A/N: As Kate said that she feels magic "when she hears Coltrane", and this album, "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman", being one of the few Coltrane albums that have vocals, this series of one-shots came to mind. I can almost hear Rick singing these to Kate, if he had as good a voice as Johnny Hartman.

This story is based on the Irving Berlin's, "They Say It's Wonderful" from the musical "Annie Get Your Gun". The song is the first song of side one of Coltrane's vinyl album.

The vignettes are either from Castle canon or not very distant excursions from canon. I hope you agree.

Disclaimer: The characters and song are the property of their respective owners.

They say that falling in love is wonderful
So wonderful, so they say

Let us be clear on this one thing from the beginning, Katherine Houghton Beckett said "yes."

Rick's meeting at Black Pawn went quickly, unlike most. He didn't need to start Angry Birds once from boredom. He didn't need to cut the number of days of his out of town book signings.

Even Gina was in a good mood. Rick was actually ahead of his writing schedule. Words were flowing out of him so fast his fingers could hardly keep up. It was like a Niagara of words was coming out and he was just floating on the rush. It was a good thing that autocorrect was on, though. His ratio of "teh" to "the" was getting very high.

There was a very good reason that the words were spilling forth so strongly. A very beautiful lady said "yes". And he still couldn't believe it.

Kate Beckett had said "yes".

After taking a cab to the Village, he needed to walk around to burn off the high he was still feeling. His feet just kept moving as he walked around Washington Square. The sounds, the smells, the city, everything just seemed sweeter to him. In fact, it didn't feel to him like he was walking, gliding was more like the feeling he had.

"You're such a sap, Castle," Rick thought. "That smile on your face is going to become permanent if you aren't careful."

But it was really hard because Kate said "yes."

Finally, he was walking down Bleeker St. and noticed a used record store. Like used book stores with the smell of old leather and moldering paper, he loved the smell of the used record stores. They smelled of music history, old musical instruments and incense.

The audiophile in him prefers vinyl records to CDs for some types of music. Classical music and old jazz just sounded better to him on vinyl.

Browsing through the jazz section, he remembered what Beckett had said a couple of months ago. "Coltrane! I wonder what I can find here," He thought.

After paying for his treasure, he quickly strode the few blocks down Bleeker to Broadway and then home to the loft. He couldn't wait to listen. He hoped that the used record wasn't too scratchy so he could surprise Kate with his find.

He put the needle down on the record, side 1 and heard the first tinkling of McCoy Tyner's piano and then Johnny Hartman's smooth voice.

The thing that's known as romance
Is wonderful, so wonderful
So they tell me

Detective Beckett had come in late from a case. She was now spending most of her time at the loft when she wasn't working. Castle didn't mind too much her late hours as long as she slept with him in the same bed.

This was one of the few times Castle awoke before Beckett. Most of the time she was in the shower before he rose. This time, he stealthily went to the kitchen and started the coffee maker.

Rick worked the latte maker like an experienced barista. Soon he had two cups with hearts made of the foam.

He set the cups on a tray with an orange rose and the NY Ledger. He hoped that the rose's romantic message of desire, enthusiasm and passion would make Kate smile. "Although," he thought, "I'd like to think that she already has that message. Especially after the other night."

"Hmm," he thought. "Maybe tonight we can have a repeat performance."

He smiled down on her as she woke. Makeup free, messy bed hair, endlessly long legs, he couldn't think of a more amazingly wonderful sight than Kate Beckett in his bed.

"Hey," Kate smiled as she woke.

"Hey. You got in late last night. Catch a case?"

"Yeah," Kate said as she picked up the newspaper and looked at the front page. "Actually, it was this one."

As she handed Castle the newspaper she followed, "Someone blew up an apartment downtown."

"Seriously? And you didn't call me?"

"Castle, you said you had a chapter due."

"Yes, which is writer speak for "all procrastination's welcome. So what was it? A terrorist plot? A meth lab?"

"Um, canvas turned up a description of a guy fleeing the scene in a silver hatchback. We called in for traffic cam footage."

Kate picked up her phone and looked for any messages.

"It's probably already in. So I've got to get going," she said as she got out of bed.

"Or, you have Esposito check that out," Rick said as he sat down on the bed where she just was laying. "He's very good at that. I feel like I haven't seen you in days."

Castle pulled Kate to his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "You know, I really have to get going but…"

"But, you are powerless to resist me," Castle interrupted. "You always have been."

"Really? Do you remember when we first met? I kind of thought you were an ass."

"Well, I know you pretended you thought that but, come on, we're together now. You can admit it. You fell for me the first moment you saw me."

"No, I didn't," Kate responded smiling at Rick.

"Please, you did," Rick followed smugly.

"You believe that don't you?"

"It's true."

Just before they can continue this conversation, Kate's phone rings. "Beckett," she answers.

