Chapter 21.

He watched her eyes go wide, the answer flit across them, and saw her face break out into the widest smile he'd seen only once before. It was when he'd stopped the bomb and they'd both realized they would live to see another day. It was her smile of life, of knowing that she not only got to keep living, but that there was a new reason to live at all. And his question, one full of promises and a future, had brought that to her face. But what she said next broke him out of that reverie.

"Really?"

Rick chuckled and shook his head. But he needed to be sitting up for this so he pulled her up with him. "Kate. I love you. I've loved you for…ever. You captivate me with everything that you are. You're a brilliant mother to my child. You see me for who I am and love me anyway. We've been through life and death together. Our relationship has been a long time coming, and I was willing to wait for as long as you needed for it to begin. And then I knew that it would take a while longer for you to adjust and to open up and share. For that door that you keep everything locked behind to be open to me. For you to trust me with everything. And I knew I would wait for that. Because I love you. And if I couldn't be with you then I wasn't going to be with anybody else.

"And it took a while, but we broke down that last wall tonight. And now that it's all out there, now that I not only know every expression you give and what it means and what you need, but also what drives you, what made you, and why, now I can't bring myself to wait any longer."

She had tears in her eyes and confusion written all over her face. "Yes, Kate," he answered, "I know it all and I still want you. Hell, it's what makes me want you. I know what you've been through, the dark and twisty, the morbid, the crazy, the obsession. And I am so sorry for that. But I also see what's it's made you into: the extraordinary woman I see before me today. The woman who not only sympathizes, but empathizes with the victims of her cases, the incredible woman who sees the darkness but stands up to it, faces it, and uses the light to banish it away. You face that which took your mother everyday and you succeed. You're incredible, you're beautiful, and I refuse to spend another day without you tethered to me in some way. I want it to be known that despite all reason and unworthiness, you chose me and I get to call you mine. Marry me."

Kate threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, her tears running down and staining the collar of his shirt. "Yes," she murmured over and over again. "Yes, I'll marry you. God yes I'll marry you."

Giddy with joy and no small amount of relief, Rick jumped up, pulling Kate with him, and spun her around like a scene from a movie.

"We're getting married. You're gonna be my wife," he found himself repeating over and over again. Kate started laughing, her life smile still plastered on her face. And it was in that moment that Rick saw their future before them. And it was incredible. Kids and summers at the Hamptons. Solving her mother's case. Anniversaries around the world, most of them spent in bed. Rick would take time from writing to be home with their children. Kate would make Captain and would ease his mind by staying off the streets more. She would hate it at first, but time with their family would make it worth every minute she would have spent pursuing killers. They would attend Epso and Lanie's wedding, dance to every slow song, bring life to the dance floor when the pace kicked back up. They would laugh and tease and love and even fight a little. But through it all, one word would remain.

Rick looked down at Kate and found her already studying him. "Did you see it, too?" She asked.

Rick nodded his head and felt her wipe away a tear that had escaped his eye. "It's beautiful," he whispered. He didn't tell her this, but he didn't need to. This hadn't happened with Meredith and Gina. So he wasn't really surprised when their marriages ended. The way they ended, sure, but he knew in his heart that neither of them would last. But with Kate, even in the beginning, he saw his future with her on every page. It just hadn't been this photographic before.

"I can't wait to get started," he told her. And he got down on one knee and pulled out the velvet box he'd been keeping in his coat pocket for months. "But first, I want to do this right. Katherine Beckett, may I place this ring on your finger as a testimony to our bright and beautiful future together?" Kate's eyes opened wide at the sight of the simple, yet elegant ring before her.

She had shown him the picture only once. She and Lanie had felt like twenty-somethings that day, browsing through engagement ring photos and oooing and aahhing over certain ones. It was when Kate had gotten quiet and just touched the screen in an almost reverence that Rick walked in and asked what they were doing. Kate had turned the computer towards him and smiled shyly, shrugging her shoulders. Rick hadn't said anything, just given her a small smile in return, his eyes wrinkling in pleasure and love. He nodded and left the room after that.

"You remembered." Kate said as he took the ring from his place and slipped it over her finger. It fit perfectly, but Kate wasn't surprised. She simply studied the Tacori engagement ring that now encompassed her finger. It was a six-prong solitaire setting with a round stone. But what made the ring special was the hand-engraved designs that flowed around the band. It was beautiful. It was unique. It was perfect.

Kate knelt down and wrapped her arms around him again. "I love you. I don't deserve you, but I love you." She leaned back and kissed him, putting as much into is as she could. "We're getting married."

"Yes, yes we are," he murmured into her ear. "So I'm it?" He asked after a moment.

"My one and done?" Kate smiled into Rick's neck. "Who'd have thought, right?"

"Oh I told you you'd warm up to me."

Kate leaned back and rolled her eyes. "Mhm and I told you you had no idea." She gave him a wicked smile and then raised her eyebrow. "Was I right?"

Rick's eyes grew dark with desire and he gently rolled her back. Leaning over her, he brought his face close to her ear. Kate's breath hitched in her chest. "Oh you have no idea," he whispered huskily. Then he was gone. Kate's eye popped open – how did he always manage to do that? – and found him standing over her. "Seems I have the same effect," Rick smiled.

Kate grinned and bit her lower lip, suppressing a retort, and instead held out her hand. "Help me up, Superman."

"Yes!" Rick exclaimed as he hauled her up. "I knew it!"

