4.16pm


The bell above the door chimed and Kate jumped to her feet, saving Lanie and Alexis from her incessant and impatient tapping, rushing towards Castle's mother as she entered the shop.

"Finally." Kate grumbled, walking across the room and relieving Martha of the garment bags that held both Alexis and Lanie's dresses.

"Sorry, Sorry." Martha fluffed her hair, shaking out the snow and dusting off her coat, the sequins on her neon orange sleeves sparkling brightly before she gave up and removed it completely, much to the relief of the eyeballs of everyone in the room.

"So," Martha moved across the room and hugged her granddaughter, giving Lanie a smile and an incline of her head in greeting as she let Alexis go, her earrings jingling in the quiet shop. "Still going with the traditional white?" Martha waggled her eyebrows as she turned to Kate, "I can't convince you on the turquoise sash? You really did look lovely in the mint green, Kate."

Kate smiled and shook her head, "No for this one day in my life, I think tradition is..." She looked towards Lanie and Alexis for help, not wanting to offend the older woman.

"Tradition for a reason." Lanie tried tactfully.

"Kate wants to look classy." Alexis agreed, "Sophisticated."

"I always said you were a classy gal," Martha grinned, stepping into Kate's side, "You're sure I can't convince you on the green?"


4.22 pm


"So, suit or dress, I still can't decide." Alexis waved her hands, weighing her options.

Lanie and Martha both looked at the dresses hung up next to each other just outside Kate's dressing room. Alexis' dress brushing against the other ones as Martha toyed with the soft, silky material.

"Girl, with your hips, and your bone structure, suit for the ceremony," Lanie twirled Alexis in a circle in front of her, looking her over from head to toe. "Dress for after." She shrugged and winked as if that was comment enough, tugging the girl into her side as they turned away from the wedding dresses hanging in their hundreds.

"I can't believe you kept this a secret for as long as you did." Martha spoke up, holding her own dress up to herself and swaying from side to side.

"Kate has a temper." Alexis grinned, whispering to the women as they smirked in response "Dad always said that, and I thought he was kidding, exaggerating but..." Alexis leant in close, "She can be scary!"

Lanie laughed nodding her head, "Yeah when it comes to her heart, writer boy and the people she loves, she's a tigress." Lanie winked at Alexis, creeping towards the dressing rooms, "A feral beast, a demon outside of the bedroom as well as in it."

"Ew." Alexis shuddered.

"Lanie Parish I can hear you!" Kate barked from somewhere inside. "Stop traumatising the poor girl."

"Get that dress on faster Kate Beckett," Lanie shouted back, grinning all the while, "Or I will start spilling secrets from the vault of drunken detectives and midnight booty calls with over eager writers."

"You go down that road Lanie and I will tell the story of the coconut bikini and the hula dancing tequila shots."

Martha danced on the spot in eager anticipation and Alexis hid her face in her hands.

Silence echoed around the boutique as through the wooden doors and cubicles, separated by divisions and walls and doors, the two women stared each other down.

"Plus, I can always change your bridesmaids dress." Kate threatened, her voice muffled by the material sliding over her head. "How do you feel about magenta and bottle green, with ruched sleeves and pleats."

"Truce."

"That's what I thought."


4.48pm


"Kate?" Martha's voice came through the door, soft and imploring. "Are you ready?"

As ready as she would ever be.

Beyond ready to marry Castle.

But to see herself in her wedding dress...

Kate was standing in front of the floor length mirror, her hands shaking as they skimmed down the soft silken bodice. Her mouth opened as the anxious, nervous air ghosted past her lips, and she nodded at her reflection.

She fiddled with the strands of her hair, tickling at her rosy cheeks, watching the smile on the face of the woman in the mirror spreading wider and wider the more she thought about tonight.

Her heart was thundering in her chest thinking about the way she'd feel walking down the aisle, snow falling all around her and him...Castle waiting for her at the end, at their new beginning.

She blew out a harsh, nervous breath, one hand to her chest and the other pressing over her lips as she thought about the kiss that would make her his wife.

"Just...Just a minute." Kate called back, her voice quiet and tentative as she took herself in.

In the surrounding silence of the dressing room, with the silk and lace pressing against her skin and the wonder bubbling through her veins, Kate could almost imagine her mom behind her. Staring back at her from the mirror as she fixed her hair, straightened her skirt and told her how beautiful she was.

There was nothing in the world she wanted more than to see the look on her mothers face, the smile and the sound of her voice.

The touch of her hand.

The reassurance every little girl wanted from their mother on their wedding day.

Kate took in a breath, letting out a shaky but sure sigh before she turned around to open the door.

Her hand wrapped around the knob, and she closed her eyes for just a moment, wishing her mom into the room with her before she threw it open and stepped out.

She was met with collective gasps, "I always dreamt of the day I would take my daughter wedding dress shopping." Martha said in a hushed tone, opening her arms and walking forward. "But alas...Richard."

"Not really sure Castle could pull off the veil." Kate tried to joke as her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She turned away from the other women, not able to meet their eyes as the emotions flooded her, overwhelming and intense.

Martha crossed the room quickly, understanding in her gentle eyes, stopping just in front of Kate. "I never imagined what it would look like." She said, reaching out and taking both of Kate's hands within her own. "Beautiful."

Soft sincerity laced the words and Kate looked into Martha's tender blue eyes, familiar, kind eyes that gave her strength and calmed her nerves.

One hand across the flat of her stomach and the other touching at the white beading over her shoulders, Kate turned to Martha before looking into the mirror again, taking in her own reflection properly for the first time, "Do you think she'd like it?" She whispered, looking down at herself and back up again, eyes searching Alexis, Lanie and then Martha.

"Oh darling." Martha said, pulling her into a bearhug, holding her tight, like a mother should. "I don't think it would what matter what the dress looked like." She soothed into her hair before pulling back and cupping Kate's face in both her hands. "She'd be happy as long as you were happy."

"I love him so much, Martha." Kate let the words leave her in a desperate rush of truth and wonder.

"And that my dear," Martha said, pulling Kate into her arms as the tears fell slowly down her cheeks, "makes us both happy."