A/N: Thank yous go to htbuzz, hfce, jellybean96, saved240307 and the two anonymous reviewers.


Kate hummed at the sensation of Castle's fingers trailing along her spine underneath her baggy t-shirt before skating away to strum over her ribs, borrowing her face deeper into the pillow to get away from the bright sunlight streaming through the rain-covered windows and painting the insides of her eyelids orange. Castle's head was a heavy weight at her bare shoulder, his chin digging into the point of her shoulder blade before he pressed feather-light kisses against her skin making her toes curl and warmth radiate through her limbs, waking her up quicker than any alarm ever could. She could feel one of his legs still tangled with hers, trapped between her calves, as she rolled onto her back to look up at him.

"Morning," he murmured, giving her his most irresistible smile, the one that lit his eyes in the purest baby blue.

"Morning." Her reply came out in the midst of a yawn that had her languidly stretching out all her muscles before she moulded her body into his side and placed her right hand on his naked chest. She was content to lie there for a few minutes more, the thought of dragging her body out of bed for breakfast and a shower before work not quite so tempting as being in the arms of her fiancé, enveloped in his comforting heat. But the insistent buzzing of her phone receiving a text had her reaching out to the bedside table she had commandeered.

Don't bother coming in to the precinct today. Gates' orders; not mine before you get all snipe-y. Tell Castle he has to be here at ten for his interview.

Kate read the brief message, feeling Castle's eyes peering at her iPhone screen over her shoulder.

"Espo is definitely not feeling friendly today," he muttered. "You think we could talk Lanie into sweetening his day before I have to see him?"

Kate snorted, a swift reprimand rolling off her tongue whilst her elbow dug into his ribs. "Castle!"

"What? You don't have to sit in interrogation with the next Hulk!"

"It's just an interview, Castle," she replied, rolling her eyes with exasperation. "Besides it's not like it'll take long, you weren't even here for the murder. And if Espo gets a little Macho Man with you, we both know it'll only be because you've made up some ridiculous theory."

"I thought you liked my theories, Detective."

"Well, there's another ridiculous notion right there." She had to fight to keep her voice level, to not squirm as she felt his arm tighten around her waist, pulling her until her back was flush against his chest and his breath was fanning her shoulder where her too large t-shirt had slid down her arm.

"I'm sure I could prove you wrong because see I have this theory that that isn't a ridiculous theory at all, that you in fact not only like my theories but you love them." She shivered pleasurably at the drop of his voice, something that didn't go unnoticed by Castle. "Am I right?"

He almost thought he was dreaming when he heard Kate gasp out, "So right, it's wrong," before twisting in his arms and assaulting his mouth with her lips. And her tongue.


"You're timing is excellent," Castle commented as Kate padded out of his bedroom, barefoot and still towelling her hair dry but wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe. "I've just finished the French toast."

Kate pressed a quick kiss to the underside of his jaw as she hopped into a bar stool beside Alexis who was already halfway through the last of her own French toast. As soon as she was done, she jumped down from the stool and grabbed her green handbag from the breakfast bar.

"Where are you off to?" Castle asked.

"Lanie asked me to drop by the morgue," Alexis answered with a shrug, continuing on her way to the front door.

"Let me know when you're leaving. I might be able to pick you if I'm leaving the precinct at the same time."

"Will do. See you later!" Alexis called as she disappeared around the edge of the front door.

"I don't know when she got so independent," Castle muttered, staring into the depths of his coffee, suddenly glum. "Making plans, going places, taking trips, new friends. All without telling me."

Kate sighed and bumped shoulders with him. "Come on, Castle, it's good that she's moving past Paris. You know it is."

"My baby's all grown up now." He couldn't help the melancholy sound of his voice.

"You make it sound like she's moving out and getting married, Castle."

"Oh God, don't say that. What if she is getting engaged?"

"Would you relax?" Kate rolled her eyes, tutting as Castle's eyes widened, letting her know that, no, he couldn't relax. "She's still only nineteen; I think you've got a year or two before you need to worry about one of her relationships getting that serious. Trust me, the closest Alexis is coming to getting married is being my bridesmaid."

He choked on his coffee, spitting the dark liquid back into the mug that bore his own name. "You-" he faltered for a moment, still in complete disbelief, before managing to get his words out. "You want Alexis to be one of your bridesmaids?"

