Out of habit I will start with a disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of its characters.


Rick wrapped his arms around her, smiled at her mischievously, and then dipped her before sealing their wedding with a kiss. She gasped and then giggled as he brought her up again, still laughing as she regained her balance.

"Thank you," he said as he took her hand.

"What for?" She asked curiously.

"You have just made me the happiest man alive, so," Rick said as he led her into their reception. "I just wanted to thank you for making me this incredibly happy and for being the extraordinary person I fell in love with." He kissed her cheek, " Oh, and also for not killing me."

She mock glared at him at that, "Yeah, you should be grateful," she laughed. "It was a close call."

He feigned shock, "you would seriously harm me, just because I didn't want to wait to be your husband."

"Yeah, you're just lucky I really want to be your wife," she smirked, "and I don't want to raise this baby without you."

"Let me be the first to introduce, Mr. and Mrs. Castle," Ryan announced as they walked in to the reception, to the guests applauding. "And Castles, if you could make your way to the dance floor for your first dance."

The music started softly, I love this song.

Nothin' goes as planned,
everything will break

They danced slowly to the ballad, Kate looked into his eyes and could feel the love radiating over her.

"Perfect song choice," she said as she leaned in for a kiss.

"You are perfect." He stated simply as they parted.

Oh, you're in my veins,
and I cannot get you out.

When they sat down, they had champagne flutes put in front of them, Kate looked at the waiter and was about to ask him to take it away when Rick stopped her by saying, "it's apple cider, I just wanted to have the right glasses."

"Thank you," she put her hand in his on the table and squeezed.

"If I could get your attention please," Kevin Ryan was really enjoying the role of MC, "it is now time for the speeches, starting with the maid of honor."

Lanie walked on to the porch that served as a stage, looked at Kate and smiled, then at Rick and spoke.

"I have known Kate Beckett for many, many years and she is my best friend. I have seen her go through so much in these years," she had tears in her eyes, then chuckled to herself.
"As difficult and as draining as our jobs are, the most challenging thing she has ever faced is one Mr. Richard Castle." Lanie looked at Rick as laughter erupted from the guests.
"Rick forced her to take a long hard look at who she was, and made her see that there was more to her then just a kick ass detective. He showed us all what it means to love someone, even against all odds. He has selflessly taken care of you since you two met, and I can never thank him enough for helping you heal, when no one else could." Lanie had tears rolling down her cheeks, so did a lot of people, including the bride. Rick just raised his glass towards Lanie as a silent thank you.
"Just know that if you hurt her, you will live to regret it." Lanie said in a fiercely protective tone. "Cheers."

Kate stood up and walked over to hug her best friend, at the same time Kevin was getting ready to introduce the next speaker.

"Well, she's not wrong about that," he said into the mic, before adding, "all right, next one up is the best man, Alexis."

"My dad and I have always been in an us two against the world team, he raised me by himself and I am so happy to have had the life I've had," she began. "I have still always hoped that he would find someone that could make him happy. Someone that was willing to see his many strange attributes as funny rather than frustrating." She looked at her father, who smiled at her. "I feel as if I got my wish granted when he met detective Beckett." She smiled at Kate before she continued. "Granted she didn't see the humor in is quirks in the beginning, but he grew on her."
"I have looked up to detective Kate Beckett since she and my dad started working together, she is so strong and brave and, well, she's more loyal than anyone I have ever met." Alexis was looking at Kate, with nothing but love and admiration.
"What people might not know about Kate Beckett is that when she cares about you, she will sacrifice anything and everything to keep you safe, to make sure you feel safe." Kate wiped a tear from her cheek.
"When you just started dating, I was a little apprehensive, because you had been doing a lot of hurting back and forth, with a whole will they won't they thing, driving everyone mad. I saw my dad get his hopes up and get hurt so many times." Rick squeezed Kate's hand and kissed her temple.
"I'm just so glad that you managed to find yourselves on the same page at the same time, because I think you are what my dad needs. I know that our relationship has never been stronger and is only growing. The love you have for my little brother or sister is the kind of love I wished I had from my mother, unconditional."

Kate stood up and walked over to Alexis on the porch and wrapped her in a tight hug, "Alexis, I love you, you know that right?" Kate loosened her hold on Alexis to be able to look at her. "Look at this," Kate said as she lifted her wrist and shook her charm bracelet. "Do you recognize these stones?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, that's an opal and that's a blue topaz," Alexis replied equally quiet.

"Do you know what they represent?" Kate looked at her, not waiting for an answer. "They represent the two Castle kids we already have, those are your birthstones. The blue topaz for this coming December, and the opal for October, for you" Kate let that sink in for Alexis.

Alexis wiped away a few tears that she had shed, then hugged Kate again before Kate went back to her seat.
They had spoken quietly enough so the guests weren't able to hear them.

"Lastly," Alexis said, her eyes still gleaming with unshed tears, "dad, congratulations and Kate, I'm glad we are now officially family."

The bride and groom raised their glasses and beamed at their daughter.

"Wow, that was beautiful Alexis," Ryan was a little emotional, "I think we need to take a little break from speeches, time for some cocktails."

There was indistinct music playing, while people chatted. Dinner was being served when she really realized the magnitude of the efforts put into this wedding.

I can't believe how much planning he got done in only a couple of weeks, or has he been planning this for longer?

"Well, I think we are ready for the parents speeches, do we want Mr. Beckett or Ms. Rogers up first?" Ryan asked looking between of two of them.

Jim stood up and walked to the mic, took a deep breath and began, "Katie is the best thing I've ever done. I had a great partner in her mother, so I won't take all the credit for how she has turned out." He was looking at his hands, "truth is Ricky has done so much for her, in the past five year they have had their fair share of trouble. But in these five years, I've only had to worry about her job, not her heart. Rick, I just want to thank you for loving my daughter so absolutely, and for being the reason for her joy." Jim glanced in his daughter's direction, saw that she was wiping a tear from her face, he looked back down and walked over to her and gave her a hug.

God this is going to leave me dehydrated or something, I need to get these tears under control. Kate looked at Rick, who was smiling and looking at her calmness washed over her. How lucky can one girl be?

"All right, Martha, are you ready?" Kevin asked, and she nodded.

"Well, kiddos," Martha was still drying tears from her eyes after listening to the previous speeches.
"I will keep in very short. Katherine, all I want to say to you is, I thank you for keeping my son safe every day and for making him happy every day and thank you for caring so deeply for my granddaughter. Richard to you I would like to say, congratulations. You deserve to be happy. To the both of you I want to say only one thing." She emphasized with holding up one finger, "Thank you for giving me another grandbaby." There was scattered laugher from the crowd.
"I love you both."


I just wanted to let you know that in the coming weeks I will be submitting rather sporadically, I hope you don't mind.

Thank you for reading, reviewing, following and favorite-ing it really is wonderful to wake up and see my inbox full of positivity.