Fourteen:

Logistics nearly ended their relationship before it had a chance. With 3,000 miles separating them, contact was limited to Face Time video calls and the rare weekend they weren't working. His book was doing better than even his publisher could have hoped and the demand for his time kept him on the road to support it. The demands of her job seemed to be taking away any chance to see him as well. While Kate said that she understood, she couldn't help but feel her chance with him was slipping away.

Deciding to take a 30 day leave of absence, she booked a flight to San Jose hoping to surprise him at his home. While she was familiar with the area from her time attending Stanford, she wasn't prepared when she drove up to the gated entrance to his home in Carmel. Luckily for her, a very surprised Rick answered when she made the call on the intercom asking to come inside. She waited as the heavy cast iron gates swung open and she drove her rental up the heavily wooded drive. After nearly a thousand feet, she gasps as she pulls the car to a stop in front of his home.

No, calling the grey stone faced mansion a home was like calling a Ferrari a car. While technically correct, they bore little resemblance to the other. Rick smiled, standing near the door, seeing the look on her face.

She can't help but grin and remark as he walks to where she standing, trying to take it all in. "Geez, are you like rich or something?"

He chuckles as he wraps his arms around her in a hug. "Well, I'm not Stephen King rich, but thanks to my financial advisors I finally made it past Patterson." He chuckles as he places a small kiss on the top of her head. "What brings you across the country to my humble abode?"

"I'm playing hooky. I decided that seeing my boyfriend was more important than sitting through another budget meeting." Kate replies as she leans up and places a soft kiss on his lips.

"You know if I knew you were coming, I could have sent my jet for you. Hell, I might have flown you myself." Rick replies, returning with a kiss of his own.

"But then I wouldn't have been able to surprise you. This way, I can find out just how many other women you have hidden away." Kate teasingly offers with a grin.

She could feel him stiffen as the words left her mouth. She knew how important fidelity was to him and knew that he would never cheat on her. "Oh shit Rick! I'm so sorry. I know that you're not that type of guy."

Her sincere apology seemed to do the trick and he hugs her again. "Any luggage, or is this going to be a clothing optional visit? " He inquires with a smirk that lets her know that she is forgiven.

"Bag is in the trunk, but I didn't bring a lot." She replies with a smirk of her own.

Grabbing her bag, he carries it in one hand while holding hers with the other. The inside of his home was even more breathtaking than the outside as he gave her a tour before taking her to the room that would be hers for the visit. She was torn by his action. A part of her was pleased that he didn't presume that her presence there meant that they would be sharing his bed. The other part, however, was sure that he still had doubts about her desire for him.

Unlike his loft, the decor of his home definitely reflected a woman's input. Some of the items clearly belonged to Jennifer and Kate couldn't shake the feeling that the whole place was a shrine to his late wife. The thought saddened har as she knew that there was no way she could compete with a memory. She was surprised that there were very few pictures of the woman in the house. In fact, there were more pictures of Alexis on display. She had grown into a beautiful young woman as evidenced by the series of pictures ranging from high school graduation to receiving her medical school diploma.

"She just finished her residency six months ago." Rick remarks as he sees her eyeing the photo. "Top of her class at Stanford Medical School… not that I'm bragging."

Kate smiles at his remark. That was one thing about Rick that had drawn her to him in the first place, his unwavering love for his daughter. "You've done a wonderful job raising her. You should be proud." Rick starts to say something and she stops him before he could deflect any credit from himself. "Don't Rick. We both know what a great father you are."

"Thank you. She made it easy. I just hope that she's happy." Rick remarks with a sigh. "She was alway so goal focused, that I worried about her simply enjoying childhood. Did you know that she graduated a year early and started at Stanford at seventeen? I still worry that she missed out on her senior year of high school. I wouldn't trade my memories of my senior year for anything."

Kate smiles as she remembers her senior year of high school. Her and Madison chasing after the same boys while trying to act as if they weren't interested. She was still in her 'Rebel Beks' phase, with her black wardrobe and hair. "I bet you were the guy that wore a tuxedo tee shirt to your prom and nothing under your cap and gown."

Rick smiles at the suggestion and replies. "Didn't get to go. Got suspended just before prom and had my diploma mailed to me. The prep school that I went to didn't see the humor in putting a cow on the roof. Funny fact, a cow will climb up stairs all day long, but will not go down them."

Kate has to laugh at the mental image of a teenage Richard Castle coaxing a cow onto the roof of his prep school. "Where did you get the cow?"

One of the other kid's father had a hobby farm. He brought it to the school and we coaxed her up the stairs. When the schoolmaster found out about it, we were all brought in. I was the only one punished because I was the scholarship kid. They had to bring in a crane to get old Bessie off of the roof." He remarks with a chuckle.

