Soulmate Semi-AU; the canon Castle universe mashed with the universe presented in the movie Timer.

Each "chapter" is a one-shot that is unrelated to all the others save the fact that they all take place in the same fake mashed-up universe.

Cover art by Travis (lordofkavaka)

A/N: This is what happens when I watch weird random movies on Netflix.

Set mid- to late- Season 3

Standing in front of her CO, Kate Beckett folded her arms over her chest and huffed out a frustrated breath. She was making one last attempt at the eleventh hour—desperate to plead her case and win. The essence of being a lawyer surged through her blood and she channeled in that moment, hoping for a verdict in her favor. "Sir, this is absolutely completely ridiculous. How can this be mandated? It cannot be constitutional. It…goes against free will!"

Montgomery blinked at her, surprisingly patient since she'd been making the exact same argument to him nearly daily for the prior ten days—ever since the mandate had been announced. "Beckett, it's a Timer, not a mind control device."

"Might as well be." She muttered. It was a device implanted into her wrist—who knew what all the government was doing with it? God, now she was starting to sound like the writer; he was the one who generally had wild theories. Ironically, he had no issues with his Timer. He actually liked the concept. Of course he would. She, on the other hand, loathed the mere thought. Counting down to the date she met her soulmate? Who even said there was such thing as a soulmate?

Montgomery stood from his desk, walked around and stood in front of her, speaking in a fatherly tone. "You realize this is meant to help you, right? This is actually a very nice thing they're doing for federal employees—giving them Timers free of charge."

"Feels more like manipulation." She scoffed. Yes, the inventors of the Timer were laughing all the way to the bank, weren't they? A hundred bucks for implantation plus a $9.99 per month "maintenance fee" for upkeep of their databases. It had seemed like a racket to her since the beginning. Well, since it was invented when she was seven years old. Over two decades later she still hadn't been won over. It all just seemed so…manipulative. Now, with the government officially supporting the device, the makers of the Timer were bound to profit even more.

Pursing his lips, the elder man asked, "Why are you so against this anyway? You realize over seventy percent of adults between eighteen and fifty have a Timer, right?"

"They send you that stat in the info packet." She snipped then instantly apologized at the flash of unhappiness in his eyes. "Sorry, sir. I just don't want my life dictated by something I can't control."

"I'm not knowing is better? Look, I'm not saying put your life on hold until the day your Timer clocks down to zero, but what about right now? Your boyfriend, Dr. Davidson—does he have a Timer?"

"Yes."

"And?"

With a sigh, she reluctantly confessed, "It's got about five years on it."

The man hummed and stroked his index finger and thumb over his mustache. "I see. So then you two will be together for, what? Four years and eleven months more?"

"That's not…I…that's not what we're about." She huffed out finally through her stammering. Josh was—mercifully—like her. He didn't care about the Timer. In fact, during their one and only discussion about the clock counting down on his wrist, he'd expressed regret at obtaining it at eighteen when he'd become caught up in the hype along with his friends. He had made his career and life without ever really thinking about it and had no plans to do so, even when the clock reduced to zero. If he happened to find her, fine, but if she didn't fit into his preexisting life, then the Timer was wrong and he seemed indifferent to the outcome. That was one of the reasons she liked him; he was living for the moment, just like she was.

Montgomery hummed and stroked his mustache again. "I see. Well what about this Beckett? Say you get your Timer and it has…oh, let's say two months on it. Two months. Two months and then you meet the man who'll make you happy for the rest of your life. Isn't that worth it?" He smiled, presumably expecting a happy expression from her—or, at the very least, a neutral one. When he saw nothing but a scowl on her face, he shrugged. "Well, you don't have a choice. They'll be ready for you and Karpowski any minute now."

Leaving Montgomery's office felt like walking the green mile. Kate couldn't decide what would be worse: if her Timer showed nothing or if it counted down to a time that was sooner than later, as Montgomery had proposed. How could she stumble upon someone and be expected to love them unconditionally without even knowing who they were? Granted, meeting one's Timer-mate did not make marriage an instantaneous requirement; relationships could still progress at whatever rate the two mates saw fit, but what if her Timer-mate was someone she didn't like?

