She wakes to the feeling of absolute warmth, a heavy weight draped over her waist, pulling her body deeper into the mattress. Awareness slowly creeps its way to the surface as her eyes flutter open, and she looks down to find the source of the weight to be Castle's arm, his chest pushed up against the length of her back, his body curled around hers.

Memories of wandering into his bedroom late after returning to the loft flood back, and as unsure as she was about just showing up in the dark, that's faded. She's comfortable here, folded into his body, the soft cushion of the pillow beneath her head.

She should be running, completely terrified by the intimacy of it all, but she's not.

It feels good, right, being here with him.

Twisting, she manages to swivel in a way that keeps his arm draped around her body but now she's facing him, able to watch as his chest rises and falls, his mouth parted as he sleeps. He's even more attractive like this, she thinks. Her first instinct is to lean up and press a kiss to his jawline, feel his returning stubble brush against her skin, but she doesn't want to risk waking him. That'd mean the moment would be cut short and they'd have to get up, and she doesn't want to leave this just yet.

No, instead, she curls in tighter, resting her head in the crook of the elbow that he has draped across the pillow. Her eyes fall closed once more, the scent of him drifting off of his tee shirt and into her senses, lulling her into another bout of sleep.

She's not sure how long she's out for the second time, but she wakes to a soft hand brushing over her forehead, nimble fingers carding through her hair.

Her head tilts up, eyes roaming until they land on the soft blues looking down at her. "Morning," he mumbles lazily, a soft, joy filled smile on his face.

Her lips tug up into a gentle smile. "Morning to you, too." He's staring at her, an expression that can only be described as awe written all over his face, and she squishes her face against the pillow. "What?"

"Nothing." He shakes his head. "It's just... you're here."

She lets out a small laugh. "Where else would I be?"

"No, you're here," he says, pulling her closer to him in emphasis. "I kind of thought I'd wake up and..."

"And I'd be gone."

He gives a sheepish nod. "Yeah."

"It's okay," she assures him, cutting off whatever explanation she's sure is on the tip of his tongue. Her arm bands around his. "I kind of thought I'd be gone too. But I like it here." She wiggles her toes between his calves, stifling a laugh when he hisses at the cold. "It feels good."

His grin has her heart stuttering. "Yeah, it does," he agrees, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

A silence falls over them as he continues to run his fingers through her hair, tugging the strands into tiny braids at the end before pulling them apart and starting over. It's soothing, the repetition.

"Should we get up?" She mumbles something, muffled against his shirt. "Didn't quite catch that," he laughs.

"Too comfy."

He removes his hands from her hair, trailing them down the back of her neck, until he's rubbing circles between her shoulder blades.

"I'd love to stay here all day," he sighs, breathing her in.

She wriggles deeper into the cocoon of blankets. "Then let's stay here."

He chuckles, the vibrations sending shivers down her spine. "What about coffee?"

She hums. "Mmm, coffee."

"Yes, coffee," he cajoles. "And eggs and bacon and oooh, waffles!"

Reluctantly, she uncurls herself and wiggles out of his grasp, untangling their legs so she can turn over. She tugs the blankets off of her body and goes to stand, but she rolls back for a second to slant her lips over his.

"Let's go make breakfast, then."

There's a mini feast of waffles, eggs, bacon, and pancakes laid out before them twenty minutes later. Kate's nursing her first cup of coffee, her hands wrapped around the mug, fingers warmed by the heat. Castle flips off the stove and tosses the spatula into the sink, grabbing his own mug before leaning against the island.

"Top notch waffles, Castle," she says, grinning around her fork.

"Was there any doubt?"

She hums. "Not really."

"Didn't think so."

Huffing, she tosses a broken off piece of waffle at him, her lips twisted to the side in a smirk.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to play with your food?" he jokes, bending to pick up the offending piece of breakfast food.

She shrugs. "Never really did a great job of listening."

"Clearly," he mumbles.

Footsteps on the stairs stop her next reply, and they turn to find Alexis rubbing at her eyes, sleepily trudging down the last step. The girl looks exhausted still, and the only explanation is that she and Martha stayed up later than necessary partaking in their usual girl's night festivities.

