14 chapters... wow... and this one didn't want to end either xD hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: nope... 40k + words later and i still don´t own them... weird, huh?

The sun was shining through the window, hurting the eyes of a certain detective. She stirred 180 degrees and felt the breath of her writer. She smiled. Yesterday hadn´t been a dream, she really had told him she loved him, and he´d said it back. That thought made the butterflies in her stomach to fly freely. She remember their kiss at Central Park; best. Kiss. Ever, without a doubt. She finally opened her eyes at took a look at her boyfriend, he looked 10 years younger when he was like this; no concerns or stress on his features, just a small smile on his lips. A smile that was currently growing, he was awake.

"I thought you said watching someone sleep was creepy," he mumbled, still with closed eyes.

"I did, but that was different."

She remembered the first time she´d said that. It was in Minnesota, the last week they´ve spent there. Usually, he was out of bed before she was, making breakfast, but that morning he had stayed watching her sleep.

"That´s creepy, Castle."

"I do it all the time at the precinct."

"And I always say it´s creepy."

"Can´t help it," He grinned, she rolled her eyes and got up to make breakfast.

"How?" his voice brought her back to the present.

"I say so."

"I can work with that," he smiled and leaned in, kissing her lightly on the lips, "good morning, beautiful"

"Good morning."

Instead of getting out of bed, she curled up even more next to him which made him chuckle. "Someone doesn´t want to get up"

"It's comfy here," he wrapped one arm around her and settled for another little nap.

About…some time later, she couldn´t really tell, she smelled something good coming from the kitchen and didn´t feel him next to her. She reluctantly got up and glanced at her phone; no missing calls or texts, meaning no body, and it was a quarter after 9 a.m.

She lazily padded to the kitchen and was gladly surprised to find her writer on the kitchen making omelets with cheese, if her nose was correct. He looked very comfortable there, like he had cooked there for years and not just twice. Well, once, the first time was not in this apartment, but the kitchen was fairly similar.

She smiled as she came closer to where he was and wrapped both arms around his middle from behind which surprisingly didn´t startle him.

"Slept well?" he asked after turning off the stove and turning around to face her, hold her and give her a kiss on the forehead.

"I did, you didn´t have to make breakfast."

"Yes, I did. It´s our little tradition."

She raised an eyebrow. "It is?"

"It is. Every time, since we´ve known each other, that I've spent the night sleeping next to you or in your apartment, I've made breakfast."

"I haven´t realized, thank you."

"My pleasure," he gave her a sweet kiss before losing his embrace, "Now, let´s eat my famous omelets before they get cold."

They sat next to each other after serving breakfast and coffee, and ate in comfortable silence, stealing glances at one another. After they ate breakfast each took a shower and Kate convinced Rick to spend some time with his daughter, since she had a lunch meeting with his dad, with the promise of movie night at his place.

Now that she was alone in her apartment she had time to analyze every single thing that happened the night before while she got a shower and dressed. She still couldn´t believe she was the first to say those three little words, she always thought she would be saying the ´too´ part, but honestly after having stopped him the night before she left for the cabin she shouldn´t have been that surprised. Still, she felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders, and knowing he felt the same made it all the better.

Another thing that shocked her, and honestly turned her on more than she would care to admit, was the josh incident. She had never seen josh so much as tipsy in the months they´d dated and it surprised her to smell the alcohol in his breath, but when she did see him was after or before a shift so alcohol wasn´t a currency except for the occasional wine. And she knew he was jealous of Castle; it was cause of many fights and spats over those months, but to the point of hitting him? That was new. It was a little reassuring to know that Castle could manage himself better than before, she would have to thank Esposito for that.

The little details were the things that warmed her heart the most; the flowers, the car ride to central park, his secret spot that now was theirs. It had indeed being a perfect date.

Her dreamy state was interrupted by a buzz coming from her BlackBerry indicating a text from Lanie, it read: "Girl! I´m picking you up at 12 if writer boy isn´t there, we need some girl time ;)" Kate rolled her eyes but couldn´t help to smile. "Pick me up, we´ll go for coffee, I already had breakfast" not a minute later, Lanie responded. "With Castle :O? if you´re decent, I'm picking you up right now!" "Impatient much? Ok, I'm actually ready now" Not 15 minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Hi, Lanie," she greeted her warmly with a hug.

"Hey, Girl. Let me look at you." She looked at Kate from head to toe, like analyzing some important piece of evidence and then nodded, approvingly.

"What?"

"You look happy, I take writer boy and you had a good date?"

"It was nice." She responded, while thinking. Don´t blush, don´t blush.

