Chapter 1

First week of June 2001

"Daddy! Can we please go to the park? PLEASE?" Eight year old Alexis Castle stood at the door of her father's study, her bright blue eyes pleading with the man, a spark of hope in them.

"Honey, I've got to finish this by next week." Richard Castle replied, barely looking up from his computer screen. "Can we go next week?" Honestly he would rather be outside playing with his daughter but he had another thirteen chapters to go before his latest novel was complete.

"Okay Daddy." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. As she turned to leave Rick rubbed a hand over his face and scraped his fingers through his hair. He kind of hated that she was so accepting of him disappointing her. He fixed his eyes on the blinking cursor at the top of the blank page. It had been blank for the past hour.

"Alexis!" He called loudly so she would hear him in her bedroom upstairs. "How soon can you be ready?" Maybe some fresh air would do him good, clear his min.

His beautiful daughter came bounding down the stairs, her grin as wide as her face, not two minutes later.

"Ready!" She stated, enthusiasm seeping from her very core. This was his daughter, not the quiet thing that had been holed up in her room for the past few days, desperately missing her best friend. He smiled at her closing the laptop.

"Okay, let me grab my things and then let's go to the park.

"Aly." Kate Beckett called down the hall way. Upon hearing no reply she tried again. "Alyssa!"

A small head popped out of the doorway at the end of the hall, light brown pigtails swaying by the sides of her head.

"Yes Mommy?"

"What do you want to do for the afternoon? I'm not on call anymore." Kate tried to get at least one day off a week and usually aimed for two or three in her daughter's school holidays. Usually at least one of those days she was on call and her days off didn't always work out but she did her best.

"Can we do anything? Anything at all?" The eight year old asked, excitement shining in her eyes already.

"Whatever your beautiful heart desires." It had became a rarity for Kate to not be called in and while she was on call Alyssa knew they couldn't stray far from home.

Alyssa stood and looked thoughtful for a moment before announcing the destination she had her heart set on.

"The park?"

"You want to go to the park? We can go anywhere at all and you want to go to the park?" Kate was baffled.

"Yup! The one with all the monkey bars. Then maybe we can go for ice cream after?" The sparkle of excitement was still in the young girls eyes.

"Park and ice cream it is then." Kate conceded. "Race you to get ready?" She asked her daughter, her voice tinged with playfulness.

Alyssa yelled 'go' in lieu of yes and sprinted into her bedroom. Kate was equally quick off the mark, running around the house to collect her things.

"Winner gets to pick where we go for ice cream!" Kate yelled, phone and purse in hand, about to pick up her keys and make a dash for the door. She had just picked them up and was in the middle of turning when her daughter ran straight past her. She used the front door to stop herself, hitting it with a thud.

"I win!" Alyssa declared triumphantly, turning to face her mother.

"That you did." Kate smiled down at her. "Let's go." She unlocked the door and pushed it open, taking her daughter's hand and leading her out.

Rick sat on a park bench, sunglasses covering most of his face, watching his daughter swing from bar to bar on the near by play ground. It wasn't often that he was recognized outside a book store or a party but he liked the protection and privacy the sunglasses provided for both himself and his young daughter.

A woman, about five years his junior came and sat on the other end of the bench, looking out onto the play ground also. She had medium brown hair and was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. He glanced over at her, once, twice, three times. She had sharp angular features that somehow still looked soft on her face.

"Which one's yours?" Rick asked the fourth time he looked over at the woman. He should have thought it through better, led with something else. Most people, especially women, were very cautious around men in or near a playground. In this day and age it was suspicious, a fact that made Rick sad.

The woman turned to face him, sizing him up with her green eyes. She scrutinized him for a moment but apparently deemed him a non-threat.

"She's the one with the brown pigtails, swinging upside down from the highest set of bars." She seemed to chuckle at that. "Next to the red head. What about you?"

Rick looked over to spot the girl she had described as her. He saw her and his own daughter at the same time.

"Ah, mine's the red head actually." An awkward silence followed his reply but Rick broke it again quickly.

"My name's Rick, and that's my daughter Alexis." He said, head nodding in the girls' general direction and proffering a hand for the woman to shake.

She took his hand in a firm grip and shook it.

"Kate. My daughter's name is Alyssa. They seem to be getting on quite well over there." She observed. The two girls were hanging upside down, side by side, their faces turning red due to the blood rushing to their heads.

"Indeed." Rick said, looking at them. "Alexis just turned eight a few weeks back. How old is Alyssa?"

"Turned eight last month too."

"What date?" Rick asked.

"The twenty-third."

"Alexis' birthday was on the twenty-ninth." Kate only nodded at his revelation, still watching her little girl play with her new friend.

"So Kate," Rick began another line of conversation. "What do you do?"

Kate hated when people asked her that. It usually led to more questioning and when she wasn't at work she generally liked to not be at work.

