I don't own Castle, unfortunately ... like everyone else in fact ;-)

Enjoy !

Its was eight at night and they were still in the precinct. Kate was still focused on her paperwork, Rick sitting next to her desk in his chair, trying to come up with the idea that would get Kate on her way home.

"Can you stop bouncing your leg please? I really want to shoot you in the knee right now." Kate said, still writing and signing papers.

"Come on Kate, it's 8! Can we go home?" Rick whined.

"You can go Rick. I'm almost done here. I'll join you later." she said, smiling at him quickly before going back to her paperwork.

"Kate, honey. It's your birthday. I don't want to go home without you ..."

"Shush! Do you want me to get fired?"

"Well at least you'd be home with me!" he mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked, pointing her pen at him.

"Nothing. But there's no one here. We're the ONLY ONE left Kate!"

"Here. Now I'm done!" Kate said, signing the last piece of paper. "Now, was it so bad to wait five more minutes?" she asked, getting up and gathering her things.

Rick helped her into her coat and they walked to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed on them, they were kissing. It was hard to keep their lips and hands to themselves all day. All the more since their friends knew about them. But still, they couldn't risk it.

Much to Rick's surprise, Kate handed him the keys to her car. Never one to pass on an occasion like that, he went to open her door, settled in the driver seat and drove them to his place. During the ride, Kate couldn't take her eyes of the bracelet Rick had given her that morning, along with an extra large cup of coffee with a red bow on top. She didn't say anything until they were in the elevator to Castle's floor. Rick suddenly found himself pushed lightly against the wall and kissed passionately by his girlfriend.

"Not that I'm complaining," Rick said once they broke apart, trying to get his breathing back under control, "but what was that for?"

"Hum, nothing special. Just a thank you kiss for the bracelet, and for the cup of coffee this morning." Kate said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well, you're more than welcome."

"Did you wash the clothes that I left at your place the other day?" Kate asked as they got out of the elevator.

"Uh … yeah, I think so. Why?" Rick asked, confused, walking to his front door.

"Well, Gates gave us the weekend off and I'm not planning on leaving so I'll need some clean clothes."

"Well, maybe you won't need clothes at all." Rick replied, winking at her as he opened the door.

Just as Kate was going to talk, the living room of the loft lit up and people jumped from behind of the sofa yelling SURPRISE!

By the time Kate had hugged and kissed everyone – everyone being Lanie, Javier, Jenny and Ryan – Rick had come back with drinks for everyone. Once he had put everything down on the coffee table, Kate engulfed herself in his arms and kissed him lovingly. They broke apart only when their guests started to ask each other if they should go home and leave them alone.

Everyone was talking and laughing around snacks and drinks in the living room. Kate was happy, just listening to them. She was comfortably settled in Rick's side on the couch, surrounded by her friends. At first, she had been rather reluctant to really show her feelings toward Rick when they were all together. She didn't know why but she felt shy around them. As if she would appear weak to them. This stage had passed now though, and she really didn't have any problem kissing Rick or holding his hand when the were all together. She was proud of them. After everything they had been through together, she thought she had earned the right to show he was hers.

"So, Kate. What did your man give you this morning?" Lanie asked suddenly, always curious about presents. "Apart from what you are thinking about." she added when she saw that the couple had turned deep red.

"He gave me a bracelet. Look, isn't it really cute?" she asked, extending her wrist to Lanie and Jenny.

The two girls were shocked to find that her bracelet consisted of miniature handcuffs and books linked together by the infinite sign.

"Well, you've got a good one there Kate, don't let him go." Jenny said, smiling to Rick.

"Oh, don't worry about that, I have no intention of letting him go. He's stuck with me for a while." Kate laughed, stopping suddenly when she felt Rick's breath on her ear.

"That's good to know" he whispered, kissing her gently on the temple.

"Ok, when you're done being cute, maybe we could give you your presents?"

"You got me presents?" Kate asked.

"Well duh! You can't have a birthday party without present and a cake." Esposito said.

"And here comes the cake!" Ryan said, walking out of the kitchen with a tray.

He put it on the table and Kate gasped.

"How … How did you know?"

"Come on, we're detectives." Esposito said, feigning to be hurt by her assumption.

"We called your dad." Ryan explained, starting to cut the three-layer dark-chocolate cake.

"Thank you, it's perfect." Kate said, trying to blink back the tears that were gathering in her eyes.

"You don't like it?" Rick asked, surprised by her reaction.

"What? No, I love it. It's just … I didn't have one since my last birthday with my mother, that's all." She explained. Smiling softly.

"Well, from now on, you're getting one every year again." Rick said, kissing her quickly before handing her a plate.

As they were eating, Kate was presented with presents from her friends. She started with the biggest one. It was a huge framed photo of her and Rick dancing together at Ryan and Jenny's wedding.

"We found it when we were organizing the photos from the wedding. When Kevin told me you two were finally together, we just have to give it to you. Today seemed like the perfect occasion. Jenny explained, smiling at the look Kate and Rick had looking at the picture.

"Were we always that obvious?" Kate almost whispered, tracing Rick's face with her fingers.

"YES!" all their friends exclaimed, laughing.

"It's really beautiful Jenny." Rick said, still not taking his eyes from the photo.

"I don't know who took it but they certainly captured a really sweet moment between the two of you." she said.

"Open mine now." Lanie said, putting her present bag in Kate's hands.

Kate looked inside and blushed and closed the bag immediately.

"Is that suppose to mean something?" she asked, glaring at Lanie and trying not to laugh.

"Is it my birthday too?" Rick asked, having managed to take a peak in the gift bag.

Everybody laughed while Kate blushed once more and got up to put the bag in Rick's bedroom. Her male friends and coworkers were certainly NOT seeing what was in the bag. She would never be able to look at them again.

When she got back to the living room, Esposito handed her his gift.

"Oh Javi! It's gorgeous! How did you know I wanted it?" She asked, pulling the purple pea coat from the wrapping paper and putting it on.

"You're kidding, right? All week long, whenever we went to the crime scene you would stop in front of the store and ogle it. I even had to drag you by the arm twice to get you to move the other day. Your man just help me with your size." Esposito explained.

"Well, thank you. I love it!" She said, going to hug him.

After their friends had left, Rick cleaned everything up and went to join Kate who was looking out the window in his office.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, encircling her waist with his arms and bringing her back to rest on his chest.

"Yes. I'm more than ok. I'm feeling … perfect." Kate sighed.

"Well, you are perfect." Rick remarked, kissing her on the cheek.

"That's not what I meant." Kate laughed. "Tonight was perfect. Having you all around me. Thank you for arranging it. It's the first time I had a real birthday party since my mom died and … and I felt just like she was there with us you know? I can't tell you how grateful I am for all of you, for what you did. For what you do."

"Always."

Kate turned around in his arms and looked ta him in the eyes.

"I know I didn't say it yet and I'm not the kind of person to say it every five minutes but I love you Rick. I hope you know that."

"I knew, but it never hurts to hear it." he answered, grinning like an idiot before diving on her to kiss her. "Now, what do you say about trying on Lanie's present?" he asked against her lips, backing her towards his bedroom.

The following day, Lanie laughed out loud in the morgue when she got a text message from Rick:

Thank you for being such a good friend to Kate. Your present was much appreciated.

Hey! So, what did you think of the little birthday piece?

Here is Kate's coat ( www. etsy listing/111332866/1970s-royal-purple-philippe-venet-wool)