A/N: So, I guess this is it. Epilogue. Once again I want to thank all of you for your amazing response to this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Again, thank you! Until next time, xxxx
Kate can't help but glance at the clock every now and then. If there's no body dropping in thirty minutes she'll be free to spend the weekend with her family at their summer house and she wants nothing more now than to have a weekend with her family. It's been so stressful lately and she feels like she hasn't had the time to just be in a long time. She tries to focus on her paperwork but it's not as fun as it is to think about the weekend they've planned for the last two weeks. Lily has been buzzing about it too, wanting nothing more than to have a few days just for them. She glances to the clock again, five more minutes.
"Mom!"
Kate looks up and turns in her chair in time to see her eight year old take off from her dad in a sprint to run towards her.
"He-ey peanut," she says with a big smile as she opens her arms to the girl running into her embrace.
Lily throws her arms around Kate's neck and hugs her tight as Kate lifts her up in her lap. Kate doesn't hesitate to tighten the hug from her end as well.
"Too tight, mom," Lily starts to struggle and giggles when Kate loosen her grip. "Are you ready?"
Kate pretends to not know and raises her eyebrow. "Ready for what?"
"For the Hamptons," she states matter-of-factly. "You said five, it's five. Time to go-o."
Kate laughs and hushes her daughter from continuing her shouting. "Not yet, one more minute."
"Details," her husband says with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Besides, isn't it more fun if we're all together when the clock strikes five?"
"That's true," Kate agrees as her daughter looks to the clock with a narrowed look.
The same look Kate's been teased she's gotten from her. "Ten… nine… eight… seven…" the girl started counting down and Kate shook her head. Like father, like daughter. "...three… two… one… no work!"
"Shh, Lil, it's still a bullpen," Kate hushs her daughter who's waving her hands happily.
She definitely inherited Castle's childishness, and it's kind of adorable.
"You ready to go?" the man of her thought asks.
"Yeah, just let me finish up here," Kate says and Lily immediately gets off her to give her space for her hands.
"Ey-yo chica!" Esposito called out as he came out of the break room.
"Uncle Espo!" Lily runs to the detective and hugs him.
"What are you doing here?"
"We're going to the Hamptons, just getting mom before we go," Lily tells him with a bright smile. "Where's uncle Ryan?"
"Oh, he's off today, something about a doctor's appointment with Sarah Grace," Esposito tells her and she nods.
Kate finishes up the work and turns off her computer, feeling the presence of her husband come up behind her once she stands up. He puts his arms around her and she tries to fight the smile from emerging on her face. She leans her head back onto his shoulder and looks up to him.
"We're at the precinct," she reminds him and she hears the huffs of a chuckle he tries to hide.
"You're off duty," he reminds her with a smirk on his lips. "And we're off for a small vacation." His lips find hers in a weird angle and she kisses him back, both pulling apart in a chuckle when they hear their eight year old make gagging noises.
"Gross," the small girl complains with laughter in her voice.
"Come on peanut," Kate says and the girl says bye to her uncle as she runs back into her mom's arms.
Kate takes her up in her arms, carrying the girl while her husband keeps a hand on her hip when they walk to the elevators.
"You're starting to get big, peanut, I won't be able to carry you like this for much longer," Kate teases the girl who shakes her head with a smile on her lips.
"I'm supposed to get bigger mommy, I'm almost nine!" she states and Kate fakes a gasp.
"No, you're not! Are you?" she asks when Lily nods excitedly. "Oh wow."
"Nine years ago… isn't that about the time you fainted?" Castle asks and Kate gives him a widened look.
"You fainted mommy? What's fainted?" Lily asks and Kate bites her lip.
"I was working too hard and fainted. Do you remember when you were sick a couple months ago? When you had a high fever?" Kate asks and the girl nods. "Do you remember the black spots?" Another nod. "If all those black spots would've turned your whole vision black and you'd have fallen asleep for a couple seconds then that's what fainted is."
"Oh," Lily says. "Will I ever faint?"
"That we won't know until it happens, peanut. Some people go their whole life without fainting, while some people faint every time they're sick and have a fever," Castle explains and the girl seems to accept the answer.
"Now, let's go to our beautiful home in the Hamptons," Kate says as the elevator doors open at the parking and the other two woos.
"Is she asleep?" Kate asks her husband as he comes down the stairs and she puts away the book she's been reading while he told their daughter a bedtime story.
She loves listening in on his stories but tonight she felt as though their daughter needed some alone time with her dad, knowing she can take the night tomorrow. Plus she couldn't say no to the offer of him letting her have a moment to read the new book of his. She's still a fan no matter how many times she's tried to deny it to him. He knows, of course, but she still likes to tease him about it and try to conceal the fact that she's as in love with his books as she's in love with him.
"Yeah, didn't take this long but I wanted to give you the chance to actually get some reading done," he confesses before he sets off towards the wine cellar. "Wine?"
"Yes please," she says and while he disappears to get them the wine she continues to read the book.
When he comes back with the two glasses of red wine she puts away the book and accepts the glass he hands her.
"Thank you," she says before she takes a sip and moans slightly at the taste.
He sits down beside her on the couch and she immediately snuggles closer to him, careful not to let the wine spill.
