872. Chapter 872

After Need to Know

Episode 6.03

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Hubba, hubba! I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"I'm ready to go, Daddy."

Richard Castle stood up from his desk and looked at his youngest daughter, all dressed up for her first day of high school. She was dressed in the current style for teenaged girls. A straight black skirt that fell to mid-calf, a bright red sash around her waist, and a tight, white long sleeved blouse. Castle couldn't help but notice that his daughter had breasts which he was sure would attract the attention of every hormonal boy in her high school and those for miles around. Once again, he considered home schooling Lillie and, as always, he knew neither Lillie nor Kate would accept that. He sighed and smiled at her.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride to school? I can drop you off a block from school you know. We can take the Mercedes. It's very nondescript."

Lillie rolled her eyes in a very familiar way. "Daddy! Ride to school with my father? Be serious! I'll take the bus just like everyone else. And I won't be alone. Nan, Bet and Mil are all waiting at the bus stop."

"Lillie, I could drive all of you to school." Castle knew he sounded desperate.

"Daddy, please, to begin with, everyone calls me Lil. And arriving at my first day of high school with my friends and my dad? Puh-lease! "Lillie, (Sorry, that's Lil.), grabbed her school tablet, pushed it into her purse, then kissed her dad and headed for the door. She turned around as she opened the door. "Daddy, please don't follow me like you did on my first day in middle school. Everyone noticed he man wearing the phony mustache and glasses outside of school."

"I'd never do that." Castle said, his fingers crossed behind his back.

"And I found your fake beard and glasses in your desk and hid them." Lil winked at her dad and blew him a kiss. "You're the ruggedly handsome silver fox, Daddy, and I love you. But…." And Lil was out the door. Castle went to the window and watched his daughter and her friends until the bus came and they were out of sight.

He sighed again and went back to his office, got distracted and played a video game. A half an hour later, he looked up to see his wife come in, dressed in skin tight leather pants, a Harley-Davidson tee shirt and a leather jacket, her helmet in her hand.

"Hey! I thought you were working in your office." Castle said, going over to kiss his gorgeous wife. He gave her ass a squeeze which, as always, got a glare from her and then she squeezed his in return.

"You're still just as sexy as the day I married you. But where were you?"

She shrugged. "I just need to clear my head. The case I'm working on is a killer."

"Did you go anywhere specific to clear your head?" He asked, grinning.

She tried to glare and then giggled. "I went by Lillie's new high school. I stayed well back from the bus and I hid behind an SUV while she went inside. She never saw me."

Rick kissed her forehead. "I'm glad I'm not the only one worried about Lillie. She's in high school now, Kate. That means boys and parties and alcohol and….Damn it! It was so hard when I finally had to admit to myself that Alexis was having sex. And now this."

"When did you admit to yourself that she was having sex ?"

"When she made me a grandfather."

Kate laughed. "You didn't think she was having sex when she got married?"

"I was hoping. I admit it was kind of silly, but I was hoping she wasn't."

Kate gave him a kiss. "We need to get to work, Mr. Castle." She headed to her office and he headed for hers.

Once she retired from the NYPD, Kate had gotten her law degree and now worked for people who lacked a voice in the system, much as her mother had once done. Her current case was awful. A young husband and father had died during an operation. The hospital claimed that a pharmaceutical company had provided defective medications. The company had counter claimed that the hospital had given an improper dosage to their patient. As far as Kate could tell, the medical evidence was about even, which could mean a case that could last for years while the poor widow had to raise her children alone. She sat in her office trying to think of a way to get a settlement from both sides without assigning guilt.

Castle sat in his office, working on his new series. Nikki Heat had finally retired from the NYPD to live happily with Jameson Rook and their children. His new character, Rachel Rozman, was a beautiful young public interest lawyer who worked way too hard at her job until she met a free spirited attorney that she couldn't stand at first, but later came to love. The series didn't have the violence of the Nikki Heat series as Rachel was a more cerebral character, much like Katherine Castle, esquire. Castle had Rachel deep in a huge Ponzi scheme that had collapsed, leaving thousands of small investors bankrupt. Two men had run the scheme, but evidence showed one was possibly dead and one had fled. But which one? Or was the so called death just a red herring? Castle smiled to himself as he threw in a plot twist he'd spent two chapters preparing for. He was so engrossed in his writing, he never heard he phone until Kate was standing in front of him.

"Babe, that was the school. They want to see us about Lillie. She's okay, but she's apparently in trouble. Give me a minute to change out of my biker clothes and we'll go."

In minutes, Rick and Kate transformed themselves into an upscale power couple, prepared to take on one of New York's most prestigious prep schools. Once at the school they were ushered in to the presence of Headmistress Lisabeth Fowler. Sitting in Ms. Fowler's office was Lillie, her friend Nan and a girl they didn't know. That girl had a black eye.

"May I ask what happened?" Kate asked in her best attorney voice.

"There has been an altercation involving your daughter and Miss Fellowes here. We can't determine who started this vulgar brawl, but several punches were thrown. We do not condone such actions here. Regardless of which girl threw the first punch, the second should not have been thrown. We try to make sure that all of our students behave as ladies and gentlemen. Accordingly, each girl will get one hours' detention each day for one school week. Do you have any questions or comments?"

As neither did, they quickly left with Lillie. Once at home, Kate began the interrogation. "So, did you throw the first punch?"

Lillie shook her head. "No."

"So, it was Miss Fellowes who threw the first punch?"

"No."

That stopped Kate for a second.

"So you both threw a punch at the same time?" Rick asked.

"No one threw the first punch?' Kate said. The disbelief clear in her voice.

"Nan hit Fellowes."

"What happened?" Kate asked. "In detail."

"Fellowes was telling me in the girls' restroom that Dad was a third rate hack writer and mom represented a lot of losers who were too lazy to work and were trying to get rich off the system."

"And…?" Kate prompted. "Did you hit her?"

"No." Lillie said forcefully.

"Then who…?" Rick began.

"She called Nan a slut. I mean Nan hasn't gone all the way, but she let some guy go too far with her on a first date. Naturally, he told everyone about it and exaggerated everything. Nan got mad and punched Fellowes. She must have thought it was me and Fellowes punched me. I hit her back."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Okay, we do not solve our problems with our fists. Do you understand that? So in addition to the school detention, you're grounded for a week. Now go to your room."

Lillie quickly headed for her room.

"Welcome to high school, Mr. Castle." Kate said.

"I'm so glad I have you to help raise these three. I got lucky with Alexis, I think. I'm so lucky to have you here." He put his arms around her and gave her a hug.

"No luckier than I am to have you as a husband."