~Chapter Two~
Both women rushed into the loft like they were being chased. Martha threw her coat and gloves on the armrest of the couch as she fiddled to get the safe key out of her purse.
"It's been years since we last used this thing," she mumbled. She trotted on her heels into Castle's office, and Beckett followed suit. Down came the painting on the wall, revealing the lock box. Martha slid the key into the lock as if she were handling a bomb. But the old tumblers did slide as they should have, and she pried open the door with ease.
Form what Beckett could see from over Martha's shoulder, the safe held various pieces of jewelry, important looking documents, and the occasional small emergency wad of large bills. But Martha wasn't reaching for any of it. Kate didn't know what she was grabbing after, but she could tell it was small.
The older woman turned around slowly as she held the tiny box in her fingers carefully. It was no bigger than a small orange. Kate felt her breath catch and she didn't know why. Martha smiled to herself, and stared into space briefly.
"If this was anyone else, I would have told Richard he was mad." She opened the box a crack, and gazed at its contents. "But, with you, Kate..." She didn't finish the sentence. She just opened the box fully and turned around to face her.
Kate felt her breath catch to its extremes, and tears formed in her eyes as she stared at what Martha was holding. It was small, gold, and expertly crafted – at least four carats. It sparkled brilliantly in the soft lamplight of Castle's office.
"Kate, believe me, I'm his mother – I've never seen him more sure of anything in his life."
She slowly stepped toward Martha, her hands tentatively reaching for the ring. Those tears that had retreated on the ride over to Castle's loft had now turned to full throttle as she picked it up and kissed the stone gently before putting it on her finger.
"He loves you, Kate. He really does." Martha brought the weeping detective into a motherly embrace, and she gladly accepted. "He was going to ask you next week."
She could barely believe it. Richard Castle, her Richard Castle, her partner, her best friend, and only recently her boyfriend, wanted her for a wife. It was almost a little too much for her to handle. She felt as though, no matter how much she loved and cared for him, he didn't deserve her. It was like a reverse scenario of Lady and the Tramp.
"He wanted me to know," she squeaked into Martha's shoulder. "He told me that if anything happened to him, it was important that I know."
"Oh, my son, always putting his loved ones before him."
Kate sobbed loudly when Martha said "loved ones", and kissed her ring again.
Her phone vibrated in her pocked as she received a text. She wiped her tears and opened it, discovering it was from Esposito.
"They got it" was all he wrote.