94. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Christmas Day was a typical, lazy Castle Christmas morning, spent opening gifts, making a big breakfast, and relaxing. It was Jamie's first Christmas, and they wanted to spend it at home with him, so the family didn't go to the precinct to serve Christmas lunch; but they sent food and servers in their place. There was also the fact that, after all the years of Christmas duty Beckett had served, Gates had banned her from Christmas Day duty for at least another year, anyway.

JD came to the loft in the afternoon and brought the rest of his gifts for Alexis. There was a beautiful, soft sweater and some smaller gifts…a scarf that was perfect with her favorite winter coat, and several things he knew would make her laugh. He brought a few things for Jamie, too and enjoyed seeing what babies do with presents; and he experienced for the first time that sometimes they have more fun with the wrappings than the gifts. Alexis gave JD his other gifts, as well, and it was obvious that they were both thinking on the same wavelength.

After staying for a Christmas movie, JD and Alexis played with Jamie. Both of them were crawling on their hands and knees, chasing him around and then tickling him when they caught him. The children were all laughing, and the older Castles were enjoying the show from their observation perches at the breakfast bar.

When he said he needed to get back to have dinner and spend the evening with his grandfather, Alexis walked JD out; and when she returned, Kate and Martha were taking out leftovers for dinner at Casa Castle.

"He's good for you," Kate observed.

"Yeah, he is," Alexis answered, looking around. "Where's Dad?"

"He's upstairs trying to calm Jamie down a little bit. We had a lot of company yesterday, and it took some time to settle him down last night; so we're going for a head start tonight. He loved playing with you and JD, but he's all wound up now."

"Sorry. But it was so much fun."

"Nobody's complaining," Martha assured her. "I'll help out if he's still a bit overwrought. I enjoyed holding you when you were that age, too; but you went and grew up on me."

"We love seeing you play with your little brother," Kate added to the assurances. "Your dad's just doing quiet things with him and rocking him for a few minutes, so don't get him wired and make us start all over again." Kate poked a finger jokingly in Alexis's ribs.

"Yes, ma'am," she answered mischievously.

"You know, for a guy who's hardly ever been around babies, JD just seems to know what to do. He's a natural," Martha said.

"He's fascinated with Jamie, loves it when he sees that he's learned something new. It's a good thing we're on more solid ground now. If we split up I think he'd feel like he'd lost his spare parents and his little brother, too. He loves all of us, like Kate did. I don't know how I was so stupid before."

"You weren't being stupid, Honey. You were nineteen and giving yourself time to be certain," Kate told her. "I'm the one guilty of stupidity, and I'll spend the rest of my life making that up to your dad. At least you tried to explain yourself before you left. You went about it a lot better than I did."

"Just keep loving him, Kate. I've never seen him happier."

"No problem there," Kate answered as she put bread in the oven.

"Is it okay if we take Jamie for a walk tomorrow?"

"Sure," Kate answered. "Just let us know when. But right now, would you let your father know we can eat in about ten minutes?"

Getting Jamie ready for bed became a family project that night, each of the adults covering some part of the process, but Kate and Castle claimed the rocking chair and tucking in duties.

"That doesn't mean we can't sneak in and kiss him goodnight," Martha stage whispered to her granddaughter.

"I heard that. Castle said over his shoulder. "Instigator. That's what she is," he mock grumbled to his wife while their two redheads giggled quietly.

xxxxx

On New Year's Eve, Martha had plans that would keep her out all night, and Alexis and JD were going out as well; but Rick and Kate had decided they'd like to stay at home. After being forced to take his very pregnant wife to the Black Pawn party the year before, Rick conscientiously turned down every invitation that came their way, planning the private New Year's Eve party the two of them had wished for the previous year. The couple told Martha and Alexis and their dates how wonderful they looked, gave them their best wishes for a fun and exciting New Year's Eve, and breathed a sigh of relief when everybody left. Once they were alone with their baby, they spent some quiet time with him before he fell asleep and then some quiet time with each other after changing into their favorite enticing nightclothes.

There was a knock at the door, and Rick threw on a more acceptable robe long enough to accept the meal he had ordered from his favorite caterer so he and Kate wouldn't have to cook. Kate lit candles and dimmed the lights while Rick plated the still warm and much-nicer-than-their-normal-take-out, dinner. Then they enjoyed their delicious meal and each other's uninterrupted company, cleared the table, and retired to their room, closing the door behind them.

