A/N: My apologies for the long wait and the lack of smut in this chapter. My characters suddenly developed a life of their own and what started out as a little scene snowballed into this big story about Rick reminiscing about his relationship with Kate while looking at houses that I didn't even know where I should break up the chapters. I know you expected some smut, so I put in some M-rated little tidbits, but I promise the good stuff will come soon.
Richard Castle stood in front of the tall brick building, gazing at the windows of the upper stories.
"Mr. Castle?" A young man in his early thirties, wearing a Miami-Vice-style suit, approached him.
"Yes, but call me Rick," Castle reached out to shake hands with the realtor.
"I'm Skip Gibbons, we spoke on the phone earlier."
"Nice to meet you." Rick nodded.
"Shall we head inside?" Skip suggested with a nod and Castle quickly agreed. Anything, really, to get him off the hot and humid streets of the nation's capital.
"Based on what you told me in your e-mails and on the phone I picked out two condos for you to look at this morning. The first one has two bedrooms and two full bathrooms on the second floor. On the first floor we have the living area with a partial bath." Skip explained and Castle followed him inside to the elevator.
"It's a newer building from 2002, so it comes with all the amenities of modern living. The kitchen has even been remodeled in 2010 and contains state-of the-art equipment for the amateur gourmet chef: industrial fridge and island hood, Viking appliances, full range with oven and induction cook-top, dishwasher, microwave, …"
Rick had already begun to tune out the chipper voice of Skip, as images of him and Kate cooking in their kitchen on her days off flooded his mind. Since he couldn't shadow her anymore, he could prepare dinner every evening in time for her to come home. If she called to let him know she had to work late, he'd simply wrap it up in tinfoil and drop it off at her office. Or he'd convince her to drop by at home to eat quickly and then go back to work. Yeah, that last one was a bit unrealistic, dinner in the break room at her new office it was. They hadn't really talked about her new work hours, but judging from this week, they seemed to be just as erratic as in New York. But that was okay. He'd known that when he met her. Granted back then, he was part of the crazy hours she sometimes kept, but yeah… they'd find a way to deal with it. Lots of snuggling would probably help.
"The whole condo is a little under 1500 square feet and like I said the architecture is very modern." He tuned back into what the realtor was saying. The elevator doors opened and Skip let Castle exit first. "As you can see, there are three apartments on this floor, both neighbors are quiet residents. You said your girlfriend is a cop?"
"Fiancée, actually," Castle corrected the younger man, "and she's a federal agent."
"Oh, well congratulations. In any case, I'm sure she'll appreciate the quiet neighborhood. Each unit features excellent insulation. The condo is two stories," Skip grinned at Rick, before he unlocked the door, "and as you can see the living area is on the first floor."
Skip finally shut up and let Rick look around in silence. Like most modern apartments it featured lots of open space. The condo was not quite as spacious as Rick's loft in New York, but what won him immediately over were the bright open windows.
Noticing Castle's focus on the windows, Skip readily jumped back in, "The 10 feet windows bathe the room in generous light, don't they?"
Rick nodded and turned once around his own axis. The room was very…red. While he liked the red accents in his own loft, he knew Kate would balk at the brightly colored walls. That in itself would not pose a problem, they could simply repaint them with a less obnoxious color. He looked down at the hardwood floor, which was non-negotiable, and it looked to be in good condition. It was dark and rich wood, just the way Kate would pick it out.
The living area was one big room with a pretty straightforward layout. He missed the nooks and niches that his old loft offered and there was definitely not enough space to carve out a working area for him in the corner.
"Is this the only room on this floor?"
"Yes, with the exception of the kitchen, but as you can see it is a generous size. The previous owners blocked off some office space with open shelves and book cases."
Rick nodded. While he'd chosen the same trick for his loft in New York, he couldn't really see how they could make it work in this room. First of all the room was not really that big, second the red walls shrunk the perceived size considerably – if he put in an office corner he wouldn't be able to shake the feeling that the walls were moving in on him while he'd write.
"I like the set up with the kitchen," Skip redirected Castle's attention to the kitchen which could be seen through the big window in the wall. "It's a separate room thanks to the wall, and yet the window allows to pass through food. And there's enough space in the big living room to cordon off a dining area. Very convenient for entertaining people, saves a lot of mileage. This fits easily a nice oak wood table that seats eight people. Perfect for dinner parties." Skip grinned. Castle frowned. From what he could see from the living area the kitchen was small. And they'd never fit a dining area AND an office corner into the room without completely ruining the layout.
