Disclaimers: Uh, no.

Summary: The Castle's celebrate Ariel's first birthday.

A/N #1: One of Rick's actions during Ariel's first birthday will have far reaching consequences in the months ahead.

A/N #2: This will be the last actual chapter. There will be an epilogue which will set everything up for my next story, which is going to be extremely dark.

Chapter 19: A Perfect First Year

May

Kate smiled at the sound of Ari's squeals coming from the swimming pool. She looked outside just in time to see Rick tossing their daughter up in the air and catching her. The first time he'd done that, she'd been scared that he was going to drop her or let her fall. But she'd been stupid to think that would ever happen. She just had to get used to the fact that her husband played a little rougher with Ari than she did.

Kate opened the door leading out to the pool and shook her head at the number of inflatable pool toys that bobbed up and down in the water. Ari had huge water wings on her chubby arms and was kicking in the water as Rick stayed close to her side. She slipped off her cover-up before stepping into the warm water. She loved Castle's heated pool. "Hey, chunky monkey," Kate swam over to Ari and Rick.

"Mama," Ari stuck her fingers into Kate's mouth as Kate gently nibbled on them as Ari giggled.

"You're so silly. You're also turning into a prune," Kate examined her fingers.

"What time is Alexis supposed to be here?"

"In about an hour. She's bringing the cake."

"Is she bringing the boy?" Castle asked, referring to Brian.

"He's coming to the party. I invited him. But no, he's not coming with her."

"Good, because I had no intention of sleeping with one eye opened tonight."

"Castle, Alexis is 21 years old. She's way over the age of consent."

"Kate, you're also way over the age of consent, but do you really think that your father wants to know that you're having sex?"

"Uh Castle, the evidence that I'm having sex is right here," she pointed toward Ari, who was slapping at the water with her hands.

"Well, trust me. We fathers don't want to think of our little girls in that light."

"I'm going to go dry her off and put her down for a nap. I'll be back in a few minutes," she kissed Castle.

Martha was in her room reading when Kate brought the baby inside. She came into the nursery as Kate was drying Ari off and putting her in dry clothes. "Alexis called and she should be here in about 45 minutes," Martha told Kate.

"Great. I'm going to put her down for a nap, and then go back out to the pool with Rick. Can you listen for her? She should go right to sleep, but she might wake up if she hears Alexis."

"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine."

Castle was floating on a raft in the middle of the pool when he felt something swim under him. He opened one eye as Kate emerged on the other side of the raft, her hair wet and hanging down her back. "Get in the water with me, Castle," she tugged on the raft. "I want to play."

He tipped the raft, reaching for her as he slipped into the water. "You feel so damn good," he wrapped his arms around her.

"Castle, I'm worried."

"About what?"

"I've gotten pregnant twice now without having to hardly think about it. Why is it taking so long this time?"

"Kate, we only started trying again a month ago. Give it some time. Sweetie, you've got Ariel. You can baby her as much as you want until it happens again. It's going to happen."

"I know, I just want to give you a son," she wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him tightly.

"Is that what this is all about? Kate, all that matters to me is having a healthy child. Believe me; my masculinity will not suffer if I continue living in a house full of women. In fact, it kind of makes me feel like a sultan."

"A sultan?" She pulled away to look at him. "Seriously?"

"Well, I could've said 'stud,' but that sounds kind of—" he made a face as Kate laughed.

"I love you, my beautiful Man-Child," she kissed him, a kiss full of longing.

"Really?" They heard a voice from the patio. "You two seriously need to get a room."

"Hi, pumpkin," Castle smiled at his daughter.

"Kate, you've got to see that cake! It is so unbelievable cute!" Alexis boasted as Kate swam over to the steps and climbed out of the pool, retrieving her cover-up from one of the lounge chairs.

