Arcadia

"Mm," Kate hums, draped over her partner's chest in their bed. Her nose nudges against his sternum and she breathes in the scent of him, a little musky after two rounds. "We're so good at that."

"Are you surprised?" he laughs, dropping a lazy kiss to the crown of her head. All over again, she remembers the slack awe on his face as they moved together, how attentive he is. Every shift and roll of their bodies is so good, and now it's all she can do to lay here limp with satisfaction on his chest.

She manages a kiss against his bare skin, her arm tightening a little around his waist. Her fingers seek the soft spot underneath his ribcage and flutter there, making him yelp and shiver, and she takes pity on him and lays her palm flat against his side.

"Not surprised, no. I always figured we would be great, but I was wrong that first time we met. It was me who had no idea."

Reaching down for the sheets, Castle drags them up over their bodies and shifts underneath her to get a little more comfortable, her leg falling to drape between both of his. "Well you weren't totally wrong. I had no idea either. You're just. . .wow."

"Thanks," she laughs, closing her eyes to keep the joy safe inside. One arm is tight around her shoulders to keep her half on top of him, and the other strokes back and forth at the curve of her waist, his knuckles just skimming her skin. "Can we stay here for the rest of the evening?"

"I thought we were supposed to be figuring out an action plan?" he grins, torquing his neck at an awkward angle to kiss her.

Shifting off her partner's chest, Kate props her head in one hand, elbow to the mattress, and leans over Castle. Her free hand splays at his cheek, thumb circling against the thin skin next to his eye, and he arches his neck to lift his head off the pillow and kiss her, sliding a hand into her hair.

Kate's tongue slicks inside his mouth and he groans, pushing on her shoulder until she lets herself drop onto her back and spread out, her limbs attached with wire as she arranges herself against the mattress. Her partner looms over her and opens his mouth at her neck, careful not to leave any purpling marks as he grazes his teeth over her skin.

"I think- oh," she gasps, fisting a hand in his hair to hold him in place as his tongue dips into the hollow of her clavicle to taste the moonshine that pools there. "I think we can develop a plan of action while we're in bed, don't you?"

That makes him laugh, and suddenly all of the lust flakes away and he flops onto his back next to her, dropping an arm over his face to cover his eyes. "You think I can concentrate on the case while I'm in bed with you and we're both naked?"

"I think you can do it," she says, shifting closer to him and nuzzling her nose against his cheekbone, one hand snaking down underneath the sheets. "If you try really, really hard."

Her fingers close around him and he yelps, circling her wrist to drag her hand back out from under the sheets and grumbling something about cruelty.

"As much as I love you, I'm gonna need some time before I'm ready to go again. So we might as well use it to figure out what we're gonna do."

"You're right," she agrees, climbing out of bed and padding to the closet, her bare skin prickling with the hot rake of his eyes. Kate snags one of his button downs from the hangar and tugs it over her head, a handful of buttons keeping it modest.

A little more modest than she was aiming for, actually, and she unhooks a button at each end of the placket, lets a little more skin peek out from under the starch-crisp fabric. Back in the bedroom, she grabs a fresh pair of underwear from the dresser and steps into them, arranging the lace over her hips. She finds a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt for her partner and tosses them towards him, heads to the kitchen to get them each a glass of water while he gets dressed.

When she comes back he's sitting up against the headboard, the pale grey cotton of his shirt stretched tight around the swell of his biceps and the sheets draped neatly across his lap. Kate hands him his glass and climbs into bed beside him. "I had a thought."

"Hit me with it," Castle says, taking a sip of water before he settles the glass down on his nightstand and reaches for her hand, lacing their fingers together.

"I was thinking, how did our killer gain access to the victim's homes? All four of our victims must have been killed while their backs were turned, must have been snuck up on. So we were operating under the assumption that they just let the killer inside, right? But what if they didn't. What if the killer broke in?"

She gives her partner a moment to think it through, little creases forming in his forehead as he chews on it, and his thumb rubs absent-minded little circles back and forth at the base of hers. "You're right. Apart from Mary-Anne, all of our victims were killed at home. So our killer must have gained entry somehow."

"I had a thought about how we can figure it out, too. I bet Bill would have an idea of how you can get inside the house if the doors are locked."

"Do people keep their doors locked in a place like this?" Castle says dryly, and Kate slips down in the bed a little bit, lets her head rest against the firm length of his bicep.

Huffing a laugh, she strokes the outline of his knee underneath the sheets, drumming the tips of her fingers against the hard slate of his patella. "Oh yeah. The women at the mothers' group drilled that into me. Not necessarily to keep people out, but to keep the kids in. You don't want them to just open the door and wander off."

