A/N: I'm so amazed by the response to my first story! Thank you so much! I really appreciated it! This is a little one-shot about Castle's birthday this year. The lyrics in this story aren't mine!

I hope you enjoy it!

Plus we wrote that song...

„So there is no Svetlana?!"

„...and no Dr Livingstone?"

Beckett had to bite her lip to stop the smile threatening to spill onto her lips. Sometimes she really wondered how her boys had even made detectives.

„No there's not", she sighed. „I'm sorry! I truly am! I know it wasn't fair to any of you. You're our family and we should have told you. It also wasn't fair to Castle. I know he didn't show it and mostly covered his feelings with humour, but it hurt him when you thought he was cheating on me and were kind of mean to him. But that's all on me. I don't blame you for any of that. So, I'm telling you now and we can end this stupid charade. We need our family back and maybe it wouldn't be too bad if we could work on Loksat together."

She had expected them to yell at her again just like minutes before but she was met with complete and utter silence. They were mad at her – she knew that much. However, as she looked into their faces there was also a lot of confusion mixed with worry shining in their eyes. Finally, Ryan broke the silence.

"But why tell us now?" He didn't get it. Well, in a way he did. Hadn't he kept Fenton O'Connel from Jenny for years to protect her from his past and only told her once the case came back up again and he had no other choice. So why was she telling them now? Did something happen? But she had said that they had not clue who Loksat really was, so-

"As you know, Castle's birthday is coming up and I don't want him to celebrate all by himself. You're his friends and despite everything that has happened in the past few months you shouldn't stay away from his birthday party because you think he hurt me. The blame is on me and Castle shouldn't have to suffer for that. So, I know it might be a lot to ask on such short notice, but would you come to his birthday party on Friday? He doesn't know anything yet, it's supposed to be a surprise. But he would be thrilled if you came. He missed you guys a lot!"

That was actually a really great idea. He and Espo had talked about it just a week ago. They hadn't been sure what to do since he was their friend but they had also been mad at him for cheating on Beckett and unsure about how she would react if they celebrated his birthday. But now that Beckett had told them...

"Well, we're still not happy you lied to us for half a year." Espo started and Kate winced. She had been a shitty friend, hadn't she? Oh god, Lanie was going to kill her. "But as you said it's not fair to Castle and he's or bro, so yeah we'll come."

"Thank you for the birthday lunch!" Castle smiled. Beckett had surprised him with burgers and shakes and they'd had a quiet little celebration at his PI office. But now she had to get back to the precinct so he would have to wait until the evening for a proper celebration.

"Don't you want to come inside quickly? I'm pretty sure mother and Alexis aren't here and technically your break isn't over yet!" He was stalling he knew but he couldn't bear the thought of sitting around the loft for the whole afternoon until Beckett got back from work. And he certainly didn't want to write on his birthday.

"Fine. But not too long!"

He turned his key in the lock and pushed the door open.

"Surprise!"

To say he was shocked would be an understatement. When he entered the loft half a dozen people with party hats jumped up from their seats. Alexis and his mother were sitting at the kitchen island next to Hayley who was currently holding up her champagne flute. The couch was filled with Ryan, Espo and Lanie, all of them raising their glasses.

What the hell were they doing here? Was this a birthday surprise? But on no – Kate was here! They couldn't know about their affair – would you call it an affair if you're secretly sleeping with your wife? Whatever. This could not be happening! But it was too late. Kate had just walked in, wrapping an arm around his waist in the process. Holding his breath he slowly turned his head to look at her. To his surprise though, she wasn't shocked or scared. She was smiling, that radiant smile that only he got to see.

"Happy birthday, Rick!" She murmured leaning in to kiss him on his cheek. "I know you're probably pretty shocked right now. But before you say anything, let me explain. You've been kind of miserable over the past few days at the prospect of spending your birthday alone or with only parts of our family. So I decided to tell everyone about our situation. Yes it's risky and becomes more dangerous the more people know but I couldn't go on with the charade and you suffering! And they promised to never talk about it until all of this is over. So relax, Rick, and enjoy your party!"

He was still fighting to get his words back. "You did all of this for me?!" She had told everyone about Loksat and their secret relationship just to make him happy and give him a birthday party with all of their friends and family? Kate really was the best wife ever. "I love you so much!"

The party was flowing and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Afternoon turned into evening and soon the catering she had ordered would arrive when suddenly Ryan and Esposito approached her in the kitchen.

"Listen, can you distract Castle for a while and get everyone to sit down on the couch?" Espo asked cryptically. Something was going on but from the looks of it they weren't going to tell her so she just had to agree and wait.

About ten minutes later the boys emerged from Castle's office all dressed up in suits and bows and Rick laughed. "What's going on? And why did you have to put on black suits?"

"Well," Ryan cleared his throat, "this is something we meant to 'give' you a long time ago but things happened and we never had the chance to do it. But this occasion seems perfect so, lean back and enjoy!"

This was really weird. They had put up the projector and music boxes and now Espo leaned down to press the play button on the stereo. What were they doing? Was this yet another birthday surprise? But glancing at Kate he realised that she was just as clueless and confused as he was.

Some piano notes sounded and it appeared as if the two were about to start singing.

"Love, how to say? It's definition defies me, but we know how the game is played!"

It was absolutely hilarious! They were singing and dancing like crazy and Kate couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping her throat. She still had no clue what exactly it was they were doing but she one hundred percent enjoyed it.

"She was a cop. He was a writer. He a playboy, homegirl was a fighter."

Oh my god! They were singing – or more precisely rapping – about them! Was that the song they had prepared for their wedding but never got to perform? This was so exciting!

"Gonna roll up my sleeves, gonna work overtime and I'll search for a clue how to rhyme and define my definition, definition of love!"

Clapping erupted after the final notes had played. "Guys, that was so sweet! You wrote a song about our story, how did you even come up with that?"

Kate still had tears in her eyes from both laughter and emotion. These boys were really the sweetest. They had put all differences aside and performed for Rick. Even though she knew Castle and her would still have to make it up to all of them for lying, she was sure they could make it work. After all, this was her family.

"Well, it took us a few weeks, especially that rap part, but it was so worth it!"

"Plus we could use the dance moves later for something else!"

"Thank you so much! If you hadn't surprised me earlier, I would say that definitely made my day!"

It was kind of funny that they had performed their song now because he had actually thought about bribing them into doing it at Beckett's promotion party which had sadly never happened. But now they'd done it for his birthday and he was so grateful. Not just for their song but for the whole afternoon. Kate had gone to such lengths to give him the perfect birthday and it was. Their friends and family were all here and he didn't have to hide his relationship with his wife. God, she really was his wife, even after over a year of marriage he still found himself amazed at this beautiful woman willing to spend the rest of her life with him. He was the luckiest man in the world and he had to make sure she knew that every second of the day.

Thank you so much for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome!