Title: Plus One
Author: DizzyDrea
Summary: He might have wished, once upon a time, that he hadn't made all the mistakes he'd made, but now he thinks it's okay, because he got his plus one in the end.
Rating: T
Spoilers: Limelight
Author's Notes: This was started a couple of weeks ago, before I saw Limelight, and before (spoiler alert) Alexis told Castle she realized she needed to break up with Pi. So, this is just a case of good timing on my part, because I figured it would happen sooner or later.
Disclaimer: Castle is the property of ABC, ABC Studios, Beacon Productions, Andrew Marlowe and a lot of other people who aren't me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

Richard Castle cringes, honest-to-god cringes, because in his experience, those words always precede a conversation he'd really rather not have had with his own daughter. Or anyone else's daughter, really. Just, no.

But… he takes a deep breath, pastes on a smile, and turns to where his daughter has settled on the couch beside him. He can only hope this is a conversation along the lines of when can I get a car or I need a new dress. He's not hopeful, but he'll stick with his delusions, thankyouverymuch.

"Sure, sweetie. What is it?"

"How—" she pauses, wrings her hands, glances away and back again a few times.

She's nervous, he realizes, and she's never nervous. His nerves spike, but if he's learned anything in the last six months, it's that Alexis Castle is a grown woman. He's not going to interrupt or try to coax out an answer, or any of a dozen things he might have done even a few days ago.

Finally, she finds her words (and boy is he going to have fun reminding her of this, one day when he's sure he won't get his eyes gouged out for it).

"How did you know… you know, that Beckett—that Kate—"

He takes pity on her now, because he can't just sit here and listen to her fumble over the question. He folds up the newspaper he'd been pretending to read and sets it aside. When he takes her hands, she just turns that sweet, pleading look she has on him, and if he weren't already trying to form some kind of response, he'd be madly scrambling for the words.

Fortunately for her, he's already given this a lot of thought.

"You want to know how I know that Kate's the one for me?" She nods, but he can tell there's more. "You want to know how I know that this time it's real. Because I thought it was those other times, too. Am I right?"

She lets out a huge sigh, her smile tremulous, as if she's relieved that he gets it when she was afraid he wouldn't.

"Oh, sweetie, is this about Pi?" he asks. Her lower lip trembles, and he tugs her in, folding her into his arms as he pretends not to notice the tears streaking her mascara.

It's only been about two weeks since the whole Pi debacle ended in rather abrupt fashion. He's still not clear on the how or the why, he only knows that he came home from working a case with Kate and the guys to find her on the couch under a pile of blankets, the empty Ben & Jerry's containers spread around her like signposts on the road to heartbreak.

She's finally past the crying-all-night phase now, on into the only-when-I-see-something-that-reminds-me-of-him phase. Which seems like it's a lot despite the fact that she's moved back into the loft for the duration. Still, it kills him to hear and see the evidence of her heartbreak, and if he knew where to find Pi, he might give the guy a few pieces of his mind. Probably best that he has no idea where he went and Kate's refusing to help find him.

When Alexis finally pulls back, she's swiping at her face, trying and failing to erase the evidence of her tears. Castle doesn't say anything, simply reaches for the tissue box on the sofa table and hands it over. She gives him a watery smile, then cleans herself up as best she can.

"Sorry," she mumbles as she pitches the used tissues onto the coffee table.

"No need to apologize," he says. "I know it's hard."

"My question still stands, though," she says, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "How did you know that Beckett was the one?"

He pauses, gathering his thoughts before he answers.

"She's my plus one."

She frowns. "Your 'plus one'?"

"Yeah," he says, smiling as he warms to his subject. "You know how, when you get a wedding invitation, it's usually addressed to So and So and Guest?"

"Yeah…"

"It's like, I could go to the wedding by myself, and have a good time, but if I brought someone with me I'd have an even better time. I'd have someone to talk to, someone to dance with, someone to hold my hand under the table." He smiles gently. "I don't need that person, but my life is infinitely better for having that person in my life. She makes all the special moments even more special, just by being there to share them with me. And I want to share them with her. Does that make sense?"

"So, what about the whole 'soulmates' thing?" she asks, because of course she's going to ask that. She's still young and still believes in true love. And to own the truth, so does he, but it's a grown-up, mature kind of belief that doesn't sugar coat it or make it into something it's not.

"The idea of a soulmate is that one person who 'completes' you, who makes you whole because that's who you were missing," he says. He takes her hand, squeezes it. "But, sweetie, you're a whole person all by yourself. You don't need someone else to make you whole. You are beautiful and kind and smart, and all that is you, not what someone else brings to you."

"Is that what Beckett is to you?" she asks, a little awe in her voice.

"All that and more," he says. "I don't want to complete her any more than she wants to complete me, because we're already everything we should be. But she is the person I'd like to take along with me on all my adventures, because I can't imagine sharing them with someone else."

"Your 'plus one'."

"Yeah," he says, "my 'plus one'."

She smiles at him, then leans in and pecks him on the cheek. "Thanks, Dad."

"Don't mention it," he says quietly to her retreating back.

He sits there thinking for a moment, wondering if what he'd said had helped his daughter at all. Some days he thinks she's just an old soul born in a young body, and he won't ever have anything of worth to teach her. Beyond her mad paintball skills, anyway.

"So, I'm your 'plus one', huh?"

He feels her arms snake around his chest as the words whisper past his ear, her tone slightly amused and yet strangely emotional. If he jumps, he's not going to admit it.

"I didn't hear you come in," he says, turning to find Kate perched on the arm of the couch. He'd had his back to the door, and damn her and those high heels that she shouldn't be able to sneak around on.

"Meeting finished up early," she says.

She sits there, fingers trailing along his shoulder, one eyebrow raised, waiting expectantly for him to answer. He knows she's not going to forget, and he really doesn't want her to. He also knows she knows he's sentimental; he just doesn't like being caught at it.

"Yeah," he says, shifting so he can run a hand over her thigh. "You got a problem with that?"

A smile breaks over her face, one of those rare Kate Beckett smiles that make his heart sing. "Nah. No problem at all."

She leans down, and the kiss she gives him is sweet and tempting, but it's more than that. It's the promise of a lifetime of good memories, of burdens shared and joy multiplied. He might have wished, once upon a time, that he hadn't made all the mistakes he'd made, but now he thinks it's okay, because he got his plus one in the end.

And that's all that really matters.

~Finis

This story was inspired by a Suits fic I read a while back. The views that Castle expresses here are my own, and they're sentiments I wish someone had shared with me when I was Alexis' age.