42. Chapter 42

AN:

I've drawn from a lot of Castle/Alexis dialogue from early season four in the last couple of chapters and probably will in the next couple as well. Credit for those belong to the show's writers.

Mars 2112 did exist. It probably closed early in the year this birthday would have happened, but I used it anyway because it seemed such a Castle and Alexis kind of place.

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Chapter 42

As everyone was gathering what they needed to leave for school and work, Castle looked at Alexis's box near the foot of the stairs. "I can help you put them all back if you want," he told his daughter.

I don't think I want to put them all back," Alexis answered. "A lot of it was always a little extraneous. Somebody's going to have to purge some of it sooner or later anyway. What do you think, Kate?"

"I'm not going to tell you what to do with that. Those things are part of your childhood. Even if they're just participation trophies, they're from things you enjoyed."

"But there are so many of them, and the only thing special about them is the memory. What do you do with that when you're an adult?"

"Do you really want to get rid of them?" Kate asked, sounding doubtful.

"Most of the participation ones, I think."

"Well, I guess you could group them by year, or team, or whatever, and take pictures of the ones you don't want to keep. Pictures in an album take up a lot less space.

"Good idea. And I'm pretty sure Dad has at least one picture of me receiving every one of them. He was never shy about whipping out the camera."

"You could do the same with the ones you want to keep, but then put them back on the wall or the shelf. If you're ready to part with them later, the record is already there. The ones you aren't sure about can go in the storage room until you decide."

"I like that idea," Castle answered. Why don't we go through them tonight?"

"I'll go through them tonight, Dad. I'm the one deciding, remember? If there's anything you can't part with, there's always the storage room."

"Fine," he huffed, and Kate unobtrusively took his hand in sympathy.

xxxxx

When Beckett and Castle entered the precinct with their travel mugs of coffee, Esposito greeted them with, "Beckett, you are so gonna love me this morning."

"And why would that be?" she asked a preening Esposito.

"Lanie got off a little after 8:30 last night, and we had a working dinner."

"You ate where there was a dead body?" Castle asked with a little shudder.

"No," Esposito answered, looking disgusted. "We went to the diner where Ms. Lennick, the woman who found the body, works...talked to the staff and the nighttime regulars, checked on who was there the night of the murder. Good food, too, by the way. We added that place to our late night list. Anyway, right after you left yesterday afternoon, Ryan caught a guy on the camera footage from the store diagonally across from the alley. We got him leaning to pick something up and hitting the victim. Then he was down beside the body. That part's a little blurry; but when he turned around to leave, we got full face toward the camera, and he was stuffing things in his pocket. Then he walked off at a pretty good clip."

"This guy anybody we know?"

"In the picture Ms. Lennick gave us," he answered, pointing the picture out on the murder board. "Second from the left."

"According to the name Javi got last night, we're looking at a Gordon Black. Driver's license matches Mr. Second From the Left. Just sent uniforms to pick him up," Ryan reported.

"Wow. Looks like we can go home, Castle. Nothing left for us to do," Beckett said with a smile. "Thanks for taking the initiative, Espo. And good work on this, Ryan. Let me see the footage before Mr. Second From the Left gets here."

Appropriately up to speed on everything, Beckett asked, "So you want to interrogate this one, or you figure I'm due for a little actual work this morning?"

"We figured we'd rest on our laurels in observation and let you get the confession," Ryan answered.

"Okay, I'll take it, then," she agreed.

"I'll be back in about twenty," Castle told Beckett. "Coffee shop. We'll be running on empty before long. When he returned, he had a box of pastries as well as four coffees. "Some snacks for the show while you're in observation," he explained, putting them on Esposito's desk. "Better get your bear claw now," he told Beckett, grabbing something for himself. "I've seen what these guys can do to a box of pastries."

Just as Beckett was finishing her bear claw, LT came in with the suspect, who looked far less than alert.

"Interrogation two, LT. I'll be right there."

"You got it," the officer answered.

Picking up the pastry box and their coffees to take with them, the boys went to observation to watch Beckett work her magic, and Castle followed Beckett in.

"Mr. Black, I'm Detective Beckett. This is Mr. Castle." She dropped the file loudly on the table and asked as she sat down, "Where were you between eleven and two night before last?"

"What's this about?" he asked.