Kate bit her lip, nodding and circling her hands around her own mug of coffee. "Is that okay?"

His lips met hers in an urgent kiss, his tongue tangling with hers. His words were barely audible, but Kate thought she just caught them. "More than." There was a clatter as the knife he had started buttering his toast with dropped onto the counter so his hands could push through into her damp hair.

"Castle, you're getting crumbs in my hair and I just washed it," she mumbled against his mouth, her forehead scrunching as she pulled away from him and frowned.

"Sorry," he said, though he didn't sound it. Nor did he look it, smiling he leaned his forehead against hers. "You're amazing, you know." His finger rested under her chin as Kate tried to duck her head, making sure she couldn't escape from his lips. He pulled away with a groan, when the phone beside his elbow began ringing. "Rick Castle speaking. Alexis? What?" Kate listened as he said uncertainly, "Okay..." He met her probing eyes as he stood and moved into the living room, picking up one of the remotes for the TV and switching it on.

Kate watched in confusion as he switched to a local news station and turned the volume up until even she could hear it in the kitchen.

"And our next story today…"

Kate zoned out as she saw Rachel Winter's face staring at her from the right hand side of the television screen.

Castle on the other hand was paying close attention.

"It was widely publicised earlier this month that Rachel Winters had been hired to plan the nuptials of mystery author Richard Castle and New York homicide detective, Kate Beckett. After a rocky start, witnesses of the couple's first meeting with their wedding planner reporting to news outlets that Detective Kate Beckett had a very public argument with Miss Winters, the relationship between planner and customers seemed to improve, though this was obviously a short-lived development. Yesterday afternoon, fellow detectives from the 12th Precinct had Detective Kate Beckett in interrogation, and with Richard Castle cutting his book tour short to return to New York City, it is expected he will be questioned today. Our reporter, Sarah Crane, is talking to Dennis Frome who witnessed Detective Beckett's argument with Rachel Winters."

"Kate, you don't need to see or hear this," he said, turning the TV off again.

"Too late," she muttered, having returned to her senses once the picture of Castle proposing to her had appeared on screen followed by a second image from the earlier days of their partnership when they'd been interviewed following the release of Naked Heat. "Normally I'm pretty accepting of these asshole news reporters, but this is just…"

"Outrageous, sick, disgusting…"

Kate nodded.

"It'll all blow over. Trust me, Paula will already be on the phone to every reporter in the city, biting their ears off about getting their facts straight, invasion of privacy. She can be a blunt pain in the ass sometimes, but she more than makes up for it with how good she actually is at her job." Castle tossed the remote control down on to the couch and checked his watch. "I should probably get going." He stopped in the kitchen, pressed a kiss to the top of Kate's head and grabbed the remains of his French toast, stuffing most of into his mouth whole. "I'll see you later," he said, words muffled and garbled by his full mouth.

Kate nodded absently, barely remembering to call goodbye before he shut the front door.

The second Castle stepped out of the building to head to his town car, the flashes started, cameras and microphones thrust into his face while so many people called questions, voices overlapping, it was almost impossible for him to understand the words.

Years of practise under his belt, Castle simply ignored the reporters and paparazzi, moving swiftly past them with the aid of his doorman and his driver. When he finally made it to the car and was safe in the back seat behind tinted windows, he sighed in relief. It may have been years since his first experience of being bombed by paparazzi outside his own home, but the claustrophia still went straight to his heart, making it race and pound. Thankfully, when his car drew up outside the 12th Precinct, there were no reporters trying to interview him and get a quote for their trashy newspaper. After a short journey four floors up in the elevator, he was back in the bullpen looking around for Esposito and Ryan, only to find them nowhere in sight and the murder board bearing Rachel Winters' name and photo tauntingly right in front of him.

Restraining the urge to whistle, Castle forced himself to act casual as he stepped up to the murder board to begin inspecting the case Esposito and Ryan were building. Before he knew it, his phone was out of his pocket and the camera on it taking pictures.

"Mr Castle!"

Castle whirled around at the bark. "Captain Gates?" He hoped beyond hope she hadn't seen him taking those pictures.

