On their way out of the cemetery, Castle kept stopping and embracing her like he needed some physical confirmation to believe her proposal wasn't a dream. Kate Beckett had asked him to marry her, and all was right with the world. To say there was a mood change from when they last sat in the Mercedes would be a gross understatement. Castle was on cloud nine, and Kate was not far behind. Kate did not like to draw attention to herself, and she knew any Castle proposal would be just that. That's why she had taken the initiative. Their love was unexpected, and she wanted their betrothal to be just as surprising.
On the way back to the loft, Castle lost all control and started spouting all sorts of questions about their upcoming nuptials. Where would it be? What would they serve? What kind of invitations would they send? What kind of music would they have? The questions just kept coming until Kate had had enough. Finally, she said, "Castle focus! Our wedding is not about a bunch of details. This is only going to happen once for me, and I want to savor the moment without a lot of needless pomp." Castle was readying a long rebuttal when a surprising revelation stopped him cold. Deep down, the real Richard Rogers was a nerdy and rather shy soul, and all his past flamboyance were just a ruse to hide what he felt were his own shortcomings. Kate had recognized that they were kindred souls in that regard, and all his objections gave way to a new appreciation for the woman he was about to marry.
"I want our wedding to be quick, small, and simple. You don't want to start our life together with endless bickering about the desert table, do you? Lets just enjoy this for the next week and then tell everyone next Sunday. I can even invite Aunt Sophie. It will be the perfect way to tell the people we care about. After that, we can tell our work friends. Gates may be a problem, but I think our closure rate will temper any knee-jerk reaction to break us up."
The next week was pretty quiet for them, but not so much Jordan Shaw. Larry called on a rare day off as she was strolling the beach with her husband and daughter. She knew by the number on the screen that it was his burner phone, and he was not one to use it haphazardly. He wanted to meet her that very evening at a place where he knew there would be no video record. This was not the usual laid-back Larry on the phone, and the stridency in his voice alarmed her. Whatever it was, Jordan was not about to turn down his invitation.
That night she left the house armed after a bit of a tiff with her husband. He had noticed the abrupt change in her demeanor after the call and was further alarmed when she visited the gun safe before departing. His wife was meeting some murky character in the dead of night without backup, and he was not about to let that slide without registering his extreme displeasure.
When they had started dating, she had been deliberately deceptive about her role at the FBI. After he proposed, she finally opened up about her role as a lead agent and expert profiler. Some danger was an inherent part of the job, and he had to come to terms with it if they were to take the next step. When her pregnancy had been confirmed, they had agreed to revisit what was acceptable, but never did. Now the worrisome consequences of their ongoing indecision were front and center, and he was incensed by the unnecessary risks she was now taking
Every agent in a long relationship had this reckoning sooner or later, and more often than not, it started the ball rolling towards an eventual break-up. Early in their careers, most opted for hook-ups over relationships because extreme dedication got you noticed. Jordan followed that route until her future husband broke the mold and refused her early very effective carnal advances.
She found Larry right where he said he would be. "Sorry for the urgency about this. I was asked by the studios to chauffeur around a Mr. Anderson Cross the day before yesterday. I met him at LAX, and this guy is definitely not showbiz. He got into the limo and immediately ran a scanner before saying a word. He then directed me to drive in a large circle and implied he was aware of my part in getting you and Kate Beckett together. He then handed over a small micro cassette player and told me to give it to you ASAP. When I dared to question its authenticity, he told me I was just a courier and not someone who needed to know anything else. His whole demeanor reeks of someone in deep cover, and I would bet what I saw was far from his real appearance. When we came around to the original terminal, he got out and disappeared into the crowd. I listened to the cassette yesterday, and it should put Bracken and some guy named Vulcan away for a very long time."
Jordan put the player in her pocket and immediately headed to her car where she heard both men openly discussing the offing of Joanna Beckett. The next day the prosecutor in New York had a copy, and by late that afternoon, news about the upgraded charges came forth from all the cable news outlets. Kate and Castle were in the breakroom when the startling development showed up on the TV monitors in the bullpen. Both embraced and immediately opted to relay the happy news. When they emerged, the eyes of the bullpen were riveted to the TVs until a spontaneous round of applause broke out among her coworkers. Even Gates joined in, and none, including Castle, had ever seen the usually unflappable Detective Beckett so teary eyed.
