'Alexis?'

'Yeah, Mom?'

Beckett studied the pretty redhead as they waited outside for the Castle and Shane bring their beloved Lincoln and rental car around to the front of the restaurant. Martha and Jim had already split a cab back to their own apartments, and Beckett was thankful to have the time just her and her number-one girl. She'd been quiet through dinner and while Beckett knew she was tired from her exams and studying, her womanly intuition told her there something else was there.

'Are you okay with this?'

'Oh, of course, I am so happy for you and Dad, just...don't forget about me, okay?'

Beckett gave a sigh of understanding. 'It's because of what my dad said isn't it?'

'A little bit, yeah, I thought by now he'd think of me as his own by now, that's all.'

Alexis studied her fingernails as she replayed the moment from that night when Jim Beckett had said he was thrilled at the idea of a granddaughter this time around. She knew it was because of the lack of sleep that it cut a little deeper than it normally would have but it still didn't diminish the hurt she felt.

Beckett understood it too, so she wrapped a motherly arm around the young woman's shoulders.

'Don't take it personally, Alexis. He's been a little bit off lately, thinking about my mother. They were married June twenty-fourth, and the whole month he turns into a big ball of miserable memories.'

'Oh. So it's nothing I did or didn't do,' she asked, and Beckett shook her head.

'It's a funny kind of hubris, isn't it? To always assume a comment directed at us is because of us. You know who used to do that a lot?'

'Who?'

'Andrea Brick. She's not as bad as she once, but I know she's still fighting that demon every so often. Besides, there's something to cheer you up.'

Beckett jutted her chin towards the curb where the Lincoln and the rental car zoomed to a halt. Shane stepped out of the driver's side and the wind teased his hair, sending the scent of his soap towards them, and beside her, she heard Alexis' lusty sigh with the murmured 'oh yeah, baby', which had the pregnant woman chuckling.

'Looks I'm not the only Castle woman getting lucky tonight,' Beckett snickered in a low voice.

'Damn right.'

'Your chariot awaits, my sweet.' Shane took Alexis' hand in his, then grinned at Beckett. 'We'll talk to you in the morning, Kate.'

'Night you guys.'

Beckett watched Shane hold open Alexis' door for her, the way the tips of his fingers brushed the small of her back and turning to look at her husband, who was also holding open the door to the Lincoln for her. The wink he gave her had heat blossoming in her chest like an exotic flower and realized she'd spoken nothing but the honest truth to her daughter.

She managed to keep it together until they were back in the loft, putting RJ into bed with Omeo; the kid was down for the count, as he always was after a feed of spaghetti and meatballs. Then, when they were alone in their room, Beckett pounced.

Castle knew from the look his wife had given him at the curbside of the restaurant that this was how the night was going to end - with a bang - but it still didn't have him prepared for when and where it would happen. Now, with his arms and lips full of his very happy bride, he gave a little muffled chuckle as her mouth crushed his.

'Easy, tiger,' he murmured to her. 'We're in no rush.'

'I know, but...oh, Richard, I don't want to say this and ruin the mood.'

Her tone had him arching an eyebrow. 'See, you say things like that and the mood isn't ruined, it's just put on hold. What's on your mind, lovely?'

'I- it's Alexis, well, not so much Alexis as my dad.'

'You're thinking about what he said at dinner.' Castle nodded when he saw the truth of it in her eyes. 'Yeah, I caught that one too.'

'It's just not like him.'

'Do you think he's drinking again?'

'No, he's worked way too hard to stay sober. I just saw his sponsor a few days ago, said my dad was doing really well, that he was facing some kind of upset and not talking about wanting a drink.' Beckett combed her fingers through her hair. 'I told Alexis not to worry about it, that he's always moody near his anniversary with my mother, but this is different, this is...well, it's almost like when Alexis and Shane first started dating,' she realized aloud as the puzzle pieces began to come together.

'You think he's got a girlfriend?'

'No, but there's something up with him.'

'And knowing you, you'll suss it out of him at the right time.' Castle walked his fingers up the front of her blouse to the top button which he slid through the hole. 'Still feel like the mood's ruined?'

'Mm-mm. Not with these hormones starting to kick in,' she replied and yanking on his shirt front, pulled him down for a hot, hard kiss.

Her lips were heaven, Castle thought as he steered them towards the bed, gently tumbling Beckett backwards so that she was underneath him, long and lovely and full of life, literally. He positioned himself carefully above her, lip fastened to hers as their hands busied themselves stripping off shirts and belts and bras until they were down to their underwear. Running a hand over the fluid curve of her stomach he traced little patterns that had her shivering, making her nipples hardened to little diamond-like peaks in the middle of her beautiful breasts.

'What is it my Katie wants tonight,' he murmured to her, laying his hands on her breasts to massage and tease. His thumbs gave those rock-hard tips a butterfly-light brush, ripping a moan from her lips. 'What is she needing?'

'You. Always just you, Rich.'

Her lips curved into a gleeful, anticipatory grin as he put his hands on her hips, pulled her tight against him. Her skin felt so sensitive, like every nerve ending was awake and alive and set afire as her husband used those amazing hands of his to make her whimper and sigh. She lifted her arms above her head, arched her back as he lowered his mouth to her body, flicking his tongue over her in short little bursts; each one had her gasping in delight.

Then he was moving down her body, his kisses hot and lingering with the rough rasp of his tongue making her shiver until he hovered above her honeypot. Beckett's eyes slammed shut in reflex, her hands running through his hair as he pleasured her, every bump and ridge of his lips creating dark and delicious friction.

'Don't stop, Rich, for god-sakes, don't stop,' she pleaded in a breathy moan, then let out a yell of utter pleasure when he parted her lips and drove the spear of his tongue inside her. The action had her torso lifting off the bed as she cried out his name. 'Rich!'

'Katie, shh, you'll...' Castle trailed off, lifting his head to look at her face and he knew she was lost to everything except what she could feel. 'Okay, my love, just give me a moment.'

The sounds she'd made had hardened him so that when he moved up her body, he kept his grip on her hands and sank inside her. Because he sensed she needed it hot and maybe just a little rough tonight Castle braced his hands on her thighs with enough pressure to keep them apart as he moved inside her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his kissed her noisily, hips pistoning against hers until he heard her moan in his ear she was coming, and Castle followed her into oblivion.

Wrapped together and tangled in the sheets on the bed, they lay twined for what seemed like an eternity; Beckett stroked her palms up and down her husband's back as she tried to get her brain back in working order.

'How do you do that?' she mumbled with a lazy satisfied tone in her voice.

'Biology, my love, with a little bit of genetics and years of practice,' he replied, knowing his smart-ass response would make her laugh. When he felt the vibrations of her giggling in her chest Castle turned his head so he could look at her. 'But mostly, Iknow how to do that because I love you. Oh, Jesus, Kate, I'm sorry, was I too rough with you?'

'Not at all, it just perfect,' Beckett replied as the tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. 'Hormones, remember?'

'Kinda hard to forget. The night you seduced me at my desk chair when you were pregnant with RJ is springing to mind.'

'That was a fun night. Hey, you know something?'

'What?'

'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

Beckett craned her neck forward to kiss him, then laughed when her stomach gurgled. 'Man, I could use a snack about now.'

'Seriously, you ate, like, you own body weight in cheesy bread and chicken farfalle at the restaurant.'

'And now I want a sandwich. You think Gennaro's is still open?'