Author's Note: And now for the first of two chapters dealing with Castle and Beckett's visit to the Hamptons.

Then Came Love

Chapter 50

At Castle's request, Kate accompanied him to the airport to see Alexis off for her short trip out to LA to visit Meredith. He explained it as a matter of convenience, saying that would allow them to simply drive straight to the Hamptons after dropping Alexis off but as she walked with Castle and Alexis, it occurred to her that this may not have been Castle's only or even his main reason for asking her to come with him.

This was probably the first time Alexis would be getting on a plane and traveling anywhere alone–no, scratch that, it was definitely the first time, she corrected herself. Castle was worried and it occurred to her that he'd wanted her to come as a form of moral support. It was, somehow, a rather surprising realization. She didn't associate Castle with vulnerability; he generally seemed so strong, not only in the physical sense (although she was very aware of his physical strength too) but in the emotional. He was usually the one to comfort and reassure her. It was odd, but also precious, to know that he felt he could rely on her too.

Castle kept his arm slung around Alexis's shoulders as they walked towards the security checkpoint, telling her that he'd talked to the airline and a representative would be meeting her at the gate in LA and would remain with her right up until she was picked up and telling her approximately a hundred times (for what Kate knew was about the millionth time in the last week or so, whenever the subject of Alexis's trip had come up) that if Alexis ever needed anything or had any issues, she was to call him immediately, no matter the time of day, and he would find a way to take care of it. By now, Kate was sure, Alexis could have recited the familiar spiel by heart but the girl listened with commendable patience although Alexis herself seemed much less exercised by the prospect of flying alone than Castle.

But finally, when they'd taken Alexis right up to the security lines, Castle released Alexis allowing the girl to give Kate a hug goodbye, which Kate returned, telling her to have a safe trip and have fun. And then Alexis was caught up by Castle in an embrace that indicated he never wanted to let her go, his eyes closing for a moment with so much emotion showing on his expression that Kate felt the urge to avert her eyes from the depth of love it revealed. But before too long, Alexis wriggled free, going up on her toes to kiss Castle's cheek. "I'll be fine, Dad, it's just for a few days and I'll text or call every day, promise."

"You'd better," he gave her a look of mock threat that only made her grin.

"See you in a few days, Dad." Alexis glanced at Kate. "Keep him out of trouble, okay, Kate?"

"I'll do my best," Kate responded and then Alexis was off, taking her place in line at security.

Castle stayed put, watching as Alexis made her way through the line and then past security, turning at the last moment to glance back, lifting her hand in a wave. Castle lifted his own hand and then Kate saw it close into a fist as he lowered his arm and still didn't move. Alexis was by now out of sight but he stayed, his eyes fixed on the last spot where they'd been able to see her, his expression so forlorn it would have done justice to parents sending a child off to war.

Kate's heart squeezed. Oh lord, if Castle was this upset over sending Alexis off for a few days, he really was going to be a wreck when it was time for Alexis to leave for college. She would have to make sure to comfort him, distract him, when the time came.

Wait, what? Since when had she started to think, believe, that she and Castle would still be together in almost two years' time, that Castle would still be hers to comfort? When she'd never been in a relationship that lasted even half that time. And yet, somehow, without even realizing it, she had started to believe, hope, that this would last in the long term. Frightening but also wonderful thought…

And she had Castle to comfort now too. She stepped closer to him, slipping her arm through his as she grasped his hand, briefly leaning into him, since she knew how much Castle soaked up all her affectionate little touches. Now was no different as he immediately refocused on her, his eyes clearing.

She could have assured him that Alexis would be fine, was smart and sensible, and highly unlikely to get into any trouble on the flight or in the next few days and would hardly be without adult supervision anyway but he knew all that and it wasn't exactly the point. He would worry anyway. Instead, what she said was, "I know this will shock you but I'm getting a little hungry again so do you think we can stop somewhere, grab some food along the drive?"

His lips quirked slightly since it seemed as if hunger was almost a constant state of being for her these days. "Yeah, I think we can manage that. Come on, we can grab a snack along the way and then maybe get to the Hamptons in time for a late lunch. Sound okay?"

She smiled. "That sounds great."

"Good." He bent and dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose and then they turned and headed out of the bustling airport.

It was like a role reversal, it occurred to her a little later as they drove out of the airport. Not only because Castle was the one driving (since they were taking his car–he had a Mercedes, which she supposed shouldn't have surprised her)—but also because for once, he was the quiet one, still preoccupied with having said goodbye to Alexis.

