Chapter 106

Castle thought he was alone when he returned to his apartment to change out of his ripped jeans. In the laundry room, he fished through the basket of washing Beckett or somebody had folded earlier, in search of black jeans. He stripped himself of the torn jeans, relieved it of the leather belt, then jumped into the fresh pair. With the belt threaded and buckled, he hurried back to the kitchen, summoned by the ting of the microwave. The pleasant flavoursome smell of Beckett's reheated pasta wafted into the kitchen. The perfect girlfriend, she could love him through his stomach and he was the perfect boyfriend because he thoroughly enjoyed and ate whatever she cooked. They might be having issues, but inside the kitchen they had a perfect relationship. It was perfect in the bedroom too, and at work. With the ripped jeans rolled and tossed into the bin, he pulled the plate from the microwave, swiftly lowered it to the benchtop, too hot to hold. Too hot to eat.

He decided to leave it a minute because there was another pressing thing on his mind, all because he got bitten on the ass by a damn dog. The something was tucked away somewhere in his office, at his desk, and today, he needed to revisit and action it because he loved Alexis. And Kate, especially her. And of course, he loved his Mom.

He crossed the living room feeling the tenderness developing in his butt. It was a surety he would be sore tomorrow, and it was a given Beckett was gonna get more mileage out of this incident than any thus far. Esposito would probably be up to no good as well. Ryan would come with empathy.

Dogs loved him.

Kids loved him.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would be bitten by a dog on the ass, in the presence of a bunch of cops. It was just like he'd never be puked on by a baby. And that hadn't happened yet. He was a baby whisperer and had been a dog whisperer. Life was becoming riskier.

It remained fresh in his mind that Kate had snickered away while they had been in the company of her co-workers. She hadn't ceased being a smart ass about it. Even brought up the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond when Robert was gored by a bull. He had to admit even he'd seen the humour in that reference. Everyone had. Anybody would. And Beckett's laughter, actual giggles, had made his heart sing even at the expense of injury and embarrassment.

In the car on the drive back to the Precinct she'd been worried. A little giggly still, but mostly worried.

But during the time she had dabbed antiseptic over the broken skin of his butt, she had morphed into a caring, doting girlfriend slash first aider. The slash had to be there because her first aid skills were exceptional, but he reckoned her self-care left a lot to be desired when she was hurt. Fair enough, the doting part was also well out of character and he'd made a point of noting it. However, when she had gazed up at him, he'd felt his heart swell and even now smiled reflecting on how much he loved her eyes.

He gingerly sat on his office chair. A grimace formed because the muscle in his butt was become quite tender. Once he was reasonably comfortable, he commenced his search of what he wanted. Footsteps sounded from the stairs. Someone was home. He continued the hunt inside the desk drawer listening to the footfalls across the living area. Steps stopped.

"Richard." Martha greeted, her tone curious, "What are you doing home?"

Castle continued his search, "Facing my mortality. I'm really cursed."

She blew that off with a wave of her hand and a roll of the eyes. "Oh, for Pete's sake, Richard. Where's your beautiful girl?"

"She's at the Precinct."

"Oh." Martha stopped at the front of the desk. "Richard. You have blood on your wrist."

He immediately inspected his left wrist. "Had an incident at work," he replied then looked at his mother with a sudden realisation, "For fucks sake don't tell Alexis about it - please."

"Richard," she scorned.

"Well, I'll never hear the end of it, especially with the problems between the ladies right now."

"I meant your cursing."

"I know." He smiled at his mother then continued with his search.

"Since when do you use that sort of language?"

"Since forever. You know that." He smiled boyishly, "Just please leave Alexis out of it."

"So, what happened? Where is the blood from? You're my son and I have a right to know."

"Fully grown son, Mom."

"Still my son. Spill. It's your blood."

"You won't say anything to my daughter?"

"I won't."

"Okay. Well, I got bitten on the ass by a very large guard dog." He looked up when he heard his mother snort with laughter. "Mother. Did you not get the part about it being very large? Big fangs, clamping, snapping jaw? Your son?"

