For my darling Katie,
Have the happiest birthday in the history of all birthdays.
No-one could hope for a better better-half, and no-one could be as happy as I am to have found it. My year has been all the better for having you in it, as has my biology grade. The Cristina to my Meredith, the Kate to my Lanie - you are indisputably My Person, and I value you more than you know.
With all the love in the world, having journeyed to and from the 63 moons of Jupiter,
Your Katie.
xoxox

"Even Gates Ships Them."

They were surrounded by empty chairs and cluttered, but unused, desks; most of the squad was out on Park watch - no less than three bodies had been found in Central Park that one morning and seemed to be unrelated, so teams were spread park-wide to investigate independently so as to eliminate bias. They also proved to have arrived just in time - from what Kate had understood of Ryan's messages and updates, the place was crowded with schools, who apparently had all planned to have their end-of-year party in the same place on the same day. Kate did not believe in coincidences, but she was leaning toward accepting this one: High schools weren't exactly well known for their concrete desire to hinder the NYPD. Still, Kate was glad to be indoors, even if it meant prepping for various trials she had coming up. She did have Castle at her side, though, and that made things far more bearable. Even if she kept losing her train of thought as her eyes drifted unconsciously over to him, to watch the flicker of his eyes as he scrolled through Twitter, to follow the creases at his temples when he laughed at a risqué comment, and to watch him nibble on his bottom lip as he thought of something better to reply with.

At last Kate got through the last of the documents for the Huddleston case; that meant three down and two to go. And it was already three p.m. She leaned back in her chair and braced her hands together to luxuriate herself with a cat-like stretch. Castle set down his phone and stood to massage her shoulders, her hands still high in the air. When she dropped her arms and concluded her cleansing breath with a sigh, she looked up at him until her forehead creased, and so he bent down to kiss it smooth. She closed her eyes and smiled, and, sure enough, the creases faded away with her worries.

This was why she knew she could marry him. Every one of his gestures toward her made her far happier than she had been prior to that gesture. She never saw herself tiring of that joy, and she never saw him ceasing to try coaxing it from her. They would always do this for each other - always be this for each other. He made her happy, and in his smile it was plain to see that she had the same effect on him.

Kate rose suddenly and turned to face him. "I'll be right back," she said and kissed him gently. She lingered for a while knowing that no-one was around watching, but she was growing increasingly comfortable surrounded by an audience the longer she was with him; only NYPD rules against in-office dating and a loathing of PDA kept them from each other during work hours.

Stilettos clicked across the linoleum as she walked toward Gates's office and Castle unashamedly followed her legs, smooth and toned and contouring up past her denim shorts, rolled at the knee.

She knocked before entering, but did not wait for an invitation. Gates did not look up from scrutinising several pages of data that were spread across her desk; she only pushed her glasses up a little higher on her nose. "Sir?" Kate started.

"Yes...?" Gates murmured in a voice that longed to know why Kate was taking so long, why she awaited approval to speak, why she was here in the first place.

"Uh, I was actually going to ask you... something..." Kate bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brow as she thought through exactly what it was she was trying to say. She was not usually so stumped for words, and Gates picked that up, lifting her head to view Kate's stressed hand movements. The captain's brow also furrowed, though this was in confusion.

"Are you OK?" she asked, removing her glasses.

"Well, yes, I just... um... Well, I wondered if you might like to please be my bridesmaid?" Kate steeled herself for an immediate rebuff, but breathed a sigh of relief that she had been able to let loose her sentence, even if so ungracefully.

"Kate..." Gates said in her 'Sir' voice.

Kate sighed and realised how silly this all was. "I'm so sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked. I mean, I just thought, that... I don't know, I mean you've helped me out a lot and I know you've been putting up with stuff and I know you're nickname is "Iron Gates" but I really don't think you're that bad and actually you're a pretty great captain but you've done a lot for me, so-"

"Detective," Gates silenced her.

Kate lifted her gaze slowly from her hands, intertwined in her nervousness.

To her surprise, Gates had a sparkle in her eyes, and she was allowing a smile to pull at her lips.

"Sir?" Kate said so quietly she wasn't sure her captain had heard her.

"Kate, I would be honoured."

There was a short pause while Kate processed that. "Wait I... What?" Another moment of contemplation brought Kate to the realisation that this was really happening. That she'd built up a trust relationship with Gates to rival the one she'd previously had with Roy Montgomery. Gates was not only her captain, but her friend. When Gates had suspended her, it was not just out of anger at Kate's complete disregard for policy and procedure, but also because there had been a moment where Gates had feared for the life of her detective. And when Gates had said, "I hope you feel that loyalty for me someday," she had not known that Kate was already starting to feel it. And know they had it. They each knew where the other stood, and they respected their positions within the system. Gates was more than a pencil-pusher, Kate knew. And Gates saw Kate as more than her lead detective with the highest clearance rate in the building, but also as a very experienced investigator with excellent instincts, and so she could entrust entire cases to her and believe the outcome would be positive without a demand for regular updates. "I..." Kate could barely continue as an open-mouthed grin took over her features and laughter bubbled from deep inside her. "Wow!" she enthused, more excited than she'd been up to that point for her wedding day. With Lanie as her Maid of Honour, followed by Alexis, Jenny Ryan and now Gates, she could really picture the best day of life standing up there with all the people she loved, her dad watching from the front pew.

"Thank you!" Kate said, though it seemed unnecessary, because they both knew they wanted this to happen, and neither one of them was led by expectations.

Gates opened her arms as she rose from her desk and Kate bounded into them like a child to her mother. They hugged each other tightly. "Thank you, sir," Kate whispered, the raucous emotions inside her head wreaking havoc with her thinking.

"Victoria," Gates corrected her, and Kate smiled as they parted. "If we're going to see each other close to naked, it should be Victoria," she explained, and their laughter was the kind that bounced off the walls and lifted the air in the room.

Kate smiled brightly as she skipped - yes, skipped - from Gates's office and into Castle's arms.

"I hope that humour wasn't at my expense," Rick said, his eyes glowing like the Mediterranean.

"You know something?" Kate asked, ignoring his jibe.

"What?"

She paused a moment, just smiling, savouring the moment as she gazed into the depths of his soul.

"I really can't wait to marry you," she finished, and kissed him with all the love in the world.

Green_Tiger_21

katieupatree