WHO: Kate Beckett [katebeckett] and Richard Castle [castlewriter] WHEN: Backdated to early September WHERE: Castle's house WHAT: Kate picks Lily up; has a conversation with Castle about life WARNINGS: None. STATUS: Complete
Though it hadn’t been the plan, a certain routine had formed since Kate’s move to California.
At least two days a week her job required her to stay a bit late. Sometimes it was to prep for court, or to write up a new deposition, and others simply trying to stay on top of the endless paperwork that came with her chosen profession. Whether Manhattan or California, juggling the odd hours and being a single parent were always a challenge.
With her parents an hour away, she had never been more grateful for Alexis Castle. The teenager had taken to Lily with as much enthusiasm as Lily had taken to the family of five who lived next door. The natural ease of the relationship between her daughter with Jake and Reece Castle combined with the desire for the 15-year-old to earn a bit of money, it had been a no brainer to make an arrangement for Lily to stay a few steps down the street on the evenings she needed to stay late.
Today, her extra time in the trenches as a public defender has been prepping for court. An easily rattled witness who was due to testify in her upcoming trial meant hours of attempting to fix the problem though she was having very little success so far.
Pushing the work out of her mind, Kate climbed the steps to the front door of the neighboring structure, pressing a finger to the doorbell. The dinging of the bell carried through the house, the sound coming on the heels of a trio of yells and what sounded like the sound effects of lightsabers.
Sure enough, when Kate stepped to her right to peer in the living room window it was to see the blue glow of the toy, her daughter weaving and waving through what looked to be an obstacle course of couch cushions, an ottoman, throw pillows and several books. One of the twins wasn’t far behind, carrying his own lightsaber and a huge grin as he chased her daughter.
She couldn’t hide the grin, but Kate did try to control her laugh as the door opened, and she raised her eyebrows towards Richard Castle as the wave of sound and squeals hit her ears. “Trying to save the galaxy, huh?”
Richard chuckled as his twin boys and their neighbor/friend Lily ran the kitchen with lightsabers, fighting the dark side, while he worked on prepping food for the week. It was surprisingly easy for him to get that work done when Lily was over, though Richard did miss taking part as a sidekick or villain. Sometimes, housework or even work work came first, but that excuse he was putting off at least a couple more years until the boys started school.
He had just finished up with the prep when he heard the doorbell. The kids were in the living room having the time of their life. He smiled and opened the door to see Lily’s mom. His smile grew. “Yeah, they seem to be on the right path,” he laughed, as he looked at the kids in the living room again. “Want to come in?” Richard stepped aside to let Kate inside the house. “How’s work going?” Richard could imagine that her line of work was difficult, from the various mysteries and thrillers that he read and watched. He was just glad he didn’t have anything to do with that. He loved doing fun things.
If Lily took any notice of her mom arriving, she was doing a convincing job of pretending otherwise. Kate had done no more than step into the foyer for Rick to close the door than her child and the twins were quickly stampeding out of the living room and down the hallway to the backdoor that she already knew led to the backyard that bordered her own with a fence separating the two of them.
“It’s….” Kate began, pausing for a moment to try and think of the word to best describe her work, “Tough.” She finally said, thinking back on the teenager that she was currently preparing to take the stand in a murder trial. It was rough work in most situations, but this kid was trying to recount coming home to find his father dead from a gunshot. “But most of the time it’s that way.”
Rick nodded his head. He had followed the more publicized court cases over the years, read and watched dramatizations of court cases as well, he could understand what she was saying. He did not envy that type of profession, no matter how flashy it did look on TV. That’s how Rick enjoyed the drama of it all. “Do you ever wish to change it?” Rick asked. “Want something to drink?” He added.
With the kids now in the backyard rather than running around the house, Rick thought the kitchen would give them a good view to the backyard. “We can go to the kitchen, watch them have a little fun out back.” He knew he would feel a little better if he could still see them every so often. With twin boys, any kind of trouble was possible.
Did she wish to change her profession? Kate had to admit it wasn’t a question people usually asked. Most of the time when someone learned she was a lawyer they wanted to know what the biggest case she’d ever worked was, or if she had ever represented or dealt with anyone famous. “A drink would be great, thanks,” she replied, still mulling over the question as they walked towards the back of the house, her heels clicking over the floor.
