You Only Live Once

He pretend like this was an amazing present...but it wasn't. He was terrified. Living with his mother for all these years, he learned how to hide that fear, but he wanted to just get out of this plane. For his birthday, she had gotten him sky diving lessons...for the both of them. She was right there next to him, waiting to get to a high enough point and the right spot for them to jump out of this plane. He wished that there was a way where they could jump out of this plane together, but they couldn't. She had to go first, or he did, with their instructor. He almost jumped when he felt his hand in hers.

"You okay, Castle?"

"Yea...yea, why wouldn't I be okay?"

She smiled. "Because your leg hasn't stopped shaking since we boarded the plane." With that his leg stopped. "Babe, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to."

"No." He looked at her. "You got me this for my birthday and it's been on my bucket list for a bit and since I've been to every Ikea in the world now, it's time to cross something else off my list. I'm just a little nervous."

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Don't be. We'll be fine. I think we've done worse than jumping out of a plane. Being handcuffed and trapped in a room with a tiger that wanted to eat us comes to mind."

He laughed a bit. "Yea, but that wasn't our choice."

"Castle, most of the dangerous things that we've done haven't been our choice."

"Touche, Beckett."

She gave him a squeeze to his hand. "We'll be fine, I promise. You want me to go first?"

He thought about it. If he knew that she was down there waiting for him, he would be more likely to jump. He would want to make sure that she made it down their safely. "I think that's a good idea. It will give me a little more incentive to jump."

"Seeing me do it won't make it so scary?"

"No, well a little. However, I was thinking it would give me more of a push to jump. I would want to make sure my wife is okay."

She smiled at him before she placed a kiss to his cheek. "We're going to be fine, Castle. We're both going to meet at the bottom and you're going to tell me that you probably want to go again, which no...we can't...at least today."

He smiled at her before he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Even though it was a soft, simple, kiss, he let her know that he loved her and that he loved the present that she got him...even if he was a little scared.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"You guys ready?"

They looked at the instructor before they looked back at each other. Kate gave Castle a smile. "I think so." She gave his hand a small squeeze. "I'll see you down there." She stole a kiss from him before she got up from her seat. Her instructor met her by the plane door and made sure that she was securely attached to him. He then made sure that they had what they needed it.

"You ready?"

She took a deep breath. Even though Castle was more nervous than she was, she was nervous. She let that breath out. "I'm ready."

"On three...one...two...three." And then they jumped out the door.

Castle saw his wife go out of the plane and he was tempted to go over to the door, make sure that she was okay. However, he knew that he wasn't going to be able to see anything. His instructor came over to him.

"You're up next."

Castle got up from his seat and walked over to the door. He was nervous, but he knew that Kate was right. He wanted to be down there with her too, make sure that his wife was safe and sound. His instructor did the same thing Kate's did. He made sure that they were secure and that they had everything.

"You ready?"

"You only live once...lets go."

"Alright, on three. One...two...three!" With that, they jumped out of the plane.

It was definitely an experience. He felt a mixture of like he was going to die and like he was very much alive. He liked the feeling, but he did wish that he had Kate here to experience it with him.

"You doing okay?!" He couldn't speak. He just gave his instructor a thumbs up. "We're going to stop falling as fast here in a bit! I'm going to pull the cord here in three...two..." He pulled the cord and the parachute came out of the backpack. They started to fall a little slower than they had been, which made Castle feel bit more at ease. The parachute was doing it's job and his fear of falling to the ground went away. He enjoyed it more now.

As he got closer to the ground, he could make out what they were falling to. He could see the buildings around them, the giant open field, a few people. It really was something. Kate did give him an amazing gift and he was glad that he didn't chicken out. He would have never experienced this. When he got even closer to the ground, he saw Kate there. She was smiling up at him. He smiled down at her before his feet touched the ground.

Kate came over to him and helped him up off the ground, once he wasn't attached to anything. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled brightly at him. "You did it, babe!"

"I did and it was amazing. Thank you for this." With that, he leaned in and pressed a passionate kiss to her lips. He didn't waste any time parting her lips, especially when he heard the moan that escaped her. He explored every inch of her mouth before he tangled his tongue with hers. He heard another moan escape her, which caused him to wrap his arms around him tighter and to angle his head to deepen their kiss. He let the kiss go on for a few more seconds, until the need to breathe became more present. He didn't go far though. He rested his forehead against hers.

"So, next year, do you want to go shark diving?" She, of course, was teasing him.

"I think doing this is enough in one lifetime, especially with all the adventure that comes with your job."

She smiled. "Touche, Mr. Castle." She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "Next year, we can just stay in bed all day," she said in a seductive tone.

"Oh, Mrs. Castle, we don't have to wait till next year. We can spend the rest of the day in bed." He moved his hands down and gave her a gentle squeeze to her backside. "What do you say, Mrs. Castle?"

"Lets go home, birthday boy."