A/N: set mid season five. Maybe too much fluff?

"Can we get a puppy?"

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Beckett had agreed to move in with Castle - and Martha and Alexis, obviously - and in just 21 days he was already trying to convince her to get a puppy. "No, Castle," she sighed, "we're not getting a puppy."

"Why?" He pouted.

"Because you're more than enough to handle as it is!" She laughed. "God, I can't imagine what I'd come home to find if I knew you'd been here with a puppy all day!"

Castle simply grinned at her.

"What?"

"Oh you know..just don't think I'll ever get used to you calling this place home." It was sappy and he knew it but hell, he loved her.

"We're still not getting a puppy," she reiterated. "Besides, I only moved in three weeks ago - why didn't you get a puppy before then?" Surely this wanting a puppy hadn't come out of nowhere, a guy like Castle probably wanted a puppy when he was a kid but she highly doubted Martha had time to look after a troublesome Rick Rodgers as well as a hyperactive puppy.

"Because you know..getting a puppy is something you do together, as a couple. I want it to be our dog, not just mine."

Oh he was good. If she hadn't already had over four years of resisting him and his stupid boyish charm, she would have given in on the spot and they'd have a puppy by dinner time. However, unfortunately for Rick, Beckett had had that time to get used to him and his damn puppy eyes when he wanted something and so the chances of it working right now were low.

"Cute trick, Castle, don't think we're getting a puppy though," she answered with a playful smile.

He could wear her down, she might think she had the whole 'I'm a homicide detective and nothing you can say will effect me' attitude down to a tee but he knew her better than that, he could see the slight hint of consideration in her eyes as she actually contemplated the idea of them getting a puppy. And that damn smile she gave him as she stood up might supposed to be a 'you're not getting your way' smile but he was pretty certain it was more of an 'I dare you to try and convince me' smile.

And if there was one thing Richard Castle had when it came to Kate Beckett, it was patience.

"It's either a puppy or a baby, Beckett, your choice," he called after her as she disappeared into the bedroom.

He didn't miss her laugh as she closed the door. Oh yeah, they'd have a puppy within a month, he'd bet money on himself.

The first sign that something was off was when Kate woke up to an empty bed. Reaching for her phone on the bedside table, Beckett was even more surprised when she realised it was 7am, on a Sunday and she was in bed alone. Before she had a chance to wake up enough to get out of bed and go in search of her boyfriend, he appeared in the doorway to their bedroom.

"Why are you up so early?" She asked, rubbing her eyes as she hauled herself into a sitting position. "And what's that?" She added as she saw the tray he was holding in his hands.

"Breakfast," he smiled. "For you."

Kate eyed him suspiciously. "It's not my birthday, nor an important date and as far as I know, you haven't done anything wrong, so why are you making me breakfast in bed?" It had been over a week since he'd mentioned getting a puppy and she was thinking he might have given up on the idea.

"What, can't a guy make his smoking hot girlfriend breakfast in bed for no reason?" He asked in a mock offended voice. He placed the tray on her lap and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm gonna go take a shower, enjoy your breakfast."

Kate watched him leave, still a little confused but shaking it off - she wasn't going to complain if he wanted to treat her, damn adorable man.

It wasn't until she heard the water of the shower running and Castle singing along to his shower radio that she realised what he'd done - the pancakes he'd made her were in the shape of a dog...

It seemed dog shaped pancakes weren't the only thing Castle had in store for her that day. Just after 10am, the doorbell buzzed and Castle was mysteriously absent from the room, leaving Beckett to answer the door. Opening it up, Kate was presented with the biggest bouquet of flowers she'd ever seen.

Thanking the delivery man, she took the flowers to the kitchen to put them in water. Pulling out the card, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the message.

Kate,

Remember the case with Royal? Remember how much you loved him? You could have it for good, you know.

Or a baby, I'd settle for that too.

Rick

Only Richard Castle could say having a baby over a puppy would be 'settling.' He was ridiculous and infuriating and irritating and..and..had amazing taste in flowers. Beckett couldn't hold back the smile as she admired her present, the pink and white tulips settled beautifully in the vase.

Was he serious about the baby thing though? They'd only been dating a few months and she hadn't even been living here a month yet..but they had four years of friendship behind them, knowing Castle the way she did, she was surprised he hadn't proposed already.

Castle chose that moment to make his appearance. "Oo, nice flowers," he commented. "Got a secret boyfriend I should know about?"

"No," she replied, "just a ridiculous one."

"I'm not giving up, you know."

"You really want this puppy, don't you?" He nodded. "Keep dreaming."

She was a cruel woman. But still, Castle had seen the wavering decision in her eyes, knew he was getting closer to her agreeing to a puppy.

Beckett went to work alone on Monday morning, Castle making up some excuse, saying he had an emergency book meeting with Gina, but that he'd be in by lunchtime. She didn't believe him for a minute but it could wait, she'd see what he'd been up to when he joined her before calling him out on lying to her.

It was a slow morning and she could tell the boys were relieved when Castle showed up around 11 with doughnuts.

"What have you been up to?" She asked him quietly, taking a doughnut for herself too.

"Not much," he shrugged. "Suffered through and hour of Gina waffling on about absolute nonsense but I survived. Catch a case?"

"No, we didn't."

There was more to it, she could tell. He was keeping something from her but her gut told her it wasn't anything serious, just one of his stupid surprises again, so she dropped it, he'd tell her when he was ready.

They went home for lunch that day, still not having a body drop and having the luxury of taking longer than a rushed break, the two of the decided sandwiches from the deli they both loved and relaxing on the sofa was a brilliant idea.