"I thought that I was too cool for something as pedestrian as a senior prom and went to a poetry reading instead." She offers, letting him know that he wasn't the only one that had missed his prom. The difference was, hers was by choice.

"So where does the magic happen?" She asks, hoping to change the subject and genuinely curious to see his office.

"I was afraid you'd ask." He replies and begins walking down a long hallway. He opens the door and gestures for her to enter. The room was bigger than her entire apartment and the sheer number of books that lined the walls would rival many libraries. In the center of the room was a huge mahogany desk with a matching credenza behind it. Two high backed burgundy leather chairs faced the desk that matched the one on the other side.

Kate took it all in and smiled. It was exactly the type of office she expected to see. She sees the multitude of pictures, trinkets, and memorabilia on the credenza and her smile fades. It was a shrine to his deceased wife, close to where she was sure that he spent the majority of his time. Many of the pictures were of the two of them together at some of the places globally that she had dreamed of visiting herself. Another cruel reminder of the life they could have shared.

Then she sees it. It was a picture of the two of them together the night they went to the charity event as a couple. She can't get over how young they both looked and how much they looked like a real couple.

"You know you were the most beautiful woman at that dance and I felt like I'd won the lottery having you as my date… even if it wasn't a real date." Rick offers as he sees her looking at the picture.

"I truly felt like a princess that night." Kate replies as she looks back at him. "Did you know that the socialites all referred to you as the 'white whale'? I wonder why." She responds with grin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rick replies, feigning indignation while trying not to smile.

Laughing at his response, it feels as if the tension has been broken. Trying to ignore the pseudo shrine to Jennifer, she comments. "So this is where the magic happens?"

"I don't know if I'd call it magic, but it seems like I spend most of my free time here anymore. After I left New York, I'd lost the desire to write and decided to focus all my attention to becoming something more. I realized that the one thing that was a constant with all my failed relationships was my myopic focus on writing. I had enough money to tide me over for multiple lifetimes, so I ended things with Black Pawn and tried to become the best person I could be."

He sighs, not sure how to continue. The relationship between Kate and he was still new and fragile because of their past, but the last thing he wanted to do was lie to her. "I thought that Jennifer was my 'third times a charm'. My reward for trying to guarantee that with the exception of Alexis, she was the most important thing in my life. She gave up her career for me, the least I could do was return the favor."

"We never became bored. We learned SCUBA together and dove in some of the most exotic locations in the world. We parasailed and skydived, hell, we even learned how do the tango properly. Don't get me wrong, we weren't together every waking minute. She began teaching self defense classes at the women's shelter in San Jose and helped council the new arrivals of their legal rights. She even organized the annual fundraiser that brought in enough to expand the capacity by double what it was."

"Me, of course, being the nine year old on a sugar rush, decided that I wanted to learn to fly. Within six months I had my license and was accumulating the hours needed to move to multiple engine aircraft. Jennifer never questioned me and seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Things were perfect and I was truly happy…"

"We flew into Vail for a ski weekend. Jennifer had become a pretty good skier, while I barely got beyond the bunny slopes. It didn't matter to me because we were together. It was during one of her runs on one of the more advanced slopes… she misjudged a turn and ended up crashing into a tree. The doctor there at the resort checked her out and with the exception of a few bumps and bruises, said that she would be fine."

Rick pauses as he prepares himself to continue. "Everything seemed to be fine when we returned home, but a few days later she complained about having headaches. I wanted her to see a doctor, but she assured me that everything was fine. Two days later she was dead. The autopsy revealed that she had ruptured a small blood vessel in her brain when she hit the tree. The headaches were the result of the bleed putting pressure on her brain. By the time she admitted just how severe the pain was, it was too late."

Kate reaches across the desk, taking his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm so sorry Rick. I know how much you loved her."

Rick returns the gesture, squeezing her hand and thanking her. Wanting to change the subject to something less depressing, he glances at his watch and comments. "Would you look at the time. What say we head out to dinner? Wear something you can dance in." He offers with a grin. "I'll show you to your room."

The two leave his office and return to the wing of the mansion where all of the bedrooms were. Stopping at the door, he opens it and gestures inside. "I had to guess at the brand of cherry scented body wash that you use… I hope it's ok. I'll give you some time to get ready while I make myself pretty." He offers with a chuckle that brings a smirk to her face, fighting not to smile. "Oh, my room is just across from yours if you need anything…"

Kate places a small kiss on his cheek and thanks him for allowing her to stay.

