A/N: This is an original story idea, written using Castle characters. It is not canon. The story is written for Natalie Elizabeth. This story would not have been possible without our Skype sessions. Happy birthday Nat!

Honorary Maid of Honor

Best-selling mystery novelist Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett are engaged. They are starting to plan their wedding. Castle and Beckett are planning their wedding. They talk about the guest list. They also discuss how many people they want in their wedding party and who should be in their wedding party. Kate is struggling to decide who she wants as her maid of honor. Castle already knows who he wants as best man. He just needs to ask them.

Kate asks Rick, "hey, babe?"

"Yeah."

"Have you figured out who your best man is going to be?"

"Yes."

Kate is surprised since Castle made such a quick decision. "You did? That was fast. Who did you pick, Ryan or Esposito?"

Castle looks at Kate hesitantly. He is afraid of what she might think of his idea. "Well, I have this idea and I'm not sure you're going to like it."

She gives him the Beckett look. "Just spit it out Castle. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking of having 2 best men, instead of trying to choose between the two."

Kate thinks about it for a moment. "You know… that's not a bad idea. Although how many people are we having in the wedding party? Two on each side, not counting the two of us?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It'll make it easier on us, so we don't stress out over who gets picked. Besides, our closest friends are here with us anyway."

Kate writes something down on a notepad. "Yes, that is true. But I have a problem choosing who my second Maid of Honor will be."

"Really?"

She taps the pen to her chin. "Well, I have this friend that lives in another country. She's a really good friend of mine. Some people say she is one of my best friends."

Castle is taken aback. "Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You have another best friend that I don't know about? What about Maddie?"

"Yes, Maddie and I were best friends, but that was a really long time ago. However, I do have another best friend who lives far away."

"How did the two of you meet?"

Kate looks down, causing some of her hair to fall forward in front of her face. She isn't sure if she wants to tell Castle the truth. "Um…"

"Come on, Kate. You can tell me."

"She and I met on a Richard Castle fan page." Kate's cheeks turn red.

Castle is going to give her a hard time about the fact she just admitted to being part of a Richard Castle fan club. "Oh, my, God! You are such a total fan!"

Kate is getting irritated of Castle teasing her. "Yes! All right?! I was a HUGE fan of Richard Castle. But that was a while ago."

Castle puts his hand over his chest, like it hurts. "Ow. You're not a fan anymore?"

Kate lets out a sigh. "Babe, that's not the point. She and I met on this online fan club of yours. We've actually never met in person, but we talk as often as we can over the phone or video calls."

"Wait… you've never actually met this person and you trust them?"

"Yes, Castle. I trust them. Because she and I have been able to communicate over the years, we've learned things about each other. We found out that we're not that different."

"How does Lanie feel about that?"

"She doesn't know. I haven't told her. Yes, Lanie is my best friend. I tell her a lot of things, but I don't tell her everything. There are some things I just can't tell her. But Liz, my friend overseas, I can tell her anything. When she and I talk, we can talk about anything and everything. Honestly, she keeps me sane."

Castle gives Kate a smile as he goes to wrap his arms around her. "She sounds like a really great friend."

Kate looks up at Castle and smiles. "Yeah, she is. I don't know what I would do without her, even though she lives like 10,000 miles away."

"So, why don't you make her a Maid of Honor?"

"I was thinking that, but I was also thinking about having Alexis. She's going to become part of my family, just like I'll become part of hers. I'd like Alexis to be involved in our wedding."

"That is really sweet and thoughtful of you, Kate."

Kate sighs. "I just don't know what to do. I'm torn on making a decision."

Castle puts his hands on Kate's shoulders. "Just take your time. There is no rush in coming to a decision. We have plenty of time."

Kate takes a step closer to Castle. "Thanks, babe."

"Always."

She rests her head on Castle's chest. "I just don't understand why this is so difficult."

"Well, it just means you have choices. These people you're trying to choose from are special to you in one way or another."

"True, but you made it look so easy."

"In all sincerity, Ryan and Esposito are my only guy friends. Meaning, they're my only true friends… that are guys."

Kate lifts her head off of Castle's chest to look him in the eye. "What about the guys you play poker with? They're not your friends?"

Castle takes in a deep breath and releases it slowly. "Well, yeah you can call those guys my friends. But all we do is talk shop. We don't talk about sports or anything personal."

"Huh, I never knew. But it does make sense."

"Yeah." Castle lifts his hand off of Kate's back to check the time on his watch. "Oh, it's getting late we should be getting some sleep."

"Okay. Maybe if I sleep on it, a decision will come to me."

