Happy New Year everyone ! May 2013 be wonderful for each and everyone one of you!
When Kate woke up in the morning, she felt for Rick in the bed but couldn't find him, which forced her to open her eyes. It was strange. She was usually the first to wake up. She could hear him talk in the kitchen so she decided to join him. Her eyes widened when they fell on the alarm clock. No wonder she was alone in bed, it was 3pm!
When she appeared in the kitchen, she saw that Alexis was talking with her father, a huge smile on her face and bright red cheeks. Apparently she had decided to tell her father about her night. Kate loved how close the two of them were. She never really have that with her father. They were close, of course, and she loved her father but she had been much closer to her mother. And they had both felt it strongly when she was taken from them. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Castle.
"Here is Sleeping Beauty. Aren't you the one to tell me it's creepy to stare?" he asked, kissing her when she joined them at the counter.
"It's only creepy when you do it all day, every day." she answered.
"Ok. I have a very important question to ask you and …"
"Dad! let her wake up first." Alexis laughed, seeing that the detective was still half asleep on her stool. "Give her some coffee."
"You've become so bossy since you left for college!" Rick said, handing a warm cup of coffee to Kate, who drank half of it in one go.
"It's not being bossy Dad, it's called having manners."
"She's right Rick. You should always ask guests if they want something to drink before bombarding them with questions... What? Did I say something wrong?" Kate asked, having noticed the strange looks between Rick and Alexis.
"Well, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. We talked about it and… we wondered if …"
"Just ask Rick."Kate laughed.
"Ok. Then, will you move in with me … us?"
She seemed shocked for a few seconds before a huge smile took half of her face. She turned to Alexis.
"Are you ok with that?"
"Of course I am." the girl said, smiling.
"Then yes Rick, I would love to move in with you." Kate said, laughing as Rick hugged her really tight, taking her of the stool she was sitting in and kissing her passionately.
They broke apart only when they heard Alexis clear her throat purposefully and say "Hey! I'm still here you know?"
"Sorry." both adults said, blushing slightly.
"Now, who wants to spend the first day of the year having a movie marathon and eating snacks?" Alexis asked, already walking towards the TV.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
After a few films, Kate asked Rick and Alexis if they wanted to take a walk. Alexis accepted and went to get her coat and shoes while Rick decided to stay in and make dinner for the three of them.
When the girls came back about an hour after they had left, Rick was still in the kitchen, cooking what he had decided would be a New Year and Moving In celebration dinner. When he heard the front door open and his two girls laughing, he couldn't help but smile. When he had told Alexis he was dating Kate, she had not been really happy at first, saying that she could only hurt him. He had been really disappointed in her reaction but apparently a talk with Kate around coffee had calmed her apprehensions. From then on, things had been getting better between the two of them. But ever since Christmas, thing had been … perfect. Alexis seemed to have completely and fully accepted Kate being in his life and he couldn't be happier. He felt he finally had the right to be completely happy. He was brought out of his thoughts when Kate came and hugged him, startling him when she buried her freezing face in his neck.
"What are you making? It smells wonderful."
"It's lasagna. The best celebratory easy-to-make meal. You're freezing, what did you do?"
"Oh, we had a snowball fight in the playground around the corner, and she lost." Alexis answered, a huge smile on her face.
"I did not lose. I let you win. If I had really wanted to win, you'd be a snowman missy." Kate replied, her hands moving under Rick's T-shirt.
"Hey! You have to stop doing that! your hands are cold and your nose is cold." Rick whined, jumping apart from Kate.
"Do we have time to watch another movie before dinner?" Alexis asked, looking at her father.
"Well, we can always start and finish it later. What do you girls want to watch?" Rick asked as he set the timer on the oven and letting himself be dragged to the living room by Kate.
The girls looked at each other and smiled knowingly, both saying "Love Actually!"
"Again? But we already watched it on Christmas Day!" Rick whined, letting himself drop on the couch.
"Hey! You've forced us to watch repeats of Toy Story for a week now, you can watch Love Actually twice." Kate scolded, cuddling against him, draping a blanket around them while Alexis put the DVD in the player.
Once she was settled in her armchair surrounded by her own blanket, she hit play and the film began. After a while, she looked at her dad and Kate. They were in each other's arms, smiling while watching the film. She could see her father's hand move up and down Kate's arm under the blanket and he would smile every time Kate shivered from his touch. It might be cliché but Alexis could swear that she had never seen her father so happy. Of course, he had had girlfriends since Gina but it was never the way it is with Kate. He had changed. He had grown up. And Kate had changed too. She seemed more … free than before. It's as if, finally giving in her feelings for Alexis's father had just lifted some part of the burden she's carrying around. She hadn't been Kate's biggest fan since she disappeared on her father after she was shot, even more when she learned that she had heard about what he said but it was all better now. She really liked Kate. She was more fun than she had expected, but she could also have serious conversation, and she could talk to her about topics she didn't feel comfortable discussing with her father.
Alexis was brought out of her thoughts when the timer of the oven went off, signaling that it was time to eat.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
After a dinner of delicious lasagna and the end of Love Actually, everyone went to bed. When Rick got out of the bathroom, he found Kate sitting cross-legged on his –their- bed, seemingly lost in her thoughts. He didn't think much of it at first but when he sat by her he noticed small tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked quietly so as not to startle her.
She looked at him and smiled the most genuine smile he had ever seen coming from her.
"I just realized I didn't go to the cemetery today."
"Oh. I'm sorry, I should have known and …"
"No Rick. You don't understand. I … I'm not sad because I didn't go. I'm not sad at all for that matter. Quite the contrary. I just realized that for the first time in almost fourteen years I didn't feel the need to cry over what I don't have any more, I was too busy thinking about what I do have." she explained, taking his hand in hers.
"And it's a good thing?" he asked, drying her tears.
"It's a very good thing. I'm sure, for the first time in years, she would be proud of me for choosing to dwell on life rather than death. And she would have loved you and Alexis, she would have …" Kate started, trying to calm herself down. "But I'll still go visit her tomorrow, so as not to make her too angry. She was pretty scary when she got angry." Kate laughed, burying herself in Rick's arms. "Will you come with me?" she asked.
"Of course I'll come with you if you want me to. I have to drive Alexis to the airport at 5pm but we can go early in the afternoon if you want."
"Sure. That would be great. Thank you, so much. For everything. I've never felt so alive, so happy in my life, even while my mother was alive."
Rick didn't know how to respond to that, so he simply stayed silent and hugged her, caressing her hair. After a while, he felt her breathing even out. Having her fall asleep on him was not what he had planned to celebrate her moving in with him, but it was better than what he had planned. Having her open up to him like that was more than he had ever dreamed of. He laid her softly on the bed and went to his side of the bed. Once they were settled, he turned off the light and rolled to his side, draping an arm around Kate's waist.
The two of them were startled awake at three in the morning when someone jumped on the bed.
"Ooooohhh Kiiiiiteeeen …" a slurring voice whispered into Kate's ear.
So, what did you thinkof this chapter?