February 12th

Sliding into the back of the black town car after his girlfriend, Castle could not help but sigh dreamily to himself; the night had been quite magical. He leaned forward and informed their driver of the correct address before sitting back and reaching for his seatbelt. Once it was fastened, he gazed over at the lovely woman beside him: her hair once so perfectly swept back now beginning to fall in curls around her face, her eyes expressing a tiredness, but bright in his reflection all the same, and her sexy as hell red ball gown looking just as amazing as ever. He was, for perhaps the thousandth time, completely intoxicated by her.

Maybe it was the champagne talking, but he didn't think so. As he held her in his arms on the dance floor and they swayed to the music, he'd felt it stronger than ever. He wanted to hold her close every day for the rest of his life. He wanted to be her partner in everything. He wanted to go all in then and there and for a moment he almost did, before the cliché of a Valentine's Day—well, time of year—proposal hit him and he thought better of it.

Really, it had been Alexis that put the bug in his ear. Castle had been completely taken off guard by her innocent question that morning while he made the eggs and she cut up the fruit. "Are you going to propose to Kate?" did not quite fit with, "Pass the orange juice," and "did you want one piece of toast or two?" Still, the question was out there and required an answer.

When they sat down with their food, Castle had been honest with his daughter. He told her he more than likely had intentions to propose to Kate. In fact, at that point he couldn't imagine her not being in their lives, but he was not going to propose to her at the Cardiac Research Foundation's Valentine's Ball. He and Kate had not yet known each other a full year and she for certain wasn't in a rush to get married again—not that he was by any stretch. They were committed to each other and that was enough. Alexis was satisfied with that response and Castle thought he had been as well—until he'd felt her body perfectly melded into his and then the words were poised on his lips just daring him to let them out.

Ultimately, it was good he didn't propose since a moment later their dance was interrupted by the ear-splitting sound of a waiter dropping a tray of champagne glasses. They'd abruptly stopped swaying, made sure nothing catastrophic had been damaged, chuckled and then wrapped their arms around each other once more. Castle had kissed her head, told her he loved her and felt her squeeze him a little tighter. The moment had made his heart swell, just like she did every day.

"Thanks again for coming with me tonight," he said as he skimmed his hand over her lap and squeezed her thigh.

"Thanks for inviting me."

"Well, I was going to ask that blonde from the Starbucks but—AH! Hey!" He whined when she elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "You know I'm kidding Kate; you're always my date of choice. Unless it involves Harry Potter—then, legally, I have to take Alexis; it's in our father-daughter contract."

She laughed. "Well, you know I'd never go against a legally binding agreement."

"Of course." He squeezed her leg again and said, "But you had fun, right?" Other than Black Pawn's Christmas party, the Valentine's Ball had been the only other fancy event they'd attended together. Castle was no stranger to dressing up in a tuxedo and attending an event where pressing flesh was a requirement, but he knew those types of happenings were outside Kate's comfort zone. She preferred a night in, and as long as he was beside her he had no problem with that. Still, as a moderately famous person, he had obligations and he hoped in the future she would be the one on his arm at each of them.

"I don't know if I could do it every weekend, but sure, it was fun. Honestly, though, I can't wait to get out of this dress." She laughed and shifted in her seat while her nose wrinkled.

"Well, honestly, I can't wait to get you out of it either." He husked at her before pressing his lips against her cheek. She flashed him a grin that shot right down his spine and into his groin. God, she was incredible. Why the hell was it going to take them fifteen more blocks to get home? His next donation definitely had to be to whoever was working on the invention of flying personal transport vehicles. Or teleportation.

"Oh boy." Kate groaned the moment her foot hit the sidewalk in front of Castle's loft. She hadn't noticed it while they were at the event, but sitting in the car must have reset the feelings in her toes because standing out of the town car was excruciating on the balls of her feet.

"What is it?" Castle asked as he took her hand.

"My feet hurt; guess I'm getting old."

The writer laughed. "If you're getting old, what does that make me?"

Kate smirked over at him. "Ancient." At his unappreciative look, Kate laughed and allowed him to lead the way to the elevator.

Despite the ache in her feet and the pinch in her skin from an uncomfortable dress zipper, Kate had to admit the evening was enjoyable. Well, any evening with her boyfriend was enjoyable, but she particularly liked seeing him in that sort of setting. It was not too often she spent time in the presence of Richard Castle, famous mystery writer, and while had a tendency to ham it up and draw attention to himself, when he was in a small group of people or particularly if one or two people approached him, he was so gracious and genuine about their kind words it made her fall in love with him all over again. He was incredible and she never tired of seeing each incredible side of him.

Walking into the loft, the duo was met by Alexis, who had been seated on the couch dressed in her pajamas and wearing her lime green plush robe along with fuzzy slippers that made it seem as though sharks were about to bite her feet off at the ankles (a Christmas gift from her father, naturally). Kate was stuck by an oddly familial sensation as the girl approached, her red hair gathered in a messy bun at the crown of her head. She could see a similar scenario a decade into the future when they were coming home to their own boy or girl who had waited up for them. Perhaps it was due to her nervousness sensors being dulled by the champagne, but this image didn't scare her; it made her smile.

"How was the party? Was it like prom?" the teen asked them.

"Actually, I didn't go to my prom." Kate replied.

"Why not?" Alexis asked while the writer exclaimed a surprised, "Really?"

Kate glanced at them both before nodding. "Yeah, I was in my high school rebel phase and too cool for something so organized and traditional—I went to a poetry slam instead."

While Castle nodded and drifted off towards the kitchen, Alexis tilted her head and asked, "Do you regret it?"

