She certainly is, sir," Rick agrees. "But long road trips are always better with company." Kate grins and shakes her head at her boyfriend using her own words from the day before. Jim also seems satisfied with that as he recollects a few bags in his arms. Rick grabs a few, and Kate takes what's left. It only takes a few minutes to fit all of Jim's things into the trunk and back seat of Kate's car, with plenty of room left for Castle to sit as Jim takes the passenger seat.
"Well, that was fast," Kate says with satisfaction as she restarts her car just a few minutes after 9:30. "I'll drive until we stop for lunch."
"Or until the snow stops us," Jim sighs.
"Yeah, Kate, just be cautious," Rick says. "We aren't in a rush." That was only sort of true. Of course he wanted them to get home safely, but he missed Alexis more and more as the snow fell harder.
"So, dad, how are you feeling?" Kate asks.
"Better, Katie, a lot better," Jim tells her.
"Good, you look it, too."
"Do I?"
"You just used to look so deflated," Kate says. "You're...shinier now."
"Hah," Jim laughs. "That's one way to put it. You're shinier now, too."
"You think so?" Kate asks. Jim nods with a grin. "Well, uh, Rick has a lot to do with that. We've been dating for a few weeks, but he's been an amazing friend for longer."
"Is that so, Rick?" Jim asks, turning toward Castle in the seat behind him. "How did you two meet?"
"Ah, we have a class together," Rick says. "Kate was my partner for our semester project. We made a great team." Kate blushes a little as she glances in the rear view mirror at Rick, who meets her eye from his seat behind her.
"So, do you study criminal justice as well then?" Jim asks.
"No, English Literature, actually," Rick says.
"I see. What do you think you might do with that degree?"
"Well, I'm actually a mystery novelist," Rick explains. "I took a few years off of college to focus on writing, but I'm back this semester to finish up. I'll be graduating in a week."
"Wow, congratulations," Jim nods. "Are you published then? Since you took time off to write?"
"Yes, I am," Rick smiles. He knows he's toeing the line that Kate was trying to ease into, so he keeps it vague.
"That's excellent! Very impressive for someone so young," Jim says. "Anything I might have heard of?"
"Act-"
"Dad," Kate interrupts. "You don't have to grill him."
"I'm not, I'm not," Jim insists. "I'm just trying to get to know him, right, Rick?"
"Um-"
"Okay, dad, I don't want you to freak out," Kate prefaces. "But we have something to tell you."
"Oh, god, Katie, you're not...?"
"No, omg haha! No, nothing like that," Kate laughs.
"Well, good because I'm not ready to be a grandpa," Jim exclaims.
"Don't worry, dad. Kids are a very long way down the line for me," Kate says. "I realize now that I shouldn't have started with that. But, um, okay...do you remember the books that mom and I used to read together a few years ago?"
"Oh, yes! Those crime books, I remember," Jim says. "Now who were those by, Rob? No, Richard. Yes, Richard Castle."
Kate and Rick make quick eye contact in the mirror again as they both exhale.
"I'm Richard Castle," Rick says.
"No kidding!" Jim laughs. "Really?"
"In the flesh, sir," Rick nods.
"Wow, Jo, she really loved those books. Katie, too," Jim says, still processing all of this new information.
"I wasn't sure if you would remember or if you did how you'd react," Kate says.
"Well," Jim chuckles. "It's certainly a bit to digest. But now I think I understand more of what Katie sees in you."
"Dad!" Kate scoffs.
"I didn't mean that in a bad way," Jim explains. "I meant that you two probably have a lot of things in common. Similar interests, that sort of thing."
"Similar interests for sure," Rick defends. "But definitely different personalities."
"Well, that can be a good thing in a relationship," Jim says. "You balance each other out that way."
"Definitely," Kate and Rick say in unison, followed by giddy laughter. A few moments later, the wind shifted, blowing the snow frantically into the windshield, a sign to Kate to stop for lunch. They were just about smack dab in the middle of New York, still about 4 hours from the city, but they had travelled this way to the cabin often enough that Kate knew exactly where to go.
