My first time working this angle. I hope I did it justice.

U

Ubiquitous

She was all always there. Always.

First day of school?
She was there, making one of those magnificent breakfasts and quadruple checking her book bag.

First date?
She was there, wearing a hole in the floor just inside the front door.

First breakup?
A tub of Money Business ice cream in one hand and the 'Friends' box set in the other.

She was there for a lot of firsts.

With school supplies, with comfort food, with Band-Aids, with that smile she was never without.

Still was, too.

For training at the academy, her first gun fight, the first time she killed a man, her first collar. First time she fell in love, first time she lost a teammate, the first of many trips to the ER. The first time Castle broke her heart, the time he fixed it back. Some pieces were missing but the ones she had left- they belonged to him. She was there for all of it.

Sure, her mother's physical sense of being was long gone, and her body six feet under, but her voice- her voice followed Kate Beckett around like a shadow, ever present.

Universal.

Kate leaned her head on the cold cement of the gravestone, a small chill rising the flesh of the nape of her neck at the sensation. Beneath her, the grass, moist with dew, was soaking through her jeans from where she sat but she didn't care much about that. But the time she had arrived that morning there were already fresh flowers and she knew her father had been there already.

She reached out to the gardenia's, brushing the pad of her thumb over one of the soft, white pedals.

She herself brought a bouquet of gerbera daisies, her mother's favorite.

She sat, her head resting backwards on her mother's tombstone, fingers threading through the green grass, talking. She told her mother about work, about Ryan and his new girlfriend. "I think they are getting pretty serious," Lanie and Esposito "Lanie won't tell me, but I'm just sure there is something going on," and about work.

And Castle. There is a lot of talk about Castle. Kate can't help the small smile that creeps onto her face as she talk about him, spinning the ring on her finger around with her thumb out of habit.

It's not an engagement ring, no, but it was sure as hell starting to feel like one. She knew when she accepted it- "A promise," he called it- that one day it would be replaced by one.

"I like him, Mom," she says, the admission faint in the foggy morning air. "I love him."

She tasted the words, the first time she's spoken them aloud. It was true and she had known it for a long time- she was pretty sure he did, too, but she hasn't said it yet. After a moment of thought, she said: "One day, maybe I will bring him along."

One-way conversation of his family ensued. Martha's new play was discussed. "The reviews were brilliant, and she scored a run with a major theater company because of it." Alexis's new boyfriend was critiqued. "I ran a background check this time. Don't tell Castle, though, he'd never let me live it down." And then after some consideration: "I think I love her, too." This admission came with much less hesitation, and Kate didn't seem bothered by it at all. It was true enough, and it was no secret. She did.

"I think I love all of them."

Johanna, the ubiquitous voice that she was, only laughed a musical laugh that Kate often missed. "That's what families do, Katie," the voice said. "They love each other."

This one is very close to me, and I hope to do more in the future, so please leave a comment with your thoughts, I would appreciate it deeply. Thanks.

sof