Summary: Kate lets her mind wander on a most important night.
A/N: Thank you M for all your help in beating this. Commas are my nemesis. Setting during S7.
Kate didn't think it would feel different just because she had a band around her finger. But it does. A good different, but different none the less. The brushed platinum adds a weight to her that she is glad to bear. After what happened last month, she wasn't sure if she would ever get the chance to.
Basking in the afterglow of her wedding night, she lies on her side watching as her husband sleeps peacefully. Too wired to sleep, Kate's brain keeps jumping from thought to thought, unable to settle on one memory for long.
For those first 24 hours after his car was found on fire, she believed her life was over. The man she loved dead. It took Lanie a day to figure out the body in the car was someone else, and when she did, it was like she could breathe again. Finding out who the dead body was had led to discovering where Castle was being held. One week, and it had felt like a year.
A crazed fan had wanted him all for herself. She was a medical student who had access to cadavers which she used to make it look like Castle had died in the crash. They found him tied to her bed in a cabin in the woods that her family owned. They're lucky she was a fan; she doted on Castle instead of any number of horrible things that Kate doesn't even want to think about.
Those first few days back they wouldn't let him out of their sight. The need to touch and see was overwhelming. She feared if she blinked, he would disappear, all of it a dream. Either Alexis, Martha, or herself made sure one if not all of them had him within their sight at all times. After a few days of this, he had too much of their hovering and had let them know he was fine. They gave in of course, but only after giving him a lecture on not taking any unnecessary chances. It took another week or so before her chest stopped constricting, breath hitching every time he would go out on his own.
He had wanted to have a big wedding again, said she deserved to walk down the aisle and have all eyes on her. All she wanted was to be able to call him her husband. After much discussion they decided on the living room of the loft, with their closest friends and family. Aunt Theresa wasn't happy about not being invited but they decided to have a big reception later on for the rest of their friends and family.
So here she is on her wedding night watching him sleep. It still seems so surreal to be married to Richard Castle, her favorite author. Never in her wildest dreams after that first case did she imagine it would turn out like this. He really did annoy her during that case no matter how helpful or ruggedly handsome he was.
But now she can't imagine her life any other way. He has become a part of her, the best part. He grounds her, makes her not take life too seriously, stop and just listen to the music of the universe. Until he barged into her life, work was everything to her. Her life now had a balance it never did before and for that she can never repay him.
Her mind wanders back to the ceremony. Simple but beautiful, her in a strapless white dress and him in her favorite blue button down and dress slacks. They wrote their own vows; he insisted as an author to do otherwise would be heresy. How she didn't start crying she will never know. He really is her favorite author.
Their honeymoon has to wait for a month or so for when she can get three weeks off again. Just the thought of having him all to herself on their own private island has her wishing for a time machine. A shopping trip with Lanie before their first try had scored her some outfits that will leave him speechless. Cool breezes and warm sunny weather and no one else for miles; heaven on earth.
Until then they will continue to bring justice to families who have lost loved ones. The justice she was finally able to get after 15 years. She still marvels at the fact they caught her mother's killer. For the longest time she truly believed she would never get that justice. Just another in a long list of things she loves him for.
Oblivious to her inability to sleep, Castle is dead to the world. But she has to admit she did wear him out earlier. Martha and Alexis stayed the night at 'The Plaza' to give them privacy.
She was his wife now - Mrs. Richard Castle, Kate Castle, Detective Castle (that one doesn't seem to fit, she's been Detective Beckett for so long now). Castle isn't the old-fashioned kind and never expected her to change her name, said he couldn't imagine her not being Detective Beckett. Part of her does get a little thrill out of being called Mrs. Richard Castle, though.
As she looks around the room, her eyes fall upon their shells. She never thought he was that romantic or sappy, but she was wrong. The Hamptons are not a place either of them are ready to go to yet; too many memories. Maybe after the honeymoon things will feel different. One thing is for sure - he will never drive up there alone.
Castle was always the one to believe in magic and overcoming obstacles. After this past May, Kate can't help but believe. Thinking he was gone and her life over, how could anyone believe in magic and happy endings? But here she is watching her husband sleep on their wedding night.
She can't help but thank any and all higher powers for bringing him back.
Just another in the long list of things he has done for her over the past 6 years. Together they will face anything life throws at them. There will be ups and downs, but after all they have been through, she knows nothing can break them apart. The inscription on their wedding bands is a testament to this - "Always".
It all feels like a dream and the thought of looking into his beautiful blue eyes has her wanting nothing more than to wake him up. She is sure he wouldn't mind; they could always go for round four. She decides to do just that.