a.n. Wow, another chapter. I will warn you, this is mostly tooth rotting fluff.

Thank you to Her Pegship who remains the most awesome beta an author could ask for. Read her stuff, you won't regret it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

-:::-

April 1, 2011

"You got that okay?" Kate asked. She was still on her crutches for another week, so she couldn't hold carry anything. Luckily, Alex was a good little helper and Rick's birthday gifts weren't that heavy. Alex had spent the night at her apartment – she was back living on her own now, thankfully – and they had spent the night playing video games and talking about the little party they were going to have for Rick's birthday.

"Yes, mom," Alex said.

Kate smirked. Her little boy was quickly entering the phase of life known as teenager, and while he wasn't there yet – thank goodness – he was developing some of the attitudes she herself had had when she was a teenager. Namely, the surly attitude that had kept anyone from trying to tell her anything.

"Well then, let's go up. He's probably expecting us." The two walked up to Rick's loft and Kate let them in with her key.

"Dad! We're home." Alex shouted.

"In the office!" Rick's voice called back.

Kate crutched her way towards the living room, and instructed Alex to place the package with Rick's presents on the couch. Then Alex scampered off to the office to say hello to his father. A couple of minutes later, Rick and Alex came out of the office.

"Hey babe," Kate greeted from her position on the couch.

"Kate, how did it go?"

"It was good. The doctor said I have to spend another week on PT and the crutches, then I should be good."

"That's good. Sorry I couldn't make it. Did you lose in Mario Kart?"

"Yeah she did," Alex said with his little smirk. "At least 10 times."

Kate laughed. "You are such a poor winner, Alex."

"We don't know anyone else like that in the family," Rick said innocently. Kate stuck her tongue out at him, which just made him laugh. He leaned over the back of the couch, pulled her chin towards him and gave her a kiss.

"Mmm," she moaned when he pulled away. "Happy birthday, Writer man."

Rick grinned. "Best birthday ever, just having both of you here."

"Sappy, but nice," Kate said with a smile. "We ordered dinner on our way here - it should be here soon."

"Presents!" Alex shouted, hopping up on the couch beside Kate.

"After dinner," Kate said.

"But mom!"

"No buts, mister."

Rick giggled. Kate shook her head. He was such a girl. He definitely giggled more than she did, and his sense of humor was definitely more of the base variety.

An hour later, they'd eaten their fill of Chinese food and were back sitting in the living room. "So what did you get me?" Rick asked.

"You're such a child," Kate said. "I swear you were more mature when we were kids."

"I was. Definitely," Rick agreed. "I blame Alex."

"I do too," Kate said with a grin.

"Hey!" Alex said, obviously offended. Kate reached over and buffed his hair. He ducked out of reach, but not quick enough. "Mom!"

Rick and Kate laughed. Kate settled in and cuddled into Rick. This was exactly the way she had hoped family time would turn out. For the first time since her mom died, Kate knew exactly what happiness was. Happiness was family.

-:::-

April 12, 2011

Now that Kate was up and walking again mostly on her own, Rick was eager to take her on a real date. Dating back when they were teenagers was simple. Neither one of them had the money to do extravagant things. Instead it was movies and burger joints, and they'd had fun. At first, Rick had thought that they should dress up and go to the fanciest of restaurants, but in the end, it wasn't them.

So he picked Kate up that evening and took her to a place called Burger Joint. That was really the name, and Rick loved it. He'd had burgers there once before with Alex, and he knew that Kate would enjoy the simplicity of the place.

"Rick, this is awesome," she said as they entered the little restaurant on 56th Street.

"I know, right? Their burgers are almost as good as Remy's."

"Well then, I can't wait to try them."

The two sat at a small table and chatted comfortably for several minutes before a waitress came to take their orders.

"She was flirting with you," Kate teased. "Are you sure you're not more interested in someone younger? Plus you could get some free burgers, I'm sure."

Rick laughed. "She's at least 10 years younger than we are. I think I'm quite happy with the girlfriend I've got. The free burgers thing sounds nice though."

Kate slapped his hand, which just made him laugh. When he calmed down, he asked, "So have you decided where you're going to apply yet?"

"No. I've got it narrowed down to NYU and Columbia. I think I can get into either."

"Of course you can. Columbia has the more prestigious rep, but NYU would probably be more comfortable as you know your way around."

"Either way, I'm going to be the old person in all my classes."

"Only until you finish your Bachelor's degree. And you have most of the credits for that already with the extra classes you told me about."

Kate shrugged. "I'll decide. I'm not in a hurry. I think I'm going to take a year off. I need to make sure this is what I want before I dedicate myself to a degree."

"You're having second thoughts?" Rick asked nervously.

