45. Chapter 45

AN: The conversation about Alexis's new dress and the Farnesworth gentlemen belongs to the show's writers. Not my doing.

Chapter 45

"Hey, look," Castle said, bringing in the morning's mail. We have our invitation to Ryan and Jenny's wedding. They even included Alexis and Mother."

"Beautiful invitations," Kate said after walking over to look.

"Mother, we're all invited to a wedding. Would you like to go?"

"For Kevin and that darling Jenny? Of course."

"Then I'll put it on the calendar and send our RSVP."

"Did you hear that Ryan was roped into having one of Jenny's teenage relatives as best man before he had a chance to ask Esposito?" Kate asked.

"Yeah," her husband answered. "They were both disappointed…and Esposito didn't take it well."

Alexis was coming downstairs while they were talking. "Did I hear you say we were all invited? Even me?"

"You did, her father answered. Do you want to go with us?"

"Sure. I can't wait to see Jenny's dress. I feel bad for Ryan and Esposito, though."

"A year or two from now, they'll laugh about it," Castle answered as he walked to the kitchen with the mail. "What's all this?" he asked, looking with surprise at a stack of papers on the kitchen counter. "Are these college applications? It doesn't look like any of them have been filled out completely, some not at all."

"What's all this?" Castle asked, looking with surprise at a stack of papers on the kitchen counter. "Are these college applications?" he asked. "It doesn't look like any of them have been filled out completely, some not at all."

"At first I was running a little shy, thinking somewhere else besides Stanford might turn me down. Then I wasn't sure I wanted to send that many. Then I started thinking about internships."

"Internships? Any idea what you'd like to do?"

"Not yet. I thought I'd talk to my counselor at school and see what's out there. I've already talked to her about early graduation. She said the advanced English class I took outside school last summer should make it easy for me just take the exam for the last semester of high school English. She said she could arrange it and get me study materials."

"Are you sure you want to leave early? Even if you're not going to Stanford?" Kate asked.

"I think so. I had already planned on it, and graduating early and having a couple of successful internships on my resume should look good on a college application for fall admission, don't you think?"

"It probably would," Kate agreed."

"I think I like the idea of getting out into the world before I go to college. It should be a good experience, and I'd still be here at home. Dad's been pushing for that all along," she said, bumping him out of the way to get to the coffee maker.

"And Dad is happy with that idea," Castle assured her, bumping her back playfully.

"I'll talk to Mrs. Callan today."

xxxxx

Before long a case came up that took the men on the team to Atlantic City. They solved the case, and then they took advantage of being there to spend the night and give Ryan a bachelor party that Jenny's teenage relative wouldn't have been old enough to manage. They all came back with hangovers, but the sting of the best man plans had eased a bit.

While Castle was gone, Alexis was supposed to have a girl's night, but a couple of boys were invited, too. One of the boys put the address out on social media, and Kate got home from the precinct about the same time Alexis took it upon herself to stand on the stairs and announce that the party was over and everybody should leave. Alexis saw Kate come in the door at about the same time; so, when someone asked why it was over, she was able to say truthfully, "Because my mom just got home, and she's a cop."

Beckett, not Kate, held up her badge without saying a word, and the place cleared quickly.

"Do you want us to go, too?" one of the two girls who were supposed to spend the night asked.

"I think that might be best," Kate told her. "We have some major damage control to handle. I'll call the car service to get you both home, and you can help until they get here. Go up and get your bags and put them by the door."

The car service was called, and Alexis's friends helped pick up the cups, plates, and napkins that littered every flat surface in the open area of the loft. Kate swept the remaining debris from the floor so they could all walk without squashing things. Alexis had moved the carpet out of the living room when the crowd started growing, and they were both thankful for that.

When she got the call saying the town car had arrived, Kate announced, "The car is here. Goodnight, girls. I'll call down and ask the doorman to see you to the car and tell Darrell to see you to the door when you get home. We trust him with Alexis. He'll get you home safely."

"Sorry, Mrs. Castle," one of the girls said as she left.

"Thanks for not yelling at us like my mom would have," the other one added as she followed the first one out.

Kate just gave them a small, tight smile and waved and then turned to Alexis, who was looking worried.

"How much trouble am I in?" the adult/teenager asked.

"Knowing you, I think that by now you've probably already reprimanded yourself at least as well I could. I expect anything else would be redundant. And, except for this awful mess, your father might even have a brief moment of pride. Was it worth it?"