His guess is that they watched four movies instead of three.

"Morning, Pumpkin," Castle greets cheerily.

She blinks. "Morning."

Kate pushes a plate with a pancake and some bacon on it over, nudging the girl's shoulders with her own, earning her a tired smile.

"Eat up. Your father slaved over the stove to make this breakfast," she teases.

Alexis laughs around her pancake. "Good job, dad," she approves. "Can I have the syrup?"

"Where's your grandmother?" he asks, grabbing the syrup from the fridge to hand over.

A shrug. "Still asleep, I think. She was up later than I was."

"Ah, my mother. Always the teenager."

Kate rolls her eyes, and Alexis looks between the two. "How was the party?"

"Good," Kate says. "Everyone loved your father, as usual. All that ego stroking should last about a month."

He smirks. "You were pretty popular yourself."

Alexis looks to her with curious eyes. "Kate?"

Her mouth opens, a refute on the tip of her tongue, but Castle cuts in before she has a chance. "Yup. I had to come over and rescue her after some guy tried to pick her up."

"He tried to pick you up?"

"Not literally," Kate says with a small laugh. "But he made some... unfortunate comments, and your dad over here came back just in time. Another five minutes and I'd have knocked him out."

"I should've waited to jump in then. I'd love nothing more than to see you kick that guy's a—butt."

Alexis rolls her eyes. "I'm not a baby, dad."

"You're my baby," he corrects, tapping her nose. "No bad words until you're at least thirty."

"I thought it was no dating until I was thirty?" she asks, sarcasm dripping from the question.

"That too."

Kate laughs. "Castle."

"What? How old were you when you started dating?" Her eyebrows quirk up, a smirk on her lips and his face immediately falls. "You know what, don't answer that."

"I'm glad you didn't have to beat anyone up, Kate," Alexis says then, attention back on her breakfast.

"Me too, kid."

The door opens and they all turn to see a vibrantly dressed Martha walking in, tugging off her gloves and letting her purse slide down her arm.

"Mother?"

"Good morning, Richard." She puts a hand on Kate's back. "Katherine, Alexis."

His eyes narrow. "We thought you were still sleeping away whatever wild activities you two got into last night."

"Oh, darling, please. I've been up for hours," she says, waving an arm. "I saw that you two were—" Kate's eyes dart to hers, slightly panicked, unsure of what she's about to say. Alexis doesn't know that Kate wasn't in her room last night, and she's not sure how she'd react to it. Sure, they're dating, but she doesn't exactly want this to be how the girl finds out she spent the night in her father's room. "—still asleep," she says, winking in her direction, "so I thought I'd run a few errands."

"I'm pleasantly surprised," he says, ignoring his mother's glare. "Breakfast?"

She shakes her head. "Oh, no, I've gotta run. Things to do, people to see." The dramatic wave of her hand has Kate laughing. "Have either of you happened to read the newspaper this morning?"

Kate's stomach drops, and she turns curious eyes to Castle. He looks just as confused as she does.

"Uh, no... we only woke up a little while ago."

Martha rummages around in her purse before pulling out a rolled up paper. "Well, let's just say someone got quite the shot," she drawls as she hands it over to him. "I'll see you later, kiddos."

And then the hurricane that is his mother is gone, leaving just three of them once more.

"What's it say?" Alexis asks, pushing away her plate.

Kate swallows. "Yeah... what does it say?"

He flips through the pages in search of whatever is that his mother was talking about, his eyes widening when he reaches it. Kate follows his expressions, waiting for the anger or the hesitation or something, but he's eerily silent. Until a small smile plays at the corners of his mouth.

Okay, a smile is good.

"Castle, come on," she prompts, unable to wait any longer.