Kate chuckled and looped her arm through his. "Come on, let's get some dinner."

"Wait," Rick said as he spun her to his right side, "Okay we can go now."

"What-" But Kate's question fell silent as Rick took her left hand in his and immediately began fiddling with the ring on her finger. A large grin spread across her face as more of reality set in. We're getting married!

Kate's phone blared from the bedside next to her. Rick groaned and tightened his arm across her midsection. "No," he mumbled as he snuggled closer to her. "Don't go, stay in bed."

Kate smiled as she reached for her phone. "But it might be a dead body," she whispered back. "You know you love a dead body."

"You make me sound so morbid," Rick yawned.

"You write murder books for a living, Rick," she told him. "And you started out doing it for fun."

"You left out the part where I still write them for fun."

"Or else you would stop writing murder altogether." Kate turned in his arms to face him and answered the call. "I believe you just proved my point. Beckett." She nodded to what the officer was saying on the other side. "Okay, thank you. We'll be right there."

Kate leaned back to replace her phone on the bedside table and noted the time. "You know, before I met you I never minded being woken up by a call." Kate yawned as she wrapped herself back in his arms. "But now 8:00 seems so early when I'm on call."

Rick chuckled into her hair. "Mhm and you know before I met you I would never had been caught awake before 10 AM. So where are we going?"

"Kid in a candy store," Kate sighed.

"Yes, I'm like a little kid at Christmas whenever a body drops. It's why you keep me around."

Kate chuckled. "Well that, too. But we actually have—"

"A kid in a candy store? Really?"

"Don't sound too excited," Kate said as she rolled out of bed. She headed toward the bathroom door. "You comin?"

"Hey," he said as he caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "There's a very pretty ring on your finger."

"Mmm yes my boyfriend gave it to me."

"Your boyfriend sounds like a pretty smart man, taking you off the market."

"He seems to think so," Kate responded as she turned on the shower.

"And you don't?"

"Actually, I think that he's really sweet and kind of incredible and," Kate paused looped her arms around his neck, a smile slowly blooming across her face, "I'm gonna marry him."

"You're gonna marry me?" He pulled her into the shower with him. "Really?"

"Mhm, but can we catch a bad guy first?"

"So I was thinking—"

"Never a good thing."

"I love you, too. Now, do you remember when—"

"Rick."

"No, hear me out."

"We're not doing that again."

"But you had fun," Rick whined. "And it was your idea."

Kate studied him for a moment as she waited for the light to turn green. "You actually want me to take the ring off just so we can pull another stunt with our friends?"

Rick opened his mouth then closed it. All the childish glee of another game left his face as more of reality set in. "No, I never want you to take that ring off." He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "We're getting married."

Kate gave him a brilliant smile then turned her attention to the road as she started driving again. They were silent for a few moments, and then, "Can I carry you out of the elevator?"

Kate gave a snort of laughter. "Yes, Rick, if you don't care about losing your manhood, you may carry me out of the elevator."

"Darn. But we have to do something!"

Kate pulled into a parking spot. "I'll tell you what. The first thing I'll do is put on some gloves to hide the ring. We'll get the details from Lanie and the boys and begin the investigation. Anytime we're alone or have a chance, we'll devise a way to tell everyone we're engaged." She cupped his cheek in her hand. "And if you have one of your brilliant epiphanies, then just let me know, okay?" Kate cocked her head and gave him a small smile. "I wouldn't want to stand in the way of you being you, so we'll figure something out, okay?"

Rick gave her a dashing smile. "I love you, you know that? I really do."

Warmth built up in Kate's chest as she took in her fiancé. "I know," she said and she leaned her forehead against his. "And I love you so much, and I want nothing more than to be back in bed with you, even just lying there, but—"

"Right now we have a dead kid in a candy store we need to get justice for. I know." They exited the car and Rick grabbed her hand, pulling her to him in a quick, passionate kiss. "Thank you. I know flair isn't necessarily your thing."

Kate looked back at him with undeniable love glistening in her eyes and smiled. "Always."

They walked into the shop together. Kate stepped ahead of Rick and squatted beside Lanie. "What've we got?"

"Ronnie Jacobs, 8 years old, strangled from behind."

"How can you tell?" Rick asked as he knelt down beside Kate and handed her a pair of gloves. She carefully and quietly put them on.

Lanie lifted the boy's chin. "See the marks from the chord? They have an upward directionality, implying the killer choked him from behind."

"The owner said he opened the shop and went to the back room to answer his cell phone, apparently he keeps it in the back during business hours, and came back out to find the boy's body." Esposito finished reading off his notepad and looked down at the boy.

"So we're thinking body drop," Ryan concluded.

"Which corroborates with time of death," Lanie interjected after checking liver temp. "Little Ronnie here was killed between 6 and 7 this morning."

"Who kills a kid and then drops him off in a candy shop?" Rick asked.

"That's your department, Rick," Kate replied. "Any crazy theories?"

Well I don't love the ending, but I wanted to send a chapter out to say Merry Christmas everybody! Quick question because it's completely up to you guys when this thing ends :: do you want this case to be open and shut or something harder that'll drag the story out longer? I have absolutely loved writing this thing and can end it either at the engagement reveal or at their wedding or jump ahead again when they have kids. I've considered all options but can't really make up my mind . Much love and thank you for all the reviews 3 xo, Aubrey

(P.S. My friend Ally and I may call each other Castle and Beckett, but I own neither of them or the story being told of them. I can dream, but that's all it's gonna be)