"You´re blushing. Dish."

Damn.

"Ok, fine. Let´s sit. And you cannot tell Esposito, not yet, got it?"

"Understood."

Kate told her best friend everything, from the movie to Josh, Central Park and breakfast. Lanie almost had a heart attack twice and thought she was going to have a stroke at the ´I love you´ part. "Wait, wait, wait let me get this straight," she said after hearing the whole story. "You told him you loved him, kudos for that by the way, he told you he loved you back and you just slept together, as in sleep sleep."

"Basically, yes. He told me he didn´t want to mess this up, he wanted to do it right. He was the one to stop anything to go any further."

"Castle? Our Castle? Writer boy?"

"Yep."

"Wow, didn´t see that one coming."

"Me either, believe me."

"Well, I think it´s sweet of him, I just don´t know how you can share a bed with the man and not jump his bones."

"Lanie!" She blushed, again.

"Don´t Lanie me, that man is damn fine and if he can write those scenes in a book, you´re one lucky lady."

"Shut up! I like that we´re taking things slow."

"If you take things any slower you´ll grow roots, but wait all you want, at least you´re happy. That´s what matters."

"I really am, Lanie."

"Then I'm happy for you," They hugged and Lanie realized something else, "Hold on, Castle beated Josh without even taking one hit?"

"Oh, that, yeah," She smiled for the umpteenth time.

"Go Castle, I didn´t know Javier could be such a good trainer."

"I know! I gotta say I was a little turned on by that. He blocked the hit and did a perfect lock that Esposito taught him yesterday. Josh was shocked, to say the least."

After some more comments on how Josh was such a jerk, Kate began to ask her about Esposito. It was a little after one when Lanie left and Kate began to get ready for her lunch with her father.

At 2 o´clock she saw her father approaching the table she has saving on a diner near her place. She got up and greeted him with a warm hug which Jim gladly returned. They sat and ordered some lunch before they started talking.

"How are you feeling, daddy?"

"I'm great, Katie. Work is good and you can´t even see the bump in my head."

"That´s good."

"Yeah, how about you? You look happy."

"I am, daddy, really am."

"Tell me, did you finally see the light with Rick?"

"Daddy! How did you know?... I went on a date with him yesterday and… told him how I felt."

"Really? Well, I think gravity will cease to exist today."

"Dad! Come on! It´s not that rare, right?"

"Oh, but it is, come on, what did he say?"

"He told me he felt the same way."

"Well, that´s a shocker, but I'm glad you two kids finally stopped dancing around each other. How did he behave?" Now the father in Jim took over.

"Like a perfect gentleman, we went to the movies, dinner, and a walk through Central Park. Do you remember the doctor I mentioned I was seeing?" Jim nodded, "we ran into him and he was a little drunk, made a pass at me and when Castle defended me, Josh tried to punch him, I was about to step in but Rick stopped me and took Josh down in one smooth move."

"He did? I thought he was still learning from you and Javier."

"He is. He is a natural."

He chuckled. "I think is the thought of defending you that got him to do that."

She blushed.

"I got to say, I'm a little relieved by that, now I can fully trust you with him, and I want to get to know him better."

She rolled her eyes. "Dad, we´ve only been on one date."

"Uhum, whatever you say, Katie."

"Ok, we could arrange dinner with his family too, so you can get to know each other better."

"I´d like that, very much."

Lunch went normally after that, updating each other on the events of their lives, recalling stories about happier times with Johanna, telling him stories about the 12th and the crazy things and theories that Castle made up on the go. After almost two hours and the promise of lunch next weekend, they parted ways.

…

That morning on the other side of town, Rick Castle was opening the door of his house very slowly and quietly. After entering, he started to walk into his bedroom when he heard his mother´s voice coming from the kitchen. "Are you home, darling? Or should I call the police?"

There was no point sneaking in anyway, she had always had a sixth sense for that kind of thing. "I'm home," he responded. He walked to the kitchen and noticed Alexis wasn´t there. He greeted his mother with a kiss on the cheek and went to the fridge to get some water. "Where is Alexis?" "Up on her room, it´s still early for a Saturday, I guess she is sleeping." He nodded in understanding. "So, tell me darling, I'm taking the date went well."

He smiled. "It did, don´t give me that look, that didn´t happen"

"That´s why you´re here in the morning, trying to sneak in, uh?"

"Actually, I was trying to avoid this conversation so early in the morning.

He sighed in defeat. "But, Ok, we slept, actual sleep, together, like on the cabin. Nothing more than a few kisses."

"There is more to the story, I can tell."

