Healing Hearts (The Sequel)

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle

AN: This is just to clear up doubts about the ages. Alexis is 20 and Avril is 19. Kaylee is turning 4 and Jamie is 1.

Also, I need to bring to your notice, that I started this story with the assumption that Johanna Beckett is alive. But some where in the middle of the story, I made a slip, and wrote something about her being dead. Please note, that was a mistake. We're still assuming Johanna's alive. I'm really sorry if I confused you guys. Hope you can forgive me.

here's the next update:)

Chapter 26

Alexis and Avril were walking down the stairs to go to the kitchen. They had woken up together and saw that Kaylee had woken up too when they passed her room. So Alexis carried her up on her hip and the three sisters were walking downstairs.

Alexis suddenly asked "what's todays date?"

Avril and Kaylee were both mid yawn. Alexis just raised an eyebrow at them and then shook her head.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Mom and dad's anniversary is this month" Alexis said excitedly.

Avril thought for a moment and said "Oh my god yes!"

"Party!" Kaylee said and her elder sisters both had to laugh.

"Hey you want to do something special for them this year?" Avril asked, and looked at Kaylee too. Kaylee shook her head in the affirmative excitedly.

Alexis smirked and said "I have a plan"

"What is it?" Avril asked.

"Not now, let's go interrupt their daily make out session in the kitchen and finish breakfast first, and then we'll talk. But not a word to them okay"

She specifically looked at Kaylee at that. Kaylee zipped her mouth and threw the imaginary key behind her. An act she had learned from her father. Alexis and Avril both laughed at her and all three of them entered the kitchen together to find their mom and dad, right enough making out near the coffee machine.

"How many years does it take to get bored of making out with the same man?" Avril asked as she sat herself on one of the stools, and Kate and Rick pulled away quickly on hearing her voice.

Alexis laughed and Kaylee simply made a face.

"Probably 5…" Kate answered and Rick looked at her, confused. "But then there are men like your father who manage to get you addicted" she said with a smile and then took a sip of her coffee, not looking directly at anyone. Castle had a goofy grin pasted on his face.

"You two are a little too sappy this morning" Avril said.

"What did you expect? Didn't you see what a hard time mom was giving him yesterday?" Alexis said. And only after the sentence left her lips did she realize what a poor choice of words she had used. Hard? Why oh why?!

Rick looked at her with a raised eyebrow, Kate almost spat out her coffee and Avril simply covered her eyes and yelled

"Ewww! Ewww! Ewww! How do I un-hear that, how do I un-see those images in my head! Oh my god!"

Kaylee, the only innocent mind in the room, the one that was too young to go into the gutter just looked around confused.

"Okay, enough now. Alexis, don't talk that way in front of your little sister"

"What? I didn't even mean it that way!" Alexis defended herself. Rick came over to his daughter and kissed her on the head

"I'm proud of you, you picked up my ability to play with words"

"No! That's not what I was trying… Oh my god!" Alexis couldn't believe this conversation.

"Relax, he's just feeling a little extra quirky today. It's alright." Kate told her.

"I'm going to get Jaime" he said and disappeared upstairs.

The day went on as any normal day then, the family had breakfast together and Kate left for the precinct soon after. Rick filled out some application forms for schools for Kaylee. In a few months she would start schooling and they needed to enroll her soon. Avril and Alexis's college would start soon too, but for now they still had a few weeks of vacation.

When Kate came home in the evening, she seemed rather upset. Castle assumed it must have been a hard case. He decided to ask her about it at dinner. Even when she kissed him on coming home, it seemed distant.

She went about with her chores as usual, grabbing something to eat, then taking a shower and changing into something more comfortable, and since tonight he was making dinner, she sat in the living room with Jamie and Kaylee and played with them, keeping them entertained. By the time dinner was ready, castle found his wife and kids all sprawled out on the couch and below it, their eyes on the TV screen, they were watching Beauty and the beast, Kaylee's favorite.

Kate seemed relaxed, she was cuddling Jamie close, as he had lost interest in the movie pretty quickly and was more interested with his mommy's necklace, the one that held her wedding ring. Kate wouldn't wear in while she was on field-duty. She didn't want to risk losing it. Kate seemed to be telling him something in his ear, and she was smiling, and tickling her baby boy, and then blowing raspberry kisses into his tummy.

Rick felt glad that even after a bad day, at least she could come back home and forget about all the bad things in the world when she was with her children. She loved them too much. She never failed to show them that they were the best things to ever happen to her.

She caught his gaze while he was staring. She smiled and he smiled back. She then rose from her seat with Jamie in her arms and said "come on kids, dinner's ready"

"Awww.. not now! We just reached the best part!" Avril whined.

Kate hit her playfully and said "I thought Kaylee was the kid here" Alexis laughed her heart out and Avril wacked her with a pillow, but Alexis has a good reflex. She dodged it like a pro.

"Come on, don't start a pillow fight now"

"Pillow Fight!" Kaylee squealed in excitement

"Oh no you don't!" Kate said and quickly caught hold of her over excited daughter.

"Dinner now" she told her and took them to the dining table. The family shared a nice quiet meal, Avril and Alexis were bickering about something and Jamie was as usual making a mess of the food Kate was trying to feed him, but she enjoyed feeding him nonetheless. And Kaylee sat besides her giggling at the silly look her little brother just made. Rick smiled. Kate seemed alright for now.

After dinner, he felt her presence beside him when he was doing the dishes. And that's when he realized, she seemed tense again.

"Kate is everything alright?"

"Can we talk?"

'That can't be good' he thought. He turned the tap off, wiped his hands and turned to properly face her and said "What's wrong? Tell me."