So, I started writing this second chapter in my document manager... and then Safari decided to crack a sad and I lost it all. But still, here I am, in the document manager, rewriting it. I actually never learn anything. (Now that I've finished writing, maybe that was a blessing in disguise. I like this one a whole lot better.)

I promised myself when I started that this would be a one-shot. But, thinking about it, I did a chapter for Nathan's birthday, so I kind of have to do one for Stana's birthday. So, I present to you, Beckett's birthday!

(I'm sorry it's a little bit late. I've had some things going on. Life doesn't stop for you to write a chapter, unfortunately.)

-Ashley

"You're doing it again," Beckett informed him, stretching her arms out as she woke up.

"Doing what?" Castle asked, knowing exactly what it was that he was doing, and wondering how on Earth she'd known it, because her eyes were still closed and she was facing the opposite direction.

"Watching me sleep," she smiled, liking it. However, she didn't want him to know this, so she added, "it's creepy."

"You're cute when you sleep," he pouted as she got out of bed and walked over to him. "Good morning," he added, kissing her lightly.

"Morning, Rick," she smiled, sniffing. "Did you make breakfast?"

"Pancakes," he shrugged. "And before you ask, it's completely innocent. Look at them before you judge, please?"

"Fine," she sighed, walking out to the kitchen. When she got to where he'd laid breakfast out for her, she grinned. There were three bread and butter plates, each with one pancake on them. From left to right, they read 'Happy', 'Birthday' and 'Kate!'. Her usual morning coffee was steaming in a cup above the plates, and there was a small present wrapped up next to it.

"Happy birthday, Kate," he said, hugging her from behind. "Eat up."

She smiled giddily at him and sat down, picking up her fork. Then she hesitated.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's stupid," she said, shaking her head.

"You're talking to me, here," he pointed out.

"I don't want to ruin them," she blushed. "There, are you happy?"

"They're just pancakes," he said, slightly amused.

As she took her first bite, Castle's phone rang. "Castle," he answered, grinning at Beckett. "Oh, hello mother. What's up?"

Beckett stayed as quiet as she could. The two of them still hadn't told anybody about their relationship, but she was certain that most of their friends had figured it out. Esposito, for one, hadn't missed the cheeky glances between the two of them, and although he hadn't said anything, Beckett was sure she'd seen the cogs turning in his mind. Thankfully, though, he hadn't mentioned anything to Lanie, which she was only sure about because Lanie hadn't killed her yet. And she was positive that Martha and Alexis had figured it out when Castle had been spending less time at his apartment and more time at hers. Ryan, however, she was sure was still oblivious.

"Okay, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes," Castle finally said, and hung up the phone. "Hey, I've gotta go," he said apologetically. "I'll see you at the precinct later on."

"What makes you think I'm going in today?" she asked.

"In the two and a half years that I've known you, you've never missed work for your birthday," he said. "Or, anything, for that matter. Enjoy your pancakes," he added. As he leaned down to give her a peck on the lips, he picked up the small present he'd gotten her, which had remained untouched, and slipped it into his pocket. He'd give it back to her later, but he really wanted to be able to see her face when she opened it.

When Beckett arrived at the crime scene half an hour later, she was surprised to find that Castle was already there. She didn't say anything, however, and focused on the fact that the three boys had stopped speaking as soon as Esposito had spotted her across the room.

"Were you three talking about me?" she asked them when she was close enough.

"No," Castle answered, but all three of them knew that she knew they were.

"Your victim is male, caucasian and mid-30's," Lanie interrupted before she could ask them any more questions. "COD is a gunshot wound to the side of the head, but blood splatter indicates he was already on the floor and unable to fight."

"So the killer incapacitated the victim before shooting him?" Castle asked. "Why?"

"So that he wouldn't scream for help," Esposito answered. "We asked around and nobody heard a gunshot last night."

"So, how did anybody know he was dead?" Beckett inquired.

"His daughter came home this morning after spending the night at her boyfriend's house," Ryan said. Castle and Beckett glanced at each other briefly and then turned back to the victim.

"Is there any evidence as to how he was incapacitated?" Castle asked, turning back to Lanie.