Kate merely shrugged. She recalled laughing about it at the time—thinking about all those who thought going to prom was so awesome whereas she was too sophisticated; she wasn't a high school aged teen, but a young adult. She honestly could not remember a time even years later when she regretted not going. "Um…not really. I guess it's a rite of passage for some, but once you're an adult prom was just a dance."

Alexis sighed and Kate suspected she may have hurt the girl's feelings some, so she reached out her hand and stroked Alexis's arm adding, "But if you want to go, you absolutely should."

"I really just want to get the dress." She confessed and they laughed together. Taking a step closer, Alexis asked her, "Will you come with Gran and me to help me pick it out?"

Though she fought it, Kate was certain an expression of surprise crossed her face. Alexis wanted her to join in prom dress shopping. While certainly not the most ground breaking of invitations, it was the first time they would be doing something together outside of the loft when Castle was not also in attendance. As their relationship was progressing, this was a natural step, and of course who could resist some shopping particularly when it came to the Castle family's seemingly limitless budget. "Sure, if you want me to."

Alexis shrugged. "Yeah I think it'll be…" but her voice drifted off when her father returned from the kitchen. He held a red can of whipped cream tilted upside down while he sprayed white foam into his mouth.

Shaking her head like she was about to scold her child for ruining his dinner with candy, Kate asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm hungry." He defended with a mumble due to his stuffed mouth. "The fancier the event, the less food they feed you—it's so unfortunate. Want some?"

As she had never been a fan of desserts from a can, Kate shook her head. "I'll refrain, thanks."

"Alexis?"

The red head also refused. "On my way to bed. Night guys." She gave both Kate and her father a one armed hug before hurrying up the stairs.

Kate hoisted the skirt to her dress and began walking towards Castle's bedroom when from the corner of her eye she spotted that not only was he following her, but he was still spraying the white fluff into his mouth. "Aren't you gonna put that back?"

His reply was as casual as ever. "Not if we're going to use it."

Kate stopped walking abruptly and dropped her hands to her sides. "Castle I'm exhausted and my feet hurt – now is really not the time to eat whipped cream from my body."

Despite her negative answer, he grinned. "But there will be a time for that in the future, won't there?"

Despite the fact that she shook her head with irritation, Kate couldn't stop herself from smiling. He was just so ridiculous and intoxicating even if part of her did want to smack him. She had made it thirty years without anyone licking sticky foods from her body, but somehow she suspected Castle would make that event one to remember, so she shrugged and continued into the bedroom. "If you play your cards right."

"Sweet!"

Laughing lightly to herself, Kate stepped up in front of the mirror atop the dresser so she could remove the fancy ruby earrings she'd borrowed from Castle's mother for the event. According to Martha, the diamond studs Castle gave her for Christmas were simply too plain for such a fancy, gala event. Unfortunately, she realized as the night went on, the larger and gaudier the earrings, the heavier they were. As she unpinned them, she grimaced and wondered if it was possible for earlobes to bruise.

A moment later, Castle stepped up behind her, set his whipped cream on the dresser and asked if she wanted him to get the zipper on the back of her dress. When she confirmed, he eased the zipper down and said, "You know actually I had a thought…"

Glancing up, Kate caught his eye using the reflection in the mirror. "Does it involve a different food on my naked body?" she asked with a notable annoyed edge to her voice.

He chuckled. "No. I was thinking that maybe you should move in here. I mean…we spend most nights together—we have since Christmas. Before that it was more nights than not. Just seems like the next step." Though he finished with a casual shrug, his tone indicated much more serious intentions.

Kate let out a long exhale and turned around to face him. She took a moment to form her response before giving it. Honestly, his question had surprised her. Yes, what he said was true, but Christmas had barely been six weeks prior and they hadn't even been dating that long before that. While her answer was not going to be yes, she also didn't want him to think she thought less of their relationship in any way. Gently, she began, "Castle we've only been dating a few months…"

He took a half step back. "A few months? By my calculations it's more like seven. Right?"

Seven months meaning he considered them dating from that first night they slept together. Seeing as neither had been with another in that time period, she could see his basis for argument, but in Kate's mind he was once again seeing the world through rose colored glasses. In those late summer months they were just having fun and not anything serious so, in her mind, they could not count towards actual relationship time.

"Kate." He reached out his hands and gently slipped them around her upper arms when she'd been silent for almost a full minute. Tilting his head he smiled sweetly at her. "I love you. I want to wake up every morning beside you, make you breakfast and annoy you while you're getting ready for work. But if you don't think you're ready …"

Kate couldn't help but laugh at his final statement. He did annoy her almost every morning she left for work from the loft. It was almost incredible how he could come up with a different way to irritate her almost every day. Yet, as she had spent the better part of her adult life as someone who greeted each morning with a grumble and grunted her way through those early hours until the coffee kicked in, she could not exactly say she minded that he was a caffeine-free way to start her day happy.

"Oh, Rick of course I love you, but…I need a little more time for that. Why don't you ask me again in a few months?"

He grinned, kissed her forehead, and pulled his iPhone from his pants pocket. "I'm putting it in my calendar right now!" Then, as he tapped away at the phone with his right thumb, he used his left hand to grab the whipped cream bottle, spray one last glob into his mouth, and walk out of the bedroom, presumably to return it to the refrigerator.

As she watched him go, Kate snagged her bottom lip with her teeth and shook her head; he was completely insane. Turning back to her reflection in the mirror, the brightness and joy on her face caught her almost off-guard, and a peculiar sensation formed in her stomach. Inexplicably, in that moment it hit her and she knew without any doubt.

Richard Castle was the man she would marry. For better or worse, in sickness or health, she was his for the rest of her days as was he hers. Together they would have children, raise a family, and spent evenings together on the couch licking whipped cream out of a red metal can. They would laugh and cry and love.

And she couldn't wait.