She glanced at him, noting the tension in the set of his jaw, his shoulders. He really was missing Alexis already, wasn't he? Sympathy tugged at her and she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, allowing her fingers to lightly ruffle the soft hair at his nape.

He darted a glance at her in some surprise, the set of his lips easing, lifting faintly into the beginnings of a smile, before refocusing on the road. But he dropped one hand from the steering wheel and she grasped it, squeezing it briefly, before releasing it as he needed it to make a turn onto the highway.

She started talking instead, going for distraction, choosing a subject she was sure would garner his immediate attention. "I was thinking it's about time we started really preparing for the baby, getting a nursery ready, that sort of thing." It occurred to her as she said it that even in her mind, any imagined nursery was in the loft. Somehow, at some point, she had just… accepted that the loft would be their home, had stopped even considering the option of setting her apartment up with a nursery. After all, Lanie had been right, the baby necessarily changed the calculation of if/when she would move into the loft.

And it wasn't only about the baby. After all, in the last two weeks, she had spent most of her time at the loft, had only spent a total of three nights in her apartment in that time, two nights alone and one night with Castle, but she knew he couldn't spend many nights at her apartment because of Alexis and she had already found that she didn't like spending her nights alone. Not at all.

Which meant… oh god… she would be moving into the loft. Soon, in fact. It just made sense. She knew that but her rational acceptance couldn't entirely prevent the flutter of fear in her chest at the thought, nerves rioting. Stupid and irrational but even now, the… seeming-permanence of the step struck her. Moving in with someone was just so… big, meant so much. She'd never even thought of moving in with Will. And that aside, she hadn't lived with anyone since her college roommate, Debbie Winokur, which had not been a pleasant experience and while she could be sure moving in with Castle and his family wouldn't turn into the nightmare that experience had been, she just didn't know how she would do it, adjust to having people around all the time.

Except–she glanced down at her stomach (not that she needed the reminder to think about the baby)-in just a few months' time, she really would never be alone ever again. No matter what happened with Castle because she would have the baby. So whether she liked it or not (she rather thought she did), whether she was ready or not (she didn't think she was), her time alone was coming to an end (was already at an end?)

"You're right," he agreed. "We only have a few months and they'll go by fast."

"Yeah, they will." She left unsaid that they might have less time than four months as it was because in another two months or so, she would probably be so large she would be unable to do much of anything at all to help preparing. "Do you have any ideas on how to decorate the nursery, color schemes or themes or something to get us started?" It occurred to her that now, while Castle was driving, was possibly not the time to announce that she was inviting herself to move in with him so she didn't specify a room for where this nursery could be. They could get into that detail later. "There's always the traditional pastel colors, of course," she began, just thinking aloud now, "but I thought it might be better to do something more interesting. Maybe a zoo theme? It would be more colorful."

"With baby elephants, a few other kinds of animals, on the wall? That could be cute."

She hid a smile of triumph because his tone was sliding into enthusiasm, telling her that he was very definitely distracted. "Any other ideas? Come on, Castle, you're the creative one."

Predictably, he responded to the challenge, coming up with a series of suggestions, from the more traditional ones of children's literature like Beatrix Potter and Winnie the Pooh, and then becoming more interesting, an explorer theme, an aquarium theme, a space theme. "Ooh, I know, not just space, but space cowboys!"

She snorted. Now he was getting ridiculous. "No, Castle, we are not decorating the nursery in a Firefly theme. I don't care how good the show was or how attractive the lead actor is."

"First, I love that you obviously know about Firefly but second, the lead actor is not that attractive."

She bit back a laugh. That was his primary response? Although, yes, she might have baited him a little. She pretended to think about it. "I don't know, Castle, I thought getting to look at him was almost the best part of the show."

He huffed. "It was not and now you're just messing with me."

She shot a smirk at him. "It worked, didn't it?"

"It did not," he denied. "I'm perfectly calm!"

Of course he was. Not. "Anyway, I'm vetoing that suggestion. Try again."

He did, coming up with a number of more suggestions, some of which she liked better than others (Star Wars also didn't seem like an appropriate theme for a nursery). It was a start, certainly, and perhaps more importantly at that moment, the conversation took up most of the drive to the Hamptons, even including their stop to get a snack–well, a snack for him, more of a small meal for her.

She was feeling relaxed and content until shortly after they exited the highway and started driving through surface streets, skirting around the center of the town and going towards the residential areas with small but charming, picturesque houses. He made another turn, slowing his speed accordingly, and she felt tension seeping back into her body, a species of nervousness settling in her stomach.