"Need I remind you that as a civilian you should not be in this bullpen? Get yourself a coffee and sit in the interview room, please. Detectives Esposito and Ryan are investigating a lead, they'll be back shortly."

Castle nodded and walked off to one of the interview rooms, sinking into a cushioned chair and pulling his phone out again to check his photos. Feeling Gates eyes burning into the back of his head, he exited the gallery and brought upone of his games instead, tilting the phone this way and that as he tried to get the cow up to the alien spaceship. He had no idea Esposito and Ryan had returned until the door shut quietly behind him.

"Hey, Espo," Castle greeted, turning around.

Instead of replying, Esposito gave him a tight nod before sitting opposite him, setting the manila folder tucked under his arm onto the table between them and opening it. He cleared his throat before starting. "When did you first meet Rachel Winters, Mr Castle?"


Kate was bored sitting on her own in the loft. Every so often she would glance at the TV, think about turning it on to see if they'd stopped reporting lies before dismissing the idea because she didn't want to be forced to listen to the reports if they hadn't. As well as the TV being out of bounds, she'd been forced to unplug the telephone after getting numerous calls from reporters. How they had Castle's home phone number, she didn't know – nor did she think she'd want to. She'd tried losing herself in one of Castle's books, her favourite in fact, only to have her mind stuck on trying to work out who would want to kill Rachel and why.

With no access to the case, she had texted both Ryan and Esposito with the message 'Call me when you can' though neither of them had rung yet.

She almost jumped out of her skin when someone knocked on the front door. Frowning, she got to her feet, wondering who it could possibly be given that Alexis, Castle and Martha all had keys to the apartment and wouldn't have hesitated to let themselves in.

"Katie bug."

"Hi, Dad, come on in," Kate replied, opening the door wider and returning his smile. As Jim entered the loft, he brought Kate into a hug. "How are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Have you seen how many reporters there are camped outside the building?"

"So, you heard," Kate sighed, shutting the front door and leading her father to the couch. "You want a coffee?"

"Sure."

As Kate grabbed two clean mugs, trying to find ones that Castle hadn't bought to inflate his ego, she hoped she would be able to remember all of Castle's instructions on how to use his coffee machine. A day or two after he had left for his book tour, she'd been forced to return to his empty loft apartment, when her own place had suffered a burst pipe. It had been another day – a miserable day without coffee to fuel her – before she had caved and begged him to tell her how to make his stupid machine work.

She only had one minor burn when she handed her father a mug.

"How're you holding up?"

"Fine, I guess," Kate replied, refusing to meet her father's eyes as he scrutinised her, no doubt able to see her deception even without the eye contact.

He seemed resigned as he said, "If you're not going to accept support from me, I hope you're at least talking to Rick about this. He's going to be your husband, that's what he's there for."

Kate nodded, lost in thought, as she remembered Castle trying to talk to her, help her, the previous night and her deflection. She would talk to him when he got back from the precinct, she decided.

After a moment's silence, filled only by the quiet slurp of both Kate and her father taking sips of their coffee, Jim asked, "Apart from…this, how's the wedding coming together?"

"It's okay. We've got a venue for the ceremony and the reception."

"Yeah? Tell me more."

"The ceremony's going to be at Trinity Church." Kate peeked at her father sideways, watching for a reaction.

He swallowed hard, overwhelmed by memories for a moment before he nodded and asked, "And the reception?"

"Rachel booked us the Plaza."

"Wow, that'll be something. I'm not sure my old suit will do."

"You'll do fine, Dad. I'm hardly going to let my father be thrown out of my wedding reception. Who else is going to make the Father of the Bride speech?" Kate said, smiling softly. On the kitchen counter, her cell phone vibrated, the movement carrying it across the smooth surface until it threatened to fall over the edge. Kate was quick to pick it up and see the caller come up as the Precinct. "Sorry, Dad, I've gotta take this." She moved into Rick's loft as she answered. "Hello? Esposito, thanks for getting back to me."


Rick entered the loft, surprised to find Jim Beckett sitting on his couch.

"Jim, nice to see you again."

"You too," Jim replied, returning the sentiment with just as much sincerity.

"You here to see Kate?" Castle asked, removing his jacket and draping it over the back of one of the armchairs before he threw himself down into it.

"Yeah, wanted to offer my support. It's a circus out there."

