Sorry for the delay. Real life and multiple attempts to chase down Nathan Fillion at Comic Con got in the way.
Six months.
Kate's never been one to celebrate half an anniversary for God's sake, but she's never been with anyone quite like Castle, either.
Which is why she probably shouldn't be too surprised when he shows up at the precinct, a bottle of sparkling apple cider (she is on the job) and bouquet of flowers in hand.
"This your man, kid?" Royce asks her as Castle makes his way towards her, a hesitant smile on his face. They've come a long way on balancing work and their time together, but she knows he probably feels a little guilty interrupting her like this.
Kate grins. "It is." She extends a hand towards Rick, slips her fingers into his easily. "Rick, this is Royce, one of my superiors. Royce, this is Richard Castle." Rick drops her hand for a moment, firmly grasping the other man's hand.
"Nice to meet you."
Royce nods. "Mr. Castle. Good to see you in the flesh." He drops Castle's hand and turns to Kate. "One hour, okay, kid?"
Kate nods, thanking him before he slips away to leave the couple to themselves. Kate slides a hand to his shoulder, capturing his mouth in a brief kiss.
"Not that I'm not terribly happy to see you," she murmurs against his lips, "But I thought we agreed—"
"No presents," he confirms. Christmas is only a couple of weeks away, so they both decided to hold off on any gift exchange until then.
She raises an eyebrow, gesturing to the flowers in his hand. "Humor me," he replies, slipping the bouquet into her fingers. She rolls her eyes, but presses her mouth to his in compliance.
"They're gorgeous. Thank you," she hums.
He smiles, brushing a warm palm down her arm. "It's okay that I'm here, right?"
"Yeah," she confirms. "Slow day." She flicks her gaze around the bullpen, struck with an idea. "Come on," she tugs gently on his hand, "I know where we can go."
Ten minutes later, they're on the roof of the precinct, huddling under an old fleece blanket she found in the break room. Not exactly the mildest December day, but it's almost bearable under the weight of her heavy coat and the press of his body against hers. Weatherman called for flurries, but she hasn't spotted any so far.
She breaks off a piece of the chocolate cupcake she retrieved from the vending machine and offers it to him. He wraps his warm mouth around her thumb, sucking the treat from her finger.
"Tell me you don't eat like this for lunch every day," he says, swallowing.
She shakes her head, sipping cider from her black mug. "I usually pack a sandwich or something. Sometimes we order in." She shrugs.
"You and Royce?" he asks nonchalantly.
"On occasion," she says slowly, eyeing him curiously. "Why?"
"You've never mentioned him before."
"When was the last time I mentioned anyone from work, Rick?" she asks, her body sagging a little in exasperation.
"He seemed to know who I was," he points out.
"Because you're important to me." She lets out a small scoff, shaking her head. "I can't believe you're jealous."
He sighs. "I'm not—"
She closes her eyes. "He calls me 'kid', Castle. So what? Everyone's got a nickname around here." She pauses, expels a frosty breath. "It doesn't mean anything."
She opens her eyes to find his cast downward, staring at an empty wrapper that flutters in the wind. "You're right," he says, lifting his eyes to meet hers. "I'm being ridiculous."
"No." She leans in to brush her nose against his cheek, her mouth sliding down to caress his jaw. "It's not ridiculous. I understand."
His hands circle her waist, locking gently behind her back. "You do?"
She nods. "I want to sink my claws into that publicist of yours every time I see her," she admits.
He lets out a stunned laugh. "Gina? That's completely—"
"Ridiculous?" she finishes, lifting her head to flash him an amused smile. "She's pretty."
He shrugs. "She's okay. Nothing special."
Kate runs a finger over the rim of her mug in thought. "You never thought about dating her?"
"I've known Gina for a while. I suppose she has her moments, but she's not the kindest person I've met." He pauses. "Besides, she's not my type."
She lifts her head. "What is your type?"
