Chapter 40

.

"There's no snow!"

The four of them were standing outside Kaluhui Airport waiting for a taxi. Castle had wanted to take a vacation over the Christmas holidays and Kate had insisted on someplace warm. Alexis was the one who had suggested Maui.

At Zoey's exclamation, Kate replied, "That's right, Zo. They have a different kind of winter than we do."

The little girl furrowed her eyebrows. "Does Santa know that there's no snow?"

On the plane, Alexis had reassured her little sister that Santa Claus would be able to deliver her presents no matter where they were in the world. He was just that magical. Now, Castle said, "Don't worry Zozo, Santa likes beaches and sunshine as much as we do."

Zoey nodded and responded seriously, "I hope he remembers to pack his swimsuit, too."

.

Their hotel was right on the beach and the suite they were staying in would offer the perfect view of the setting and rising sun over the water.

"These doors?" Castle started suggestively as he and Kate wheeled their suitcases into one of the rooms, "—basically soundproof."

Kate smirked at him. "What makes you so sure you'll be getting lucky?"

"C'mon," Castle said, wrapping his arms around her waist and effectively stopping her from unpacking, "Two weeks in a hotel room? It's a cliché for a reason."

"We won't be spending the entire time in here," Kate replied, leaning into his touch.

He kissed her neck. "We could," he murmured against her ear.

A knock sounded on their door. "We're coming in!" Alexis said loudly.

Kate chuckled and pushed him away. "Clearly Alexis is suspicious of your intentions as well."

Zoey and Alexis bounded inside before Castle could come up with a retort. "We're done unpacking," Alexis declared. She and Zoey's room was directly across from Kate and Castle's, separated by a large living space and a kitchenette.

"That was fast," Kate replied.

Alexis shrugged. "Well, I just took out some toiletries and stuff."

"See," Castle said with a poke to Kate's side, "She doesn't believe in unpacking on vacation either."

"Mommy, I want to go swimming," Zoey chirruped from her position on the carpet. She had been digging through Castle's suitcase and was now holding up a pair of goggles.

Kate threw up her hands in a symbol of giving up, though she was smiling as she did it. "Alright, the three of you win," she said and then glanced at the clock, "But how about we go and eat something first?"

With the time in Hawaii being six hours behind what they were used to, they were supposed to be having dinner by now. Instead, it was only lunchtime. Kate could already anticipate the jetlag.

"Yay!" Zoey said, jumping up from the floor. "Can I wear my swimsuit?"

Castle ruffled Zoey's hair and chuckled at her enthusiasm. "How about your wear your swimsuit underneath some regular clothes?"

Zoey nodded agreeably and ran, cheering loudly, back across to her room.

"I'll help her," Alexis said, sliding off the bed. "And I might just do the same."

Kate tossed Castle a beachbag after Alexis left. "Can you grab some towels while I search for the sunscreen?"

"Are you changing?" he asked, disappearing inside the bathroom.

"Well, I'm changing out of these clothes," Kate replied, wrinkling her nose, "They smell like plane."

"What? No bikini?" Castle asked cheekily when he came out and saw that Kate was pulling on a sundress. "Are you telling me that I have to wait another day to see that little red number you packed?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "You see me naked every day, Castle."

"That's different," Castle replied, stepping behind Kate and nudging her hand away in order to do up the zipper for her.

"Oh really? How?" Kate said, dryly.

Brushing her hair off to the left, he bit her right shoulder gently. "This way I get to use my imagination—" he sucked on the tender spot "—and you know how imaginative I like to be in those situations."

Kate shivered under his touch, using her own hands to guide his on her body. "Castle," she said, breathily, "We can't do this now."

"Mhm," he replied even as he started applying pressure between her legs.

With all the strength she could muster, she took a hold of his roaming hands and turned around in his arms. "I'm serious," she said, pulling him in for a deep kiss before slipping away from his hold.

"Aw, come on!" Castle whined petulantly. "You're such a tease!"

.

Three days into their vacation, the four of them got a surprise in the form of Martha Rodgers.

"Oh. No." Castle stopped halfway through the lobby of the hotel. "Tell me this isn't happening."

They heard Martha before they saw her. She was standing at the reception desk, strongly emoting reasons why she should be given the room where Richard Castle was staying. "I'm his mother!" she said, outfit billowing as she raised her arms theatrically. "Without me, you wouldn't have any reading material!"

Alexis and Zoey chose that moment to interrupt. "Grams!" Alexis shouted, running across the lobby, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! There are my girls," Martha exclaimed, opening her arms up to take them both in for a hug.

"Mr. Castle," the receptionist said hurriedly, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea tha—"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted, continuing humourously, "It wouldn't have been a disservice if you had made her leave."

"Richard!" Martha exclaimed just as Kate hit his arm.

"I'm joking!" he said, holding up his hands in innocence. "But seriously, mother, what are you doing here?"

"A vacation, of course!"

"And it just happens to be a coincidence that you chose the exact same location that we did?"