"I'm with the NYPD." She answered as vaguely as she could before turning the spotlight back to him. "And yourself?"

"I'm a writer." Rick's was equally as vague but Kate pursued it.

"Anything I would know?" She was a fairly avid reader when she had time, not that she ever really did.

"In a Hail of Bullets? Flowers for Your Grave?" He had eleven books under his belt now but her was referencing some of his earlier work which weren't as popular as the new Derek Storm series he had started a few years back. He found that only the die-hard fans knew of them.

"You're kidding right? You're Richard Castle? I didn't know you had a daughter." Kate tried not to sound too star struck but this man was near the top of her top ten list of modern authors.

"Yeah, I try to keep her out of the spotlight. So you're a fan I take it?" He pushed his sunglasses on top of his head, there really wasn't much need for them anymore, or at least he hoped that was the case.

"Yeah I am actually. I really enjoy your books." Kate tried to come off nonchalant and thought herself reasonably successful. Rick smiled at her.

"So what do you do for the NYPD?" He asked.

She sighed but figured it was only fair to share. He'd laid it out on the table and it was probably a risky move for him. He'd been unsure of her reaction if she was reading him right.

"Homicide. I actually just make Detective Third Grade." She shrugged it off. It wasn't a big deal and she hoped he wouldn't make it one. Most people, men especially, usually had one of two reactions. They either grilled her endlessly about her job or ran away screaming. He did neither and his response actually surprised her.

"That must be hard with a young kid." He had sympathy in his eyes as he looked at her.

"It can be." She was slightly taken aback. No one ever really put two and two together to consider the difficulties of raising a child when you had such a demanding job.

"I couldn't imagine that. Working long and obscure hours and not getting to see Alexis every day. You must have good help. I work from home mostly and I'm with Alexis constantly. I feel for you."

"Yeah, it sucks sometimes but she's my ray of sunshine after a hard case. My father loves spending time with her. He's great."

"Her dad around still?" He asked, noticing for the first time the lack of a wedding ring on her left hand.

"No. I had Aly while I was in high school. My parents were good about it. Well as good as parents can be when their sixteen year old daughter comes home pregnant. Mom helped me a lot and took care of Alyssa so I could finish school." Kate had long since come to terms with the story about how she got Alyssa and she wasn't ashamed of it anymore. It had been a mistake getting pregnant so young but she wouldn't trade her little girl for the entire world.

"Wow, I thought I was young when Alexis came along. I was twenty-one."

Kate looked over at the playground only to see both their daughters running towards them. "Here they come." Kate warned Rick as Alexis launched herself into his lap, Alyssa similarly assaulting Kate.

"Mommy, can my new friend Alexis, come and get ice cream with us?" Alyssa asked just as Alexis was asking her father a similar question.

"Well, you'll have to introduce me to her first and then it will be up to her Daddy." Kate told Alyssa, her eyes moving briefly to the man on the other side of the park bench.

"Alexis." Alyssa grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her off her father's lap and pushing her in front of Kate. "This is my Mom. Mom, this is Alexis. We're the same age, cept I'm older by six days."

Kate smiled. "Hello Alexis, how are you?" Kate asked the girl.

"I'm well thank you." Kate was impressed by the young girl's polite though shy reply. She watched as Alexis looked uncertainly at her father and noticed how the uncertainty turned to smiles after he shot her a smile of his own.

"Daddy, this is my new friend Alyssa." Alexis introduced, still standing in front of Kate.

"Good afternoon Alyssa. My name's Rick. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi." Alyssa replied. She then summoned every ounce of her eight year old courage and asked. "Rick, can you and Alexis come and get ice cream with us? It's my choice because I won the race this morning."

Alexis moved to stand in front of her father then.

"Please Daddy? I promise that Ill be good and let you write when we get home. Please?" Her last plea was drawn out as she looked up at him.

"Is that okay with you Kate?" He asked, turning to her.

"Yeah, absolutely." As awkward as it had started out she was enjoying the conversation she was having with Rick.

"Okay then. Alexis, we need to be home by four okay?" Alexis looked down at the new watch on her wrist. She had received it as a birthday present last month from her grandmother.

"So we have two hours?" She double checked that she was right.

"Well, let's allow a half hour to get us home okay?"

"So one hour and a half then." Alexis amended.

"Yep." Rick turned to Alyssa.

"So, where are we going?"

"Um, Sundae Surprise?" Alyssa looked up to her mother for approval and received a nod of consent.

"I love Sundae Surprise. It's the most awesome place!"

"Sundae Surprise it is then." Rick said. The girls all but dragged their respective parents to their feet before the group made their way to the edge of the park to catch a cab, the two girls talking animatedly the entire way.

They arrived at the ice cream shop twenty minutes later and Rick payed for the cab fare before Kate could even reach for her wallet.

"Thanks." Kate said as they stood on the sidewalk outside the Sundae shop.