Oh lord, this was not the sort of place she was used to, not the sort of place she had ever been before. Not the sort of place she belonged. Because these houses were not just large but verging on huge and worse, each seemed to come with a fair stretch of property as there were large gaps in between the houses through which the deep blue of the bay was visible. These weren't houses so much as they were mansions, estates even, as a fair number of them were enclosed by gates for additional privacy and Kate wondered a little wildly if they also included stables or carriage houses or what not, in full Downton Abbey style.

Stupid, stupid, she told herself. She was a grown up, a cop, a homicide detective. She'd brought members of the Wellesley family into the box to interrogate them, for heaven's sake. She wasn't going to be intimidated by wealth. Really, she wasn't.

She inwardly steeled herself but even so, couldn't keep from gaping a little as Castle turned into the driveway of a house–no, not a house, a mansion. She couldn't imagine how many bedrooms the place held. She supposed the only minor mercy, such as it was, was that it wasn't gated like some private estate, wasn't even the largest house they'd passed along the street. It was still big enough that her apartment could probably fit inside it five times over and have room left over.

It was one thing to know Castle was rich–the loft was no slouch in the luxury department either–but another thing to have it displayed so obviously how incredibly rich Castle had to be, to own a place like this. She had no doubt she could save every cent of her annual salary for the rest of her natural life and not be able to afford half of this, in a neighborhood like the Hamptons at that.

"Food first and then the grand tour?" he suggested, coming up to slip his hand into hers. "I'll bring our bags in after that."

"Sure," she agreed and fell into step beside him.

Oddly, but reassuringly, she felt her tension ease just on stepping inside the house. It was enormous, there was no denying that, but it was also a home, like the loft. Even from what she could see standing in the foyer, that was evident, the furnishings were comfortable, made for living rather than display. That impression was solidified as Castle led her straight through the ground floor from the foyer past what looked like the living room and the library, before they arrived at the other side of the house where the kitchen with large windows offering a sweeping view of the bay, was located, alongside a dining room, and on the other side of the dining room, a family room with a large TV and French doors leading out to the backyard.

They made themselves a quick late lunch consisting of sandwiches and a salad. Kate was rather pleasantly surprised to see that the refrigerator was surprisingly well-stocked with the basics.

As if sensing her thought, Castle explained, "I have a housekeeper who comes in, airs the place out a little, that sort of thing, and she also shops for groceries, stocks up the kitchen, even though I keep telling her she doesn't have to." He grimaced, shaking his head in mock irritation. "And then she argues with me when I insist on paying her back for the groceries."

Kate hid a smile, that one addition telling volumes about the sort of friendship Castle had with his so-called housekeeper. It was very like him. "Your housekeeper argues with you?"

A smile flashed across his face. "They're friends too, mostly just friends now, but I still tend to refer to her as my housekeeper when it comes to this sort of thing because otherwise it sounds weird. And her husband looks out for the grounds, keeping things neat, helping prepare for storms, that sort of thing. They live just a couple streets from here. They want to meet you, by the way."

"Meet me? They know about me?"

Castle laughed. "Of course they know about you. This can't come as a surprise to you but I do talk about you to my friends and when I told Rochelle I was visiting this time, she thought something might be up because I don't usually come out here over the holidays."

"I'll look forward to meeting them," she smiled, meaning it too. From the sound of it, Rochelle and her husband were real friends of Castle's and she did want to know more about his friends.

As they ate, he told her a little more about Rochelle and her husband, Phil, about how their daughter, Lacey, who was now in college, used to babysit for Alexis and their son, Ethan, who was 24 and working in Boston.

It was such a normal, down-to-earth conversation that she forgot about her momentary flicker of intimidation on first seeing the house.

After they ate, as promised, he gave her the tour of the house, which in spite of its undeniable size, really did seem like a home, not some ostentatious palace. There were lots of pictures of Alexis and Castle and Martha on display and the furniture all appeared to have been picked for an eye to comfort more than aesthetics, in spite of their obvious quality.

His office/library was large, filled with books, unsurprisingly, that she made a mental note to browse through later but then as she turned to leave, her eyes fell on a filing cabinet in the corner, more specifically on the framed picture sitting on top of the filing cabinet, and she froze. Because it was a picture of her. She guessed it was a picture Castle must have secretly taken on his phone because in it, she was partially turned away as she smiled. From the length of her hair, she could tell that the picture must have been taken this past spring, shortly after Castle had started shadowing her.

