Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, and ABC Studio Productions.
Rick settled into the cushions of the couch, his left leg tucked underneath him and his arm dangling over the arm of the couch. The fingers on his right hand were running absently through Kate's silky hair. She let out a contented sigh and snuggled further into him, her head resting on his leg.
The whole scene was more domestic then he could have ever imagined. However, that shouldn't have come as a surprise. Katherine Beckett was more then he could ever have imagined. He knew that the first time he made love to her, the world would probably stop turning on its axis, but he had not been prepared when reality blew his fantasies out of the water.
He'd wanted to be mad. He'd wanted to scream, and yell, and break something. But he couldn't. He could never stay mad at that woman, no matter how hard he tried. When she had shown up at his door, her hair and clothing drenched from the torrential downpour, and her insistant lips falling on his, there was no way that he could have sent her packing.
He tightened his arm around her and leaned down to place a kiss on her temple. She looked up at him and smiled shyly, a blush creeping up her neck.
"What's going on in that beautiful head of yours, Detective?" He whispered, his voice seeming too loud in the nearly silent room.
"That I'm really glad that I didn't die on that building." Rick barked a sad laugh and nodded his agreement.
"I'm glad that you didn't die too. I wouldn't get to do this." He leaned down once again and pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss. She smirked against his lips and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck.
"I love you, Rick." She whispered when they pulled apart.
"I love you too, Kate. More then I can ever even tell you." He went to take a drink of the coffee on the table, but realized that it was empty. "Damn. No more coffee." He pouted playfully and Kate chuckled. She took the cup from his hand and moved toward the kitchen to refill it for him.
She opened the cabinet to grab the coffee grounds and her heart stopped in her chest when she opened the canister. A small, velvet box sat nestled in the coffee grounds. She opened the lid to reveal a beautiful diamond set in a gleaming platinum band. Her hands were shaking as she reached out and pulled the box out of the canister, removing the ring slowly and slipping it on her finger.
She was startled when she turned around and found Rick leaning against the counter behind her, a smile on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest and his espresso hair fell over his forehead perfectly. The man was breathtaking and he was hers...all hers.
"Say yes." He whispered, his blue eyes playful and loving. She struggled to find words to express what she was feeling, but there was simply no way to put it into words. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before sidling closer to him and placed her hand on his chest, the ring catching the low lighting and shimmering beautifully.
"And why should I?" She replied, her voice dripping with playfulness. Rick's smile widened even further.
"Because you love me. And because, if you say yes, I'm going to spend every single day from here on out reminding you exactly how much you mean to me. And we're going to have some of those little Castle babies that I heard you were so fond of having. So, please, Kate. Just say yes." She wiped away the tears that had fallen over her cheeks and nodded emphatically.
"Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes." She whispered, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him deeply. When they finally pulled apart enough to rest their foreheads together, Kate chuckled to herself.
"What's so funny?" He replied, a smirk of his own on his face.
"Why did you put it in the coffee?"
"Because coffee is us. It's reminds me of all of the reasons I fell in love with you. It was a good morning kiss that I was too damned scared to give you. It was an apology when I needed to remind you that, even though I'm kind of stupid sometimes, I love you more than anything." He smiled, brushing away the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs. "So, coffee is us."
"Coffee is us."