167. Chapter 167

Chapter 167

"I had thought about going to the beach house this week before you have to be back at work, but it's way too cold," Castle said, looking out the window at the people on the street, who were bundled up in warm, heavy clothing.

"Nope, I don't even want to think about it. Jamie sees the beach house as a place to play in the water, and he'd be disappointed this time. Even with the heated water and overhead heaters, we couldn't use the pool," she answered from where she was starting breakfast. "We're going to have to find something else to do for him this week."

"Something indoors," Castle answered with a dramatic shiver, crossing the kitchen to help her. "The weather predictions are frigid for the next week or more."

"He hasn't seen his friend from the park for a while. Maybe we could arrange a play date for him."

"Yeah. Invite them to come to us," he chuckled. "It's nice and warm in here. We can break out Cars and Toy Story, build a blanket fort, and have snacks when they get bored."

"It always comes down to snacks with you, doesn't it?" she answered with a chuckle.

"Have you learned nothing since we've been together, Woman? Movies are always to be viewed with snacks."

She bumped him playfully with her hip and said, "I'll call Adelaide after breakfast and see if she wants to drop Billy off for the afternoon tomorrow. He's a great kid. I hope Jamie keeps choosing his friends that well when he gets older."

"Thinking of someone's wild child days?"

"I plead the fifth."

"I'll bet."

"Where's Jo?" Jamie asked sleepily, walking over and leaning against Kate's legs with Bear.

"She's asleep in the Pack and Play in the study. When she's awake, we'll bring her out here with us," Castle told him.

"She sleeps a lot."

"You slept a lot when you were that little, too. Babies mostly eat and sleep," Kate said.

"And make icky diapers?" Jamie asked, looking up at them with a sleepy, mischievous little smile that looked a lot like his father's.

"Yeah, that, too." Castle returned his son's smile in kind. "It's so cold outside we wouldn't enjoy the park this week. Would you like to see if Billy can come over to play tomorrow?"

"Yaaaaay!" Jamie answered and ran to hug his father's legs. He was definitely getting taller, but that was still what he could reach.

"I'll call his mommy after breakfast and see if he can come over," Kate promised. "Would you help Daddy set the table?"

The play date was arranged, and Billy's divorced, single mother sounded grateful to have a day of her vacation to herself. Remembering those days, or Castle's description of them, the Castles quietly consulted and offered to have her drop her little boy off around lunchtime and leave him for a sleepover. They enjoyed the little guy, and he and Jamie always got along well together.

The next day, Billy and Jamie enjoyed having company while they had to play inside, and Jo got a little extra attention while her brother was so well occupied. Later in the afternoon when the boys were winding down, Castle built them a blanket fort, and they found ways to use it, taking different toys in and out periodically. After dinner, there were movies and snacks in the fort, and Kate, Castle, and Jo joined them. Kate fed Jo while everybody enjoyed the movies, holding the baby while she slept afterward.

They tucked the two little boys into bed that night in the guest room. They were both big enough now that the queen sized, relatively low bed in that room didn't look like much of a hazard, but they moved the baby monitor to that room just in case. The next morning there were happy face pancakes and happy faced little boys eating them, and Billy's mother picked him up right after they had lunch.

"Can Billy come over again tomorrow?" Jamie asked.

"He can come another time before long, but his mommy has to work and can't bring him," Castle explained. "And your mommy will be going back to work soon, so we have to plan it a little more carefully than we did this week."

"I don't want Mommy to go to work," Jamie pouted.

"She'll be home at night," his father pointed out. "And you'll be going to school before your birthday, remember? So before long you'll be at school part of the time while Mommy is at work. And Jo and I will come and pick you up at lunchtime. You'll only have to miss her from lunchtime to dinnertime."

