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Chapter Forty Nine
The next two months passed without much incident. Castle and Kate planned their wedding, which wouldn't come to be until mid-November, but Johanna and Martha insisted that they get a head start on it now, considering the fall was a busy season.
"Lots of birthdays in November," Johanna had said as she, Martha, Kate, and Lanie shared lunch at a café. Lanie was the only woman without any coffee and her grumpiness showed it, as well as her scowl down at her rounding belly. "More than any other month," Johanna went on.
"Why is that?" Kate asked.
"Valentine's Day," Martha replied with a laugh as the two younger women flushed bright pink. "Just because the world pretends not to have love anymore doesn't mean we all don't celebrate it the same way."
"Then why was Castle born in April?" Kate asked.
"Timing," Martha shrugged. "Richard was conceived during our honeymoon, which was in July, just after our nineteenth birthday."
The girls nodded in understanding and they continued to talk about venues, Kate being the one to remind them that all choices had to be cleared with Castle first, as Martha and Johanna started to get carried away with color themes and beachfront venues.
"We could just have the wedding in the Hamptons," Martha suggested. "Richard told you about the beach house, yes?" Kate nodded. "Well, I'm sure he'd love the chance to show it off to you."
"But in November?" Kate asked. "Won't it be a bit chilly so close to the sea?"
"You could have it earlier," Johanna pointed out. "Perhaps September?"
"Are we allowed?" Kate asked. "Aren't we supposed to wait the full year?"
"Not if you're eager to wed," Martha replied. "And not if you know somebody with the connections that Richard has."
"Connections?" Lanie asked with a smirk, sipping at her hot lemon water.
"He's friends with the mayor," Kate informed her with an eye roll. Lanie cackled at that.
"Then I say go with the earlier wedding, girl!" she laughed. "Why not?"
"I don't want the mayor to abuse his power just so we can get married," Kate said.
"It won't be an abuse of power," the other woman scoffed. "People apply for early matrimony all the time; Javi and I were actually thinking about it."
"You were?" Kate asked. Lanie nodded.
"Only by a month, before the goblin gets so big that I look like I swallowed a watermelon." Kate snickered at that and the older women joined her.
"Are you going to do it?" Johanna asked. Lanie shook her head.
"We've already got the banquet hall booked, the band, the caterers…it would only be a hassle to try and reschedule. Besides, Auntie Maura is gonna bring out my dress for me and she does wonders with cloth, so I'm not too concerned about it."
"Let's just hope you don't go into early labor in the middle of your first dance," Kate teased, taking a sip of her latte.
"Girl, don't jinx it."
X-X-X
In the end they decided to bring the wedding up to the first weekend of October and Mayor Weldon was all too happy to help them out by accelerating the process, giving them a date and setting a meeting with a judge who would be performing the official ceremony, as well as handle their official pre-marital counseling.
"Pre-marital counseling?" Kate groaned, having completely forgotten about that part. Castle nodded and sighed.
"It was a pain when I had to go through it the first time," he told her. "The judge we had—Judge Perlmutter—was a total douchebag who trashed on me at every single meeting we had. I wanted to strangle him."
"Daddy, what's a doosh bag?" Alexis asked, looking up from her play pen. Kate glared at him, lifting one brow; he'd forgotten the girl was still in the room.
"A very bad thing," Castle told her, "and I never want to hear you say it, okay?" Alexis nodded, solemnly, before turning back to her toys. Castle sighed. "We're going to be hearing about this from school, no doubt," he groaned.
"Maybe she'll forget about it before then," Kate suggested.
"Alexis never forgets anything," Castle hissed in her ear. "Trust me on that."
Kate just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
So. Counseling. That should be a blast.
X-X-X
Judge Victoria Gates was not as bad as Perlmutter, but she wasn't much better—at least in Castle's opinion.
She had no patience for his particular brand of goofiness and childlike wonder, nor did she appreciate the charming grin he'd offered when they first shook hands. She'd responded with her own steely look and an ordered, "Sit." Castle found himself plopping into his arm chair like a puppy scolded, while Castle smirked at his pouting face, reaching over to squeeze his hand.
Gates watched, calculatingly, as Kate's hand closed around his and scribbled something down in her notepad, before leveling them with a cool gaze.
"So," she said, "how has the last four months been going for you?"
"Wow, you don't waste any time," Castle commented, "do you?"
"I have more couples to counsel today, Mr. Castle," Gates responded, coolly; "do you think you're more important than the rest of them?"
"N-no," Castle replied, stuttering, "o-of course not, Your Honor."
"It's been going good," Kate said, saving Castle from the scrutiny of Gates' gaze as she turned her attention to the brunette. "Better than, actually," Kate added, smiling softly at Castle. He grinned back at her, his hand wrapping around hers and squeezing.
"So there have been no problems?" Gates interrupted one of their long gazes. "No fights or disagreements?"
"Well, we can't exactly say that," Castle laughed. "I mean, everybody has disagreements sometimes, right? Couple or not."
Gates nodded, scribbling once again on her notepad.
"But nothing really big," Kate added, quickly, regaining Gates' attention. "Nothing that gives us any pause."
"Pause?" Gates asked.
"About this engagement," Kate clarified. "We're all in. At least…I am."
"So am I," Castle insisted, squeezing again. Kate smirked, looking down at her lap at that.
Gates nodded. "Very well," she said, "then we can proceed."
"Proceed?" Kate asked.
"With the counseling," Gates said. "There are phases to this—assignments, if you will—that you will have to go through. The first is honesty and openness."
"O…okay…" Kate said, trading a wary glance with Castle. "What, exactly, does that entail?"
Reaching into the briefcase at her feet, Gates pulled out two small booklets, about a dozen pages each, and handed them to the couple.
"You must write down all the things that annoy you—about each other." At their astonished looks, Gates sighed. "You must be completely honest with each other; no marriage can survive dishonesty. It's what failed our ancestors." They nodded, mutely. "You do not need to fill the entire thing," she added. "But you must share them next time you are here; never before. Here is where you will get everything out in the open. It's safe here; I want you to know that." They nodded again, still not speaking. "Good. Now, your next appointment is next Friday at four; I'll have my secretary pencil you in. We're done for today."
The judge stood and shook their hands, softer this time, as if easing them into this next assignment, before guiding them out. They locked eyes with another couple, both angry and obviously refusing to so much as look at one another, their arms folded over their chests, over booklets that were identical to the ones in Castle and Kate's hands.
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