The Long Weekend

a Dash Companion

The Dash Universe is concurrent with our own chronology this weekend. To get you up to speed, Kate and Castle's son had his first birthday in October of 2013, and they were married in March of 2014. In April of this year, Dash Away showed us that their family was still going through some growing pains, but they are determined to thrive. Ellery is born Christmas 2014, premature, which means Kate is pregnant here.
And now their Memorial Day weekend, May of 2014.

"Fifteen minutes," he says into her ear.

Kate startles so hard her office chair rolls back, thumping into his knees. Castle laughs and turns her seat to face him, Dashiell giggling and hanging onto his neck.

"Mommy, sneak up."

Kate shoots Castle a look for coming up to the Homicide floor but he nods towards Esposito, letting her know without words that he called ahead first. Espo gave them the all-clear.

"You did sneak up on me." Kate tells Dash, taking him from Castle's arms. She glances to him again with a raised eyebrow. "Fifteen minutes?"

"Until our honeymoon," he murmurs, winking at her.

"Hardly," she mutters. "You're taking me to Paris for my honeymoon. Or the Greek Isles. Someplace good. Not your Hamptons house for Memorial Day."

He smiles back but he really wishes she would start calling it their house. "Yeah, just kidding. We do need a honeymoon though."

Kate's hand absently rubs Dashiell's back, but he can see her thinking about how impossible a honeymoon seems right now. They don't feel very honeymoon; April was merciless, though he thinks they're figuring things out, recognizing each other's limitations, finding ways to be good to each other. Working together to raise their son.

But if it's not their relationship that they're fighting for one day, then it's Dashiell another. It's hard to plan happier times when their son's future looks difficult and troubled, when they don't know how to help him.

"Let's see how a three-day weekend goes first," Kate says finally, giving him a bare smile. "Then we'll plan a honeymoon."

Good point.

Dash is wriggling back and forth in Kate's arms and she uses one hand to log out of her computer, put away her files. Castle leans in and closes a manilla folder to hide a few gruesome photographs, but the boys have already flipped the white board over to keep Dash from seeing whatever ongoing case they've got.

"Hold still a second, baby," Kate is murmuring.

Castle stands up and grabs Kate's bag from beside her desk; she stands with Dashiell in her arms and juggles him awkwardly. "You have anything else?" he asks.

"That's it. Did you pack me?"

"I did. Everything on your list. You have your charger here? Because I couldn't find it."

Kate spins in a slow circle, Dashiell leaning far out of her arms so that he puts her off-balance. Castle takes the kid away from her, giving her a chance to look for the charger. She opens her bottom desk drawer and grabs it and a couple other things, stuffs them into her laptop bag.

"Okay?" he says.

"Good to go."

Montgomery steps into the bullpen before they can leave, giving them a wide smile. "You getting out of here, Beckett?"

"Yes, sir," she answers.

Dashiell interrupts by lunging for the Captain. "Uncle Mo!"

"Hey there, son," Montgomery laughs, catching Dashiell before he can fall out of Castle's arms. "You're getting so big. How big are you?"

Dash holds up his two fingers with a beaming smile, bouncing in Montgomery's arms. Kate reaches forward and brushes the hair out of Dash's eyes. "Can you tell Uncle Mo you're almost two?"

"Two. I two."

"Almost two. I can see that. Nearly three, aren't you?"

"Let's not rush it," Kate smiles. She turns back to Castle with a meaningful look and he nods, leaning in to collect their son.

"Come on, Dashiell. We've got to hit the road."

"Hit road," Dash says wisely, patting Uncle Mo as he leaves the Captain's arms.

"You guys have a nice weekend. All this will be here when you get back, Detective Beckett."

"Deck Beck!" Dashiell giggles, squirming to get down even as he reaches for his mother. Kate winks back at him but she leads the way towards the elevator, letting Castle deal with the wild man.

The Homicide floor is all smiles watching them go, but Castle keeps a firm hold of Dash so he can't run off. On the elevator, Kate takes the boy's hand and kisses his fingers.