Kate followed Alexis back into the house going into the kitchen where Martha was admiring the large sheet cake on the counter. It was white with pink trim and was covered in Winnie the Pooh characters. The middle read 'Happy Birthday, Ariel' in pink letters. Kate went and got her phone before coming back and snapping several pictures of the cake. "This is great!"

"Margo also gave you a smaller cake," Alexis pulled out a small round cake decorated like the larger cake. "She said this is the one that you want Ariel to feed herself."

"Alexis, no! Have you seen what she's going to wear tomorrow? I don't want her covered in cake!"

"Uh, it's a tradition," she turned to find Castle looking at her. "For Alexis' first birthday, she had a Smurf cake. It had blue icing. When she was done, Alexis could've auditioned for Blue Man Group. You simply strip her down to her diaper, take her out on the back patio and let her have a good time."

"Castle—"

"Kate, she only turns a year old once. Trust me; you need these moments to tell her future fiancé in years to come."

"Richard's right, dear. After all, she does wash off. You either hose her down or put her in the bath."

Kate was almost asleep when Rick came to bed that night. She and Alexis were getting up early in the morning to start decorating the house for the party. She stretched her hand across Castle's stomach as he got under the covers. He had something to tell her and he knew that she was going to have a fit.

The one promise that he made to her on their wedding night was to keep the publicity to a minimum. But with the new Nikki Heat movie coming out later that year, Gina had thought that it would be a good idea to have him show off the new family man side of himself. Castle had argued against it because he knew how much Kate hated it. And she was adamant about keeping Ariel out of the media spotlight. "Uh, Kate? People magazine and Page 6 are both going to be here tomorrow."

At first Kate thought that she'd heard him wrong. "And you're just telling me this now?" She shot straight up in bed.

"With the new movie coming out, Gina thought—"

"Damnit, Rick! You know how I feel about publicity on our children! Especially Page 6! They're worse than the fucking Enquirer sometimes! Castle, I'm a homicide detective! I've put a lot of people behind bars! I don't want some psycho fixating on our kids! Or on us!"

"Are you talking about all psychos or one psycho in particular?"

"I especially don't want him seeing any pictures of me or our daughters!"

"Look, People has agreed to a two-page spread. That's it. I trust the magazine, Kate. They've never been anything less than respectful to me and my family. Page 6? Well, what can I say? They've always loved me."

"Yeah, when you showed up at parties with a bimbo on each arm. I get final say on the pictures, Rick. You make sure that they understand that."

"I'm sorry."

Now she couldn't go back to sleep. She hated when Rick threw things at her last minute. Yes, she was going to be angry, either way, but at least if she'd had some warning, she'd have had time to get over it. Now she was going to have to plaster a fake smile on her face for the stupid press. "Is Gina going to be here?" She glanced at him.

"She's my agent, Kate, so yeah, she's going to be here."

'Great,' she thought. Now not only was she going to have to deal with the press, but with Gina, as well. Gina with her fake smile and her fake laugh, and her fake nicety. It was one thing getting along with Meredith. She had to get along with her for Alexis' sake. After all, she was the girl's mother. And it wasn't hard to be nice to Meredith. But Gina, on the other hand . . . Kate still didn't understand how in the hell Rick could've been married to her. But looking at him in the dark, she knew that having her in their home was the last thing he wanted, too. He also hated playing nice for the paparazzi. Especially where Alexis and Ari were concerned. She curled up against Castle. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to snap."

"Kate, believe me, I hate exposing you and the girls to the paparazzi, too. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't. I promise that I'll give you plenty of advance warning if it ever happens again."

"I love you," she rested her head against his shoulder.

The next morning Kate, Alexis and Lanie were decorating the inside and outside of the house for the birthday party. Rick had taken Ari into town to get last minute supplies. "Girl, this place is starting to look like a Winnie the Pooh nightmare," Lanie complained.

"It's a theme party, Lanie. It's supposed to look like a nightmare. Speaking of nightmares, I found out last night that both the paparazzi and Gina are going to be here."

