Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.

A/N: Castle and Beckett have been dating since May. Kate has told him her secret that she did hear him say I love you the day of Captain Montgomery's funeral. Castle knew all along, but was waiting for Kate to be ready to face her true feelings. Castle has invited her and her father to the Hampton's for the 4th of July Weekend. He, Alexis and Martha do this every year. Kate actually requested the whole week off to go pick up her father from his cabin in Upstate NY.

Setting: Castle's House in the Hampton's
When: 4th of July Weekend 2012

July 4th 3:23PM
Kate and Jim arrive at Castle's house in the Hamptons. Castle greets them outside because he was waiting on for them on the screened in porch in the hammock. It was a perfect afternoon, sunny all day and nice breeze blowing the lighthouse chimes.

He stepped down the stairs to meet them at the car. He walks up to Jim and shakes his hand, "Welcome sir."

"Oh Richard you can call me Jim," Kate's father replied.

"Okay, Jim no problem," as he made his way around the trunk of the car to see Kate.

"Hey," he said as he leaned to kiss her on her cheek.

"Hey, yourself," she smiled while watching him grab some luggage out of the trunk.

"Come on in, I'll show you to your rooms. I'm cooking hamburger and grilled chicken tonight, so we'll in a couple hours." They followed him inside walking through the porch. They took in their surroundings as they entered the foyer. They first came to a formal living room with a fireplace and wicker furniture. There is a staircase right off the living that takes them up to the bedrooms and Castle leads the way. They followed closely behind, Kate was already in awe of the beach house and she's only seen the formal living room.

"Mr. Beckett, ah Jim," as he motions to the white door on the right. He opens the door, "This is your room. The bathroom is the first door on the right from your room." The whole house is white with added colors. Jim's room has mostly nautical decorations with reds, yellows, blues and whites.

"This is great Rick," he walks in and sets his luggage on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed.

"Great. I'm glad. Go ahead and unpack, I'm going to show Kate to her room," Rick led her out of the room and down the hall. Her room was the last room on the left of the hallway. It was a huge room with windows on two side of the room both sides facing the ocean. The lavender curtains were swaying from the breeze coming through the windows. She could smell the ocean air. There was a huge king size bed with deep purple bedding with accents of lavender to match the curtains. Kate thought that this room had a special touch from Castle. He knew that purple was one of her favorite colors.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Like it? I love it. It is absolutely beautiful here, Rick," she replied.

"You have a bathroom right over there," he motioned to the left to show her the doorway. "Well I'm going to let you get settled in. You can meet me in the kitchen when you are ready. I'm going to start dinner."

"Ok, thanks," she smiled as she watched him leave the room.

(...)

They had dinner and Martha and Alexis agreed to clean up because Castle did the cooking. Jim turned in for the evening because he was tired from the drive. Castle finished bringing in all of the dishes from the porch. It was a nice night, so they enjoyed dinner from the porch facing the ocean. He went back outside to find Kate leaning on the white railing facing the ocean sipping on her wine. He snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey you, everything ok? You seemed quiet at dinner," he asked.

"Yeah, I'm great. More than great and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Let's go take a walk," he laced his hand through hers and removed the empty wine glass from her hands to place it on the table behind them. Then he led her down the steps and onto the sandy beach.

(...)

The moonlight was powerful tonight so it was a great night to walk along the beach and the stars were bright as well. Rick has been working on this video that he wants to put together of pictures of Kate's mother to show at the fundraiser they will be having about a month. The fundraiser is to fund the scholarship that students will apply for that will be going to Columbia School of Law. He isn't sure how to approach it with her because he hasn't revealed to her that he can't have her looking into her mother's murder for her own safety. He hasn't told her about the man that he has now spoken to face to face, but also received phone calls from recently after her being shot. He isn't sure he wants to cross any lines where she's made progress with her own demons of being shot and they've made progress together moving forward with their relationship.

"So Maurice said that he got a lot of RSVP's this week for the fundraiser and mother is so excited to have her students do a rendition of 'Guys and Dolls', she won't stop talking about it," he was hesitant to bring it up because topics about her mother were always choppy waters.

"Yeah, she mentioned it tonight while you were cooking."

"Are you still ok with this? I mean, I don't want you to be uncomfortable in anyway," he asked.

"Well how much of a role do you want me to play? I don't like to be in the public eye you know," she asked.

"Well the beauty of it is that is why I hired Maurice. He's great at this stuff. Remember how great he was in L.A. just for the few days we were there, so there is nothing you have to worry about," he pulled her into him for a hug, "It's going to be great."

He held her for a few more minutes then he asked, "Hey," he paused, "I want to show you something tomorrow. Your father gave me some pictures of your mother when she first went into law school and Maurice helped me find someone to put a video together. I wanted to show it at the fundraiser so the people we've invited know what they are investing in, but I won't do it if you feel uncomfortable or you think it isn't appropriate, okay?"

