'Man, I could so use this footage as blackmail for the rest of my life.'

Daniel blinked in frustration at the sound of a familiar voice above his head; it took him a second to clue it in to belonging to Castle. When he opened his eyes he saw the handsome writer standing above his bed with the video camera in his hands. 'What are you talking about?' he groaned softly.

'Give it a moment.'

'What...' Daniel trailed off when he looked around and realized that it wasn't Andrea whom he was spooned up against but Esposito. His arm was flung over the cop's body, keeping him close and Esposito, ever the snuggly sleeper, was holding his elbow so that he wouldn't be going anywhere. 'Oh, God.'

'There it is,' Castle grinned, then turned it off, knowing that Esposito would stuff the camera up his ass if he awoke and Castle was rolling tape. Setting the vid-cam aside, he patted Daniel on the back as he sat up. 'Happy wedding day, bro!'

His stomach did a flip-flop. 'Oh, man, it really is, isn't it?'

'It really is. It's about eight-thirty, ish,' Castle said after a look at his watch, and there's going to be a lot of people coming through here before long, so you'll want to get up and get your shower. And if you're going to shave, it's only the body parts hidden by your tux. My guy's coming up here to give you and your groomsmen the full manly works.'

As Daniel had no idea what the hell Castle was talking about with 'the full manly works', and because he was so excited his stomach was threatening to revolt against him, he did as he was told and went into the hotel room's suite to let the boiling water cleanse away the stickiness of overnight sweat. As he rinsed shampoo from his scalp, the question of how Castle had gotten into the room in the first place vaguely wandered through his brain, but Daniel had more important things on his mind to worry about at the moment.

Wrapped in one of the hotel's thick and fluffy bathrobes, he emerged from the washroom to find Esposito awake and giving Castle hell while Sean and Ryan positioned a room-service cart.

'Seriously, bro, think about how wise it is to keep that in your possession. Daniel's a nurse anesthetist, he's got access to chemicals to make you look like you done-fell-over and died. Not to mention the fact I sleep with a gun.'

'There's no need to bring your wife into this,' Castle teased, twisting the top off a bottle of tequila and pouring a semi-shot into a glass of ice before filling it up with orange juice. Here we are, man of the hour.'

He handed Daniel the drink, not at all surprised when the man gulped it back. 'Alright, easy, tiger, don't want you sauced off your ass when you say your vows.'

'Are they the traditional churchy ones,' Sean inquired, loading a plate with scrambled eggs and hot sauce - his little brother's favourite. 'Or will you do your own?'

'We're doing something a little different for those. We are having traditional ones in the ceremony, but we...' Daniel trailed off on a little blush. 'We wrote each other a little poem to say at the reception.'

To his surprise, no one mocked him or made a jibing remark; instead Ryan grinned softly. 'That's so romantic, bro. Jenny and I did something similar for our one year anniversary.'

'Mere and I composed our own vows, and they were kinda like little poems. All you gotta remember bro, you're just talking to her,' Esposito reminded him, taking the coffee cup Castle passed him. 'You're telling her what she means to you.'

There was a knock on the door and Sean opened it to see Honey-Milk, Dell and Mallory on the other side. 'Mo-nin! Happy weddin'!' Mallory trilled. 'Where Daniel?'

'Over here, Mally.'

The little girl rushed over on her short legs and climbed right into Daniel's lap, kissing his cheek with a little mwah. 'No mudgie,' she said, poking him with the tip of her index finger. 'Daniel 'cited?'

'Very excited, and I bet you're going to look very pretty in your dress.'

'Tanks. O-kay, Mama, we go!'

'What a flirt,' Sean chuckled as Mallory toddled back over to her mother. 'Must be all that Irish charm.'

'I think she has seen me suh-pendin' too much time with my Tessi,' Dell said seriously, and poked his sister in the shoulder. 'You be-have, Mally. You are too little for fuh-lirtin' with the boys.'

'Dell, do you know what flirting even is?'

'Yes. It's like when I tell my Tessi that she has drawn a nice picture and she suh-miles and it makes me happy.'

'Close enough big guy. Give me a kiss.' Ryan crouched down, gave his son a tight, loud hug and noisy kiss before sending him and his sister along with Honey-Milk. 'You go check on Andrea and the baby for us men, okay?'

'O-kay, Daddy. See everyone soon!'

'Bye ev-ee-one!' Mallory added with a cheerful wave, not to be outdone by big brother.

The Ryan clan left and Daniel laughed as he sat down with his eggs. 'How do you do it?'

'Do what?'

'Be a cop and a father all at once?'

The men all shared knowing looks and this time it was Esposito who piped up around his mouthful of Western omelette. 'It's a learning curve, bro. You'll get there. But today's not the day for things like that. Todays' about getting on the monkey-suit and telling Andrea how much you love her.'

