Hey guys! Sorry if you got the glitchy chapter - it should be fixed now. Enjoy!

It was eight thirty in the morning, and Kate was lying in bed, reading Patterson's latest novel. If he had been awake, Rick likely would have complained about her so-called betrayal, but as it happened, he had been stuck in meetings all week, and listening to Gina's yelling for hours on end exhausted him. He was fast asleep, curled up on his side in a position that she knew he only slept in if he was truly, bone-achingly tired. Kate flipped the pages quietly, keeping her movement to a minimum so that she wouldn't wake him up on accident – he had another meeting today, and he needed all the rest he could get.

This was why, when, at eight thirty am on the third Friday in December, and Castle's first ex-wife Meredith poked her head in through the door to the bedroom, Kate was the only one who saw. And suffice it to say, she was very surprised.

"Oh, hello!" Meredith whispered brightly, smiling at her. She cocked her head to the side. "I'll just go wait out there," she told Kate quietly, smiling vibrantly, and gesturing in the general vicinity of the living room.

Kate, too stunned to say anything else, simply nodded. After a moment of shocked silence, in which she looked over at Castle, wondering if perhaps this might be considered normal in this household, she set aside her book, and carefully climbed out of bed. Quietly, and with a last confused glance back at her boyfriend, she made her way out into the kitchen.

She found Meredith sitting at the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee that she had apparently poured for herself.

"Good morning!" Meredith greeted her enthusiastically. "Would you like some coffee?"

"No, thanks," Kate replied, her manners kicking in. "I had some already this morning."

Meredith nodded. "Alexis left for school already?" she asked. "I went up to look for her, and she wasn't there, so I came to ask Richard and, well…"

Kate nodded. "She left the house about an hour ago. I got up to make pancakes, to celebrate the last day before winter break." She paused for a moment. "I wasn't aware that you were supposed to be visiting."

"I leave Sunday night. I would have called, but it was all very last minute," Meredith responded, throwing a lock of her red hair over her shoulder. "But I thought I'd come now, since I can't stay for Christmas."

Kate was unsure what to think. She knew that Alexis didn't see Meredith often, and that it was, at the very least, nice of the woman to show up when she could. But on the other hand, it seemed slightly less polite to show up in your ex-husband's bedroom at eight in the morning, unexpected, and without even knocking. However, there was really nothing that Kate could do about it, so she decided that for the moment, her best course of action was to simply go with the flow. "Well, do you have any plans for today, while Alexis is at school?"

"No, not really," Meredith replied, taking another sip of her coffee.

Kate considered the woman for a moment. "Well, my friend Lanie promised to go shopping with me for my day off; you're welcome to come with me. Maybe we could go get brunch first?"

"Detective Beckett, that sounds like a wonderful plan. Are you sure you don't mind me tagging along?"

Beckett smiled. "No, it's absolutely fine. We're going dress shopping, and Lanie has completely different tastes than I do. It'll be nice to have a second opinion."

"Happy to help," Meredith told her, getting up to rinse out her mug and set it in the sink.

"Okay, let me just get dressed, and leave a note for Rick, if he's still not up, and we can head to breakfast."

A few minutes later, she was dressed in her favorite pair of skinny jeans, a royal purple blouse, and a tan leather jacket. Seeing that Rick was still fast asleep, she grabbed the stationary and a pen from his desk, and wrote him a quick note, leaving it on the pillow beside him.

Rick,

I know you probably wanted a good morning kiss before you left for your meeting – you can have one when you get back (that is, provided you don't murder either Gina or Paula). We've gone out to brunch, and then we're meeting Lanie for a girls' day, and I'll stop by the school to pick up Alexis in the afternoon. See you later tonight.

Xoxo, Kate

She brushed across his forehead with a light kiss, and left the room, grabbing her purse and waiting for Meredith by the door.

They found a little café close to Lanie's apartment, and were seated at a small table for two within minutes of getting there.

There were a few moments of awkward silence, as the waitress filled their water glasses, promising to be back in a few minutes with their food.

"So, you said you're off for the weekend?" Kate finally asked, taking a sip of her water to ease the dryness of her mouth.

Meredith smiled. "Yes, my director gave us the weekend off. Of course, we do have to work over Christmas; there's a scene in the movie that is vitally dependent on it."

"What movie is it?" Kate asked, head tilted to the side in interest.

"Oh, it's this, well… put simply, it's a chick flick, about this group of three friends, and their love interests. It's going to be wonderful."

"And who else is in it? Anyone I would know of?"

Meredith looked more than happy to continue talking about her work. Animatedly, she began, "Well, there's no one really well known – this is going to be the breakthrough film for most of us, but one of my co-stars, Sarah Michelle, was the lead in some cult TV show in the 90s."

Kate's jaw dropped. "Wait…" she started, setting down her glass of water. "Are you talking about Sarah Michelle Gellar? From Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

"Ah…" Meredith looked at her knowingly. "Richard made you watch it, too?"

Kate shook her head vehemently. "No forcing necessary. God, when I was training in the Police Academy, I loved that show. I'd come home at night, and if it was on, no matter how exhausted I was, I'd watch it." Her eyes glazed over slightly, reminiscing.

Meredith was silent for a moment. "You know, it's no wonder you and Richard get along so well. He and I… well, our interests never really meshed. He's so invested in his gadgets and toys, and his TV shows, and that was never really my thing."

Kate laughed. "I know what you mean. When I first met him, I remember saying to someone that he was like a nine-year-old on a sugar rush. It used to annoy the hell out of me, but now? I don't know. It's become kind of endearing."