"There you go. Don't make any final decisions just yet. Give yourself some time and sleep on it. At least you know you have options."

Hand in hand, Castle and Beckett walk toward the master bedroom to get ready for bed.

Kate wakes up in the middle of the night, her mind is racing, so she carefully gets out of bed and heads for the kitchen. She makes herself a cup of tea and goes to sit on the couch.

Castle walks out into the living room when he sees Kate sitting on the couch, zoned out. "Kate?"

Kate takes a sip of her tea, without looking away from the spot on the bookshelf she's staring at.

Castle calls out to her again. "Kate?"

Kate continues to stare at the bookcase.

Castle walks over to the couch and takes a seat next to Kate. He places his hand gently on her knee. "Kate?"

She startles, careful not to spill her tea. "Geez! Castle you scared me."

"Sorry, honey. But I tried getting your attention, like 5 times, but you never answered. What's going on? Are you having second thoughts? Do you not want to marry me?

Kate whips her head around to look at Castle. "What? Of course, I want to marry you. Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. You just seemed to be lost in thought."

She reaches up to gently place her hand on his cheek. "I love you. I want to marry you. I want to be your wife. I am not having second thoughts about the wedding. I'm just trying to figure out what to do about my maid of honors."

"Still having a hard time with that, huh?"

Kate lets out a sigh. "Yeah."

"Would it help if you thought out loud? Maybe hearing it would help you make a decision."

She rests her hands, still holding her cup of tea, in her lap. "Okay, let's see. We already know that I will be asking Lanie to be one."

"Yeah."

"I'm really good friends with Liz and she knows me, probably better than anybody, but she lives so far away. Alexis is here and I want her to be a part of our wedding, even though she and I don't have the best relationship."

"Hmm. Still sounds like a tough choice."

"You know, I've actually had a conversation with Liz a while back, before you and I even started dating, that she would help me with whatever I would need her to do. I then told her she would most likely be needed for sanity purposes."

"Well, there you go! It sounds like you've made a decision."

"Not exactly, but I think I have an idea."

"Really? Would you care to share?"

"Not yet. I need to talk to Alexis. But first…" Kate pecks Castle on the lips, "we get some sleep."

The next morning Kate walks out to the kitchen and sees Alexis pouring a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Alexis."

"Good morning."

Kate sits down on one of the bar stools. "Alexis, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Kate folds her hands and rests them on the countertop. "I want to talk to you about the wedding."

"Okaaaay." Alexis doesn't know where Kate is going with the conversation.

"Look, I know you and I haven't had the greatest relationship, but I'd like to try and change that."

"How?"

Kate looks down at her hands and sighs. "Well, for starters, I'd like you to be a part of the wedding. It is your father getting married, after all. Not only that, but it's the start of us becoming a family."

"What are you saying?"

"Alexis… will you be one of my maid of honors?"

Alexis is taken aback. "I'm sorry? Did you just ask me to be a maid of honor?"

"I did. I would love it if you were standing up there with us."

"Oh, wow. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything right now. Please, take your time. You can say, 'no', and I won't be offended. I'll understand that you'll have your reasons."

Alexis reaches across the countertop for Kate's hands. "Kate, I'd love to be a maid of honor. Thank you."

Kate gives her a smile. "You're welcome. And thank you. It means a lot to me and I know it will mean the world to your dad."

Alexis takes a sip of her coffee. "Wait, you said A maid of honor, correct? As in more than one?"

Kate stands up from the stool to get herself a cup of coffee. "Yes. Your father and I thought it would be a good idea to have 2 maid of honors and 2 best men, so it would make it easier for us to make decisions."

"Oh, that's cool. You don't see that very often. Most people just have one best man and one maid of honor. But I think it's cool you guys are doing it the way you are."

"Thanks."

"I'm assuming the other maid of honor will be Lanie?"

"Yes. I just have to ask her. I'll be asking her today."

"Great! I'm happy for you and dad."

"Thank you, Alexis."

During a break in the day, Kate makes her way to the morgue to visit Lanie. "Hey, Lanie."

"What's up, girl friend?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to come down here to see if you had anything for us."

Lanie gives her a sideways glance. "Come on girl. I know you better than that. Why are you really down here?"

"This may not be the right time or place, but I need to ask you something."

"Girl, you know you can ask me anything."

"Okay. Here it goes… will you be one of my maid of honors?"

"Yes! Absolutely, yes!" Lanie goes to give Kate a hug but stops mid way. "Hold up. Did you say, 'one of'?"