Kate had heard stories—some so terrible she chose to believe were merely rumor or, at least, extreme exaggerations of the truth. Personally, she had only experienced one negative Timer-match. Her senior year of high school a girl who had her Timer just a few days was matched with the biggest bully in the junior class. When their Timers went off, he'd called her ugly and walked away cursing. She spent the next few days crying while he called her every fowl thing he could think of until guidance counselors intervened. She had never been friends with either of them so after high school they lost touch for the better part of a decade until Maddy had mentioned them. Evidently, they married, had two children, and seemed happy, but Kate was still unsettled knowing how tragically their alleged romance began.

What if she was destined to the same fate? What if her Timer-mate was cruel or cold? What if he didn't have patience for her career driven life? What if he didn't make her happy?

According to the makers of Timer, this was impossible. The device worked on hormones and pheromones permeating a person's skin and thus it would be impossible to be matched with someone who could not make you happy, but Kate still wasn't convinced.

Of course, the exact opposite scenario was equally plausible. Since she was acquiring her Timer so late in life, it was possible she had already met the man she was destined to be with. It could have been anyone: a doctor or nurse, a grocery store checkout clerk, one of her father's coworkers she'd met while going to his office to meet him for lunch. Then the problem would be finding them again. She had thirty-plus years of meeting people; that equated to a large sum of people.

Crossing through the bullpen from Montgomery's office to the break room where the Timer representatives were set up, Kate felt as though every eye was watching her. That was, of course, somewhat irrational. Her team was watching her, because they knew what was going on, but only a small fraction of the others did. Nearly all already had Timers and thus did not need to worry about the mandate. She and Karpowski were the only ones without in the Homicide division; men and women from other departments rounded out the seven that would be receiving their Timer that day. That was Kate's only saving grace—at least she wasn't the only one without one.

Kate glanced at each member of her team as she passed by. Ryan's Timer had zeroed out a few years earlier when he'd met his now-fiancé Jenny. Esposito's clock had just over a year on it, but he didn't seem too concerned with it. And Castle's timer was blank. According to the literature (which she read begrudgingly after the mandate was handed down) a blank Timer meant one of two things: either Castle's mate had not yet received her Timer or she had died.

For the writer's sake, she hoped the second scenario was not his destiny. She didn't like Timers and wasn't sure if she believed in soulmates, but on the off chance they were real, she did not want to condemn such a kind and generous man to a life without one. She hoped instead that his mate merely had not been Timered yet. Perhaps she was much younger than him—or much older. Perhaps she lived in a foreign country. Perhaps she—

Oh. Perhaps she was Rick's Timer-mate. It was possible, of course, as she fell into the category of a woman without a timer, but—no. No! That was ridiculous—absurd. She and Castle were not soulmates—assuming soulmates existed. As much as he made her smile, he drove her insane. They had completely different backgrounds and—no. She would not waste any more time on the thought; her situation was preposterous enough.

As she walked by him, Castle offered her a reassuring smile. "It's going to be fine, Beckett; you'll see."

Kate could go nothing but grumble in response.

"You know she hates this, right?" Esposito said wisely to the writer after the female detective had entered the break room and slammed the door a bit harder than necessary behind her.

"Obviously," Castle said with great emphasis. She had been nearly spitting fire in his direction—and, well, every direction—for over a week because of it. The littlest things set her into a tailspin of hate, like two days earlier when he'd accidentally stepped on the back of her shoe; he'd thought she was going to rip him limb from limb. Despite this, he maintained his jovial attitude. "But she doesn't have a choice s I'm trying to be positive—like usual." He finished with a grin.

Ryan craned his neck in an attempt to see through the slats in the blinds pulled down over the breakroom's glass door. "Man she's going to be even worse after this, isn't she?"

"You mean if her clock is blank like Castle's?" Espo asked.

"Or if it's counting down to her fiftieth birthday." Ryan continued. "I don't see a scenario in which we get away with her having a good attitude about this."

Castle clicked his tongue in disapproval of his colleagues. "Guys c'mon—give her a little more credit than that. I don't deny that she might be salty for a few days, but she'll come around; I know she will." Would Beckett be sullen and moody for several days or upwards of a week after her Timer was implanted? Absolutely. But she would get over it; he knew that for a fact. He was not delusional enough to think she'd be happy about it, but he had his hopes set on not-furious-about it. If she reached that point, he'd consider it a success. Besides, he knew once she found her Timer-mate she'd be fine. If hers ended up being blank like his…well, then maybe they were in for a little longer than a week of Sullen Beckett.