"Right, so it stands to reason that all of our victims would keep their doors locked," Castle says, sliding an arm around her shoulders to keep her body close against his. He drops little kisses to her temple, his lips warm and soft, and Kate squirms with happiness. "And asking Bill is smart. I bet he knows what to do, if we were to get locked out or something. We could pretend we did and figure it out that way."

"Good idea," Kate hums, the inside of his bicep warm against the back of her neck, and his fingers flirt with the collar of the shirt she stole from him, dipping down to skim her clavicle. It makes her feel lazy, and her body slides further down the bed until she's tucked under his arm and her nose nuzzles at his ribcage. "But let's maybe do that tomorrow. I don't feel like putting the bump back on tonight."

That makes him laugh and he draws them both down in the bed until they're horizontal again. Kate curls up on her side, drawing her knees up until they nudge against his thigh and his arm drapes over her, fingertips snaking under her shirt to tuck into the waistband of her underwear.

"Are you tired?" he murmurs. They're sharing a pillow, their noses almost touching, and it's nothing at all to dust a kiss to his mouth. She can't believe it was only last night that they did this for the first time, that it's been a little less than twenty four hours since she finally kissed him for real.

Already, it's so easy. He kisses her like it's everything, like he's awed by her, but there's no awkward shuffling around one another. No figuring out how they work as a couple, because they've already been partners for so long.

"No, not really. I just feel lazy. I kinda want to cuddle and watch a movie," she admits, her cheeks flushing.

The suggestion makes him grin and he turns his face into the pillow and drums his feet against the mattress like a little boy. "You are so amazing. There's nothing I want to do more than snuggle up with you."

"See now why doesn't it surprise me that you're a cuddler," she teases, sifting her fingers through his hair. Curling her toes in the sheets, Kate chases his mouth and brushes a kiss to the corner of his lips, an arm sliding around his neck. "Wanna pick the movie?"

"I have Netflix on the laptop," he says, already reaching for it from the nightstand drawer. It gives Kate a clear view of the backs of his thighs as the sheet tugs down around his waist and she can't help but reach for him, fluttering her fingers against his skin.

The drawer slams and he barks out a pained noise, drawing his hand back and sucking on his knuckle, his eyes wide. "Ouch. That was mean. You're mean, Kate Beckett."

"I'm sorry," she says, letting the breath support drop from her voice and gazing up at him through hooded eyes, her lashes splicing him up. "I didn't mean for you to hurt yourself. Let me see."

Taking his hand, Kate smoothes her thumb over his knuckle where it's a little red, lifting it to her mouth and letting her tongue flick out to touch his skin. He shudders, a growl rumbling low down in his throat, and his eyes slam closed. "Beckett. A movie. "

"You don't want me?" she hums, tilting her head at him so that the spill of her hair falls over one shoulder. Last night, he admitted against the crease of her neck that her hair has always driven him to distraction, and then he fisted a hand in the curls and she was on her knees and-

Well. She's adding it to her list of new ways to shut him up.

"I do," he gruffs, a hand at the back of her neck to reel her in. The hair at her nape is starting to get a little tangled now, because every time Castle kisses her his fingers are drawn to the so-soft skin. His tongue touches the swell of her bottom lip and as she arches towards him, her mouth open and seeking, he breaks away from the kiss entirely. "I really do. But I also want to cuddle and watch a movie. So, that first? And then we've got the rest of the night to do, uh, other things."

"Okay," she grins, taking the laptop from the mattress and settling back in beside him with it balanced against her thighs.

Opening it up, she types in his passcode and he makes a disgruntled noise beside her, his chin propped on the top of her shoulder so that his jawbone grates against her every time he moves his head. "How did you know my password?"

"You know mine," she fires right back, arching an eyebrow at him and schooling her face into careful slackness when his teeth close around her earlobe. "Castle, I know you think you know everything there is to know about me because of your writerly observations and whatnot, but I'm a detective. I've picked up a couple of things about you, too, over the years."

"That's so sexy," he growls, his mouth open at her neck, and Kate jabs her elbow back against his solar plexus, has him sagging against the pillows. "Alright, come on then. You choose."

Kate opens up his web browser and searches for Netflix, clicking to open the site. It opens up to ask who's watching, the four little icons with their goofy faces, and Kate turns over her shoulder to see him and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks, by the way. For giving me your Netflix password."

"No problem," he shrugs, but she catches the pleased little quirk at one corner of his mouth. He'd been going on about some movie at the precinct a few months ago, squabbling with the boys about a plot detail that went right over her head, and she had made the mistake of asking what they were talking about.