"I don't know yet. I'm kind of in shock.

Did you learn anything?"

"I learned that: 1. If I invite anybody else I don't know, I need to make it very clear that it isn't an open house…and I'm the only one who gets to do the inviting; 2. I may be old enough to take on adult responsibilities, but part of me still thinks like a teenager…which is actually kind of a scary combination, realizing that some of the people here tonight are eighteen, too." There was a pause, as if she were deciding whether to say something else, then she added, "And 3. Brian, the really cute football player all the girls are crazy about, is probably the most boring guy on the planet. Inviting him is what kind of started all this. Good looking is nice, but I'm a hundred per cent sure now that it needs to be accompanied by a mind."

"Well, they say most girls end up wanting to marry men like their fathers. Good looks, a nice body, and a fascinating mind sounds a lot like your dad."

"I don't know who 'they' are, but eeew."

Kate laughed and pulled her child in for a hug. "I don't know. I never needed all the wealth attached to him. I just think that somebody like your dad is a pretty good catch. And, more seriously...and more importantly, those first two lessons will serve you well. Nobody is quite an adult at eighteen, but I think you're closer than the vast majority. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found you telling everybody to go home." Looking around, she said, "Okay, Kid, let's assess the damage. Is anything broken?"

They looked around and found a vase with a couple of pieces missing, found the pieces, and put them in the vase for repair later, as well as a couple of other things that needed attention but not actual repair work. Kate pitched in, and they managed to get the place back to normal shortly before Castle got home in the early morning. Even hung over, he noticed a decorative piece missing from a table; but he didn't dwell on it, just accepted Alexis's quickly improvised explanation. He sat down on the couch, leaning his head back and trying to hide his hangover behind his sunglasses. Alexis plopped down beside him, leaned her head back, too, and breathed a sigh of relief that there didn't seem to be any more questions for the time being. Both of them appeared to be perfectly content to rest, and probably fall asleep, right there. Kate stood in the doorway of the study, and she quietly huffed a little laugh at the two of them before collapsing on the bed to get an hour or so of sleep before she had to get back to work. Alexis probably wouldn't be much better off at school that day than she would be at the precinct, and Castle would probably just stay home and sleep.

When her alarm went off, Kate laid out her clothes and went to the living room to wake up her family, finding them both exactly as she had left them. She sent Alexis to shower and get ready for school; then she presented Castle with a glass of water, a couple of aspirin, and a kiss on his forehead, and sent him to bed. He mumbled his appreciation and went willingly. She then showered and dressed for work. She and Alexis were leaving at the same time, and Alexis hugged her tight.

"Thank you," the girl said sincerely. "I had no intention of having a party like that. It just got away from me."

"You told me that last night, and I still believe you, but you sooo owe me. Dinner will be ready when we get home every night for the rest of the week, understand? And cleaning the kitchen is part of the deal." Kate moved back from the hug.

"Yes, ma'am," Alexis said in a teasing tone but readily agreeing to the terms.

"And sooner or later, preferably sooner, you're going to have to tell your dad." Kissing the top of her head, Kate told her, "I love you."

"Love you, too. And can it be at least a little later?"

"Not too much. Your dad and I don't keep things from one another. Don't put me in a place where I have to make a choice."

"Just a few days?"

"It may not take that long when he realizes how much of his massive snack supply is missing."

"Oh. I didn't think about that." Alexis looked worried again.

Kate swung an arm over Alexis's shoulders, took a deep breath, and released a long, resigned exhale. "Let's go, Kid. Responsibility is waiting for both of us. I'll drop you off on my way in."

Once at work, Beckett explained to Gates the wedding situation and the party the night before, citing the overtime and effort they had put into the case and the proximity of everything they needed for the impromptu party...and said she had given them the day off. She also pointed out that she didn't want them driving until they'd had enough sleep not to become road hazards on their way home. Gates was surprisingly cooperative, even seeming slightly affronted on Esposito's behalf.

xxxxx

Julian had come and gone several days before and had built the extra storage space behind the safe at the end of Castle's huge bedroom closet. He had even created false walls to make the depth of all the shelves at the end of the closet look correct. Almost all the shelf space they lost to the appearance of correct spacing was even left usable for things they didn't need often, and Castle all but wallowed in the fun of the hidden latches and their secret storage space. The new wore off quickly, though when the reality of the reason for needing it began to present itself. He bought a second printer to allow them to scan and make copies with no chance of any record of it on the one they regularly used, and they stored that on the full wall height shelving Julian had built behind the safe. Kate teasingly questioned Castle's denial of paranoia when he brought the printer home, but she never argued that it wasn't a good idea.

