Hey everyone! A quick note from the author! I know this will, most likely, never, ever happen. Mostly because otherwise the show would be over. But this is a future fic, and, most importantly is not for real. It comes from my imagination, which I don't know what was thinking, honestly. Inspiration struck me sooner than I thought. Anyway, a quick note. Liz's complete name is Elizabeth (the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice. I figured, Beckett most likely loves that book, Castle is a writer, and I wanted to call her Jane like Jane Austen, but her second name is Johanna and Jane Johanna didn't sound very good.). Elizabeth Johanna Castle, and she's two. On a final note, English is not my fist language, sadly. So please, forgive me if I made mistakes. (If there are huge ones, however, you can beat me. I almost wrote "warmingly", until Word kindly pointed out it wasn't a word.)
Disclaimer: I'm sad for my bank account, but I don't own Castle. If I did, Castle and Beckett by now would've been already married with 1347982734 kids, two cats and a pony. And I would be on a yatch in the Bahamas with Nathan Fillion fanning me.
Kate watched as her daughter slept in her tiny, pink bed. She looked so peaceful. After a day like the one she had, Kate's only wish was to cuddle with Liz a bit, take a long, hot shower and try to get some sleep. But Liz was already sound asleep in her bed when Kate came home, so instead she sat there, watching her beautiful daughter smile while she slept, and thinking. She almost got shot today. Again. She had to thank her reflexes and her morning workouts for the fact that she was still alive. And that thought, the one that kept bugging her since Liz was born, came back in full force. Only now it was even more powerful. She knew she had good reasons for doing was she was about to, but she couldn't help being worried about her decision. She needed to talk with him. Liz stirred in her sleep, and Kate smiled. She stood up, kissed her daughter's forehead and walked outside the room, closing the door behind her. Standing in the dark with her back on the door for a few minutes, she realised there was one more thing she had to do now.
She smiled, as she heard him typing furiously on his keyboard. Inspiration had struck him again, thankfully. She leaned against the doorframe of his office, watching him. He was oblivious to the world when he was writing. She looked at him, his Superman t-shirt, his black pants and his hair sticking out in every direction. She wondered how it was possible that this writer boy, this 9 year old on a sugar rush, had stolen her heart. And yet, he had. If she looked back on her life before Hurricane Castle came into the picture, she could see only black and white. Mostly black, especially after her mother's death. But since Castle started following her-and annoying her- she could see colours. Bright, sparkly colours. He always managed to make her smile, to make her forget how hard her job could be sometimes. He warmed into her life to a point where she trusted him with her life. And she felt safe in his arms.
She was taken aback from her daydream by his voice.
"Hey." He said, softly.
She looked at him, smiling.
"Hey."
He put his laptop on his desk and walked towards her.
"I thought you were still at the Precinct."
"No, I came back half an hour ago. I've been in Liz's room ever since."
"She okay?"
"Yeah, she's asleep."
He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.
"I missed you." he whispered
She smiled.
"I missed you, too, writer boy."
She wrapped her arms around his waist, bringing him closer to her, with urgency. She sighed, almost scared of what she was about to tell him.
He must've felt something was bothering her, because he looked down at her and, his voice full of worry, he asked:
"Something wrong, love?"
She looked up at him, and smiled a little.
"I'm fine. I just...I need to talk to you about something."
"Sure."
He took her hand and lead them to the couch. Never letting go of her hand, he squeezed it a bit, reassuringly. She smiled at the kind gesture. She squeezed it back, and, sighing, she started talking.
"Rick, you know that I became a cop because of my mother's murder. After she died, after no one could give me the answers I was looking for, I decided becoming a cop was the only way I could, someday, find her killer. She was my priority. And I needed closure, Rick. I needed something to focus my energy on. My dad was drowning himself in alcohol, and he couldn't be there for me. I spent the first three years in the force killing myself trying to find something to break the case. And even after, even when you started shadowing me, my mom's case was always my priority. And after so many years, after so many tears, when we finally caught that son a bitch who killed her, I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know where I belonged. And that's when Mr Castle came on his horse at the rescue of the lost princess."
She smiled lovingly at her husband. He was looking at her with such tenderness and love, tears started welling up her eyes.
"You took me by the hand and never left my side. You waited for me to make up my mind, to adjust to my new found peace of mind, to settle down. You held me while I cried and you laughed with me. You made me laugh. You loved me. You made me feel like I was part of a family again after so long, Rick. You built a family with me. And this life, this family, this is my priority now. You, Alexis and Liz are my priority. You are the ones I want to protect."
She sighed, knowing that the difficult part was coming.
"I know how dangerous my job can be, Rick. And I trust you know, too. I've been so close to death way too many times more than I've ever wished. I don't want to risk it anymore, Rick. I don't want to lose this-you, me and Liz."
A lone tear rolled down her cheek. Castle gently reached for it and wiped it away. Staring down at her hands, Kate kept talking, the last sentence almost a whisper.
"I know what it's like to grow up without a mother, Rick." Another tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't want Liz to ever have to go through that. Ever."
Castle wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. He traced slow, circular patterns on her back, soothingly. When he talked, his voice was soft.
"What are you trying to tell me, Katherine?"
Kate closed her eyes, leaning into his chest. It's now or never, she thought.
"I don't want to go back to the Precinct, Rick. I don't want to be a Detective anymore." She sniffled. "I'm sorry your muse has disappointed you."
"Kate, hey. Kate, look at me."
Kate raised her head and their eyes locked. Castle cupped her cheeks with his hands.
"Listen to me, Katherine" he said, his voice sweet."Do you think I married you and had a daughter with you because you're a Detective? Kate, I love you. You. Not what you do, I love who you are. You could be a detective, a lawyer, a clown or a lap-dancer-" she smiled-he just had to go there "-and I would love you anyway."
He bent down and placed a tender kiss on her lips. He rested his forehead against hers.
"You are the love of my life and the mother of my child. You could never, ever disappoint me, and you'll always be my muse."
She gave him another feather-like kiss, and smiled. Then, taking one of his hands, she placed it on her belly.
"Children."