Immediately, all three of them had turned on her with matching horrified expressions, and then Castle had insisted that she watch the movie the moment she got home from work, had scrawled his Netflix login on a bright orange post-it and tucked it up safe against her palm.

Since then, she's been one of the profiles on his account, along with Alexis and Martha. She doesn't use it all that often, but enough that she's grateful for it. And every time she sees that little green cyclops face with her name underneath, the thought of being part of Castle's family sends a shower of bubbling joy cascading through her belly.

"What are you in the mood for?" she asks, scrolling through the offerings. She clicked on Castle's profile instead of her own, intrigued to see what's in his history, and she arches an eyebrow at him, her mouth stitched into a seam. "Continue watching Brothers and Sisters?"

"Hey," he whines, taking his laptop back from her and curling up around it. "It's a good show."

Both eyebrows travelling up towards her hairline now, Kate folds her arms across her chest, still a little alarmed by the curious flatness of her stomach without the suit on. "Sure it is."

"Excuse me," Castle huffs at her, drawing his legs up to curl up even tighter around his computer. "May I remind you that I hardly teased you at all about your Temptation Lane fangirling. I even got you that signed poster."

"I remember," she says, a smile curving at her mouth and she ducks her head, tucks herself in close beside him. "I have it in my bedroom, you know."

That makes him grin in echo of her, a kiss brushed to the end of her nose. "I can't wait to see it when we get back to the city."

"And I look forward to getting to know your bed, too," she says, straightening up again and taking the laptop back, laying it against her thighs. "Now. Let's pick something."

"You know, maybe we should watch Brothers and Sisters," he says wryly. "There was a lawyer in the pilot episode who really reminded me of you."

Knocking her temple against his chin, Kate rolls her eyes and touches two fingers to the mousepad to scroll through the offerings. "I said a movie. Not five seasons of a TV show."

"Alright, alright," her partner laughs, his arm sliding around her shoulders again until she's settled comfortably, half leaning against him and half against the stack of pillows. "Hmm, what about this one? You seen it?"

He moves the mouse to hover over the movie poster and Kate furrows her brows, scanning the description. "Heathers? Is it any good."

"Oh, cult classic, Beckett," he says, already clicking on the little play icon to start the movie up. "You have to see it. And you know, I think there's a musical based on the movie that's in development."

"Why does it not surprise me that you're excited about a musical?" she teases, but Kate wriggles to get comfortable and rests her head back against her partner's chest, tucking the sheets in around them both. "Alright then, let's see what all the fuss is about."

Kate finds herself singing in front of the stove the next morning, pancakes browning to perfection in the skillet and the coffee percolating, the rich smell of it curling up to meet her. She's wearing one of his t-shirts with her pajama pants and the cotton stretches wide over the baby bump, distorting the Green Lantern logo.

Last night after the movie finished they had an in-depth conversation about the plot, about murder being passed off as suicide, and Castle suggested that their killer might actually be a disgruntled high schooler. It had made her laugh, and then she had smudged the arc of her grin against his own smile and he had rolled her underneath him, careful to put the laptop safely out of the way.

Her body is grumbling at her for it, for only snatching a handful of hours' sleep, but she's loose with satisfaction as she flits her way around the kitchen, keeping a watchful eye on their breakfast. When everything's ready, she sets it all out on a tray and heads back for the bedroom to wake her partner.

"Castle," she hums as she comes inside the room, settling the tray down on her nightstand and slatting open the blinds to let the dove grey of the early morning creep its way inside and allow her to see him. His skin looks so smooth, his face slack with whatever lovely dreams he's having, and Kate sinks to sit by his hip and touches her thumb to the corner of his eye. "Babe, come on. Time to wake up."

"Mm," he groans, rolling over onto his back, and his body creaks like an old ship battered by a storm. "Kate? Time s'it?"

She gives him a little space, doesn't want to get clipped by a felled arm as he thrashes into awareness, and Kate comes around to get into bed on the other side and reach for the tray, keep it in her lap. Eventually, Castle heaves himself into sitting up and props his body against the headboard, scrubbing his fists against his eyes.

His whole jaw comes unhinged on a yawn and he turns his head to see her, reaching for her hand and lifting it to his lips to kiss each of her knuckles one by one. "Good morning, gorgeous. I could wake up like this every day."

"Me too," she admits, shifting across the mattress to tuck herself in tighter against him now that he's got full control of his limbs. Usually Kate is out of bed the moment awareness hits her, hates to feel like she's wasting the day just lounging between the sheets, but with Castle everything is different.

