Charlie III

Chapter 12

Epilogue

Rick was happy with his Christmas present for Kate even if he was going to have to come back later and pick it up after it was altered for her neck size. He was even proud of himself that he had gotten Kate's neck size without her ever noticing that he'd done it. Oh, she would say that he had spent too much money and that she hadn't married him for his money. It was just that he had the money and he wanted to spend it on the people that he loved most.

He'd bought her a Mauboussin 18k yellow gold diamond choker necklace. Approximately 2.25ctw of diamonds. The diamond color was G/H and VS in clarity. Yes, it was expensive but Kate was worth it and more. He was happy with himself as he stepped out of the store that he'd found.

He had seen the movers when he'd gone into the store and tried to make a mental note to avoid them on the way out. However, his mind was on the look of surprise that was going to be on everyone's face this Christmas.

A flash of yellow tape had him stopping and looking around. It looked a lot like the yellow tape that was used at a crime scene. That made him smile. "A murder and Kate didn't call me." Or had she? He stopped to check his phone for a missed text. He began to look and heard the squealing of tires which got his attention.

"SHIT!" Rick took a single step just as he heard the car slam into the equipment being used to lift something heavy up to a place very high up. It was a common sight around New York City when whatever it was either too big to fit in an elevator or too heavy to go up the stairs. Turning back around he saw the damage just before a heavy container crashed to the sidewalk just a couple of feet from where he had been standing.

Rick clutched his chest over his racing heart. Just a moment ago he'd been standing there. If he had stayed right where he was he would be crushed and very dead right now.

ooOoo

In the end after spending two hours at the site talking to the police, the store owner, and the moving company they had all worked out that the yellow caution tape had come loose and was lying on the sidewalk. They had put it up to keep people from walking under the container.

He was lucky to be alive. The moving company was issued a citation for failing to make the sidewalk safe. The driver of the car had had a piece of the lifting equipment go through the windshield and decapitated him so he was dead before being extracted from the car.

The damaged moving equipment was still in place, though the wrecked car was long gone. Tow truck companies were really fast in this city since tow and storage meant profit.

ooOoo

Rick's enthusiasm about his purchase was tempered given the fact that he had just escaped being crushed to death. Taking a deep breath to try and calm himself, he unlocked the door and entered the loft to find everyone, including his mother, in the kitchen. "Please tell me you're not cooking, Mother," Rick said as he approached the kitchen.

"Ha, ha. I have no need to cook any longer given that you managed to marry someone who knows how to cook."

"Thank you, Martha. At least someone is paying attention." Kate threw a dagger at Rick and smiled since she didn't really mean it.

"Where have you been, Dad?" He'd been gone for hours.

"Christmas shopping. I had just one final gift to get."

"And yet you came back empty-handed," Alexis pointed out.

"Wrapped then delivered. You have to love New York City." You could get anything delivered in this city. It was a white lie since Rick was going to go back and pick it up. "Are you done with your Christmas shopping?" Rick challenged her.

"I was done a month ago. I don't procrastinate like you do," Alexis answered with a grin.

"She's got you there, Castle." Kate had long since learned that Rick put nearly everything off until the last second. She was even amazed that he wouldn't be out shopping the day before or even on Christmas Day itself.

"So what's for dinner?" Rick changed the subject since he was losing this conversation.

"One of my mother's favorite dishes and no, I'm not telling you what it is. It's a surprise," Kate told him.

Rick rolled his eyes. "This from the woman who hates surprises."

"I hate getting surprises but I'm learning to love giving them. I blame you." Kate smiled at him briefly before going back to cooking. "Out of my kitchen, Castle. No peeking." She pushed Rick out of the kitchen since he was crowding her to try and figure out what she was cooking. "No taste-testing, either."

Kate called out for some support. "Escort your father to his study so he can type or something, please, Alexis."

"Come on, Dad. You lose, so lose gracefully and go type something about Nikki." Alexis took his arm, escorted him to his study, and left him there.

ooOoo

Rick was already in bed, waiting for Kate to join him since she had to finish her nightly routine. "Would you like one of your Christmas presents early, Castle?" Kate called from the bathroom.

"Are you reading my mind again, Kate?" Rick sat up straight and tried to think of what his present could be. He had already searched most of the loft, looking for any present let alone the ones that had his name on them. However, he'd come up empty. He was also pretty sure he had searched the bathroom and that included the forced air registers.

"Ready!" Rick was more than ready. That Kate would actually celebrate Christmas with him let alone give him an early Christmas present was amazingly…extraordinary.

