39. Swimmies

XOXOX

"Daddy faster," Jamie shrieked as Castle pulled her through the water. "Faster."

"I can't go any faster," he laughed.

"Faster Daddy," his daughter commanded nevertheless, unfazed by his words.

"Your sister is in need for speed," Castle huffed at Alexis who was sitting on the rim of the basin, watching them with sparkling eyes.

"Well, we could race each other," Alexis suggested jumping back into the water.

Castle stopped his spinning, feeling slightly dizzy as he tried to focus on a spot on the wall.

"Jamie could sit on your back," Alexis grinned, swimming over to them.

"Isn't that a bit unfair?" He pouted.

"But you're much bigger than I am," Alexis stated matter-of-factly and he had to admit she had a point, "Jamie, would you like to sit on Dad's back while he's racing me?" Alexis asked, knowing her sister would totally agree to it.

"Yeah," Jamie nodded eagerly, as expected.

"Alright, alright," Castle surrendered, "When you two are ganging up on me I don't stand a chance."

"You love it," Alexis grinned and yes, he did.

They met at the end of the pool, Jamie's small arms around Castle's neck, her legs around his torso as far as they could, while her swimmies stuck out to both sides of his head, making it appear as if he had giant ears.

"Kate," he called out, "you need to give the start signal."

She laughed, getting out of her chair and stood, waving her arms to make sure everyone was ready. When she received three head nods, she straightened a bit before calling, "Ready, set, go."

And they were off. Alexis won, easily.

The pool of the Manhattan Plaza Health Club was not big, but besides a couple making their rounds it was deserted, leaving Castle and the girls enough room to play without bothering anyone while Kate sat in one of the comfortable deck chairs, a book in her lap that she had hardly picked up since they got here, too engrossed in what was playing out in front of her.

She knew Castle had been disappointed when instead of the red bikini she had greeted him in a rather boring swim suit, but after the make-out session in her bathroom she thought it was best not to tempt him. Of course Castle was still very much topless and so she had spent most of the past hour appreciating his broad shoulders, his firm chest and muscular arms. And it didn't go unnoticed, judging by the hot looks Castle shot her way once in a while.

Kate knew there were good reasons why they had agreed on taking things slow, but the longer she thought about it the more she felt like they had been taking it slow for almost three years now. She had thought about them a lot not only since they had reunited, but also during the two years they had spent apart, and knowing that it had been the same for him was making a lot of things easier, knowing she wasn't the only one feeling their special connection. There was no use in denying it. If she didn't feel like he was right, that they could be good together she would have never agreed to give it a try. Hadn't they lost enough time already? Kate was surprised to realize that admitting she was indeed ready for them wasn't as scary as she had feared it to be.

She returned her attention to Castle who was again swirling Jamie through the water, her daughter laughing and screaming, while the smile on Kate's face could probably lit up the whole universe. He was such a great dad. He made their daughter so incredible happy, it squeezed her heart tightly.

"Mommy," the little girl shrieked and Kate waved at her, her smile even widening.

"Your family is adorable," someone said to her right, startling Kate a little as she turned to find an elder lady smiling up at her.

She looked back at the three of them, could see Castle telling the girls something as they both sat on his hips now and then they all looked over to her and waved, goofy smiles on their faces and Kate laughed, a happy bubbling sound escaping her lips.

"Yes, yes they are," she admitted, waving back at them.

"It's not often you see true happiness like this nowadays," the woman went on, "most people give up way too soon, make sure you'll hold on to what you have."

Kate looked at her, stunned and for a moment unable to form a reply, but looking back at Castle, seeing the joy in his eyes and finding the same joy reflected in Jamie's and Alexis' she knew the woman was right and Castle had been as well. It might not always be easy, but it would be worth it for moments like these.

Kate turned back to where the woman had been standing, "I will," on her lips but the elder lady was already gone, leaving her with a warm and fuzzy feeling in her heart.

"Mommy?" Kate's attention was pulled back to her daughter, who was now clinging to the rim of the pool, Castle right behind her.

"You want to get out?" Kate asked, kneeling down and grabbing her under the arms.

"She's getting cold," Castle explained, "is it okay if Alexis and I stay in a bit longer?"

Kate stood up, placing Jamie at her hip and looking over to Alexis who was diving at the other end of the pool, "Sure," she smiled down at Castle, "take your time."

"Great," Castle smiled back and waved at Jamie one more time, before making his way over to Alexis.

Kate walked over to the deck chairs, pulling up a towel, before putting Jamie back on the ground and wrapping the towel around her.

"Are you cold, Jamie?" Kate asked, sitting down and placing her daughter in her lap, letting her snuggle up with her.

Jamie nodded and Kate wrapped the towel a bit tighter around her, letting her hands run up and down Jamie's arms.

"Did you have fun?" Kate questioned, watching Castle, throwing Alexis through the air, so she fell back into the water with a loud splash.

"Yes," Jamie grinned, "Lexi swims good."

"That she does," Kate agreed, "But you're pretty good yourself. You just have to wait a little and then you two will race each other."

Jamie lifted big eyes at her mother, "Yeah?"

Kate laughed, "Absolutely."

"Not in Daddy?"