This morning she woke up slowly, like wading through clear and lovely water, and opened her eyes to the shard of Castle's cheekbone and the thick forest of his lashes. She let herself have the indulgence, tracing a fingertip back and forth along the seam of his elbow and watching the scrunching of his face as he dreamed, hearing the muttering of nonsensical word salad. It took her half an hour to muster the willpower to get herself out of bed, and then only because the idea of bringing him breakfast was an excellent motivator.

"So, we're pretending to get locked out today, right?" Castle clarifies as he reaches for his coffee cup, blowing gently on the surface of the liquid and sending little ripples scattering through the mug.

Kate sets the tray down between them and reaches for her own coffee, humming her pleasure as the first sip scalds its way through her mouth. "Yeah. That's the only plan we have right now."

"I'm sure it'll-" he starts, and then his jaw snaps shut and he sets his mug down clumsily on the nightstand, a couple of drips sloshing up over the rim. "Kate Beckett, did you call me babe?"

"Yes," she winces, pressing her hands to her cheeks as if that can hide the furious bloom of colour from him. She's not even sure where it came from, only that she is so absolutely smitten with her partner that for the first time in her life, pet names no longer fill her with revulsion. "Sorry."

Castle takes her mug from her and sets it down next to his, moving the tray to the nightstand as well so he can get his arms around her and drag her across the sheets, tuck her in close against him. "Don't be sorry. I think it's adorable."

"Are you saying I'm cute?" she huffs, feeling a little grumpy with it, but a pout plumps her bottom lip and his whole face goes soft with adoration, a hand coming up to settle against her cheek. "I'm a detective."

"You are," he affirms, fingers wriggling underneath her arm to make her squirm. "And that's badass. But you're also smoking hot. And then sometimes you're half asleep all curled up on my chest and you do this little scrunching thing with your nose, and it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Kate buries her face against her partner's chest, a completely ridiculous flood of emotion scalding the backs of her eyes, and she takes a second to breathe through the melt of love in her chest. "I think you're pretty cute too."

"Well obviously," he grins, wiggling his shoulders to jostle her, but it makes laughter bubble up behind her sternum and she manages to straighten up and look at him again. Her hands come to his jaw to hold him in place and she leans in, kisses him slow and good so that he knows how honoured she is to be his love.

They eat in easy silence, then, Castle making tiny noises of pleasure around mouthfuls of pancake, and when they're done he offers her the first shower, disappearing to the kitchen to clean up their breakfast things.

Kate washes her hair and shaves, passing her partner on her way out of the shower stall and lifting up in her bare feet to kiss him. He shudders at the cold touch of her hair against his chest and she steps away again, patting his bare butt to usher him on his way.

She takes the time to blow dry her hair, head upside down in front of the dresser, and when wet hands come to the span of her waist she shrieks and jerks upright again, spinning around to see her partner with a towel slung down low around his hips and a ridiculous grin stretching his mouth.

"Did I scare you, Detective?" he teases and she swats at his bare chest, turning off the blowdryer and setting it on the dresser. One finger to his chest, Kate pushes him a few inches away from her and turns back to face herself in the mirror and inspect the fall of her hair. From over her shoulder he pulls a string of goofy faces that she steadfastly ignores, but he slides his arms around her waist and kisses the corner of her mouth. "I see you smiling."

"Not smiling," she knocks her head against his, and he untangles himself to let her struggle her way into the pregnancy suit and pad through to the closet to get dressed.

She picks out a woollen dress in a pale blue-grey, pairing it with darker grey tights, and she heads back for their bedroom to put some makeup on while Castle gets dressed himself. When he comes back he fists his hands in the material over her hips and reels her in, takes a kiss from her. "See? Told you. Super cute."

"Stop," she flushes, burying her face against his neck, and the thick navy knit of his sweater tickles her cheek. Her awkwardness makes him laugh and he wraps his arms around her and squeezes, his lips dusting the crown of her head.

Untangling herself, Kate heads for the laundry room to find boots and a coat, winding a scarf around her neck as well. Behind her, Castle whistles a merry tune while he shrugs his way into his own jacket and she rolls her eyes, whipping around to face him.

"Can you try to look a little bit less like you got thoroughly laid last night," she says, winding her arms around his neck and tilting her head on a wry smirk.

Castle's forehead drops to rest against hers and he growls low in his throat, palms settled in the curves of her waist. "But Kaaate. That was the best sex of my life, last night. How can every round be better than the last?"

"I don't know," she says, teeth sinking into her bottom lip for just a moment. "But it does keep getting better, doesn't it."

"Yeah," he gruffs, and then he drops his hands from her waist and takes a couple of stumbling steps backwards, pushing his hands into the depths of his pockets instead. "We need to go see Bill. Figure out how to break in to our own house."

