A/N: Special thanks go to jellybean96, rickkate3, saved240307 and the Guest-reviewer for reviewing! You guys are the best!


"I waited until you'd told Alexis, but the media's been hard to control. They're expecting the wedding of the century," she said, doing away with pleasantries and getting straight down to business. "And I'll be damned if we don't give it to them. With that in mind, I've hired a wedding planner for you."

"A wedding planner?" Kate asked in livid disbelief. "You got us a wedding planner? You didn't ask us what we wanted, what we were planning? You just went ahead and got us a wedding planner?" The more questions she asked, the angrier Kate began to sound and Castle felt himself wince on Paula's behalf. To his publisher's credit, she didn't even flinch. And Rick could see just how unmoved she was by his fiancée's words.

"Paula-" Rick began, interceding on Kate's behalf.

"-You know this is necessary, Rick. You don't honestly expect me to believe the two of you can successfully plan a wedding while you're touring and writing and she's working every day, do you?"

Indignation flashed hot across Kate's face. "Yes, we can. I juggle him and work, don't I?" she said clearly, eyes challenging Paula to defy her.

Paula didn't answer. "It's already done."

Kate was left sputtering as Paula span on her stiletto heels and walked away, leaving behind her empty champagne flute and stopping only to retrieve her handbag from the cupboard Castle was storing people's coats in.

"Can you believe her?!"

He didn't answer, unsure what he could say. Paula was determined; once she made her mind up about something it was hard to persuade her otherwise. Whilst she was only supposed to control his writing and public appearances, it didn't stop her interfering in his personal life. Castle remembered her telling him to get over Kate at the Heat Wave launch party only too clearly.

"I'll try talking to her tomorrow," Castle finally murmured, still looking at the doorway through which his tight-ponytailed publisher had left through. He didn't hold out much hope though. And in the back of his mind, he found himself wondering if perhaps Paula had done the right thing in hiring a wedding planner. He and Kate were going to be busy for the foreseeable future. As long as the wedding planner listened to what they wanted, maybe it was for the better. "Come on, let's go back to the party. People will be wondering where we've gone."

Kate's hand tightened around his, and he brought her under his arm, tight to his side. Her head rested on his shoulder as they re-joined their friends, trying to look happy and upbeat, but finding themselves dwelling over their wedding-planner-doom. Before they knew it, it was getting late and people were making their excuses, gathering their belongings and leaving.


After a night of fitful sleep, Kate abandoned the pretence that sleep would return and she could doze for another hour or so with her head pillowed on Castle's chest, and slid out from Castle's arms. Picking up only Castle's book and one of his shirts she could wear over her tank top and sleep shorts, she padded out of the bedroom and down to the garden, settling herself in one of the wooden seats out there to enjoy the morning sunshine and breeze as she immersed herself in the latest adventures of Nikki Heat and Jamieson Rook.

When Rick found her, she was still staring at the first page bearing his signature.

"Kate?" he asked, aware that she seemed to be staring without actually seeing anything.

At the sound of his voice, she was jolted out of her reverie, her eyes turning from the book to gazing instead at Castle, letting him see the film of water covering them. Instantly he fell to his knees beside her, his hands reaching for her, grasping tight on her knees. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Castle." Her voice came out weak and needy but she didn't care; she needed him to understand the effect his words had on her, how much they meant to her but he didn't even seem to have noticed that it was his book open on her lap, one side of the hardback resting on her tucked up feet, the other on one of her thighs. "You didn't tell me you'd written anything."

To the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating person I've ever met,

I think I need to add a couple more adjectives in there to really describe you. Sexy, that's definitely got to be one of them. But then again, I've always thought you were kind of indescribable, that there's a word perfect for you but it's always just hovering out of reach, even more so since that night in May. Instead of solving the mystery, it seems to have just gotten more complicated. Sometimes you still surprise me. But always you inspire me.

Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. I love you, Kate.

He looked down at where her hands were clutching at his book, holding onto it for dear life and he finally understood. He knew that she wasn't upset, that nothing was wrong with her world. In fact, everything was just right.

In a matter of seconds, the book was forgotten, sliding out of Kate's lap as she let go and reached for Castle's face, pulling him by the jaw until his lips were meeting hers. Every word she found lodged in her throat as she tried to explain what he'd written had made her feel, she pushed into the kiss, desperate to show him what she meant. Castle's hands left her knees, seeking the soft skin at the back of her waist, travelling up her back, burying themselves in her hair – hair, lustrous hair, that he knew his hands could get lost in. Not that he'd have minded. He knew from experience just how good it could be to be stuck with Beckett, though it was always better without the tiger. Exactly when she'd moved her hands to the nape of his neck, he didn't know. Not until she tugged on the ends of his hair, pulling a groan from his lips that sent shivers racing up her spine and sending one of his hands sliding inside the plaid shirt of his she'd commandeered.

