Esposito stepped out of Meredeth's ensuite, skin soaking wet from his shower to see her undressing from the day. She'd just finished her first day at the television offices that were producing her books into the miniseries, and she'd worn one of her lady-suits, the same kind Beckett wore when they had to be in court. This particular one was black with silver accents that made her hair appear ever more caramel-like, and she'd worn high heels too, he could see her taking them out of the bag she always toted with her to her own offices.

She'd been nervous as hell that morning, to the point where she was almost sick to her stomach, but through her own sheer force of nerves, he'd watched her talk herself off the ledge, put her game face on and get ready for the day. He'd reassured her that she would be spectacular, and now, despite being dog-tired himself, he couldn't wait to hear how things had gone for her. He knew how important it was for her that the adaptation was a success, it was something she'd dreamed of since she was a teenager and to see it come to fruition was as terrifying as it was exciting. Seeing her so happy always made him feel better.

Now, he watched her bubble on the phone to her grandmother - in Danish, which had the blood flowing a little quicker in his veins - he wrapped the towel around his waist a little tighter, watched her sit down on the side of the bed and massage her probably-aching feet; why did women always wear those torture devices of high heels when they did nothing but complain about how much they hurt? With careful, panther like movements, he sneaked up behind her grabbing her around the waist in a bear hug, turning his nose to her throat so he could breathe deep the scent of her fancy Fragonard perfume.

'Tell Constance to call back later,' he murmured, 'I'm mostly naked and you smell delicious.'

'In a minute,' she hissed at him, but when he put his lips to her the column of her neck, she felt her eyes begin to roll in her head. 'Momo, I have to run, I'll talk to you soon.'

She hung up the houseline, turned on the bed to see he wasn't kidding about being half-naked. 'Hello, handsome.'

'Hello, gorgeous.'

'You just got here, I'm assuming?' Not wanting to leave his embrace, but also not wanting to ruin her suit, Meredeth unwound his arms from around her waist and stood up to undress. 'How was your day, dear?'

'Interesting. We caught a case around six this morning, guy was missing all his teeth, had all his fingerprints burned off and found in a dumpster with a poker chip under his tongue.'

'That is interesting. Any leads?'

'Yeah, case was closed only an hour past end of shift, but I can tell you about work later. How was your first day?'

'Oh, man, Javi.' Meredeth had unbuttoned her jacket and hung it back in her closet, and was working on flipping open her blouse's buttons. 'I am so excited. The writers who are adapting the script were there, and we're going to have the voice cast picked soon so there will be studio recording sessions by the first of June, and animation will be underway by July. And all of them were looking to me and Kristof, saying this is your project as much as it is ours, we need your input as much as we can have it.'

'I'm glad it went well.'

Now down to her bra, Meredeth unfastened her pants and stepped out of them, then turned to him smiling. 'This was not well, this was fan-friggin-tastic.' She knelt on the side of the bed, took his face in her hands to give him a long deep kiss. 'And since I'm not on the phone now...'

'Oh I see.' Esposito flashed her the grin that told her she was in for a treat of the very naked kind; when she tugged at his towel he pulled her close, nipping at her bra strap with his teeth. 'Just hold on, missy.'

In one swift move, he'd reached behind her back and flipped open the hooks of her bra, threw it aside to fill his hands with her breasts. He watched as her eyes began to glaze over with pleasure and the knowledge of what was in store for her. He felt his body respond when he heard her satisfied little hum, tugging away the towel around his waist and returning the groan when she pushed him over to straddle him.

Half an hour later, sprawled on her bed and staring at the ceiling, Esposito grinned like a fool. Castle and Ryan had given him the gears about skipping out on a night of beer and basketball, saying he was hoping to get lucky since Meredeth would come home wearing one of her silk suits. It appeared they'd been right, but hey, who was the one who'd gotten laid before having dinner that night, he mused. Beside him, equally naked and grinning, Meredeth absently drummed her fingers on her abdomen.

'Definitely worth hanging up on Momo for.'

'I'll say.' With a small groan, he sat up. 'Definitely it's easier to be spontaneous since you went on the hormone needle. Not that I don't take my responsibilities to you seriously, but-'

'But part of romance is clearing the kitchen table with a sweep of arms and going for it without worrying about spawning a generation of Mere-Spositos,' she finished for him, giggling when he pulled her up and kissed her.

'Exactly.'

'When is your next day off?'

'I'm off Friday-Saturday this week, then on for eight days straight, why? You wanna spend two days clearing the kitchen table?'

'Actually,' she said, getting up to tug on a t-shirt, 'I was hoping you'd come with me to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I need to get a new bed and I'd like you to pick it out with me.'

Esposito looked at the one they were on - it was an old-fashioned sleigh bed, the head and foot boards carved out of cherry with the faded varnish giving it character. The mattress was covered in Meredeth's favoured midnight blue linens. 'What's wrong with this?'