Skip led Rick into the gourmet-kitchen, his words, not Rick's, "Do you like to cook, Mr Castle? You'll find no better appliances. And like I said before, they're really only three years old and in excellent condition."
Once he actually got a peek at the kitchen, Castle took back everything he'd thought before. It wasn't small, it was tiny. With his six feet he felt like Gulliver in Lilliput and he and Kate could forget cooking together the way they enjoyed it in New York. And worst of all more red. And in combination with the dark wood and steel appliances, the dark color shrank the tiny room an additional three sizes. Richard Castle was definitely not a fan of this particular condo.
Sensing Rick's increasing disquiet, Skip quickly suggested they had upstairs to the sleeping quarters. "Very conveniently the staircase is built in a way that allows some additional storage room and, best of all, a partial bathroom." He opened both doors for Castle to catch a look, before they ascended to the upper level.
The master bedroom was a vision in beige. The walls were painted in a rich creamy color with earthy shades that he just knew Kate would love. The same 10 feet windows, that bathed the living area downstairs, flooded the smaller bedroom with direct sunlight. Knowing it was about 10 o'clock in the morning, it also meant that the sun would move in time before it reached its zenith and would be at the strongest. That would save them a nice little sum on electrical bills for air conditioning during the summer. And Kate loved light, so this would be a huge plus. The walk in closet was of reasonable space, it could easily fit his suits and Kate's dresses and work wardrobe. The rest could go into drawers; there was enough space to put up Kate's cupboard and antique chest.
0~0~0~0~0
They were lying in his bed, basking in their post-coital glow, talking about their future and the logistics of consolidating two households while moving to another city.
"I've been thinking," Kate started and traced lazy patterns across his chest with her fingers. Rick hummed content with his eyes closed. "What if we move of all of my stuff from my apartment to D.C?"
"Why? I thought we'd agreed we'd mix your stuff into mine here at the loft and buy new stuff for our first apartment together."
"Yeah, but…"
"What?" He cracked his eyes open and blinked at her.
"I don't know. My taste doesn't really go with your style at the loft." She shrugged her shoulders.
"I thought the whole point was to merge our lives together, how can we do that if we keep our stuff separate?"
"Seriously, Rick. I like the loft just the way it is. It's perfect, it's you." She pressed a quick kiss on his chest.
"You're wrong, it's no longer me, it's us now. If we furnish our new apartment in D.C. with your old stuff, then New York will feel like my place and D.C. like yours. That's not what I want, is that what you want?" Was she suddenly looking for an out again? He thought they were past this. He'd proposed and she'd accepted. They were going to spend the rest of their lives together.
"Can you honestly see my grungy couch in your two million designer living room?" Kate challenged him.
"Well, no, but we don't have to keep your couch."
"What about my bed, my dressers, my cupboards, my bookcases, my shelves… it's all mix and match and your loft is so carefully planned out, all my stuff will stick out like a sore thumb."
"We can hire a designer to find a common voice for both of us. They'll know what to keep and where to put it. We don't have to keep all of my stuff. I'd gladly chuck out some of mine to make space for yours if you want to avoid clutter."
"I don't know. Wouldn't it make more sense to just move all my stuff to D.C. instead of throwing it away or donating it? We start to furnish our new place with my stuff and then go shopping for everything else we need together."
"I get to pick?" He gave her a lop-sided grin.
"I have veto powers!" Beckett added quickly.
"Alright, then." Castle closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into his pillow. "We definitely have to bring your dresser with my drawer." He teased her. He'd long claimed a lot more space in her bedroom and bathroom and even her den to accommodate some of his stuff since Valentine's Day.
"I think we can find you your own dresser." Kate smirked and kissed his chest.
"I don't know. I really like that chest. It has magical drawers." He smiled content, as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Okay, I promise we'll definitely keep the dresser and my bed."
"Your bed? Beckett, you've only got a queen! Let's buy a nice California king for our crib in D.C. like we have here at the loft so that we can christen it together." He whined and then muttered under his breath, "One you didn't share with other men."
Kate raised her eyebrows at him, "Well, if you put it like that, Castle, we're getting rid of this bed first thing tomorrow. I'm sure your California king has seen more action and women than mine."