"It's about murder. She opened the file and pulled out the crime scene photo of the victim, Mark Sheffly, and pushed it over toward their suspect. "This man was murdered during that time. Do you know anything about that?"

Gordan Black looked at the photo and slumped in his chair. "Oh, god."

"Anything you want to tell us, Mr. Black?" Castle asked as he sat down next to Beckett.

"He was a good guy."

"Then why did you kill him?" Beckett snapped.

"What makes you think I killed him?" Black asked, clearly nervous, and now a lot more alert.

"There was a security camera in front of the store across from the alley." She pushed another photo across the table, showing him leaning down and picking up a piece of debris that became the murder weapon, and then another where his face could be seen as he left the alley. "Have you disposed of his property yet? Camera footage clearly shows you next to the body and then stuffing your pockets."

The suspect sat for a long moment before answering sullenly, "He always had nice stuff. He saved for it so he didn't have credit card bills. I'd been clean for a while, but somebody slipped me something at a weak moment not long ago, and I was sliding back under. I'd already spent everything I had. Never saved anything. When he showed us the ring he bought for his girlfriend, it pushed me over the edge. I was gonna take the stuff to the pawn shop this morning. That would take care of what I needed…" He stopped and looked at the crime scene photo again. "Oh, god. I really did that, didn't I? I didn't know it was in me to kill somebody." He pushed the photos back to Beckett and fell forward on the table, his head on his hands.

Beckett placed him under arrest and had him sent to holding.

"Hardly worth your skills, Beckett," Ryan commented around the last cronut. "He just kind of caved."

"Yeah, well, easy isn't necessarily a bad thing," she answered. "You did the rest of the work. I'll write up whatever you haven't."

"We saw the captain about a search warrant as soon as she got in this morning. We're heading over there now."

"Good work, guys. Thanks."

When she sat down at her computer and pulled up the form she needed to fill out, she mentioned to Castle, "Alexis seemed better this morning."

"Yeah, compared to some of what you missed yesterday, it was like a celebration."

"Speaking of celebrations, her birthday is the end of next week. Will Meredith be here for that?"

"I don't know if anyone has asked her. Last time I checked, Alexis hadn't even decided what she wants to do for her birthday."

"Why don't we make that tonight's dinner conversation? No talk about college unless Alexis brings it up."

"Sounds good. I could do with pleasant conversations with my child about now."

The rest of the day was paperwork, so Castle went home to see if he could get a little writing done. The suspect that morning had set off some ideas. Even if they were in the form of notes or snippets, they could come in handy later.

Kate was home on time that evening, and, as planned, Castle broached the subject of Alexis's birthday at dinner. "What would you like to do for your birthday next week? Your eighteenth. That's a big deal."

"Instead of trying to usher in adulthood, could I use it to close out childhood?"

"As long as you don't close the door completely," he answered.

"Is that even genetically possible in this family?" Alexis asked with a grin.

"Probably not," Castle answered, smiling back. "So what does that mean you'd like to do?"

"I want the entire Mars 2112 experience. The ride down to the restaurant in the space ship, wandering aliens, games, strangely named food, gift shop…the works. Have you ever been there, Kate?"

"I've heard people talk about it, but I haven't been. Sounds like fun. Do you know if your mom will be here to go, too?"

Alexis suddenly looked disappointed. "Oh, that's right. I talked to her a couple of weeks ago, and she said she'd definitely be here for my birthday. I'm sorry. With all the Ashley communications and the college stuff, I forgot to mention it. She'd hate Mars. She'd be like a fish out of water and complaining, and it wouldn't be nearly as much fun."

"Tell you what," Castle suggested, "Since she's going to be here, why don't we have a big birthday breakfast for you at the loft and make reservations at a nice restaurant for just you and your mom for the evening? Then we can take you to Mars on the weekend. We can introduce Kate to the place and savor every cheesy part of the experience…and bring home whatever souvenirs you want to buy to commemorate turning eighteen."

"Okay, let's plan on that." Alexis seemed satisfied and dinner conversation didn't touch colleges that evening.

After Alexis had gone to her room for the night, and they were headed for their own, Kate broached the subject she had avoided up to that point. "You know, it seemed to me that Alexis was feeling disappointed about Meredith and her birthday. It really bothers me that she completely changed her birthday plans to accommodate her mother. It should be the other way around. Doesn't Meredith make concessions for Alexis?"

