Richard Castle had been told that raising girls was much easier than raising boys and in some ways it was and in other ways it was not.
The difference is not that large in the case today. This little boy has been as easy as Alexis was in almost every way. The only issue that Castle has had to deal with has been the child's desire to know about his mother. Otherwise he has been a beautiful child.
He learns a quickly and easily as his sister/ He enjoys reading and obeys his dad's instructions without much disagreement
Rickey James Castle is a sweet little boy. He is loving child and is kind to other children he plays with. He shares on the playground making the other mom's and nanny's glad to see him come. . He is playful just like his dad and seems to enjoy all the same things as his father.
The child has no idea about the history of his father, nor does he care. Children at this age are full of innocence and wonder. All he cares about is getting to play with his friends and going to see new and wondrous things like going to the zoo. Or playing at the park with his dad and getting to play on the see saw or the swings.
Ricky really loves the swings the most and so does his dad. His dad likes to sit on the swing seat next to the little boy and talk about the world around them and the child listens to his father as he tells Ricky all about America and that they will be going back there some day and live close to his sister, Alexis. He really loves his sister and does want to see more of her and his dad is going to be arranging that move very soon
The child has no reason to know about the dark side of in this dad's life. He does not need to be exposed to the evil that exists everywhere and especially the evil that surrounded the family up until recently.
He needs to stay a little boy growing up laughing, playing, and loving.
Castle tucks the child into bed and read him a bedtime story. A story that the world famous author actually wrote during one of his more pensive between the last Nikki Heat and finishing the first spy book
Richard Castle kisses the boy on his head and turns off the table lamp and walks out of the room. "G'night daddy" the child speaks
"Good night big guy. Sleep tight":
Castle closes the bedroom door and walks back into the parlor of his flat
Once he sits down at his computer he opens a secure e-mail link and begins reading the lengthy report contained in the document. He reads the information and then re-reads to make sure he understands all the details that have been presented to him.
Satisfied that he has a complete understanding about the data, he reaches over and saves the mail for the future.
He turns off his laptop and then begins the nighttime process of closing down the house and going to bed himself
The next morning he rises and prepares breakfast for the little man. The boy has learned to love several healthy items including lean meats and fruits. After finishing the breakfast preparation Rick calls his housekeeper and asks he if it would be possible for her to come by and watch little Ricky for a few hours and she tells him she will be there in less than an hour
Richard Castle has gone to the Hilton downtown hotel and steps up to the desk clerk.
"Ms. Katherine Beckett's room please"
The lady behind the counter checks the computer then looks at Castle "If you will go to the house phone we will call her room"
"No. I would rather rent a hospitality suite and have her meet me there, if you have one available"
The woman checks the computer "Yes, sir, I can give you suite 5" the woman points down the hall from their current location. "I will tell her to meet you there"
"Please do not tell her who is waiting for her and thank you" Castle responds. He takes the key, turns in the direction indicated, and walks toward the suites
Once inside the room he makes a pot of coffee and then sits down at one of the two tables in the room
About 15 minutes later there is a knock on the door. Castle stands, walks to the door and pulls it open
Kate was not expecting to see her ex-husband waiting for her in the suite. She almost walks away, but Rick speaks first "Beckett. Do not leave again"
She halts immediately then looks back through the door at Castle "Why?"
"I would like to talk to you"
Tears are appearing in her eyes "Why do you want to talk to me?"
"Kate! Please come in here" Castle indicates for her to enter the room
After Beckett moves past the door and steps toward the table
"Why did you come to my house last night?"
There is a long pause after his question
"I wanted to talk to you" she speaks softly
"Then why did you leave so suddenly?"
She shakes her head
After another long pause Castle speaks again "You said you wanted to talk, Beckett? Talk about what? Talk about you walking out on our marriage? Leaving me high and dry with no explanation as to why you didn't want me anymore? Why you didn't want to be married to me anymore"
He has not raised his voice at her even though she knows he has every right. He still speaks to her in a level, calm manor
"Castle…" she takes a deep breath then continues trying to justify her actions "I did what I did it to protect you. The man who was responsible for my mom's murder was still out there and…" another pause "I couldn't stop it. The urge inside me, driving me to go after him. So I needed to protect you. I needed to separate myself from you and Martha and Alexis to keep all of you safe"
"Are you referring to LockStat?"
Kate is visually shaken by the word "Yes. How did you know about that?"