“I don’t think I’d want to change what I do,” she answered once they had navigated the hallway and ended up in the kitchen with a prime view of the kids still involved in their inter-galactic battle, “I didn’t take a conventional route to become a lawyer, but I believe in what I do and that it can help people,” Kate said, though there was a slight frown at the corners of her mouth, “But I think I’d change the law in some ways; because there are too many loopholes to allow someone to slither out and get off for a crime that they should be punished for. But I don’t know what else I’d be if not this.”
Well, technically that wasn’t true. If not for her mother’s attack, Kate knew what she would be doing; she’d still be a model, jetting off to Milan for a runway appearance or to Belize for a photoshoot. Or even a cop, she thought, reminded by the dreams that she’d had and how clear that particular life path she certainly would have taken if her mom had been killed years ago instead of paralyzed. “What about you, Castle? Ever think about giving up on academics? Writing your own books instead of teaching about the works of others?” She hadn’t told him - and wouldn’t be telling him - about the book that had appeared on her nightstand a few days ago with his name stamped on the cover; the same one that he’d signed for her in a dream. A dream she also had no intention of ever telling him about.
When they reached the kitchen, Rick reached into the refrigerator to grab a couple of drinks, handing one to Kate and setting one at the table near the window overlooking the backyard. “I certainly know a thing or two about the loopholes,” he chuckled as he thought about a few of his youthful indiscretions that had led him to the wrong side of the law. “Though, really very minor ones, not any of those really serious loopholes that true criminals get out of. I don’t envy your job in that respect at all. I can see you changing some laws.”
He took a sip of his drink, watching the kids run around the backyard before looking back at Kate. “Me? Write books?” Rick asked in answer to her question. “No, I have thought about it, but nothing has ever been good enough. I’ll stick to writing fanfiction.” He hadn’t meant to admit that to her and he was sure his face showed the slight embarrassment he felt. It was the one thing that he did feel a bit embarrassed to admit that he did. Everything else, he was very open about his geekiness. “You did not hear me just say that. But I like what I do.”
Rick thought a little more. There were other things he would have liked to have done instead of teach. “I will admit that I would not turn down the opportunity to be an astronaut. How cool would it be to go to space, for real?”
“I can’t actually arrest you, Castle,” she laughed, taking her drink from him “Especially since there is a statute of limitations on most things. But it’s just…...I don’t know, sometimes we have an ironclad case and we go in and the defense just plants doubt in the jury’s mind and they get off.”
That was just one of many examples, but she tried not to dwell on it. It just upset her and usually gave her an incredible headache.
At his mention of fanfiction, she only raised an eyebrow, tempted to say something but deciding that it was likely best that she just kept her comments to herself. Really, the fact that he would write fanfic in his free time wasn’t surprising, and Kate didn’t think it was that strange, but she was surprised he had admitted it to her. “Oh, I don’t know,” she replied, “You might come up with something really good.” And again she was thinking about the book at her house, the one that she’d stayed up far too late to read the day it had appeared.
Taking a sip of her drink, Kate grinned at him, “Just sign up to go colonize Mars. NASA claims they’ll be ready for it by 2026.”
“You don’t want to arrest me? I can think of some fun things related to that,” Rick teased, adding a wink as well just to be sure that she knew he was kidding. “It’s good you aren’t able to do that and that there is a limitation. I don’t think my mother could handle raising the twins by herself, even with Alexis’ help.” Rick nodded his head as he listened. “I can see how that would be frustrating.” He took another drink before adding, “I hope that that is not the outcome you will have for your next case.”
Rick shrugged his shoulders. It was good enough for him to just keep his writings to himself, by remaining anonymous as he posted his fanfiction on the fanfiction sites. “If I ever do come up with something really good, maybe I’ll think about sharing it with someone else to read.” He laughed when she suggested signing up to colonize Mars. “What makes you think I haven’t done that already? I hope I get picked!”
And there it was, the first of what she was sure would be multiple come ons before Kate managed to corral Lily and leave. In the first couple of weeks after their move, she’d remained baffled by how Rick didn’t quite seem to be deterred by her distinct lack of interest in his casual requests for coffee or dinner or a movie. But a few months into the frequent flirting and at least one date offer a week, she’d grown used to it.
A part of her even appreciated it. Who wouldn’t? Rick Castle was good looking and interested, Kate just made it a priority to be too busy to reciprocate. Raising Lily and focusing on her career were the priorities, not dating her next door neighbor.