"You," he replies without hesitation.
Oh.
Well.
She lets out a happy, surprised breath, the corners of her mouth tipping into a wide smile. She supposes she should've expected a similar answer out of him, sap that he is, but it still pleases her, fills her up.
"Still gonna be saying that six months from now?" she deprecates, nudging his side.
He leans into her, sweeping his mouth against her hair in a soft kiss. "I'll say it for as long as you'll hear it, Kate."
Her eyes flutter closed, reveling in the moment of the two of them in the brisk winter air, his arms wrapped around her as they sit in front of a makeshift lunch that's sure to inspire a few cavities. It isn't perfect, not by a long shot, but she's never wanted perfect.
Especially if imperfection involves him.
"I'm not schlepping your ass to the hospital for salmonella poisoning, Richard Castle," she scolds, wiping her floured hands on her apron as he slips another bite of cookie dough into his mouth.
"You're such a killjoy, Beckett," he whines as she removes the cookie sheet from the counter and slides it easily into the oven.
She glares at him, her hand immediately on her hip in a pose that's a little too domestic for her liking. "I see you've passed on your bad habits to your daughter," she says.
He looks past her at Alexis, who quickly removes her hand from the bowl, a sheepish smile on her face as she swallows the last of her swipe.
He shrugs. "There's enough room in your car for the both of us," he jokes.
She rolls her eyes and grabs a warm cookie from the plate on the counter and sticks it into his mouth. Before she can leave, he wraps a hand around her wrist and pulls her to him, dipping his head into hers. As he waggles his eyebrows, she feigns a sigh of exasperation.
But, yeah, she loves it.
Loves him.
So she indulges him and bites off a chunk of the sweet that hangs from his mouth. And after she licks the chocolate from her lips, she presses a smiling kiss to his mouth.
"You're only rewarding my behavior, you know that? I'm almost disappointed in you, Beckett."
"Then I guess you won't mind if I abstain from any rewards in the future?" she retorts.
She watches him open his mouth in protest before slipping away from him, lingering at the counter to brush a kiss across Alexis' head. "Figured I should reward both of you knuckleheads." Alexis giggles, her blue eyes light and mischievous. So much like her father.
"Can we make sugar cookies next? Dad bought these awesome sprinkles from the store yesterday."
Kate frowns. "The ones on the table? All of them are open..." Kate trails off, her gaze sliding slowly to Castle, who quickly directs his attention away from her.
"Dad wanted to taste test them all. Make sure they were safe for eating," Alexis explains.
Kate crosses her arms over her chest, her mouth twitching as she suppresses a smile. "Is that what he told you?" she asks, watching as he pretends to fiddle with the oven handle.
He clears his throat. "Aren't these cookies done yet? I think maybe the oven's broken. We should really get someone to look—"
"You know, Castle, since you've already opened the sprinkles, I think Alexis and I can trust you to finish the rest of the batches."
He turns around quickly, the stove forgotten. "But there's at least five left," he balks.
"Yeah, but you've got it under control, right? Might as well let you finish what you started." She purses her lips to keep her laughter under control, ducking her head briefly. "Alexis and I'll be in the living room. We're a little behind on our Christmas marathon, aren't we, Alexis?"
Alexis, God bless her, plays right along. Kate takes the redhead's hand, turns her back to his slacked jaw.
"Call us when it's time to sprinkle. Wouldn't want to miss out on the best part," she calls behind her, exchanging amused glances with Alexis.
She turns her back for a second when she knows it's safe, finds him muttering under his breath as he pulls the latest batch from the oven.
She'll give him a half hour at most, but still.
She loves to watch him squirm.
As we get further and further away from summer, I'm hoping that you're still enjoying this. It's started to take on a life of its own, a product of my disregard for a story outline. So while I have an endpoint in mind (roughly six more months), I'm still a little unsure of the journey there. I'd like to wrap this up somewhere before 50 chapters, but we'll see.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.