14. first frost - season 7 (after Once Upon a Time in the West)
The bed next to her is empty when she wakes up, the sheets are thrown back and the space is cold. She lets her eyes fall closed in disappointment, swallowing back her sigh.
There go her plans of spending her morning off wrapped in her husband's arms.
She takes a moment before rolling out of bed. She tugs his shirt from last night on over her shoulders and does up a couple buttons to cover her breasts.
She walks through his office first, but it's empty. His computer is open, the document for the latest Nikki Heat book in black and white on the screen. She saves it quickly, even though he probably already did, before padding into the living room.
That's where she finds him, standing at the edge of the room, staring out the window. He's shirtless, wearing just his boxers. His arms are crossed over his chest, making the muscles of his shoulders tense.
She smiles, stepping towards him. She presses her chest against his back, rests her head between his shoulder blades and wraps her arms around his middle.
"You're up early," she whispers.
He turns backwards, as though trying to see her. He uncrosses his arms, and his hand falls to rest over hers. "I was inspired," he says. "Decided to write."
She chuckles. "In the living room without your computer or a notepad?" she breathes.
He hums and squeezes her fingers. "I was writing, and then I decided to make you coffee before you woke up," he explains, "and then I got distracted."
"By the view we see every day?"
He chuckles, and his hand wraps around hers. He tugs gently and pulls her around him until she's leaning against his side instead of his back. Her head falls to rest on his shoulder, her arms snaking around his waist.
"By the first frost," he breathes.
She blinks at that, refocuses her vision on the view in front of her. It's not much, so very slight. The white crystals at the edges of the window, sparkling on the window sill. The slightest of glimmers on the bricks of the buildings across the street, the barely visible sheen of white on the trees lining the sidewalk below.
It's not much, and yet it has a smile spreading across her face. Her arm tightens around him. He draws her closer, his arm draping over her shoulders, pulling her against his chest.
"It's beautiful," she whispers. "I wish we could see more of it."
His arm around her tightens once again. "Yeah," he agrees. "Alexis and I have been out in the Hamptons on frosty days before and it's…beautiful. It's like every blade of grass is sparkling."
Her smile widens. "I know," she breathes. "My parents and I have been out at the cabin before and it was…gorgeous. I used to go out and pluck the blades of grass and the frost would melt on my fingers. I loved it."
He turns towards her at that, and she feels him dusk a light kiss to the top of her head. She reaches out to him, wraps both her arms around him and squeezes him gently.
"I love you," she whispers.
His arm trails down her back, fingers brushing along the line of her spine. "I know," he says. "I love you, too."
"I know," she echoes. "I just…just a few months ago I didn't know if we would ever have this, lazy mornings just wrapped in each other's arms like this, enjoying the small things. Castle, I thought…"
He kisses her head again, and his hand settles over hers. the cool metal of his ring pressing against her knuckles.
"Hey," he breathes. "I'm here. Everything's okay. We got married, Kate. We have a lifetime of lazy mornings spent wrapped in each other's arms ahead of us, okay?"
She nods, nuzzling herself deeper into his embrace, pressing herself harder against his chest. "I know," she says. "I just…little things make me remember how close we were to losing all of this, and make me so thankful we didn't."
"I am, too," he agrees. "I can't imagine not…being here with you, experiencing this with you, never having gotten to marry you."
Slowly, she turns her head and presses a kiss to his chest before pulling away ever so slightly. She slips her hand out from under his and reaches up to frame his jaw in her hand. He turns to face her, the slightest of smiles curling at the corners of his mouth.
Standing on her toes, she presses a soft kiss to his lips.
"Sorry," she breathes into his mouth. "I didn't mean to ruin the mood by bringing it up."
He presses his hand harder against her lower back, pulling her tighter against him. His other hand trails up her spine, around her shoulders to curl around her cheek, his thumb drifting across her lower lip.
"Don't apologize," he whispers. "Never apologize. You didn't ruin our morning at all, Kate.
"I just…I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
He kisses her forehead. "I know," he breathes. "Just…don't apologize. You're allowed to be sentimental. You're allowed to be grateful, Kate."
She smiles, and pushes herself onto her toes to kiss him again. He holds her close, his arms around her back, his body swaying them both back and forth ever so slightly.
Her smile is still wide when she pulls away and presses her cheek against his shoulder.
"How about we get coffee and a blanket and continue our lazy morning?" he suggests, words so quiet she feels the against her ear more than she hears them.
She grins at him. "Or we could move our…lazy morning into the bedroom, have coffee a little later?"
His smile mirrors hers as he leans down to kiss her again, and again, and again until he's sweeping her off her feet, cradling her against his chest and carrying her bridal style to their bedroom.
Once again, a huge thanks goes to Marielyfan for reading over this chapter.