Chugging along, folks! I've made it to double digit chapters! I've never done that before! (:

Thank you to everyone that is supporting me and this story!

This one's for Morgan! Thanks for letting me bawl to you about Decisions and Dominoes. Love you!

Disclaimer: Is my name Andrew Marlowe? Yeah, I didn't think so.

"How about fall?" she asks quickly.

"Fall? You want to wait over a year to get married?"

"No, I mean this fall."

His jaw dropped. "Kate, it's already June. You want to get married in like four months?"

"Yes. Do you not want to?"

"No, not at all. I like it; we should get married in the fall. How about in October?"

She smiled and nodded. "I think we can make those arrangements."

He stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her.

"I love you, Mrs. Castle."

The alarm buzzed, making her jump. She groaned and turned toward it, reaching for the snooze button. She hit it and sighed.

First day back at work.

She reached over for her partner but he wasn't there. The bed was cold next to her, meaning that he had been gone for a while. It was entirely too early for him to be up.

She swung her leg over the edge of the bed and was about to sit up when the door to their bedroom opened and he stepped through with a tray in his hands.

"Good morning, detective," he said cheerfully.

"Hi," she responded with a smile.

"Sit up," he ordered.

She did as she was told, propping her pillow against the headboard and leaning back against it. He placed the tray on her lap. She looked down at the contents of it and smiled. Coffee, blueberry crepes, and bacon.

"Castle, you didn't have to do this," she said, raising an eye brow at him but still smiling.

"Yes I did. It's your first day back at work. You need to be properly nourished."

She laughed and grabbed his shirt, pulling him down to her. "Well, thank you," she said, before pushing her lips to his. He cupped her cheek and darted his tongue out to brush against her lips before pulling away.

"Eat. I don't want to be the one to make you late. I don't need another reason for Captain Gates to hate me."

She snorted and picked up her fork to dive into her warm breakfast.

She put her suit jacket on and grabbed her bag off of the floor. Taking a deep breath, she slid her engagement ring off of her finger. It had only been a few days since they had gotten engaged, but she was going to feel naked without it on. But, in her line of work, there was no way she was going to be able to wear it without the possibility of damaging or losing it.

She was about to place the ring on the coffee table when Rick came out from his office.

"I'll take that," he said. She gave it to him and he slid it on his pinky finger.

"Have a good day at work, honey," he said before leaning in to kiss her. Before he could though, she pressed a finger to his lips and backed up a step.

"Honey? Seriously, Rick? We're becoming one of those couples?"

"What, it's cute! We are going to be married soon, you know."

"Ugh, whatever. Goodbye, stud. I'll see you after work." She pecked his lips and walked out the door, leaving him there, slack-jawed.

"Welcome back, Detective Beckett," Gates said to her with a nod, and a... was that a smile? Wow.

"Thank you, sir. Glad to be back."

She unpacked her things at her desk and looked around for the boys. It was too early for them to be out chasing a lead. So, where were they?

As she was about to go ask Gates where her partners were, the elevator opened and the boys stepped out, talking about what sounded like Call of Duty.

She waited for them to notice her. They both set their bags down and Esposito was about to get coffee from the break room when he noticed her. He nudged Ryan and nodded his head in her direction. Ryan leaned over and whispered something in Esposito's ear, and then he resumed his path, making his way to the break room.

It had been an hour and they still hadn't said anything.

Were they mad at her? Why would they be? Maybe because she never called them to tell them she was back?

She didn't know, but it was starting to get on her nerves. She looked up to see the two of them playing paper football, flicking the small triangular paper at each other.

Esposito flicked one really hard and it flew over and hit Kate in the shoulder. She rolled her eyes and picked it up off of the floor.

"Seriously, guys? How old are you?"

The guys feigned surprise before Ryan blurted out, "Beckett! Have you been here the whole time?"

"Oh shut up, Ryan. Don't act like you guys didn't know I was here."

Their eyes sparkled with adoration for their pseudo-sister as they got up to come over to her desk.

"We've missed you, Beckett. Welcome back," Esposito said.

"I've missed you guys, too," she said, standing up to hug them both.

"We haven't had a body drop today, and we closed a case yesterday, so there's pretty much nothing to do around here except paperwork," Ryan explained.

"Detective Beckett," they heard the loud, stern voice roar.

"Yes, sir?" she said, turning to Gates.

"Where's Mr. Castle?"

"Um, he's at home. Why?"

"I'm surprised he's not with you, that's all."

"Can I bring him with me tomorrow? Bring him back as my partner?"

"I'm not going to admit that I like having Mr. Castle in my precinct, but he is surprisingly helpful. Yes, have him come back tomorrow. Now, the three of you have paperwork to do. Get to it."

"Yes, Sir," the three detectives said in unison.

Kate opened the door to the loft at 6:37 and was welcomed by the amazing scent of one of her favorite dishes, chicken picatta.

"Is that my beautiful fiancée coming in the door?" she heard from the kitchen.

She giggled and replied, "Why yes, it is!"

He laughed as she made her way into the kitchen. "Is there a reason why you're making my favorite dinner?"

"Just to show you I love you, that's all. And maybe because I found the recipe today and my mouth started watering."

She laughed at her man-child. "You're adorable." She leaned in to kiss him before going to change.

"So, how was your first day back?" he asked as she made her way back to the kitchen, now clad in baggy sweats and a pink v-neck tee shirt.

"Boring. Just paperwork, all day long. But I do have good news."

He turned toward her and raised an eye brow, gesturing for her to continue.

"My partner gets to come back to work tomorrow."

Her... what? She has a new p-... Oh wait. She's talking about him.

She sees his face break out into a huge smile and he grabs the waist elastic on her pants to pull her to him for a kiss.

"I can't wait."

"I think we should tell Lanie and the boys about our engagement tomorrow."

They were lying on the couch together. She was flipping through channels on the TV, trying to find something entertaining for them to watch, while he was entertained by nibbling on her neck.

"Let's invite them to The Old Haunt tomorrow after work for drinks and tell them then," she said.

"Okay, yeah, whatever," he replied, not really listening.

She rolled her eyes at him, knowing that he had no idea what she was saying, and she turned around to face him.

"Castle. Did you hear anything I just said?" she said in a stern voice.

"Yes. Old Haunt tomorrow after work."

"And why are we going there?"

"Because... we want to?"

"See, you weren't listening. We're going to tell Lanie and the boys about our engagement."

"Oh, okay," he said, pulling her back to him so he could suck at the sweet skin of her neck some more.

"Hold on, one more thing. If I'm talking to you, telling you something, you have to listen. You can't be like this at the precinct, Rick."

He was taken aback by her strict tone. Since when was she like this?

"I know, Kate."

"Okay, good. Now, take me to bed, Castle."

His eyes widened and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he picked her up, carrying her to their bedroom.

The conclusion of this chapter means I have another chapter of "Shed No Tears for Me" to write! By the way, have you guys checked it out?

Review?(: