There he is!
The city is asleep when they make their way to the Old Haunt, tired after a long day but nonetheless excited, a melange of the closure from the end of an emotionally tough case, the contagious joy on a brand new baby girl's face and the sheer relief on that of her parents'.
"I'm never letting you name our child," Kate declares.
"If you've got any better ideas than Cosmo, bring 'em on!"
"I'll have plenty. I just have to think...instead of picking names that sound like our son is the hero from a sci-fi movie gone wrong." She smirks at him decisively as she pushes open the door and nudges her way in.
He stops for just a second to process her complaint and then follows behind in habitual protest. "It doesn't sound like that."
"Ya it does," she retorts sharply.
"And what have you got against us having a girl?"
"Well I'm hopin' it's a boy. I don't think I can handle another stubborn, determined woman in my life. I've got enough of those to last seven lifetimes."
He's right. He has her. And Alexis. And Martha. And his publicist. And his ex-wives. Just the amount of women in his life makes her shudder. She shrugs away the thought and instinctively, her trained eyes scour their surroundings.
"This conversation can wait until you're less biased, Castle."
"Hey now. I'm not the one who's in a hurry here. I mean it's not like we're having a kid right now. Wait...are we?"
She gives him a playful tilt of her neck before she looks away.
"Umm...well..." she mutters.
He swallows his breath for a minute in horror but then he hears her mischievous giggle.
"That is sooo not funny, Kate Beckett."
"It is a little," she manages to blurt out through her laughter.
"I didn't even start this conversation. You did."
"I did not."
"Did too."
"This is pointless," she sighs.
xxx
The Old Haunt is deserted at this time of night except for the couple sitting in a corner booth radiating smiles.
"Hey Espo! Lanie! You're all cleaned up," she calls out.
"We were starting to think you would never show up," Lanie supplies as they slide into the cosy booth.
"How are you holdin' up?" Kate says, worry seeping through her words as she clasps Lanie's hand and gives it a gentle, friendly squeeze.
"As best as we can, chica," she reassures.
The wind whistles and howls as the man of the hour steps in through the door and their little party's face bursts into smiles.
"There he is!" Lanie exclaims.
Esposito is the first to stand up and hug his partner, Castle lets Beckett go first, cop code and all but can't wait for too long. After all, Ryan's always been the one to back up his crazy theories.
"How's baby Ryan doing?"
Esposito tries to put on an air of nonchalance but fails miserably. It is technically Javi speaking now. Detective Esposito is off duty.
He begins in an ecstatic flurry. "She's magical. She's the most precious baby girl. I just wanna hold her in my arms all the time even though I'm always afraid I'll drop her. Jenny says Sarah loves it when I whistle. I whistled my throat dry, I think. I almost didn't make it down here tonight. Jenny had to actually force me to take a shower. Apparently, soot is bad for the baby."
"Oh. Don't worry. We won't keep you long, Ryan. We just wanted to wish you luck," Beckett interjects.
Lanie pulls out a large, red card from her bag and hands it over to him.
"This is from all of us. God bless your family with all the happiness in the world."
"You guys. I'm alive because of you today and you couldn't give my baby girl anything more than that."
His words are heartfelt. After the trauma he's been through he really does feel lucky to be here. He's not all recovered yet, though. He still has a few scars on his face from the fire, a tiny brown patch on his hand that's obviously a minor burn. He walks a bit slower but that could just be from the exhaustion.
Esposito has coughed a couple of times, all aftermath of the fire, since they've arrived. He tries to hide it behind laughter and succeeds to some extent, but not enough to fool the keen observation of the detectives seated around.
They'll move on. They're strong.
"Hey Beckett. Now that Ryan here cheated me out of being a namesake, you two are gonna name your son Javier right?"
"Tell you what. If you save me or Castle from a burning building, you got yourself a deal," she jokes.
Espo and Lanie high-five with matching grins.
"I think this calls for some champagne, everybody." Castle springs to action, eager to end their little celebration quickly, judging from how tired the others appear to be, not unusual after the day they've had. He heads to the bar to get their drinks and Kate offers to help him.
He's rummaging for a bottle of the finest champagne he's got. Kate's taking care of the glasses.
"Ryan looks so happy, Castle. It could've gone either way tonight," she admits.
"Kate. There's something I wanna say."
"You're asking for permission?"
"Well looking at Ryan tonight, I realised...that joy of holding your baby in your arms and never wanting to let go is what I loved so much with Alexis. Knowing you were so special to this tiny human.."
"Wait. Are you saying you-"
"Let me finish. To be fair, I got to pick Alexis' name and no matter what the name I'll always love our son..or daughter. So I think you should pick a name...when we have our own baby that is."
"That's so sweet Castle. But we're a team and nobody has to make this decision alone."
"You're giving me a veto?"
"No. I'm giving you an equal vote."
He smiles at her with crinkling eyes and her heart melts. When it happens someday, he'll be here, smiling at her just this way, and everything will be alright.
xxx
"What took you so long?" Espo teases.
"We got umm..a bit waylaid," Kate apologises.
"Riiiight," Lanie grins.
"It isn't my fault Mr. Klutz here cut his finger on a piece of glass," she glares at him.
Castle rises to the occasion to claim his role as the man with the words. He clinks his glass and clears his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Without further delay, I'd like to make a toast. To our death-defying heroes and this immediate family. To new beginnings and new challenges. To friendship and love. To the best damn team I've ever had the privilege to be a part of."
They call out in resounding chorus as they clink their glasses together. "Cheers!"
xxx