This story is AU.

Let's pretend that Castle and Beckett are about the same age.

O-o-o-o-o

The first thing Rick Castle heard when he opened the door to the loft was his little girl softly crying upstairs in her room. It was way past midnight and Rick was sure that if Alexis had woken up crying in the middle of the night Meredith would never notice. She was a heavy sleeper and on top of that she just lacked the sensitivity of a mother to always know when your child was upset. Rick ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He rushed to take his shoes off and hurried to get up the stairs to Alexis' room.

When he quietly opened her door his heart broke at the sight of his baby girl sitting in the middle of her big bed with a tear-stained face, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She looked like she had cried for hours. Rick pressed his lips together.

He wouldn't get angry at Meredith. He wouldn't. But it was so damn hard. He tried not to blame his wife. He had known from the moment she told him about the pregnancy that she wouldn't be the best of mothers but he had hoped that she would try harder. She loved Alexis, he knew she did but she just wasn't into caring for her. For the last four years Rick had done nearly everything to do with raising their daughter alone aside from occasionally going shopping together or showing Alexis off at an event. It had always been him who took care of the daily things.

Knowing that Meredith wasn't the mother-y type didn't stop him from feeling frustrated about it. He didn't mind being the main caretaker but once in a while he wished his wife would take care of their daughter. But it had always been him. He couldn't rely on her to do anything. Too many times she'd bailed out because she had an oh so important audition or meeting or she needed to get those pair of shoes that were in sale now. So it was always him who cared for their daughter.

Especially when Alexis still had been a baby. He'd prepared her bottles since Meredith hadn't wanted to breastfeed. He'd gotten up in the middle of the night to feed the crying infant or walked around the loft for hours because being carried around made her stop crying. He'd changed her diapers. He was almost sure that Meredith had not once changed Alexis' diaper. It had either been him or his mother. He cooked for his daughter, he read to her. He took her to preschool and picked her up. He did everything. But he had never minded because there was nothing in the world he loved more than Alexis and caring for her was a privilege he wouldn't want to give up. Sure he could have used Meredith's help occasionally but he'd managed quiet well on his own mostly.

But as Alexis grew older Meredith seemed to connect with her better. She took her out at least once a week to meet friends of hers or go shopping since Alexis had turned four and didn't get tantrums anymore. She knew how to behave in public now, was always polite to and just an angel. So it was much more appealing for Meredith to take Alexis with her to show her off to friends and colleagues now than it had been when she was a crying infant or a yelling toddler.

This was the first time he had been away for longer than a day though. He had been hesitant to go to the book tour but Paula had been adamant and Meredith had promised that she could manage four days with Alexis on her own.

When he first started to plan this trip he had wanted to ask his mother to help Meredith with Alexis but they didn't get along well and neither of them was keen on spending four days with the other. So he had given in and trusted Meredith to take care of her daughter for four days. Not least because Alexis was so mature and could do almost everything on her own, including to remember her mother to tuck her in and feed her.

But now he was back (a day early because he had just missed his baby girl so much) and the first thing he saw was Alexis crying in the middle of the night with no one around to comfort her. He gently sat down next to her so he wouldn't scare her.

"Alexis, baby" he whispered and she looked up, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. When she finally noticed him she crawled into his lap, threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Then she started to sob in earnest. Her whole body shook with the force of her sobs. Rick helplessly caressed her back, trying to soothe her.

"Shhh", he whispered and held her close. He sank his head down and kissed her hair. "Daddy is here. Everything is going to be okay. Shhh" He rocked her back and forth. After what seemed like hours she finally calmed down a little. Only crying quietly again. She made a few attempts to explain what got her so upset but broke up. Rick waited her out. She would start explaining in her own time.

"There was a man" Alexis told him and broke up again, another sob escaping her mouth.

"In your dream?" Rick asked. Clearly she had had a bad dream and some man played a role in it. But Alexis shook her head.

"No. I didn't dream. The man was in the loft." Alexis explained, looking at her dad with serious big blue eyes.