"But seriously, guys I'm sure that—Oh." He interrupted his thought when his cell phone rang. Dipping his hand into his pocket he found the face of his daughter reflecting up at him from the caller ID screen. "Sorry it's Alexis; excuse me." With that, he ducked off to the adjoining hallway to take the call in a quieter area.

"Unbelievable. Un-freakin-believable." Kate muttered as she returned to her desk after having the stupid—and painful!—Timer implanted onto her right wrist. She should have known it would have been horrible and completely pointless! How could it be anything else!?

Before she could slip too deeply into her cone of fury, two tentative looking men appeared beside her desk. The bolder Esposito asked, "So…how'd it go?"

Practically spitting through her teeth, she thrust her right arm in their direction. "Look!"

Both men peered down at her wrist, looked at each other, and then looked back at her. "What do zeroes mean?" Ryan asked, his tone beginning to resemble that of the ones they were trained to use to talk people off ledges.

"It means I already met the guy—or so they," she said, gesturing wildly towards the break room, "say."

Ryan bobbed his head "So…he definitely has a Timer, but you've already met? When? As an adult?"

She shrugged and violently shoved a pen across the surface of her desk. "Oh no-it could be any time; any time at all. That's what they told me, anyway."

Actually, in his irritatingly cheerful tone the Timer representative had said, "It makes sense since you're very old to be getting a Timer." Kate had nearly pulled out her service piece.

"So…this happens often then?" Esposito asked.

Kate pressed her lips together tightly. She had inquired similarly and again, the Timer rep's answer had been too cheerful. "Oh no," he had said, "it happens, but not usually since Timers are generally implanted by the age of twenty-one."

"No, I'm just special." The detective snipped.

"Oh."

Trying to emulate their more positive fourth team member, Ryan suggested, "Maybe that's okay—maybe it's someone you already know and like."

"Maybe it's someone I bumped into on the subway when I was eighteen." She replied, mocking. "Only now he's living in Europe I have no hopes of running across him. Oh! But if I do! This stupid, ridiculous hunk of metal jammed into my skin will go off and won't I be lucky—whenever the hell that is."

Absurd. The Timer was absurd enough when it was meant to count down to a specific day. Then, one would navigate the world that day with bated breath (or so the movies portrayed) until that moment—the precise moment—you locked eyes with your Timer-mate and both Timers went off. But what would happen to her? Was she just supposed to make random eye contact with every male she passed on the streets or in the subway on the off chance her Timer went off? She was a New Yorker; she didn't make eye-contact on the subway!

Endlessly furious, Kate snatched her coffee mug off her desk and pushed her chair in so violently that the arm clattered against the side of the desk and made an obnoxious sound.

"What are you doing?" Espo asked.

She held the cup up over her head as she charged back to the breakroom. "What do you think!"

"Hope she makes it decaf." Ryan commented with a cringe.

"Hope who what?" the writer asked as he stepped up to them, pocketing his phone.

Ryan shook off the question before asking, "Everything okay with Alexis?"

The writer nodded. "Oh, yeah fine—she was just letting me know that she was going to a friend's after school. So what's the verdict on Beckett?"

"Her timer is blank."

Castle blinked. "Like mine?"

"No, he meant zeroed out; she's already met the guy." Esposito explained.

"When?"

"She doesn't know."

The writer hummed. Well, he was certainly glad Kate had not faced the same fate as he; going through life with a blank timer. Every time he thought about it—which was probably more often than he should have—he came to the conclusion that having a blank Timer was far worse than having a Timer that counted down to a date decades in the future. At least that type of Timer had a purpose; a sense of closure even if it was far off. With a blank timer he had absolutely nothing.

Of course, the author in him enjoyed musing dramatic and romantic scenarios. Like one morning when he checked his wrist as he often did it would no longer be blank, but be counting down just a day or two. Then, he'd find her and she would have a fantastic story for the reason why she had not yet been Timered and from that point on they'd be happy together. However, such thoughts were just a fantasy. The older he got, the more he came to accept the possibility that his Timer-mate had passed away from illness or an accident. But that would be okay; it did not condemn him to a life of loneliness. He was happy then and he would continue to find happiness in whatever hand life dealt him.

Thinking about the detective again, Castle decided he would happily switch placed with her if presented the opportunity. Not that he wished her a life without her soulmate—quite the opposite—but he would have very much enjoyed a zeroed out Timer if for no other reason than the delightful possibilities it brought.

"Wow…the possibilities would be endless, wouldn't they? Thirty-some years of meeting people…"

Espo scoffed. "Don't tell her that."