"Para-mortem bruising on the chest and the back of the head indicate that he was forced backwards with something heavy hitting his chest, and then he stumbled backwards and hit his head on the edge of the China cabinet. There's blood there, in case you were wondering," she added before Castle could ask. "He would have died within a few minutes anyway, but I guess the killer wanted to do it himself."

"That means we're looking for someone who knew him, probably hated him," Beckett summarised, standing up. "Ryan and Esposito, can you take a statement from his daughter. Castle, we're going to track down the mother of the daughter."

"Sure thing, boss," Esposito said as her and Castle headed off.

"Do you think she knows we've been here for an hour and we've already done that?" Ryan asked him.

"No idea," he shrugged. "Come on. We've got a birthday party to throw."

"The break room?" Alexis asked as she arrived, putting the present she'd gotten for her dad's girlfriend on the table along with everybody else's. "Are you sure she won't suspect anything."

"Nah," Ryan shrugged. "Her and Castle have been chasing down leads all morning. They've barely been here."

"Martha, you look stunning today," Esposito said, shaking her hand.

"It's all in the accessories, Detective," she grinned.

"Okay everybody, they're going to be back in a minute, so I'm going to shut the door and you all need to be quiet as... inanimate objects!" Esposito announced. Originally, his analogy had ended in 'dead people', but as some of the people in the room weren't as seasoned with homicide cases as he was, he'd altered it slightly. Shaking his head at himself and ignoring Ryan's laughter, he followed his partner out of the room and shut the door behind him. They just got back to the preliminary murder board when the elevator door pinged, and Castle and Beckett started towards them.

"Don't lie to me, Castle!" she was saying, yelling at him in hushed tones. "It was right there this morning, and you then you moved it."

"That's ridiculous!" he replied.

"Need a moment?" Esposito asked them, raising his eyebrows.

"No," Beckett answered, while at the same time Castle replied, "yes."

"No, Castle, we don't."

"Really? Because I could do with some coffee... You want some?"

Damn, she thought. She couldn't say no to that because she always wanted coffee. "Fine," she said, getting up from her seat. "I'll have some coffee. But don't think this conversation is over," she added, facing him as she opened the door to the break room behind her.

"SURPRISE!" came the sounds of at least thirty people from inside, and she jumped, her hand instinctively moving towards the spot on her belt where her gun was holstered.

"Payback," Castle whispered in her ear as he passed. He looked back at her when he got to the table to find her grinning at him.

"I'm going to kill you," she said.

Hours later, after everybody else had left for the night, Castle and Beckett were still sitting at her desk looking over the case file. Granted, with the party, they hadn't gotten much work done today, but they still had quite a few good leads to chase in the morning.

"You're lucky I didn't make us a reservation anywhere," he said, yawning. "Can we go now, please? We've got nothing else to do here."

"Alright, fine," she said, putting the case file down and leaning over to get her bag. "Let's - Is this?"

"Yes," he said, as she picked up the small wrapped present before her. In the few seconds when she hadn't been paying attention, he'd popped it right in front of her. "You were right, I did take it back. But I didn't want you to open it without me there, because I know this present will mean a lot to you."

"If this is a ring, Castle -"

"Don't be ridiculous!" he said, and then realised what had happened. "I mean, don't you think it's far too early in our relationship for me to be proposing to you? Please, at least give it another three months. Just... open it."

Confused, she tore the paper away to find a small jewellery box. "Castle."

"I told you, it's not a ring."

Anxiously, she opened the box to find a gold chain there. "What's this for?" she asked. Not that she wasn't happy that he'd gotten it for her; she was just a bit confused as to why.

"It's for your mother's ring," he said. "You were devastated the other day; I thought you might like a new one."

She remembered clearly what had happened. The two of them were having Chinese for dinner, and she'd been absentmindedly playing with the chain. She'd put too much pressure on it and the links had broken, sending the ring flying across the room. Castle, as the only one who knew the story behind the ring, has taken the chain and promised to get it fixed as soon as he could.

She should have known that he'd just buy her a new one.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him. "I love it."

"I'm glad," he smiled, standing up and offering his arm. "Come on, how about we hit up Remy's for a burger? I'm starved."