"No," Kate chuckled, "no not on daddy's back."

Jamie grinned from ear to ear, "Cool."

"So is your mother coming?" Kate asked, when Castle returned to the kitchen where she was struggling with his coffee machine. "Shit," she hissed, burning her hand for the third time.

Castle chuckled, taking the coffee cup out from her hand, "Let me," he said, shoving her over to one of the barstools. "And to answer your question, yes she's coming over, actually she's already on her way but she insists on having an early dinner. Apparently she's going out on a date, with Stewart - again."

"You don't like him?" Kate raised one eyebrow, watching him handling the coffee machine like a pro.

"Actually I've never met Stewart, but it's the third date in a row so it might be best if I prepare myself to call him Dad," he groaned.

"Castle," Kate scolded him as the dish towel hit him square in the face, "you're horrible."

"What?" He gaped at her, "I'm talking form experience here."

Kate just shook her head, taking the coffee cup from him and studying him for a moment, there was something in his eyes, a sadness he tried to hide, she stored it away for later, "So dinner at five?" she suggested instead.

"Yeah, sounds good. Where are the girls?"

"Upstairs, I put Jamie to bed for an hour, she was pretty tired and Alexis wanted to work on her puzzle," she filled him in on what he had missed since he had disappeared into his office thirty minutes ago.

"Good and you? Are you feeling alright?" He reached out for her, letting his finger trace lightly over the butterfly strips on her forehead before cupping her cheek, she leant into his touch, couldn't help it, couldn't resist the call of his body whenever he was near, not anymore.

"I'm fine, Castle," she said, sounding only slightly annoyed and when her hand covered his, he knew he wasn't in any trouble for being too caring. "Really, don't worry."

"You seemed a bit out of it yesterday at the hospital," he gently approached the topic that had been on his mind all day.

For a second he thought she would just stand up and leave him sitting there at the kitchen counter, her features darkening, her hands dropping into her lap but she fought the urge to run, "That wasn't quite like me, I know," she finally started.

"Hey, it's okay. I get it. It was a lot to take in," he reassured her, sensing her discomfort, "I just want to make sure that whatever comes next is really what you want."

"It has never been that close before," she looked at him, "I mean I've had my share of bruises since I'm on the job, but yesterday was different."

"Because you ended up at the hospital?" he asked.

"Yes, no," Kate sighed, brushing her hair back out of her face, "I think I never had time to dwell on it, you know? I always had to get home and pretend everything was fine for Jamie's sake and even that didn't work out that well. But I couldn't allow myself to think about the ifs and whens, not coming home wasn't an option."

"It's still not an option," he stated firmly and she gave him a smile for that.

"I know, but a possibility," she huffed. "It has been and will always be a possibility."

"Kate," he took her hands back in his, "Don't -," but she stopped him.

"The point is," she took another deep breath, "Jamie didn't have anyone before, but now she does. She has you and Alexis and Martha and I want to make sure that in case I don't make it home it's all settled. I don't want you to have to go to court or whatever it will take to have her with you."

"So you're serious about the shared custody thing?" He asked, serious.

"If that's what it takes to make sure she's with you, yes. And it's what we agreed on anyway, right? Doing it together, shared custody would only make it legally official."

"Okay," he smiled. "I actually called my lawyer after I talked to my mother," Castle admitted, fearing he might have been too forward with that decision.

"On a Sunday?" Kate frowned.

"Well I'm paying him a lot of money," Castle shrugged.

"And?" She lifted expectant eyes to him.

"He will look through our options and wants to meet with us next week, but he said we need to clear the paternity test and birth certificate first." He told her what he had learned so far.

"Okay, I should get the results within the next days," Kate nodded, "I asked them to speed it up, since it's not crime related it would have probably taken months for them to get to it otherwise."

"You send it to your own lab?" He frowned.

Kate shrugged, "Seemed to be the fastest way to get the results and it hardly gets any more official than an certificate of the Medical Examiners Office of the State of New York."

"That sounds so morbid," he grinned, standing up from his barstool and stepping between her legs.

"You like that, huh?" She teased.

"I'm a mystery writer," he shrugged. "It's my job."

"Uh-huh," her fingers slipped into his belt loops, pulling him closer, before lifting her hands up to rest them on his chest, her face turning serious for a moment, "Thank you, Castle. I know I've been quite challenging for the past two months."

He shook his head amused, "Nah, piece of cake."

She smiled shyly, glancing away but he placed two fingers under her chin, making her look at him, "What matters is that we are here now."

He leant down, placing his lips softly against hers, feeling the warm brush of air escaping her mouth and he moved to deepen the kiss when …

"And where exactly is here?" A firm voice asked and Castle jumped back as if struck by lightening, trying to get as much distance between him and Kate as possible, seeing Kate's cheeks turn pink.

"Mother?" He yelped, "What are you doing here?"

Martha fixed him with a stern glare, "You invited me for dinner. That was merely half an hour ago, seriously Richard. Did you forget already?" She shook her head, "But I see you have been occupied."

"Mother it's not what you think," he stuttered, watching her cross the living room.

"Oh I hope it is exactly what I think it is," Martha smirked.

X~~~~X