She snuffled her laughter. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

"Yes. I was in a bit of a state, but Beckett had my back."

"Like always."

"Yes. I don't know how she did it, but she had that dog sitting obediently in front of her."

"Maybe, you are cursed."

"Yes, Mother, and Beckett is still laughing about it, but all this curse stuff has got me thinking."

"How so?"

"Well, if something were to happen to me, you'd take good care of Alexis, right?" His blue eyes, so serious, scanned his mother's face and he waited for her response.

For a second she recognised how serious her son was but she then tried to dismiss his thoughts. "Oh, Richard, of course I would."

His eyes penetrated his mother's. "Better than you took care of me?"

"Oh, please," she groaned with another dismissive wave. "You turned out fine. You're smart, handsome, well rounded. Curse too much but all the gorgeous girls you catch."

"I've caught the one I want." He smiled. "And she's model gorgeous."

"And very intelligent. You keep her, I heard rumblings between you two. What happened during the night?" She asked cautiously.

Castle chose to be honest as this discussion called for it. "Another one of her nightmares had us up, and things consequently sent us spiralling out of control."

"How so?"

"It just got us into an argument. She was upset. We've been up since god only knows what hour."

"You know you have a way with Kate, don't you?"

Castle looked from the search through his desk drawers to his mother, and gave her a nod. It was nice that someone else saw that emotional connection he with his partner. "There's something, yes."

"Nurture it, my boy. Is that her cooking you've reheated?"

"Yes."

"It smells delicious."

"It's mine," he firmly stated. "But then, I'm so cursed I might choke on it."

"For goodness sake, Honey. The chances of this curse being real is almost non-existent. You know that, right?"

He briefly contemplated that. "Maybe. I would like to share but Kate's cooking is that tasty I don't want to share it."

"Well then, maybe you deserve to choke on it."

"I will share it, Mom." He found the envelope that contained a Will, still unsigned. "What kind of father would I be if I didn't do everything I could to make sure I stick around? Beckett's had me considering my mortality. She's scared something bad will happen to me shadowing her, and she doesn't want Alexis to lose me, then the bloody dog bit me. Beckett was shit stirring me about it in front of Ryan and Esposito, but in the car on the way back to the Precinct she was all in a mess about me being maimed for life, that this minor incident could have been bigger. Then back at the Precinct she's laughing it off with the boys. Police humour."

"Yes, they oddly do make light of the bad things." Martha said. "Kiddo, you're cursed. Not dying."

Frustrated he dropped the Will to his desk. "Mom, did you not hear me?"

"Yes, I heard you," she frowned, "I know Alexis has Beckett rethinking everything. She's unsettled Kate's foundations."

"Mm. The public Beckett is not the girl I have privately."

"I know that, she's quite different at home. You will be fine. You were just been bitten on the ass. You'll be sore for a few days." Martha suddenly laughed, "Oh Richard, to you remember that TV show when the policeman got gored on the ass by a bull?"

Rick paused a moment, pressed his lips hard as possible and he was sure his nostrils flared. "Yes."

"You laughed so hard when you saw that."

"Bit different when it happens in real life." He said matter of fact.

Martha sobered. "Maybe we should try to figure out a way to, uh, reverse the curse, you know, the mummy equivalent of my running around the theatre. Someone at the museum must know that."

Castle lit up with enthusiasm, felt enlightened. "I know just the person." He pointed at the draft will on his desk, "Before I sign that, I also need to get it amended to include Kate."

"You should. Besides, you need a new one. That one has been sitting in that drawer for years, Richard. And Kate has been instrumental in improving your career as a writer."

"You have become very wise in your old age, Mother. She is instrumental because I love her more than anyone and she inspires me to be a good man."

"I raised a good man."

"Thank you, Mother. I will call the lawyer."

Martha gave him a look, "She adores you. You do know that don't you?"