Rick nodded. "Don't worry; I'm prepared to hire a bodyguard for her if needs be."

Jim smiled. "I'm not sure she needs it. I'll admit it's been a while since I've seen her throw a fist, but I'm confident she still packs just as much a punch."

"Well, she packs heat too," Castle joked. "I don't know many people who'd want to get on the wrong side of your daughter."

"She gets that from Johanna, she was just as fierce in the courtroom as Katie is in the interrogation room. Heck, Katie was fierce on the playground. I don't think Tommy Frost was ever the same after Katie punched him for ripping up some other boy's homework and calling him a wimp."

Castle chuckled, as much at Jim's words as the mental image he had of a miniature Kate Beckett beating up all the boys when they misbehaved.

"I'd have loved to have seen that." One of the things Castle enjoyed most about talking with Kate's father were the stories he told about her when she was younger. Kate would have been groaning, hiding her face in his shoulder or a cushion if she could hear. She'd always been pretty reluctant to let Castle hear those embarrassing stories. He still didn't know the full extent of her 'Wild Child' phase. Thinking about how his fiancée would react when she heard what they were talking about, Castle asked, "Where is she?"

"In your office, I think. She got a phone call a couple of minutes ago – sounded like it was someone from the precinct."

Castle nodded but stayed seated, knowing that if Kate had left her father in the living room she probably wanted the privacy. Neither he nor Jim missed it though when Kate's voice rose and carried out to them.

"Just tell me what you know, Espo! That's all I'm asking. I'm not asking to investigate; I just want to know what leads you have, whether you're getting anywhere!"

Jim met Castle's eyes, silently asking whether Kate was okay, given that her tone was near hysterical.

"She feels guilty," he explained a low voice.

"Guilty?"

Castle nodded. "Kate tried calling Rachel a few times, she didn't pick up and Kate feels that she should have tried harder to get in contact with her. She's convinced herself that if she had, she might have been able to save Rachel though I'm not really sure how she figures that since neither of us knew where her father lived and that was where they found the body."

Jim sighed, shaking his head. "I just hope she doesn't start slipping, doesn't get sucked into this like she got pulled into her mother's case."

"I won't let that happen," Rick promised.

Both Jim and Rick looked up as Kate walked out, plastering a smile on. "Sorry about that Dad. I thought you were bringing Alexis back with you, Castle."

Rick shrugged. "She and Lanie were apparently still catching up. I doubt she'll be much longer." The words were barely out of his mouth when the door opened again.

But instead of Alexis letting herself in, it was Martha breezing into the loft and declaring, "Katherine, dear, you must be so stressed. Come on dear, let me take you out for some retail therapy."

Kate was about to protest, making up an excuse that she was catching up with her Dad and it wasn't a good idea for her to be going out when the paparazzi were staking out the building, probably just dying to snap a picture of her, when Castle said, "That sounds like a great idea, Mother. Let me just call a car service and a bodyguard for you."

Kate sent a helpless glance in her father's direction, but instead of throwing her a lifeline, he just chuckled a little. "How about we have lunch together when you're done shopping?"

Resigning herself to the fact that her family were ganging up on her, with Castle already on the phone ordering a car and bodyguard, Kate agreed and allowed Martha to drag her towards the front door.


In the backseat of the car, Martha was talking a mile a minute. She'd been nodding along without listening for so long, Kate didn't realise that Martha had asked her a question until she felt her future mother-in-law's hand on her arm. "Katherine, dear?"

"Sorry, I was miles away." Kate smiled sheepishly, as she met Martha's concerned gaze. "What did you say?"

"I asked where you wanted to go, Katherine. Do you need any new cocktail dresses? Because a lovely new boutique I've been dying to visit has just opened in Soho."

"How about we make a stop and pick up Lanie and Alexis first? Lanie would kill me if I didn't give the opportunity to come dress shopping with me," Kate suggested.

Martha gasped. "You don't mean- Wedding dress shopping?"

Kate nodded.

"Oh, Kate, how wonderful!" She looked at Kate for a moment, noticing her easy grin and the spark of happiness in her eyes. "You've found the dress, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Well, Lanie found it actually."

"Tell me everything, kiddo," Martha demanded, twisting in her seat to face Kate as fully as possible.