It wasn't until Beckett was halfway through her lunch and needed to move to answer her phone that she saw it. A book, with the title 'A Perfect Puppy' was on the coffee table. Answering her phone with a glare at Castle, who was looking everywhere but at her, Kate realised that's what he'd been doing that morning.

A quick glance around the rest of the loft showed that there were more 'new' books scattered about, one on the stairs and another in the kitchen.

Damn him.

"So is it working yet?" Castle asked in the car on the way to the crime scene.

"What do you think, Castle," she muttered, pulling up.

"I think it is," he gloated. "I think the second I reminded you of Royal and how much fun we had with him, you knew you'd give in eventually." They were at the body now and Lanie, Espo and Ryan were ready to update them but Castle wasn't finished. "But, because you're Kate Beckett and you couldn't possibly be shown to actually have a soft side and relent so easily, you're dragging it out, making me convince you more so that you can give in when it suits you."

"Finished?" She asked and he nodded. "Great. What have we got, guys?"

She hoped Castle was paying attention because she certainly wasn't. Even after all this time it still amazed her that he could read what she was thinking so well. It was true, all of what he'd said, the flowers had done it for her, if not the dog shaped pancakes. But she'd been so adamant that they weren't getting a puppy that to relent so quickly would have been a nightmare, she'd never hear the end of it and Castle would think he could get his way with anything. There was no way she was letting him call their kid Cosmo, no matter how much he begged.

Wait, what?

"Did I push too far?" He asked that night. She'd hardly said a word to him about the puppy situation since they'd arrived at the crime scene and he was thinking he could have blown it.

"No," she smiled, "just.."

"Yes?" He pressed.

"Okay Castle, listen to me; I have the day off tomorrow, and if you want I was thinking we could go and look for a puppy."

"Are you joking?" He deadpanned.

"No," she laughed, "I'm not joking. I can tell how much you want this and how happy it would make you and-"

"Hey, you don't have to do this just because it would make me happy, you know?" He interrupted. "If you really don't want a puppy, we won't get one."

"I like making you happy," she whispered and suddenly realised what a sap Castle had turned her into. His grin made it all worth it though. "And I'm not completely against the idea but I do have a condition.."

"Name it," he answered quickly. God he was so in love with her.

"I know you want a puppy and I can tell why but..do you think maybe we could look in the shelters first? You know, for a dog that's been abandoned or lost his mom or something? It doesn't have to be an old dog and I'm sure you want a little tiny 10 week old thing but could you settle for maybe a year or two old?"

"I'm turning you into a softy, aren't I?" He mused. "Sure, Beckett, we can adopt an abandoned dog. We can go to some shelters in the morning, see what we fall in love with."

"Thank you," she mumbled into his chest. "It's stupid, I know but-"

"Hey, it's not stupid," he reassured. Because he knew where this sentiment was coming from, when her mom had been killed and her dad had chosen the bottle, she'd felt abandoned and it might just be a dog, but he knew she wanted to be the one that took care of it, the way she hadn't had.

"What about that one?" Castle pointed out and Beckett scrunched her nose up. "Or not," he muttered. "Come on, let's wander around the other side, see what other dogs are here."

It was 9.30 and Castle had been up since six, as excited as a kid at Christmas at the prospect of getting a dog. They'd arrived at the shelter twenty minutes ago and the assistant had left them to wander about and see if they had a dog they wanted.

Beckett had wandered ahead and was stopped at a cage, looking in at a dog whilst Castle made his way slowly towards her, checking out the others on his way.

"I want this one," she whispered as he joined her. What she was looking at was an adorable little beagle with floppy ears. The dog looked scared, frightened of them and didn't come closer when Castle poked his fingers through the gaps.

The assistant came over to them at the point, ready to give them more information. "This is Max," she told them. "He's about ten months old and we received him from a local vets surgery, he was taken in with his mother, both of them having been found abandoned. His mother didn't make it through surgery and he ended up here a few weeks ago. As you can see, he's a little frightened and has issues trusting people but the vet says there's no reason why he can't be a happy and healthy dog in a loving home."

"We'll take him," Beckett announced, leaving Castle a little shocked.

"Why don't you play with him outside for a bit first," the assistant said. "We have an exercise area there for all the dogs and always encourage a bit of playtime first."

Beckett agreed and the two of them made their way outside whilst they got Max ready.

"Sorry, Castle," she said. "I know this was meant to be your choice and if you don't want him then-"

"Hey," he interrupted. "I fell in love with him too and when we heard his story.."

"I know," Beckett whispered. "He's just a baby and he has no one.."

"He'll have us, now," Castle reassured and Beckett smiled at him. "Oh look, here he comes.."

Nothing could stop them falling even more in love with Max and they decided there and then to adopt him. He'd now spent an entire afternoon and evening in his new home, slowly coming out of his shell and beginning to play, even falling asleep at the door to their bedroom.

Castle and Beckett were in love, they'd spent the rest of the day playing with their new puppy and couldn't wait to introduce him to Alexis and Martha when they got home in a few days.

"Thank you for giving in," Castle muttered, planting a kiss in her hair.

"You're welcome," she laughed. "Hard not to when you look at that face." She took a deep breath, finally mustering up the courage to say what she'd wanted to say since their first conversation about getting a puppy. "I mean, as you said, it was a puppy or a baby.."

"I was kinda hoping the thought of a baby would scare you into agreeing to a puppy," he admitted with a laugh.

"Oh, so you don't want a baby?" She frowned.

"Of course I want a baby, with you, but- wait, I mean..?" Oh god, he'd said too much, she was going to run out of here and-

"Well you know..what's stopping us having a puppy and a baby?"

A/N: thoughts appreciated :)

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