A/N: Thanks go to alwayscastle2, hfce, htbuzz, GeekMom, jellybean96, TORONTOSUN and the anonymous reviewer for their kind words last chapter. I seriously can't thank you guys enough for your continued support.

I'm sorry to say that this chapter is a little bit shorter, since it's more or less a filler before we get to the wedding. I hope you enjoy it regardless.


A week and counting. The thought brought a tingle to the nerves at the base of Kate's spine as she stepped out of the cab that had brought her to her father's apartment and buzzed for 3D.

"Hello?"

"Hi Dad, it's me," Kate said into the intercom.

There was an electrical hum as her dad let her into the building and she pushed open the heavy metal front door, letting it slam behind her as she jogged on up the stairs leading to her father's apartment. Having been stuck in it one too many times, Kate ignored the building's old cramped elevator.

When she reached the apartment, her father's door was already open and he was stood in the doorway, reaching out his arms to pull her into a hug.

"Katiebug, it's been too long."

"Sorry, Dad, I've been so busy these last few weeks. Planning, working. I don't think things have ever been so hectic."

"Well, come in and sit down. Put your feet up and rest for at least a few moments then." Her father ushered her into his apartment and shut the door, pushing her towards his couch, the one that had been weathered by age and should probably have been replaced five years earlier. Kate knew why he didn't throw it out – it was the last thing her mother had bought. Besides, although there was the odd spring that had a penchant for human buttocks, it was for the most part rather homely, moulding comfortably to your form from so many years of service. While she sat, her father bustled in the small kitchenette. "Coffee?"

"Please," Kate replied, staring around at the walls, and trying to dampen the flare of nostalgia within her, as she often did when she visited her father. Behind the television, one of her mother's amateur paintings hung. It had been there as long as she could remember, never moving and never changing. Even the ornaments decorating the mantelpiece occupied the exact same places they always had, as though someone had glued them down on the wood, stopping them from being displaced by just a millimetre. She started when he father handed her a perfectly brewed black coffee and set down milk in a china pot on the square endtable beside the arm of the couch. A pot from the set of china mugs and cups and saucers that had been a wedding gift from his own parents the day he had married her mother. "Thanks."

Jim waved away her gratitude. A small cup of coffee was no great mercy. After a cursory sip of his own drink, he set it down beside the milk and turned to really look at his daughter. Despite the obvious signs of exhaustion, her eyes were still lit with happiness. "So, a week to go." Kate smiled and nodded. "Feeling ready?"

"Well, we've got the caterers booked now, the menu set and the cake ordered. Rick's written his vows and I've…started mine." Kate didn't miss her dad's little chuckle as she paused and thought back to her first attempt at writing her vows. She still hadn't really gotten anywhere, but there were a few ideas circling in her mind. "The bridesmaids dresses came the other day, and Rick's with the boys right now getting the final measurements for their suits. It's all coming together."

Jim nodded and listened before gently pointing out, "That wasn't what I asked, Katie. I asked if you felt ready."

"I don't think I've ever been more ready," she confided quietly, reflecting on the excitement bubbling in her stomach and rising up through her torso. Ruminating introspectively on how the thought of hearing Rick's vows for the first time would probably make her cry, how he might look at her as she walked down the aisle towards him and he saw her dress for the time, Kate didn't realise her father had wrapped an arm around her shoulders until he felt his hand squeeze her arm.

"I'm proud of you."

Kate gave him a smile, setting down her own china mug to fully embrace him. She didn't say it often, but she was proud of her father too. His apartment was still like a shrine to her mother, but at least he seemed to be able to cope still. When she was younger, she hadn't been able to stand staying in the apartment with all of her mother's possessions. She hadn't understood how her father had been able to bear it. Now she understood that he longed to feel close to his wife.

Her eyes flicked to the mantelpiece where many years before she had watched her mother position a photo frame until it had stood just right. Now she found her eyes drawn instead to the photo within, the one from Christmas that year, all three of them stood in front of the fir tree her father had dragged from the car up into the apartment, struggling with it in the elevator so much that almost half the needles had dropped, leaving the wide, lower branches practically bare. She heard the echo of Johanna's laugh in her ears, remembering how filled with mirth she'd been when Jim had lugged the tree in and set it in the corner of the room before stepping back to admire his handiwork. Decorating the tree that year had been a particularly big job.

Jim followed her gaze and stared at the photo too for a few moments before looking back to his daughter. He knew her well enough to be able to read her thoughts from just the expression of her saddened eyes.

