131. Chapter 131

After Murder He Wrote, Again

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Castle he writes, but does not own. Rating: T Time: Somewhat after Murder He Wrote.

He turned onto the driveway and stopped in front of the house. Alexis jumped out of the car and ran inside. Martha got out and followed her, calling over her shoulder to her son. "You can carry out things inside can't you, Richard?"

"Sure, mom." He replied. "No problem."

"I can help." Kate added.

"Don't be silly, Katherine. You're our guest. Richard can manage."

"I'm family, Martha. I can carry my own bags."

"If you insist, dear. But it's great to have you here with us." Martha continued on into the house.

Rick stared at the bags in the trunk. "I hope you can carry your own bags. You brought enough stuff for a trip around the world, let alone a long weekend in the Hamptons."

"I just brought the bare necessities."

He slid an arm around her and pulled her close to him. "The bare necessities on you would be fantastic. Why don't we try that?"

She smiled at him. "In front of Alexis? She'd be…"

"No!" He said quickly. "Bad idea. Very bad idea. Bring as many suitcases as you want. Any time. Okay?"

"Are you stressed about something?" She asked, becoming serious. "You've been a little…odd all week."

"Odder than usual?" He joked.

"Yes. Tell me, Castle, is there a problem?"

"Yes. I want this family weekend to be absolutely perfect. I want it to be the most perfect family weekend in history."

"Castle! It's just a little vacation. Lighten up. Don't worry, we'll have a great time."

"Kate, it's not just a vacation. It's here at our place in the Hamptons. The first time I invited you up here, you didn't come because I invited Gina. I didn't know that you had broken up with Demming to be with me. I broke your heart."

"And whose fault was that?" She asked quietly.

"I broke your heart. It was my fault."

She shook her head. "It was my fault. I pushed you away for over a year. I was dating Demming. Naturally, you assumed I wasn't interested in you."

"Kate, when we first met I saw all the pain in your eyes. I just wanted to put my arms around you and tell you that I'd take all that pain away and replace it with joy."

Kate kissed him lightly. "That would have been hard for you to do with two broken arms."

"Still, I caused you more pain."

"And more joy than I thought I'd ever have in my life."

"The second time we actually made it up here. And we spent most of the weekend solving a murder. I wanted you to enjoy your weekend."

"And you think I don't enjoy solving murders with the best partner in the NYPD?"

"What about the marriage?"

"We got married, didn't we? That's all that matters to me."

"Yeah, but it wasn't the most successful…"

Castle was interrupted by Alexis running out of the house screaming, followed closely by Martha. "Daddy!" She screamed. "There's a rat in the kitchen! He's huge!"

Martha ran up and took her place behind Kate. "She's right. He's enormous. He has to be the biggest rat in the Hamptons. Probably came up from the city."

"A weekend rat?" Castle asked, laughing. "Did he park his little ratmobile out front? Does he have a little rat suitcase?"

"Daddy! This is serious. He's huge."

Rick smiled indulgently at his daughter. "Don't worry, Pumpkin. Daddy will get that big, bad rat."

Rick and Kate peeked around the corner of the kitchen door and stared at the rat, who had pried open a bread box and was now gorging on sourdough bread. "He is huge." Kate whispered.

"Monstrous." Castle agreed.

"I brought my sidearm." Kate suggested.

"Kate! That's Italian marble he's standing on. And those are imported tiles forming the backsplash. Not to mention the solid walnut cabinets."

"So what do you intend to do?"

Castle thought for a moment. "I have just the thing." He headed upstairs calling back to Kate. "Keep an eye on him."

Castle was back in a few minutes wearing a fencing mask, jacket and carrying a sword.

"You're going to challenge him to a duel?" Kate asked.

"No. I'm just going to chase him away. Rats carry all kinds of diseases. I just want to be safe."

"You know your sword has a blunt tip?"

"You've never complained about my sword before." He said softly.

She rolled her eyes. "Go get him, Scaramouche."

Castle approached the huge rat, who noticed the approaching human. He put down his bread and prepared to defend himself. Castle saluted his foe and advanced. The rambunctious rodent narrowed his eyes, and attacked. Castle feinted at the rat's head, but the rat outmaneuvered him, staging a surprise attack on Castle's exposed rear. Castle screamed, grabbed his butt as the rascally rat fled the scene of his crime.

Dr. Sweet finished bandaging Castle's damaged derriere. "I've been doing this for years, Castle." The sweet, white haired doctor said. "I remember when you were about sixteen, and you came in with poison ivy on your…"

"Thanks, Marie, for that walk down memory lane. Can I leave now?"

She checked his records. "Your wife shot the rat and we've checked him out. No rabies or any other dangerous diseases. Oddly enough, no fleas or other parasites on the rat. Both you and he have a clean bill of health. Well, the rat is dead."