"'Richard Castle's new girl: a sleeper or a keeper?'" he reads the headline, and her brows scrunch together. A sleeper? Really? She's not even entirely sure what that's supposed to mean. Giving her a shrug, he continues reading. "'Richard Castle debuted his latest arm candy at the newest Derrick Storm book launch last night. When asked, the author was quick to shut down claims that she's another in a long line of one night stands." He grimaces at that. "The beauty's name is unknown, but it's clear that she's caught the attention of Mr. Castle and he doesn't seem to be letting go. Our verdict? This one's a keeper. Sorry, ladies.'"

She blows out a breath. "Wow."

"Yeah, wow," he echoes. "I didn't expect them to actually listen when I told them to sideline any and all 'notch on the bedpost' articles. Huh."

Nodding, she takes a deep breath. No articles referring to her as just a play toy, a one night stand, a fling. She's sure there's bound to be at least one, and as awful as that'll be, it won't matter. They know the truth.

Lifting her head, she meets his gaze. "Your mother said something about a nice shot? What'd they get?"

He hands over the paper, the source of the earlier smile now known. "This." Someone managed to catch them while they were dancing, her arms looped around his neck and head pressed against his chest, his fingers locked around her waist. It really is a sweet photo. "The dance."

Alexis peeks over Kate's shoulder to look. "You guys look so pretty!"

"Thanks, Alexis," she says, shooting the girl a warm smile. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."

"This is definitely a first," he admits, dipping down to brush a kiss to her forehead. "I'm really glad they didn't go down the malicious route. They've been known to, especially when it comes to who I'm dating."

"I'm sure all you have to do is threaten more reporters and they'll cooperate."

Alexis's eyes widen. "Dad, you threatened them?"

"I—" He looks to Kate, who has an apologetic look on her face. Hidden underneath the grin, of course. "I didn't threaten them. I just made it clear that if they were going to write about Kate, then it was going to be accurate."

"I understand," the girl decides. "I don't want them writing lies about Kate."

Kate smiles. "Me either. And now, hopefully we don't have to worry about that."

"Exactly. So let's toss this," Castle starts, sliding the newspaper to the other end of the counter, "to the side and finish our waffles. Deal?"

The girls each pick up their forks, popping a piece of waffle in their mouths at the same time.

"Deal."

"Where are we going?"

He huffs. "It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises, you know," she reminds, arms blindly reaching out in front of her for any kind of hint.

His hands grab hers, gently wrapping them in his palms before pulling them back, tugging until they're against her body again.

"I know. But I think you'll feel differently about this one."

She's blindfolded, which she'd only agreed to after an excess amount of begging and multiple declarations that the surprise will be ruined if she's able to see. And then, of course, there were the kinky jokes that he'd spouted off while actually tying the blindfold onto her person. If she'd had the advantage of using her eyes, she'd have glared at him.

But he's been totally appropriate since, responsible with guiding her into the town car and now onto the streets. It's uncomfortable, hearing the bustling around them and the clattering of feet, feeling the close proximity of people around her, without actually being able to see. She imagines this actually does look like some weird kink come to life to the average New Yorker walking past them.

He steers her to the left, a hand on the small of her back and the other grasping at her wrist as he leads her into a building, the sounds of a door opening filling her ears and the noises from the street lessening.

And then she hears what sounds suspiciously like a bark.

"Castle?" He hums. "Are we in a pet shop?"

"You couldn't have kept it quiet," he mumbles somewhere off to the side. "Maybe."

Her hands come up to her face, fingers tugging at the blindfold. "Can I?"

"Oh, right, yeah," he says quickly, moving to untie it for her, pulling the fabric from her eyes. "Here."

She blinks a few times, her eyes adjusting to the dull lighting of the shop they're in, but there's no mistaking it—they're in a pet shop. The faint meowing has her turning, finding rows and rows of cages with kittens and older cats of all ages. Dogs aren't far behind, and she's pretty sure she sees some hamsters, guinea pigs, and bunnies hiding in the corner of the room too.

Her lips tug up. "This is the surprise?"

He chuckles. "Well, technically the real surprise is next door," he corrects. "But I managed to convince the owner to let us takeover this place last minute, too, because I mean... who doesn't love animals? Tiny puppies?"

"Everyone loves tiny puppies, Castle," she says, grinning before she swivels back towards the cages.