"What story was it tonight?" she asks and feels his lips feather in her hair.
"Ours," he replies and she groans. "Don't worry, I always leave out the part where you came onto me and we ended up with a kid."
She shakes her head. "I didn't come onto you, you kissed me."
"Only after you gave me the okay," he teases and she looks up at him.
"I did?" she asks with a teasing smile.
"Yeah, you did," he says. "And I distinctly remember you taking some of the lead as well."
"Hmm, really?" she lets her hand slide up his thigh.
"Mhmm," he smirks and takes her hand in order to stop it from going closer to his groin. "Still as naughty as back then."
She chuckles. "I was never that naughty."
He joins her chuckles. "Not until our honeymoon, when we got a few nights alone," he reminds her and she feels her cheeks go hot as she bites her lower lip.
He takes a sip of his wine and she decides to take one too. When she's pulling the glass from her lips he's reaching for her glass and sets both their glasses on the table and she bites the inside of her cheek to try and hide the smirk on her lips.
"What are you doing?" she asks and he smirks at her as well.
"Well, I think you had a thought," he says as his one hand lands on her leg.
She immediately let's her leg pass his lap in order to straddle him. His hands find her hips while her fingers dance across his arms, upwards to cup his jaw.
"I did?" she questions with a lingering tone as she leans closer to him.
She lets her nose touch his in a teasing matter, her lips so close but yet not touching his just yet. His hands sneak inside her shirt but stays at her hips, fingers tickling her bare skin underneath.
"You're sure she's asleep?" Kate whispers against his lips and feels his nods when his nose brushes hers up and down.
She lets her lips touch his then in a quick, teasing kiss and before she knows it he's pulling her hips closer to his as he's claiming her lips in a heatening kiss which eventually leads them to their bedroom.
"Mommy look at me!" Lily yells from the side of the pool and Kate looks up from the book to see the young girl practice her diving technique into the water.
Once the girl surfaces Kate claps her hands. "Nice one Lil! Definitely better than your daddy's divings."
"Hey!" Castle calls out from the middle of the pool and Lily laughs while Kate just raises one eyebrow in challenge to him, a smirk evident on her lips.
"Mom?"
"Yes, peanut?"
"Come dive with me," Lily halfway demands and Kate chuckles.
She puts away the book and stands from the sun lounger she's been sitting in. She stretches a bit and spots Castle eyeing her from the water, if it hadn't been for their daughter being right there she would've called him out on his perverting stare. Instead she tries to shake off the memories of last night and gets ready to dive into the pool. Before she dives she meets those blue eyes of her husband and winks just as she leaps into the water. When she surfaces her daughter is clapping her hands just the same way she'd been doing when her daughter had made the leap.
"Nice mom!" Lily cheers and Kate laughs.
"Thanks peanut," Kate says as she swims towards her daughter.
Lily swims into her arms and Kate holds onto the girl for a little while before she's squirming to swim away again. That's when Kate feels a set of arms come around her body and she smiles when she feels his lips lay a quick kiss on her shoulder. He lets her go again and goes towards a ball floating in the water.
"Hey peanut, you wanna throw some ball?" Castle asks and their daughter immediately screams with joy.
They start throwing the ball between the three of them. When Castle pretends to be clumsy and Lily giggles at her clumsy daddy Kate can't help but tease him a bit which eventually results in their daughter ending up in laughter. They continue to play until it's time for food and that's when they get out of the pool and dry themselves off with towels right before they race into the beach house to find something to eat. Then they spent the rest of the day walking around the beach, collecting shells and running in the sand. Kate can't imagine how her life would've looked like if Lily hadn't been growing in her belly after that night in Castle's loft. With the girl in between them, heading home for dinner, with her precious hands hugging one of each of her parent's. Kate's so happy, so carefree. She loves their small family. Castle had proposed to her when Lily had been four, apparently he wanted to show her he was in it to stay before he proposed. He'd told her that after the proposal. Had told her about having heard her saying she didn't want him to propose just because they had Lily. She wanted him to propose because he wanted to be with her, because he loves her, and not because they accidentally got pregnant. When Lily was four she really had no doubt anymore. And seeing Lily being one of her bridesmaids along with Alexis being her partner's best man made it all so much better. And now, nine years after the first night, she's even more sure of her decision to keep the baby and giving them a chance.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Castle asks and she raises her head from his chest to look at him.
"Just us, how everything turned our lives around and how scared I was wondering if it was worth it," she tells him and he looks at her the same way he did back then, the curiosity, the adoration, the love.
"Was it?" he asks and she smiles at him, still completely in love with him, even more so now than then.
"Every step on the way," she promises him. "And if you want, I'm ready for more."
His face brightens, he's been asking her if she wants more kids or if she wants to keep their family the way it is. She knows he's been hoping for more but she also knows he won't ever push her. "Are you sure?" he asks and she bites her lower lip on the grin she has on her face.
"Yes, as long as we do it like the last time," she says and he narrows his eyes.
"Yeah? And how is that?"
She leans closer to kiss his lips, tasting him when their tongues meet. When they part for air she answers him. "One step at a time." He smirks and pushes her onto her back as his lips attack hers in a heated and passionate kiss.
THE END