Castle sat in the cold office waiting room, feeling empty, as he had been for days. Ever since Beckett had died he had become a different man. A less ruggedly handsome one, one who only gave fake smiles when his daughter was around so as to not upset or worry her and one who took far too much comfort in a stiff drink. Right then the lawyer he had been waiting for came in and introduced himself "hello Mr. Castle my name is Mr. Brown, thank you so much for coming out and I am so sorry for your loss." Castle nodded and followed the man into his office. After they had both sat down and were settled the man pulled out a large envelope, slipped out the paper inside and put on his glasses. "Well let's see…" He said eyes scanning the document. "Ms .Beckett hasn't left you anything specifically but she did write a note to you on the bottom of her will, I think you should read this" he said passing the document to Castle and pointing to where the note he was talking about was.
"Castle, in the event that I should die I want to you to take the key I gave you and go to my house. In my bedroom I have a chest of drawers. Open the drawer on the top right, everything in it is yours. "
Castle looked up and thanked Mr. Brown Before quickly leaving and hailing cab to Beckett's apartment.
Castle stood outside her door, staring at the numbers on it and tracing them with his eyes as he had been for the past half hour. Every time he had raised his hand to the door knob and tried to unlock it something had stopped him. Something about everything in this place reminded him of her so much. The slight leftover smell of her perfume, the doormat with her heel prints on it, the plant that stood out of place in the empty hallway next to her door and how when he asked her about it she told him it made the hallway look happier. "stop." He said out loud as he squeezed his eyes shut. He had to do this. He had to. Beckett wanted him to. Kate wanted him to. And with that he lifted his arm up put the key in the door and opened it all in one fluid movement. He walked straight to her bedroom, located the chest of drawers and opened the one on the top right. What he found inside surprised him. There was a folded up note and a small black drawstring bag. Castle took both things out and walked over to Beckett's bed. He sat down and placed the bag on his lap and unfolded the letter.
Rick,
So if you're reading this it means I'm dead. It means whoever killed my mom has probably found me too. I want you to know I want you to move on with your life and not worry about me. Please. Also I just want to thank you. You've done so much for me you have no idea, my life has been so much better since I met you. You're my partner. My best friend. Even more than my best friend. I love you, Rick. I'm so sorry I never said that to you while I was alive. It's my biggest regret.
Always Yours,
Kate
Rick took a deep breath as he ran his fingers over the note feelings tears start to roll down his face. Just then he remembered the bag. Curiously he picked it up blinking away tears as he opened it. He reached inside and pulled out a ring and a small scrap of paper. He looked closer at the scrap of paper and saw Beckett's delicate handwriting:
My mom gave this to me the night before my first day of high school to help remind me to stay strong. I wore it all through the time I spent in high school and then later on at the police academy. You need it more than I do now, Rick. Stay strong.
Castle put down the scrap of paper tears freely flowing down his face now. He lifted the ring up to his face to get a better look at it. It was a plain silver band and on the inside it was engraved with the words "stay strong, I love you Katie". Castle looked down at his left hand and slid the band onto his ring finger where it would stay, a constant reminder not only to stay strong but of the love of his life.