I woke up at my usual time in the morning. Part of me just wanted to curl back into Rick's arms but then I heard Alexis walk downstairs. I eased out of bed, went into the bathroom then watched Rick for a moment. I still couldn't believe that we were together now and that things seemed to be really working out. I smiled at him sprawled across the bed before I walked downstairs.
"Good morning, Alexis."
"Good morning," she responded with a smile.
"Can I help with anything?"
"No, I'm good."
"So do you cook breakfast often?" I asked.
"Usually only when I want something, or so Dad claims," she said as she started cooking the waffles.
"Yes, I seem to recall something about a Vespa," I smiled at her. "Are you looking for anything now?"
"Honest?" I nodded to her. "I don't want him to screw this up. He really likes you and I think you feel the same."
"I do," I admitted.
"You are a good match for each other. You are usually very serious and Dad barely knows what that means. You bring balance to each others lives."
"That's true, he makes me laugh," I said truthfully. "Now can I ask you something else?"
"Of course, Kate," she agreed as she finished up the sausage links.
"You seem to not mind me dating your father but from what he said, you didn't seem so thrilled to find him yesterday in the kitchen."
"Well, it was obvious that I walked into something. I just think that certain things need to stay behind closed doors. Sometimes this family shares a bit more than necessary."
"That sounds like a story," I said as I poured some orange juice then buttered some toast.
"Does a teenager ever really need to see her grandmother doing the 'walk of shame'?"
"Oh, good point!"
"Yeah," she shook her head as if trying to get that memory out of her mind. "And since I obviously interrupted something yesterday, I wasn't too pleased. It probably wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if I knew it was you."
"Actually, you didn't interrupt anything yesterday," I explained. "Other than a pizza. Your dad spilled his on his shirt and pants so he went to put them in the laundry. You came home as he was headed for the stairs."
"Really?" she asked. I nodded. "Then why did he act so guilty?"
"Doesn't he always?" I grinned.
"That's true. Here take this up to him and tell him I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." Alexis handed me a tray full of enough food to feed a bear. "Oh by the way, Gram and I are going to be out most of the day today, I just thought I would mention."
I smiled at her and took the tray up, set it on the nightstand, and then climbed back into bed. I kissed Rick and woke him up.
"Hey, beautiful. Feel free to wake me up like that anytime."
"Alexis made us waffles."
"I wonder if she is trying to get something again this time."
"Yes," I smiled. "She said she doesn't want you to screw this up."
"Now that is something that I will be happy to give her," he said as he reached up to kiss me.
We spent the rest of Sunday morning in bed after we were finished with the waffles. We talked about a lot of different things. Rick refused to tell me what he was going to tell Lanie but I could tell that he already had that planned. We hadn't decided yet on how to tell the guys though. Rick said that they would probably just hear Lanie yelling about it from down in the morgue.
"So what are your plans for Halloween, Kate?"
"Not much. I was going to be coming to your party if I can find a costume. And no, you cannot pick one for me."
"Can't blame a guy for trying," he said. "I have a book signing at a little hole in the wall bookstore, would you be interested in coming with me?"
"The hole in the wall wouldn't be something like a Borders or Barnes and Nobles would it?" I asked a bit suspiciously.
"No, it really is just a little bookstore, just outside the city. Paula thought it would be fun to do some little bookstores also instead of just the big ones. Oh, I'll need to call her about something else."
"Okay, I'll think about it. What else do you need to call her about?"
"She can help write up something about us. I know you don't want it to be a big deal right now and that's fine. I was just thinking that in case it hits the papers or something we can have a statement ready to run."
"That sounds like a good idea. You are very sweet to be thinking of me like this."
"Kate, you are very important to me and I don't want to do anything to scare you away."
"As I told Alexis, I don't scare too easily." I curled up next to him and lightly ran my hand across his chest. "This is really nice."
"I finally have the woman of my dreams in my bed, my arms, and my life and you call it just 'nice'?"
I lightly tickled him in the ribs before he grabbed my hand to stop me. "Not just that, even though that is pretty wonderful. Just that we can seem to do other things that just spend time in bed."
"Um, sweetheart. We are in bed." Once again he had to stop my hand from tickling him.
"I know that, Rick, I was talking about yesterday. Once we got out of bed, I thought it would be awkward and it wasn't. We did all the things that we needed to do, we just did them together but we still had some time to do our own things too. I like that."
"It was nice. I've always felt that I had to keep up the act with my dates."
"The act?"
"We've known each other for two years now and I like to think that you know the real me not just the writer. Most people just see the writer and that's all they expect or want to see."
"You've definitely seen me at my worst and you seem to like me anyway," I said with humor.
"That's an understatement," he said.
"Hey." I looked back at him with narrowed eyes.
"I meant about the how much I like you part," he said before he kissed me lightly on my lips.
I looked into his eyes and wondered if he was going to be making any declarations. He didn't say anything else even though I could tell he wanted to, so I laid my head back on his shoulder. Those three little words were always difficult for me to say to anyone and to hear. I really appreciated that Rick was giving me the space to say them first and to not push me. Usually the thought of those words were enough to scare me, even though I have told him several times that I don't scare too easy. This time, those words didn't scare me. Neither did the thought of what else might come after them, commitment. I had always thought that if I did ever sleep with Rick Castle, then it would be a brief fling since I didn't believe that he was capable of anything more. The past few days showed me that wasn't even close to the truth. I smiled to myself and let my hand wander further down his chest.
"Kate? Do you realize what you are doing?"
"Yes, very much so."
"Okay, I just thought that I would check," he said before he kissed me with the passion that only Rick could have.
We made love and it was different than the other times. That was one thing about Rick; he was always doing something different. The first time was wildly passionate and the next time it was steamy and erotic. This time it was sweet and gentle to begin with. I didn't fight him for control and he seemed to realize that and treat it as something special. He eased on top of me and holding himself up with his hands he paused and looked deep in my eyes.
"Are you okay, Kate?" he asked gently.
"Yes, I'm fine." We watched each other this time as we made love and I could tell that part of him was wondering what was different this time. After we climaxed together he lifted himself up slightly and looked in my eyes again. I could tell he wanted to say something but was unsure about it.
"Rick, you know I don't say things I don't mean, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded but looked a little confused.
"I love you, Rick," I said softly. He smiled gently.
"And I love you, Kate."