"She doesn't need a seat down here, Katie, because somewhere up there Johanna is watching."

She nodded. Though neither her father or she were religious, they had both decided long ago that just because Johanna was gone didn't mean she was no longer with them, that she wasn't watching proudly as Kate finished college.

"It was Rick's suggestion," she murmured. "Leaving a reserved seat for her. I thought at first it would be a nice way to honour her."

Jim nodded, filled with gratitude and respect for the levels to which Rick went for his daughter. He didn't think he'd ever seen such devotion or thoughtfulness. It made him wonder at times whether he had been good enough for Johanna, but then he remembered what mattered most was that they were happy together and that they'd had Kate.


Stood on the sidewalk awaiting a cab's arrival, Kate didn't notice the reporter approaching her until it was too late.

"Detective Beckett?"

"Yes?" Her voice was uncertain. She didn't know what the reporter wanted of her. She wasn't on duty, nor was she involved with any ongoing investigations.

The reporter was already reaching into her pocket for a notebook and pen, bringing them out and poising to write down whatever Kate said in answer to the question, "We received news today that the investigation into Rachel Winter's murder has officially been left a cold case. What are your thoughts on this decision?"

Kate floundered for a moment before replying through tight lips, "No comment," and getting into the cab that pulled up in front of her. She told the cab driver to take her to 425 Broome Street and staunchly refused to glance back at the reporter in case she had a camera hidden somewhere in her coat.

When the cab arrived outside the loft, she soon spotted a few reporters lurking outside the entrance and asked the cab driver to drive around the block once more whilst she thought. In the end, all she could do was pull a grey knitted beret from her bag and position it on her head, trying to cover as much of her face as was possible in the hopes that the media circus wouldn't recognise her as she walked through them and into the building. She doubted Castle would be back, but as she waited for the cab to make it through the traffic and pull up outside the building's entrance, she sent him a text to warn him before taking the dive and calmly leaving the cab.

She could feel the scrutiny of the reporters, but somehow managed to get past them before they began to mutter, "Looked just like Detective Beckett."

Before they realised it was her, she sped her steps and pushed through the door into the apartment building's lobby, breathing a sigh of relief. Waiting for the elevator to arrive from the second floor, Kate pulled her cell phone out again and sent texts to both Esposito and Ryan, asking what had happened to Rachel's investigation.


Rick walked through the reporters, saying 'no comment' any time one of them opened his mouth. Paula and Gina had already told him they would handle the situation and release an official statement on his behalf lest he get himself into trouble by opening his big mouth. When he got up to his own apartment, he found Kate sat at the kitchen counter thumbing through one of her photo albums. She must have heard him open the front door and close it behind him, but she didn't look up, not even as his shoes echoed on the hardwood floor as he walked around to stand behind her.

He felt more than heard her hum when he bent and rested his head atop hers and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey," she murmured, dropping one side of the album so she could reach up a hand to caress his cheek, fingernails scratching through the rough stubble on his jaw. "Everything okay with the suits?"

"Yeah. You have a nice day with your dad?" He guessed that she had been talking about her mother since she was looking through old family photos, fingers trailing over one of her mother sitting in a hospital bed with a bundle of blankets. The tiny face poking out could only have been Kate, and Castle squeezed her tighter as he looked.

She nodded, the movement jostling his own head enough that he decided it was probably easier to just grab one of the other stools and pull it up next to her.

His hand rested at her hip when he got comfortable, thumb rubbing rhythmically and soothingly over the bone protrusion. He didn't say anything, just waited until she let out whatever was on her mind. He knew it wasn't anything serious. She wouldn't be so calm and still if it was. She was just deep in thought, probably so pensive that even if he had said something, she wouldn't have heard.

"I changed my mind."

It was quiet murmur that stopped his heart. "What?"

"I changed my mind about leaving a seat for my mom," she clarified. Rick relaxed, his back curving again as his shoulders dropped and his breath came back. The movements didn't go unmissed by Kate. "Did you think I changed my mind about the wedding?"

"No, no, not at all."

"Castle," Kate said, quirking one eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe for just a second."

Kate shook her head. "I'm going to marry you, Castle, believe that." She couldn't think of anything she wanted more in that moment that to be Mrs Castle already.


A/N: I didn't plan this chapter whereas I had the rest of the story completely set out, so I'd be really interested in any thoughts you have on it. I didn't have a long time to write this since we've got to get the house ready for a party tonight (P.S. don't ask me why we're having a house party) so that's one of the reasons it's not as long as the next few chapters will be.