Kate was so looking forward to this. She had fought loving him for far too long and now that she did, she couldn't imagine loving him more. Maybe his Christmas Day present might change that. But she was ready to give him his early Christmas present.

Rick watched as the bathroom door opened and out walked a completely naked Kate. Kate Beckett, Kate Castle, his wife. "Merry Christmas to me!" He still couldn't imagine anyone more beautiful than her. Maybe she saw her scars but he didn't. She was perfect.

ooOoo

Rick was up early and had dragged Kate with him into the shower since today was Christmas Day. Santa would have left all of them presents and he wanted to be clean when he opened them.

It also gave him a chance to make love to the woman of his dreams.

"Let's go, Kate. Santa's been here." Rick left their bedroom and hurried into the living room where he found Alexis in her pajamas already out here looking over each present.

"Like father like daughter," Rick smiled. She was doing what he was looking so forward to doing.

ooOoo

Rick couldn't wait to see their faces so he handed out his Christmas presents first and couldn't resist watching them look at what he had given them.

He was really proud of how he had wrapped them. No, it wasn't the wrapping paper. It was what was inside that wrapping paper.

Alexis started first and like her dad would do and had taught her, she ripped all the paper off only to find another box wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. "Really, Dad?" Alexis was not amused though Rick was smiling wide since he was loving it. So this time she slowly and very carefully began to remove the Christmas wrapping paper.

Kate saw Alexis's gift and was betting hers was the same so she slowly removed the paper to find more wrapping paper that came off to show her a brown shipping box.

Alexis was intentionally toying with her father and wasn't as far along as Kate was.

Kate opened the box to find it filled with tissue paper and saw a box that showed there was another box inside that. However, this box had the name and symbol of a jewelry store she knew well. LaBella only sold the most expensive of items. "What have you done, Castle?" She knew her husband. He had gone and spent a fortune on whatever was inside this box.

Alexis, meanwhile, had finally reached the interior and saw a large manila envelope inside. The envelope itself was quite plain and so unlike her dad. Still she opened it and there were a series of papers including a few pictures.

"OH MY GOD, CASTLE!" Kate had cracked it open to take a peek then opened it fully so she could see it. "It's gorgeous." She would worry about when she was ever going to wear it later. For now she was running a finger across the surface of it.

It was gold with a horizontal diamond motif and seven individual diamonds embedded at regular intervals. Suddenly she found Rick's hands going past her and reaching for it, lifting it out of the box. Kate moved her hair out of the way and allowed him to place it around her neck. It was a choker and fit perfectly. She was only a little surprised that it fit her neck so perfectly. Of course only Castle would know her neck size since she herself didn't know.

Suddenly from nowhere he handed her a hand mirror so she could see it on her. Kate took it and looked at herself. She saw her mouth hanging open until finally she closed it, just looking and running her left hand over it to make sure it was real. "It's gorgeous, Castle, but you shouldn't have." She wasn't worth having him spend this kind of money on her.

"You deserve it, Kate. It may not have cost what some of those jewels from the Delgatto case did. Do you remember? It was the very first black tie event I took you to. But it's nice." He knew Kate would never go for him spending that kind of money on her.

"It's gorgeous." Kate put the mirror down so she could get up and kiss him.

"Dad, what is all this?" Alexis saw it and was reading it but it didn't make any sense to her.

"It's yours. I bought it for you. I'll even pay all the bills so long as you stay in school," Rick told her as he left Kate, moved over to Alexis, and sat down next to her. He pointed at the address, 1108 Auahi Street #907 Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

"Hawaii? What's in Hawaii?" Alexis was reading but didn't understand it.

"I've come to the realization that I'm suffocating you. I talked you out of going to Stanford or Oxford like you had dreamed because I didn't want to lose you. I forced you to attend a university that was close and I'm sorry. So very sorry.

"I need to let you grow up, make your own mistakes, and be Alexis Castle. So I bought you a two bedroom, two bathroom condo in Honolulu. It's about 3.4 miles from the University of Hawaii. You could get yourself one of those scooters you wanted so badly and use it to get to school and this." Rick pulled out a sheet of paper from his gift.

"This is a list of doctorate courses. Surely there's one in there that interests you. It's a very good university or so I've read," Rick explained.

"Oh, Dad!" Alexis had so much to say but didn't know where to start.

"You really are an amazing man, Richard Castle." Kate hugged him from behind and kissed his back. "OH! Your Christmas presents." Kate left him and hurried over to the impossibly big Christmas tree that she'd actually helped set up.