Walking over, she ends up kneeling down beside one of the bigger cages with three kittens lying inside. One is all black with a white patch just between the eyes and on its chest, one's a calico, mixes of brown and black and white covering its tiny body, and the third is an orange tabby, freckles of beige thrown in here and there.

The calico comes first, meandering on small, uncoordinated legs to the edge of the cage, its nose sticking between the slots.

"Cute, huh?"

Turning her head to him, she smiles, her tongue peeking out behind her teeth. "Adorable," she agrees.

Castle comes over to her, kneeling beside her, keys jingling in his hands as he fiddles with the lock.

"What are you doing?"

"Opening the cage," he laughs. "I might've gotten the owner to agree to let us play with some of our furry little friends."

Her mouth twists to the side. "And just how did you manage to swing that?"

"I might have to pimp out the adoption center to a few friends, make a donation, no biggie." He waves a hand. "We get to play with the kittens, so it's a total win."

As soon as the cage door swings open, the calico stumbles out, caught only narrowly by her quick reflexes. Kate cuddles the little girl to her chest, rearranging her position so she's sitting indian style in front of the cage as she pets her. The kitten purrs contently, snuggling its head against the fabric of her shirt, its paws kneading in the spot until it settles down.

Castle grabs the black kitten and settles him onto his lap. "Aw, come on, buddy," he soothes, hands reaching in once more to grab the orange tabby. "Can't leave you all alone now, can we?"

Kate yelps when an unsuspecting kitten is plopped into her lap. "Castle!"

"My kitten's the biggest, you have the most room," he reasons, gesturing down to the two smaller kittens now in her possession.

"You calling me fat?"

His mouth opens. "What—Kate—" He stops when he sees the smirk on her face, the clenching of her cheeks to keep from laughing. "Oh, not funny."

"It's definitely funny," she insists, carefully maneuvering the kitten against her chest with one hand, freeing up the other to pet the kitten in her lap. Her voice takes on a higher, softer quality as she talks to the furry friend. "Hi, little guy. You're precious, aren't you, huh?"

Castle spends the next few minutes absentmindedly petting his own kitten, who he's given the name Berlioz—in his head, of course. Kate's sitting beside him, having since switched the positions of her kittens. They're both resting in her lap now, curled up in the v of her knees. One's fast asleep, its small chest rising and falling with each breath, but the other is wide awake, curious eyes trained on her as she continues to pet its head. Its eyes close with each scratch between the ears, blinking before they open again, forehead nudging against Kate's hand.

"I think she likes you," he says, looking down at her new friend.

Her eyes trail from his to the calico currently licking at her fingers.

"She's sweet," Kate says, smiling down at the kitten that's now curling itself against her shirt.

"So, what's her name?"

She looks up. "I don't know, Castle. There's no tag."

"Come on," he says, shooting her an incredulous look. "You can't tell me you didn't name her."

"I don't know what you're—"

"Kate."

Sighing, she lets a small grin tug at her lips. "Pepper."

"Because of the salt and pepper pattern?" he asks, grinning when she nods. "Very fitting."

She smiles. "And yours?" she asks, eyes filtering down to the mostly black kitten. "Because we both know you've had a name picked out since before you plucked that little one out of the cage."

"Berlioz," he says confidently, fingers rubbing the kittens back.

Her brows scrunch together for a few seconds, trying to think of where that's from. She's heard it somewhere, knows it's familiar, but she can't quite—

"The Aristocats," she says then, picturing the small black kitten with a white-ish gray fur on the chest.

Nodding, he reaches over to pet the orange tabby. "Correct. This one can be Toulouse. Or Butterscotch. Oh, or Garfield!"

Kate laughs, shaking her head. "Let's go with Butterscotch. Can't have two Aristocats and then a loner, now, can we?"

"No, I guess we can't," he says. "That'd be unfair to little Pepper here." His eyes catch the clock, and he realizes they've been sitting with their new friends for longer than he'd intended. "We should start going over to the actual surprise now, though."

