Something's different about today.

Those are her first thoughts when sleep starts to release her from it's clutches.

But when she sits up, when she looks around the well lit room everything is as it was the night before.

Sunlight streaming through her bedroom windows, she must have forgotten to close the blinds last night, clothes that she had shucked when she got home last night still littering the floor, everything in it its place.

Yet something's off.

She can feel it in the way the sun filters through the room, and when she stands and makes her way to the bathroom she can feel it in how the air moves around her.

After she relieves herself in the bathroom, she strides over to her bedside table and opens her jewelry box as she does every other morning.

Pausing before she slips her mother's ring over her head, she looks down at the single piece of jewelry that has provided so much comfort over the years and wonders if there will ever be a time when she will not need it close to her.

She had thought, though it's actually rather stupid now that she thinks about it, that when she got married she wouldn't need it anymore. That her husband would be enough.

How wrong she had been.

And when slips the chain over her head and buckles her father's watch onto her wrist, she sighs, remembering her wedding day, how happy she had been that day and how she had been looking forward to her life with the man she was about to walk down the isle too.

Now she wishes for something more.

Something more than what her life is, because what it consists of is nothing but quick conversation that leads to fights and months of loneliness while he is away on business and so much hostility and resentment that sometimes she wonders why she hasn't served him with divorce papers yet.

She stares at her wedding band for a while and debates wearing it.

It would be the first day she hasn't worn it in three years.

When she finally places it back in the box and closes the lid, the smiling faces that stare back at her haunt her as well as they make her smile, because the pictures on top are that of her and Josh on their wedding day and her parents before her mother was taken so cruelly from her.
_

She's been walking around the park for well over an hour.

Just watching the children play and couples walk amongst her.

When she comes upon one of the larger playgrounds she sits on an old wooden bench and watches the children that are nearby. The children are all quite small, only about two or three, she takes in their fat, red cheeks and smiles wistfully. How she wishes she had one of her own.

Then she's imagining herself with a large, rounded belly, feeling the baby kick and wriggle around inside of her stomach as it grows and develops. Then getting to hold her baby after months of wondering and longing, just to have her baby in her arms.

She has a dazzling smile covering her face as she thinks about it.

And just like that the smile is gone.

She's always wanted children and every time she tries to talk to Josh about having one he panics and tells her he's not ready for a family beyond just her and himself yet and then he's flying out the door claiming he has to run to work or has an errand to run.

And after three years surely that should be enough time to get used to the idea of children or at least start warming up to the idea.

But he won't budge on this one issue and sooner or later things are going to come to a head , they aren't getting any younger and she wants a child soon.

When a scream pulls her from her thoughts she whips her head up from where she was gazing off into space and immediately is looking around for any children in distress. When she finds the source of the commotion she realizes it was just a child and her father playing around the jungle gym.

A tiny read headed little girl, can't be any older than two or three. The father standing with his back to her has to be over six foot, with broad shoulders and full head of dark brown hair.

The father has the girl in his arms hanging upside down, and even from here Kate can see the huge smile covering the small child's face.

The girl begins tugging on her fathers arm until he relents and lifts her up from the uncomfortable position. After the girl is righted she whacks her father in the arm while exclaiming loudly "Don't do that, Daddy!".

While the father apologizes the girl cuddles into her fathers arms, once again safe, and rests her head upon his shoulder.

Beckett turns her gaze away from them smiling at the fathers antics and when she turns back bright blue eyes are on her.

The little girl lifts her head from her fathers shoulders to smile and wave at her. A little flustered at being caught watching the pair Kate takes a moment to realize that she should wave back to the girl.

The girl then tugs at her fathers shirt to get his attention and a moment later he's turning to look back at her.

She smiles kindly to him and when she gets a glimpse of his face a fleeting sense of recognition overcomes her, like she might know him from somewhere.

He puts the small red head on her feet and watches after her as she takes off.

When the girl returns to her father she holds her hands out to him holding something Kate can't see from here, but the father nods and the girl takes off again.

This time in Beckett's direction.

Her eyes widen and she smiles nervously as the girl draws closer to her, when she gets to her the girl is holding out a hand full of bright yellow daisy's and states "You looked sad, so I thought that maybe you would like something to make you happy and my daddy always gets me flowers when I'm sad so I thought maybe these would help."

And it's so simple, Kate can't help smiling brightly at the young girl as she takes the flowers.

"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much they do help."

When she looks up the girls father is standing in front of them, smiling politely with his hands in his pockets.

He looks down at his daughter pride evident in his face, pulls his hands out and greets Kate, " Hi, I'm Richard Castle and this here is Alexis," he says as he runs his fingers through his daughters hair affectionately. He holds his hand out to her and as they shake hands she answers "I'm Kate Beckett and your daughter here is very lovely."

She looks to Alexis just in time to see the girls bright red cheeks before she quickly buries her face in her fathers leg.

She smiles at the girl and then scoots over to make room for them next to her.

They take a seat and after a few minutes of conversation Alexis grows bored and asks if it's alright to go play with the other children after given the ok she runs off in the direction of the jungle gym.

They are silent for a moment until Rick breaks the quiet that has descended upon them.

"So, if you don't mind me asking... You aren't married are you? I haven't noticed a ring, but that doesn't always mean anything, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

She tries her hardest not to seem upset when she answers and of course she's not upset because of the question, it's because of the answer she has to give him. "Um, yes I am married."

If he notices the lack of enthusiasm in her voice he doesn't say so, just nods and slumps slightly in his seat.

"Figures, most of the good women are."

She can't help but laugh at his statement. "How do you know I'm a good woman, I mean you've really only known for about thirty minutes now."

He shrugs. "I can just tell."

She gives him an unconvincing look and he smiles at her.

"I've been with a few good women, mostly bad, but generally you can tell the difference between the two. The bad ones always have fake smiles and laugh to much. As opposed to good women who only laugh when expected and you can always tell their real smiles are real, because it reaches their eyes."

She nods and ducks her head.

"Well you're very kind."

"Thank you." He murmurs quietly, when she looks up to meet his eyes their incredibly blue and she wants to lean in and kiss him.

She shakes the thought from her head and turns away from him effectively severing their eye contact.

He clears his throat to say something and just then thunder cracks loudly throughout the sky. They hadn't even noticed the dark clouds closing in on the once bright and sunny day.

He calls for Alexis and she comes back to her father quickly and then their making their way out of the park. They're at her car when Beckett turns to say goodbye and Castle is holding a card out to her.

"This is my number, I was thinking maybe we could go for coffee tomorrow or if you're busy maybe some other time." And she doesn't think he's asking her on a date. She did tell him she's married, but the look he's giving her...

He smiles nervously as she hesitantly accepts the card and nods her head, asking herself what the harm would be to just take his number.

"I'll think about it." She tells him once she's got the card tucked away in her pocket.

He smiles at her once more then turns to leave with Alexis on his hip.
_

It's unexpected that she finds Josh at home when she gets there, after all he was supposed to be gone another week.

He hugs her hard and gives her a lingering kiss, a promise of more to come later- even though she's not so sure she wants the promise.

After she escapes to their bedroom, the excuse of "Let me change" hanging from her lips as she leaves the room, she pulls Castle's card out of her pocket and sets it down on the dresser for a moment and stares at it.

Really what would be the harm?

After she's made a decision she hides the card in her drawer and changes quickly.

She doesn't really feel guilty about her decision, because really, how harmful can two people having coffee be?
_

I would really love to know what you thought.