148. Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Castle's radio spot was scheduled for eleven and the book signing at two; so the entire family was left alone to sleep late the next morning, and did. When Jamie woke up, later than usual, Rick and Kate took him into their bed and snuggled with him to drag every moment of relaxation out of the morning before the tour cycle reared its head again. After their son's inactive limits had expired, room service was called for breakfast. Castle took a shower while they waited, and the three of them had breakfast together before Paula texted to tell Castle the car was on the way and she would meet him downstairs.

"She probably doesn't want anything to do with me this morning."

"That bad last night?"

"I think I presented my case well. Then I laid down the law about any other mentions of unscheduled events. I don't know if she'll think about what I said, but I'm sure she got the other message."

"Thank you," he said as he put on his tie. "It's nice to have NYPD backup on my side."

"Temporarily inactive NYPD," she reminded him as she straightened his tie. "You look good this morning."

"Thank you some more," he answered with a smile and a kiss. "We have tonight free. I saw a marquis at a theater in the next block. They're showing Disney's summer movie."

"Finding Dory?"

"Yeah."

"You'd probably enjoy that as much as your son would."

"You would, too. Admit it," he challenged.

"Okay, I admit it," she answered with a smile. "Let's do that tonight."

"I finish at the bookstore at five…ish. I'll ask to have the car pick you and Jamie up on the way to the store. We can have dinner right after and go to the showing at six-fifteen."

"We'll be ready."

"Gotta go," he said and stopped to kiss the top of his son's head. "Love you both," he called on his way out.

"Is Daddy going to write in books again?" Jamie asked from where he was playing with his cars.

"First he's going to talk to somebody on the radio, and then he's going to write in books again."

"Can we play in the pool?"

"Sure. In a little while."

That evening, Paula went to dinner with them again. It was a place that catered to families and didn't take reservations.

While Castle took Jamie and went to request a table, Paula, uncharacteristically quietly, took Kate aside.

"You made some good points last night. You also made me mad as hell, and I didn't see them right then; but I thought about it later. This morning, I sat down far enough behind Rick that I could see what he was doing without his noticing me, and I sat there without getting out of my chair until his first break. I wasn't even working with the fans; but I was already tired from watching him, and he had two more sessions to go. He wasn't off his game for a minute. Statistically, I know how many people he sees in an hour. I have to know that for planning. But I had never considered what it takes from him to give the fans what he does, the reality of being in his position. I just chalked it up to Rick whining. He's just signing books, right? But you probably saw it the first time you sat in on one of these signings, and you nailed it. I see now that sometimes I probably do push him too hard, and he really doesn't complain all that much unless I do that. In my defense, though, I get Rick and his books good publicity, and I field what he doesn't want made public, do my best to contain it."

"We all know that, Paula, and we do appreciate it. But he and I take care of each other. I was just holding up my end of the partnership. He does the same for me."

"I know. I've caught some flak from his side of that partnership, too."

"Sorry we're so hard to deal with."

"Under all the annoyance, I might be a little envious of how well you take care of each other," the publicist admitted.

"I don't know how I got this lucky, but I'd fight like hell to hold on to what we have."

"And I know better than to get in the way," Paula answered. "Truce?"

"Truce." Kate held out her hand and Castle returned in time to witness the handshake but wisely didn't say anything.

During the meal they mentioned the movie and were surprised when Paula accepted the invitation to go with them. "Last time I visited my sister, her kids made me watch Finding Nemo, and I actually enjoyed it almost as much as they did," she explained. "Dory was my favorite character."

"Will wonders never cease?" Castle answered. Turning to Jamie, he said, "Paula likes Finding Nemo." Finish your dinner and we'll go to a new movie tonight called Finding Dory."

All four of them enjoyed the movie, Paula talking to Jamie about parts of the movie she had noticed they both enjoyed; and they went back to their rooms much happier with each other than they had been the night before.

"Looks like you and Paula worked out your differences," Castle said as he opened the door for Kate and Jamie.