He sobered, swallowed, "Yes. I know by the way she is with me when we're alone. She's mine, but it seems like I cannot keep her."

"The way she looks at you, it's easy to see. And she makes you happy."

"That she does." He slowly and with consideration, returned the will inside the drawer, deciding he would have the will amended to include Beckett. "She's struggling with adapting to living with others."

"Others being your daughter. You need to talk to Alexis."

"Yes. We talked about this last night. I tried to talk to Alexis this morning."

"She texted me about that."

"Is that right? You can share that meal with me, Mom if you tell me what she texted you."

"No. However I will share lunch. Letting you know your better half, in addition to being adorable, is a great cook." Martha left the office ahead of Castle.

"Won't argue with that. However, just like all the women I'm serious with, they leave me." He started to follow his mother.

"If you're talking about your two ex-wives, they are nothing compared to the woman you have now." She called back.

"I know, but yet again I'm grasping to keep her." He commented in hushed tones as though he was sharing a secret with his mother. As he crossed the lounge area, he scooped up a white string shoulder top Kate had left hanging over the back of a chair that morning. Without much thought he tossed it into the air to let it fall across his face then deeply inhaled. A combination of Kate's scent and body products was infused in the cotton garment. A moan of content escaped him when he gently dragged it from his face to his forearm. He half listened to his mother.

"Richard." Martha said endearingly having seen what he did with Kate's shirt. "You big softie."

"I am. You have no idea."

A smile formed on Martha that her son noticed.

"What? I can't love the scent of my girlfriend?" He bundled other garments he'd gathered into his arms. "Jasmine, perfume, her. Just don't tell Beckett I did that."

"Hmm. I think I might know how romantic you can be."

"I might be, but not helping me with Kate of late."

"It's a lot for her. She's all tough on the exterior but she's .."

"Certainly not when it comes to relationships." Castle finished and he continued to the laundry. He threw the clothes into the laundry hamper.

"Do you know if she has ever been in a serious relationship with a man?" Martha called out.

Rick paused, and couldn't help but reply with, "Well, there is me, if you count that we're serious and I'm a man."

"Besides you," she laughed.

A smile broke as he considered how he should answer his mother. "As in engaged before?" He decided to remain open to discussion. In fairness, over the years, particularly in the past decade, he'd asked many similar probing questions about men his mother had dated.

"Anything. Lived with anyone? Been engaged?"

He returned to the kitchen to see his mother had divided the lunch to two bowls. She'd only taken a small portion and left the rest for him.

"From what I do know about her past, there's been a couple of boyfriends, but they didn't stay together long enough and she didn't have bad break ups, so I guess the answer is no, otherwise she'd be married, perhaps a mother. She's still friends with them, and other than the loss of her mother, seems no serious baggage she carries. Who knows?" He shrugged.

"Then you must be conscious of that, Darling. Like the start of a new performance, this is all new to her as well. She can't just exit stage left when things get too hard. She has to navigate her way through these strange experiences."

"Yes, Mom and trust you to transfer your wisdom of the stage into a real life scenario."

"It's a real situation when you can't remember your lines, Honey, when you're lost for words like Kate was when your daughter ambushed her, and dare I say, like Meredith was able to do."

He touched his fingertips to the counter and hissed as he flicked them up as though he'd been scorched. "Mother. Don't hold back. Tell me what you really think." He sarcastically responded as he sat at the counter opposite his mother. He was somewhat amused by her reference to acting, but not so about the reference to Meredith.

"Well, it's true."

"Yes, she can be like her mother, but I can be an ass at times too." Castle gave his mother a boyish smile he generally saved for her.

Martha instantly smiled, "You two will figure this out."

"Like this curse, I will figure it out. After I eat this," he waved his fork over the plate of food, "I'm going to see Rupert Bentley at the museum. I'm asking him how to lift the curse."

"You need to, Darling. Eat up, but don't choke on it."

"Mom!"

She laughed aloud. He ate keen to get to the museum to resolve his dilemma.