She pauses to listen to the caller and then responds, "Ok, I'll be right there."

"Traffic cam footage turned up a match to the plates. We got him," Kate said as she kissed Castle.

"Nice," Rick said as Kate walked to the ensuite to prepare for the day.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait," she said as she rushed back to the bed and kissed him.

Rick said as Kate walked away, "Did you see the hearts?"

"Let's go, Castle."

"Took me about 6 minutes."

I can't recall who said it
I know I never read it
I only know they tell me that love is grand

Rick can't remember when he fell in love with Kate. It wasn't something that he was fully conscious. It just seemed to happen. But once he realized it, he felt both wonderful and despondent at the same time. Wonderful because he was in love with the fantastic, extraordinary lady who allowed him to follow. Despondent because he felt if he expressed his feelings openly, especially because she was with Demming, she would pull away him, from the friendship and he wouldn't see her anymore.

He asked her to the Hamptons to see how serious she was with Demming. To see if he could express his feelings. But she turned him down.

She said she wouldn't go to the Hamptons with him because she didn't' want it to get weird between them. That told him enough, He recognized he couldn't tell her how he felt.

But it was wonderful to see her and be with her at the precinct. "If that is all he is going to get," he thought, "I will do my best to live with it."

And
If there's a moon up above, it's wonderful
Wonderful, in ev'ry way

So they say

Rick sat outside his Hamptons house watching the full moon rise over the ocean. The wind blowing off the water was cool but not so cool that he had to go into the house.

The blackness of the sky contrasted with the bright full moon. The light of the moon danced over the ocean like a disco ball. But this was much better than a disco ball, the randomness of the reflections, the face in the moon.

All he could think about was "what is Kate doing now?"

He took a sip of his scotch. Pondering, "what can I do?"

"Kate is with Demming, and I am with Gina," he thought. "Maybe if I just try harder, love will re-blossom between Gina and me. And then I can forget Kate."

He took another sip. He felt a presence behind him. He knew it wasn't Kate, it was Gina. Gina was here, available and ready.

They had talked on the phone for a couple of hours before he left for The Hamptons. He thought they would click. The conversation was so easy, in contrast to the way it had been since the divorce. Yet, nagging in the back of his mind was the déjà vu of the earlier relationship with Gina.

She was a safe choice when they married. Gina is a driven woman, trying to keep Rick happy writing. She knew he was the star of Black Pawn and in order to keep her job, she had to keep Rick happy. So she did. She liked him and thought "what the heck, there could be worse things than being married to Rick Castle."

At first, they fooled themselves into thinking it was a love filled marriage. Or, at least Rick did. He thought she could be a good mother for Alexis, too.

Then, more and more, the marriage felt like a business relationship, with the occasional booty call.

Then it stopped.

Gina, Alexis and he were unhappy. Gina felt like an outsider in the marriage, especially in relationship to Alexis. Alexis was struggling with hormones and worry about her father. He was struggling with the latest Derrick Storm novel. And he just couldn't continue like it had been up to now.

Gina and Rick fought about everything. They couldn't agree on how the marriage would work. It was then they both knew the marriage was over. All that was left to do was let the lawyers to fight over the carcass.

"So here I am," Rick thought. "Back pretty much where I was 4 or 5 years ago. Gina here but a troublesome notion residing in the back of my mind. "Will it work?""

Gina looked at the moon rising, then looked at Rick. He was still looking out over the ocean, nursing a tumbler of scotch.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Gina asked.

Rick answered, "Gazing at the moon, I thought "what would Nikki and Rook do in this moonlight?""

But he knew he lied to Gina. That wasn't what he was thinking. He was thinking "what would Kate and I do in this moonlight?"

You leave your house some morning
And without any warning
You find yourself shouting that love is grand

After making sure that Alexis had taken some aspirin for her graduation hangover, Rick left the loft.

"I love the city after a rain," he thought. "The city looks cleaner, fresher."

"But that isn't the reason I am exultant. No, I am exultant because Kate came to me last night. She wants me. Me … that former, or maybe not so former jackass … she wants me."

"If people looked at me closely, they would see how happy I am. I would shout it from the top of my building, but then I would end up in Belview."

"I need to see Kate. She left under not so optimum circumstance. I'd better go over there and apologize for hiding her in the closet. I just didn't want Mother and Alexis to know about us yet."

"Hmm, maybe I am not quite so prepared to shout it from the rooftops. But holding Kate does feel right."

To hold your girl in your arms
Is wonderful, wonderful, in ev'ry way
So they say

As he heard the last notes of the song, with Coltrane's sax and Hartman's vocals in his ears, Rick knew that falling in love is wonderful. Holding Kate is wonderful. Romance…hey, nothing comes close. Love is grand.

Because Katherine Houghton Beckett said "yes."