It came like a monsoon, a violent flood of emotions coursing from every fibre of her being, all rushing up out of her eyes, as she cried and cried. This was no lady like weeping now, not like in the birthing room with Andrea and Daniel and little Heddie, but harsh, body-wracking sob the likes of which she hadn't experienced since she'd learned of her mother's death twenty years before.

'Oh, God,' she sobbed, and Castle, pulled her tight against him as it poured out of her, and he rocked her gently as a child. He heard her cough and splutter, and was pulling her to her feet, into the downstairs bathroom where she continued to cry so hard that she began to dry heave.

When she was done and had slumped back against the wall, eyes still streaming and her body still shaking, Castle simply closed the toilet lid and flushed, then sat down beside her, took her hand in his.

'Don't leave me.'

'Never,' Castle murmured to her, and watched helplessly as she slumped down the wall, curling into a ball so her head was pillowed on his thighs. He stroked her hair as she let it all out, passing her toilet paper for Kleenex as needed, until she was down to whimpering shudders, and a few small sniffles.

When she'd gone so quiet he thought she was asleep Castle shifted so he pillowed her head on his bicep and spooned against her on the floor, wrapping his other arm around her trembling shoulders and holding her close. 'I'm right here, Kate,' he whispered to her.

'I know,' she whispered back. 'I can't believe this is all over, I mean...I finally did it. Seventeen years of being a cop and I finally did it.'

'Do you think you have no purpose now as a cop, because you avenged your mother's murder?'

'If anything I have more purpose than ever, to do my job and remind those bastards what they did and how it's possible to be the best cop you can be without bribes and dirty money and druglords in your pocket. I have a promise to keep to my mother, and that does not end because we got the fuckers.'

Beckett rolled over and looked at her husband; somehow she still had enough in her that her eyes welled up again as she patted his cheek. 'It looks like I followed through on what I said, that when I got the guys who were behind her death I wanted you to be there. I just never figured it would be like this. Us married with three babies, our oldest baby married and almost graduated medical school, all these friends and family, my father still sober and happy.'

'We've come a long way, haven't we?'

'Uh-huh.' She drew in a great, shuddering breath, blew it out. 'I'm...I'm so mixed up.'

'I know.'

'And hungry.'

'I know.' Castle brushed his hand over her arm. 'But I think there is something else you could use before food right now.'

'You're right.'

Not that, Kate,' Castle laughed as he sat them up from the cold tile floor. 'That is better for when you're not a goobery mess.'

'You don't get grossed out by seeing me give birth but sex after I've spent an hour and a half cry my eyes out on the bathroom floor is too much?'

'First off, it won't be sex, it's going to be love-making. Secondly, I know what you need right now more than anything.'

He pulled her to her feet, led her upstairs where he sat her on the end of their bed. 'Wait here.'

As she had an idea of what he was up to - hard to keep a bath a secret when the water in the pipes was so loud - Beckett gave him the pretext of surprise he needed, and walked into her daughter's nursery first, breahted in the powder and milk and crayon scent of her little girl. And apples, Jojo always seemed to smell like fresh green apples. She went next door and grinned. RJ's room was all about the baked goods - even his sheets smelled deliciously like cookies. Her son the master cookie maker at the age of four. The girls would be on him like ants on raisins when he got to middle school. Raisin cookies, she self corrected.

She heard Castle go downstairs and come back up again, so she met him in the hallway and smiled when she saw he had a bottle of red wine and a glass in his hands. 'You read my mind. No pun intended,' she added on a laugh.

'Come on now.'

Beckett went into the ensuite with him and pressed her hands on her breasts: he'd made it like her own little spa retreat, with candles in their mirrored holders giving off a delicate amber glow in the room, yet it was so bright she didn't need the overhead light. There was soft piano jazz on the stereo from their bedroom and the tub had been filled to perfection with her Japanese cherry blossom bath foam.

'Why don't you slide in there,' Castle suggested.

'I think I will.'

Beckett didn't bother waiting for him to leave since she knew he wouldn't, and when she was naked, she stepped into the tub, sank down into the welcoming bubbles and moaned as if it were her lover's hands caressing every last secretive nook and cranny of her body. 'Oh, God, this feels so good.'

'Irony is, that's probably what you'd say if we were having sex to begin with,' Castle teased her, then passed her a glass of wine, gave her a sweet kiss. 'I'll see you downstairs in a little while.'

Beckett gave a little wiggle, which sent the bubble shimmying, and rather than let her mind spin over the paperwork that still had to be done to officially close the case, which she would take care of in the morning, she let her thoughts drift instead to her children. She wanted to know what Alexis had learned at her conference, and how much fun RJ and Jojo had had at Busch Gardens; Beckett had to give Terrance credit for that one, taking two under-fives to an amusement park that was on the other side of the state. But then, her children were very well behaved and Alexis would know to tell Terrance that all he needed to do was put an audiobook on in the car since they loved being read to.

Maybe that was the surprise RJ was bringing her back from Busch Gardens, or as he'd so cutely mangled it, 'the Bushy Garden'. Maybe Alexis was going to bring her genuine Florida oranges, or something from Daytona. She'd loved watching NASCAR in college when she was done studying, the round-and-round of the cars had always put her to sleep.

When she was out of wine and realized that on an empty stomach combined with the hot water was probably a very bad idea, Beckett drained the tub and patted herself dry before wrapping up with her silky fancy robe. Deciding it didn't have to be all about comfort, she dabbed on the perfume Castle had given her for Christmas under her jawline and between her breasts. She pinned up her hair, leaving only a few loose tendrils near her temples and the nape of her neck, and added just a dab of clear lip gloss to her mouth to make it appear fresh and wet.

Maybe she could get her hubby in the mood for loving after all.

The moment she opened the door of the bedroom, all thoughts of seduction went right out of her head as she smelled what he'd gotten them for late night take-out.

He knew. He always knew.

Coming down the stairs, she grinned when she saw him putting two Remy's sliders onto a plate for her with sweet potato fries and what could only be roasted-garlic mayo into a dipping-sauce sized bowl. And there was an ice-cold soft drink already waiting in a glass with ice for her at the table.

Love for him swamped her, so she would show him the best way she knew how. Walking up behind him Beckett wrapped her arms around his body, and stretching to her tiptoes pressed a kiss to the back of his neck.

'I love you so much Richard Alexander,' she murmured to him.

'I love you right back, Katherine Louise.' He lifted his arm so he was squeezing her around the shoulders. 'You and Meredeth like the same kind of comfort food, chewy things you can sink your teeth into. Alexis is more like Lili and Lanie and Javi, she goes for sugar, but you need meat. So it's a turkey slider and a beef slider, with all your favourite fixings and trimmings.'

'Root beer?'

'Diet Coke.'

'Even better.'

Castle kissed her lips, then made a flourishing gesture. 'But wait, there's more. I also streamed for us the BBC's version of Sign of the Four with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.'

'Oh, you do know your audience,' she sighed with a sweet smile. Picking up her plate and her glass, she kissed him back. 'Let's go stuff our faces.'