Her first thought was that it was an odd, not entirely flattering place to keep her picture, tucked in a corner where it wouldn't even be visible to Castle when he was sitting at his desk, wasn't that likely to be noticed unless someone happened to look right there.

Her second thought made her heart stutter in her chest. Castle had mentioned that he hadn't been here since this summer, since before Alexis returned to school.

Castle had followed her gaze. "Oh, I almost forgot that was where I put that picture." So saying, he moved the picture to place it on his desk in a prominent position, beside the pictures of Alexis and of himself giving a pint-sized Alexis a piggyback ride.

He had a picture of her here, in his house in the Hamptons, since this summer. Except this summer, as she remembered very well, was after she had kicked him out of the precinct, after That Night, when they hadn't even been talking anymore. A time when she hadn't expected to see him again. (This pregnancy had not been planned but it occurred to her, belatedly, that it might have been the luckiest thing that had ever happened to her because it had pushed her to contact Castle again, had ultimately brought her here, now, with Castle.)

"You have a picture of me," she said inanely. "Here."

It was not the clearest statement in the world but she saw understanding dawn in his expression and he sobered. "I did tell you I cared about you even then."

"But I kicked you out."

"I guess I still hoped you'd let me back eventually?" He made a small uncertain movement of his hands, looking from the picture back to her, and for just a moment, she saw the memory of weeks, maybe months, of regret and hurt flicker across his face. "I'm not sure if I can explain why I kept the picture but… I just wasn't ready to give up. And I knew the Heat Wave publicity would let me see you again so I was thinking I could at least try to… grovel a little, bribe you with a pony–"

She choked on something that might have been a laugh. "A pony?"

He lifted one shoulder into a half-shrug. "Sure, if you'd wanted one, if that's what it took for you to let me back into the precinct, give me another chance. It was like… you were the one that got away, except we weren't actually together… and I missed you too much to give up on you." They had just slept together but he'd still wanted more.

Oh. Oh god. Her throat tightened with absurd, stupid tears and she never would have thought that being called 'the one that got away' would move her so but somehow, the words went straight to her heart and stayed there. It was evidence, if she'd needed it (she really hadn't but it was so precious nonetheless) that when Castle had told her that all that had led to their relationship, the baby, had started because he cared about her, it was really true. He had always, always cared about her.

She choked a little and then she almost hurled herself against him, his arms closing around her, as she kissed him hard, kissed him feeling as if her chest might burst, kissed him until she was a little dizzy and had to break off to suck in air.

He moved one hand to cup her cheek, nuzzling soft, gentle kisses on her nose, her cheek, soothing her as she sagged against him. "Hey, it's okay," he murmured against her skin. "We're here now so all that came before, all the things that led us here, good and bad, it just makes our story better."

He would phrase it like that. "I didn't get away," was what she managed to say. "You have me now."

That made him smile. "And you have me. See? It all worked out."

She had him. She decided she liked the sound of that, maybe even better than his having her. She kissed him again, a softer, leisurely kiss this time, but then it deepened as he opened for her, his hand tangling in her hair as he held her in place (not that she was about to go anywhere) so he could ravish her mouth. He broke off the kiss only to skate his lips along the line of her chin and she gasped, tilting her head to give him greater access as his lips nuzzled the sensitive spot just behind her ear lobe. Oh, oh god, she really didn't know how he could do this to her, make her pant and burn for him so quickly and so easily but he could and as his hands slid down to cup her butt, she decided she didn't care how or why, so long as he didn't stop.

He didn't stop. And neither did she. Until she found herself slumped against him in his lap on the sofa in his office and was a little amazed to find that she was still half-dressed, her sweater still on, while his shirt was only half-unbuttoned. She tucked her face into the curve where his shoulder met his neck, a spot she had already learned she liked, as she waited for her breathing to even out.

Well, she supposed they'd well and truly christened his office. The silly thought darted into her mind and surprised a snicker from her and she felt him lift his head.

"What's so funny?"

"It just occurred to me, I guess we christened your office."

She both heard and felt his laughter as he shook against her. "You are amazing, you know that?"

She bit her lip to keep from smiling, hoped she wasn't blushing like some teenage girl at a compliment. "Why do you say that?"

"I was just about to ask if you were okay. I wasn't exactly gentle just now."

She blinked at him even as warmth spurted in her chest. "Did it seem like I was complaining?"

"No. But you're pregnant."

For a moment, she was torn between affection and a little irritation at his protectiveness. "Do you really think I wouldn't have realized and stopped you if I felt the least bit uncomfortable, as if anything might be wrong?"