"Meredith loves Alexis as much as she knows how to love anybody. If Alexis said she wanted to go to Mars 2112, Meredith would probably go; but it would be harder for the rest of us to enjoy it over the sighs and complaints about the food, etc. She wouldn't be able to hide the fact that she'd rather be somewhere else. She would actually think that she humored her daughter; but, without even realizing it, she'd end up sucking the fun out of it for everybody else. She just doesn't have the capacity to fully consider anybody but herself. It's sad, but it's just who she is. She can be very pleasant to be around sometimes, but at some point it comes to you that at least half of that is an act. She's an actress, and she uses that to manipulate things to her advantage. It makes me angry that I can't even wish I'd never met her…because I wouldn't give up having Alexis for anything. And Alexis deserves to know her mother…if for no other reason than to learn some of the fine points of how not to be a parent. Sometimes I wish I hadn't made so much of an effort to keep Meredith involved." He took a deep breath and exhaled on a long, sad sigh. "Sometimes I think Alexis might, too."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's okay. The family goes through some form of this conversation every time Meredith is supposed to visit. Now we'll see about the fifty-fifty chance that she calls and cancels at the last minute...or doesn't call at all and doesn't show up."

"If she cancels on Alexis's eighteenth birthday, I'll help you kill her and get rid of the body. I know guys, too," she whispered.

Castle laughed and told her, "I love you soooo much."

xxxxx

At the precinct the next day, Castle took the boys aside and asked if they were ready for another game night. Then he asked if they wanted to bring the old one...the one they had on that stick drive.

Both the other men looked confused for a moment, then Ryan caught what he meant. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that stick drive one. Yeah. Sure. We can bring it."

"Good. Thursday night. We'll order pizza."

"Sounds good."

That evening they got a call about an art theft that involved a murder. A man impaled on the spikes of one of the art pieces. And the next day Serena Kaye, a sexy, confident, insurance investigator, entered the precinct wanting to be included in the case. Beckett obviously didn't like it at all, and the way the woman was looking at Castle provided the reason. However, the captain was convinced to take Ms. Kaye on as a consultant, so Beckett was stuck with her.

After comparing notes and looking at evidence, the insurance investigator said she could get some information for them, but nobody there would talk to police.

Castle got up to follow her out, and Beckett asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm not police, either. And she's going to talk to jewel thieves, or fences…or maybe both. The writing possibilities…" Seeing the look on his wife's face, he backtracked. "Oh, you didn't think… You couldn't think... No. Not for even a second, Kate…not for one second. But she's going to be talking to jewel thieves…or fences. The characters…" He sounded like he could be squealing with excitement any minute.

Beckett huffed a little laugh and said, "Go. Check out the jewel thieves or whoever. Do your real job. Better hurry while you can still catch her."

He took her face in his hands and planted a quick kiss on her lips, saying "I love you." before he hurried out. The boys were standing there observing as Beckett watched him go, a besotted smile on her face. When she turned back and they were looking amused, she just glared at them and said, "Shut up," and went back to her desk, the smile not entirely gone.

"You trust him with somebody like her?" Esposito asked.

"If I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have married him. He'd trust me, too. Doesn't mean either one of us have to like it, though. Besides, he'll be there to hear everything that's said. Might come in handy if she decides to leave anything out. Her I don't trust."

Serena Kaye was a bit less than entirely honest, leading them to think she was the murderer at one point; but in the end, everybody except the murderer got what they had hoped for.

As they stood alone at Beckett's desk and got their things together to go home after the case was closed, Castle asked his wife cautiously, "When I followed Serena to where the police couldn't go...did you really think I was chasing after another woman?"

Beckett looked at him apologetically. "Maybe for a fraction of a second." Then she looked down. "Old insecurities, I guess. She was gorgeous, and intelligent, and capable, and knew how to take charge…and the way she dressed… She didn't have any scars to hide." Looking directly at him again, she said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you even for that fraction of a second. I know better. I think I was doubting me."