That next Sunday, the brunch was one continuous celebratory fest from beginning to end. First, the news about Bracken was finally bringing the closure that both the Beckett and Rogers families desperately needed. For the first time in years, Jim and Aunt Sophie recounted fond stories about Joanna that had been almost forgotten over the years. Some were even new to Kate, and Castle was intently absorbing every morsel about this wonderful wife and mother that was tragically taken far too soon.
After everyone was finished with the main course, Castle and Kate rose from their chairs hand-in-hand to announce that she had proposed, and he had enthusiastically accepted. "I am the happiest man in world right now and hope I can be worthy of this wonderful woman for the rest of my life."
Kate spoke next and said, "I never dreamed I could be this happy. It took awhile which was mostly my fault, but now I want nothing more than to live the rest of my life with this wonderful man - no matter where it takes us."
Everyone was thrilled with the announcement until Martha began a bit of an inquisition just like her son had done earlier. Castle, Jim, and Aunt Sophie knew that was not going to end well. Kate had always been a private person, and she would be the last person to want some sort of glitzy affair where their commitment to each other would get overshadowed by the garb, the food, or the venue. After Martha kept pestering her without getting much of a response, Kate finally said, "Martha, I really want our wedding to be quick, small, and simple. The pomp of the ceremony mean little to me. We were thinking the Hamptons would be the perfect venue and might even ask the Mayor to marry us."
At the Gates house things had not gone as planned. Their threesome was arranged much quicker than Vicki had anticipated. Linda was an acquaintance from her husband's workplace who wasn't bashful about her open marriage or interest in a threesome. The hook-up happened in a swank hotel, and it was clear from the first smooch that Linda was in it to win it. Afterwards Vicki knew her performance was clearly lacking, while her husband and Linda were practically euphoric. Her plan to divert his attention while gaining more time at the NYPD had clearly backfired. They had the talk about a week later, and he made it a clear choice of them or the NYPD. Her answer set them both off to find lawyers with the promise to try and keep things civil for the sake of the children. Her staff had no clue about the change until all saw the conspicuous lack of bling on her left hand.
Six months after they had announced their engagement, Castle and Beckett found themselves in the second week of the honeymoon at the Beckett cabin upstate. Castle had proposed something far grander, but Kate wanted to save those adventures for a later time. Castle stopped fighting it when she told him it was a one-time offer to have a real gander inside the Beckett onion.
It would happen on walks in the woods, sitting on the dilapidated dock, and in a leaky canoe aimlessly paddling to nowhere in particular. The revelations about everyday interactions with her mother were things he thought she would never share. The long sought justice for her mother had somehow seemed to break a wall he had never fully appreciated surrounding her adolescence and 'Rebel Becs' years. He knew sharing these good and not-so-good memories were very, very hard for her, and it was a clear effort to begin their new life together without any secrets. Years later, he would come to understand that these familiar surroundings were the place where she would always be the most authentic, and it was a place where they often returned when bedrock Beckett needed to be fully engaged.
The wedding itself had been a subdued affair in the Hamptons. Mayor Weldon had kindly officiated, and the fifty so so invited guests sat in the brilliant sunshine overlooking the beach as Kate and Rick read their own private vows. Her dress was simple and elegant. She and Alexis found it at the second shop they visited, and Castle had insisted that the sales consultant never show any price tags to either. A small crowd of passersby watched from a respectful distance, but one lingered far longer than anyone else. Rita had decided to surreptitiously video the whole thing. The purpose was twofold - surprise Jackson and get some much-needed experience with their new tech toy.
The low key celebration that day was everything she wanted, and her chat with the Mayor was the cherry-on-top. Unbeknownst to both Castle and Beckett, he had talked with the Chief of Detectives about spouses working together, and both agreed that Castle's unpaid status muddied the waters just enough to allow it even if some diligent reporter got all bent out of shape about it.
Author's Note - This is a deliberately concise ending that allows the reader to imagine many different futures for our dynamic duo.