"Yeah. Why? Is that a problem? Because Castle and I decided it was best if we have 2 best men and 2 maid of honors so we didn't hurt anybody's feelings. Well, that and to make the decision easier for us."

"Very nicely done you two. I like it." Lanie gives Kate a big hug. "Of course, I'll be a maid of honor. I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Lanie. Alexis will be the other maid of honor."

"Aw, that's sweet."

"Yeah. I wanted her to be part of the wedding and it is an honor to have my future step-daughter standing up front with us."

"I think that's very nice. It'll be a nice little family thing for you."

"Yes."

"So, when do we start the planning?"

"Uh, well, Castle and I still have to figure out a few things. It is OUR wedding after all."

Lanie waves off Kate's comment. "I'm not talking about that. We need to go find your wedding dress, pick the maid of honor dresses, bachelorette party."

"Okay, first of all, my future step-daughter is still under 21, so we can't do anything too crazy. Besides, the two of you will have to work together to come up with something."

"But what about the dresses? We should go shopping for them soon so we can place an order. That way it'll give the company plenty of time to make the dresses, send them to us, and make any necessary alterations."

Kate takes in a deep breath and lets it out. "Okay, it sounds like you've been through this before. Let's get together this weekend to go dress shopping."

"For whose dress?"

"All of them. I'll talk to Alexis tonight and let her know what the plan is."

"Yes! I'm looking forward to it."

Kate heads for the door. She turns around to give Lanie a smile. "Me too."

After a long day of work, Kate walks into the loft. She kicks her shoes off near the door and sets her keys down on the table. She walks to the kitchen as Castle takes a freshly baked lasagna out of the oven.

"Mmm, that smells really good. Thanks, babe."

Castle gives her a megawatt smile. "Always. This dinner is special made for my bride to be."

"Oh, Castle."

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just adorable and I love you."

"I love you too."

Kate looks at the time on her watch. "I need to make a call to Liz."

"Are you going to talk to her about the wedding?"

"Yeah."

Castle walks around the kitchen island and gives Kate a kiss on the forehead. "Go ahead. I'll give you some privacy." He walks off toward his office to give Kate some space to talk on the phone with her friend.

Kate finds Liz's name on her phone and places the call.

The phone rings a few times before Liz answers with her Australian accent.

"Hello, Kate. How are you?"

"Hey, Liz. I'm doing pretty good. How are you?"

"Doing alright. Just getting ready to head off to work. What's going on?"

Kate takes a seat on the couch and props her feet on the coffee table. "Nothing much. I was just calling because I need to talk to you about something. Do you have some time? If you don't, I can call back later."

"No, it's fine. I have some time. What's on your mind?"

Kate lets out a sigh. "Well, you know Castle and I are getting married."

"Mmhmm."

"We're just trying to finalize some of the wedding details."

"And you need my help."

Kate gives a little chuckle. "Well, sort of."

"Okay. Tell me what needs to be done and I'll see what I can do from here."

"Well, here's the thing… Castle and I have chosen to have two best men and two maid of honors."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. We thought it would make some of the decisions easier. But, for me it wasn't so easy."

"Why?"

"Well, because I have 3 ladies to choose from and I can only pick two." Kate sighs. "I want you to be here with me."

"Kate, I've told you before that it's okay if I'm not part of the wedding party. I will be there at your wedding. If you need me to arrive early to help with anything, I will be there."

"Thank you. That really means a lot to me."

Liz laughs. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss being there for you on your wedding day."

"I know. I really appreciate that, thank you. One thing, how early before the wedding would you be able to arrive here in New York?"

"Um, I'm not entirely sure. I can be there 2 weeks before the wedding, maybe."

"Two weeks sounds great. If you can't, and can only arrive a week before the wedding, I'll understand. You're coming all the way from Australia." She stands up and looks at the time. "Anyway, I'll let you get to work. We can talk more later."

"No problem. That's what friends are for."

"Liz, another thing before you go, I'm giving you a role."

"A role?"

"Yes, your role in my wedding.

"Okay. And what, may I ask, would that be?"

"Honorary Maid of Honor."

"Oh, wow. Thank you. I'm honored."

"Of course. If I could, I would have you standing up there with me."

"No dramas. I'm just happy to be there for you in any way I can."

"Thank you, Liz. I'll talk to you soon."

"See you later alligator."

"Ciao."

The End

A/N: Thank you to all of you for taking the time to read this story. I hope you all enjoyed it. And I want to wish a very happy birthday to Natalie! I know it's under unusual circumstances, but I wish for you to have a wonderful day! Happy Birthday!