Faded Memory

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: Thisis my AU version of what could have happened following Rick's discussion with Alexis about the night he danced, fell in love, and lost contact with a girl in college, sometimes memories come back at the worse time. COMPLETELY AU except for the conversation that prompted this and use of some characters names. THIS IS A CASKETT ENDING, EVENTUALLY

I don't own Castle, I use the characters for amusement purposes only

Chapter 19

Previously

"You don't want to wait for the big ceremony, and guess what neither do I, I want to marry you at City Hall, and let the girls plan a hell of a party. I don't want to wait one more day than I must to call you my wife."

Kate's face is in shock, as her tears pour out of her eyes, "How did you know? I mean I thought you wanted the big wedding, and all the bells and whistles,"

"ME, I thought you wanted it Kate, HELL, I would marry you in a heartbeat anywhere you would have me."

"OK, then Monday we go to City Hall, have Bob Weldon marry us, and keep it a secret, and let the girls plan the party, how does that sound Rick?"

********************************************************************************/

Castle's Loft

Next Day 5:30 AM

Rick had been awake since 3:00 AM, trying everything to get back to sleep without waking his beautiful wife to be. Finally, at 5:30 AM he gave up, stumbled to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. As he passed by his laptop, he saw the DVD that Allison's friends had given him the night before, with as many childhood pictures of her as they could copy.

Such a sweet gesture by the girls, and as tempted as he was to peek, he wanted to open this with Kate by his side. Allison made her night last evening when she told her although she had a mother, she had never had a Mom, and called her by the title, Rick felt the goosebumps go up Kate's arm she was so thrilled.

He sat down in front of his laptop, pulled up a personal folder and then watched as the pictures of a little Red Haired girl filled the big screen, from the early days when it was just she and him, till the last few years when Kate had began to join them and finally the last several months where the love of his life had moved in with him and made his family complete.

He must have been so engrossed he missed Kate rising, standing in the door with a look of love on her face, she loved this man, even more than she ever thought, and his daughters absolutely adored him. She quietly retrieved two cups of coffee from the kitchen, and made her way back. She sat them down gently then crawled into his lap to get her good morning kiss.

"Hey there, you're deep in thought this morning, Good I hope" she whispered between the kisses, slow and sweet at first, growing longer, deeper and more passionate with each one.

She caught sight of his screen, it's a picture of her Alexis and him at the Hamptons, one of the early days when she finally won Alexis over, he had captioned it, "The Loves of My Life". She smiled and handed him his coffee, with a heart on top in whipped cream and cinnamon topping.

As he went to raise his cup he saw the heart, "God I love you, thank you, for this, for last night, for loving my family no matter how screwed up we are." He breathed into her as he kissed her again and again. He loved when she made the moves like crawling in his lap, he knew that was knew for Kate, and something only she and he shared.

"I loved last night Rick, I couldn't believe it when Allison called me Mom, it made me feel so special, stupid I know but*"

"Not Stupid, that was the highlight of my night, my girls, all three of you so close, so loving to each other, I couldn't ask for more. Speaking of, I was waiting on you to open the disk the girls gave us last night to see Allison's pictures of her youth. Want to check them out now?"

Kate put both her arms around Rick's neck pulled him close and kissed him passionately as her hand played with the hair on the back of his neck, hearing him moan into her, she knew she had to stop or they would wind up back in bed. Reluctantly she pulled away,

"To answer your question, I love you too, and I would love to see our girl's pictures."

"Kate, I know this never came up, and I should have asked you, but are you OK, I mean are we OK since I didn't know about Allison I couldn't tell you about her. I never want to hurt you for anything."

"Rick, remember, you made me hear about your time in college, I have to tell you I was jealous when we talked, afraid she would come back someday and take you away from me. I really appreciated the fact that you made sure I knew every detail about you, so yes Babe, We are good, hell, we are so much more than good. Now let's look at our Daughter's pictures, I bet she looked a lot like you, so many similarities between the two of you, and I love it."

She adjusts herself on his lap, lays her head on his shoulder as he hit play on the disk, for the next two hours, they viewed pictures from the time of her Christening, a lot of Birthday parties, first day of school, and as she participated in a variety of sports. Rick thought he had to do something really nice for Becky, Vicky, and Gayle, this DVD had taken some time and effort to put together.

The last folder was opened, it contained a series of videos, so Rick opened the first to see and hear Allison tearfully and excitedly announce she had finally found her father, it had been confirmed. She was crying tears of joy, then she said, "I have to tell him, but I don't want to hurt his family, he has a daughter, Hey I have a sister, God what if he hates me for what Mom did? I wouldn't blame him if he did, I have to try to see him,"

The next video was Allison speaking fast and smiling, "I made contact, I did it, I talked to Ms. Haas, my Dad's publicist, and she is arranging to meet with his attorneys. She was super nice, I think she was shocked, I can only guess what Dad's reaction is going to be, God I just hope he'll see me, that's all I want, I just want to see and talk to my Dad." The tears begin to fall, and finally Allison stops recording.