"Well, no, of course not."

Affection won out and she ruffled her fingers through his hair. As if there was ever any chance that Castle, even in the middle of passion, would do anything to hurt her or the baby. She was more likely to sprout wings and fly. "I'm fine. The baby is fine. And you're being silly."

That made his lips quirk. "That's not unusual."

She laughed softly and kissed him. "Think you can give me the rest of the tour, then?"

"Yeah, I can do that," he agreed but didn't immediately move, kept his arms around her as he kissed her, again, and it was some time before they actually got up and started to put themselves together again.

Kate bit her lip, flushing a little in spite of herself, as she retrieved her underwear and her pants, somehow reminded of That Night, of the awkwardness of getting dressed again after the whirlwind of passion. This was, it occurred to her, the first time since That Night that she and Castle had again been so swept away that they hadn't bothered to get fully undressed, hadn't made it to a bed. It was very similar and yet so completely different. This time, there was no awkwardness as she handed Castle's jeans to him and then stepped in closer to help him button up his shirt, pausing to kiss the little hollow of his throat. (She'd never realized before him that a man's throat could be attractive but somehow, his was.)

He caught one of her hands in his the moment she finished, pressing a kiss to her palm. "I'm just going to run out to the car to get our bags. Be right back."

She glanced back at the picture of her now sitting on Castle's desk, warmth swirling in her chest. The picture was proof of just how long and how much Castle had cared about her, in spite of her prickly defenses and her stubbornness. It made the memory of That Night, always before up until now tinged with regret, seem… different, cleaner, if that made sense. In spite of everything that had happened, in spite of the fact that she already loved this baby and could never regret anything about the baby, she'd felt a little niggling dissatisfaction at the thought that the baby was the result of a one night stand. But now, after seeing the picture, that one little thorn in her memory of That Night appeared to have dissolved. It was, as Castle had put it, just part of their story and–she found herself smiling–their story was just beginning.

She wandered out of Castle's office, idly studying the pictures on the wall in the hallway. It was very like Castle that he had framed some of Alexis's childish works of art and displayed it alongside professional art works. She touched a hand to her stomach, wondering idly about the sorts of childhood art works the Sprout might produce in a few years, all of which no doubt Castle would display with as much pride as if he were displaying a masterpiece worthy of da Vinci.

She was pulled from her little daydream as Castle returned with their bags and she trailed up the stairs after him as he led her to a huge bedroom dominated by a large bed and a full wall of windows providing a sweeping view of the beach and the waters of the bay beyond, with a window seat in one corner that she could immediately picture curling up on with a book. It looked as if most of her apartment would fit inside this one room alone.

"This is our room," he announced unnecessarily. Our room. As if this whole mansion wasn't just his but theirs, as if this wasn't her first time even seeing the place.

He set down the bags and took her hand as he led her down the hall, pointing out Alexis's room followed by Martha's, both of which also looked out over the bay and then three guest rooms facing the front of the house away from the bay.

Kate paused in the doorway of the guest room almost immediately across the hall from the master suite, its walls painted a pale blue. "I think," she found herself saying almost without realizing she was going to, "this would make a nice nursery for the Sprout."

He stopped and stared at her for a moment, for long enough that she felt a prick of doubt–had she assumed too much to be planning a nursery here–but then he caught her cheeks in his hands and kissed her hard and fast with enough passion that her lips felt a little bruised. "That sounds perfect. You're perfect."

She flushed a little in spite of herself at the fervor in his voice, which even for him, seemed too intense, his words too hyperbolic. He of all people knew that she was far from perfect but somehow, with him looking at her the way he was, she could almost believe she was even half as extraordinary as he always claimed. "Just planning ahead, that's all," she demurred. "Maybe it could be something like an 'under the sea' theme, in keeping with the atmosphere here."

His expression lit up with so much happiness he almost glowed. "I love it," he declared. "With fish on the walls, like from 'Finding Nemo.' I always thought those clown fish were just adorable…" And he was off, his enthusiasm as usual overflowing, as he painted a picture of this imagined nursery with his words, so vividly that she could picture it in her own mind. Could picture, too, a dark-haired baby babbling nonsensical baby noises as she gazed at the fish on the walls.

The image hit her so forcefully she was almost dizzy with the rush of emotion and she slipped her arm around him, leaning against him. Oh yes, their story was just beginning and they had so much to plan and look forward to, together.

~To be continued…~

A/N 2: Thank you, as always, to all readers and reviewers.