Double Up

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

She found Castle sitting at his desk. His face stern as ever. She stood before him, in front of his desk.

"I have a lot of things to say to you" she said softly.

"I'm listening" he said.

"I'm... I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have approached the subject the way I did and I really was out of line to question you that way"

"that's alright" he said, now looking up at her.

She came behind him then and put her lips to his head while slowly massaging his shoulders. Needing him to calm down. She knew he was still hyped up, adrenaline rushing through him even now, she knew if he didn't calm down now, he might start throwing things around just to vent.

"Calm down Rick... you need to be able to think straight. And you can't do that with a short temper"

He closed his eyes then, knowing she was right, and he allowed himself to calm down with her touch. She kept her lips pressed to his head as her hands continued to massage his shoulders. He found himself relaxing a bit.

"What just happened?" he asked.

"It's natural for her to feel like her privacy is invaded" Kate said.

"I know. It was wrong of me to sneak up on her and look through her phone, but the bigger issue now is that she lied to me about where she was Kate"

"I know honey, I know"

"You think grounding her will teach her a lesson?"

"Rick I'm not sure anymore. A year ago maybe, it would have worked. But she's reached the age where she wants to rebel against everything we say. We're going to have to handle this situation carefully"

Castle huffed a sigh.

"It doesn't help that she's even angrier that you smashed her phone and we grounded her for a month"

Castle felt horrible for that move. He didn't mean to smash her phone. But his anger got the best of him.

"I'll buy her a new phone." He said.

"But we'll give it to her only after she tells us the truth" Kate insisted.

"Listen Kate, can you like find out more about this guy Danny, who is he? Where's he from, does he have a history?"

"You want me to use precinct facilities?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He looked defeated. "I knew you wouldn't support the idea"

"Castle, she's our daughter, sooner or later, she'll talk. I don't want to treat her or her school mates like criminals if they aren't"

"yea yea. I know. I just…"

"I know. It hurts that she lied."

"More than anything" he said sadly.

She gave him a moment then. And held his hand and said,

"Come on, we need coffee. And I need to get breakfast started."

He let her have his hand and lead him back out to the kitchen. Nate had cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and had gone back up to get ready for school.

An hour later, Castle was sitting on the stool beside Becky's high chair and feeding her, and Nate was beside them. Kate was on a call with Esposito.

"Where's Jo, she isn't coming down for breakfast?" Castle asked Nate.

"I don't know. I saw her getting ready for school."

Castle nodded.

Kate put the phone down and she had a smirk on her face. Castle noticed it and was just about to ask what was it that was making her smile to herself when hey heard footsteps hurrying down the staircase. It was Jo.

"Jo-Jo" Becky called.

"Hey you, good morning" she kissed her baby sister like she did every morning. However, she ignored the man beside her.

Jo then addressed Nate "Are you done with breakfast?"

And Nate had just finished. He got off the stool and grabbed his bag.

"Sweetheart, you're not leaving without breakfast" Kate called out to Jo.

"I'm sorry, I'm not in the mood for breakfast today" she spoke bitterly as she walked on to the doorway.

"Young lady get back here" castle called out. But she ignored him.

"Jo, you're going to get hungry" Kate tried reasoning with her.

"I'll grab something on the way. Don't worry. Oh wait. I forgot... you don't really care"

"Jo…" Nate tried to correct her

"don't okay. I've heard enough for the morning" she told her brother. And left.

Nate shrugged and walked out behind her, the only difference being he waved goodbye to them before leaving.

"Well, I have to get going to the precinct. why don't you call and ask dad what time he's getting here to watch Becky, so that you can come to the precinct, I'll get ready till then"

Castle nodded and brought up Jim beckett's number on his phone.

"Don't forget to tell him that Jo's grounded and that he should expect her home soon after school is done. And that he should give me a call if she's not home then."

"Yea, I'll tell him"

Kate rushed to get ready for work, and when she was finally ready, Castle walked her to the doorway, where he helped her with her coat. When she was ready, he smiled at her and said "You look amazing"

"You say that every day"

"It's not my fault you were blessed with eternal beauty"

she smiled and linked her arms around his neck. And he let his hands fall to rest on her hips. This was natural to them.

"I'm so glad I married a writer. You never fall short of words to woo me"

he laughed and then his face slowly turned serious

"What's wrong?"

"Kate, this morning I …"

"You don't have to explain"

"No I do… it was insensitive of me."

"It was just sex honey"

"Exactly. It was just sex. Born out of anger. And I hate that I used you for that. Sex between us is usually filled with love and affection and expression. And today... I just… I'm sorry"

She kissed him senseless then. And he gave back to her that good morning kiss with the justice it deserved.

"Good morning" she said with a radiant smile and he replied back the same.

And just when she was about to let him go to leave for the precinct, he remembered he needed to ask her something.

"What were you smiling about earlier after talking to Esposito? Did you guys get a good lead?"

That smile returned the one she wore earlier. "Nope, no new leads, but I'll give you one better" she said, and he grew more curious.

"In other news today, Esposito, just like you, has been acting sneaky about his daughter's love life"

"Leila has a love life? How old is she?"

"She's 16 Castle."

"Well, what did he find?"

"He used the precinct facilities to track down her phone calls, and he realized after stalking her that she meets this guy every morning before class in the library, and they study together."

"Hmmm... He seems like a good guy. Who is it?"

"His name is 'Nathan James Castle'" Kate said, kissed him and then left with a smile on her face.

"Oh my god! Really?!"