Kate can feel Rick swallow hard, she reaches and takes his hand and pulls it to her lips and kisses it as she leans into him. "Let's see the next one Babe, I'm sure they'll be happy."

Rick hits the next file, and there is Allison, jumping up and down, "Ms. Haas just told me, My Dad is going to meet me, face to face, I can't believe it I just can't, God how many nights have I prayed for a Dad, My Dad. He's here in New York, and everyone has been so nice I thought this was going to be awful, I just hope this isn't going to mess up Dad's life, I know he has a fiancé, I hope she's better to him that my mother was, God I can't believe it." Rick watches her dance around till he sees tears come to her eyes, then hears,

"Mother, you told me lies my entire life, thank God Grandpa had that background search conducted, pretty smart of him to have the blood test conducted like it was part of school requirements, poor Dad, he didn't stand a chance between you two. No More, No More he is a good man and I'm gonna do my best to make it up to him, I promise I will, I just hope he lets me."

Kate felt the wet drop on her shoulder, she just hugged him a bit tighter, knowing they were tears of joy, a Dad seeing first hand how overjoyed his daughter was to meet him, and the obstacles she had to overcome to do so.

"Another one of your traits Rick, she loves deep, and is so forgiving, what a beautiful girl, make that girls we have."

Rick leans in and kisses her, composing himself, and thankful he had waited to share this moment with Kate, she loved the girls, and she was head over heels in love with him, and nothing was ever going to change that, what a wonderful feeling.

"One last file, you ready Babe? He breathed into Kate's hair as she held him, and replied, "mmh huh"

Rick pressed play, and there was Allison, as she began to speak Rick could tell she was fighting back tears, "Well I met my Dad, Sister, Grandmother, and my future Mom, today, I love everyone of them, It was great, Dad really didn't know a thing about me, but Kate, my new Mom told me how he made her listen to the story about my Mom, so she was so open, and Alexis, God everything a little sister would be if I could have ordered one from SAKS.

I'm so happy, the tears are of joy, but also sadness because what I feared most came true. I caused a rift between Dad and his Mother, I can't live with that, I wish I had never done this, not because of anything they said but it hurt me so much to know I hurt Dad. I am the reason that Dad and his mother had a falling out. God I'm so sorry. The tape pauses then resumes,

"Well Kate and I talked, I was surprised she called, and to say she's my Mom, let's just put it this way, she made things so clear to me. One that I was loved by all, that NOTHING that happened at the meeting was my fault, I wasn't the one hiding and lying, and that it would kill my Dad, and her if I didn't follow up and let them be a part of my life. If she only knew, those words were exactly what I needed. Dad is so lucky to have her.

Alexis texted me as well, telling me she had waited all her life for a Sister, so please come to see them, and finally Paula, she got pissed when I called her Ms. Haas, called as well. I know she loves Dad, and I'm pretty sure Kate does as well, BUT she lit into me, telling me that hurting anyone of Rick's family is the same as hurting her. I thought my Mother had a mouth, God, she was a tiger on a roll, but all the calls and texts tell me, I was right to find Dad. He's Richard Freaking Castle by the way, but to me and Alexis, he's Dad, not a mean bone in his body.

I'm going to spend my Birthday with them, I can't wait, I have never felt so loved in my life, Dad if you ever see this, know I never gave up looking for you, I know you would have done so for me if you had any clue I was even here. PLEASE marry Kate, soon you two are so much in love, I finally have something to search for in my life partner, and Dad you guys set the bar pretty high, anyway, (she dabs her eyes, clears her voice,) I'm so glad I found you,

Gayle, thanks for recording all this, someday when I'm brave enough I'll show it to Dad and Mom."

Rick had given up trying to hide the tears falling from his eyes, as Kate sits in his lap, comforting him as only she could do. "Babe, when did you call Allison? Just curious and Thank You, you saved my daughter from blaming herself for something not her fault, something I have a feeling she's done a lot of in her life."

"I called her as soon as we got home and I got you to sleep, and Rick, that apple definitely didn't fall far from the tree, she's just like you trying to take blame and hurt away from everyone else. How about Alexis texting her, and yes, I know Paula loves you, but that call proved to me, she would die before hurting anyone of us. I hope she can find her love one day."

"Oh, Speaking of that are you busy Monday at 11:00 AM?" Rick looked at her through those blue eyes sparkling,

"Babe, you know I am free, but why do you ask?"

"Well, Bob is pushing the licenses through for us and will marry us Monday, that is if you aren't too busy, as he grabs her and kisses her deep, pouring out his love. Her eyes are wet with tears of happiness, who would have thought, she was about to become Mrs. Richard Castle, and the Mom of their two daughters,

"I can't wait, I just hope I never disappoint you or the girls."

"Kate, there's no way that could ever happen, Allison said it right, you are the Mortar that holds this family together, and I love you so very much.

Monday 11:30 PM

Mayor Bob Weldon's Office

Kate had done it, she's now Mrs. Kate Castle, but only to Bob, Rick and Roy Montgomery who was going to sit on the HR paperwork till needed, and claimed he lost it should any issue arise in the future. She was his, He was hers, together they were each other's Always, now and forever, and nothing could make either happier.