"If I was married to Writer-Man, I'd be stringing him up by his thumbs," Lanie warned.

"I thought about it."

Alexis was using a helium tank to fill up balloons while she listened to the two women. She knew from past conversations how Kate felt about Gina. Kate had even explained why she felt that way.

"Why don't you like Gina?" Alexis had asked one afternoon shortly before her dad and Kate had gotten married.

"A lot of reasons."

"Well, what's the main one?"

"Are you sure you want to hear this? I mean, I know how you feel about Gina—"

"Kate, I was a little girl when she was married to my dad. I liked her because she took me shopping and did other girl things with me. But it always felt like it was a competition with my dad on who could pay more attention to me. My dad would get jealous because she'd do things with me, so he'd go out and outdo whatever she did. I felt like I was in a tug of war. So, why don't you like her?"

"Your dad invited me to go to the Hamptons about a year after we met. At that time, I was torn about how I was starting to feel about him. I was in the process of accepting his invitation when Gina showed up and I learned that he was going with her. That was how I learned that they were dating again."

"Wow," Alexis breathed. "That summer was so strange."

"How so?"

"Dad was with her, but it felt forced. I just had the feeling that he really didn't want to be with her. And the fighting—"

Alexis remembered how often her dad and Gina had fought that summer. The fighting had continued after they'd returned to the city. She was surprised that they'd stayed together as long as they had that fall. Her cell phone chimed and she smiled when she saw Brian's smiling face on her caller id. "Hi," she answered as she stepped out of the house.

Kate smiled when she watched Alexis leave the house. "Come on, let's decorate the tables outside."

"So, how are things going with Alexis and her new beau?"

"Really good. Castle's still giving him a hard time, but I think deep down he really likes him. Which is a good thing, because I think this is serious."

"Serious, as in picking out china patterns?"

"I don't know if she's quite there, but maybe."

***CCC***

The party was in full swing out on the wide lawn where Kate and Castle had gotten married two years before. Ari and the Ryan's three-year-old daughter Colleen were chasing balloons all over the grass while everybody snapped pictures. Kate had managed to get rid of the paparazzi after giving both publications an hour to take publicity shots. She made sure that her and Castle had final say over what was published. She'd wanted the shots that weren't used to either be given to them or deleted. She also made sure that there were no pictures of Ari by herself.

"She's having a blast," Castle walked over and wrapped his arms around Kate as they watched Ariel toddling behind Esposito, who was tugging a toy dog on a plastic string behind him. "I think Espo's missed his calling."

"Yeah, just call him The Pied Piper." Kate glanced over at Kevin and Jenny. Her eyes filled with longing at the sight of Jenny holding two-month-old Liam in her arms.

"Be patient," Castle whispered in her ear. "Before you know it, that's going to be us again."

"God, you must think that I sound like one of those desperate women who kidnap a pregnant woman for her baby," she turned into Castle's arms.

"Not quite, but pretty close," he kissed her hair. "I have a great idea. Let's go get the birthday cake."

"Okay," she kissed him softly before going to the house.

She unlatched the gate around the pool and walked into the kitchen. Since Ari's arrival, Castle had had to make changes to his house to accommodate a baby. One of those changes was the locked gate around the pool as well as alarms that would sound if Ari tried to leave the house when she was older and had learned to open doors. Kate went into the kitchen and stuck two candles into the large sheet cake. She looked up when Alexis walked into the house. "Do you need help?"

"Yeah. Can you grab the smaller cake and the fireplace lighter? Oh, and her large plastic bib."

Castle was holding Ariel in his arms when he saw Kate and Alexis coming out of the house with the two cakes. "Look, sweet pea. You want some cake?"

The baby girl with his huge blue eyes and Kate's curly hair smiled at him, grabbing his lip and pulling on it. They brought the cakes over to the table where Castle handed Ari to her mother and took the lighter from Alexis. He lit the two candles as everybody gathered around and began singing to the birthday girl, who clapped her hands and tried to sing with them as Kate laughed. "Blow out the candles," Kate urged her, demonstrating.