Before she could answer the waitress brought their shakes. They thanked her and then each took a deep pull from their icy drinks. Kate, who had ordered her usual strawberry, sighed happily when she pulled back. "That was great."

"Yup," Rick said.

"I'm not regretting resigning from the force," Kate said, reaching across the table and grasping his hand. "That was the right choice. I just don't know if I want to be a lawyer. It feels like I'm going backwards, and it doesn't feel right. Do you know what I mean?"

"Kind of. It was what your mom wanted, but you're putting that all behind you."

Kate nodded. "Well, I've just been thinking that maybe I'll look into something else. I don't know what, yet, so I decided that I'll take a year off. I've got the money to drift for a while until I figure myself out. Until then, I'm going to spend as much time with you and Alex as I can."

Rick couldn't help himself; he leaned up across the table and kissed her on the mouth, thankfully not spilling either of their drinks. Kate placed a hand on his cheek and held him close.

"I love you, Katie Beckett."

"And I love you, little Ricky Rodgers," Kate said with a warm smile.

-:::-

When they entered the loft that night, they were both still grinning like fools. After their dinner of burgers and fries, Rick had taken her to a jazz club where they had danced for hours.

"That was the best time," Kate said, coming up to him where he stood at the door to his loft- having just locked up- and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It was."

"Such a great first date," she whispered as she leaned in and kissed him. She pulled back quickly. "Though not really our first date. God, you were so awkward."

"I was fifteen years old, and I had no clue how to treat you romantically. I just knew I wanted to touch your boobs," Rick said, leering down at her.

"And you don't want to do that now?"

"Oh, definitely I do," Rick said, nodding eagerly.

"Well then...what's stopping you?"

-:::-

April 13, 2011

"Katherine, darling!" Martha said as she came through the door. "I didn't know you were here."

"Martha!" Kate squeaked out. She hadn't heard the door open. Kate blushed to her roots. All she was wearing was Rick's button down blue shirt. She had gotten up to make them coffee and had no clue that Martha would just burst into Rick's loft. Though, she should have. Martha had never been one for boundaries. She'd interrupted more than one heated make out session back when Kate and Rick had been teenagers.

"Oh, look at you all rosy this morning," Martha said with a grin as she walked up to the kitchen island where she placed her bag. "I see you and my son are progressing just fine."

If anything, Kate blushed harder.

"Oh, don't be like that. Goodness knows, I walked in on the two of you doing much worse. I'm pretty sure I saw the end of your first time."

"Martha!"

Martha laughed. "Calm down, kiddo. I'm just messing with you."

Kate just groaned and turned back to the coffee pot that was finally – finally – spewing out its miraculous potion into a carafe.

Martha, who had taken a seat at the island, cleared her throat. "I'm actually glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh?" Kate asked, pulling out two mugs from the overhead cupboard.

"Yes, darling. I was wondering if you and Richard had talked about custody of Alex."

Kate froze. "What do you mean?"

"Well, kiddo, you were just seriously injured. It made me think that it might be important for you and Richard to talk about what happens if the worst should happen to either of you. I know that right now, Alex would be left with me if something happened to Richard. But I think now that you're back in Alex's life, then you should get custody of him."

Kate hadn't thought about that. She'd signed papers when Alex had been born giving Rick full custody. Now that they were together, did they have to change that? She didn't know.

"It doesn't matter right now," Martha said. "I know that you've removed yourself from a dangerous profession, but I think that legally you and Rick should get this taken care of. Just in case."

Kate nodded. "I'll talk to him. I just...what if he thinks I want to take Alex away from him?"

"Oh, darling. Richard will know that's not the case. I'm pretty sure that if he thought you'd say yes, he'd give you a ring right now and then schedule an appointment at the courthouse. He never stopped loving you, you know. And these last few weeks with you officially back together, I've hardly ever seen him happier."

Kate wiped away a tear. She turned her back to Martha and poured out two coffees. "I'll talk to him." She paused. "And I'd say yes right now if he asked."

Martha gasped. "Really?"

"Of course. If I hadn't been such an idiot, we'd have been married for more than 10 years. I'll wait for him to want me that way again, but I'm done wasting time."

"Oh, kiddo. I'm sure it will happen much sooner than you think it will. Richard is a romantic. I'm pretty sure he wants to woo you."

Kate giggled then laughed out loud. "I'm wooed."

Martha laughed with her, and then shooed her back into the bedroom with the drinks. "Tell Richard that I stopped by to get one of my bags I left here the other day. I'll see you later, kiddo. And I'm so happy for you."

-:::-

a.n.2.

I decided not to do anything here for Easter. I just didn't have a good idea except a marriage proposal and that is just too soon for me. Anyways, here's another chapter. If you liked it, remember to send along a review!

Next up, Kate meets someone who will change her life forever and Alex gets into a bit of trouble.