There was a small clank, which woke him for only a millisecond. Instead of waking up fully to investigate it he turned over and reached for Kate. His left eye opened to see where she was and much to his dismay discovered she wasn't there. Sitting up to see if she was in the bathroom he found that to be empty as well. That's when another clank came from downstairs. He reached for his shirt that had been tossed on the floor carelessly the night before. After asking Kate to marry him they could barely keep their hands off each other on the drive to his loft. It hit him suddenly that he had actually asked her to marry him and she'd said yes. He was going to marry Kate Beckett. Putting his shorts on he started towards the steps, but stopped at the top when he heard a long sigh come from downstairs. As quietly as possibly he snuck down the stairs to find Kate sitting at the island eating a bowl of cereal. She was staring intently at the ring he had put on her finger signifying their committed relationship.
"Kate?"
Upon hearing her name she turned her head and as soon as her eyes landed on Rick the biggest smile he'd ever seen was on her face. She jumped down off her chair and launched herself at him wrapping her legs around his waist as his hands held her up.
"We're getting married," she whispered in his ear.
It was his turn for a smile to spread across his face.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Rick, how are we going to tell everyone?" she squirmed her way out of his arms and onto the floor.
"Well I was thinking we could walk up to them and say "we're getting married" but that's just a thought."
She smacked his arm, "Obviously, but how will they react is what I was asking."
"I'm pretty sure they've all expected it from the moment we've started working together."
"I know, but now it's for real. We're getting married Rick," she said really slowly.
"Are you having regrets?"
Kate let out a quick laugh, "We haven't even gotten married and you're already asking if I regret it?"
"I just want to make sure that this is what you really want," he said as he grabbed her hands."
She placed a chaste kiss on his lips, "You're all I've ever wanted."
"Well future Mrs. Castle I think we have a few hours before you need to get ready for work," he waggled his eyebrows at her, "Want to go start practicing for our wedding night?"
Their fingers intertwined as she pulled him towards the stairs.
Kate had just finished all the paperwork she had needed to do that day, Castle was down the street getting food, and Ryan and Esposito were nowhere to be found; It was the perfect time for her to do some background research on Sarah Meckler. She had already done some digging, but since she was doing it secretly she couldn't find everything. Now with Gate's approval she was going to find out anything and everything about her.
It had been an hour of searching without any results. Just as Kate was about to give up she saw something that looked interesting. Apparently Sarah had been admitted into a mental hospital 5 years ago. As Kate read further she discovered that Sarah's father had left her mother to be with another woman. What confused Kate was that none of this had anything to do with her and yet Sarah had tried to kill her multiple times.
"Here you go," Castle placed a bag of food in front of Kate, "What are you looking at?"
"Uh, nothing," she closed off of the file about Sarah, "Just finished my paperwork and now trying to find something to occupy my time."
"I can think of something," he placed his hand on her inner thigh.
"Don't even think about it. Last time we almost got caught," she swatted his hand away and opened the bag of food.
"What'd you bring us, Castle?" Esposito asked as he strolled into the room with Ryan.
"You're lucky I thought of you guys," he threw them each a burger.
"Hey boss is it cool if we leave early?" Ryan asked, "Jenny and I are gonna go see her family."
Esposito butted in, "Yea and I have a date tonight."
"Go ahead guys I'll see you later."
Both guys high-fived as they gathered their things and headed to the elevator.
"Oh and Esposito tell Lanie I said hey," Kate yelled just as the elevator doors were closing.
"Does that mean we get to leave early too?"
"You can go. I think I'm going to stay here a little longer."
"I thought we were going to have a movie night tonight," Castle's lower lip popped out as he began to pout.
Kate smiled at the way he was behaving, "You go ahead and pick out the movies I'll leave in 30 minutes."
He raised his eyebrows as if she were lying to him.
"I promise."
"Fine I'll see you later. Love you."
"Love you too."
She had mad sure he'd gotten on the elevator before she sat down at her computer and opened the file about Sarah again. I wonder whom Sarah's father left her mother to be with. Kate noticed that there were multiple photos that went along with the file plus a birth certificate. Why hadn't she seen these earlier? She clicked on the first photo and noticed a man standing with a little girl on his shoulders and a woman laughing at the two. There was one where the man and woman were kissing and the little girl stood there looking disgusted.
"Classic kid move," Kate chuckled to herself.
The next picture had the same people just in a different pose. That's when Kate looked closer and realized the man looked familiar. She clicked on a picture then another. Panic started to rise in her as she clicked on the birth certificate and looked at the name of Sarah Meckler's father. James Beckett.
"Oh my God," Kate said as she grabbed her chest. The room was closing in on her as she tried to breathe. She stood up a little too quickly because the room started to spin. Sarah Meckler's father was also her father.
"Hello Detective Beckett," Kate heard the voice from across the room.
She turned to see who it was. Sarah Meckler was standing there staring at her with distant eyes and an eerie smile.