"Here and here. It's not much but it's from the heart." Kate handed each of them her Christmas gift.

Rick smiled wide in anticipation while he tore off the wrapping paper off, ripped open his box to find out what it was, and slowly took out a little plastic stick. He still wasn't just quite sure what it was but it wasn't what he was expecting.

Alexis, however, knew exactly what it was. She ripped hers open even faster than her father had and saw a stick just like his. "Mine has a plus on it." Alexis looked at Kate and smiled wide and leapt off of the sectional to hug her. "Really?" Alexis wanted to hear it.

"I'm late so I bought some pregnancy test sticks just to be sure a couple of days ago. I still have to go to the doctor to verify but…" Kate had to stop talking when Alexis tried to break every bone in her body with a hug.

"You're pregnant?" Rick was a little slower than his daughter.

"Looks that way." Kate was beaming. She had never really thought about having a family especially having her mother's unsolved murder weighing on her. But she'd solved that with Rick's help. Then seeing Rick with Alexis and Martha she finally felt ready to have a family. She didn't know if it was a him or a her, but she loved it all the same.

Alexis was replaced by her husband who wasn't just crushing every bone in her body but he was kissing her which had her hugging him and kissing him back.

"Grams is missing everything." Alexis couldn't believe she was missing out.

"I have a pregnancy test stick for her too," Kate assured her.

ooOoo

Kate was still on the exam table with her belly exposed for herself, Rick, and the ultrasound tech to see. She and Rick were looking at the picture of her babies! Both she and Rick were still in shock.

The tech hadn't found one baby, she had found twins. She had even allowed them to hear the seriously fast heart beat of both of them.

"Twins?" What in the world were they going to do with twins? Kate was still wrapping her mind around being pregnant let alone this!

"TWINS!" Rick shot his arms up in the air. Kate wasn't just amazing, she really was extraordinary. She had married him or had allowed him to marry her. Now she was going to have twins and that was a dream he hadn't even dared to dream.

"Twins." Kate still wasn't sure what to think. Okay, Castle was happy, but he could be made happy with a remote controlled helicopter. This was twins. Two babies!

ooOoo

Rick, Kate who was now eight months pregnant with twins that were a boy and a girl, as well as Alexis who had her carry-on bag over her shoulder were just outside of the security section of the airport.

"You're going to be great, Alexis." Kate did her best to hug her given that she was as big as a house.

"I'm going to miss the birth of the babies." Alexis knew school was starting soon and she hadn't even set foot inside her condo yet. And she had a lot of shopping to do as well. The kitchen was basically empty. It had come furnished but just how far did furnished go was the question. Besides everything else it wouldn't have any food.

"I'll send you a video," Rick promised her as his tears began to well up. His baby girl was moving away and it was his idea.

"You'll do no such thing! If you bring a video camera I'll shoot you," Kate threatened him.

"I thought you liked pictures?" Rick knew they both had a lot of pictures of them naked.

"CASTLE!" If she had a weapon on her she would shoot him right now for that.

"Way too much information, Dad, way too much," Alexis said but was all smiles. Until it was time to hug her dad. She was actually moving out of the loft and going far, far away to go to college. Alexis hugged her dad and felt herself crying. She was about to actually grow up and find out just who she was.

"You'll come visit with the twins?" Alexis realized she didn't want to be that cut off from her family.

"That's why it's a two bedroom and two bathroom condo," Rick said and only let go of her after she let go of him.

"Better go, Alexis, the line looks a little long." Kate tried to give her a little push.

"I love you, Dad." Alexis hugged him tighter.

"I love you too, pumpkin." Rick hugged her back.

Alexis moved to hug Kate another time. "Good luck with him." She knew her dad was a handful.

"Hey!" Rick had heard that.

"He'll be too busy taking care of the twins to get into too much trouble but I'll watch him," Kate promised.

Rick and Kate waited until they couldn't see her any longer before they turned around to go home.

"What is Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering again?" What Alexis had chosen for her major for now was so far over his head he was lost.

"I'm proud of you, Rick. You let go of her right when you needed to. She's going to grow into an amazing woman who's smarter than either of us or both of us combined. I'll explain it to you again while you feed me. I'm starving." Alexis had a 6:30 am flight and wouldn't land until about 3:00 pm local time and they'd skipped breakfast to get her here early.

"Just think, the next time we see her she'll have a boyfriend who has taught her how to surf." Kate knew that would get a rise out of him.

