*Author's note* I had intended this to be a one shot, but people kept asking me to add more to this story, so here is this one post script. Break out the hankies girls.

Postscript

April 18th 2014

Kate paced back and forth in the living room of her father's house, quietly freaking out. Once she told her dad that she and Rick had finally set a date for mid-May he had insisted upon hosting a family dinner with Rick and his family at the Beckett family house. To that end she had arrived shortly after lunch, groceries in hand, banished her father from his own kitchen and spent the bulk of the afternoon cooking, baking and trying not to have an anxiety attack.

She couldn't help but recall the last such dinner and its aftermath. How awkward it had been, and that had been just the four of them that night. How her dad and Martha's complete lack of anything in common had started her down the path of doubting her relationship with Rick, leading to her going behind Rick's back to DC instead of discussing it with him like she knew she should have, even back then. This time, on top of all of that, they were now throwing Alexis into the mix.

"Thank god that whole mess with Pi is over and done with," Kate thought to herself, "tonight's gonna be awkward enough."

When the doorbell finally rang at six o'clock, Kate was so worked up she nearly jumped out of her four inch stilettos. When her father answered the door it was, of course, Rick, Martha and Alexis. He took each of their coats and hung them up in the hall closet, then accepted the dessert Alexis carried (which Kate was certain was homemade) and the bottle of sparkling grape juice that Rick offered to him with true noblesse oblige.

"Thank you for inviting us, Mr. Beckett, it's nice to see you again, you have a very lovely home." Alexis said with a nervous smile, shooting a glare at her father and grandmother as if reminding them of their manners.

The parallel with the first time she had been to their home was not lost upon Kate as she wracked her brain trying to recall when her father and Rick's daughter could have possibly met before. Then realized to her shock that it had been the day of Roy's funeral, more specifically the direct aftermath of her shooting.

Suddenly the reason for Alexis' hesitation became stunningly clear.

"We're all going to be family very soon, please, call me Jim." Her father stated with calm grace, setting Alexis almost instantly at ease, earning a relieved smile from Rick. Obviously, Alexis had been worried about the outcome of this dinner every bit as much as Kate had been. Like herself, Alexis was the product of a broken home and a fractured family, with all of the social awkwardness, anxiety and self doubt that such a background entailed.

One of the things that first drew her to Rick...even when she still thought he was just an arrogant womanizing ass was that he was different with his daughter. That he gave Alexis the love and affection she wished her own father had been capable of after her mother's murder. The fracturing of their family hadn't broken the Castles like it had broken the Becketts. She envied Alexis a little for that stability, yet was grateful Rick's daughter hadn't had to suffer quite like she had.

Kate also noted that Jim and Martha seemed to be getting along well, much better than last time. Obviously the two of them had bonded over their only children's penchant for finding dangerous situations to get into together. She had seen it that night...and remarked on it...before running to embrace her dad.

Much to Kate's grateful surprise, the meal had gone off without a hitch. Due in no small part to the stabilizing influence of Alexis Castle. She and Martha complimented Kate often on the wonderful meal she had prepared. Jim was tireless in his praise of Alexis for the dessert she had provided.

The conversation had been kept light, with occasional teasing of the bride and groom to be, causing Kate to blush scarlet more than once when her father spoke of her early childhood exploits. Tales both Rick and Alexis had seemed to eat up, much to Kate's embarrassment. She forgot sometimes how much he liked to tease her. One of the traits the two most important men in her life shared.

After dinner, the five of them had moved to the living room for coffee, creating a much more relaxed atmosphere as Jim took over the duties of host from Kate, allowing her to relax on the sofa with Rick, while Martha and Alexis perused the photos on the walls and mantle. Photos Kate knew her father had only recently returned to their former customary places.

The two redheads were drawn to an image that once again had pride of place. A snapshot of a much younger Johanna Beckett standing next to a baby carriage with a newborn Kate in her arms. Martha was unusually quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts, before waving Rick over to take a look with her.

"James, is this..." she began,

"Yes, Martha," Kate interrupted, a shadow of sadness darkening her features, "that's mom and...me."

Kate buried her face in Rick's chest, her heart drawn to the one person out of all the ones they had on either of their lists that she most wanted at their wedding and couldn't have. It left her emotional, just like it had when she first tried on the dress that would later become hers. Rick wrapped a comforting arm around her waist and ran a soothing hand through her hair as the feelings off loss and regret washed over her.

"I took that, oh it had to be April of 1980, I think." Jim spoke up, sensing his daughter was overwhelmed and needed the focus shifted away from her, "Jo had been going crazy all that winter, feeling trapped in the house. She...was..a workaholic, just like Katie. As soon as it was warm enough to do so, she would bundle Katie up and I would drop them off in Central Park to go for walks while I was in the office in the morning. The day I took this she said she'd met a little boy who'd been roughed up in the park and made me promise that we would teach Katie to stand up for herself, to be respectful and stand up for others."

"Oh my god!" Martha exclaimed, as recognition finally took hold, "Richard, that was her, I knew she looked familiar!"

Kate looked up at Martha at that, a shocked expression on her face, "You met my mother, Martha?"

Martha's face took an a warm, serene expression, empathy for Kate streaming out of her eyes as she recalled a long buried memory of a time in her son's life she had since wanted desperately to forget.

"Not just me, Katherine, dear, but Richard too." Martha replied. "It was shortly after he turned ten, just before I sent him off to boarding school, because the other boys in public school were so awful to him. He had wandered off from his sitter while I was in rehearsals for Cat On A Hot Tin Roofand been roughed up by some of them in the park. Your mother must have found him and cleaned him up, she had been mothering him when I got there. I was ashamed at how much better at that I thought she was than me."

"Johanna went back to the park every day that summer," Jim offered, "even after going back to work. She always wondered why she never saw the little boy again. For the longest time, she'd feared the worst, until the day she came home from Barnes & Noble with this."

Jim pulled a worn hardcover copy of In A Hail of Bullets off the bookshelf in the corner. "She never told me in as many words, but right up until she died...she bought every one of Rick's books. Secretly, I think she was proud of your son. For making something of himself. For becoming more than that scared little boy she encountered in the park that morning. She came home almost in tears after getting it signed."

Jim looked over at Kate lovingly, meeting her eyes, "That's why I always approved of him, Katie, your mother would have secretly loved that you'd found each other after all this time."

The following afternoon
Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Rick, Kate and Alexis stood in the small cemetery in front of the modest headstone for Johanna Beckett. The after dinner conversation the night before had made Kate decide that now was as good a time as any to "introduce" her new family to her mother. Especially now that she knew that her mother had already known Rick.

Each of them laid a bundle of flowers on her grave before Kate knelt in front of it, kissed her fingers and touched them to the raised letters of her mother's name. Knowing what she had done for Rick so long ago was like having a small piece of her back. Like Johanna Beckett had reached out from the grave to approve of her husband to be. Rick placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as the tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over. Followed by Alexis' slender hand on her other shoulder.

"Thank you mom," she whispered, tears flowing unencumbered down her face, "if you had only known that day, that by helping him, you would one day save me after you were gone. I love you."

The End

*Addendum* That's it, that's all you get. I have two other stories to work on before the finale. Dry your eyes. I' gotta get those done or I'll feel rushed when the Ficathon comes. Until the next time.

As always,

Mark