They began to take some time, usually when they were alone in the loft, to put all of their collection of information on the new computer, and they organized and stored their originals on the shelves. Castle took all the bits of information they had gathered over time and organized it in the form of a murder board. As the murder board incarnation of their bits and pieces began to emerge, Kate tried out the links Castle had set up for ease of access to the information they had entered so far.

"Once again, I'm amazed at the way your mind works. For a man whose mind can jump from subject to subject so quickly, you have an amazing ability to organize subject matter on the spot when it's necessary," she told him. "It's kind of hot."

"So you love me for my mind?" he teased back.

"Yeah, but there are some other parts of you I like a lot, too. Nice package overall."

From where he stood behind her, he chortled and kissed her head. "I won't go there."

She smiled up at him flirtatiously. "Yeah, I do like those parts a lot."

"Perhaps later we could examine how much?" he said mischievously.

"Works for me," she agreed, her smile still intact. Turning back to the computer, she suggested, "Let's get the rest of the things I brought from my apartment scanned in. There isn't much of it left to do. After that, you can organize them however you think is best."

"How are you holding out? Is being around all this giving you any trouble?"

"I get a little glimpse of the rabbit hole in my peripheral vision now and then, but nothing to worry about yet. I'm surprisingly okay about it. Then again, everything we've worked with so far is material I've seen over and over…things that haven't provided any new leads since I got them. I think the trouble might come if we find something new…especially if it looks promising."

"I'll remember that."

Once they had scanned the rest of what was in the box Kate had brought from her apartment, they put everything away and retired to their room where she and Castle thoroughly explored her appreciation of the overall package she admitted impressed her.

xxxxx

Before Ryan's wedding happened, the couple, and by extension, the family, went through a few more struggles. Their next case involved a sniper terrorizing the city, and it brought out the PTSD and panic attacks that Beckett had held at bay pretty well up to that point. She had panic responses a couple of times before entering the building where the last victims had been shot and encountered more inside. After a victim who had lived through the attack didn't want to have to go outside the building to get to the ambulance and kept saying, "He's still out there," Beckett ran from the room and deeper into the building as soon as the others had left, hiding in a hallway. Castle followed and held her as she cried, then talked her softly and gave her time to pull herself together before they left. She seemed to be holding on reasonably well; but at the precinct later, she picked up her coat and left suddenly.

Castle followed, put a hand on her arm to stop her, and asked quietly, "Dr. Burke?" When she nodded, he said, "Let me get my jacket."

"Castle, people are being killed, and we need to find this guy. Right now you can do my job better than I can. I'll get a cab. You stay and help the boys figure this out. Burke's office isn't that far away, and I'll call if I need you." Seeing his skeptical look, she touched his face lovingly and said, "I will. I promise."

"I don't want to send you out there alone."

"I know, but this time you need to bite the bullet and let me go on my own. We need to find this guy before somebody else dies. Please, Castle. I need you here working on this. It would make me feel better about leaving. Right now I can't… Please?"

"And you'll call or text if…" When she nodded, he agreed, dropped a quick kiss to her temple and went back to the bullpen.

"Is she okay?"

"No. This one hits too close to home. But she'll get there." He sounded certain, but he still looked concerned.

The next few days were strewn with a few more rough moments for Beckett, including a full blown, lengthy panic attack at home the night she had been to see Dr. Burke. She and Castle were there alone when it started with her request to darken the room because she felt as if they were being watched, then there were sirens outside and the accompanying flashes of light at the darkened windows to heighten the fear. By the time Martha and Alexis were back, the couple was in their room. Castle had talked her down and held her as they lay in bed, in effect, hiding under the covers. Speaking soothingly to her while she clung to him as if he were breathing for her, he realized that might as well have been the case for a while…that as she began to calm down, her breathing perfectly matched his. Afterward, as exhausted as they both were, they were drawn to one another, making love as they had after the explosion at the bank, aggressively reassuring themselves that life was there and the world would soon set itself right for them again.