'Well, the mattress needs to be replaced and my grandmother wants the frame. It wasn't something I ever intended to keep anyways, she just didn't know where she wanted it in her house in Miami. So she'll be picking it up when she comes up for Easter in a week and a half, leaving me in the market for something new. Anyways, I figured since you spend a lot of nights here, you'd want to be part of picking it out, since it'd be fifty percent your bed too.'

'Or...' he said at length, 'it could be our bed, one hundred percent.'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, what if this was my place too?'

Meredeth felt her stomach do a double-bounce. 'Like, living together?'

'Yeah.' Esposito ran his hand over her back, hoping it didn't shake. He'd been thinking about it a lot, every time he'd gone back to his place. He'd always treasured having his own living space, but now that Meredeth was in his life he felt the need for it lessening more and more. 'I love you Mere, and I feel like we're ready to take the next step.'

She turned back to face him, a smile on her lips, and hands on her hips. 'You can't bring that sofa with you. It's very uncomfortable, but the chair is fine. I like that chair. Fond memories of that chair.'

'Is that a yes?'

'Yes.' Meredeth swallowed, let out a shaky breath as she said it again with rapidly growing excitement. 'Yes!'

With a laugh, Esposito wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hard as he pulled her back onto the bed, making her shriek in delight. 'My apartment lease isn't up until the end of the month, though.'

'Well, that'll give us time to get things arranged, you know. Utilities, furniture, packing, change of address forms.' Meredeth put her hand on his cheek. 'This is going to be huge.'

'I know. So what should we do first?'

Meredeth shoved him onto his back. 'Christen our bedroom, good and proper.'

By the time Saturday rolled around, Ryan was very thankful that he and his partner both had the day off the roll; even better they were going to be total teenagers and spend the day on a Halo junket courtesy of Rick Castle's connections to get them the latest not-even-released edition while Meredeth took Honey-Milk baby-clothes shopping.

He knocked on Esposito's door, opened when he heard his friend holler from inside, and stopped short. The living room was a mess of boxes, some full, some half-empty, while the kitchen looked like a bomb went off though that wasn't so unusual considering how useless Esposito was as a cook. Ryan shut the door, looking aorund in confusion and saw his partner-in-crime standing by the living room book-shelf with a screw driver in his hand.

'Hey Ry,' was the jaunty greeting as he unbolted an empty shelf. 'You got the game?'

'Hi,' Ryan replied warily. 'What's all this? You going somewhere?'

'Kind of. Thirsty?'

Esposito tossed the screwdriver into a toolbox, wandered to the fridge knowing all the while Ryan's eyes were following him like a lion stalking its prey. He opened a bottle of Sam Adams, passed it to Ryan before taking one for himself. 'We'll get to the game thing, but do you mind giving me a hand getting that shelf dismantled? I already sold it on Craigslist and the guy is picking it up from the super on Monday morning.'

'Sure, as soon as you tell me why we're doing all this.' Before Esposito could respond, Ryan eyed him up. 'You and Meredeth are moving in together?'

'Yeah.'

'Dude! That's amazing!' Setting aside his beer, Ryan slapped his palm against his partner's and pulled him in for a quick embrace before he picked up a screwdriver to help unfasten the bolts of the shelving. 'When did this get decided?'

'Three days ago. Meredeth told me she was getting a new bed-'

'Why, you guys break the frame on the one she has right now?'

'Cute. And, no, smart-ass, Constance is taking the bed frame back with her to Miami when she comes up for Easter. Meredeth has to get a new one and we started talking and decided we're going to take it to the next level.'

'That's amazing.' Ryan dropped the loosened screw into a Ziploc bag containing the other hardware. 'So, what's going, what's staying?'

'The sofa, this shelving and all kitchen stuff except my coffee mugs and my coffee maker are going on the market. My TV, my bed and my chair are going to Meredeth's, and of course my posters and my other personal stuff, clothes, whatever go with me too.'

'She's letting you keep that chair?'

'I like that chair. Fond memories of that chair,' Esposito responded, echoing Meredeth's words.

'Oh come on, bro! Calling you when you two were going at it was more than enough for five years of therapy.' Ryan's hand froze, his eyes popping wide. 'Don't tell me that's where you were when that happened!'

Esposito just shook his head, sipped his beer. That little incident, it seemed, was paying off more than he could possibly have imagined; it had become Ryan's go-to point of horrifying circumstances. It also served to be a point of torture, as the mere mention of Esposito having any kind of romantic time with Meredeth had Ryan turning pink at the gills with embarrassment. 'You really think I'm going to put you out of your misery on that one?'

'You know when you want to, you can be really mean.'

'If you really thought that, you wouldn't be helping me pack to move in with my girlfriend. And speaking of...' he said as his phone peep-peeped 'Good Vibrations'; he flipped open his phone to take the call. 'Hey, how's baby shopping?'

Ryan laughed, moved onto the next screw as he watched his partner talk to Meredeth and thought about the money he'd collect from Castle on their little 'when will Mere and Javi shack up' wager Monday morning; he wondered if Castle would go double-or-nothing that Esposito would be engaged before he and Meredeth hit their one-year anniversary.

R&R&Enjoy!