A/N: I'm back, there's a slight time jump addressed here just a couple weeks so everyone is settled and know each other a little bit better. I am posting as I'm writing unlike my last story where I had almost all of written therefore I may not be able to post regularly but I will try once a week because I am on summer vacation but I do need to get a job.
Disclaimer: If I owned them the finale would've gone a bit differently…
"UNO!" Rick shouted when he finished his turn. The air seemed to get an extra dose of tension as Kate and Alexis failed to play a card that would keep Rick at one card.
When it was Mark's turn, he flashed a smile at Alexis. "Don't worry I got him." He played a rainbow draw four before peeking at Alexis's card to see what color to choose. He chose yellow seeing that she only had 3 yellows left in her hand.
"Hey she's old enough to play by herself, she doesn't need you cheating for her."
"I don't know what you are talking about." Mark said nonchalantly while he picked at the snacks on the table.
Rick gestured to Kate. "Come on you saw it. Being a detective you have a legal obligation, not to mention a moral obligation, to report a crime."
Kate put down her card and looked him dead in the eye. "One, I'm off duty. Two cheating is not a crime. Three you're a grown man you can handle it."
"I wouldn't call him a grown man," Alexis joined in.
"Now I know what it feels like to be betrayed by everyone in your family."
Alexis took her turn and it came back around to Rick, who happened to be out of yellows causing him to pick up from the pick up pile until he got a card he could play. He put down a skip causing the hand to jump over Mark and straight to Alexis.
"UNO UNO UNO!" She yelled making sure everyone heard her. "Sorry last time we played this I said it but he claimed to not hear me but I still swear I said it."
Kate played her turn and it came to Rick yet again. This time he played a blue 5 effectively switching the color on Alexis. She glared at him, but all he saw was her big blue eyes looking up at him from her crib. He knew she wasn't a baby anymore but he still saw his baby girl every time he looked at her.
"I stopped letting you win games when you could play them without my help. If you want to win you have to earn it."
"I've been winning on my own ever since," she smirked backed at him.
After a few more hands the tables had turned; The Castle's had at least 10 cards in their hand while the Beckett's battled it out. One card in each of their hands the other desperately trying to get rid their last card before the other.
Kate's brow furrowed and her lips pursed as she stared Mark down, trying to figure out if she should change the color or not.
Mark mimicked her expression; his fingers tapped the corner of his card. If this was poker that would be his tell.
Rick's eyebrows lifted and his lips curled up slightly at the ends, "I think I just got the first glance into what it was like in the Beckett household on family game nights."
"We were banned from playing family game nights after a particularly ugly incident." Mark responded without looking away.
"I feel a story coming on." Rick pulled Alexis into his lap, the game forgotten.
"Mark don't you dare," Kate's voice low and firm. "If you tell this story then I'll the one about the permission slip in the third grade."
Their eyes squinted as they stared each down, changing their expression to make the other back down. Mark gave her a quick smile before launching into the story.
"So it was family game night. As usual it turned into family competition night instead. We couldn't decide on a game to play so we teamed up girls verses boys to see who could build the best Lego building. Kate went to the kitchen but knocked mine over on her way."
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Kate shouted. She told him when it happened that she didn't mean to but he's never believed her; no matter how much she insists that she didn't do it on purpose he is still convinced it was.
"Anyways…She knocked it over, I was so angry I tackled her to the ground; I still had one Lego in my hand; it was the small one with 2 blocks on it… I shoved it up her nose."
"You did what?!" Alexis and Rick shouted simultaneously.
"He shoved the Lego up my nose." Kate said, her dead panned voice. "It got stuck up there."
"How'd you get it out?" Rick asked, leaning forward, almost squashing Alexis.
"Mom tried tweezers, dad wanted to make me sneeze it out and Mark suggested we put a chain of Legos up there to attach to it and pull it out," Kate said, clearly not amused with the memory as she glared at her brother.
"They ended up taping an empty pen to the end of the vacuum and sucking it out." Mark tried stopping the laughter building up inside him, but he couldn't hold back the small snicker from leaving.
"Yeah well you were grounded for two week for that." Kate's lip turned into a small smirk as Rick and Alexis shook their heads.
"What's the permission slip story?" Rick asked, eager to hear more about Kate and Mark's childhood.