Dinner at one of the most exclusive steak houses in the area turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant event for both of them. Rick had somehow buried the hurt feelings that he had expressed earlier and was as charming as she could ever remember, which in turn allowed her to open up to him as well. They talked and laughed about their time together, avoiding the events that led her to Tom.

"You know that I was jealous of Demming? I was hurt that you chose him over me, but I tried so hard to act as if I didn't care. I knew you were angry about Ellie but I didn't understand why. I asked you if I should pursue her, hoping that it would force you to say no. Instead, you acted as if you didn't care and I began to wonder if you felt anything for me at all. I was actually relieved when I learned that she was only using me to get a role in the Nikki Heat movie."

"I hoped that maybe we could move forward, but then Tom appears from out of nowhere and you seemed to be smitten by him. At first, I thought that you were trying to get even with me for Ellie, in spite of the fact that you didn't seem to care. I thought that you would see that I wouldn't bite and he would go away. Instead, the two of you seemed to be closer and I was in the way. I could take whatever Demming dished out, but when you joined in, I knew that my feelings were unrequited."

"Still, I clung to the hope that I was wrong. That was until you said that losing me as a partner meant nothing to you. With my only reason for being with you gone, I had no choice but to leave." Rick remarks as she listens intently to the hurt he still felt after all these years.

"I had been a fan of your books from the first time I saw you. My mother talked me into going with her to one of your book signings. I knew just how much of a fan my mother was and was curious to see the man that captivated her the way you did. It was late and I could sense that you must have been exhausted, but you smiled and greeted each person with a smile and a thank you. You took the time to talk to mom and even asked who I was."

"I'll always remember what mom said after we left. She told me, 'maybe someday you'll meet a man like him…'. After she died, I began to read your novels as a way of staying close to her. It was your books that helped to get me through the darkest times."

Kate pauses for a moment before continuing to see how Rick reacted to what she was saying. "I read everything that I could about you on the internet. Unfortunately, the picture they painted wasn't very flattering. That was why I behaved the way I did when I crashed your book launch. Your reaction did nothing to change my opinion about you. Only now I know that you were merely behaving the way that you were expected to."

"I quickly realized that you were not the man portrayed in the stories of Page Six, but that only added to my confusion. I assumed that I was nothing more than a conquest. Another notch on your bedpost. I mean, here you were, a world famous millionaire novelist and I was just a cop. Why else would you be interested in me."

"When you told me that you were going to write a novel based upon me, I was elated, until you told me what her name would be. Once again, I wasn't sure which Richard Castle I was seeing…"

"And that was always my problem." Rick interrupts her monologue. "I always felt that you were attracted to the persona created by the media and not the real me… so I became a hybrid of sorts. I became what I thought you expected me to be rather than who I really was. I was the celebrity writer and all around good humor guy for everyone at the twelfth, loaning my Ferrari and giving away Knicks tickets in exchange for the smallest of favors."

"Oh, you saw glimpses of the real me and judging by your comments, you weren't impressed."

"That's not true Rick!" Kate interrupts, but stops when she sees that he wasn't finished.

"Yes it was." Rick continues with a sigh. "Do you remember what you said to me when you met Kyra the first time? That you didn't think that I went for 'real'? Almost as if I was incapable of being anything other than my Page 6 image."

Rick pauses as he realizes that this conversation has taken a death spiral. He can see the look of defeat on her face and knows from past experience that she about to give up whatever plan she had that brought her here in the first place.

"Kate, I still have feelings for you. I just don't know what you want. I know that we're both too old to play the long distance relationship game. If you still have your doubts about me, then it's best that we stop with whatever this is and try to be friends."

Kate fights back a sob as Rick has tossed down the gauntlet before her. The fact that he admitted that he still had feelings for her would have thrilled her, were it not for the fact that he still wasn't sure if those feelings were returned. Things had reached critical mass, either they moved forward together, or ended this game.

She can see by his body language that he is preparing himself for another rejection from her. Reaching across the table, she takes his hand into hers, giving it a tug to make him look directly into her eyes. "I love you, you idiot! I've been in love with you since you offered to quit working with me after the Coonan case. I was so caught up in my mother's case and my own self doubts that I ignored all of the ways you told me that you loved me every single day. I acted like a selfish schoolgirl, too afraid to admit my feelings for you and jealous of anyone that you might be interested in."

Kate pauses, taking a calming breath before she continues as Rick looks at her, still mentally preparing himself for her rejection. "You're right Rick, this long distance thing isn't working. The man that I love is living 3,000 miles away from me. After seeing your home, there's no way in hell that I'd ask you to move back East. So… seeing as you have a lot of unoccupied rooms, maybe you could let me rent one?"

