Fate's Surprises
Chapter 3 - The Reunion
Kate's Brownstone
She had texted him that she would be off by 7PM and getting to her place by 8-ish would be just right. Kate is uneasy. She knows that Rick wants to talk about that night six years ago. It had been a night she had not forgotten. She had remembered it over the years. Kate had even tried to contact Rick about that night sooner, but Fate again had lead her down a path that did not allow for her to reconnect with Rick, until now. She had learned it had been the same for him.
Why had Fate kept them apart all these years? This reunion needed to happen years back and had it been so, life for Kate, and for Rick, would have been different. Despite all that had happened and all the challenges she had faced since their one night, she had managed to obtain her goal of being an NYPD cop.
When Rick gets to her brownstone, he is surprised. It is a beautiful residence and should rent for a good sum. He speed dials her. She answers.
"Getting to your front door now."
As he gets to the door, he sees it open. Kate is there to greet him.
She takes the to-go food and wine from him and carries it to the dining room. Rick follows her and once at the dinner table, Rick sees it already set with dinner plates, wine glasses, napkins, silverware, and the like.
"Sit", she tells Rick, as she starts putting the takeout meal on their plates.
"You have a great looking home, so typical of NYC, what's rent run on brownstones now a days?"
"Nothing for me, this is my grandparents' place that my mom inherited and where I grew up."
"Still, it is a challenge to maintain, and you must have done a lot of part time work to keep it up and running, along with finishing college, and then the police academy. I wish I could have been around to help you".
"Thank you, but I pulled thru and yes, it was not easy. Having you around then would have made it easier and I did try and find you, but life got in the way."
"So you and your parents lived here. Now it's yours."
"I share the house with my dad."
"How's your father by the way?"
"A functioning recovered alcoholic since that first time I told you about him. He's out of town in Boston for a business trip."
"So it's just the two of us?"
"Not quite", she answers.
Rick sees she is nervous and wonders why. They are just catching up, so that tell from her has Rick puzzled. What has got her so nervous?
Before Kate can explain further about her current situation, from a place that appears to be where the bedrooms are, Rick hears a what sounds like a small child's voice.
"Mom, do we have guests?", and entering the dining room is a young girl.
Rick is caught off guard, not expecting this turn of events. This has Rick a little stunned at the presence of the girl. Had Kate married all these years and was no longer free and available to be with him? Was that what has Kate nervous? Did she bring him here because she needed to tell him, despite their one glorious night together, needed to let him know that she is no longer single and able to see where it could go with him.
"Is she yours?", Rick says cautiously, he dreads the answer.
"Yours too Rick. Lily, met mom's friend. This is Rick and Rick this is Lily."
The little girl comes up to Rick and offers her hand. Rick gives it a squeeze.
He goes from stunned to shock, "Are you telling me I have a daughter I did not know about?"
"I'm telling you I became pregnant after our one night together."
He is about to question Kate on this. Question how she knows he is the father, until he notices the young girl's deep blue eyes. The same as his, the same as Alexis. Once he sees this, he does not question.
"Lily, Rick is also your father."
Lily looks at Rick with probing deep blue eyes, "Where have you been? My mom has not told me about you."
"Well, Lily, until now, I did not know about you", noticing now a third dinner setting, he had not noticed before, he asks the little girl, "Why don't you join us for dinner if you haven't eaten yet."
Then he turns to Kate, "Had I known I would have ordered a third dinner."
"Rick, I remembered the steaks from that restaurant were of good portions, as were the fixings. Lily and I can share."
Kate then prepares Lily's dinner plate.
All of them now, with their dinners ready, start to eat. Rick is eyeing his new found daughter.
"So what grade are you Lily?"
"First grade, Sir."
"Please call me Rick or dad, or daddy, whatever you feel comfortable with."
"Okay", is Lily's simple answer.
"How old are you Lily."
"I am six going on seven years old, daddy Rick."
Not a name as familiar and affectionate as Rick would have it , but it would do for now. Both were just starting to get use to each other.
"Rick, I never meant to keep her from you", Rick hears Kate saying.
Now he knows the real reason for Kate's nervousness. Had she feared he would reject Lily? Rick would never do that to a child that is his. Or was it guilt that she could not find him sooner to let him know she was pregnant with his child. Now he realizes that Kate had accomplished her goals as a single parent, and Rick feels guilt that he had not found her sooner. She truly needed him these six years past and he was not around to help her.
Rick looks at Kate and mouths a silent 'ok' to her remark. He understands and hopes his response to her will calm Kate's sense of guilt about keeping this from him all these years.
