Okay, so I got the idea for this from Castle's bucket list. They are numbers (in this order in the story) 25: convert entire apartment into blanket fort, 22: get invited to Richard Branson's private island, 14: swim with dolphins, 15: swim with sharks, 16: punch a shark, 23: get kicked off Richard Branson's private island.
Chap 1: Blanket Fort
Unlike my other stories, this is actually set after Always when Castle and Beckett are officially Caskett!
Disclaimer: Don't own Castle :( if you've read / are reading Sisters you will have read my attempts at becoming Castle's owner.
"Rick! What the hell are you doing?" Kate's voice yells.
I try to poke my head out of the sheets to look at her but can't manage to, so I settle for saying, calmly, back "Number 25 on my Bucket List: convert entire apartment into blanket fort!"
"You. Have. Got. To. Be. Joking." She says slowly, punctuating each word.
"Nope! Care to join me?" And then as a quite afterthought I add, "If you can find me."
"You're officially insane! You want me to help you turn the whole loft into a blanket fort?" She asks incredulously.
Her form comes into view, eyes scanning under the sheets looking for me.
Her eyes finally settle on me and she asks, "What are you on? Has Martha given you something to drink? I mean, you're a man-child, sure… But…but this is crazy!"
"Come on Kate. You know you want to. Reach in to that inner child. Set little Katie Beckett free." I coax her.
Her eyes narrow as she looks at me. "Fine, but if you tell anyone about this. You're. Dead." She hisses.
"And I believe you. So, I swear I won't tell anyone." I say, subtly crossing my fingers behind my back.
Three hours later I am sitting on the ground with Kate between my legs, her back resting on my chest, two glasses of wine beside us and the bottle sitting on the coffee table a metre away.
"I can't believe we actually did that!" She says, amazed. "So, what else is on your Bucket List?"
"How about I tell you the ones I've already crossed off?"
"Mmm." She hums, "Okay."
"Number 1: See the Bucket List."
"Genius." I can feel her rolling her eyes at me.
"Number 2: Own a Ferrari. Number 6: Raise an amazing daughter."
"Done." She agrees with me.
"Number 10: Have one of my books made into a graphic novel. Number 11: have one of my books made into a movie. That would be the one that you inspired." I whisper in her ear, making her giggle and playfully swat at my arm around her stomach. "Number 17: Drink a $25,000 bottle of scotch."
"No way!" She exclaims. "Have you really?"
"Mhm. I'd be happy to share my next bottle with you."
"Maybe you should just continue with your list, Romeo." She suggests.
"Ummm. Where was I up to?" I visualise the list in my mind. "17. Okay, so the next one I've crossed off would be… Ah, yes. Number 21: Get arrested for something awesome!"
"Let me guess: riding the police horse naked."
"Uh, you forgot that I stole the police horse, and then rode it naked. But yeah, that's the one. And next is number 26: Learn Mandarin."
"You know how to speak a different language?"
"Yep! Bet you can't speak Mandarin."
"No, but I speak fluent French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, German and Irish and broken Japanese, Brazilian and Polish."
"Shut the front door!" I exclaim.
She twists her neck to look at me. "That's my line."
"Yeah, yeah. But do you really know all of them?"
"I do. Maybe you can teach me Mandarin and I'll teach you a language of your choice. And the curse words of them all." She bargains.
"Deal!" Now I can swear at Mother without her having a clue. "What was I up to?"
"26."
"Okay, yep, I've got it. Number 30: Own a bar. Number 31: Quit using AOL. Number 34," I pause before continuing, unsure of how wise it is to tell her the next one, "Learn to juggle chainsaws."
"What?" She chokes on, and spits out, the mouthful of wine she just sipped from the glass.
"Yeah, I learnt how to juggle chainsaws. I never said I learnt how to juggle chainsaws that were actually on."
She shakes her head. "I've said it about a million times in the last three hours, but I'll say it again anyway: you're crazy!"
"Can't be that bad."
"You have no idea."
"Well, you love me anyway."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She says sarcastically. At least, I think it's sarcastically.
I decide to let her jibe pass and continue with my list, "Number 39: Visit every IKEA."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Number 41: Own property on the moon."
"Can I ask a question?"
"You just did."
She continues anyway, "What's the point of owning a block of land on the moon? It's pointless. I mean, we can't live there."
"That's beside the point. People say 'I own land in Antarctica' and I say 'Well, I own a house in New York, a house in the Hamptons, and property on the moon. So, there; beat that'."
"You're pathetic."
"What is this? Bring Castle Down day? You haven't said anything nice to me since you came in. Which reminds me: how exactly did you get in?"
"With a key. Duh."
"But I never gave you a key."
"I borrowed yours and got it copied."
"When?"
"After my apartment blew up."
"You've had a key to my loft for two years?"
"Yes. So?"
"Oh my God! You've had a key to my apartment for two years!"
"Again, I ask: so? You got a key to my new apartment as soon as I got it. We're even. But you're getting off topic. Let's finish this list of yours then go back to talking about apartment keys."
"Oooo-kay. I just did 41, right?" She nods. "So then I'm up to 46: Literally lose pants gambling."
"Is that how you ended up naked on that police horse?"
I smile sheepishly, "Maaaaaybe. Anyway, the last one is number 49: See all of the Twilight Zone episodes, again."
"Do you have them on DVD?"
"No, I have them on BluRay."
"Can we watch them?" She asks excitedly.
"Yeah, sure." I crawl over to the TV and open the cabinet full of DVDs and BluRay disks underneath it. I find the first disk of Twilight Zone and put it in the player. Just as the 'Do Not Pirate' ads come on the phone starts ringing.
I stand up and run towards the phone sitting in its cradle in the kitchen. Well, run as well as possible when you're bent over and trying not to get tangled in sheets.
"Hello?" I answer the phone breathlessly.
I'm sure you can guess who's on the phone...
Should I keep going with it? Please review and tell me!
If I do this will just be another little side project like Best Friends Day.