In that few days, the team had to piece together evidence and figure out the meaning of paper dolls cut from art prints and left as clues. After they found a multiple string of cutouts, which indicated multiple victims, and deciphered the location from the clues, the sniper was killed before he could kill anyone else. Not knowing how to help his wife himself, Castle turned to Esposito, who took her aside to talk, pushing her to face a couple of things, and he made some good observations. Knowing he had been in situations in the military that caused him similar difficulties, she listened. Her problems weren't gone by any means, but she now had a couple of new things to think about that added to her list of coping techniques.

xxxxx

When Kate and Rick got home one evening, Martha was re-checking the fit of Alexis's new dress for the wedding. "That is some dress," Castle said proudly as he regarded his lovely, grown-up daughter.

"Beautiful," Kate agreed.

After striking out all day, we finally tried JDF on Madison," Alexis told him.

"And, boy did we score," Martha added, sort of high fiving with her granddaughter.

"That sounds like it's about more than a dress," Castle answered questioningly.

"Not only did Alexis find this exquisite little number, we were completely charmed by the proprietor. John Danton Farnsworth."

"JDF," Castle confirmed.

"So, as we're paying, Mr. Farnsworth is about to close up when his grandson, John Danton Farnsworth III, picked him up for dinner." Alexis chimed in, "Goes by JD. So cute."

"Oh, he's a lovely young man. Freshman at Columbia." Martha added before her granddaughter took over again.

"Which I'm applying to; so, of course I grilled him about it."

"And the next thing you know, they invite us to join them for dinner," Martha finished.

Castle and Kate had been watching the back and forth between the two redheads like a tennis match and enjoying Alexis's enthusiasm.

"So who was the wingman?" Castle asked. "The grandpa or the kid?"

"Dad, they were total gentlemen. They even invited us to their family's annual charity event – a private concert with Lady Gaga. But it's the same time as the wedding. Of course, I'll go if you want me to. It's just this is the first time I've felt this way since Ashley, and…"

"Well, in that case, you are both relieved of your wedding obligations. I'll square it with Ryan."

"Ryan might be relieved, to tell you the truth," Kate told them. "Not that they didn't want you there. They did. But Lanie and Esposito are on the outs again, and Lanie asked to bring a plus one. Then Esposito decided he needed to bring a plus one if she did. Ryan was worried about upsetting Jenny's mom with new changes in the plans. This might help balance things out again."

"Ah, good." Martha said victoriously, holding up a dress bag. "It's a black-tie benefit, so after dinner John opened the store, and I found one, too."

Castle held his hand out and wiggled his fingers. "Card," he requested. "Before they invite you to something else."

"I'll go put this away," Alexis said as her grandmother handed over Castle's credit card.

"I'll go and hang this one, too, spoilsport," she said to her son.

Kate laughed as Castle put his abused credit card back in his wallet. "It's good to see Alexis looking excited and…I don't know…unworried, I guess."

"Yeah, it is."

Over the next few weeks, JD asked Alexis out a few times, and he did seem to be a nice young man. He had a good sense of humor that bounced off Castle's well, and he didn't seem to mind having movie night with the family one evening when the opportunity presented itself. Castle and Kate decided if a relationship developed, they would probably approve. The young man fit right in. Martha went out with the senior Mr. Farnesworth a couple of times, too, but they opted to have their dates elsewhere, the elder Farnsworth staying for a drink or a short visit when he brought her home.

People were gathered in the lobby before the wedding started, and the Castles enjoyed seeing Ryan's relatives again and meeting Jenny's. They watched as Lanie and Esposito admitted to one another that their dates were actually a doctor friend who had his own boyfriend and Esposito's cousin. They seemed to be back together by the end of the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful, entirely traditional, and the love between Ryan and Jenny pervaded every part of the ceremony and the reception.

Mr. and Mrs. Castle danced and mingled among the guests, and went home smiling and happy for their friends. They talked to Martha and Alexis about their evening at the benefit, and told them about theirs at the wedding. And then they retired to their room to celebrate their own love.

The following morning they experienced something new. The reporter for The Ledger couldn't resist a page six story about the double date involving grandparents and grandchildren at the Farnesworth family's charity benefit. The picture caught all four of them smiling and looking happy. The ladies looked beautiful in their new dresses and the gentlemen dapper in their tuxedos; and they were identified as well-known actress Martha Rodgers and her granddaughter, Alexis, with no mention at all of Richard Castle. In truth, it bothered Castle that Alexis's picture was there. He had spent so many years trying to avoid that. He knew she would see right through him, but he put on a pout for Kate's benefit, pretending he was annoyed that he wasn't given credit for his own child. Kate kissed away his little fit of faux pique and advised him to let his mother enjoy her moment of glory, reminding him that he'd have more of his own.