"Well, Detective Beckett, they came after me about three months after I moved here. It seems you hit a nerve with them just after I left New York"
She thinks a moment realizing exactly what action she did that would have been the trigger for the attack "I am so sorry Castle. I had no idea that they would come after you?"
"Beckett, why would they not come after me? We were still married at the time. They would attack anyone connected to you"
"So me walking out did not protect you?"
"Not at all detective"
"How did you get away?"
"I know a guy in MI-5. I researched for a Derrick Storm novel with him. He and I were having dinner one evening when they came. The mistake they made was my friend was an active agent, armed, and had a security detail. They killed three and captured one"
"We found out that these guys never talk. They are trained well according to Esposito"
"I didn't ask how, but they broke him and extracted a lot of intelligence from him. It was over two years but they did. They also put a detail on me"
"What did they discover?"
"I didn't ask and they didn't offer, but once they had a starting place, British Intelligence handled the investigation"
Castle pauses a moment "I know they used a dummy agent name to do the investigation. They set up a fake investigator named Danburg"
"The same name as the guy involved with Sophia Turner" Kate responds
"Exactly. That way the people behind LockStat would run into dead ends trying to find him because…"
Kate finished the sentence "He didn't exist"
Beckett thinks a moment "That is where the lead came from that we used to take down the puppet master"
Castle nods his head "When my guy told me they finally tracked him down, I asked for you to get the data so you could make the arrest. Just trying to give you some closure"
She tries to keep her emotions in check. Castle was once more involved in the case without her knowledge. She realizes she would have never solved this case without his help. She then tries to change the subject
"Castle, I see you have a new family now. It was a big mistake coming by unannounced. I am so sorry I interrupted your family time. That is why I left yesterday"
"The only family I have here is Rickey"
Beckett seems confused "What…what about the woman who came in with him?"
"She is my housekeeper and sometimes babysitter"
Beckett responds softly "OH"
"Anyway, Beckett, I see that you are wearing a wedding ring. I assume you are married again"
He can see tears forming in her eyes as she gently turns the gold band around her finger "This is the ring you placed here…I have never taken it off"
He acknowledges by a nod of his head.
"Castle, I…I just thought that I might come an ask for your forgiveness and even if you did not take me back that we might be friends"
He peruses his lips "Beckett…we were friends. That was a long time ago. Then we were lovers. Then we were married. How is it you think we could ever return to being just friends?"
"I don't know. I guess this all was a giant mistake…me hoping you could take me back. I am sure your love for me died a long time ago"
"First Kate, you should have never walked out of our marriage, putting me second. We would have still been together and solved the case. Secondly, I do still love you but…"
"You could never take me back"
She can see his mind is churning "Castle…I know I don't deserve to even be talking to you right now"
"Beckett. My life has changed,,, it has changed a lot. I have a series of very successful spy novels. All of them heading to the big screen. I have written a couple of unpublished novels that are more serious, and most importantly I have Rickey James to raise"
Beckett's head snaps up with the mane Rickey JAMES?"
"Yes Beckett. I did named him after your dad. That is probably my biggest regret in losing his friendship"
More tears flow and she knows that she can't stop them
"His mother was my editor. Her husband had died in a training accident in the service and hers was a complicated pregnancy then she died in child birth leaving the little guy with no one. It hurt me very badly so I arranged to adopt him"
"I could see your love for him in the few minutes I was there"
"He is my everything now Kate"
His attitude for her has softened somewhat
"Castle…I know this was a bad idea. But I just had to see you again. Even if this is going to be the last time. But I want you to know that I still love you every bit as much as before if not even more"
"But Kate, your love for the monsters will always be more than your love for me"
She ducks her head for a moment "I put in my papers"
Castle has a question on his face
"You retired?"
She nods her head "I decided that I need to have a life now. I have been in that rabbit hole for too long and I want to be out in the sunlight…and I was hoping it could have been with you"
"Kate, my life has changed a lot too and I will say that I spent the last five years wondering why I came in second to your demons"
"Rick…I am sorry. I wish I had known that it didn't matter if we were together or not"
"Well you did. So it is done now and you can never go back"
Again she ducks her head "I understand. She stand up to leave "Castle…I wish for you to the very best"
"Beckett stop!"
She turns around to face Castle
"We MIGHT have a chance but you need to know something"
Her looking in his eyes is the answer he needed
"Just like I came in second to the chase and as much as I still love you…if we were to re connect. You need to know that if you and I had had a child, I would love them not more than you but different than you."
"And you need to know that if we did get together you will always be second to me. Rickey will Always be first"
"Always"