"No problem. Shall we go in?" Without waiting for an answer Rick walked to the door, holding it open for the three ladies to enter. He smiled at Kate as she walked through, thanking him again, this time with a silent nod.

"You know the rules Alyssa." Kate reminded her daughter who was staring eagerly into the large display freezer.

"What are the rules?" Alexis asked her friend in a whisper.

"Two scoops, one topping, and one squirt of sauce." Alyssa whispered back. Alexis nodded, deciding to take this rule aboard too.

Kate and Rick watched the girls umm and ahh over the ice cream selection for another few minutes before Kate gave Alyssa a thirty second decision warning and went to line up. Alexis looked over at her father in question. He nodded, indicating that the warning applied to her too.

Alexis quickly made her choice and stood at her father's side in line. Alyssa followed soon after and before long they were all sitting at a table eating ice cream.

"Where do you go to school Alexis?" Kate asked the girl witting across the table from her.

"Greendale Elementary." Alexis replied once she'd finished her mouthful.

"Do you like it there?" Kate followed up.

"Yeah. My teachers are all really nice and I like learning everything but my best friend just moved all the way to Kansas." As she finished the sentence she shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"Aw, that's sad." Kate said, sympathy filling her voice.

"What about you Alyssa?" Rick asked.

"I go to P.S. 290. I like it there." She said around a mouthful of fudge and lollies. Kate sent her a reprimanding glare and she instantly looked apologetic.

Alexis picked up the conversation with her new friend about their schools while Rick turned to Kate again.

"Thanks for this. Alexis has been really down lately. Her best friend is so far away and I have a deadline approaching which means I actually have to work for once." Rick smiled at her appreciatively.

"That's okay. I'm actually surprised. Aly doesn't always get along well with girls her own age. I'm curious, how does your job work with a child?" Kate asked. "Do you have a nanny or anything for when you go away?"

"Nah, I don't think I could let anyone but family look after Alexis long term like that. I had a lot of bad experiences growing up. She has a babysitter but that's more for evenings when I can't take her with me."

"You take her with you everywhere? On book tours and that? That's a big commitment. How does it work with school?" Kate was astounded by the difference in their single parent homes. Granted he was a best selling author but surely they couldn't be too different in there lives, at least not at home.

"I try to do tours during school holidays and sometimes, if it doesn't work out that way, she'll bring school work with her. Worst comes to worst she stays with my mother." Rick replied.

"What about her mother?" Kate asked. Rick quickly shot a look to his daughter to make sure she wasn't listening to their conversation. She was in the middle of a dramatic discussion about dinosaurs with Alyssa.

"She's in California. She left to pursue her career when Lexi was three." Rick shook his head. "She's not the most reliable or responsible adult, let alone parent. She's also not too big on keeping promises."

"Oh, that makes things harder."

"Yeah it can. We get through though. Speaking of getting through however, they sure have plowed through that ice cream." The girls' faces were covered in sauce and chocolate ice cream. "We should probably head out soon." He told Kate, getting Alexis' attention too.

"Do we have to?" Alexis' voice was close to a whine.

"Yeah Pumpkin. Sorry. Maybe if Kate says it's okay we can set up a play date?" Both Castles turned to look at Kate.

"Sure. Why don't we swap numbers and set it up that way?" Kate suggested pulling out her phone. They did a quick number swap before getting the girls to say goodbye. They hugged each other tightly like they'd been thick as thieves for years.

Once Rick and Alexis were in the cab, he sent a text to the newest contact in his phone.

Just testing, making sure you didn't give me a fake number

He got one back very soon after.

Damn, shoulda thought of that.

Rick chuckled to himself, glad of the new friendships he and his daughter had made. Kate was nice, she seemed like she had her feet firmly planted on the ground which was refreshing to Rick.

It hit Kate in the cab home that she had just spent the better part of her afternoon with one of her favorite authors. The one who helped her get through her mother's death, the one she stood in line for once to get a book signed, just before Alyssa was born.

What really struck her was how normal he was. He was just another single parent trying to make it though. He hadn't flaunted his wealth. He obviously had money sending his daughter to a school like Greendale. Kate couldn't fault him for it. If she had that kind of money Alyssa would be going somewhere like that too.

She was grateful for her daughter's new found friendship because Aly often had trouble making friends. She was also happy about the friendship she had forged with Rick. It would be nice to know another single parent, to maybe share the burden a bit. This play date was looking like a great idea for all involved.

A/N:

I hope you liked it. I've got a bit of a plan laid out for this story already though any suggestions are welcome. I feel that Kate and Rick may seem slightly out of character in this first chapter but we've only really seen them for two hours and they had just met.

Just some general house keeping: Alyssa and Alexis were born in 1993 and the current year in the story is 2001.

I think that's all from me for now. I hope to get another chapter written with in the next day or two so drop me a line, add this to alerts, let me know what you think!

Love Sacha

P.S. This is not beta'd so all mistakes are mine.