They faced each other in bed and engaged in some pillow talk, along with easy caresses, neither of them in any hurry to take it farther right away. At the stroke of midnight, however, the enticing clothing was on the floor, and they began what they had talked about the year before as the best way they could imagine to usher in the new year…the traditional kissing involved in the moment as well, of course.

xxxxx

Over the next few months, cases came and went; some included Castle, and some didn't. He was actually ahead of schedule on the book he was currently writing; and Gina was leaving him alone for the most part, which made everybody involved happy. Sully had established himself as a solid part of the team and welcomed the chance to work with Castle when he was there.

Now and then Martha and John would call one another when one of them wanted an escort to an event, or just felt like having a night out on the town. The family assumed they were friends with benefits; but nobody really wanted to know, so it was never mentioned. The two of them behaved appropriately around the family, which their progeny found acceptable enough for their coping skills.

Jamie started walking on his own in January, and Kate was there to see his first steps. He had already been pulling himself up and maneuvering around the furniture quite efficiently for a while.

One night while his parents were sitting on the floor playing with him after dinner, Kate was near the end of the coffee table. She called out playfully, "Jamie, come to Mommy." She smiled and held her arms out, wiggling her fingers, and he quickly baby stepped to the end of the table. But this time, when he ran out of table, he kept walking. It was wobbly, but he took the three steps to his mother and threw himself into her arms laughing.

Kate was enthralled. "Look at you, Baby! You walked all by yourself. Rick, did you see that? Has he done that before?"

"No," he answered with a beaming smile. "That was absolutely the first time. Jamie, Daddy is so proud of you. Come here," he said, holding out his hands. Kate stood Jamie up again and held his hand as he moved toward Castle, then she loosened her grip and let go as he took another few steps toward his father before dropping to his well-padded little bottom just as he reached out for Castle. Both parents applauded and praised and smiled.

Noticing Kate's look in his direction, Castle asked, narrowing his eyes mischievously, "You're checking to see if it looks like I'm lying and trying to make you think he's never done that before, aren't you? Well, I'm not, and I won't. That's the very first time, and you saw it with me. I love that."

After another assessing look, she said, "I believe you, and I love it, too. It's just…I'm so afraid I'm going to miss the first time he does something important."

"You've missed surprisingly little so far. I think he must like to show off for Mommy," Castle answered. Then, holding Jamie and shimmying over toward her on his backside, he kissed her cheek.

"Tiss," Jamie said.

"He identified a new word today. Can you tell?"

"Kiss, Jamie?" Kate asked.

"Tiss, tiss, tiss," he answered, holding his arms up, and Kate plucked him up as she often did to plant multiple, playful kisses on his face as he laughed. A minute or so later, he slid out of Kate's grasp and went back to his father, crawling up into his lap. "Tiss," he said again from where he sat in Castle's lap, then he leaned into his dad's chest, rested his head there and seemed to be waiting. Castle leaned and kissed his little head, and Jamie sort of melted into him.

"When we play with him like this and he goes to you, he holds his arms out and looks excited," Castle observed. "But when he comes to me; sometimes he just climbs in my lap and leans against me like he's expecting something. Wonder why?"

Kate appeared to be putting her detective mind to work and finally said. "When I'm down here on his level and playing, I pick him up and kiss him over and over and act silly, make it like a game. When you're on the floor and playing, you pick him up and blow raspberries on his tummy or pretend to nibble on him a lot; but when you hold him in your lap like that, you usually kiss the top of his head. All of us like it when you do that…we feel loved and content. It's comforting. I think he just crawls into your lap and 'assumes the position' so to speak. It looked like he was waiting for you to kiss his head. Then there was 'the melt'. He looks pretty content, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does. Maybe that's a sign we should wind things down."

They cleared the few toys from the floor, got their son ready for bed, and took care of the pre-bedtime ritual. On the way downstairs to their room after Jamie was settled, Kate told her husband, "Dad asked me today how I'd feel about helping him find a ring for Meagan. He said he'd understand if it felt too weird to me."

"What did you say?"