"We need to go back and stop her." Rick began to turn around before Kate stopped him. "I don't know what I was thinking. You realize Hawaii is filled with barechested guys on all those beaches, right?" Rick went with her but he was dragging his feet.

"Yep and so do you or you wouldn't have bought her that place. Alexis is going to be amazing. Now you just have to do the same for these two." Kate put her hand on her belly while not letting go of him so he would keep leaving the airport.

That had Rick smiling. He had two more babies to raise and cherish and he was totally going to enjoy this. He was meant to be a dad and he knew it.

Rick heard his phone alert him so he pulled it out. "Gina." Rick slumped. Alexis was going away today and Gina was bugging him already.

"What does she want?" Rick was hers now and she wasn't sharing with either of his ex-wives.

"She sent her comments back and wants them returned in three weeks." Rick put his phone away since he didn't want to think about it.

"I'll hide your remote control helicopter and tank so you don't get distracted," Kate grinned.

"I thought you loved me," Rick pouted since what she was threatening didn't sound like love to him.

"I love you more than I thought I would ever love anyone, babe. I still can't believe you waited for me. Any sane man would have dumped me years ago." Kate shook her head in amazement.

"You were worth it, you've always been worth it." Rick put an arm around her and held her close to him as they walked slowly. It was Kate's new walking pace.

"We should go check on Alexis's puppy," Rick reminded her since he had been left with the vet last night so he could be shipped out to Hawaii in a few days.

1. Pets will need a microchip implanted for identification.

2. The pet will need a rabies shot and a booster, which can be no less than three months apart and not more than one year apart.

3. Animals should have passed a blood serum test, with results e-mailed to Hawaii officials by the testing lab. Pets cannot enter the state until 120 days after the blood sample is received by the state.

4. Hawaii officials must receive a health certificate from the pet's veterinarian at least 10 days before the animal's arrival, with all test results and health certificates sent by e-mail to prevent fraud.

5. At the airport, animal quarantine officials will inspect every incoming pet, check its chip to confirm its identity and release the animal to its owner if everything is in order.

"It'll help keep her company while she's there. And keep her mind off of being alone until she makes new friends." Kate thought it was genius.

"A collie named Charlie." Rick wasn't so sure about the name though he was a gorgeous dog he was willing to admit. "Maybe we can get one for the twins." Rick was finally all smiles again.

"We're not naming him Charlie, or Astro, or Marmaduke, or Cosmo, or any other comic book name." Kate knew she couldn't stop him from getting a dog but she could have a say in what he or she was named.

"You drive a hard bargain, Kate Castle." He would find a name from somewhere.

"I think you need to drive me to the hospital first, though. …My water just broke," Kate announced just as they reached their car.

"WHAT! You can't! It's too early!" Rick yelped frantically.

"I don't think it's up to me, Castle," Kate said dryly.

ooOoo

Kate was awake but was headed for bed so she could get some sleep. She was advised not to start pumping for the first two weeks to give her breasts time to produce lots of milk since she had twins to feed.

It had meant Castle couldn't help her with everything at first. But since she'd started pumping he could now. Her milk went into bags that went into the freezer before being warmed up in a bottle. Something Rick showed he knew exactly what to do.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked him as she walked into his study on her way to their bedroom.

"Sending Alexis, Mother, the guys, and Lanie the latest pictures of Brayden Edgar and Brianna Ellen. I thought they might like some recent pictures to see who's keeping both of us awake."

Kate wrapped her arms around him from behind and watched him add pictures. "You're adding a picture of Maggie?" Maggie was their Golden Labrador puppy that couldn't stay away from either of the twins. They were both sure she was willing them to get up and come play with her.

"She's a puppy and is going to grow faster than the twins," Rick reminded her.

Kate's name choice had won out over his idea of calling the puppy Jo after Kate's mother. But it didn't matter, Maggie was interested in everyone in the Loft and that included all of their friends who had stopped by to see the babies.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep since my leave is up and I'm going back to work after the weekend." She was grateful that she could roll some of her vacation over into her maternity leave, giving her more time to spend with the twins. "You could join me and give me a reason to stay awake," Kate purred. She kissed his head and put a little extra wiggle in her hips as she walked away.

"I love my life!" Rick pressed ENTER after typing a note to Alexis asking how she was doing. He could call and ask but he was really trying not to suffocate his baby girl who was growing up fast.

Rick was stripping off his clothes from the door to the bed as Kate climbed naked into their bed. Maybe they could get in some practice for baby number three!