Whilst Kate was in the dressing room of the store on Broadway with the shop assistant doing up the zip and the buttons at the back of the dress, Martha watched Lanie pull bridesmaids dress after bridesmaids dress off the rails and hold them up against her body.

"What do you think about this one, Alexis?" Lanie asked, holding up a deep purple asymmetric dress.

"It's nice," Alexis shrugged. "The colour suits you."

From the fitting room, Kate called, "Yeah, but does it suit you too?"

Lanie grinned as she watched Alexis' jaw drop. "Kate?"

Kate pulled the curtain of her fitting room aside and popped her head through, keeping the gap as small as possible so none of them could get a peek of her in the dress. "Yeah?"

"I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, girl," Lanie said. "I've only got twenty minutes of my lunch break left, and I wanna hear your answer first."

Alexis just couldn't believe it. Although she and Kate had been getting on really well since she'd returned from Costa Rica, they hadn't always seen eye to eye and she could easily recall a few embarrassing times she'd lost her cool with her dad's girlfriend. "You really want me to be a bridesmaid?"

"Of course, you, Madison and Lanie."

"I'd be honoured, Kate."

Lanie whooped and pulled Alexis into a hug. Laughing, Alexis returned the hug, meeting her grandmother's happy eyes.

"Are you done in there yet, Beckett? I took an early lunch break for you and I've yet to actually eat anything."

Kate rolled her eyes at Lanie's impatience, before taking a breath and pulling open the curtain of the fitting room so she could step out with the shop assistant holding her train.

She couldn't see her reflection in the store's mirror yet, but she could hear Martha gasp, see her place her hand over her mouth and whisper, "Oh, Katherine." She caught Lanie's satisfied smile and approving nod, and Alexis' excited gaze.

"Dad isn't gonna know what hit him."

"I look okay?"

"Okay?" Lanie exclaimed. "Kate, you look – I'm sure Castle could come up with a better word to describe you but you look amazing!" Kate glanced at Alexis nodding along with Lanie and Martha, whose eyes were remarkably liquid before meeting Lanie's gaze again. Still seeing doubt in Kate's eyes, Lanie carefully pushed her to stand in front of the mirror, skirting the train of the dress as she walked behind her.

"It's possible for us to replace the satin with silk, a few other brides have done that with similar dresses," the shop assistant said, rocking on the balls of her feet as she waited for her customer's verdict.

Staring at her reflection, Kate had to admit she looked beautiful. She'd always known she'd been blessed with good looks, but despite how many times Castle told her; she'd never felt quite so beautiful as she did then. She'd never felt a dress that was moulded to her body so well. She could feel Lanie, Alexis and Martha's eyes on her whilst she looked. Briefly meeting their gaze, she felt overwhelmed and couldn't help wishing her mother was there too.


From his office, Castle heard his mother call out, "Richard?" But he was busy sorting through the pictures he had taken at the precinct on his phone, uploading them onto his computer so he could input them onto his own murder board, a surprise for Kate since he could tell she was dying to investigate.

"Look's like the coast is clear, kiddo," Martha murmured to Alexis, opening wide the front door so Alexis could enter while carrying the large box Kate had entrusted her with.

"Are you sure? He didn't tell us he was going anywhere. Dad? Dad, are you here?"

Rick heard one of the women in his life moving towards the office and promptly shut his laptop and used the remote to turn off the screen he displayed murder boards and book plots on, knowing that both his mother and daughter would disapprove of his actions. "I'm in the office," he called out, already pushing back his chair and standing up. "Is Kate back from her lunch yet?"

"I'll run interference," Martha said, keeping her voice hushed. "You go and hide that."

But as Alexis started up the stairs carrying the box, Rick came out into the living room.

"What've you got there, Alexis?"

She froze at the sound of his voice. "Nothing," she was quick to say, trying to keep her voice level and cringing as her dad quirked an eyebrow at her, always able to tell when she was lying.

He strained to read the side of the box, saying out loud, "H and S Bridal." Alexis was already running up the rest of the stairs when the realisation hit him and he yelled out, "Oh my God, that's Kate's wedding dress, isn't it? Alexis, wait! Come back, I only want a tiny peek!"