"I'll be home every night," Kate promised, picking him up. "And if I have to work late once in a while, I'll call and talk to you. I promise." Jamie wrapped his arms around her neck and dropped his head to her shoulder, sinking into her arms. She sat down on one of the bar stools in the kitchen and just held him for a while, swaying gently and soothing both of them.

xxxxx

While Jamie took a nap that afternoon, his parents were sitting on the sofa, talking and reviewing plans, assessing what might need Kate's attention before she went back to work. New Year's Day was on Sunday that year, so the change of command was scheduled for January second. Martha and John had New Year's Eve plans but had offered to babysit the night before so Kate and Castle could go out for dinner and dancing before Kate had to return to work. They planned to go back to the restaurant at the hotel where they had spent their anniversary the year before. Aside from some excellent memories and a baby girl resulting from the weekend they spent in the hotel, the restaurant had wonderful food and a good dance band there on Fridays and Saturdays.

"Do we have everything lined up for Jamie for when he starts pre-school?" Kate asked.

"If we don't, we'll have the weekends to work it out. I like the newer school we chose. There's a good vibe there. So in February, we'll have a little boy in pre-school, and it's only two blocks from home. Jo and I can have a good walk a couple of times a day while Jamie tells us about his school day."

"I'll have to miss that," Kate said sadly.

"Oh. Can you take the day off for his first day at school? We could take pictures and walk him to school and then take him for a big boy lunch and ice cream and let him tell us about it after he's done…do the whole helicopter parent thing that day."

"I already thought about that. Unless some huge, unforeseen, gnarly problem comes up, I probably can. Lieutenant Brighton in Narcotics would probably cover for me. And I can always go in on Saturday that week to comp the time off so it doesn't take away from the vacation days I don't want to give up. We'll need them later in the year."

"And maybe you could surprise Jamie once in a while…go in a little late or maybe take a long lunch…either walk him to school with us and grab a cab from there to work or come home and walk with Jo and me to pick him up and have lunch."

"I'll try to work that out now and then. It sounds like a good compromise."

"And I wouldn't mind a little more time in your company, either." He leaned in and kissed her head.

"That would be nice for me, too. I'll miss you," she answered, leaning against him. Is there anything else? We've filled out all the paperwork for school…his multiple emergency contacts, and all that. The secretary looked floored at the number of people allowed to pick him up from school."

"I think we gave her a good explanation, though." He thought for a long moment and finally said, "I think school is covered. Our boy is getting taller again, though. We might need to buy him new pants by the end of January, but I can do that after this Arctic weather is over."

"I'm glad I've already spent a day with Gates getting caught up what's going on at the twelfth and the little procedral changes I missed while I was on leave. She's worked as hard at having things ready for me as I did to have things ready for Dohrman and O'Connell. When I left her, I came home feeling confident that I could start my new command with some confidence. I'm pretty sure a catch-up phone call will take care of anything last minute. The change of command is Monday."

"We'll all be there to back you up."

"I'll count on it," she answered with a smile. Then they heard Jo waking up again; and Kate went to pick her up, and she put her on the changing table, talking to her the whole time. She unfastened the warm, fleece onesie to check the diaper and opened it the rest of the way to change it, and Jo's wail at the removal of her warm covering was instant. "I'll be quick, Baby Girl. I'm sorry." Kate told her softly. It's going to be okay in just a minute. You'll be warm and dry, and Mommy will hold you until it's all better."

Castle stood leaning against the doorway of the study watching; and when his wife finished what she was doing and picked up their daughter, soothing her as she held her, he wrapped his arms around both of them and pulled them close. "God, Kate. When I see you do this… You've given me everything I've wanted since I was a child…a wife who loves me for who I am, a family with children who have no doubt they're loved by both parents, even the one whose biological mother chose to ignore her too often… I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for that." It was a much more emotional moment than either of them had expected.

"You've done the same for me, Rick, loved me in spite of myself, given me back family. We both floundered around until we finally found it together." She kissed him lovingly. "Come on. Let's sit down and get our baby girl warm and comfy."

They sat down, and Castle took the soft blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around all of them. "That was it, wasn't it? The melt?" he asked.

