AUTHOR'S NOTE

So did you guess?

Be honest and review cos I bet you didn't! :)

Of course Castle had to pick out Beckett's dress for her!

'Cept this time he had to up his game too...

it couldn't be just any dress...

It had to be a special one...

And the most special dress he could think of was-?

Her Mom's.

Sent all the way from her Dad's house.

Wasn't it just the sweetest thing to do?

And the night is only young folks...

I'm telling you, Beckett ain't seen nothing yet...

3 Point 2.

Part VII: Powerful.

For three God-dam days I'd been staring at that envelope!

Three days of obsessing about what Castle had written there!

Now, as I stared down at the words on the page, I realised:

I should have known!

Of course he hadn't wrote a color.

He didn't need to!

He didn't need to guess what I'd be wearing!

He'd been planning it all along!

I'd been had.

A bleeping sound interrupted my annoyed thoughts.

I realised my mobile was buzzing.

I glanced at the screen as I picked it up.

1 NEW MESSAGE

My eyes turned to the sender:

Castle.

Well this ought to be good...

I opened it.

Don't be mad :~)

My breathe hitched a little.

How did he do that?

Then-

Was he right?

Was I mad?

I stopped for a moment and thought about it.

On the one hand, I had a right to be.

In order to even see the photograph of my Mom wearing the dress, Castle must have gone into my desk drawer at the precinct...

Been rifling through my stuff...

Invaded my privacy without a second thought...

Then he'd tricked me.

Okay, okay, fine, so 'tricked' is probably too strong a word... but he had, at the very least, been playing with me...

So I had the right to be mad.

I should be mad.

I was mad...

But-

Well...

On the other hand...

I glanced down at the text message again.

Don't be mad :~)

The corner of my mouth twitched.

The big dope had even put that stupid face on the end of it...

I smiled, in spite of myself.

There were times Richard Castle drove me crazy...

He could be annoying and smug and conceited and a hundred and one other little things that just made me want to strangle him-

But all of those things?

They made him, well... him.

And then he would go and do something like this-

This...

I turned to glance at the dress lying on my bed.

It was stunning.

The most beautiful dress I had ever seen...

It was perfect.

And the fact it had been my Mom's...?

That just made it even more so.

Tonight would now be even more special.

And is was all because of Richard Edgar Castle.

All because of those other times when he drove me crazy in a different way...

I sighed.

Why did Castle have be so unbelievably freaking sweet?

He made it so dam hard to stay mad at him!

My phone bleeped again:

That bad huh?

I laughed out loud.

He obviously thought because I hadn't replied yet-

I guess the man was actually pretty adorable too.

I typed out an answer:

Let's just say, your lucky the dress is nice, Mr Castle.

Castle's reply was instant:

Just 'nice' Miss Beckett? :~}

I could practically hear his voice as if he were right next to me... and I smiled, as I indulged him.

Okay Castle, the dress is perfect. Happy?

I smiled again at his response:

Only if you are Detective. And happy you're not mad, of course :~)

He sounded too smug for my liking and I wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily. I typed back:

Hmm... still deciding. I am going to put a lock on my desk drawer from now on though.

My phone buzzed again a second later.

Fair enough, although you do realise that may make it even more tempting to me...?

I laughed. He really was such a big kid at times.

Then I'll be forced to put a couple of mousetraps in there as well, unless you promise no more surprises okay?

Castle's reply was instant once again:

I'm afraid I can't promise that Detective- the night is yet to begin :~}

Reading that text made me feel both excited and nervous at the same time...

But before I could think of a suitable reply my phone bleeped again:

I suggest you put my first surprise on now Kate, as I'm about to leave for your place. I promise it will be a memorable night at the very least, or my name is not Richard Edgar Castle ;~)

I could have pointed out his real name was technically Richard Alexander Rogers or asked how he knew I wasn't dressed yet, but with a smile, I let it go.

I put the phone down on my chest of drawers and walked over to the dress laying on my bed.

I gazed down at it.

It really was beautiful...

I ran a finger gently down the sheer sleeve, touched the cream studs on the neckline...

My Mother had actually worn the dress in front of me...

My Mom.

Now I was going to wear it too...

But I was almost afraid to put it on.

Most of the keepsakes I had of my Mother's had been destroyed in the bomb blast at my flat a long time ago.

My Dad had sent me a few bits and pieces since, to replace them.

But I'd never had any of her clothes.

Nothing she'd ever worn...

I suddenly had a thought and, despite knowing it was silly, I picked up the dress and held it under my nose.

Maybe it was just my imagination but I thought I could still smell her scent a little...

I sighed.

It would be an honour to wear this dress.

It was so precious.

It was also...

Now or never.

It was time.

With a deep breathe, I slipped the dress carefully over my head...

I pulled it down my body, careful to avoid catching the delicate material...

Adjusted it into place...

Then I put my feet into the matching black stilettos beside my bed.

I went over to the full length mirror against my bedroom wall...

Looked at myself for the first time in my Mother's dress...

And blinked.

For just a moment, I saw the woman in my favourite photograph staring back at me.

I realised then just why my Dad was always saying how much I looked like her...

He always got this sad look on his face when he said it.

Because suddenly, I saw what he saw:

I was every inch my Mother's daughter.

I might be taller than my Mother, my hair alittle longer, but-

But she was still a part of me.

I would carry her with me always.

And that was something I could be proud of.

Right now though, it was just me, standing in front of the mirror.

And I looked-

I looked-

My hair all glam.

My make-up immaculate.

Wearing a dress that made me look-

That made me feel...

What was the word...?

Then the doorbell rang.

I knew who it was this time.

Glancing at the clock, I saw it was five minutes to seven.

And I was ready for him.

Strangely, I suddenly felt calmer than I'd felt all day.

With a nod to my reflection, I turned my back on the mirror...

Squared my shoulders... and starting moving...

My heels clicked as I walked across the wooden floor...

I swear it was like I was walking in slow motion, every stride slow and purposeful, as I went from room to room until I reached the front door...

It almost felt like a dream...

I was super aware of my breathing as I put my hand on the cool doorknob...

As I pulled open the front door...

To reveal Castle standing there.

Standing there... looking so ruggedly handsome in a crisp black suit and black tie.

Standing there with a huge smile on his face...

A smile that promptly vanished at the sight of me.

My lashes felt heavy as my gaze travelled upwards...

Taking him all in...

And when my eyes met his-

When I looked into them...

When Castle's smile vanished...

I realised.

In that moment, as we gazed at eachother, I knew what the word was for how I looked:

Powerful.

I looked powerful.

Because if the way Castle was looking at me was anything to go by...

The way his gaze went from friendly, to admiring, to heated, to burning... all in the space of a heartbeat...

The way the room suddenly got very, very hot...

And the way Castle stood there, giving me a look that plainly said he wanted to eat me alive...

I felt powerful.

Really, really powerful.

No.

In that moment, I knew there was a better word for the way Richard Castle made me feel.

Extraordinary.