He felt the sting of his mother's hand as she swatted him round the back of the head. "You'll ruin the surprise, Richard. You'd better promise not to go looking for Katherine's dress."

He nodded, trying to appear chastised until Martha removed her pointing finger and he thought of an excuse that he could use to get upstairs.

Martha's was suddenly in front of him, her hand in the centre of his chest, pushing him back towards his office.

"If you know what's good for you, Richard Castle, you'll stay in this office and start writing."

"B-but, I need to talk to Alexis-"

"-Which can wait until she comes back downstairs, I'm sure. Now sit."


"So, how was your shopping trip?" Jim asked as soon as the waiter had collected his and Kate's menus.

Her voice was quiet as she replied, "I got my wedding dress."

Jim didn't have to be a mind reader to know why his daughter looked to be on the verge of tears. Although he hadn't known Kate was going wedding dress shopping, he'd known she'd find it hard when she did. "She'd be proud you know. She would be so proud of you, Katie. Of how far you've come, of the life you've made for yourself." Kate nodded. It wasn't the first time she'd heard the words, hadn't wistfully thought them herself after she had first gotten together with Rick and finally discovered who had ordered the hit on her mother.

"I just wish she could be here, you know. I know she'd have loved Castle. I still remember her telling me about your wedding, showing me her dress and all the photos. God, that was so long ago."

"You were five, you told her boys were disgusting and you were never going to get married," Jim said, chuckling at the memory. "The only way Johanna could get you to change your mind was by telling you that you'd get to wear a pretty dress and look like a princess."

Kate smiled sadly along with her father.

"You know she'd want to be here too. I was the one who never wanted you to move out; not Jo. I wanted to keep you as Daddy's little girl forever. Johanna was more excited than you when you got your first boyfriend. She pestered you for weeks to bring him round for dinner. She couldn't wait to see you walk down the aisle on my arm."

"I know," Kate nodded. "Remember when I introduced you both to Joel?"

"Vividly," Jim answered, his tone making it clear that he still didn't approve of Kate's biker boyfriend from when she was seventeen.

"Come on, he wasn't that bad. Mom liked him remember," she laughed. "You just didn't like his tattoos, didn't want me getting any ideas-"

"-Which you did."

"Yeah, but you didn't know that at the time."

Jim stared his daughter down, unwilling to concede her point. "You weren't so secretive as you think, leaving your date book in the open when there was an entry for your tattoo appointment."

"You read my diary?!" Kate spluttered in horror.


Castle was in the kitchen with his mother and Alexis when Kate got back, the three of them conspiring around the island in the centre. Kate struggled not to laugh as all three of them froze like deer in headlights, still motionless as she shut the door.

"Kate, we were just talking about what we should have dinner-"

"-Yeah, right, Castle," she scoffed. "You really expect me to believe that? When you've got that little nervous tick going on with your eye?"

Castle clapped a hand over his left eye so she couldn't see the muscles twitching. Sometimes he thought it was a mistake to play poker with Kate. She knew all his tells; not that he didn't know hers. It made the whole thing rather pointless when neither of them could convincingly bluff to the other. He looked to Martha and Alexis for help, but his mother just touched his arm and said to him, "Sorry, kiddo, you're on your own."

"Hey, Alexis, can I talk to you for a second?"

Alexis nodded and followed Kate towards the stairs.

"This is about your dress, isn't it? Just tell me where you hid it, Alexis!" Castle called to them, only to be silenced by a look from Kate.

As soon as they were out of Castle's hearing range, Kate asked quietly, "He hasn't seen it, has he?"

Alexis shook her head. "Trust me; it's in the only place he has vowed to never go." Kate wondered at the mischievous grin reaching Alexis' eyes. "Let's just say that Dad isn't allowed anywhere near my clothes," she elaborated.

Kate was unable to hold back her laugh at the thought of Castle searching all of Alexis' room apart from her chest of drawers, and coming up empty. She could easily picture the little twist of his mouth into a frown, frustration and confusion at not knowing every in and out of the way Alexis' mind worked, at not knowing where she had hidden her wedding dress. She knew he would then try and trick them into revealing something, or perhaps beg for information from them, that familiar pout taking over his face. He really was a nine year old sometimes.

"Good thinking, Lex."

Alexis blushed slightly at the praise and shrugged. When Kate had asked her to take the dress back to the loft and hide it, she had been surprised.

