He curls his arm around her shoulder as they get onto the elevator to the loft, pulling her into him. She smiles up at him as she snuggles in agreeably, resting her head against his shoulder.
"You know, you got pretty handsy back there at the precinct. There I am trying to keep it all professional so Gates doesn't bring the hammer down on us, and you're all touchy-feely."
She arches an eyebrow at him as he speaks, in that teasing Beckett manner, her eyes glinting emerald green.
"You like it when I get touchy-feely." One hand snakes down his back, to his waist and then a little further south, before squeezing and emphasising her point.
"I do, I do." He sweeps his lips across her forehead. "But I also like working with you at the precinct very much. Though, if you want to take it to the supply closet at any time…"
The door pings open at his floor, and she rolls her eyes at him as they walk off, hand in hand.
"Incorrigible." She mutters under her breath, but just deliberately loud enough so he can hear.
"That I am. That's why you love me, Kate."
His fiancée was prevented from delivering a rejoinder as his mother opened the door on their faces, glammed up to the nines and clearly on her way out.
"Oh good, you two are still together. I thought Gina might have got her claws into you once again Richard." A broad theatrical wink and grin followed on the footsteps of that statement. "But then I saw today's paper with a very nice engagement notice. You especially looked lovely in the photo, Katherine."
"Thank you Martha." Beckett steps forward as she speaks, out of his grasp as she leans against the wall to lose her heels.
"Yes, quite, thank you mother."
"Right, I'm off to celebrate with some friends so you two have the place to yourself for the night. Enjoy yourselves."
The door thuds shut behind her, and he takes the opportunity to run his hands around Beckett's waist and bring her back into him, grinding himself against her, running his hands over her stomach and bringing his lips to her ear.
"How about we celebrate our big entrance into public life by taking a shower together?" His lips ghost down her neck after he speaks, seeking out that one spot he knows makes her weak at the knees, and sucking and biting it ever so gently.
"You read my mind, Castle."
He can't help but smile at how enthusiastically she tugs him in the direction of their bathroom.
Her dad calls after dinner, as they're cleaning up and about to settle in with a glass of wine and after a bout of negotiation, whatever movie they're going to watch tonight (they watched The Wrath of Khan the other night, so he's not confident about his chances of convincing her to watch Galaxy Quest).
"Hey dad, I'm here with Castle, I'm going to put you on speaker OK?"
She takes the call quickly, then goes back to washing the dishes.
"You Aunt Theresa was very pleased to see the engagement in the paper, Katie. So was I of course. Good idea, Rick."
"Actually Jim, that was all down to your daughter."
He looks across at her, mouthing Aunt Theresa's name silently while raising his eyebrows quizzically. She gives him that I'll-explain-it-all later look, one of the arsenal of Beckett-special looks he's become more than familiar with over the years.
"Well, you both looked very nice. I wouldn't mind if you sent me a copy of that photo. Where did it come from?"
"That was the Deadly Heat launch party, Dad. Remember I sent you an invite, but you were out of town for work?"
"I'll make sure you get a copy of it, Jim." He's pulling out his phone as he speaks, setting a reminder on it because it is a great picture of them together, her hands resting on his chest, all glammed up for the party.
He has good memories of that night, the way they circulated, but always drifted back to each other, hands brushing under tables or as he handed her a glass of champagne. No wonder that had shone through in that particular photo. One that Gina and Paula had both insisted on- a writer and his muse, to the wider public- but then in turn one he'd banned them from actually using in any publicity shots or the like. They hadn't been happy with that, but that had hardly been his primary concern.
"OK, well I have to go, nice to talk to you both. Love you, Katie."
"Love you too, Dad."
"Nice to speak to you again, Jim."
The line beeped shut as her father hung up, and he turned to her after she put away the last of the dishes.
"Aunt Theresa?"
"My dad's older sister. Lives upstate. I don't think you've ever met her, because she hates coming down here. Doesn't like the city very much. She came to visit me for a while, that summer…I spent at dad's cabin."
A brief silence descends over them, an unspoken apology from her eyes, which have darkened to forest green-brown and his acceptance, the wound of that rift healed by time and love, the scars faded.
"We're not that close, but you'll meet her around the time of the wedding, I guess. She never did like the fact I chose to join the NYPD. She didn't believe that was what I should be doing even after mom's death."
Her eyes cloud over briefly with memories, and he can't imagine how she must've felt, juggling everything. Going to academy burning for justice, trying to haul her father out of his battle with addiction, and under pressure from her wider family to boot. This is why he admires, why he loves her. Those deep reservoirs of strength and perseverance, the likes of which he's never come across before.
"I'm sorry to hear it."
"Water under the bridge for a long time now. It's OK." The eyes are clear again, the features settled into wry acceptance. He wraps one broad hand around hers, squeezing gently to show her he understands.