"Yeah. She was still a little fussy after the cooler air from when I changed her diaper, but she must be warm now. Her little body just relaxed and melted against me like her brother used to. So sweet." There was a little pause. "Jamie did that this morning…when he said he didn't want me to go to work. He was tense when he wrapped his arms around me, but then he just melted on my shoulder. It had been a while. It felt so sweet I almost cried."

"I know. Me, too. I saw it."

While Jo was content to be held for a while, they discussed a few other smaller plans leading up to Kate's getting back to work. Then she fed Jo and they played with her for a little while before putting her down on her tummy stooping to talk to her as they passed. As they did with Jamie, when she made babbling baby sounds, they talked to her in return. It didn't matter what they said. It was sometimes part of their own conversation directed at her, but Jo was learning to communicate. She already knew how to respond by looking happy when she was basking in her parents' attention, or her brother's; and she had ample opportunity to do that.

xxxxx

The week went by full of family time. Martha and John babysat the children while Kate and Castle had a night out for dinner and dancing. By the time they were back at home, the children were asleep and the grandparents were dozing on the sofa while the TV talked to itself in the background.

Castle put his hand on John's shoulder. "The night shift is here. We're back to relieve you of duty," he said quietly. His mother had roused by that time, too. Both grandparents stood slowly, and stretched; and Kate hugged both of them, thanking them for the night of freedom. Castle did the same before they left, and then the couple went to bed and tried to relive a few anniversary memories that had stirred as they danced. On New Year's Eve, the couple stayed home with their children and had their own celebration after the little ones were asleep.

Knowing Martha's penchant for thoroughly enjoying a good party, they invited the older couple over for a New Year's Day/thank-you-for-all-the-babysitting-backup-last-year dinner. That relieved the older couple from having to cook, go out in the cold for dinner, or ask some poor delivery person to brave the frigid air. Martha accepted the invitation immediately, and they had an enjoyable evening together.

The next morning was time for Kate to be back at work. The change of command was that afternoon, and the family was there to see Kate assume her own command for the first time.

After acknowledging that she would miss the people at the twelfth, Gates in her speech before leaving her command, admitted to a rocky start with an eventually cooperative outcome. Gates then recounted Beckett's accomplishments, including her role with Castle and her team, in providing information that helped bring Bracken down…and sang her praises with a little humor thrown in, which included Beckett's husband following her around at work, and any doubts about Castle gradually being erased. She concluded by saying that Kate Beckett had already proven her abilities as a captain and was also one of the finest detectives she had ever worked with. Gates offered the advice that no one should overlook the value of one of Beckett's suggestions. She closed by asking them to continue to make her proud.

After officially being passed her new command, Beckett congratulated Deputy Inspector Gates and thanked her for the kind words and memories, and for being an excellent mentor. "And I should offer my own appreciation for finally accepting that my husband, although a writer and a civilian consultant, was as much of an asset as my team kept saying he was. Beckett acknowledged that she had missed working at the twelfth. "A lot of you already know me and know that the respect for colleagues and the job is more important to me than the title. Going from working side by side with you in the trenches to moving in as captain will take a little adjusting for all of us; but please understand that I am here to support you, and I won't expect any more of you than I expect of myself."

A teasing groan suddenly came from the back of the room…Lupinski moaning, "Oh god. Might as well bring our pillows and blankets to work then, people. We're all gonna to be living here."

Everybody who knew Beckett laughed, and she took it in stride. "I will admit that may have been the case when you knew me before. However, I would like to think I've come to a better balance in my life."

Jennings called out, "Thank god for that!" and there was more laughter.

The balance in my life is in the back of the room…my husband, Richard Castle, and our children. Brief applause and a few calls of "Castle" ensued. With a smile at the welcome for her husband, she added, "Those who haven't met them, please introduce yourselves if you feel inclined. You're likely to see at least my husband and our children here now and then. My father and his wife, and my parents-in-law are here today as well. If nothing else, you can thank them for my new sense of balance," she said good naturedly. "In the next few days, I hope to meet those of you I don't know and become reacquainted with those I've worked with before. I'll do my best to help you keep up the standards the twelfth has built over the years, and I look forward to being back at the twelfth."