“And I bet they all involve handcuffs,” she replied, lifting her eyebrows as if daring him to contradict her. Handcuffs and probably a bed, though she wasn’t going to open that door for Castle to walk through.
“You should try mysteries,” Kate suggested, hoping that her tone didn’t give anything away, even as she grinned at his excitement over Mars. Much like with fanfiction, she wasn’t remotely surprised he’d signed up as a contender to go into space and colonize the final frontier.
It was such a Castle thing to want to do. As normal as laser tag at midnight and Star Wars movie marathons in the backyard, complete with light sabers and a Wookie contest.
Rick chuckled. “Of course, they all involve handcuffs. Anytime you want to be involved, just let me know. I could tell you all about it at dinner for the two of us.” He paused. “My safe word is apples,” he added with a cheeky grin. It may have been the weirdest flirt thus far in his attempts to get her to go on a date with her, but it was also so him as he joked about it too.
Mysteries? Sure, Rick enjoyed mysteries and loved solving them before he got to the end of the book, but he wasn’t sure how he could write a compelling mystery like James Patterson. “I don’t know, I think a Star Trek or Star Wars like book would be more my style. A story in those kind of settings can be quite expansive and entertaining for the masses.” “....do any of those lines actually work?” Kate asked, torn between laughing and rolling her eyes. She wasn’t about to let him know that if he eased up on the pick up lines that she might have been willing to entertain the idea of dinner, though she wouldn’t actually go through with it.
“You just want to write about space,” she challenged, taking a sip of her drink.
“To be honest, no it hasn’t. But at the same time, I haven’t used those lines very often.” Which was true. Rick hadn’t dated much between his two marriages or even when he got back together with Meredith. The only times he really dated had been during his high school and college years and he had never needed to use those lines. Despite that, he still smiled. He was just being himself.
He nodded his head. “I’m sure that when I do, it’ll make me an expert on space. They’ll have no choice but select me for Mars. Then I’ll just write about all of our adventures in space. It’ll make everyone want to go to Mars and space too!”
“Well,” Kate said, taking another drink, “They definitely won’t work on me. The last time a guy used a line to any sort of success, I think I was 18.”
While she wanted to laugh, mostly at the enthusiasm Castle had than anything, she didn’t. Instead, she gave a quick nod, “Maybe so, but there are a lot of ifs in that scenario, Castle. If you are selected, if the funding and the technology comes available in time...seems to me if you want to write, you should just write. Don’t wait around on checking all the boxes on your list. If you’ve got the inspiration, you should go for it.”
Rick filed the information she provided in his mind, not to use lines on her. If he was, it would probably need to be an incredible one that she might respond well too. Otherwise, he wasn’t planning on trying again. He took another drink. “I think that is the age that seems the most susceptible to those sorts of things,” he commented.
“Nah, I don’t really have the inspiration to pen the next great novel or mystery or anything like that. It’s just for fun. Besides, when would I find the time to do any of it between classes and those two,” he said as he pointed his drink towards the twins and Lily. “Maybe when they are older and in school.”
“Age and really wanting to annoy my dad,” she said with a smile, “The guy was in a punk rock band and alternately smelled like incense or weed. And I dated him for six months.”
Well, in one life she had. Kate had also dated the same guy in her dreams, though she’d been 16 and it had managed to last for nearly nine months before the guy had cheated on her with his backup singer. Though, by that point, she hadn’t been as upset about it as she probably should have been.
Pushing that thought away, she tapped her fingers against the side of the bottle, studying Castle as he looked out towards the kids as they continued to play. “Maybe,” she replied, her mind back on the book in her house that some version of Richard Castle had written to great acclaim, “But I am a believer that if you really want to go after something, you find a way.” And she left it at that. Maybe the actual Castle truly didn’t have any desire to write, and it wasn’t her place to push him towards it.
“Oh I can see the appeal in that. A life experience that I half want Alexis to experience and half don’t want her to experience.” Good thing Alexis wasn’t around to hear that, even if he had told her a million times to go out and do fun and stupid things. She was mature enough for the both of them, though Rick made sure she had some fun with the laser tag and the nerf gun wars. It was just anything related to rule-breaking that Alexis stayed away from.