"Don't know about you," she sighs, "but I think we all could use a relaxing couple of days."

When it's still and quiet in the backseat, Kate turns and glances at her son. His cheek is smashed against the side of the carseat and his mouth hanging open, his lashes dark and shadowing his face. The sunlight coming through the window touches his hair with golden licks, but the curls are all but gone.

Kate turns back around and smiles to herself, shares it with Castle. "He's asleep," she murmurs. She doesn't know why she's talking so quietly, they've been playing music from the ipod since they got in the car.

"He likes sleeping on the go," Castle laughs back.

"Took long enough," she sighs. "I thought he'd sleep the moment we got on the road."

"He was excited. Happy to see you," Castle says, reaching forward to turn down the music. She can't remember why she let Castle drive; she hates having nothing to do. Now that Dash isn't kicking her seat and begging for cheetos, she's regretting not having the wheel.

"How much longer until-"

"You're worse than Dash."

She laughs and rubs her forehead, reaches into the floorboard to grab her bag, distract herself. She pulls out her phone and calls up her google search where her last results are still prominently displayed.

"Speaking of Dash," she sighs.

"Kate, let's not do this. Not this weekend. Let's swim and have a cookout and fireworks and just not-"

"Okay," she says quickly. She doesn't want to push it. They need to talk about it soon; they're running out of time. Dash is running out of time. But a weekend, they can have a weekend.

"Kate," he sighs, regret in his voice.

"No, you're right. You're right. We need a weekend away from it. Everything."

Castle reaches over and takes her hand; their fingers lace and hold on, and at least they have this moment of solidarity. They've fought over the pediatrician's visit and the research they've been doing, over preschool and her job, but at this moment, right now, they're in sync.

"Hey, look, there's our exit," Castle grins, glancing at her once before signaling to change lanes.

"Already?" His fingers are wide between hers, spreading her grip. "He's only slept about thirty minutes."

"He wasn't going to sleep tonight anyway. Thirty minutes is better than nothing."

She sighs but lifts his hand to her lips, kisses those wide knuckles. "Better than nothing. Drive slowly then."

"And waste more of our day?"

Kate glances past the window to where the sun is already going down. "Day?"

"You're right. I meant I don't want to waste our night." He wriggles his eyebrows and she bites her bottom lip. She would really love not to waste their night.

"Faster then," she rasps.

Castle chuckles and lays their joined hands over her knee, rubbing his fingertips along her jeans. The exit comes up quickly and Castle turns onto the main highway, their car pointed towards the summer houses.

She always feels out of place the moment they drive along the coast, the perfection and the mansions, the manicured lawns rolling out into reflecting pools, and the men wearing white pants and boat shoes while the women wear silk miniskirted dresses and too many jewels.

Even Castle's home makes her uncomfortable. And here comes the long drive with glimpses of the beach between the trees, the lawns and wrought iron fences, the gardens. She leans her cheek against the window and watches the unfamiliar houses pass.

Before she can really prepare herself, Castle is pulling up the long circular drive towards the Tudor-style home.

Kate takes a long look, the elegance and the cottage touches, the white-

She jerks upright, strangling her neck against the seatbelt, straining toward the windshield. "Castle, oh no. Castle-"

"What... what in the world?"

"Oh, God. Your gorgeous house," she cries, already pulling on the handle and pushing open the car door. Castle cuts the ignition even as she runs towards the main doors, her horror growing as she steps through at least a foot of standing water all around the house. The brick path is slick under her shoes, the flower beds strangled by water.

She wades to the front door and sees the warped wood, the mildew growing up the wooden beams, the mud and filth growing stagnant in pools.

"Kate. Why's there so much water?"

She turns, her hand on the door, and Castle is standing bewildered on the gravel drive. "Castle. I think it's flooded. Either underground here in front or-"

"Inside." His face pales. "The pipes burst. I should have-"

"But it hasn't been freezing since..."

