AUTHOR'S NOTE - This is my first stab at a "Castle" piece. It's a one-off that obviously takes place shortly after the wedding of Richard Castle and Kate Beckett. As usual, here's the disclaimer - No rights to the characters are given or implied through this submission. The series, characters, and storylines are copyrighted to Andrew Marlowe and ABC Television. This is simply how I would like to see the final episode of season six end.
The ballroom is filled with thunderous applause as the DJ/Band Leader announces the arrival of the new Mr. and Mrs. Richard Castle. Once the lists were all combined and invitations sent, over 600 people have gathered at the Waldorf Astoria to congratulate Rick and Kate as they embark on the newest adventure of their lives.
As they walk to the head table, Kate's eye wanders to the empty seat next to her father's. She feels a pang of sadness as she gets closer to it, not knowing that her new husband had arranged for a little surprise while booking the event. The table was set for not only Martha, Alexis, and Jim, but Johanna as well. A photo of her mother holding her on the day she was born was sitting in a sterling silver frame with a single red rose and lit candle in the spot where her mother would have been seated. Tears well in Kate's eyes as she looks at the table and then at him. He meets her expression with a gentle smile and loving gaze, then takes her hand and leads her to the waiting chair on the dais.
Standing in front of the congregation, Rick lifts a champagne glass in one hand and a microphone in the other. "May I have everyone's attention please?"
The conversations around the room cease and attention turns to the front table.
"First off, Kate and I would like to thank you for joining us tonight. I know you would have liked to join us for the ceremony but there wasn't any way to get 600 people into the loft. Besides, why watch the formalities when you would be here hopefully having a good time?" Rick lightly laughs at his joke, which in turn gets one from the crowd.
Becoming a bit more serious, he looks down at Kate. "I'd like to propose a toast to my incredibly exquisite wife. I know there are times that she would have liked nothing more than to strangle me with her bare hands, there have been times that she's threatened to shoot me, and there are times when I wouldn't have blamed her for leaving me on the side of a highway somewhere, but she didn't, well at least not yet. Instead, she's reminded me of what life and love are supposed to be. Life is supposed to be something that is lived to the absolute fullest every day, whether that's by doing something you enjoy or if it's riding along to a murder scene just because you're with someone you love. Love is something that catches you by surprise. It's a feeling that's filled with the anticipation of seeing a smile when you hand someone special a cup of coffee in the morning, giving someone a shoulder to cry on when the day has been too hard to handle, or simply spending a few minutes wrapped in each other's arms. I've spent a good portion of my life hiding behind a bevy of women and my books to avoid having to take a chance on love again, but I've learned something because of the amazing woman who is sitting next to me. I've learned that no matter what life throws at you, no matter how many twists and turns it may take to get there, there is nothing in the world that will ever compare to the love she has bestowed on me. My only goal is to strive to continue to deserve that love until the day that I'm no longer living, and then if I'm truly lucky, she'll love me then too." He raises the champagne glass as he says, "To you, Katherine Houghton Beckett Castle, for giving me love, for giving me life, and most of all, for giving me the gift of being able to spend my life with you."
Kate stands and wraps her arms around his shoulders while tears stream down her face. Pulling away from him, she too picks up a champagne glass and takes the microphone from the table. Turning to the crowd she says, "You'll have to give me a second. I just need to get myself together." She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Okay, I think I'm there."
Looking down at Castle, who has now taken his seat, she bites her bottom lip before beginning. "Six years ago if anyone had told me that I was going to essentially be stalked by mystery writer Richard Castle I would have said they were crazy. Had they told me that a year later I was going to be the primary character for a line of his novels, I would have laughed them out of the room. If they had told me that a four years after that I would be his wife, I would have had them committed to the nearest asylum. And yet, here we are. I have to tell you that despite what he's brainwashed himself into thinking, I did not fall madly in love with him on our first case." She looks to the crowd and back to him as he rolls his eyes in mock amusement. "It was a long time before that." Rick looks at her curiously as she looks back to their guests.
"Over the years Castle has had a running total going of how many times he's saved my life. I have a confession to make. He's saved me more times than I'll ever be able to count. We didn't meet for the first time when the department needed help with a string of murders based on his novels. We actually met quite a few years before that." Kate stopped and bit her lip again in hesitation. "For those of you who may not know, my mother was killed in January of 1999. I was 19 at the time and my dad decided that I needed to continue my education so when fall rolled around he packed me up and shipped me off to Stanford. I was absolutely miserable but managed to be taken under the wings of a few people who quickly became friends. Then it happened. My first birthday without my mother and my father was away at his cabin in upstate New York." She looked back to Rick. "My friends, knowing that I'd shown an interest in the Derrick Storm novels, found out that you were appearing at a store in Berkley that night and dragged me there. The only thing I wanted to do was crawl under a rock and die. I don't know how they did it, but one of my friends wound up talking to the store's manager and told them what was going on. Stacey, the primary person who insisted that I come, wanted me to get a book from you myself but I was far too depressed and just wanted the night to be over. When the signing was finally over I asked if we could leave and started to stand up, but when I looked up, there you were with a copy of the new book and a cupcake with a candle in your hands."
Rick's face becomes flushed with color as he suddenly remembers the scene. Kate continues, "You said to blow out the candle before the wax got on the icing and licked your finger from where a little of the frosting had gotten on it. Then you held my hand and told me that even when life throws you the worst curve ball imaginable, it will always get better. It may take time, but it will. Then you stood to leave, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and left the book. I cried when I read the inscription: 'Whenever you feel like there's no tomorrow and your wishes will never come true, just close your eyes, take a breath, and I'll be there with you.'" He lowers his head. She puts the glass back on the table, bends down, and raises his chin with her finger. "You have no idea how many times I closed my eyes and took those breaths. You have no idea of how many times the memory of you that night played through my dreams or how I used to devour every one of your books just because they reminded me of the man who took the time out of his life to try to bring a little light back into mine. You were right about one thing though – if I wished for something long enough, it would come true. All of those times I closed my eyes, I was actually wishing for you. Thank you for that moment so many years ago. Thank you for being my safety net when you didn't know me at all. Thank you for turning me into a woman who wants nothing more than to spend the rest of her life wrapped in the arms of the man she's considered her hero for over half of it. Thank you for loving me even on those days when I made it impossible for you, and most of all, thank you for never giving up on me. I loved you then, I love you now, and I'll love you for all of eternity."
Rick smiles as he takes her hand and kisses it before leaning in to kiss her. Standing up, he pulls her in for a long hug and they both close their eyes as they inhale and exhale deeply, feeling the other's body against theirs. He places his hands on her cheeks and wipes away a single tear. "You have no idea of how many times I've wondered what ever happened to that girl. I felt her pain so deeply that I've had a cupcake on her birthday every year and wondered if she'd even remember that night."
Kate smiles at him and nods her head. "Yeah she does and she always will because that was the night that she…that I fell head over heals in love with Richard Castle. I think its safe I always will be in love with Richard Castle. Not necessarily the writer sometimes, but the man? Always."
He looks at her with a mischievous grin. "Always?"
Kate mockingly rolls her eyes and returns his grin with a smile and light kiss. "Always."