"Well, when I realised that I wasn't going to get to spend Christmas with my girls for two years in a row, I told Roman that we just had to join you."

"That's great, Grams!" Alexis said, genuinely excited about the prospect.

"Are you staying in this hotel, too, Martha?" Kate asked.

"Oh no, Roman rented a nice little place for us just down the way."

"Where is he, anyway?" Castle asked.

"Oh, he's flying in in the morning," Martha answered.

"So, you'll be spending the whole day with us?" Alexis asked.

"That's the plan," Martha said, linking her right arm with Alexis' and holding onto Zoey's hand with her left.

Castle and Kate trailed behind them as they made their way out into the sunshine. Castle leaned over to whisper in Kate's ear. "You think we could sneak away for a couple of hours while my mother looks after them?"

.

The next few days went much like the ones prior: get up whenever they felt like it, eat breakfast, go to the beach, eat lunch, go back to the beach, eat dinner, sleep. For Kate, who worked practically every day back in New York, this lifestyle was basically heaven.

"I'm surprised I'm not feeling restless," Kate said one day. She was sitting in a beach chair, under a giant umbrella, reading a novel while Castle made notes beside her. Zoey was with Martha and Roman, exploring some tree farm or butterfly farm, and Alexis had gotten distracted by a boy at dinner the evening before and had made plans to meet up. (Castle had already made Kate grill him in order to make sure he wasn't an axe murderer but he had still insisted Alexis stay near the hotel and not wander off the beach to which Alexis simply rolled her eyes).

"What do you mean?" Castle replied, "Must you be running after criminals all day in order to not be bored? Because I thought I was a pretty good one-man party."

"Oh, you're plenty entertaining, Castle," Kate replied wryly.

"So, what is it?" Castle continued, "Katherine Beckett doesn't know how to take a real vacation?"

Kate turned to him, legs swinging off the chair to dig her feet into the sand. Her eyes had suddenly turned serious.

Castle became mildly alarmed. "What? What is it?"

"Nothing," Kate said, "That's the thing. Even though I might've been physically relaxed, I've never gone on a vacation before without my mind being preoccupied about one thing or another—"

"—worrying," Castle filled in.

Kate nodded. "But this time…" her lips started pulling up into a small smile.

Castle finally sat up fully in order to mimic Kate; he trapped her legs around his. "I guess I just have that calming effect on you," he said, half joking.

She twisted their hands together and looked down at them. "Ironic, right?"

Castle knew Kate was trying to play off all of the emotions that were flooding through her at that moment. Most of the time, he let her get away with it but for some reason, he felt that this time was different. He could feel something changing. "I love you, Kate," he said softly.

She lifted her eyes to meet his, silent and searching. Finally, "Let's get married," she said.

Castle chuckled a little squeezing her hands before settling back into the chair, "I thought that was already the plan."

"No," Kate said, still in her upright position, "I mean now. Let's get married now."

He sat back up abruptly. "Now?"

She nodded. "Yes. Right here, right now."

"Like, at this very second?" Castle was too shocked and surprised to think about the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Well, no," Kate said, amused at the look on his face, "But maybe tomorrow or the day after." She smiled at him. "Everything seems so perfect here, doesn't it?" She picked up her phone and started fiddling with it. "I want to get married here but I also want to fly my dad out before that happens." Her brows furrowed just a little. "Is that okay? I mean, is all of this okay? Do you want—"

"Yes!" Castle interrupted her before she could finish her thoughts, "Let's do this. Here. Now." A wide, irrepressible smile had broken out across his face. "It's perfect. You're perfect. We're perfect. Everything's beautiful."

Kate laughed, a real from-the-heart laugh. "Now, you and Martha won't have time to go overboard."

"Oh," Castle jumped up from his chair, "Don't bet on that." With his brain getting carried away with ideas and his mouth verbalizing every single one of them, Castle looked like he was about to run back up to their hotel room and start planning and making preparations immediately. Only after a second did he notice Kate still sitting down on the beach chair, shaking her head at his behaviour. He pulled her up mid-ramble. One look from her and his breathing slowed. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and holding her tightly. "We're getting married," he said, his voice a caress against her ear.

She closed her eyes. "We're getting married."

A/N: Hey everyone, I know not all of you have seen the message on my twitter but the reason I've been away was due to the fact that somebody really close to me was/is hospitalised. I've been doing a lot of writing and thinking but just not fanfiction writing, you know? Anyway, thank you to all the people who sent me messages, wondering and worrying about me – I was really touched even though I didn't have the time or mental energy to respond. It makes me feel like the world is a wonderful place to have strangers – in essence – care so much.

So, hopefully this marks my return. There are still some chapters to go with this story so don't worry! (As for Eyes Open, I seem to have left Kate in quite a state but I don't know if I can go back to writing about illness and hospitals just yet… I will be updating but I felt like reading/writing something happy first) and this story is about as happy as can be right now! :)

Please tell me what you think about this chapter and the upcoming nuptials! ;)

Thanks for your patience. Je vous adore. 3