"It froze just three weeks ago," he growls. "I have to find the shut-off valve for the water. Here, catch." He throws her the keys to the front door and she cuts her palm grabbing for them.

She hears him heading around the side of the house; she thinks the shut-off is out in the attached garage or maybe the poolhouse, which is in the back. She can't remember - she's not sure she's ever asked. She shoves the key in the door and glances back to the car to be sure Dashiell is still buckled in if not asleep. She can see the top of his head still leaning against his carseat.

She opens the door without looking and a wash of water floods out, swirling over her feet and soaking her jeans. Kate turns her head to look and can't believe it.

The whole north wing has been standing in at least four inches of water. She can hear it still burbling somewhere in the house, but even as she steps over the threshold and inside, the noise ceases abruptly.

She moves carefully, surveying the damage, the absolute wreck of his beautiful house. The baseboards are slimed with mold, the walls rippling with a brown water mark. The gorgeous wooden floors are rotting through while the furniture has already begun to stink, bursting cloth at the seams. The curtains are soaked with water and a few have fallen under the weight, everything sagging.

Castle comes in from the main kitchen, his hands covering his mouth, his eyes wide with shock. He stares at the destruction.

Kate goes quickly to him and wraps her arms around his torso, holding on to him, cupping the back of his neck. "Oh, Rick. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

His arms fall, dangling limply, and she presses her cheek to his.

"It's... the kitchen pipes," he husks.

"It's been like this for three weeks," she sighs. "At least."

One of his hands comes up to her shoulder as if he needs to hang on. "I winterized the place. I... I can't understand how this happened."

Her chest tightens; it's her own fault. He wanted to come to the Hamptons house for the weekend after they were married early in March, but she wanted only to go home with him. She persuaded him away from here because she's never felt comfortable, and now it's ruined.

"We'll... call a contractor. Tonight. We'll call before they close-"

"It's already six. On a holiday weekend. No one will-"

"If you promise ludicrous amounts of money," she interrupts. "Which you - we have. We have the money, and this is - we can't stay with it like this."

"The south wing is closed off, remember?"

The door. She did that. She asked him to close it off. "Do you think it's survived?"

"I checked. The water pushed out of the kitchen towards the living room here and out the front door. I didn't look at the parlor or the-

"Then call. Right now. We'll fix this, Castle. This weekend. Have them rip out the floors and check the walls for mold, and we'll hire a decorator to come in and find new materials, take the furniture out, replace it-"

"Kate," he sighs. He sounds weary, and that's not like him.

"Wait, I've got my phone," she says, moving in his arms to get in her back pocket. She unlocks it and cancels the search she's had up for the last month, the query she showed him only to have him turn his back on her and not speak to her for the rest of the night.

signs of autism

She can't quite ignore it, but she types in a new search for a contractor in the area, determined to fix this. She taps the phone number of the first one with good reviews even as Castle is frowning at her.

His hand wraps around hers and she pauses, glances at him.

"Only if you'll do this with me," he says.

"What?"

"Together. We'll do this together, Kate. It will require choosing new floors, new paint, new furniture. We'll have to gut the kitchen. I don't want to do this without you. Our place. For our family."

Kate's breath catches as she hears him, the urgency in his voice.

His beautiful house can be their beautiful home.

"Together," she promises. She curls her free hand around his wrist and takes his fingers away from her phone. "We're partners, right?"

Castle lets out a long breath and nods, apparently unable to speak. Kate lifts to kiss him but at that moment her call is answered.

"Hello?" she asks, dropping flat-footed and hearing the water squelch in her shoes. "Yes, I live at 5 Further Lane, and we've had massive water damage to the whole north wing of the estate - and I don't know what else. I need a crew out here as soon as possible; we'll pay you double your asking price."

Castle chuckles then, giving her a long look for that. She covers the phone with her hand and lifts an eyebrow. "What?" she says softly. "We can afford it."

He nods, smirking, and he turns to survey the damage once more. Only now the despair has left him and it's only determination, resolve.

That's more like it.