"That it did feel a little weird. Then I was saved by somebody being brought in for questioning, and I told Dad I'd call him back tomorrow."

"You can't put it off forever, you know. How do you really feel about it, now that it's a fact rather than a possibility?"

"I don't know. I guess I was surprised and was buying a little time to adjust to the idea. I don't know why, though. I've seen them getting closer, and I'm happy for both of them."

"There's a 'but' in there."

She took a deep breath and released it before parting with the words. "But I can't imagine my dad being married to anybody but my mom."

"Do what you need to do for yourself, Sweetheart. Your dad and Meagan will both understand. And you have until tomorrow to decide."

"No, I've already decided. He's been alone for a long time, Rick, and he deserves to be happy. They both do. So I'll go with him. It might not be easy, but I'll go and back him up."

"Well, when tough Lieutenant Beckett has finished backing up her dad, she can come home to Jamie and me, and we'll 'tiss' away the tears if she needs us to."

"How about some serious 'tissing' right now?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Castle grinned. "I thought you'd never ask." And he stopped them in the study, held her by her shoulders, and planted lots of silly, noisy kisses on her face, the way she had kissed their little boy earlier, both of them laughing as she returned the foolishness with a raspberry to his neck.

xxxxx

A couple of simple cases came up…not too demanding, but not entirely cut and dried. Not terribly challenging by any means. Then there was a case that was a definite challenge. Every clue was a dead end, and after several days, they were getting nowhere.

"Time to call Castle?" Sully asked. "Does he have time to be here?"

"It might be, and I think he does," Beckett answered. "We just need to arrange babysitting."

"Last time we talked, he told me he's ahead of schedule, almost finished with his book," Esposito noted. "What's wrong with him? He's never ahead on his books. He's always complaining that Gina is breathing dragon fire down his neck and growling about finishing late chapters."

"He's doing what he did when he stayed home with Alexis. He writes while Jamie sleeps. When he did the same thing with Alexis, he was writing two books a year."

"Then he met you?" Ryan teased.

"Something like that. He liked working with us, but it didn't leave him as much time to write. I'll call him while he's still ahead."

"Good. Maybe he'll see something we missed. We've looked at it until our eyes have glazed over," Ryan added, looking tired.

"Why don't I ask him tonight? Shift ended an hour ago. All of you go home. We'll think better with some sleep behind us. We can look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Sully answered, closing down his computer and picking up his coat from the back of his chair. The rest of the team followed suit, and they left in the elevator together.

Kate could hardly wait to get home. Jamie was learning so much so fast. As Martha said about a baby Rick Rodgers, he started walking and talking and never slowed down. Kate never knew what small new adventure might turn up before Jamie's bedtime. Now, when she came home, he often toddled over to her with a watchful Rick not far away. He was still wobbly, his arms flying out wildly at times in an apparent attempt at keeping his balance; but he stayed upright the majority of the time.

When she came into the loft and gave Rick his kiss, Jamie repeated, "Mama, Mama," as he toddled toward her. She dropped to her knees, held out her arms to meet him halfway and scooped him up in a big hug as soon as he arrived.

Castle laughed as he watched them. "You should see yourselves. You both look like the cat that swallowed the canary."

"Cat," Jamie echoed, turning to point at his animal book.

Kate picked up the book and said, "Find the cat. She made a big production of turning pages and asking if that picture was the cat, and when the feline finally was on the page, Jamie named it several times.

"How's the duck situation going?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

This time it was Castle rolling his eyes. "I don't understand. The 'd's' were some of the first sounds he made. Why not there?"

Kate turned to the page with the duck and asked, "What's that?"

"Guck," her son answered. She corrected him but got the same answer.

Castle sat down with them and looked at his baby. "D-d-d-Daddy," he tried.

Jamie answered, "D-dada."

"D-d-d-dog," Castle said, and Jamie repeated it. After another couple of "d" words with excellent results, he came to, "D-d-d-duck."

Jamie answered, "D-d-guck." Then he laughed…one of those full, baby belly laughs that make everybody around him smile.

Castle dropped his head in defeat. "Three days he's been doing this. Why?"

"Judging from that laugh, I'd say it's because he's already learned how to mess with Daddy's mind."