Rick shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, maybe,” he repeated. It would certainly be something fun to do. And earn money from it? It sounded like easy work. Well, somewhat easy work. He was anxiously awaiting the release of GRRM’s next book, which he knew was delayed from writer’s block, so Rick was aware that writer’s block was a thing that would be far from easy work.
“I dunno, Castle,” she said, “She’s still young, plenty of time to become a rebel and date all the boys that give you nightmares. Maybe she’ll even get a tattoo or pierce something.”
All things she had done before turning 20 and all the the disdain of her father and general amusement of her mother. And that had been before she’d seriously started modeling and jetting off to foreign countries and left largely in charge of herself.
“The tattoo and piercing seem pretty tame to me. Unless she gets multiple ones all at once. Then maybe I’ll have a heart attack or something. The dating all the boys will give me nightmares when that happens. I want only the best for her and I know that she’ll probably date a few I won’t approve of.” He was glad that she wasn’t too much into dating. “Though knowing her, I’ll say be home from a date by midnight and she’ll be home by ten.”
Kate snorted at that, aware of how true it was. When it came to be a teenager, Alexis Castle was a rare breed. Even at six years old, she already knew she wouldn’t be as fortunate with Lily. Her daughter was much too similar to Kate for that. Headstrong, free spirited, and so incredibly stubborn. “You lucked out with her, Castle,” she replied, glancing out the window where the twins were now sitting with Lily, “Guess that’s why you have those two, to make your life crazy.”
He certainly did luck out with Alexis and he had no idea how it happened. And she was right too. The twins were definitely going to be the ones to make his life crazy. So far it’d been a good crazy, but he wasn’t exactly looking forward to their teenage years. Rick laughed. “Yeah, guess I can’t escape the crazy. Between the three of them, they make life interesting. Can’t imagine it without any of them.”
“No, I can’t really imagine what it’d be like without Lily,” Kate said, frowning slightly at herself as she moved to get to her feet. “Well, that’s not true. I know exactly what I’d be doing if I hadn’t gotten pregnant, but there’s nothing about that life that I’d trade for this one. Having her…..it’s both the hardest and the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Rick nodded his head. He knew exactly what she meant, partly. Between having Alexis and the twins, life changed and he had often wondered what it’d be like without the twins when they were newborn, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. “Kids are the best and the worst at the same time, but it is far more fun with them. Though two at once was an eye-opener and I’m glad that Alexis was around to help out when Meredith left.”
It wasn’t the first time he had mentioned his ex-wife and the mother of his kids, just as it wasn’t the first time Kate felt a clench of annoyance and intense dislike. She didn’t know Meredith personally, though she had seen some of her stage work in New York, but the idea of leaving behind your children - not once, but twice- was just unfathomable to her.
But, of course, Kate had her own child who lived her life without ever having laid eyes on her father. At least Alexis, Jake, and Reece had the benefit of occasional visits from and to see Meredith. “....is she coming to see them soon?”
“She’ll probably be here for the holidays, at least that is what she told me the last time we spoke a few weeks ago.” Rick told her. He expected her to be home for the holidays and she was usually good about spending time with the kids during those times. He didn’t talk to her all that often, but she did call every couple of weeks to talk to the kids. Rick appreciated Facetime and Skype since they even put a face to the voice, something that wasn’t around when Alexis was little.
“Good,” she replied, that knot of tension in her stomach releasing somewhat. At least the kids wouldn’t have to spend Christmas without their mother around, whereas Lily…..
With a sigh, Kate pushed the thought away, reaching over to pat Castle on the shoulder. “I need to go, Lily hasn’t eaten dinner and I’m sure she’s still got homework to do before bed.”
Rick smiled as she patted his shoulder. “I bet she’s got an appetite. They’ve been playing pretty hard. I probably ought to get some food in the twins too. It was good to see you, Kate. It was great having Lily over too.” He got up from the table. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
“For certain things,” she said on a laugh, stepping towards the door and pulling it open to call for Lily, “She’ll devour pizza, and scowl at me when I give her carrots. It’s a constant war,” Kate added, her smile only growing as Lily jumped up and ran towards the door, throwing her arms around Kate’s waist once she’d entered the kitchen.
“Hi, baby,” Kate said, dipping down to drop a kiss against Lily’s dark hair, “Thanks, Castle.” She added, gesturing for Lily to head towards the front door so they could take their leave.