"Anyway, so she read that bit about you and Gina, and had a rant about feckless, irresponsible men on Facebook. I asked Dad to get her to take it down." She tugs him towards the couch, and he follows smartly, but the line from her aunt stings a bit. Because he's no longer the man they should believe that about. Not that he'd ever cheat on anyone, but he'd even stopped stepping out casually with women years ago, after she'd enchanted with those vivid eyes and that sharp wit and her hidden strength.
She looks back up at him, reads him as easily as one of his books, and her features soften into that gentle smile that he has come to cherish, one that is reserved for him as her eyes flicker down to his lips and back.
"Oh c'mon Castle, I don't think anyone believed what my dotty Aunt Theresa wrote on Facebook. Pretty sure last week that she posted an article about how the government was controlling our minds using our DVRs or something."
"…that would actually make an interesting novel. Orwell-lite. No, Kate I understand, but that wasn't just anyone, that was a close member of your family."
"Which is why I put the engagement notice in the paper." She slid two arms around his waist, standing on her toes to brush her lips across his, teasing and loving all at once.
Lanie's call interrupts them in the middle of The Time Traveller's Wife (she'd wanted romance, he'd wanted sci-fi, so they'd compromised), but he doesn't mind because as usual the book is better than the movie, and he's more interested in the footrub he's giving her anyway.
He overhears some of the conversation before she drifts into the office, and then their bedroom, something about how Lanie is congratulating her on "getting your pic out there with Castle and marking your territory", and he grins at that, because he quite likes the image of himself as Beckett's territory.
His own phone interrupts his musing.
Paula. He's highly tempted to avoid her, but then she'll just call again. And again. And again. And then likely just show up one morning hammering on the door, probably interrupting sleepy, lazy sex with Beckett (his 5th-favourite kind, and yes, he has a list) and it'll be his own fault.
He picks up.
"Ricky, congratulations on the engagement, but couldn't you have let me handle the announcement?"
"Paula, I di-"
"No, no, you and the detective, love story for the ages, great angle, the magazines would've lapped it up, trust me. Reformed ladies man and the hardworking cop with the tragic backstory who inspired him to write and changed his ways? Could get a lot of mileage out of that."
"No, you don't und-"
"I remember her from that book-launch, she's even prettier now Rick. Guess you couldn't get her out of your system after all. I'm guessing Gina already knew, but were you planning to tell your agent at any point? Kinda embarrassing reading about it the paper with the schlubs."
"Paula, can I get a word in?"
"Sure, sure."
"Thank you. First of all, unlike my rather misspent years haunting page 6, my personal life is no longer grist for the publicity mill. Neither Kate nor I would want do any magazines just to boost my sales or make money- she values her privacy, and the books do OK by themselves."
"Alright, alright, no magazines."
"Good. Also, I didn't put the engagement notice in the paper, Kate did. After yet another spurious blow-up of lunch with Gina, I guess she thought it was time that everyone knew we were together. Before that we'd only told close friends and family. I would have let you know too."
That mollifies her at least a little, or he crosses his fingers and hopes it does
"Besides, you're definitely…probably going to be invited to the wedding."
"Probably, Ricky?"
"We shouldn't tell her that you almost talked me into the James Bond deal a few years ago…"
"…but I got you the extra Nikki Heat deal from your ex-wife that allowed you to keep following your next wife around. I should get some credit for that."
"It's a wash. Let's not mention any of it."
They hang up just as she walks back in, twirling her phone around her fingers, her lips suppressing a smile which merrily sparkled in her eyes.
"Lanie stamp of approval?"
"Oh very much so. Mind you, she'd probably approve if I tattooed 'Property of Kate Beckett' across your forehead."
"Hmm, I'm not sure it would go that well with my ruggedly handsome features."
"Oh well, we'll shelve that for one now." She settles back on the couch, this time curling herself into his torso, the heady scent of cherries just under his nose. "And you?"
"Paula, trying to turn our engagement into a publicity thing. I shut it down."
"Good. I don't mind sharing the limelight with you, Castle, but I'd much prefer the afterglow with just the two of us."
His hands skimmed under shirt, fingers trailing across hips and stomach as his lips sought the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
"Let's see if we can't get some of that afterglow going then..."
A/N: I guess this is a less sympathetic take on Aunt Theresa than the others I have seen floating around, but my own headcanon is based on the fact we've heard nothing about her till now, so I can't picture Beckett being close to her. I definitely have a soft spot for Paula the agent who we met way back in season 2 ('When The Bough Breaks') and I've always wanted the show to bring her back, hence the cameo here. No episode this week is a bit of a downer, but the previews for next week sound great, and I can't wait.
Anyway, leave a review with your thoughts, they are always much appreciated.