The look on his face in reaction to her question made her smile. "What about your job?" Rick quickly counters, still no sure if he heard her correctly.

"What about it? I'm tired of being defined by my job. It's time for me to be something more than a cop. Bringing the guilty to justice is a noble cause, but the satisfaction that you feel is short lived. It certainly will not comfort you when you are alone at night because you threw everything else away. I want what everyone else takes for granted, someone to come home to at night that will hold me and tell me that everything will be okay when I have a bad day. Somebody that is more important to me than a job. Somebody that will return the love I give because they truly do… someone like you."

Kate then drops to a knee, still clinging to his hand. "The time for double entendres and innuendos between us was long ago. I know what I want, who I want. Marry me Rick. We've known each other for too long to pretend that we'll learn something new by dating."

She can only watch as by now the other patrons in the restaurant are now intently looking at the two of them. Rick scoots his chair away from the table and her heart begins to sink, thinking that he was about to leave her still kneeling there. Rising to his feet, he pulls her up to him and wraps his arms around her.

Placing a kiss on her cheek to stop the tear from falling, he places his lips to her ear and replies. "Leave it to you to do things differently… and to answer your question, yes, yes I will marry you."

Kate begins to sob again, but this time because of happiness as the two share their first kiss as an engaged couple. Kate can see the anxious look on the other's faces awaiting the answer and breaks into a huge smile. "He said yes!" She remarks as the room erupts into applause and cheers.

Epilogue One Year Later:

Katherine Castle took a sip of her decaffeinated coffee from the deck of her 'home', overlooking the Pacific Ocean and marveled at how much her life had changed in such a short amount of time. Feeling the two strong arms of her husband wrapping themselves around her as he placed a loving kiss on the back of her head.

"Jessie's down for the night. I had to read her Danny and the dinosaur twice before she finally gave in." Rick replies in that baritone near whisper that she loved." His hands moved lower as he began to caress her stomach. "And how is the mommy to be?" He inquires as he turned her around to face him.

"Happy." Is her reply as she kisses him on the lips.

True to his word, they flew to Vegas the following morning after she proposed to him and were wed by an Elvis impersonator before before the sun set. Kate had kept her word as well, resigning from her position with the AG's office, via email. A six week honeymoon followed, visiting every local on the globe that she had ever wanted to see.

Returning to their home, she was faced with need to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Weeks passed and her frustration grew, having no idea what to do with herself. The answer came in the form of an email he received from the battered women's shelter where his former wife worked.

Actually, it was an invitation to the Jennifer Castle memorial fundraiser. He had established the fund months after her death in her honor awarding them a million dollars a year. The fundraiser was just another way of getting the money needed to keep the place going. Rick. Had been so caught up in his life with Kate that the event never crossed his mind.

Upon learning of the upcoming event, Kate immediately offered to do whatever she could to help, knowing how important the shelter was to Jennifer and Rick as well. To say that he was surprised by her willingness to help was an understatement and only seemed to confirm that he loved her more than even his writer's vocabulary could adequately reveal.

Kate began to devote her time to the shelter much as Jennifer had done. There were nights when she returned to their home where she was positively glowing, pleased that her efforts were making a positive impact on a woman's life. Other nights would be spent with Rick consoling her because of the terrible things that had happened to one of new arrivals.

One of these new arrivals was a nineteen year old named Sarah. Sarah and her thirteen month old daughter named Jessica were trying to flee from an abusive boyfriend who had beaten her and threatened to harm the child. Kate had assisted in helping her obtain a restraining order and helped to find her a job at a diner. She even volunteered to babysit little Jessica.

Somehow the boyfriend discovered where she was working and attacked her after her shift in the restaurant parking lot. By the time a group of horrified witnesses were able to restrain him, it was too late. She died two days later of massive head trauma leaving a fifteen month old child an orphan.

As soon as she learned of what had happened, Kate never hesitated and began looking into what it would take to adopt Jessica. With her position at the shelter and Rick's fame, they were able to navigate the maze of social services in a matter of weeks. Granted, having a team of lawyers and unlimited funds certainly helped.

It was sometime during the process that Kate learned that she was pregnant. She had accepted the fact that the odds of having her own child were slim at best given her age. It certainly wasn't from lack of trying as both she and Rick could attest. The thought of having not one, but two small children would have terrified the old Kate, but she knew that her husband would be there with her every step of the way.

Rick was truly speechless when she told him of the pregnancy. He fought back his own tears of happiness as he hugged her and peppered her face with kisses while telling her he loved her over and over.

As she stood there watching the sun disappearing on the ocean wrapped in the arms of the man that loved her, she smiled. Her future was bright and she truly looked forward to what tomorrow may bring.

The End.