Chief Dawson closed the short ceremony, mentioned the presence of refreshments in the conference room, and a short reception began. Older members of the twelfth came to welcome Beckett back, or at least caught her eye and waved from across the room. A few of the newer people who had joined the precinct since Beckett left ventured forward to speak to her and/or her family. Others who were relatively new simply stood back and watched, seeming to be assessing the new captain and her family entourage. Nearly everyone congratulated now Deputy Inspector Gates and wished her well.

The change of command was generally a brief affair, and the "reception" held to the same brief standards. There was, after all, a precinct to be run. Chief Dawson and Victoria Gates soon left to take up their own jobs, and the denizens of the twelfth stocked up on a few of their favorites from the refreshment table, both to have for later snacks and to take to the skeleton crew who had been left to keep the place running.

Beckett had come in early that morning, the rest of the family meeting her there in time for the change of command. All the department officials were gone, her father and Martha and their spouses had left for brunch together before returning to their own responsibilities. She now had her desk set up, her checklist of necessary department report forms and due dates tucked conveniently in her top desk drawer, recent files that Gates had waiting for her stacked neatly at the corner of her desk, and her husband and children in her office.

"Thank you for being here," she told Alexis and JD.

"I hadn't seen the place I've heard about so often. I couldn't miss that. Congratulations, Mom," JD said.

"Yeah. We couldn't miss watching you take command of the place where you and Dad got together," Alexis answered.

"We should go now. We have to be back in classes this morning," JD reminded his wife. "We have just about enough time to pick up some coffee before the first one."

They left after a round of hugs, and Castle said. "It's just the four of us again." Looking around, he added with a grin, "The feeling in here is different now. Friendlier than before."

Kate laughed and agreed and then looked more serious. "Roy would be proud of me, I think. I'm going to run the twelfth from his office…from his desk," she said softly, running her fingertips over the well-used surface of the old desk. Captain Gates, too. I have a lot to live up to."

"And you will. We're proud of you," Castle answered. "We'll let you get to work. Call when you're almost ready to leave, and we'll come and meet you for a celebration dinner at Remy's.

"With milkshakes?" Jamie asked, finally completely understanding the conversation.

"Of course," his mother assured him. "How can you celebrate at Remy's without milkshakes? Come here and give me a hug before you go, and you and Jo and Daddy can come back and take me with you to Remy's."

Jamie held his arms up for her, and she picked him up, kissing all over his face like she used to; and he laughed and scrubbed his hands over his face. She gave him a big hug and said, "I haven't done that in a long time. It was fun. Maybe I'll start doing it again."

Jamie laughed again and squirmed to get down, which made his parents laugh, too.

Castle leaned to kiss her and held Jo where she could kiss the tiny little forehead and said, "We'll see you this afternoon."

She returned the kiss and looked down at Jamie. "See you later for burgers and shakes, Munchkin."

"Bye, Mommy." The little boy took his father's hand, and they walked to the elevator, with Castle reliving some memories of his own.

Beckett was now alone in her office, the subtle presence of her two previous captains drifting around in the room as she sat down with the files Gates had left…the latest completed case files, the ones ready for the DA. She read through the files, went through the personnel roster looking for names she didn't recognize and where they were assigned, checked maintenance reports, consulted her checklist for which reports were due weekly…in general lined up tasks that needed immediate attention and those that came with less pressure. By mid-afternoon, she had been through multiple coffees and the two protein bars Castle had slipped into her desk drawer when she wasn't looking; and she was ready to meet some new faces and some pending cases.

Walking into the robbery bullpen, she went to the first person she recognized, one of the detectives who had already been there a while when she first made detective. "Hey, Bolton. How's it going?" After a couple of minutes of small talk, she asked, "What's your team working on?" All eyes were on her, and she turned to those on the floor and assured them, "I'll be in and out often…not because I don't think you're doing your jobs well, but because I can support you better when I know what you're up against. And seeing all of what's going on, sometimes we find connections to other cases in different units. I'll make the rounds here today, then tomorrow I'll bother somebody else." She turned back to Bolton and said, "You have someone I haven't met on your team, don't you?"