"She did hear what I was saying. She said she sat where she wasn't in your line of vision when you started the signing today and stayed there to watch exactly what you were doing. She didn't leave her chair until you left yours."

"And that changed her mind?"

"She watched for exactly what you were doing, and she admitted to being tired just watching the first session before you had your break. I think you may get a little more sympathy in the future."

"Your lawyer genes must have been showing last night to have made your case that well. Paula has a big aversion to admitting she's wrong."

"I've noticed. But I have a big aversion to people taking advantage of my husband."

"So, am I your new occupation while you're inactive NYPD?"

"One of them. Enjoying family, Rick. Taking care of us and our babies. That's what I want for us. Right now I don't even feel pregnant. I lucked out and skipped the morning sickness again, and I feel great. I want us to take advantage of our freedom before the baby starts slowing me down."

"Me, too. I think we're off to a good start."

"And I think we should start settling the munchkin in for the night. We have one of those puddle jumper flights to Spokane first thing in the morning. Then another one to get to Olympia late tomorrow afternoon."

"I think this one might even have propellers," he said with a chuckle.

The next day involved two flights with one more book signing between them, landing in Seattle that night for a two day stay before heading back home. Rick only had a radio show to do at noon that day, and then they were going to take Jamie to a Children's Museum that looked amazing online, so Kate and Jamie went with him to the studio and waited outside the booth when he went in.

Jason, the show's host, was someone who had interviewed Rick on previous trips, someone he felt comfortable with. His new book was the first topic of conversation, then there was a little joking around. After that, the host, Jason, brought up the fact that his wife, Kate, and their son had come along for this book tour, and Rick told him how much he had enjoyed having them with him.

"You're on the third marriage since I first met you. Any comments on that?"

"Only that I got it right this time."

"Don't you have a daughter who must be an adult by now?"

"I do. She graduates from college this year."

"And now you have a three year old son?"

"Yep. Starting all over. It's great. I like being a dad."

"And how is this book tour working for you with a three year old son in and out of hotels and planes and limos for this long? Has it been a really long two weeks?"

"Not really. He's an easygoing little boy anyway, and he's been surprisingly adaptable. It probably helps that he's had his mother's undivided attention most of the trip."

"And how is she holding up to that?"

"Also surprisingly well," Rick answered with a chuckle.

"We can see them through the window, and I'll admit she's looking at him like her universe revolves around him."

The show was being broadcast into the other room; and at that comment, Kate turned to look at Rick with a smile that lit her face.

"Well, folks, I made that last comment before Kate turned and looked at Rick. Even more universe revolving around him. And you should see his face looking back. Yeah. Rick, my man, it does look like you got it right this time. I'm happy for you."

"I'll admit I'm a very happy man."

"Richard Castle will be at Barnes and Noble tomorrow afternoon at one if you'd like to pick up a copy of his new book and have it signed. Good luck with the new book, Rick. When you're here after you write the next one, be sure to come back and visit me again."

"I'll be glad to. Thanks for having me."

Jason went to a commercial and said, "I meant what I said, Rick. I'm happy for you and Kate, and it looks like Jamie is a lucky little boy…obviously well loved. Opening the door, he quickly brought the next guest in and took a moment to speak to Kate before the Castles left.

"So, the Children's Museum now?" Castle asked her. "We have nothing left to do until tomorrow morning. One early morning local TV spot, the bookstore in the morning, and we all sleep in our own beds tomorrow night."

"We're ready," his wife answered. "For all of the above."

Anyone at the children's museum would have had a hard time deciding who enjoyed it more, Jamie or his parents. They chose the most interactive exhibits they could find, and Castle's creativity made it even more entertaining. A couple of other families followed them to the next exhibits and joined in the fun, giving Jamie some playmates his own age. The father in one of the other families had a personality similar to Castle's, and there was a lot of joking back and forth that entertained all three families. It was a terrific outlet for any leftover tension from the book tour.