Castle sighed. "At this point, I might even be willing to admit you could be right." He picked his boy up and plopped him in his lap. Jamie curled into his chest, as Castle had come to expect and enjoy, and he kissed his son's head and cherished Jamie's contented relaxation against him. Then he picked him up and held him closer to his shoulder, and Jamie wiggled into a comfortable spot while Castle stroked his back with his wide, gentle hands.

"Just so you know? Big guy, tiny kid? Still totally doing it for me," Kate told her husband.

"So I get lucky tonight?"

"Guck?" Jamie looked up at his father as if he might have missed something with the similar word.

"Stinker," Castle answered with a chuckle, but his son's head still got another kiss and a nuzzle against his cheek.

Kate sat and watched contentedly and smiled in loving amusement.

After they had tucked Jamie in later, Kate told Castle, "The boys have asked to invite you in on this case if you have time. I don't want to slow you down, though. You've been enjoying writing lately."

"A little break from it wouldn't hurt. I might even pick up a few new ideas. We just need a babysitter."

"The last time I talked to Megan, she said she was getting a little bored with retirement. Maybe she wouldn't mind. If we're running a little late, I'm sure Dad would join her here."

We need to decide what to do for Jamie's birthday, too. It's only two weeks away. Just family?"

"Including Meagan, JD, and John?"

"Of course," Castle answered. "They already feel like family."

"I've already put in for the day off."

"We can go to Remy's and talk about it at lunch tomorrow," Castle suggested. "Tonight, let's call Meagan, and then you can tell me about the case. After that, I'm planning on getting lucky…without commentary from the kid."

Kate chuckled. "You have to admit he made a good connection, though."

xxxxx

When he walked into the precinct with Beckett, Castle heard welcoming sounds from various parts of the bullpen and saw a few hands raised to acknowledge his presence. Lupinski was leaving the break room as they walked past and asked, "Castle. How's your boy?"

Castle stopped to answer as Beckett kept moving toward her desk. "Mini-me is great. Walking, starting to talk, generally keeping his dad busy."

"And you really don't mind staying home with him?"

"I don't. I did this when Alexis was a baby, too, but then there wasn't much of a choice. Her mother wasn't particularly maternal, still isn't for that matter; and fortunately, my paying job allows me to stay home. I write while he sleeps and play with him and take care of the necessities when he wakes up. And Beckett takes over a lot when she gets home. I can get some writing done sometimes then, too. Life is good."

"You're deep into being a dad, aren't you?" Lupinski asked, walking toward the bullpen with him.

"Guilty," Castle answered with a proud smile. "Nothing else like it."

Lupinski returned the smile, saying "Later." And he gave Castle a brotherly slap on the upper arm as he turned toward his own desk.

Castle greeted the rest of the team, then went to the murder board to look over what they had on the case and read the notes in the file. "Beckett said you hadn't found any other murders similar to this one, but I agree that there is something about the crime scene that hints at a serial killer. I just can't quite identify what it is."

"And now you know where we are on this. We thought the same thing and checked on it, but we haven't found anything similar enough to make a connection," Ryan answered. "That's what's so frustrating. We hope we're wrong; but if we're right, there could be another victim soon.

"Beckett," Gates called from her office door.

"Be right back," she told her team. "Catch Castle up on the rest while I'm gone, just in case I missed anything last night." There were explanations, questions, and answers back and forth until Beckett came back, looking grim. "Another body. The same officer who worked our present case was first on scene at this one, too; and she thinks there might be a couple of similarities. Gates is sending us the address. Looks like you're in on the ground floor with this one, Castle. Let's go."

Arriving at the crime scene, they checked with CSU and were told they needed a few more minutes. Using that few minutes they looked around the exterior of the building and the area near the apartment before they got the all clear and entered. There were two officers outside the apartment in the hallway, and Beckett stopped to speak to them.

"Officers Archer and Bisaga, right?"

"That's right, Lieutenant," man answered

"Archer, you called this in, didn't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You said you noticed some similarities to the Penston case. Want to come in with us and tell us what you saw and why you think it's significant?" She held her hand out ahead of her and Archer moved into the apartment ahead of them. Turning to Bisaga, she added, "Hold down the fort out here, and let us know if you need backup.