"Thanks." Rick said, pulling up his pants.

"I assume it was a girl." Dr. Sweet said. "You wouldn't have had your pants around you knees in poison ivy for any…"

"Just send me the bill, okay?"

"Remember to sleep on your stomach." The doctor called to him as he left.

Rick found Alexis and Martha in the waiting room. "Okay, let's get out of here." He looked around. "Where's Kate?"

"Dad." Alexis said sadly. "She's been arrested."

Chief Brady was embarrassed. "Mr. Castle, I'm sorry, but the law is quite clear. It's against the law to discharge a firearm within the city limits."

"But she's a cop! And she shot a rat that attacked me!" Castle turned to his wife who was sitting in the wire cage in the police station. "Don't worry, honey. I'll get you out?"

"Are you planning to bake me a cake with a file in it?" She asked sarcastically.

Chief Brady tried to calm Castle. "She wasn't on duty, nor was the shooting in the line of duty. And the rat was hardly a danger to life or limb. It was trying to make its getaway."

"Chief, can't we settle this amicably?"

Chief Brady shook his head. "Natalia Roosevelt filed the charges. She hasn't been a fan of yours since you were last here. She blames losing the election last fall on everyone finding out that she gave Randal Franklin a variance because she was sleeping with him."

"Can't you let her out on bail? I'll pay anything."

"Judge Wyndham said she'll come in tomorrow, even though it's a weekend. The maximum penalty is a five hundred dollar fine, but she could sentence your wife to time served. Considering the circumstances, she might dismiss the charges. But Mrs. Castle is going to have to stay in our cell until tomorrow morning."

Castle sighed. "Can I speak to you in private, Chief?"

A half an hour later, Rick was back with a large paper sack in one hand and a duffel bag in the other. Chief Brady let Castle into the cage.

"You're planning to smuggle me out in the bag?" Kate asked.

"No. I bought us dinner from Chang's and I brought bedclothes for us. Chief Brady said it was okay for me to sleep here with you tonight."

"Castle, that's very sweet of you, but you don't have to do this. You can go home and I'll join you tomorrow."

Castle shook his head sharply. "I wanted this weekend to be perfect, and it's already a mess. But I will do my very best for you, Kate. Oh, and I got a bottle of rice wine for us, too."

Castle pulled out a blanket from his duffle and spread it on the floor, then carefully laid out the food containers. Lastly, he opened the wine and poured it into two glasses. He raised his glass, "Gam bei, Kate."

She toasted him back. "Gam bei, Castle."

While they were eating, Chief Brady came by. "Mr. And Mrs. Castle, we're closing up now. We usually don't keep the station open 24/7 unless there's some kind of a problem. The day shift will take you to Judge Wyndham first thing tomorrow. Good night."

After dinner, Kate changed into her jammies while Rick made a bed on the floor with an air mattress and sheets, pillows and blankets from their home. "All ready, Kate." He slid under the covers and Kate joined him. Rick kissed her and then slid his hand under her top, caressing her boobs.

She pulled away. "Castle! What are you doing?"

"You haven't been in the joint so long you've forgotten what sex is, have you?" He said in mock horror.

"I'm not making love to you while I'm in jail. It's just too…too…Well, I can't."

"Not at all?" He asked plaintively.

She kissed him. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow night." She snuggled up against her husband and drifted off to sleep. Castle took longer to fall asleep, but eventually did so.

The next morning the police took Rick and Kate to Judge Wyndham's chambers for her trial. Judge Wyndham was a bit grumpy about having to get up on a weekend to hear the case, but she was not the type to make the defendant suffer on that account.

"Mrs. Castle, you have been charged with firing a weapon within the city limits. How do you plead?"

"Guilty, your honor." Kate said.

Rick spoke up. "Guilty with an explanation, your honor. I was attacked by a vicious rat in my own home. I was seriously wounded. My wife, who is a detective with the NYPD was only defending me."

Judge Wyndham nodded. "Hadn't the rat already made his escape? According to the police report, the rat was shot on your back lawn."

"I plead guilty, your honor." Kate said loudly.

"That's not the point, your honor. I was seriously injured. The rat could have had disease or fleas carrying who knows what kind of diseases."

Judge Wyndham sighed. "I haven't seen you for a few years, Mr. Castle, but I do recall that you've been before me before. You always made light of your "youthful indiscretions" as you liked to refer to them and wildly exaggerated every exculpatory incident. You got a scratch from that rat. You needn't make it sound like it was serious."

Angered, Castle pulled down his pants and boxers, turned and bent over. "Does this look like a scratch I'm exaggerating?"

Kate looked at her husband through the wires of the police cell. "At least she dismissed the charges against me. And Chief Brady says I can stay with you until you're let out tomorrow."