As the scenarios spun through his mind, the writer grinned. "But think about it—she could have met him in school. Maybe he's her barista or—oh! Maybe through a case! Maybe she arrested him!"

An expression of utmost offence crossed Esposito's face. "Dude."

Realizing how his comment may have been interpreted, the writer shook his head. "No, no—obviously I don't want her mate to be a murderer. I meant like back in the day when she was a rookie. Maybe she arrested him for petty theft and that incident made him turn his life around. Maybe now he runs a shelter for at-risk youth. Wouldn't that be a great story?!"

It would—it would be a fantastic story; one he would happily incorporate into his next novel. Better yet—it could be his next novel, if he could get Gina on board with it, which he probably could…well, maybe not in light of breakup number—what was it for them? Four or five probably. But, no, he'd be able to wear her down.

"Somehow I don't think Beckett would agree." Ryan pointed out.

"She might."

As if she'd known her presence was needed, Castle heard her footsteps approaching from behind. Perfect! Turning around, he said, "Hey Beckett—I was just telling the boys wouldn't it be funny if-"

A stringent beeping noise not unlike those of cheap hotel alarm clocks immediately filled the precinct bullpen. Two identical alarms went off, but they were not musically in sync, making the sound even more obnoxious. It started Kate so much that she jumped and some of the coffee in her mug sloshed out onto the floor. It took her around five seconds to realize that the source of the beeping was actually her wrist—or, rather, the chip implanted there not five minutes earlier. It had gone off the moment she locked eyes with Castle.

Castle.

Oh, god, Castle. There he was standing in front of her looking half stunned as well. Eyes wide with no small amount of shock, Kate gazed down at her wrist and saw that the display was no longer a metallic silver color with nine zeros. Instead, it had turned green and was displaying 03.09.09—the date she met Richard Castle.

Oh god.

She had never though—well, she had thought, but never believed that Castle—Oh, Castle.

"Kate?" His tentative, barely-there voice pulled her from her internal thoughts. She maintained just enough mental capacity to place her coffee mug down on the desk before turning back to him, slack-jawed. Was this happening? Was this really happening? She'd had been seething, ready to throw vitriol at him simply for existing and being cheerful when all she wanted to do was hate everything about the Timer but now—now…

"Well," Ryan said, stepping up beside Castle and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Look on the bright side—you were right; Beckett's match is someone she arrested."

"Thanks Kevin." The writer returned in the most ungrateful tone she'd heard from him.

Ryan squeezed his shoulder. "No problem man. Oh, actually, you know what? We have to go. We have that thing, don't we Javi?"

"Oh yeah we definitely have a thing." The other detective agreed before the duo scurried off towards the opposite end of the bullpen where they could observe from a safe distance.

After they left, Kate continued to stare at the writer, who appeared to be, for perhaps the very first time in his life, rendered speechless. In any other situation, this would have amused her and she would have easily teased him about it. However, in that moment, she couldn't think of anything to say—not one single word.

"Oh, Beckett; there you are. I see the Timer men getting into the elevator so…I…" Montgomery's voice drifted off as he stepped up beside the ashen-faced duo. He gazed at them and then down at the female's exposed wrist and chuckled. With it displaying green, there was no question as to what had just occurred. "Oh. Well. I see this worked out a bit better than expected. Congratulations!" he said, squeezing Castle's shoulder.

"Ah…thanks…" The writer responded distantly just a moment before the captain walked away. Ten seconds passed before he began with, "We should, uh," he cleared his throat when his voice squeaked, "probably talk somewhere more private."

"I…" Kate managed but no other thoughts came out. Her mind was too consumed with thinking about how the day had begun. She had awoken and been convinced she would be able to talk her way out of getting a Timer. She had pushed herself from bed and—

Fuck. She had said goodbye to Josh. Her boyfriend, Josh. The man she had been with for several months, Josh. Not the man who was represented by the cheerfully green six digits on her Timer.

Oh god.

Castle was her mate—her soulmate. This concept was…surprising, yes. Disappointing? No. No? No. He was her partner. He was her friend. He was a man she trusted. He was loyal and kind and when he smiled he made her feel like everything was all right in the world, even if it wasn't.

And, god, she should have known, shouldn't she? By the way he made her feel, the way he could make her laugh like no one else could. The way she looked forward to seeing him every day, and felt incomplete on the days she didn't communicate with him at all, rare as they were. As much as he drove her to the absolute brink sometimes, he was her favorite person in the world and the one she knew she could call on questions asked and they would…dive in together, just like she had always wanted.