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream? Maybe there was a man in the loft in your dream" Rick knew that dreams could feel like reality all too often. Especially for kids.

But the little girl shook her head again. Her eyes clear and sure. Rick suppressed the slight feeling of fear of an unknown man in his home. With his little girl. Surely if there had been a stranger in the loft Meredith would have noticed and had taken care of things? And if there had been a break in he would have noticed when he got in.

But he had been in a rush to get to Alexis and hadn't looked around. And if that mysterious man had been careful he probably wouldn't have noticed. Oh god, maybe that man was still here.

Rick forced himself to calm down a little. No reason to scare his little girl with the uninvited imaginations. His heart was beating a little too fast.

"Is he still here?" He asked, feeling for his phone in his pocket, ready to call the police.

"I don't know" Alexis looked upset.

"No problem, baby girl" Rick told her. "Where did you see him? What did he look like?"

"In the kitchen. When we had lunch. I didn't like him. He ignored me and only talked to mommy" Alexis complained.

Wait, what? "You had lunch with him?" Rick asked. Nothing made sense. Why would Meredith invite somebody who scared the hell out of Alexis? Clearly even she would have noticed that she was scared, wouldn't she?

"Yes. Mommy invited him. She said he was a friend from the movie. We had lunch and then mommy told me to go to bed to sleep." Alexis explained, telling him nothing that made him see sense in this story.

"But daddy, it was only after lunch. Not anywhere near bedtime. And I'm not a baby anymore. I don't take afternoon naps anymore" She told him indignant.

"Of course not, honey" Rick agreed. "What happened after that?"

"I didn't want to go and told mommy that it wasn't bedtime but she told me to just go to sleep and that I could stay up late and watch a movie with her if I went to bed pretty fast. So I did. But I couldn't sleep."

Slowly Rick thought he got what this had been about and if he was right with his theory there would be hell to pay for Meredith.

"Of course you couldn't sleep. You weren't tired. It was midday." He waited for Alexis to continue. She had stopped crying during her explanation but her eyes filled with tears when she thought about what had happened next.

"And then I heard mommy screaming. Very loudly" The tears began flowing down her cheeks again. Ricks hands were in fists but he forced his upcoming anger down. He had a scared little girl in his lap. He would deal with his wife's infidelity later.

"I tiptoed downstairs. And I heard mommy scream again. I think the man hurt her really bad" That wasn't what Rick was thinking. "I knocked and called 'mommy' very loudly. But she screamed and sounded like she was running very fast. And she didn't hear me. And then I didn't hear anything anymore, daddy" She was sobbing again. But she calmed down to go on with telling her dad what had happened.

"When I heard footsteps that weren't mommy's I ran up to my room very fast" she took a deep breath before she asked with a very shaky voice: "Do you think the man murdered mommy? Like the people in your book?"

Now Rick fully got what had Alexis so scared. She had heard her mommy calling out in what to her had sounded like pain. She had thought her mommy was dead. And Meredith obviously hadn't cared to look for her since lunch. Lunch! It was – Rick looked at his watch – 3 am. She hadn't looked how her daughter was doing since over twelve hours because she was busy cheating on him!

Rick was beyond furious. His wife had cheated on him. She had done so while Alexis was there. She had been so loud that Alexis had thought she had been murdered.

Before his anger could really built up Rick once again forced himself to calm down. He already knew this would break out of him the moment he was alone with Meredith. But for now he looked at his baby girl who was still crying, making it easy for him to focus on her for now.

"No Alexis, I don't think he murdered mommy. But I will go downstairs and look if mommy is alright" he promised her. "Are you okay to stay here and wait for me for a minute?" He really didn't need his baby girl to see her mother in bed with another man. Probably naked. Hell, he didn't need to see this himself but it seemed like he didn't get to choose.

"Will you be back here pretty fast?" Alexis asked with wide eyes. Not really wanting him to go, but wanting him to look for her mother.

"I promise" Rick kissed her on her hair and gently pulled her from his lap, placing her on the bed again.