"Yeah. He came in about six months ago. Hey, Carlisle," he called to a young man who was just coming toward his desk with a cup of coffee. "Come meet Captain Beckett."

Beckett shook his hand after he put his coffee down and then said, "Don't let your coffee get cold for me. I don't like anybody to get between me and my coffee." A few people around them who knew her from years past chuckled in agreement.

"Hey, I've seen a few of you looking a little desperate back in the day, too," she shot back at them with a smile, and there were a few good natured grins in response.

"Why don't you tell her what we're working on, Kid?" Bolton said. "She's trying to get herself familiar with some pending cases."

Carlisle seemed a bit nervous, but explained that they'd had complaints from a gallery owner who had reported several thefts in the past few months. They didn't report it until last month, but they're missing three expensive pieces. The first time it happened, they'd had a show…a lot of people going in and out during the opening night. The owner said it was more crowded than she thought it would be, and she assumed someone picked up the small piece and left with it in spite of security arrangements. They had already upped their security measures, but the following month, another piece was missing, again something small and easily removed. Then a painting was missing last month, a much larger piece than the other two. Those things were covered by insurance, but when it happens this often, the insurance company gets suspicious; so they need to know how it's happening as well as who the thief is. We just got the case the Wednesday before Christmas, and she was out of town and the store was closed two days after that. We've barely started."

"Thanks Carlisle. Good to meet you. Where's the rest of the team?" she asked, looking at Bolton. "I thought I'd say hello."

"Out talking to the gallery owner and getting another look at the place. There were a lot of distractions the afternoon we were there, and she was ready to close the place down as fast as she could on Friday to get away for the holidays. Today's our first chance to get back to her."

She nodded, acknowledged the frustrations of the situation, and moved on to the other teams for reacquainting, introductions, and updates. By the time she finished there, it was time to go home. Before she started getting things ready to go, she called Castle; then she started putting things in place for the next day. The elevator dinged, and Castle and Jamie stepped out, walking in her direction. For Jamie it was more like bounding in her direction until his father's voice told him sternly not to run. He stopped running, but he walked fast to his mother's door. She picked him up and planted a big kiss on his cheek, and he returned the favor, then Castle leaned in to plant his kiss and asked, "Ready to go?"

"Where's Jo?" she asked as she put Jamie down to get her coat.

"In the car with Darrell. He said there was no need for her to be out in the cold when he was right there." He took her coat and held it for her. "I told him there was no need for him to be out in it either, that I can open my own door when we come back." Ruffling Jamie's hair, he added, "Mr. Big Boy here insisted he should come with me, though."

Each of them took one of Jamie's hands, and when they reached the elevator, they lifted him off the floor and swung him into the elevator car. Jamie was laughing, both parents were grinning, and several of the detectives who had known Beckett before Castle appeared on the scene were grinning with them. Jennings and Lupinski looked at one another and Jennings asked, "Remember when we thought they might never even get around to a first date?"

"Yeah," Lupinski answered. "Looks like they finally figured it out…and have two cute kids. Who'd a thought back then?"

"Yeah," Jennings agreed as he stood. "It's early. Want to stop for a beer before we go home?" Jennings asked.

"Sure."

Beckett stopped at the front desk to check with the sergeant before she left. "Hey, McDonald. You have my number in case something comes up?" she asked. He checked his computer, wrote down the number, and showed her. "That's the one," she answered. "Anything I need to know before I leave?"

"Nope. So far you're all clear for tonight. Good to have you back."

"Thanks. Good to be back. See you tomorrow."

From there, they went to the car. Castle opened the door, and they got Jamie into his car seat before Darrell pulled out into traffic. The family enjoyed burgers and fries each other at Remy's before they went home. The retirement countdown had begun.