"Ew, Dad! I know you just got engaged and all, but other people live here too."

They sprang apart, Beckett biting her lip and looking away from his daughter, perhaps only a tad embarrassed, since they'd been caught in worse positions before. As she walked back into the house, Castle half groaned and half chuckled, his head dropping forwards to rest against Kate's as one of her hands still wrapped around his neck toyed with his hair.

"Breakfast?" he finally asked, feeling his stomach begin to rumble. "I can bring it to you out here."

Releasing him, she nodded. "Sounds perfect." As soon as he was gone, she was reaching for the book and flipping past his little message to reach the first page, her excitement building. Even though she was present for much of the writing, Kate was often asleep when Castle wrote, sitting next to her in bed. She had a vague idea of the plot after finding a scrap of paper bearing notes left on the kitchen counter one day (a mistake never repeated after she complained about spoilers), but for the most part she has no idea what's in store for Nikki. She was so engrossed, she almost didn't notice Castle coming back out with two freshly made pancakes covered with cut strawberries, a drizzle of syrup and a dollop of creamy yoghurt. Even whilst eating, she didn't put the book down; just went ahead and held it in the air in one hand whilst using the other to control her fork. Turning pages was awkward, but who cared when Rook was trapped in a car about to go over the end of the pier. Leave it to Rick to put a cliffhanger smack-bang in the middle of the first fifty pages.

When Alexis came back out, apparently deeming the garden a safe place again, she stops before Kate. "Finally started it then?"

Kate looked up, confused before seeing Alexis' gaze focused on the abandoned booksleeve. "Oh yeah, though knowing your father he's going to come back outside any minute now and need me to entertain him."

"I can keep him distracted," Alexis offered. "I was just going to sunbathe by the pool but I bet I can convince him to play polo or something with me."

"He's on the phone with Paula at the moment, but when he comes out, you're welcome to him." Only the back of her mind had registered his words when he grabbed her plate from her lap and stood up, announcing that he was 'ducking inside to call Paula' and that he'd 'let her know what she said.' Still as soon as she mentioned that to Alexis, she found that was all she was able to concentrate on, and Rook's fate was forgotten.

"Any luck?" she asked the second she heard his feet stepping out the door and onto the patio, craning her head around to look at him.

He looked bleak as he shook his head. She tried not to let her heart sink in disappointment, but really she couldn't help it. Even if romance hadn't exactly been in the cards for years before she met Castle, she had still been secretly looking forward to planning her wedding. She remembered all the times she'd discussed what kind of ceremony she'd like with her mother, with her friends, with Madison. She'd been thinking about flowers, colours, themes ever since she was nine, though those thoughts had almost been completely forgotten after her mother was killed and she became so focused on bringing her killer to justice. Her relationships were so temporary that she never thought about getting married ever again, well at least not until Rick had asked.

"Sorry," he whispered, watching the flicker of hope in her eyes fade away.

"You tried," she said back, just as quiet, offering him a wan smile. "Who knows, maybe the wedding planner will be great and do whatever we want."

"I'll make sure of it." He didn't really know what he was letting himself in by making that promise.


Kate found her eyes flicking up again as the sounds of Alexis' protests reached her ears.

"Dad, you did that on purpose."

"What? I honestly didn't. I just had to show you the proper execution of a dive. All of these swan dives you do are so boring."

Alexis rolled her eyes just as Kate smirked, knowing for a fact Castle had done a bomb just to soak Alexis with the splash.

"Really? I should probably give it a go then, right? Make sure I can do it right?" Without waiting for her father to answer, Alexis hauled herself out of the pool before leaping right back in with her knees tucked up under her arms.

Shaking her head at Rick's face, his eyes closed, his mouth open, spitting out water and his hair dripping, Kate directed her eyes back down to her book. It was almost lunch time and she was close to being half way through the novel. Since they were planning to head out to a restaurant for lunch, Kate really wanted to get to the end of the chapter she was currently reading before they left.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?" she murmured without tearing her gaze away from the book.

"Kate?"

"Yeah, Castle?"

"Put the book down a minute," he requested, finally getting Kate to look at him.

She wasn't sure why she listened. He usually had a good poker face, but from the glint in his eyes it was obvious he was up to something. Kate had barely set the book aside when Castle had slapped a hand across the surface of the swimming pool and sent a wave of water over her. As she gasped, both from the temperature of the water and shock, Rick bit his lip.

"Dad!"

"What? She was going to have to change anyway," he replied, nodding at the pyjamas she was still wearing.

"Oh, you are so dead, Rick!"


A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!