This was meant to be for Wednesday but I have been revising for my physics exam which I did on Friday so I didn't really have a chance to write, but now I have and I hope you like it.
9th January 2013
When she woke that morning Castle was still asleep. She quickly slipped off the sofa, moving slowly to make sure she didn't wake the sleeping man. She had meant to go home last night, not stay here, but she had obviously fallen asleep next to Castle on sofa watching whatever they had been watching, she was pretty sure it had been Temptation Lane.
She paused at the door to check she had her phone and then pulled on her shoes and grabbed her jacket off the rack. She took one last look at Castle before she opened the door and silently exited.
She got into the lift and then once she had passed through the lobby of Castle building, nodding a hello to the door man as she passed not really in the mood to talk today, she got into her car which she parked on the street the night before and headed towards her apartment, to get ready for the day.
She got out of the shower and walked into her room. She quickly got dressed and opened the box that contained her father's watch and her mother's ring. She put the both of them on before picking up her phone and heading to the door. She saw that she had a missed call and a few texts from Castle. She ignored them and went back down to her car.
She started driving and stopped at a florist on the way. She walked in and picked up a bouquet of mixed flowers before heading towards the sleepy looking man behind the counter. "Early in the day to be buying flowers," he commented as he scanned to bar code.
Kate handed him the money and took the flowers before saying, "There for someone."
The man just nodded and Kate walked out. Her phone went off again but she ignored it. It wasn't going to be the 12th since she had taken the whole day off and she knew it wasn't going to be her dad, which only left Castle and right now she didn't want to deal with his questions about why she had left so early in the morning. Looking at her watch she saw that it was only now just past half past seven in the morning and she had left his at least an hour ago.
She got back into the car and put the flowers on the passenger seat before starting the car once more and heading along the familiar road to the cemetery.
She parked the car and then got out, picking up the flowers before shutting and locking the doors. She walked down through the grave stones until she came to the one she had been looking for.
She stopped in front of it before kneeling and placing the flowers against the head stone. She could see that her father had already been there was already a bunch of her mother's favourite flowers in vase there. She gently traced the letters on the stone Vincit Omnia Veritas.
She sat for a moment playing with the ring around her neck, remembering her mother when she had been alive, the fun they had had together, when she became aware of someone watching her. She looked around and saw that Castle was standing behind her. Part of her had known that he would figure out where she had disappeared to, he knew her too well not to. She turned back to the grave and said, "Dad and I chose it together, it mean truth conquers all things. We thought that it summed her up, who she was and what she believed in."
Castle stepped closer, he was glad that she wasn't angry at him for basically following her today.
He knelt beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. She moved closer to him and touched the stone one last time before saying in a low voice, "This is Castle mom, I think you would have liked him. He makes me happy mom, nearly as much as you did."
She touched the stone one last time before standing, and pulling Castle up behind her. He placed the lilies that he had brought on the grave and then took her hand and the two of them walked out of the cemetery.
"How did you know I was going to be here Castle?" she asked as they got into the car, Castle had come in a taxi.
"Because I know you Kate and I know what today is," he answered softly.
She smiled at him, "Thank you Castle, for being there. This is the first year that I've felt able to breath after seeing her, thank you."
Castle leant across the console and kissed her forehead lightly before brushing a kiss against her lips. "Always," he whispered as he pulled back.
"Always," she parroted, starting the engine and driving away. She knew know that the worst day of the year had just gotten brighter, probably for ever.