Castle Fic
Title: The Third Act--With Dessert
Fandom: Castle
Word Count: 381
Words/Prompts Used: All, underlined
Castle opened the door into the loft and began pulling off his necktie, mulling that the toughest part of testifying in court was that he had to wear a stiff suit and a noose around his neck. A loud cacophony of whirring startled him from his plaint, and he was startled to see his mother, in a tall white hat and apron, at the kitchen counter running a food processor and loudly proclaiming "Heat it slowly, Alexis dear, you want to carmelize the sugar without burning it!" as Alexis, hair tied in a checkered scarf, hustled around behind her waving a large spoon and peering over the stove where something was steaming.
Pausing with his tie half-tugged, Castle stared and approached the counter warily. "Um, Mother...what is...I've never seen you...what are you doing? COOKING?" His incredulity was papable.
Martha looked up and smiled brightly. "Not cooking, dear, and don't sound so surprised. I'm schooling myself to learn to bake. I predict great things." Gazing at the dough in the Cuisinart, she nodded decisively and began to spoon it out onto a wooden board.
"Baking?" Castle couldn't hide the tone of incredulity (nor did he try to). Martha paused as she reached for the rolling pin, put her hands on the counter, and looked him in the eye. "Yes," she said with an actress's emphasis. "Baking. A Tarte Tatin. That's apple pie to you. But with an added finesse." She gave a dramatic gesture and proceeded to roll out the pie crust. “If there’s one thing I know at my age, Richard, is that one must keep the spirits alive with new things. It’s the Third Act!” Again she gestured, this time spraying a mist of flour around her.
“Third Act? Aren’t you up to more like the Fifth Act?”
“Hush, dear, don't be vulgar. Take one of these to sweeten your sour words.” She pointed to a plate. “Homemade chocolate truffles with nougat, no less. Dessert first!” Castle tentatively sampled the morsel and was amazed to find it was delicious. Hmmm, he thought to himself, getting up to go change, maybe this 3rd Act of Mother’s wouldn't be all that bad, and promised himself to up his personal trainer to four days a week.