'You want a straw for that omelette, Detective?' Sean laughed.

'Nah, I'm good.'

There was another knock on the door, and this time when Castle answered, it was Gideon Meyers with his traveling case and his granddaughter Sosanna. 'Come on in, good to see you again.'

'And you my friend. I heard you are going to be a father-in-law in a little while? I shared the elevator up from the lobby with Doctor Weaver. He's a good man, perfect for Alexis.' Gideon set down his trunk, as did Sosanna. 'Now where is the man of the day?'

'Right here.' Esposito gulped down the last of his eggs and slapped Daniel heartily on the back. 'Wolf those groceries down, bro, you're in the hot seat now.'

'You're really milking this, aren't you?' Castle realized.

'Damn right.'

'Come, come, Sosanna, you're going to look after the noisy Puerto-Rican over there, and the fill-in father-of-the-bride.' Gideon opened up his trunk to reveal bottles and tubes and towels, and of course his case of silver filigreed straight razors. He patted the bucket-scoop chair, which was the perfect size for him to . 'I've got the groom and the best man here.'

The troops dispersed and in a few minutes, Daniel barely had time to think about anything except the feel of the hot towel against his skin, then the sweetly fragrant shaving cream and then the straight-razor against his skin.

'So, how long have you known your bride?'

'We work at the same hospital, different departments but our paths overlapped when one of the doctors pulled us both in to be on his labor team, like with delivering babies?'

'Ah, yes. Sosanna just had a little boy on December eighteenth, Nikolas Hiram Petrie.'

'We're having a baby too, but it's not the reason we're getting married. It's just the reason we're getting married sooner.'

'Oh?' Gideon was from a large family and had one himself, so he knew the many reasons and ways people got married and had babies, but this one wasn't one that had been featured much. 'So you are already engaged and decide to change the date so that you are married when you have the baby?'

'Exactly, though not by much. We made our baby celebrating the engagement.'

'Ah, the best kind of two-for-one deal, though I do believe Tierney's hot wings is a close second.'

Daniel laughed, and found that as Gideon did his thing, the edginess he was feeling began to ebb. The acting of preparing for the wedding, focusing on each task instead of letting everything get away from him, not only made him able to keep his breakfast down but also helped to make him less nervous so that he had some feeling in his knees. When Gideon was finished, he wiped down his face as gently as a man with an infant.

'There we are. Closest shave you'll get this side of Sweeney Todd.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Gideon slapped his shoulder, and Daniel stood up, went to look at his face in the mirror of the bathroom. It was indeed smooth as a baby's ass and he smelled...expensive, he decided. The fragrance of the oils and creams the barber had used reminded Daniel of his bachelor weekend in Atlantic City with his friends; rich and decadent and everything he wanted to be for his wife on their wedding day - the best possible version of himself. He looked at himself, studied his expression and gave a little laugh.

'You're getting married today, boyo,' he murmured to his reflection, 'to the sexiest, smartest, sweetest Irish lass you could ever hope to find on God's rolling green earth.

By noon, everyone but Ryan, Esposito and Sean had cleared out of the room and they were all in their tuxes and vests with Cozumel blue ascots and pocket-squares, save for Ryan; he'd decided to go with a vest and bow-tie so that he would have his own distinguished look as the father of the bride. He'd also put himself in charge of boutonnieres as he had the lightest touch of them all having given his son insulin injections since he was two and a half. Once he'd pinned the bright yellow frangipani to his partner's lapel, the delicate white hibiscus to Sean's and the pink orchid to his own, Ryan held up the snowy white rose for Daniel.

'This is it, man. Once I put this on you, you are officially dressed for your wedding. Think you can handle it?'

'Bring it.'

Ryan stepped over, fixed on the bloom to the groom's tuxedo jacket, then brushed at his shoulders, adjusted his collar. 'There. All set.'

'Thanks, bro.' Daniel held out his hand and slapped palms with Ryan, who promptly pulled him in for a bear-hug and a few seconds later, felt Esposito come over and wrap and arm around each of them. 'Right, enough of this, some one say something totally sexist before we all start sniffling like a bunch of sissies.'

'Bet Andrea's boobs are going to look awesome in her dress,' Sean commented, grinning with pride as he watched his baby brother. 'She's like three months now? They all look really hot at three months when they're pregnant.'

'Andrea's boobs always look hot,' Daniel corrected his brother, 'and thanks.'

The moment was concluded when a cellphone went off; it was Esposito's and he read the incoming text. 'Father Paolo just arrived downstairs, wants us to meet him in the gardens. Looks like it's that time.'


R&R&Enjoy