"Well it was actually a couple weeks after the Lego incident. He was still grounded and wanted to go on a field trip to the pumpkin farm with his third grade class. I was in first grade at the time. I was at the playground with Maddie when I see mom walking up to school. I could tell she was pissed I tried calling out to her but she was too far away to hear but I saw her face and knew someone was in trouble. It turns out he didn't get the permission slip signed for the field trip because he was grounded but decided to try and forge it. The one mistake he made…He signed it 'mom.' Not Johanna but mom."
Rick and Alexis rolled over in fits of laughter, "Rookie move man. I've forged a few signatures but I've never heard of anyone doing that." They burst out laughing again but not the same laughter as before. This one left them breathless, with an ache in their belly and a dry throat.
"Alright it's time to settle down," Rick said as he lifted Alexis off of him. "I know its summer but you have a big day planned with grams tomorrow so go get ready for bed and I'll be in to read you a story."
Alexis paused, seeking the right words that won't hurt her dad. "Actually…I was hoping Mark could read with me tonight."
"We're supposed to find out what happens to Harry, Ron and Hermoine when they go back in time," Rick whined.
Alexis shrugged, "I know but he's never read the series so I figured we could start the first one again and then you and I can find out what happens tomorrow night."
"What!? We have ourselves a Harry Potter virgin. Go fix that please, we can't have someone living with us be a Harry Potter virgin."
When Mark and Alexis headed upstairs Kate and Rick settled on the couch with her feet draped over his lap.
"Thanks for agreeing to having him staying here and helping him out."
"We've been over this, this is your home too. He's a good guy who made a stupid mistake. If I had gotten caught for every reckless decision I made in college or even high school I would not be sitting here. Not everyone is lucky to be a best selling author with connections to get him out of things."
"Yeah well it's his connections that got him into this mess," She mumbled.
"Kate-"
"It wasn't their fault Kate." Her head turned towards Mark coming down the stairs. "I made a mistake. Me, not them. You really should talk to them."
"I hear you but I don't want to talk about them anymore. Tell me about you. How did your meeting go at Manhattan City College?"
"It was good, I talked to the counselor in the science department and he helped me figure out my classes and I can register for fall in a few weeks."
"Oooh science, Mr. smarty-pants. Do you know what you want to do with a science degree?"
Mark shook his head, "Not yet, maybe I'll go to med school or go into forensics…maybe I'll become a teacher. I don't know but that's the beauty of community college I don't have to know yet."
"If you think you might be interested in a particular field let me know I'm sure I know someone you can talk to about it and find out if it's really what you want before you commit to it."
"Thanks Rick. I'll keep that in mind. Well I'm off to bed. Have an early interview tomorrow."
"Good luck," Kate shouted out as he headed towards the stairs.
"Thanks, I have to keep up with these until school starts as part of my parole. I either have to do 3 interviews a week, have a job or go to school."
When he disappeared up the stairs Rick spoke up, "You know I can get him a job, why can't I? At least he won't have to do these interviews anymore."
"We talked about this. Giving him a roof over his head - for free, might I add - while he gets back on his feet is generous enough. I know you have good intentions but he wants to do this himself, he needs to. He doesn't like to accept more help than necessary."
"I'm starting to notice that's a common trait in you Beckett's. You are all so stubborn."
"Oh and you aren't? I remember a last week you made me tie you up to the showerhead with your feet tied together and tape over your mouth for a scene in your book and wouldn't let anyone help you out. You even made me take a shower upstairs that night."
He remembered that incident; it had been a lot harder than he expected. It didn't help the floor was still slippery, he almost slipped and took the shower head with him. "I had to find out for myself if it was possible to get out of."
"Exactly, and he needs to work this out for himself just like you did."
He tugged her forward, settling her in his lap. "Alright I see your point. You know I think I made a mistake."
"What do you mean?"
His hand came up to caress her cheek. "I think I fell in love with someone smarter than me."
Her eyes lit up and warmth spread through her as she captured his lips with his. The kiss was slow and sweet.
She reluctantly pulled away wanting to move things to a more private area before it quickly heated it up as it so often has. "Come on, Castle, take me to bed."
A/N: I'm not sure how getting out of jail works. I know sometimes people get out and have parole others do not and there's different types of parole. Since his crime wasn't drugs or murder just a harmless prank I figured his parole wouldn't be super strict but some guidelines. Also I got some of the info like 3 interviews a week from Orange is the New Black so if it's not accurate that's why. Also the school is a real community school in Manhattan but I changed the name a bit.