Castle looked at her goofily and slightly aroused, "You had other women in your bed?"
"What? No!" She frowned at him and then realized her slip-up in the analogy, "I meant men in my bed."
"Yes, but your bed is newer, it's only natural that it has seen less nocturnal activities in its very short life."
"Oh, I don't know. Considering everything we've done in there, I think it's gotten more use than my old one."
Rick looked at her seriously for a moment, "Do you want me to get rid of my bed? We can get a new one if it bothers you that I've slept in here with other women."
"No, it's okay. We both know we have a past, but that's just it. The past is past. And we're making new memories instead."
"The best memories," Castle stressed, "all of my favorite memories in this room are with you."
"Look at you, going all corny romance novelist on me." Beckett teased him.
"It's true," Castle simply shrugged.
"Do you know what my favorite memory about my bed is?" Kate lifted the sheets and moved on top of Rick, straddling his lap.
"No, but please do tell, detective."
"You handcuffed to the head board, all tied up and lying spread-eagle on my mattress, while I have my wicked ways with you. It's just the right size for you." She leaned down and kissed him passionately. Rick's reaction was immediate. She could feel him harden and nudging her entrance.
"You're right. We absolutely have to pack your bed and bring it to D.C. It's now non-negotiable."
"I thought so," Kate smiled and kissed him again, longer and harder. "You know what else is non-negotiable right now?"
"What?" He asked her breathless. If he were a puppy, he'd be wagging his tail.
"This!" She breathed against his lips, as she reached down to grab his cock and slowly slid onto him.
"You drive a very hard bargain, detective."
"Shut up and fuck me already, writer boy."
0~0~0~0~0
"As you can see, this condo features a unique layout on the second floor that allows for separate space, down here in the master bedroom." Skip's voice startled Castle out of his reverie and he followed the realtor as he walked down the few steps from the master bedroom to what appeared to be a long corridor that led to a small balcony through a set of French doors. Rick could see that the previous owners had decided to line the wall with floor to ceiling bookcases that left some scratch marks the new paint job could not successfully hide completely.
"Even though this is a long and narrow shaped room, it has enough space for you to put in a desk and turn it into a small study. The previous owners used it as a library and reading room." Skip offered yet another idea for Castle's office.
Castle nodded slowly and looked around the narrow space, wondering if he was experiencing early onset signs of claustrophobia. Skip led him through the French doors outside to the balcony, which was simply adorable. A small green oasis, it was really more than just a balcony, it was more of a terrace. Plants and shrubbery were strategically placed to shield the balcony from the neighbors and two lounge chairs and a small table with iron feet and marble top completed the view. He kind of regretted now that he'd already made a decision not to buy the condo, because he'd love to take Kate on this balcony under the starry night sky. Maybe Skip would let him borrow the keys and Castle could take Kate for a little private viewing later in the week.
"And if that long corridor space was not to your liking, you can always turn this second bedroom into an office." Skip pointed towards another set of French doors a little further down the wall. Castle followed the realtor back inside, down the corridor to the master bedroom and from the back into the hallway. Rick noticed they'd conveniently skipped the bathroom, which didn't bode well.
When Skip opened the door to the second bedroom, it only confirmed Castle's previous decision. It was way too small. It barely fit a queen-sized bed and was really more the size appropriate for a small child's twin-bed. This was undoubtedly a children's bedroom. It was probably not even half the size of Alexis' current bedroom at the loft.
"Actually, we'll need that second bedroom," Rick explained to Skip, "since my daughter will live with us occasionally. When I said two to five bedrooms, two was really the bare minimum. I was hoping you'd have some condos that have additional dens that we could turn into an office, so we wouldn't have to sacrifice that second bedroom. So the more I think about it, ideally we'd get something along the lines of three to four bedrooms."
Skip nodded slowly. "In that case, I think the second property I picked for this morning will be much more to your liking. Would you like to take a look at the bathrooms on this floor, or shall we call it a day here?"
"Out of curiosity, what's the asking price?"
"A little over $1 million, which is a real steal for this location and the excellent condition of the apartment."
"It's a bit on the small side though." Castle replied.
"Yes, well, I think it's ideal for a young professional couple."
"That it is indeed, but I'm afraid it's not really what my wife and I are looking for."
"Very well, then let me lock up this place and I'll meet you at the other property. You have the address?"
"Yes," Castle nodded.