"Beckett?"

She took a step back from him, her chest constricting with a barrage of emotions, fear and guilt ranking high among them. This wasn't right. She couldn't handle this—not in that moment, anyway. "I, um, I need to…" She muttered out, snatching up her blazer from the back of her desk chair and continuing to back away from him.

"Kate?"

She shook off his confusion with a quick, "I'll call you later," before hurrying towards the elevator without looking back.

Sitting in his office, glass of scotch on the desk beside him, Castle traced his left thumb around the outer edges of the timer now displaying 03.09.09 in green. For over two decades it had displayed only dashes and, despite his eternal optimism, he had genuinely wondered if that would ever change. He certainly never anticipated it happening like this.

Kate Beckett was his soulmate. The woman he had shadowed, admired, and, yes, fallen in love with over the years was the one he was meant to be with for the rest of his life. Such a prospect should have caused great happiness and he would have been overjoyed were it not for her reaction. Then again, as it was very Kate-Beckett-like he should have expected it.

Despite the Timer being at the forefront of his mind frequently, they had not had more than a few conversations about it. In fact, due to the fact that she almost always had her father's watch on, he didn't even know she lacked a Timer until she stayed at the loft after her apartment blew up. He always found it odd that she, as a right-handed person, wore her watch on her right wrist, but when he found her making eggs one morning in a short-sleeved shirt sans watch, he was shocked to see skin where the metal implant should have been. It was then she explained that she didn't like the Timer, didn't believe in it, and covered her wrist with the watch to avoid questions such as the ones he was peppering her with.

Naturally, he could not simply drop the subject. The two subsequent times he brought up Timers—in general, not relating to her lack of one—she had shut him down rather quickly by insisting that she would never get one and did not wish to discuss it. He had always been impossibly curious as to why and hoped now that their Timers matched he would have the opportunity to find out.

That was assuming she ever spoke to him again.

Well, okay, perhaps he was being dramatic. She had not been angry, but stunned and he could understand that. He was surprised, certainly, but not stunned. In fact, he'd known they were mean to be together for quite some time.

The closer they became and the longer they worked together, the more Richard Castle became infatuated with Kate Beckett. Her smile, her laugh, the way her eyes sparkled—everything about her intoxicated him. Add on top of that the fact that she was an extraordinary human and he was practically head over heels without trying. Sure, they'd had their ups and downs and certainly moments when he thought they didn't have a future, but when they kissed? Oh, when they kissed; that was when he knew for certain: his life would never be the same again.

For perhaps the first time he was not even thinking about his future in terms of the Timer; he simply thought about his future when it came to chilly winter nights in front of a roaring fire or summer beachside strolls in the Hamptons. In both scenarios—in all scenarios—shew as there; they were together and, as far as he was concerned, that was how they were meant to live their lives. Convincing her of that…well, that was a different story—one he had not yet worked the kinks out of, but now he hoped he wouldn't have to.

Taking a pull from his glass of scotch, Castle briefly considered a post-dinner snack, but was almost instantly interrupted by a knock at his apartment door. Abandoning the liquor, he padded his way out into the living area, across the foyer, and to the front door where a sheepish looking woman stood, her hands fisting the exposed edges of her coat.

"Hi."

"Hi." He echoed. Offering a smile, she stepped aside and let her into the apartment. Well, this was already more promising than a theoretical snack.

She shrugged off her coat and he hung it up for her before following her deeper into the apartment where she tugged at the hem of her sweater and gazed over at him, remorseful. "Sorry about earlier; I shouldn't have just run off."

He bobbed his head. "You were surprised; I understand."

A breathy laugh escaped her lips. "Surprised…yeah, you could say I was surprised. It was just…I was so angry—angry that I had to get a Timer at all, angry that it showed up zeros instead of a countdown like most people had. Angry that I had been forced to face the ramification of a decision that someone made for me—a decision I never would have made otherwise."

"Can I…I mean, may I ask why you're so against the Timer? You never really told me."

"Oh." She hummed and walked over to the couch. Tucking one leg beneath her she sat and waited for him to join her before continuing. "Because of my mom. Because if I didn't have Timer, it couldn't tell me I had to be in love when I wasn't ready. I knew what being alone was like—protecting my heart. I was good at it. Relationships? I'm definitely no good at those. How could I be with one foot out the door?"