The next day they loaded all their luggage in the limo when they left for the bookstore with Paula; and after the signing, they were taken straight to the airport for the long flight home. By now they had created a little seasoned traveler and enjoyed watching their three year old going through the airport routine without much trouble. At the end of this journey, the gummy bears were in Castle's pocket to help Jamie get through the painful ear popping as they landed, and they were all relieved to get off the plane.

Alexis and JD surprised them at the airport in baggage claim. Jamie had been pulling his little dinosaur suitcase right up to the point when he saw Alexis. She dropped to one knee to meet him at his level and held out her arms, and Jamie left the bag behind him as he squealed, "Lexis!" and ran to meet her.

Castle laughed, picked up the deserted luggage and said to his wife, "I think sibling bonding has left us behind."

"Worse things could happen," she said with a grin, as they watched their children.

"Where's my hug," JD asked, and Jamie wrapped his little arms around JD's neck. JD stood, holding him while Alexis talked to Kate and Castle.

"Dad, I remember these tours, and I know how tired you were when we got home. We've missed Jamie. If he's okay with it, why don't we take him home with us? You and Kate can have a day to recover, and we'll have a day with our little brother."

"You realize his sleep schedule is probably going to be more west coast than east for a day or two."

"We do, and we can handle that. He has his own bed and toys at our place. We'll bring him back to the loft tomorrow afternoon and catch up on any sleep we might have missed then. We're still young and resilient. And Kate probably needs a little break."

"As long as Jamie wants to go."

Jamie was excited at the prospect of spending time with his siblings and willingly went with them, so the adult Castles said goodbye to Paula, leaned against one another in the back seat of the town car that was waiting for them, and went home to the loft knowing they could drop their bags and fall into bed with nothing to slow them down.

A few hours later, they woke up hungry and ordered dinner, ate it at the breakfast bar, and watched enough TV to catch up on the news reports.

"Well, that was depressing," Kate commented. I don't think I would have missed that if we didn't know."

"Me, either. I can think of better distractions while we're temporarily childless."

"Sometimes I think you have a one track mind," she teased.

"It's your fault. It's so easy to look at you and want you. It has been since I met you. The difference is that now I know I can have you…and that you like it."

"Yes, I do," she answered flirtatiously.

The rest of the evening they cleaned up after their dinner, unpacked, looked at schedules for the following week, and did all of it playfully touching one another until it became playful groping and then unquestioned foreplay. An almost all-nighter followed, and they slept late the following morning. They had barely finished their shared shower when Alexis called to let them know when they would drop Jamie off.

Sitting at the breakfast bar again, they carried on a rambling conversation, shifting from subject to subject.

"I need to set up some kind of exercise routine now that I'm not using the gym at the precinct," Kate mentioned.

"I'll get you a membership for my gym,"" Castle answered. "It's the same one I went to when Alexis was little, and I trust their babysitting service. Jamie loves it."

"Will they care if Meagan comes in to work with me now and then?"

"You're not going to still be sparring, are you?"

"No. I just want to still be in shape to do it after the baby."

"You know, when I have two little ones to take care of during the day, it's going to be harder to get to the gym. There's plenty of time to think about it, but I need to figure that out."

"Any ideas yet?"

"The small apartment at the end of the hall…"

"You mean small in comparison to the loft?"

"Yeah, that one. I saw the owner the last week you were working…Milton…nice guy. He used to own this building and rented the apartments. I bought the loft when he decided to retire to a warmer climate and started selling them. He took a section of what used to belong to this loft and turned it into that small apartment so he had a place to stay when he was visiting New York, but it's barely been used since about the time I met you. He said he has a heart condition that could take him any time, and he's trying to put his finances in order to make it easier for his children. He asked if I might want to buy it…offered me a good price."

"It sounds like you might be interested."

"I might. It would be nice to know we wouldn't get obnoxious neighbors that close. We're used to having the entire floor to ourselves now."

"What would you do with that much more room?"