Her smile softens as she looks down at her tag-a-longs. "Okay," she says quietly, without making any actual movements to put the kittens back. "Was this worth the donation and cat pimping you'll have to do?"

Castle's eyes glitter, looking at Kate as she continues to pet the small balls of fluff in her lap, gently ruffling their fur. Sleepy Butterscotch has woken up now, joined in Pepper's licking, and Kate's laughter is the only sound he hears, the lightness of it setting his heart on fire along with her smile.

"Definitely worth it."

"Did I really have to put the blindfold back on to walk a hundred feet?"

He chuckles. "We don't want to ruin the real surprise."

"Because the kittens were just the pre-surprise diversion, right?"

"Right."

She shakes her head, but lets him guide her into yet another building. There are no other noises, no sounds of people talking, so she has to assume that wherever they are is either eerily quiet on a regular basis or completely empty.

Her first guess is the latter, that there's no one else around.

The bell above the door jingles as it closes, the latch catching.

"Okay, here," he says, hands reaching around to untie the blindfold once more.

When she opens her eyes, she's met with dimmed lighting—which she can only describe as mood lighting—and a display of pastries set out before her. They're in a coffee shop, a small, quaint coffee shop with round tables and sweet, warmly colored decorations.

He must have come her earlier to set up everything, though, because the table in the far corner has place settings and a candle in the middle, surrounded by smaller scale flower displays.

"Castle," she breathes, her gaze shifting. "You did all of this?"

His shoulders shrug, but there's a soft smile on his face. "It was nothing."

"No, this is—this is beautiful." She takes another step inside, fingers brushing against the edges of the lace detailing in the table cloth. Swiveling back around, her eyes lock on his. "What is this?"

"Our first date."

A laugh bubbles out of her, unexpected but welcomed.

"We've been dating over a month," she points out. "And besides, I thought last night was our first real date?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. That was our first outing. A date's totally different," he tells her. "Plus, we've been dating but we haven't actually gone out and had a proper date, so here we are."

"So here we are," she echoes, unable to wipe the smile off her face at this sweet man. "Where do we begin?"

"Have a seat, m'lady." His hands travel around her back, trailing against her skin as they grab onto the chair and pull it out. "I'll get us coffee."

She sits, eyes following his movements as he finds himself behind the counter. He pours them both a stunning cup of coffee, a heart formed from creamer on the top of hers, and grabs a few pastries from the shelf to go with.

Once he's seated again, he grabs hold of her hand, running the pads of his fingers along the soft skin between her thumb and pointer finger.

Her smile widens, bottom lip tugged between her teeth as her eyes lift to his. "And what'd you have to do to get this place to ourselves?"

"Nothing I wouldn't do again."

The loft is warm and quiet when they return, bellies full of raspberry pastries and the perfect amount of coffee.

Their date was beautiful, filled with laughter and real conversation, good food, and—well, a decent amount of kissing. Her cheeks heat up thinking about the final kiss before they'd exited the coffee shop, and her fingers absentmindedly brush along her lips, trailing the path his occupied not twenty minutes before.

She's pretty sure it's the best first date she's ever been on.

"Tonight was perfect, Castle," she breathes into his chest, balancing on her tiptoes to press another kiss to his lips. "Thank you."

He hums, binding his arm around her back, pulling her closer until her chest is flush against his. His hands come up to cup her face, fingers tracing the lines of her jaw, the sharp angles of her highlighted cheekbones. When he dips down to deepen the kiss, she moans into it, lets her arms fall over his shoulders, fingers locked behind his neck.

"The night's not over, you know," he murmurs against her lips.

Breaking apart, she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes flicking up to his. They're cloudy, his pupils blown and dark with arousal, and she can feel the heat rush through her body. She smirks, slowly bringing her hand down, brushing against his upper arm, forearm, until she reaches his hands and laces their fingers together.

She moves in front of him, walking backwards as she tugs him towards his bedroom.

"No, it's definitely not over."

Thank you guys for the love you showed the last chapter, you're all incredible. I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and everyone else had a wonderful week! We've got one more chapter and then the epilogue left, so we're almost at the end!