23. Late night talks and pancakes

~XXXX~

The next morning Castle was flipping pancakes in the kitchen when the phone rang, startling him a little, and interrupting his humming. Alexis had run upstairs to 'freshen up' as she had called it and he'd had to bite his tongue not to laugh. It certainly was something she'd picked up from her grandmother, he'd thought. He reached for the phone, sure it would be his mother on the other end of the line as he picked up.

"Good morning, mother," he almost sang into the phone, not able to contain his good mood, and was met with silence.

"Uhm – this is Kate." Her surprised voice came over the line after a moment, slightly hesitant. "Am I interrupting?"

"Oh," he dropped the spatula, equally surprised, he hadn't expected her to call him today and he immediately worried that something was wrong with Jamie. "Hey - Kate. Everything okay?"

"Hey," she laughed softly. "That's what I was going to ask you. I just wanted to hear how things are going with Alexis, but judging by your good mood I assume there has been improvement?"

"Yes, definitely - improvement," he got out and Kate could hear the smile in his voice, feeling her lips lifting up into one of her own. "Just after we hung up she came back down and we talked."

"That's great, Castle." She was happy for them and it touched him that she seemed to care so much about how Alexis was feeling in all of this. Beside his mother he wasn't used to anyone else making an honest effort when it came to Alexis. Not even her own mother.

"Yeah, I think she was more upset about not being involving from the beginning than about the news itself. I apologized and explain why I didn't tell her right away and she seemed to understand."

"And how is she feeling about having a baby sister?" Maybe it was not her place, Alexis was Castle's daughter, but she wanted to know, needed to know Alexis was in this.

"She'll need a couple of days to get used to the idea, come to terms with everything but I'm pretty sure, once that happens she'll be more than excited to be a big sister. She's already worried Jamie won't like her," he confessed, not sure if he was overstepping a line sharing this with Kate without his daughter's knowledge, but it felt so good to have someone to talk to, someone who understood.

"I'm sure Jamie will adore Alexis," Kate spoke softly, somehow she could very much relate to Alexis's insecurities, having tons of her own. "From what you told me, she's the best sister Jamie could ask for."

"Thank you Kate," he breathed out, his voice shaken with emotions when he said, "It means a lot."

When she didn't answer Castle wasn't sure if he'd said too much. But she had touched a sore point with her support. He had always done it alone, even when Meredith had still lived with them it had mainly been him who'd taken care of Alexis and he had always managed. He'd sought his mother's council when he needed to but mainly he'd gone by instinct so far. It had worked for them. Still he couldn't help but wish that Alexis knew what it was like to have a mother that was more like Kate.

He was quick to distract her though, stopping her from reading too much into it, not wanting to damage what they had managed to establish between them over the past weeks. He had no idea what exactly they were, other than Jamie's parents, but he hoped they were starting to become friends and he didn't want to ruin that because he made her feel uncomfortable. "We'll have a father-daughter day, maybe I'll take her out of the city for a couple of hours."

"That sounds lovely," Kate said quietly. "Are we still on for tomorrow? If you'd rather spend time with Alexis I'd understand. I don't want her to feel left out or abandoned now that she knows."

"No, no. We're still on. Alexis is at a friend's birthday party anyway, she's been talking about it for weeks." He reassured her, but hoped it wouldn't take too long until he wouldn't have to divide his time between his two daughters anymore.

He was back to flipping pancakes when Alexis came running down the stairs to join him for breakfast.

"All freshened up?" He asked as he pushed a plate with pancakes towards her and handed her a glass of orange juice.

"Yep," Alexis grinned, "but can you braid my hair before we go?"

"Sure," he nodded, sitting down next to her and digging into his own plate. They both chewed in comfortable silence for a while, both enjoying their pancakes before Castle asked, "So, what do you want to do today Pumpkin?"

Alexis munched on her bite of pancake, considering his question, "We could go to the museum?"

"The museum?" He sighed, "I thought we could do something outside?"

"It's raining," Alexis stated matter-of-factly and Castle's head swung around to look out the window to see that indeed it had started to rain. Maybe he should have checked the weather forecast before making plans to go to the country side.

"Okay, I see your point. So museum it is, anything particular?" He asked, reaching for his coffee cup.

"National History Museum?" Alexis suggested.

"Again?" He almost whined.

"It's one of my favorites," she shrugged. "And yours too."

She had him there. Grinning, he nodded, "Okay. I'll give you the National History Museum if you give me a movie marathon in the evening."

Alexis put down her fork, giving him a serious look, furrowing her eyebrows and she reminded him of Brando in the Godfather. Finally she held out her hand for him to shook, "Deal."

"I knew I made you an offer you can't refuse," he replied in his best Brando imitation, before he shook her hand to seal the deal.

The next week just flew by, Castle divided his time between Alexis and Jamie, spending time with his youngest before or after Kate's lunch break and with Alexis after school. He had told Jamie about Alexis and about his mother, but he wasn't sure she really understood. Maybe it was too much for a two-year-old whose only family had been her mother until now, to realize what it all meant for her future live. She would understand when they would finally all come together, he was sure of it.

"Dad?" Alexis was standing in the doorway to his bedroom and he looked up surprise, glancing at his alarm clock. It was way past midnight.

"Hey Alexis, why are you still up? It's late."

"I can't sleep," she mumbled, not moving from her spot at the door.

He put the book he was reading aside, patting the spot next to him, "Come here."

Alexis shuffled over, climbing onto the bed next to him and his arm reached around her small shoulders to pull her close. He waited her out, knowing she would talk when she was ready.

"I want to meet her," she finally said so quietly he wasn't sure he understood.

"Jamie?" He asked to make sure, bowing his head to be closer to her.

"Yes, I want to meet her. Is that okay?" Her blue eyes looked up into his, insecure and hesitant.

"Oh course, it's okay Pumpkin." He kissed the top of her head. "It's more than okay."

"When?" She asked snuggling closer to him, sleep already pulling her under.

"Soon," he promised before she was asleep.

Switching off the lights, he lay in the dark, pulling the covers over them, thinking. It probably was best to talk to Kate in the morning, see what she thought was the best way to bring them together. But then another thought struck him, he knew the perfect opportunity. As a matter of fact he knew just the occasion.

~XXXX~