"No!" Ari shook her head.

"Come on, it's easy."

"Come on, little chica. Uncle Javi wants some cake!" Espo whined as Lanie slapped him. "What? I'm hungry!"

Ari began to cry and rub at her eyes, so Kate looked at Castle. The two of them carefully blew out the candles on the cake as everybody clapped their hands. Kate then placed the bib on Ari and placed her in her high chair before placing the small round cake in front of her. The baby looked at the cake and then at her mother, wondering for a brief second what she was supposed to do until she took both hands and plunged them into the cake as Kate cringed, and everybody else laughed.

Within minutes there wasn't an inch of her daughter that wasn't covered in white icing and chocolate cake. It was all over her face, in her hair, all over the ground. "Don't feel so bad," Jenny assured her friend. "Colleen's first birthday cake was purple. She looked like a giant grape when she was done."

"So, how's life with Liam?" Kate smiled at the baby asleep in a baby carrier on Jenny's chest.

"Much calmer than it was with Colleen. He's already sleeping most of the night. Colleen didn't do that until she was six months old. I can't believe how different they are. Why? Are you and Rick trying again?"

"We're talking about it," Kate smiled.

"That's great. Do you want to hold Liam?"

"Jenny, he's asleep. I don't want—"

"Don't be silly. This boy sleeps through anything."

Kate sat down as Jenny removed the baby from the carrier and placed him in Kate's arms. She smiled at the warm bundle in her arms, breathing in his baby smell. "Why do babies always smell so good? You'd think that Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren would've been able to market this by now."

"I know, isn't it great?"

Kate sat there for several minutes just holding baby Liam and admiring him when Alexis walked over with Ari on her hip and Brian at her side. "I think someone wants mom," Alexis told her.

"Look at the baby, Ari," Kate held the baby up so that Ari could look at him. "Isn't he cute?"

Ari looked at the baby in confusion before looking at her mother, her brows furrowed. She then began rubbing her eyes before beginning to cry. "Someone's had a long day," Alexis said.

"Yeah, I'd better take her inside and get her cleaned up for bed," Kate handed the baby back to Jenny before getting up and taking Ari from her sister. "Come on, baby girl, let's get you washed up."

After Ari was in bed, Kate came back outside with the baby monitor in her hand and joined all of the others who were sitting by the pool. "So, how do you think that you survived your first year of motherhood?" Capt. Gates asked.

"There were times when I thought that I wasn't. It's been the hardest thing I've ever done and the best thing I've ever done all wrapped up in one," Kate smiled.

"Well detective, I hate to tell you, but it doesn't get any easier."

"Tell me about it," Castle sighed, looking over at his older daughter who was sitting next to Brian, her hand tightly in his.

"Relax dad, it's not like we're running off and getting married tomorrow," Alexis teased her father.

"Please don't mention the 'M' word to me, yet."

Kate laughed as she leaned into Castle's shoulder. "You're never going to let Ari leave the house, are you?"

"I'm going to build a tower like the witch did in 'Rapunzel.'"

"I knew it!"

"Rick, I thought about that when Katie was born. Good luck getting the permit for that," Jim teased his son-in-law.

"Great, everybody's a comedian."

As Kate listened to her friends and family teasing Rick, she thought about what a perfect year it had been. It had started with pushing a tiny being from her body. But there had been so many firsts over that year. Some of them wonderful, others not so much. But the culmination was being able to share this first year milestone with the people who loved them. And with her being able to share it with Rick, Alexis, Martha, and her dad.

"I love you," she whispered into his neck.

"I love you, too," he turned to smile at her.

A/N #3: There's going to be a short epilogue which is going to set the stage for what comes next. Next will be the conclusion of this three-story arc which began with 'Mind Games.'

I can be found on Twitter Caskett1960. 11 days to go, people!