Now it is Lily's turn to ask questions.
"Daddy Rick, why are you and mommy just now together?"
"Well Lily...", Rick pauses for a while trying to find the right words to answer Lily.
Kate takes up the slack, "Your father and I lost contact, but were trying hard to find each other. We just now found one another".
"Oh", says Lily, not really understanding fully her mom's explanation.
"How do you lose someone?", Lily asks, wondering about her mom's comment.
Rick now takes up the lead, "Lily, I was involved with the law. They were taking me to court and so for three years I could not get hold of your mom. I was so busy fighting the courts."
"Were you in jail?", she asked a little surprise evident in her voice from her dad's reply.
"No, worst, I was tied up with court hearings and trials for years. I had little time to find your mom. The courts made it hard for me to get back to her."
"So it was like jail?"
"A little like that", says Kate to her daughter.
Lily is still trying to figure it all out, as best as a small six year old girl can. For now she accepts what she has been told. She continues to eat her dinner in earnest, showing she is hungry by the way she is taking in her food. So the dinner proceeds with little discussion except for Lily saying she liked the steak.
After dinner is done, Kate excuses herself and Lily, so she can give their daughter a bath and then put her to bed. When she finally makes it back to the living room, Rick is finishing his wine and hands Kate her glass.
"Rick, I tried to find you and it was not my intent to hide our daughter from you. But finishing my degree at NYU, then entering the Police Academy. all while being a single mom, had me so busy to continue in searching for you."
"I understand Kate, we both had complications after that night which prevented us from getting back together. Had we gotten together sooner I could have shared your load and you would not need to have been a single mom. That is the one big regret on not knowing sooner about Lily. I missed out on those six years of bonding with my daughter."
"I know that, and I have guilt about it. But circumstances seemed to have work against us both. Fate was not good to us for those years, but we are now reunited, so what next Rick?"
"I want to be in my daughter's life, and in yours. I felt a connection that night, and felt the same from of you. Am I mistaken about that one time together?"
"No, you are not mistaken and yes, I still remember fondly our one night. I agree with what you have said. So is there a woman in your life now?"
"Aside from my mother and daughter, no. In fact, since my divorce, I have not been with anyone significant. What of you?
"Same."
"Hard to believe with a woman as beautiful as you. Are you telling me no man has been interested?"
"A lot showed interest, but it goes away when they learn I have a daughter. They know I come as a pair."
"So no one serious?"
"There is one, a fellow uniform cop, he works robbery. We have worked cases together, but I have told him I do not need a man in my life right at this moment. He is content to be just a friend for now. We go out for lunch sometimes. We partner for precinct celebrations, other police events, and have done undercover cases together, but we have not been intimate."
"Do you want it to get serious?"
"The two of us for now are content just to be in each other's company."
"What do you think if I add my name to the 'interested' List."
"I was hoping you'd admit to that! Even after all these years. Like I said, it is not that serious yet with this man. He has dated other women. We are not exclusive, the relationship is no where close to that. Still, I find it hard to believe there is no one in your life, with all those page six stories from the gossip rags."
"So, keeping up with the Author Castle are we! Don't believe all those page six stories a lot is PR work by my publicist. Still I am happy to hear from you that you see we both could have a future together. Thank you for being honest with me, Kate. You've become even more stunning thru the years."
They are sharing a moment, and Rick gets into her personal space and gives her a passionate kiss. The first kiss in years.
"Rick", Kate says breathlessly, "let's take it slow please. Especially since Lily needs to bond with you. We have her to considered. I don't want us getting together because I got pregnant. What if we get together and then crash and burn. Lily would be affected. For her and us, let's take it slow."
"I can do slow Kate. Hell it's been six years!"
They end the evening with an agreement to see each other and let what happens just happen. Rick however for the next date will find out more on this other man. He is not at all jealous, he just wants to know more on his competition for winning Kate's heart.
What Rick failed to see was that he already had a good portion of her heart, he just needed to let that grow more. Rick needed to provide the circumstances that would allow Kate to see him as her one! She was already half way there.
He leaves Kate's brownstone in good humor and is hopeful for a future with her. They had shared a passionate 'good bye' kiss when he left her. She ask him to call her the next day and they would talk again. He leaves it at that knowing that getting to know Kate more was what it is all about. He had learned much about her that one night. It had felt like a life time of knowing, but Rick knew there is more. She was a mystery he wanted to know. So many layers to the woman Kate Beckett, and Rick wanted to reveal all those layers.
Castle Loft
When Rick gets back to the loft, his mother is there, sipping some wine.