Castle skimmed his hand over his chin as he considered her words. Finally, her relationships with men like Doctor Motorcycle Boy and Demming made sense. Those men weren't right for her, but yet she stayed with them purposely because she never had any intentions of building a real relationship with them, or anyone. But…what about the two of them? In some ways, their work partnership was more intimate than some romantic relationships he'd had and surely that had to count for something. "You know, partnerships aren't all that different than relationships."

She hummed. "That so?"

He grinned at her. "Absolutely. They're almost identical. Well, except for the kissing."

A chuckle escaped her lips, but then she fell silent for several moments. After tucking her hair back behind her ears she looked up at him, curious. "I'm sorry, we've been kind of making this all about me—how do you feel about this?"

Castle had to fight to keep himself from jumping off the couch. How did he feel about this? How did he feel about this?! Trying his best to not terrify her he blurted out, "Me? I'm thrilled!"

Instead of shying away, her eyes brightened and lips curled into a subtle smile. "Really?"

He nodded and softened his tone. "How could I not be? You're…extraordinary." When she blushed and looked down towards her lap, he slid a bit closer to her on the sofa. He needed her to know that while he was overjoyed and ready to dive right in, he understood that she probably was not and he would be patient for as long as she needed. "I've known that from the start and I…I'm very happy about this. I promise I won't rush you, though. I know you need time. You're with someone else and-"

"No." She interjected quickly. "I ended things with Josh this afternoon."

"Oh. Oh!" The writer's eyes flared with realization. "Is that where you went?" Well that certainly explained her several hour departure.

"There. And to clear my head. I guess I…" She took in a deep breath and clasped her hands together.
"I kind of half expected mine to have a lot of time on it. Like this one girl I knew from college—hers had thousands of days on it when I first met her. I think it counted down to when she was in her mid-forties or something and I always thought: what a sad fate."

"Why? She would still get her happy ending." He responded. When her brow wrinkled slightly, he continued with, "I mean I get what you're saying. Waiting for several decades to get your happily ever after would be disappointing, but I'm just playing a bit of devil's advocate. Besides…look when mine would have counted down to." He concluded with a shrug as he was presently in his forties.

"Thirty eight. Goes by the day we met, remember?"

He shrugged again. "Still."

She picked at a stray thread at the seam of her jeans by her knee. "So…does that mean you wish we'd met sooner?"

He shook his head, confident in his answer. "No." When she gazed up tentatively, he continued with, "It wouldn't have been our time. Things happen for a reason." Feeling bold, he reached over and gently placed his hand upon her knee, bracing himself for her to push him away, but she never did. Instead, she placed her hand atop his and traced over his knuckled with the pads of her fingers.

"So what now?"

He grinned. "Whatever you want. We can go out for dessert, go to a movie, sit here and stare at each other…"

She laughed. "Um, I don't know about staring at each other. Maybe we could watch some TV?"

He nodded and jumped up to grab the remote. Returning to the couch, he turned on the TV to find that it was tuned to ESPN which was playing a basketball game. He checked with her to make sure it was all right before sitting back down He kept a half-cushion barrier between them, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, but she slid closer so that their arms nearly touched.

They watched the game in silence for the better part of fifteen minutes before she said quietly, "I don't want to get married for a while."

Castle gazed over at her, slack-jawed. Was she…did she…had she just… Oh! This was far better than he expected. Fighting the urge to dance with joy, he muted the game on the television and turned his body to face hers. "Okay."

"I mean years." She clarified.

He shrugged. "That's fine."

"And I don't want kids right away, either."

On this point, he thought a moment. Having children with Kate Beckett was certainly crossing into "wildest dreams" territory, but he certainly wasn't opposed to it. However, he did wish to have them while he was still young enough to play and run around with them—and handle one-a.m. feedings. "Can we at least have them before I'm fifty?"

She blinked. "That's in nine years."

He nodded. "I know, but I wasn't sure what timeline you had in mind…" She had said years, which could potentially mean three or four of each scenario and what if they wanted more than one child?

With a slight eye roll she said. "We'll have kids before you're fifty, Castle."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"No I think that's it for now—I'll let you know." She added with a smile.

His expression matched hers. "Okay. And Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't wait."

A/n: I really struggled to choose when in the Castle universe I wanted to set this story. I started with 3 outlines. I might end up writing one more or both of them. :)