It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was still shining bright over the ocean, casting a golden glow over the sand, the grass and the beautiful beach house.
She had liked this house the moment she had step through its threshold all those years ago. It had been so different back then. Everything so tentative that sometimes it had been hard to act spontaneously without fearing for an undesired reaction. She knew it was her fault, even though he had insisted time after time that it wasn't. But it was. Those damn walls, she thought, a small smile gracing her face. It took time to be able to think about it without dwelling in all the wasted time. Now all those what ifs and missed opportunities were part of their story and she wouldn't change a bit of it.
She smiled again. She couldn't help it.
Her hand danced down her side, caressing the silky material of her dress, following the curvy line of her waist, down her hip and over the top of her right thigh. The left side of the dress had a silver pattern from the breast to the waist making a curvy line, adding a beautiful sense of movement to it. The dress was perfect. Thank God for Lanie.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the most beautiful sound she would ever hear in her life.
"Momma!"
The five year old burst into the room in a tornado of dark brown hair and big blue eyes, stopping short at the sight of her mother standing in front of a lenght-long mirror.
"Momma", what was before a scream was now an awe filled whisper, her eyes wide as she took in her mother's white dress. "You look like a princess".
Kate turned around, smile already in place for the most important person in her life. "Thank you, Emma", she walked to her and bent down to kiss her forehead, taking her hand and guiding her to the bed, where they sat side by side. "Is daddy getting ready or is he still playing Guitar Hero?"
The girl giggled "He's ready, I told him he was very handsome, him and Uncle Javi are arguing about who's better looking", this time Kate joined her in her giggling.
"I have a very important thing I need to do, Emma"
"What is it, momma? Can I help? I wanna help". Kate laughed when Emma started bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Okay, okay little monster" she sat down next to her again and took her hands in both of hers. "I need to ask you something and I hope you say yes" Emma was already nodding furiously, her bright eyes wide and expecting. Kate took a deep breath and smiled at her daughter as she reached her hand up to place a piece of hair behind her little ear. "Would you walk me down the aisle?"
Emma's mouth formed a big wide smile, her white little teeth the cutest thing she's seen since her soon-to-be husband handed her a bundled of pink blankets five years ago. "Yes!" the girl squealed "Yes, mommy, yes!", her arms suddenly full of sweet-smelling skin and silky brown hair resembling her own. She laughed brightly along with her daughter.
Her eyes were suddenly full of tears, smile disappearing, a sigh escaping, a bittersweet taste filling her mouth and a bump forming in her throat.
The girl pulled away from their embrace and looked at her mother, a serious look on her face. "Why are you crying, momma?" The little girl asked, looking up at her with her father's big blue eyes. Kate brushed her tears away.
"I'm just really happy, baby"
"Because you're marrying daddy?"
"Yes, that's right"
She wouldn't tell the girl the real reason why she was crying. She didn't need to know she missed her parents, she didn't want to turn this into a crying session, there have been one too many of those since... Since he left. She suspected the girl knew anyway, she was far too bright for her age. She blamed Castle.
"Happy tears?" the child asked again, not convinced by her mother's weak answer.
"Yes, happy tears", another tears made her way down her cheek to her chin. She smiled through the tears, laughing breathlessly after a few seconds "Aunt Lanie is gonna be mad at me, I'm ruining my make-up". That put a smile back into the girl's face.
"I'll help you fix it, momma"
"Thank you, baby girl", she whispered, giving her a skimo kiss. It was their thing. "You look really beautiful, Em, do I need to be jealous?" she said playfully, tickling her daughter's sides, making her squeal and squirm in her lap, both of them now laughing non-stop.
"Girl, Imma smack you, you're ruining it!".
Both Kate and Emma stopped and looked wide-eyed at the now opened door, where a figure stood, hands on her hips and glare on her face.
"Whoops"