"You should just go back to the house, honey. I don't want you sleeping in jail two nights in a row." He said with a sigh.

"I go with my husband. I'll be back before you know it."

Kate was back with lunch in half an hour and also brought Rick's laptop. "After lunch, I thought you could do some writing. Now that you know what it's like in the big house, you might want to put your memories down while they're still fresh."

While Kate laid out their lunch, Rick sang a soulful rendition of Folsom Prison Blues. Kate rolled her eyes, but was careful not to let Rick see that. "Care to try Mama Tried?" She asked. "I always did like the Dead's cover of that."

Rick sighed dramatically. "Didn't you once say you'd break me out of prison?"

"Prison, Rick. Not some chicken coop in the Hamptons."

"This was supposed to be perfect." He said sadly.

She leaned over and kissed him. "That was perfect."

Bright and early the next morning, Rick and Kate were up and dressed, waiting for Chief Brady to let them out.

"Mr. And Mrs. Castle," He said solemnly, "I can't tell you how sorry I am that you two had to stay here. Especially after you were such a huge help with our only murder case."

"Don't worry, about it, Chief." Kate said, before Rick could tell the Chief what he thought. She grabbed Rick's hand. "We'll be going now. Bye."

"I loved the a capella Ain't No More Cane on This Brazos last night." Brady called after them.

Martha and Alexis were waiting outside with the car. She threw her arms around her son. "I hope the screws weren't too hard on you, Kiddo!" She said loudly, attracting the attention of the passersby. "You was framed, Rocky."

"Thanks, Martha." Rick said softly. "Can we get out of here?"

He held out his hands for the car keys, but Alexis shook her head. "To be on the safe side, I'll drive."

"That'll be fine, Alexis." Kate said quickly. Rick knew when he was beaten and got in the back with Kate. Alexis drove home being careful to always drive ten miles per hour below the speed limit and she stopped at all stops signs, coming to a complete stop and looking both ways at least twice. They finally arrived at their home.

"I'm going to relax for a little bit, "Rick said, "then I'm going to barbecue some burgers for lunch. I had planned to do that last night, but…"

"You were interrupted." Kate said diplomatically.

"And I'll do the steaks tonight." He finished.

The two went upstairs to their bedroom, but how much relaxing went on is open to debate.

At lunchtime, Rick came down to his built in brick barbecue grill. He put charcoal in, then poured some charcoal lighter on top. He struck a match and the fire caught nicely. Suddenly Rick was aware of a furious buzzing and something shooting out of the chimney of the grill. "OUCH!" He screamed and then screamed again. He ran for the pool and dove in, just escaping a mass of very angry bees.

"Bee stings, Castle?" Dr. Sweet said, shaking her head. "I'd make sure he has a really good medical plan, Mrs. Castle."

"I will. And please call me Kate." Kate sat beside her husband in the doctor's office as Dr. Sweet rubbed a lotion on the stings.

"I remember one time he brought a girl in here…" Sweet began.

"That's enough." Rick said sharply.

"Oh, I'd love to hear that story." Kate said.

Dr. Sweet nodded. "She was about ten and had fallen off her bike. Ricky picked her up off the sidewalk and carried her in here. That was what, about ten years ago?"

Rick nodded happily.

"Castle can be so sweet sometimes and others…" Dr. Sweet left the sentence unfinished.

"I know." Kate said sadly. "I know."

Back at the house, they decided to order pizza for a late lunch and then make sandwiches or something later in the evening. Eventually, Rick and Kate went to bed.

"I hate this." He said, laying on his side. "I wanted this weekend to be perfect and it was a disaster. I have no idea how I can make this up to you, but I will. I swear I will."

"No need. This weekend was perfect."

He shook his head. "Nice try, Kate, but really, perfect? Hardly."

Kate kissed him and rested her head on his chest. "Really. When you met me I was a mess."

"If you were a mess, you were a remarkable mess."

"I was a mess. My mom's death had changed my life. I had failed at solving her murder and I was trying to make up for that failing by solving every other murder. I had no life outside of work and I didn't really want any. Then you came along. All of a sudden, I was having fun and then I had solved part of mom's murder. I wanted more. Actually, I wanted you, but you were Richard Castle, millionaire playboy and world famous author and I was just a cop."

"You have never been "just" an anything."

"So you say, Castle." She went on. "I went about it in exactly the wrong way, damned near ruining what we had a million times before I finally came to my senses. Then we were together and now we're married and I have never been happier. This weekend was perfect because every single day with you is perfect, Mr. Castle."

"And every one of my days with you is perfect as well, Mrs. Castle."

She reached under his boxers and gently grabbed his erection. "There is something you can do to make the weekend more perfect."