"So, the prodigal son returns, did we get lucky tonight?"
"Mother, please, I don't alley cat any more."
"Okay, sorry for hitting a nerve, and it's true, since Meredith you have been careful with whom you see."
"Mother, remember that night I told you about, about the girl, Kate. She is the police officer who brought me in for questioning. I had dinner with her afterwards. I finally found her, and she has achieved her goal of being a Police Officer."
"Oh Richard, I am so happy for you. You've told me of that night so many times that I know how much you connected with her that one night. Is that why you are late?"
"She has a daughter."
"Oh, I so sorry. So she is married and unavailable?"
"Her daughter is mine too Mother."
"You're saying I have another granddaughter I knew nothing about."
Rick tells her mother about the dinner and about discovering that he had a daughter from his one night with Kate.
"Will you tell Alexis?"
"Have to, just trying to determine when."
"The sooner the better. There is no time like the present."
"You're right mother, maybe at dinner tomorrow?"
Dinner Later The Next Night
Rick made sure to cook a great home-made meal for them that night. He wanted to set the mood and tone for his reveal to Alexis that she had a little sister. On Alexis' part, she had sense there was something on her father's mind that morning at breakfast. It was something she always knew when her father had something on his mind. This because they were so bonded and he was the only parent present in her life. True, her grams had provided the substitute for her absentee mother. Martha giving Alexis those life lessons and the female perspective only a mother or grand-mother could give. So as they started dinner that night, she knew her dad was up to something and she would now find out what it is.
"Good dinner dad", she had told him. Rick had made Italian that night, alfredo, garlic bread sticks, salad with Italian dressing, and her favorite gelato for desert.
"Lex, remember that story I often talk about the one girl Kate."
"The one you shared a night with and never got to see again. The one you have been trying to find in your spare time. Using what time you have between writings, being Richard Castle playboy author, raising me, your only daughter, and trying to find that woman? Your Kate."
"She is the police officer who took me in for questioning during that book signing."
"Wow, I remember her from that signing the other day. That is incredible, sounds like something you would write in one of your novels, Dad."
"We had dinner in her place after the questioning."
"I am happy for you dad. You found her, or is it the other way round, she found you?"
"It was serendipity Lex."
"Good word dad, so will you be seeing her more often now?"
"Yes, we want to see where it goes, but one other thing you need to know?"
"What's that dad?"
"She has a daughter!"
"Oh, does that mean she is married. So she is not available? Sorry dad, or wait, is she divorced? Why should that stop you dad if you have feelings for this woman. I mean it was only one night and you still think of her. You've tried to reconnect with her for years now."
"She's a single parent and her daughter is your younger sister. Her name is Lily."
There is a pause, what seemed like a long pause, until Alexis says, "I have a little sister, oh dad, when can I see her? I want to see Lily."
"We are taking it slow Alexis, but I will make arrangement for you to meet your little sister."
Lexy stands up from her chair and goes to her dad to give him a hug and kiss.
"This is the best news I have ever had. I finally have a sister to share you with. Oh, but wait, if all goes well with Kate, I guess I will have to share you with her also."
"Well, you have been sharing me with grams all this time, so what is two more. Right?"
She gives her dad her patented Alexis eye roll at her father's comment.
"Well, Father, when will I get to start the sharing? I am so excited to meet my baby sister. Now I need to get homework done."
Alexis then gives her grams a hug and heads upstairs to her bedroom.
"That went well, but are you sure that Alexis is your daughter? She is so studious and conscientious about her classes. She did not get that from me."
"Nor from me, you think she got it from Meredith?"
Mother and son both look at each other and say in unison, "Naahh, Never!", they both laugh at the thought of it.
"Maybe she got it from her grandfather."
Rick is saddened by the remark! He had never known his father. It had been a one night affair for his mother, like it had been for himself had with Kate. But in the case of Castle's father, he never reconnected with his mother.
"Mother, I don't want to be absent from Lily's life like my father. I want her to grow up knowing me, knowing her big sister Alexis, and her grammy Martha."
"Oh Richard, she will. We are her family, we will make sure of it. Now when do I get to meet Kate and my grand daughter?"
"Soon mother, you and Alexis will get to do that soon. Just let me work it out with Kate. We have to make sure that Lily is not overwhelmed with all this. She is still young and we do not want her to be overcome by this recent event."
"Richard, whatever is best for Lily. Alex and I can be patient since until a recently, we did not even know of Lily. We trust you to come up with the best for her."
Rick goes to bed that night knowing now that his family knows about their new addition. He is hopeful for a good future with Lily and Kate.
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