A/N: I lied and said I was going to post this on Sunday, but I'm posting it late on Saturday because I finally finished the epilogue, which was my main reason for delaying my updates. Now that it is finished though, you should expect daily postings (except on Tuesday since I will still be working late that day). I figured you all would forgive me for that though.

Half an hour later Kate is lying on top of Rick nuzzling her nose into his neck as they both catch their breath.

"I really could stay in bed with you forever," Kate sighs.

"I see marriage hasn't taken away that sappy side I got a glimpse of earlier."

"It hasn't even been three hours. Thirty years from now might be a different story." Kate maneuvered herself to be eye-level with Rick while still mostly lying on him. "How do you think everyone is going to react to this?"

"Other than shocked? I'm sure they'll be happy for us. How do we want to bring it up?"

"I was hoping to keep it to ourselves for a little while, well except for Alexis and our parents. They should know as soon as we see them again, but everyone else… I feel like telling them now that we eloped would be too much all at once for us to deal with. I mean we are newlyweds, but we've also technically only been in a relationship for one day...and saying that out loud makes me realize how absurd this whole situation is." Kate buries a laugh into a pillow.

"To an outsider, this is probably absurd, but I knew the moment I met you that you were going to change my life. I'm just glad that we ended up here instead of you murdering me and making it look like an accident, which I'm sure you thought about in the early days of our partnership."

Kate hums in agreement. "I may have."

Rick gasps in mock outrage. "We're married now, you have to tell me this plan of yours."

"I do not. Revealing my plans to murder Rick Castle was not part of the marriage vows." Kate admonishes.

"Plans, as in plural? As in you had more than one plan to kill me?"

"I….plead the fifth," Kate draws out.

One of their phones on the nightstand rings pulling their attention away from each other. Rick reaches over and grabs it and glances at the screen.

"Why is Doctor Motorcycle Boy calling you?"

"What?" Kate stiffens at the mention of her ex-boyfriend and grabs the phone from her husband. "Dammit, Josh," Kate mumbles before declining the call and jumping out of the bed with a sheet clutched around her. She moves quickly toward the living area.

Rick sits up at her quick departure. "I thought you broke up with him?"

Kate turns back before reaching the couch. "I did Rick. I promise you, I did. Weeks ago. He probably just got back from his Doctors Without Borders and wanted to reconnect. I'm just going to text him to stop trying to call me."

Rick gets out of the bed, grabbing his boxers along the way and follows Kate. "Why did you run just now?"

She sighs. "I don't know, Castle. I panicked. I thought you wouldn't believe me and it felt...weird if I texted my ex while I was in bed with my husband." Kate's shoulders sag as she falls into the couch. Rick drops down beside her after managing to awkwardly stumble into his boxers on the short trip to the couch. "Josh always suspected me of cheating on him with you and in a way, I guess he was right. I was never emotionally committed to that relationship because I was in love with you. He would get upset anytime I texted you when we were together." Rick grabs Kate's hand and gives it a squeeze. "He didn't trust me and I didn't trust him either. I didn't see that ever changing, so I broke things off. I guess," Kate waves her phone in the air, "he has a different opinion."

"Kate, I trust you, please know that. I was just...surprised by your response to his phone call and didn't know what to think, but I do trust you."

Kate looks up at him. "I just didn't want you to think that I'm not 100% in this marriage."

Rick smiles and leans down to brush his lips against Kate's forehead. "I know you are because Kate Beckett does not half-ass anything, including, and I hope especially, marriage to a notorious, in name only, playboy mystery writer."

Kate sighs and leans into him then wraps her arms around his torso.

"And as much as I hate being the responsible one," Rick reluctantly murmurs into Kate's hair, "we do have to get ready so we can make our flight, Mrs. Castle."

Kate groans. "I suppose you are right. We'll have to go back to real life at some point."

Three years ago, Kate never would have guessed she'd be sitting in a first class seat holding the hand of Richard Castle, running her thumb over his wedding ring that she placed there only hours before. After losing her mom, the idea of finding a person she wanted to spend her life with was unimportant. Her mission in life was to find her mother's killer and every boyfriend she had ended up being a distraction from her goal. It wasn't until several months after meeting Richard Castle did she realize she could find the person who took away her mom and still have someone she trusted to stand by her. She was reluctant to admit that Rick played that role in her life but he proved time and time again he would always have her back. For the first time in her life, imagining a future with someone didn't scare her. A future with Rick excited her, it made her feel whole.

"When we get back, will it be your place or mine?" Rick asks.

"Would you mind terribly if it was my place? I don't think I'm quite ready for an interrogation from my stepdaughter and mother-in-law who don't yet know of their new titles."

Rick smiles. "Not at all. I'll just need to stop by the loft to check in with Alexis and my mother and then I can head back to your place if that's okay."

"Sounds perfect. It'll give me a chance to take care of a few chores before you arrive."

"Do you work tomorrow?"

"No, but I'm stopping by in the afternoon to talk with Montgomery about the reprimand I'll be facing with our little rogue trip to L.A."

"Oooh, so we can spend all morning in bed?"

"Maybe some of it," Kate smirks, "but I was hoping you'd come to Sunday brunch with me and my dad and we could tell him the news." Kate sees the hesitance in Rick's eyes, but her face brightens suddenly, "I just had an idea! Why not kill three birds with one stone and have Alexis and Martha come too and we can tell them all at once?"

"You want to make it worse by pitting three birds against us instead of one or two?"

Kate glares him, "it won't be that bad, Castle."

Rick sighs. "It's at a busy restaurant where none of them can easily kill us with stones, right?"

Tumblr: MonaLyssa33
Twitter: AlyssaWriting