"Surely it'd be safer at Lanie's place-" she'd tried to say.

But Kate had managed to convince Alexis that she thought she was the best person to hide the dress because she knew how her dad's mind worked, knew all the places he would think to look, and that Rick was devious enough to deduce eventually that Lanie might be involved.

Kate peered around the corner to look at the lower floor of the house, finding Castle pacing and muttering to himself.

"If I was a dress, where would I be?"

Martha shook her head at her son's antics, watching him from the kitchen still. She'd tried all afternoon to convince him not to even begin a search, but Rick was too stubborn. He would call it determination, but she knew better. Raising her voice, she called, "Katherine, dear?"

Kate appeared around the corner and peered over the bannister at her future mother-in-law. "What is it, Martha?"

"I'm going out to the theatre, darling. I told the students I would be there before the curtain rose for their performance. I thought you should know your fiancé is considering changing himself into a wedding dress though."

Kate's eyes flickered to Rick, still pacing and apparently unaware that they were talking about him.

"See you later, Martha," Kate finally replied as Martha gathered her coat, gloves and bag from the counter top.

Nodding, Martha waved to Kate and Alexis, and left, calling out, "Don't wait up for me," as she shut the front door behind her.


"I've got a surprise for you." Kate startled at the sound of Rick's voice so close behind her as she stared out of his bedroom window. She hadn't heard his approach, but turned to watch him take the final steps to reach her and hold out his hand. "Come on." She took the proffered hand and allowed him to pull her out into this study. "Now, just sit right here…" He helped her into the chair by his desk and then pushed her around the furniture until she was sat in front of his interactive white board. "And, just close your eyes." Kate rolled her eyes first, but complied after a moment. It was a few moments of listening to Castle's quiet movements and the slight hums he made every few seconds after accomplishing something, before he told her, "Okay, you can open them." He let her take it all in for a moment then asked, "What do you think?"

"You made a murder board for Rachel?"

"Well, for you," he amended. "I knew you wanted to investigate, was able to get a few pictures while I was at the precinct – almost got caught with my hand in the cookie jar – and voila!"

A slow smile spread over Kate's face as she watched her writer standing beside the murder board nervously. Taking pity on him, she stood up and cupped his cheek, pressed a kiss to the soft skin there. "Thank you."

His arms came up to surround her waist, tugging her closer, silently letting her know that he needed no thanks.

"What leads have we got so far then?"

His hands gripped her hips, spinning her around. "Before you immerse yourself in the case, that's not the end of the surprise."

Kate craned her neck, twisting her head to send him a quizzical look.

"The rest of the surprise is out here," he murmured into her ear, nuzzling the side of her neck with his nose for a moment as he walked her out into the living room with his hands still resting on either side of her body. Kate couldn't help the piqued curiosity and turned her eyes away from the scruff on the underside of Castle's jaw, finding instead Alexis looking anxious over by the couch.

Castle gave his daughter a nod and she smiled tersely as she picked up one of the remote controls from the coffee table, and at the touch of a button brought up the listings of the DVR.

Shocked, Kate froze, her weight settling fully against Castle as he ploughed into her back, only to find her heels dug into the floor. Alexis panicked at the look of grief Kate had. Her voice was a whisper as she said, "My dad called, didn't he?"

"I thought a Temptation Lane marathon might make you feel closer to your Mom." He walked around Kate and moved his hands from her hips to her neck, his thumbs resting on her face just in front of her ears as he stooped to be at her eye level. "We don't have to watch it if you don't-"

Kate cut him off with a single finger over his lips. Her eyes shone, tears threatening to spill at the lengths Castle would go to to make her happy. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve him.

"No, I want to. It's perfect, Castle," she promised, looking down at his hand as she laced her fingers through his and pulled him to sit on the couch, hoping to dispel his fears. His arm was a heavy, comforting weight around her shoulders drawing her into him, but she went willingly to his side, pulling her knees and feet up so she was curled around him. On his other side, Alexis leaned towards her father, and laid her head on his shoulder, ready to watch.


A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Any thoughts on it are most welcome! Also, this story is only just about halfway through now, but I've had a thought for a possible sequel, so let me know if you'd be interested in one. Thanks for reading!