Chapter 1
That evening, in Castle and Beckett's loft, a party was organized to celebrate the recent wedding. To be forgiven for not inviting their friends to the ceremony, the couple called on the best caterer in town and invited a jazz band to perform their favorite songs.
While waiting for their guests, Kate was seating with Lanie on the couch. In fact, this afternoon, the young coroner had invited her best friend to a spa session in a luxurious New York establishment.
"You know, if someone would have told us at the beginning of your collaboration that you would end up marrying Castle, I wouldn't have believed it."
"I know, I wouldn't have believed it either, but here we are, seven years later! You know what they say: love can happen to you when you don't expect it."
"Who knows, in the end, in seven years' time, I may be married to Eric Vaughn. Remember, he's the guy who kissed you two years ago."
"Stop reminding me of that old story!" Said Kate with a laugh. "It's an old story and besides, we both knew you'd end up marrying Javier."
"I don't know, Kate! You know, everything is always complicated between Javier and me! It's never the right time for things to work out between us, but we both know there will always be something important between us."
At that moment, Rick approached the two friends and warned them that the rest of the guests had arrived. The two women got up from the couch and went to greet the guests.
For this party that promised to be magnificent, everyone made the trip: Ryan and his wife, Javier, Captain Gate and her husband, Maddie, Jim Beckett and Alexis with her mother, Meredith. The event was launched on a high level with a speech from Lanie.
"Kate, the first time we met, we were in first-year Stanford. We shared a small studio on campus with Maddie. We were young, we were 18, we thought we were living the best years of our lives, but we were wrong. We spent our evenings imagining our future, imagining what we will become in the future. Kate, today you're living the future you've always dreamed of and I can tell you that we wouldn't even have imagined what you'll become. Today, you are married to an extraordinary man and you are an incredible woman. You are strong, you are beautiful, you always do everything to make the world a better place and I am so proud of you and your happiness. You deserve what's happening to you and we love you. We all do!"
After this speech, which had deeply moved Kate, Kate gave a long hug to her two friends. On the other side of the room, Rick was sharing a glass with his father-in-law.
"You know, Kate told me you were wondering what I thought of you." Said Jim to the writer. "Is that true?"
"Yes, it is. You are so important to her and my goal is to make her happy so I don't want to be the man who comes between you and your daughter, especially not after what happened to both of you."
"Rick, when you and Kate had your first Christmas as a couple, my daughter called me the next day and told me that thanks to you, she had reconciled with that holiday. It was then that I realized how well you were able to break down the walls she had had since Johanna's death and that I must admit, I still have."
"Your daughter deserves to be happy. More than anyone else. I promise you on everything I have that I will always do everything for her."
"I know that, and I am proud that my daughter has found someone like you to share her life. I can tell you that Johanna would have loved you."