Set not long after Cops and Robbers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.

Castle and Beckett sat side by side on her couch, eating takeout and going over their latest case. It was a tough one so when Beckett suggested that they go back to her place to go over the case notes with dinner, Castle accepted.

They're sitting there, the food and case files spread out on her coffee table when he saw it, sitting on the opposite couch and partially hidden by her union jack pillow.

"Beckett?" Castle questions, his eyes still on the object he's spotted. Beckett looks up at his voice and follows his eye line when she sees he's not looking at her. She blushes a dark red when she sees what he's looking at, her stuffed bear. She can't believe that she just left it out like that for him to see, but she hadn't expected him to be coming over either. But when she realized that his tone wasn't one of teasing but curiosity, she decided to tell him the story of her stuffed toy.

"My mom bought him for me when I was a baby and I've had him ever since. When I was young I never went anywhere without him but when I went off to college, I left him at home. After my mother's murder I found him again in one of my old boxes and I've had him with me since then," Beckett said, looking at the bear as she spoke, thinking about her childhood and her mother but she turned back to Castle once she had finished, her cheeks still red.

Castle smiled in response to her words, glad that Beckett felt she could be this open with him but before he could speak, she was talking again.

"He usually stays tucked away in my room but I bring him out every now and then, he brings me comfort when I need it, reminds me of my mom," and then she paused, not sure if she should reveal the next part but the look on his face, so open, made the decision for her and she was speaking again, "I especially needed him a couple of weeks ago."

Silence filled the room after her confession and Castle reached out to take her hand in his, knowing why she'd have needed it recently.

"The bank?" Castle asked quietly, eyes roaming over Beckett's face as she looked back at him. He knew that his time in the bank had affected her more than she'd let on. Knew that it had completely shaken her that at least for a little while, she'd thought that he was dead. He'd seen the relief, and what certainly looked like love, in her eyes when she'd found him alive in the bank. But he hadn't pushed, had told her that he was there if she needed him but had given her space afterwards instead.

"Yeah," she breathed, and just telling him this, giving him another piece of her felt so good that she wanted this damn wall gone so she could give all of herself to him. That bear gave her comfort, had always been with her and just having it close made her feel better, made her feel safe and think back to when her mother was still alive. But Castle also made her feel safe, feel warm and feel loved and that was just as necessary to her as the bear from her mother was.

They sat in silence again, just looking at each other with her hand still in Castle's. Castle was the first to speak to break the tension and to try to lighten the mood, he could see the dark in the back of Beckett's eyes and wanted to make her feel better.

"Does he have a name?"

Beckett laughed, always thankful that Castle knows just what to say, "Mr Snuggles."

She knew Castle would laugh when he heard it, and he did, but it wasn't a teasing laugh and the glint in his eye told her that he definitely wasn't teasing, the look in his eyes looked a lot more like love than anything else. And she knew she was looking back at him with a very similar look.

Beckett removed her hand from his then, stood up and walked across the room and retrieved the bear before taking her seat again and handing the bear to Castle.

He took it, turning it over in his hands, feeling the soft material at his fingers and he could tell it was well loved. He looked back up at her with a smile that she'd seen with increasing frequency, that soft look still in his eyes.

And because giving him that small part of her felt so good, Beckett wanted to give more, "I want to buy one just like it and give it to my son or daughter when I have them."

Castle, who had looked back down at the bear, looked up again in shock, not expecting to get this much information out of Beckett all at one time, "you want kids?"

"One day," she said almost wistfully, her mind wandering to what it could be like in the future, to have kids (with him).

"You'd make a great mother," Castle said quietly, smiling at her as he looked back on the times he'd seen her with kids and how great she'd been. Then his mind started wandering forward, to what it could be like if she ever let them have that together.

Beckett smiled back at him, "What about you, do you want more kids?"

"I always thought Alexis would be it for me, that she'd be my only child but I think if I found the right woman, that if she wanted kids too, I could see myself having more sometime in the future," he answered, thinking of nothing but Kate as he spoke. Not only wanting to give her the future he could see her thinking about, but wanting to have that for himself too. If he didn't have kids with Beckett, he knew he wouldn't have any with anyone else, there would be no one else but her.

"I hope you get that one day, you make a great father," Beckett said, hoping he could read the message that was written all over her face, that she wanted to be the one to give that to him, she just couldn't say that out loud yet, had to get rid of that wall first and let him in completely. She was working on it and hoped that one day soon she could do just that, let him in and have the future they're both thinking about.

"I hope you do too," Castle replied, the same message written all over his face as he stared into her eyes, not hiding any of the emotions he was feeling and letting them spill across his face.

Beckett was the first to look away and Castle was okay with that, knowing that she'd opened herself up to him tonight and would need time before she could do it again. He handed the bear back to her, saw her stroke its head before she placed it on the chair beside them and picked up a case file, ready to get back to work.

Both couldn't help but think that something had shifted tonight, that they'd moved forward together and they hoped that they could continue moving towards the future that they both want, one they both hope is in the not too distant future.

I've marked this as complete but I have an idea for a second chapter that I could write if anyone is interested. Thoughts?