"You know, Detective Beckett, that is a perfect way to describe him."

"Meredith, please. Call me Kate."

They both looked up as the waitress returned with their coffees and muffins, each muttering a small 'thank you' to the girl.

"So, last time I was here, you were definitely still annoyed by his nine-year-old act. What changed?"

Kate stared down into her coffee, trying to decide how much she was willing to tell the woman. Finally, she decided on the whole story. "Well… I'll try to keep this short. A few months ago, there was a bank robbery. It was just a few blocks from here, actually. And, well… Rick and Martha were there getting a loan for Martha's theater, so when the bank robbers came in, Rick gets on the phone with me, until his phone got taken away. So I spent all day working with the hostage negotiation team, and meanwhile, Castle's sending us messages telling us that there are explosives in the building. By the time we managed to figure out why the robbers were there, the, umm… the explosives went off." She paused, trying to get her emotions under control. "Luckily, the only people too close to the explosives were the bank robbers – all the hostages were in the safe. But, God, I don't think I've ever felt more relieved than I was when I saw him sitting there."

"That must have been terrifying," Meredith said sympathetically. "I still can't believe you've only been together for a few months, though. I mean, last time I saw you was years ago, and to be perfectly honest, I kind of assumed that you two were a couple."

"People seem to do that a lot," Kate remarked, her eyes gleaming. "Honestly, I'm half convinced that we're only in this relationship because we were both too tired of having to correct people."

Meredith laughed. "It happened that often, huh?"

Kate nodded. "Of course, now we're still keeping it pretty private. We told my friend Lanie, and we had this bet going to see how long it would take Ryan and Esposito – You remember Ryan and Esposito, right?"

Meredith nodded.

"We were trying to see how long it would take them to figure it out. It was over two months before they finally figured it out. And that was only because we fell asleep on the couch in the precinct while we were working on a case."

Meredith laughed. "That sounds distinctly like one of Richard's crazy schemes. Still, I'm curious as to how they hadn't noticed; I mean, they are detectives."

Kate laughed. "As their boss, I might make them take the exam again. Make sure they're still up to being detectives."

"That sounds like a good idea."

They looked up as the waitress came back with their check, and cleared away their dishes. Kate had been so engrossed in the conversation that she hadn't even noticed when she finished her muffin and latte. She glanced at her watch, and looked back up at Meredith, surprised. "Wow. We've been here longer than I expected. My friend Lanie will probably be waiting on us. Are you ready, or did you want something else?"

Meredith shook her head, as Kate left a twenty on top of the bill.

"Okay, then. Lanie's apartment is just a couple of blocks from here, so when we get there, you can wait in the car while I run up and get her?" She glanced back at Meredith as they exited the café with a small 'ding' from the door. "I'd invite you to come up with me, but Esposito might be up there, too, and I think they'd find it a little odd if I showed up with my partner's ex-wife, completely unannounced."

Meredith nodded, and smiled amicably. "That's perfectly fine with me." After a moment of silence in which Kate started up the car and began pulling out into traffic, Meredith asked curiously, "Esposito is the smoking hot Hispanic one, right?"

Kate snorted. "I suppose you could call him that. He and Lanie have this on-again-off-again relationship that usually consists of midnight booty-calls, but nothing very serious."

Meredith nodded knowingly. "Oh, I'm very familiar with that kind of relationship. Fun while it lasts, but it generally ends pretty quickly."

"Yeah, well, God help us if that one ends. They still have to work together, and both of them have tempers."

"If that ever happens, then you, Richard, and the other detective all have my condolences."

"I very much appreciate it," Kate replied with a laugh, her eyes twinkling, as she pulled into a space in front of Lanie's building. She pushed open her door, and told Meredith, "I'll be down in a few minutes."

As it turned out, Kate was right. A moment after she knocked on the door, it was opened by a smugly grinning, and very shirtless Esposito.

"Espo, I hope you know that this is far more insight into your life than I ever needed. Or wanted, for that matter."

He grinned at her. "Lanie says she'll be ready in a minute."

Beckett crossed her arms. "Tell her to hurry it up. There's been a slight change in plans."

"I hear you, girl!" Lanie called from the other room. She emerged a few moments later, her shoes held in one hand and her shirt only half-buttoned.

"Nice look, Lanie," Kate commented with a raised brow.

"Hot," Esposito agreed, leaning back as he regarded her with a smirk on his face.

"Don't blame me; it's all his fault," she told Kate sincerely. She tossed Esposito the spare key as she headed out the door behind Beckett. "Lock up when you leave."

Esposito nodded in assent, and closed the door behind them.

"So," Lanie started as they began to walk down the three flights of stairs. "What was the change of plan that had you in such a rush?"

Kate blushed bright red. "Umm… Meredith is waiting in the car. She's coming with us."

"Do you mean who I think you mean? Crazy, red-headed, ex-wife?"

Kate nodded, her face turning even redder.

Lanie was silent, astonished. "Kate Beckett, let me get this straight. You invited your boyfriend's ex-wife to have girls' day with us? You are either completely crazy or extremely confident. Especially given her status as the 'deep fried Twinkie.'"

"Actually," Kate told Lanie, trying not to laugh at the other woman's reaction. "She's really not that bad. In fact, I've got to admit, I kind of like her. In sort of a strange way, I'll admit."

"You like her?! Girl, that woman is certifiably crazy."

"Well, yeah," Kate admitted. "But in a fun way. Now, come on. I really do need to find a dress."

Thanks for reading! Feel free to review!

~Erin