813. Chapter 813

After The Final Nail

Episode 3.15

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I didn't inherit Castle from my father, either. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate Beckett came into the loft to see her husband staring intently at his computer screen. When the door closed behind her, he didn't notice. She stood in the doorway of his office and stared at him. No response. "Hi there." She said.

He looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Hi there, yourself. I hope you weren't standing there too long?"

"A minute maybe. Problem with the book?"

"Nothing I can't solve. Eventually. How was your day?"

"Okay."

That got his attention. "Oh, I have heard that from you before, Missy. I thought you'd gotten over telling me things were fine when they weren't."

"I didn't tell you things were fine, I said my day was okay." She said, but Castle detected a bit of defensiveness in her tone.

He pushed his chair back. "Come. Sit down." He pointed to his lap. Kate waited for a second and then sat in his lap, resting her head against his shoulder. Castle ran his hand over the gentle swell of her stomach. "And how is my little girl today?"

"She's fine. She's going to be a very good little girl, I can tell."

"And how's my big girl today." To his surprise, Kate began to cry. "Hey, what is it?"

Kate shook her head, then grabbed a tissue from his desk. "I am a big girl. I can't get into any of my slacks. Not one pair. And all of these maternity pants sag in the back. I look like my butt is drooping and will be dragging on the floor behind me by the time she's here. You used to tell me what a great ass I had."

"Have. You have a perfect ass. Absolutely perfect. You were born with a perfect ass, you have had one for as long as I've known you and you'll always have the most perfect ass ever. When God designed the female ass, yours was what he used as a template."

Kate giggled. "You think so?"

"I know so. So, did anything else happen today?"

"I had to argue with that idiot Morton in Personnel at One PP. When I tell him I need more people, he tells me the precinct is overstaffed as it is. Why can't he understand that five experienced detectives cannot be replaced by five rookies straight out of the Academy and a detective six months from retirement that can only think about his fishing vacation in Florida?"

Kate snuggled up against him and relaxed. He ran his hand over her cheek. "Better?" He asked. "

"Much. So, what's your problem?"

"Rook. We've discussed Nikki's background, how her mother's murder caused her to quit college as a drama major and become a cop, changing her life utterly. But, we've never really delved into Rook's past. How did Rook end up a reporter? Did he just drift into it? Was there some life altering event in his past? I'm trying to figure that out."

She looked at his laptop. "So, what are you reading?"

"My notes on one of our old cases, Damien Westlake."

Kate nodded. "The man who didn't kill his wife."

"He really was important in my life. Not as important as you are, of course, but important. I had been complimented before on my writing, but he was the one who convinced me that I could be a successful writer. I could make a living at it, and not just write really good reports for some bank or another. And he was important in other ways, too."

"How?"

"He was generous. Oh, his family had money, of course, and he had a substantial allowance. I was a scholarship kid and Martha and I were going through a rough spot. The only work she could find was as the "babe" in a series of late night commercials for some sleazy used car salesman. She always wore a skin tight miniskirt and a low cut blouse. I hated those commercials. But, anyway, Damien would ask me to go to Mario's, a pizza place just off campus to talk about something I'd written. Everybody went there at Edgewick. Everyone except the scholarship kid with a really small allowance. And when the bill came, Damien would always say, "It's my turn, right? You paid last time." Of course, I had never paid."

"So, Rook will be generous?" Kate asked.

"More than that. I eventually told Damien that I was embarrassed that he paid all the time. He just laughed at me. He said, "Ricky, it's only money. What good is it if you can't use it to have fun with your friends? My dad thinks it's some sign that you're superior to everyone who's poorer than you are. And believe me I don't think that way at all."

"That changed the way I thought about money. What good is it if you can't use it to have fun, or just do something you want to do? Or to do the right thing?"

"Like paying for a hit man so a very cold and distant detective could maybe get some closure on her mom's death?"

"Exactly, and if I ever run into a cold and distant detective who needs my help that way, I'll be happy to help him, or her, out."

Kate kissed his cheek. "You're sweet."

"Oh, not always. At least as far as Damien was concerned. I did give him a hard time once."

Kate waited, but he said no more. "Tell, Castle. What did you do?"

"Little Tune."

"What?"

"Her name was Melody Miller, but everyone called her Little Tune. She was blonde, nice body, very outgoing and very, very smart. She went to the Hudson Academy which was just up the road from Edgewick. Damien was crazy about her and she was totally immune to his charms. In his junior year, he'd head for Hudson every Saturday night, because they always had a dance. He'd dance with Little Tune and he'd ask her out and every time he did, she'd turn him down. But the next Saturday he'd be right back over at Hudson. I used to tease him unmercifully. I never did find out if it was ego that made him do that, or if he really, really liked her."

"My guess would be ego." Kate said.

"Ah, the scepticus maximus again."

"The man did have his father murdered to inherit his money, Castle."

"And a point for Team Beckett."

"Did they ever date? I have to admit Damien wasn't my type when I met him, but I can see a teenaged girl deciding to have on date with him. Just saying, "Oh, what the hell.", and accepting."

"He never got one date with her, but I did."

"You did?"

I tagged along one time to a dance. Tune was being polite to Damien and she was still turning him down. I was just standing there as she shot him down again and I just blurted out, "Hey, if you won't go out with him, what about going out with me?" She turned to me, smiled and said, "I'd love to, Ricky."

Kate giggled. "Oh my god! What happened?"

"I felt terrible but having asked her out in front of Damien and a half a dozen other kids, I could hardly say that I didn't mean it. Damien was very nice about it. He even loaned me his car for the date."

"And what happened on the date?"

"I took her to a movie, we had a Coke afterwards and I never asked her out again. But Damien was right back at Hudson the next weekend."

"So, is Rook, in the next Nikki Heat, going to be Damien who strives and strives to win the fair maiden and never does, or is he Ricky who gets a date he doesn't really want?"

"I haven't decided."

"How about deciding on what's for dinner? Both your little girl and your big girl are starving."

That night when they got ready for bed, Rick put his arms around Kate as she came out of the bathroom and pulled her into a gentle hug, then kissed her. As she kissed back, he pulled down her sleep shorts and squeezed the globes of her ass. "Still perfect." He whispered in her ear.

She squeezed his ass as well. "And so is yours."