"Neither of our parents are getting any younger. We could open the other apartment to the loft, use the second floor for a gym, and remodel it so all the living space is on the first floor…no stair climbing to get to the bedroom. We'd each have some privacy but we could easily get there to help out if it became necessary. We could start with the gym. I could put one of those little play sets in for Jamie until he's a little bit older, and have a place for the baby. What do you think?"

"You've been mulling this over for a while, haven't you?"

"I thought about it a lot when it first came up, but then there were a lot of distractions. You were leaving the fifteenth, there was the excitement of the baby, and then the book tour. Talking about the gym brought it all back."

"I think it's a rational decision. Thinking ahead never hurts. There's no necessity right now, no rush about our parents; so there's plenty of time to plan. Starting with the gym sounds sensible."

"And avoiding the possibility of obnoxious neighbors is worth it anyway," Castle added with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes. "I'll call Milton tomorrow and tell him we'll take it."

"I've been on leave for less than a month, and we already have a two week book tour and a decision about adding space to the loft checked off the to do list. We're good, huh?"

"Yeah, we are," he agreed. "Always will be."

In the midst of the kiss that followed, there was a knock at the door.

"With that timing, it must be our children," Kate said with a chuckle, and they got up to let them in.

"Or Ryan," Castle said, smiling as he opened the door. "Look at this. It's all of our children."

"We had fun," Alexis told them. "Jamie started talking about things you did. You went to Disneyland?"

"We did. And we saw Finding Dory a couple of nights ago. Paula even went with us to see it," Kate said

"Paula?!" Alexis asked

"I know. Took us by surprise, too," her dad answered. "Apparently her sister's children introduced her to Nemo. She even had favorite moments."

Alexis and JD brought up other things Jamie had mentioned, and the parents interpreted what they hadn't figured out. They told them about the understanding they came to with Paula, and Kate expressed the hope that Paula could convey that revelation to Gina in a way that would make her understand, too. Then they told them about Jamie's view of Castle writing in the books and the fun they had with the people in line.

"I wouldn't want to have to do it too often," Kate said, "but it wasn't bad. Jamie turned out to be a pretty good little traveler."

"I remember going on those trips with Dad. It was generally when school was out. I'm sure now that he planned them that way, but there were always surprise trips here and there, little places with interesting things to see, exploring when there was free time. We saw a lot of interesting things and met a lot of interesting people that way. I loved it until I was old enough to have friends I wanted to plan things with while school was out. But even then it had its moments."

"We should all go on another adventure while Kate has time," JD suggested. "Maybe in the spring when it isn't so cold. Grandad would probably want to go, too."

"We'll plan on it," Castle promised.

Jamie found some of the toys he couldn't take with them on their trip and seemed happy to renew his acquaintance with them while the adults talked.

About half an hour later, Alexis and JD were leaving, and their parents walked them to the door.

"Thank you for taking Jamie last night," Kate told them. "I loved having all that time with him, but I didn't realize how much I needed just a short break until we walked into the loft and I didn't have to think of anything else but collapsing into bed for a few hours."

"We enjoyed it. We usually see him at least once a week, and we had two weeks without him. We missed the little guy," JD assured her. "It was as much for us as for you."

"Bye, Mom," they both said and moved to Castle. "Bye, Dad. See you soon."

They decided to order pizza for dinner and go food shopping the next day. Kate dumped all the dirty clothes from their trip in the laundry room and left them to be sorted the next day. And Castle listened to the messages on his phone and decided to ignore the two messages from Gina until the next day, too.

That night when they got Jamie ready for bed and sat down to read his bedtime story, he looked around, snuggled against them, sighed and said contentedly, "I like my room."

The two adults smiled. "It's nice to be back home, isn't it?" his mother asked, and he nodded. When they tucked him in, he said, "I like my bed, too," and he closed his eyes almost immediately.

When they were in bed that night, Kate cuddled close to her husband, and he looked at her and said, "I like our room."

"Mmmm-hmmm. And our bed," she agreed. And their eyes closed as quickly as Jamie's did.