When they reached the room where the body was found, Archer pointed out that in the Penston case, the top shirt button was missing, seemed to have been snatched off. "The most obvious similarity was the wound to the neck, but see this part of the dress that was cut away? I have a friend who has an identical dress, except that it's intact. What's missing here isn't a button, but it is a fastener. It's a smallish flower at the neck opening with Velcro on the back. See?" she said, pointing out the intact side of the neckline that was left. This looks like the other half of the Velcro closing."

"Was there anything else?"

"The flower arrangement on the table. It's about the same size as the vase at the other scene. The flowers are different colors but basically the same type…and the exact same roses are in both."

"Good observations, Archer," Beckett answered as she looked. "And accurate. That saved us some time, especially the dress."

"And that's always welcome," Castle added.

"This is our consultant, Richard Castle."

"And your husband?" Archer asked, then immediately seemed to think she had overstepped her bounds.

"And my husband," Beckett conceded with a smile. "I don't mind claiming him…most of the time," she teased.

"And I don't mind claiming her anytime," Castle said, smiling at his wife.

"What strikes you as important about these things you noticed?" Beckett asked Archer.

"I mentioned it carefully at first because I didn't want to say much where it might start rumors, but I know serial killers sometimes take souvenirs or leave calling cards. When I called it in, I thought I should mention what looked to me like similarities, even if it didn't amount to anything. I'd rather feel stupid if I'm wrong than not mention it and feel like I'm responsible for another victim."

"I'm glad you did. Would you like to stay and observe while we look over the scene? You know what not to do at a crime scene, I assume?"

"Really? You don't want me back outside?"

"Only if you're not needed there. But I'd like to see how much else you might notice. How long have you been an officer?"

"Four years next month."

The team spoke to Frank Stokes about the body and looked over the crime scene, noting what they needed to remember; and Beckett drew Archer into giving answers now and then. The team talked back and forth to each other, as always, and Archer looked fascinated. Beckett set out a standard list of things that should be done right away, Esposito and Ryan left to get started, and Sully went with them. Beckett and Castle asked Dr. Stokes another couple of questions as he waited for his assistants to take the body to the van. Archer appeared to be hanging on their every word.

They walked with Archer back to her partner outside, and Beckett took time to shake Bisaga's hand, thanking him for his help. "Did you notice the similarities to the Penston case, too?"

"No, Ma'am. I was real impressed that my partner did, though."

"When CSU has locked up and left, I'll need the two of you to canvass the neighbors. See if any of them knew our victim or saw or heard anything unusual. Ask about people or delivery or service vehicles they may not have seen before."

"We'll take care of it, Lieutenant."

"Thank you. And thanks Archer. I appreciate the help. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You just made that young woman's whole day," Castle said as they walked back to the car.

"I don't know about that, but I do think I see some talent there. Never hurts to encourage it."

"Have I told you lately how proud you make me?"

"Yeah, but it never hurts to encourage that, either," she answered flirtatiously as she unlocked the car.

When they were back at the precinct, Gates detoured them to her office before they got to the rest of the team, wanting to know what the similarities in the two cases were and if it looked like they might have a serial killer on their hands.

Beckett took her quickly through the events of the morning, with an occasional comment from Castle, and Gates agreed that it was a possibility. "Keep me in the loop continuously on this. I don't want to be lacking information if someone at 1PP wants it."

"Understood, Sir." After a slight pause, she added, "We also spoke to the first on scene officer this morning, Officer Archer. I'd recommend keeping an eye on her. She's the one who noticed the similarities. I had her stay as we took our initial look at the crime scene and asked her some questions about what she saw as we looked around. She showed a lot of promise and a lot of interest in the process, as well as the good sense not to have said anything about similarities in front of the wrong people. If this morning is the rule, rather than the exception for her, I think she should be encouraged."

Jotting the name down as she spoke, Gates answered, "Duly noted, Lieutenant. Thank you."

When Castle and Beckett arrived at his desk, Ryan handed them a page from his notebook with the address and phone number of the victim's next of kin, and they turned to leave the precinct immediately. Then they made another of the trips they always dreaded…to inform parents of their child's murder.

On the way, Castle called to see if Alexis and JD would like to join them for dinner, and the couple could hardly wait to go home to see their daughter that evening and to thoroughly hug their boy child while they waited for the dinner they had already decided would be ordered in.