"Okay, I trust you. I can't promise it won't be hard to take or watch, but I do think it is for a great cause and you are so sweet for doing this." She paused and little let out a little laugh, "But I thought we were only going to do this if I won the lottery."

"Well the odds of that happening, those poor students won't ever get this scholarship fund to apply for," he joked still holding her in his arms. "Honestly, it is for a great cause and these rich people need an excuse to right off on their taxes. It's a win-win." She shivered in his hold. It was getting chilly with the wind coming off the ocean. "You are cold. Let's get you inside and I'll show you to your room."

(...)

Now inside they are walking down the hallway to the bedrooms.

"Castle, where is your room?" she asked.

He spun around with a smirk on his face, "Why Detective Beckett? Are you planning on sneaking out to visit me?"

"No, just making sure it was a good distance away from mine because my other boyfriend might be stopping by," she replied quickly with sarcasm. "No, seriously I am not a little girl anymore. I'm pretty sure we can stay in the same room together. Plus my Dad didn't bring his shot gun this weekend, so you are safe," as they finally reached the door to her room. She grabbed the collar of his shirt in her fist. "I want you to stay with me," she kissed him gently, "Please?" looking at him with those big green eyes that could possibly persuade to do anything legal or illegal for that matter.

"Well you ask so nicely, so how can I say no?" and she grabs his hand to lead him into her room.

"I'm just going to get ready for bed," as she goes into the bathroom to put her hair up in a ponytail, brushes her teeth, washes her face, puts her pajama pants on and a tank top. She comes out into the bedroom to find there is no Castle. She thought to herself, 'well he doesn't have any clothes in here, so he probably went to change.' She climbed into bed and she drifted off to sleep.

A few moments Castle returned after he changed and brushed his teeth. He slid under the covers and moved in behind Kate. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and his whole palm covered her stomach. He could feel the warmth coming from her skin. He kissed her bare shoulder and then laid his head down on the pillow.

"Hey, I'm glad you came back," she rubbed his hand that was on her stomach.

"You thought I wasn't coming back? Really? Oh please, you are so stuck with me," he pulled her in closer to him. She could feel his breath tickle the back of her neck and gently move the tiny strands of hair that are loose from her ponytail.

"Oh, I'm happy to be stuck with you," she rolled over to face him, "I sleep so much better when I am next to you." She pauses for a moment "Castle?"

"Mmm," he mumbled. She can tell he is just as tired as she is.

"Thank you for this weekend. You are amazing. I love you," and she kissed him.

"Well it's not over yet and I want you to relax and have fun, okay? I've got some fun you are totally going to love tomorrow, so let's go to sleep," he gently moved her shoulders to help her roll back over because they've spent the night together so many times that he knows she will always be facing away from him during her deep sleep. So she might as well get into position now. Some time passes and then he whispers, "Oh Kate…" and he waits to see if she is still awake.

"Mmm," she mumbled softly.

"I love you, too," he released her to fall off to sleep.

She just smiled to herself. Just that brief moment of remembering to say he loved her before going to sleep. She doesn't know how it happened and if someone asked her a long time ago, she would have never imagined that she would find her 'one and done' while working on the job. There arrangement isn't normal, but it works for them. Kate drifts off to sleep.

(…)

There is a smell of breakfast flowing through the house; Kate is the first to wake. The sun is shinning from what she can see through the window and she can hear the seagulls outside. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and goes to stretch her arms not realizing that Castle is right behind her. She hits him in the face accidentally waking him.

"Oh I'm sorry," she rolls to face him placing her hand on his face. She pouts her lips while rubbing where she hit him.

"I bet," then he tickled her side to make her squirm dipping her head into his chest.

She laughed while trying to wiggle from his arms, "stop, stop," she pleaded with him.

"Do you smell that?" he asks her.

"The coffee and the bacon? Yes, that is what woke me up," she replied.

"Let's go see who is cooking and get this day started," he smiled at her and she smiled back. They both rolled themselves up out of bed together and made their way downstairs.

(...)

They all enjoy breakfast together in the dining room in their pj's. There is a knock at the door. Castle gets up to go see who it is. He comes back in the room holding a yellow envelope.

"Dad, who was it?" Alexis asked.

"It wasn't who, it's a what. It's just a package for me," he told his daughter then he looked at Kate.

He sat back down in his seat next to her. "This is the video that I asked Maurice to make and I would like your opinion," he smiled to her.

"I'm sure it is fine, Castle."

"Don't you want to see it first?" a part of him was scared to pry, but another part of him was trying to be caring. After all, this all was for her mom.

"Let's talk about it later, okay. Finish your breakfast," she brushed him off. He's been brushed off before and maybe she is right. It isn't a good time to talk about it now.