"Gino's! Great choice, Katie," Jim says as they pull into a nearly empty parking lot in front of an old Italian restaurant.
"You been to Utica often?" Rick asks jokingly.
Kate rolls her eyes and tells him, "the cabin's in the Adirondacks. Plus, they've got surprisingly good pizza."
"Please seat yourselves, hunnies, I'll be with youse shortly," the server says from behind the counter when they walk through the entrance. Rick slides into the booth beside Kate, lightly rubbing her thigh with his own beneath the table. The server introduces herself as Fran, tells them they must be crazy to be driving around in this snow storm, but informs them of the lasagna lunch special as she takes their food and drink orders.
"It really is coming down pretty good," Kate says with a sigh. The view form the restaurant window was not promising, with snow quickly accumulating on the road and blowing recklessly through the frigid air. "Visibility might be rough."
Rick pulls out his phone and navigates to the weather app where he displays the radar, which provides even more bad news. "It, uh, looks like it's only going to be getting worse."
"Well, kids, might be in our best interest to wait out the storm for a bit," Jim sighs. "How long until it passes?"
"A few hours at least," Rick grimaces. "Might be pretty late getting back into the city, then."
"Could always check-in to a hotel if we have to," Jim suggests.
Kate felt Rick stiffen at that suggestion. "I really hope we can get lucky and just find a lull," he says. "I gotta get home to Alexis."
Kate grabs her boyfriend's hand and squeezes. "It'll be okay, Rick. We'll just wait for the wind to die down."
"Uh, who's Alexis?" Jim asks.
"My daughter," Rick gulps. "I've never been away from her this long before."
"I see," Jim sighs. "I remember that feeling. How old is she?"
"11 months," Rick says. "My mother is watching her, but I just, I really need to get home."
Early December, New York City
It was indeed late when they made it back to the city. After waiting out the storm for a bit in Utica, they had to stop again in Albany, and a few times on the side of the highway, and in Poughkeepsie, and a few more times on the side of the highway, but they'd all made it back to the city in one piece. Rick and Kate dropped Jim off at his apartment, briefly helped him unpack his bags and get situated for his first night back in his own bed in six weeks. Kate offered multiple times to stay the night, but Jim assured her that he was solid. She reluctantly believed him as they got back in Kate's car around midnight.
Kate yawns as she turns the ignition and carefully pulls away from the snow covered curb. "No way I'm finding parking by my apartment during this snow emergency," she grumbles.
"Kate, it's late enough as it is. Why don't you just spend the night at my place? That way you can park in my garage," Rick suggests.
"You talkin' dirty to me, Castle?" Kate chuckles.
"I never joke about parking space," Rick assures her.
"I've got that Russian Lit final in the morning," she reminds him.
"We'll go right to bed, promise," Rick says with a scout salute.
"Fine," Kate sighs, before navigating to the loft and parking in the heated garage under Rick's building.
"I think you may have forgotten about one important detail in the 'we'll go right to bed, promise' plan," Kate growls as Rick gets out of bed for the third time that night. He grabs for the baby monitor that is blasting Alexis's distressed sobs.
"I'm really sorry," Rick assures her. "I thought things would've been fine with me home."
"Clearly not," Kate retorts. She rolls herself out of bed and starts to follow her boyfriend.
"What're you doing?" Rick asks. "You've got your final."
"I know, it's just, nothing else has worked so maybe we could try something different?"
Kate's suggestion seems to be working as she gently rocks the toddler in her arms. The redhead still fights back sleep, but eventually gives in when her eyelids get too heavy. Kate holds her for a few minutes just to make sure Alexis was truly asleep before setting her cautiously back into her crib.
Rick and Kate practically tiptoe back downstairs, catching a glimpse of the kitchen stove clock which informed them that it was almost four in the morning.
"You know, for someone who says that "kids are a very long way down the line", you're really good with them," Rick says as they pull back the comforter and climb back into bed.
"I'm so not talking about this right now, Castle," Kate groans.
"I'm just saying-"
"I'm just saying, goodnight!" Kate exclaims, rolling onto her side away from Rick.
"Okay," Rick sighs. "Goodnight."