A/N: Your responses to this story have me constantly smiling! Thank you for loving it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or the characters used in this story.
Castle has to skip out on going to the precinct with her the next day. He knows he's been putting off his Black Pawn meeting for far too long. They want him to do a month long book tour including a few other country visits and he's just not willing to leave Kate for that long, especially not while she's pregnant.
So he leaves her that morning with a reassuring kiss and a promise from her that she won't go chasing after any dangerous suspects. And then he spends two long hours arguing with Gina and Paula about why he can't go on tour and leave his wife. Neither women have kids so they seem to have a great deal of trouble understanding where he's coming from.
Finally, after some heated words and his reassurance that he won't be leaving the country without Kate any time soon, he agrees to do a one month tour in cities that are close enough for him to get back to Kate relatively quickly if she needs him. He still hates the idea, knows he won't enjoy the book tour nearly as much as he used to, but it's a decent compromise and at least he'll be getting it over with before Kate is further along.
He doesn't tell her when he gets to the precinct, doesn't want to stress her while she's at work. So they finish the day in good moods and make it home at a decent hour. But his wife knows him, she reads him just as well as he reads her and the moment they walk through the door she turns to him and wraps her arms around his waist.
"What's wrong, Babe?"
He sighs as he holds her close, unwilling to let her go. "I couldn't get out of the book tour."
He feels her stiffen against him and then she's holding him a little tighter. "When do you have to go?"
He nudges her towards the couch, sits down with her in his arms before he continues.
"I refused to leave the country and they finally agreed. It's one month of cities not too far from here so anytime you need me, I'll be on a plane home in a heartbeat."
"Castle, I'm not even showing yet. I don't want to be away from you, but this is important, I'll be okay."
She tilts her head on his chest so that she can look up at him and she lifts her hand to his face, runs her thumb over the soft skin under his eye.
"It's already set, Kate. I'm not going to travel far away from you while you're pregnant. Regardless of how far along you are, I'm just not."
She offers him a smile before repeating her previous question. "When do you leave?"
"Monday morning," he sighs, closing his eyes in defeat at the mention of those words.
He feels her shifting before the soft weight of her settles in his lap and her hands cup his face, coaxing his eyes open.
"Okay, so we'll make the best of the next five days, and then you can take my book with you, read it each day while you're gone and then we'll talk about every night."
His wife is full of positivity, a completely different woman from the one that used to sit at her desk, carrying the weight of the world.
"I love you," he whispers and then he captures her lips in a kiss that's more than enough proof of those words.
He carries her book with him to bed that night, unwilling to spend any of the next five days away from her, even if it's just to read her words. She lays on her back beside him, reaches for his hand as he opens to the next entry and she anchors him to her as he reads.
July 3rd, 2014
Castle,
I don't care what the evidence says, I don't care how long it's been since I've seen you, and I don't care if everyone else gives up on looking for you. I know that you didn't walk away from me, I know you're out there fighting to get back. I will never stop looking, never.
When I get you back, we're going to get married. I don't even care if we go down to city hall and do it there. All that matters to me is that you and I are there. I love you, Castle. I love you so much and I'm going to be your wife, I am. I can't wait to marry you. Please come home soon, I can't wait much longer to call you my husband.
He gently closes the book and places it on the table beside the bed and then he rolls over and gathers Kate in his arms.
"We made it, Kate. We're married, and you get to call me your husband for the rest of your life."
She smiles and pulls him closer. "I know, and that day, becoming your wife, it was everything to me."
"I love you," he breathes into her mouth. And then he paints his love on every inch of her skin.
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