Then he went down the stairs. Telling himself to think about Alexis like a mantra in his head to not explode the moment he saw his soon-to-be-ex-wife. He pushed the door handle of his bedroom down. The door didn't open. Obviously Meredith had had the presence of mind to lock the door. Why couldn't she think about being quiet too?

But Rick knew the answer to that. Because she never did. She never had to. He knew she was loud. Very. But he always reminded her to keep quiet when Alexis was home. He would always swallow her screams by kissing her or by putting his hand over her mouth.

He swallowed hard to get the knot out of his throat.

He knocked. Forcefully.

Nothing happened.

He knocked again.

"Meredith. Open the door" he called.

He knocked again. Harder this time.

Then he heard footsteps. Soon the door was open and Meredith was standing in front of him in all her naked glory. Behind her he could see Brad Parker, Meredith's producer, laying on his side in his bed.

He had to avert his eyes for a moment. The anger was growling in him but he forced himself to remain calm on the outside. He looked at his wife again, his gaze carefully controlled so it wouldn't accidentally look anywhere else than her face. He couldn't stand seeing her naked right now.

"Ricky" Meredith said and then fell quiet. Clearly not knowing what to say. She definitely hadn't expected him to be home until tomorrow evening. He had wanted to surprise her with his early return. A surprise it was. Not a pleasant one as it seemed though.

He had to swallow hard again. Not only in anger this time though. He'd wanted to surprise his wife with his early return. He'd wanted to sneak in bed with her, to maybe kiss her awake gently and have awesome welcome-back-home-sex with her. Underneath his anger he could make out other emotions he definitely didn't want to address right now.

Think about Alexis. Think about Alexis. Think about Alexis. Think about Alexis. Think about Alexis.

"We are going to talk about this tomorrow" Rick informed her with a deathly edge to his voice. "And now I suggest you get dressed and show your daughter that you are okay."

Then he turned to face the man in his bed. He didn't look the least bit apologetic. The muscles in Rick's jaw tightened further.

"And you get out of my bed and my house" he ordered the man and turned around when his naked form made its way out from under his blanket with a grin on his lips. Rick had trouble not to punch him his face. But he once again thought about his daughter and kept going.

He made his way up to Alexis' room again. She was anxiously awaiting his return. Hugging herself tightly against him the moment he picked her up from her bed.

"Is mommy dead?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"No baby, she is fine. She is coming upstairs in a few minutes to wish you good night and then I'm going to tuck you in. It's very, very late."

"Can you sleep in my room, daddy? I don't want to be alone" she asked embarrassed.

"Of course baby. And there is no reason to be ashamed. You had a very rough day. It's perfectly alright to want me to stay with you. I don't want to leave you alone either"

After that he helped her to put on her pajama and brush her teeth. When they were finished and emerged from the bathroom Meredith was there, clothed in her own pajamas.

"Mommy!" Alexis called and ran towards her to hug her knees.

"Hello sweetheart" Meredith greeted her and picked her up.

"See Alexis, mommy is fine" Rick said, coming a step closer. He ignored the mess Meredith's hair was in, not wanting to think about how it got this way.

"Then why did you scream mommy?" Alexis asked.

Before Meredith could answer the question, Rick chimed in. "They were practicing for mommy's movie." Meredith shot him a thankful smile which he didn't acknowledge. He couldn't look at her. He would either start screaming at her or burst into tears. He didn't want Alexis to witness either.

"Oh" said Alexis. "okay. I'm glad you are okay, mommy."

"Come on Alexis. It's time for bed. I'll tell you a story." Rick said and came to take her out of Meredith's arms. Alexis went willingly. She immediately cuddled into his chest.

"Night mommy" she mumbled, her head resting on Rick's shoulder.

Meredith kissed her goodnight and then went out of the room. Rick let out the breath he hadn't even known he was holding. That didn't go too bad.

He laid down with Alexis and told her a story about a space princess until she fell asleep in his arms. Then he pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and sent a text to his mother.

I need you to pick up Alexis in the morning.