"She was all those things you mentioned, but you are, too…just better. She knows she's all those things, and she flaunts it, has to throw it right in your face so you can't miss it, feels the need to advertise. I have no doubt that you could do anything she does if you wanted to. But you'd handle it better. You don't spend time thinking about how beautiful you are, or how intelligent or take charge or capable. You just walk in and do your job, and everybody is impressed even without the hype. It's a natural part of who you are. No need to advertise. It's there for anybody to see. And you know I couldn't give a smaller damn about the scars."

They didn't notice the boys returning to their desks and trying not to be noticed. They got there as Castle reached "She was all those things you said…"

Castle lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, saying, "Let's go home. The boys will be there in about an hour. We need to order pizza."

Beckett turned toward the bottom drawer of her desk to retrieve her purse, and Castle looked up to see Ryan and Esposito looking at him uncomfortably. He pointed toward the entrance and made a shooing motion, knowing Beckett would be embarrassed at that exchange being heard. They slipped out quietly then returned as they saw Beckett stand and look in their direction.

"Be right back," she told her husband. "I'm going to stop in the ladies' room before we leave." Castle nodded and leaned against the desk to wait for her.

"So, how much did you hear?" Castle asked.

"Just the part where you told her she was better. We wanted to leave, but it was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't things. Good job, man," Ryan said softly, sounding respectful and appreciative.

"It wasn't meant for critique, only for my wife."

"But just so you know, it passed the big brother test," Esposito added.

"I should have talked to her at home, but we thought you had already left. I didn't mean to make anybody uncomfortable. Part of why office romances are discouraged, I guess. So did you hear any of what she said?"

"No, just that last little bit from you."

"Good. The rest needed to be between the two of us. I'll be sure to keep it out of the precinct from now on."

When Kate returned, the bullpen was quiet, nobody paying attention; so Castle threw caution to the wind, draped his arm around his wife's shoulders, kissed the side of her head, and walked to the elevator. "See you in a little bit," he called back to the boys as the elevator doors closed.

"I don't think I've ever seen him that serious," Esposito said.

"That's 'cause he seriously loves her," Ryan answered. "Let's go have a beer before we go to Castle's place.

xxxxx

When the couple walked into the loft, Alexis was closing her laptop and looking annoyed again.

"Everything okay?" Kate asked as she hung up her coat.

"For the last couple of weeks, I can't seem to talk to Ash for more than a few minutes before he has something else to do. Maybe he really is ready to move on since I won't be there for spring semester."

"Don't assume that yet. See how things play out. It's a lot earlier in the day out there, and he probably really is busy," Castle told her. "There's a package here for you…from the other side of the country."

Alexis practically snatched it from his hands when she saw Ashley's name on the return address. Then she tore into it and unwrapped the gift inside. There was a soft stuffed bear wearing a T-shirt that said, "Someone at Stanford loves you." And the bear was also wearing a nice bangle bracelet.

"That doesn't look like a gift from somebody who's giving up on you," Castle said.

"Alexis hugged the bear close and answered, "Maybe not. And I love the bracelet." She took the piece of jewelry from the bear and put it on her wrist to admire it.

"It's beautiful," Kate said, leaving a kiss on her child's head as she went to the kitchen.

"Do you think it's a sign things will get better?" Alexis asked.

"Maybe. Relationships take time to figure out. Your dad and I had a shaky start, but now we're solid as a rock."

"I'll send a text to tell Ash how much I liked my birthday present. He's too busy to talk right now." She followed that statement with a look of consternation but was still clutching the bear close.

"We're ordering pizza. Ryan and Esposito are coming over for game night. How much homework do you have?" Castle asked her.

"As much as I want, I guess. The assignments are already done, but there's always something to study or reading to do."

"If you want to, we could watch a movie while the men all act like they're your age," Kate suggested.

"Sure. Want to pick it out now? That way we won't be in the way of whatever it is that they're fighting tonight."

"Pick out a few to choose from, and I'll order lots of pizza. We already have plenty in the freezer to keep the ice cream monsters at bay, right?"

Alexis smiled and nodded.

The two women watched their movie, and the men played their video games for a couple of hours. A lot of pizza and ice cream disappeared, and some girl talk took place around the movie.

When Ryan and Esposito left and everyone had retreated to their rooms, Castle took a stick drive from his pocket.

"I'll put this in the safe until we have the other computer," he said. Kate nodded, and they stood holding each other for a minute, coming to terms with facing all the old information again.