Chapter 36 - Magic

My dad had almost the same reaction as the guys, but after I had glared at him for a minute he calmed down, shut up and listened. After I had told him the whole story, showed the sound-clip he was quiet. He was probably trying to process everything I had told him, it was despite everything quite a lot to process.

"What's your next move?" my dad asked and I looked at him with surprised eyes.

He didn't sound upset anymore. Not like he had in the beginning of my story.

"Uhm, our next move is to go back to the precinct to ask Espo and Ryan help us ID the voice" I told him and he nodded.

"So, I'm guessing you need me to watch the girls" he more stated than asked.

"Yes, if Molly wants to stay here that is" I said and he gave me a questioning look. "We saved her today, again, after Billy turned out to be a bad guy and ever since she got her arms around me she hasn't really let go, until she saw Alexis twenty minutes ago."

"Oh" he breathed and nodded, "well, if they wanna stay here I'll take care of them. Just promise to nail this guy who made Alexis loose her father, and to be careful" he added.

"I promise dad, I'd never let justice sleep for too long" I tried to joke small and he smiled.

"I know kiddo, just be careful. I know I couldn't survive loosing you and I have a feeling neither could Alexis or Molly" he said honest.

"I'll be fine, like always" I promised him and kissed his cheek before I hugged him. "Thanks for listening and not judging too soon."

"No problem, and sorry for interrupting you in the beginning" he said while I just hugged him tighter before letting go.

We stood and walked down to the others with smiles on our faces. Once Castle noticed us coming down the stairs he looked at me with questioning eyes. I smiled at him and shook my head, telling him with my eyes that we had nothing to worry about. I went to the girls who called out for me to see what a cool cave they had built with pillows and blankets by the couch. As I walked towards the cave and bent down to be able to follow the girls inside I heard my dad start talking to Castle in a low tone, probably trying to talk to him without me hearing.

"Look!" Molly pointed to a cozy old lamp standing in the middle of the cave.

The lamp had the old Disney movies theme and I couldn't imagine where they had found it, I'd thought it was gone.

"Was that yours when you were a kid?" Alexis asked and I chuckled.

"Yeah, me, my mom and my dad bought it one time when we were at Disneyland" I told them with a big smile remembering that day.

"It guided me a lot of times in the dark when I was a kid. It's magical" I said and winked to the girls who were both looking at the lamp and it's carved characters.

I had of course later found out it wasn't magic, or at least not the fact that it didn't have a cord. It went on batteries. What had been mysterious though was how it could be lit when the power went out. According to everyone else in the store it hadn't been lit as I said it had been, and there were no batteries in it when we got home. Truly weird. I had probably just imagined it all.

"Magical?" Alexis asked and I could see glitter in both their eyes.

I nodded and they looked at the lamp again with wonder in their eyes. I carefully crawled out from the cave again and saw my dad and Castle still talking. I walked up to them and tried to figure out what they were talking about.

"...won't let anything happen to either of them" Castle said and silenced when he saw me coming.

"Good" my dad said and turned to me. "So, will they stay here or follow you?" he asked, and I could see he was trying to distract me from asking about what they had talked about.

"Uhm, I don't know yet, haven't asked them, what were you talking about?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"He told me you told him everything, that I didn't have to pretend anymore" Castle said with a shrug on his shoulders.

I blushed, perhaps I should've been the one to tell him I had told my dad. I let it go quickly, trying not to think too much about it since he didn't look like he had anything against it.

"Where did you find the lamp?" I asked, curious on where he could've possibly found it.

"Oh, I remembered when were down in your basement and thought there might be more pillows and blankets, once I found that I saw something glowing not far away in a box" he started and I felt my eyes widen, "weird thing is the lights of it went out once I had taken it out of the box. Figured I must've imagined it all because when I opened the hatch to replace the batteries there were none."

He shrugged his shoulders and I just felt my heart pound. I through a glance at the cave where I could see the light through the blankets. Maybe I hadn't imagined it after all. But it wasn't possible. Castle asked me if I was okay and I just shook my head while replying that I was fine, just a headache.

"Molly, Alexis, can you come out here for a second?" I called out once I figured I should just let it be, ask Castle later on what they had been talking about while I'd been with the girls.

"Sure!" Alexis called back and there was shuffling as the two girls had to push past some of the pillows and blankets to come out.

Once they came out they had big smiles on their faces and lined up in front of me. I sat down on my knees to get down on their level, not being a deciding adult but one of them.

"Me and Castle needs to go back to work, do you wanna come with or stay here?" I asked carefully, hoping Molly would give her honest opinion before Alexis could jump to conclusion.

Molly looked at my dad standing beside me and then at Alexis who looked back at her, probably waiting for her to say something. Molly met my eyes carefully.

"Will Alexis stay here too?" she asked and I nodded.

"Of course, you won't ever be alone" I promised her and she looked at Alexis who nodded with a reassuring smile on her face.

I was so thankful for Alexis being more mature than you could think she would be.

"Okay, I'll stay" Molly said and Alexis hugged her with their heads close together.

Those two were adorable and I felt so lucky for them to have found each other. And if we were going to be completely honest it had been Alexis who saved Molly, since she was the one figuring out our victim had a kid.

"Hug before we go?" I asked and held out my arms.

Not even a second later both girls had jumped into my arms, almost knocking me down, almost. I kissed their foreheads before we let go and I told them to be nice to Jim. Alexis and Molly both attacked Castle as well giving him a tight hug before they crawled back under the cave they had built. I turned to my dad who smiled bright.

"Take it easy on her though, but I bet she'll warm up to you as quick as she did with me, after all, you raised me" I winked at him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, and look at what a beautiful lady you've become" he chuckled.

"Love you dad, see you later" I said kissing his cheek before I turned to Castle to take his hand. "We better go back to the precinct before the guys think we're playing hooky."

He nodded and before we managed to get out of the house I saw him exchange a look with my dad, which had me wondering what the hell they'd been talking about. The second I had started the engine I decided to question him about it.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Castle asked, trying to act innocent.

"In there! What did my dad say to you? Did he make you promise anything or what was that exchange of looks?" I questioned, perfectly aware of how he swallowed and knew exactly what I was asking about.

He tried once again giving me a confused look, which I just answered with a look of my own. He looked down and I kept my eyes on the road, trying to give him the silent treatment, thinking he'd give up soon enough. I had no idea he would give up so soon though.

"Your dad wanted me to promise him that..." he sighed, "that no matter what I would make sure not you or the girls, even if that meant I would be the one getting hurt" he added after a few minutes and I gave him a stare.

"He , did he!?" I said getting upset.

"Well, not exactly in those words, but I know he would rather see me hurt than his own daughter and the two small girls" he said before he quietly added, "I would too."

"Castle!" I gasped. "You are gonna sacrifice yourself for me, got it?" I questioned and stopped the car.

He jumped out of the car without answering me, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to stop him if something really did happen. I also had a feeling I would do anything, even die, for him. So I jumped out of the car and followed his footsteps towards the elevator, on our way to try and find out who the voice belonged to.