Kate reaches for his hand and they leave the house together, strolling the few blocks to Maggie and Bill's home. Her partner tucks their joined hands into the depths of his pocket to protect them from the chill and their shoulders bump together as they walk.

On the porch of Maggie's home, Kate curls a palm at the back of his neck and draws him down to her, kisses him softly. Her fingers play with his earlobe and when they break apart she smiles, dipping her head.

"What was that for?" he says, a grin curling at the seam of his mouth, and he tucks her hair back behind one ear.

Shrugging, Kate drops her hand from his neck and pushes both of hers into her pockets in case she reaches for him again. "I just thought I might not get the chance for a little while."

"You can kiss me any time you feel like it," he says, and then he reaches out to ring the doorbell.

It swings open almost immediately and Bill beams at them, ushering them both inside. "Good morning, you two. How are you?"

"We're fantastic," Castle grins, reaching for Kate's hand again and lacing their fingers. "Well, almost fantastic. We accidentally locked ourselves out of the house, and we were wondering if you have any idea how we can get back in before we have to call a locksmith."

"I do indeed. Excuse me just a moment," Bill says, disappearing into the study for a second, and Kate turns a smile up to her partner. He grins right back, and then Bill is in front of them again. "Come on."

"Thank you so much," Kate says, stepping out onto the porch at Bill's ushering, and Castle sticks close by her side.

Leaning back into the house, Bill calls up the stairs to his wife. "Maggie dear, I'm just going to help Kate and Rick with something, I'll be back in a jiffy."

The three of them walk together back to the house and gather on the lawn, the dig of the key in Kate's pocket making her feel a little on edge. She took it just in case Bill somehow doesn't manage to get them inside, and she can't help but worry the jagged teeth of it with the pad of her thumb.

"Do you have a garage door opener?" Bill asks, glancing around as if he hopes one will materialise, but beside her Castle's spine snaps to attention.

"It's in the car!" he says, but then his shoulders deflate and he winces. "Which is locked. And the keys are in the house."

Bill heads for the car and peers in the window, comes back a moment later and tugs a little ring of four identical garage door openers from his pocket. "I'll let you guys in on a secret. There are only four unique codes for the garage door openers. Yours is this one."

He presses a button on one of the remotes and the mouth of their garage opens wide, peeling back to show the mostly empty cavern of the interior. Bill ushers the two of them inside and Kate clings to her partner's hand, anxiety spiking in her guts.

"Skeleton key," Bill says, showing them the simple key for the door into the house, and he slides it smoothly into the lock and opens the door, swings it wide. "There you go."

"Thank you so much," Castle says, the three of them moving up the steps and inside the house. "It's handy to know that it's not a total disaster if we get ourselves locked out again."

Bill laughs at that, a little too loudly, and it sets Kate's teeth on edge. "I don't have a key for the front doors, but I can get you inside if you ever need me to in an emergency."

"Thank you," Kate says, and Bill moves back towards the door again.

Making his way down the steps, he hesitates at the bottom of them and puts the key away in his pocket again. "You're very welcome. I'll close the garage door on my way out. Have a nice day."

"Bye," Castle calls from over Kate's shoulder, and the moment the garage door rolls down again Kate whips around to face him, her jaw slack. Her partner's expression echoes hers, his eyes wide, and he grapples for her hand as if he needs the grip to keep him standing. "Can you believe how easy that was?"

"I know!" she splutters, dragging Castle with her and pushing on his shoulder to have him sit at the kitchen island, settling on the barstool next to his. "If anybody were to get a hold of those keys they could get into any house in the whole neighbourhood."

Shaking his head, Castle swivels to lean back against the countertop and finally manages to close his mouth again. "I can't believe it's even legal for Bill to keep a key to everybody's home."

"It's kind of making me want to change the locks," Kate huffs, sweeping her hair over one shoulder and unbuttoning her coat, shrugging her way out of it and draping it over her lap instead. "But at least we have something to go on now."

"Do you think we could manage to get the keys away from Bill long enough to dust them for prints?" her partner hedges and Kate winces, shaking her head.

"No, I don't. He must guard them pretty closely."

Castle's forehead creases at that and he stares out of the French doors and into their garden, as if the neat prickle of grass will inspire him. "I bet we could. You get yourself invited over to Maggie's place, I'll lure Bill over here somehow, and you sneak into the study and dust them while she's distracted with something."

It's a reckless idea, but she's getting desperate. Christmas is getting ever closer, and she can't bear the idea of her partner spending it here, away from his daughter. At this point, she'll take a reckless idea over no idea at all.

"You know what? That just might work."