Sometimes, Rick hated how his mother could be so good at reading people. "She told me she loved me," He smiled widely and felt a blush covering his face. "Richard! I'm so happy for you, finally." She hugged him briefly with a sincere smile on her face. "Thank you, Mother. I'm going to check on Alexis."

Martha Thought "Finally," with a sweet smile on her face. She hadn´t seen her son that happy in a very long time.

After checking with Alexis he went to his study to do some writing. He ordered in some lunch to share with his daughter and mother.

….

It was a little after 7:00 when he heard a knock on the door, Alexis had gone out with Ashley a while ago and Martha was off with some on her buddies from a play. It could only mean one person, even though she was early.

"Lanie?" Nope, not the girl he was expecting.

"Hey, Castle."

"Come in? I thought you were Kate."

"Not necessary, I was just on my way to that little place down the street for drinks, but I thought I would better come by first."

"Ok? Am I in trouble already?" He asked, concerned, and honestly a little frighten, Lanie was the best, but she could bring the fury from Hell if someone pissed her or a loved one.

"No, quite the contrary," He released a breath he didn´t know he was holding, "I'm just here to make sure that your intentions are pure and that you would not hurt her or pressure her into anything, got it? I know about 10 poisons that cannot be detected on any kind of test, plus you have the two headed monster to worry about." She was deadly serious while she talked; giving him her best ´I can kill you with my eyes´ look. He smiled at how protective she and the boys were being of his Kate. "Don´t worry, Lanie, I'm not planning to hurt her or pressure her, I told her last night, I don´t want to mess things up. I love her; I'm in this for the long haul. You know it would break my heart to see her hurt, I can´t even begin to tell you what it would do to me if I were the one doing the damage, so don´t worry.

Now, Lanie was not a sentimental person, but the sincerity and love on his eyes when he´d spoken almost got her misty eyes. She smiled and hugged him briefly. "I'm so happy for you two. It was about damn time, too. "Ok, you have my blessing," she blinked rapidly trying to keep the tears of happiness at bay, "I'm gonna go before she finds me here and I have some explaining to do."

"Don´t you mean esplainie?" He winked.

She gave him her best glare. "Funny, I'll see you around, writer boy."

"Always a pleasure, Dr. Parrish." She began to walk down the hall and he couldn´t help but to tease her a little. "My greetings to Esposito," he yelled. She just ignored him.

….

At 8:00 o´clock sharp there was another knock on the door. This time it was the girl he was expecting, looking as beautiful as ever. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist and kissed her lightly on the lips, her arms went to his torso. "Hi, beautiful," She kissed him again and hugged him tightly before responding with a very simple "Hi" He hold her hand and let her to the couch where there were two glasses of wine waiting for them on the little coffee table. He grabbed and handed her one of them and took another for himself, sitting on the furniture.

"So, how was lunch with your dad?" he asked while he played with her hair.

"It was great, I told him about us."

"Should I be concerned about my physical health?" He gulped. She laughed.

"No, actually, he is happy for us as long as you behave."

"Ok, two down, two more to go."

"Huh?"

"Or maybe not, since she mentioned them too.

"Who mention whom, Castle?"

"Well, I guess I should tell you, just don´t be mad, it was done out of concern for you."

"Rick, what did you do?"

"Me? Nothing! Really!... Eh, Lanie came a while ago and warned me about the untraceable poisons she knows and can slip into my food if I hurt you, and the physical damage the boys can do to me, too. I just haven´t heard from them since they don´t know about us."

"That´s sweet of her, she didn´t have to come here, though."

"I know, I guess the threat feels more real combined with her glares. I'm telling you that woman could bring the bravest of man to their knees."

She chuckled. "Yeah, she could."

"I can´t imagine being Esposito after pissing her off, that poor man."

"I'm sure he can take care of himself, but yes, I get your point."

A ding sounded in the kitchen indicating something was ready. Rick stood up and signaled Kate to stay there and left after giving her a quick peck on the lips. When he returned he was carrying two plates with a piece of lasagna each and a basket with buttered and oregano bread on it. By some force of the universe he didn´t drop anything.

"Dinner is served, my lady."

"This looks wonderful, Rick. Did you cook this?"

"I did."

"What´s the occasion?"

"No occasion, I just wanted to make something nice for you."

"Thank you." She kissed him and tried a piece of the pasta. Her eyes widened before closing involuntarily and releasing a moan of pleasure, "this is the best lasagna I've ever tasted."

"Well, thank you, I'm glad you liked it."

They ate at silence for a few minutes before Kate noticed the loft was pretty quiet.

"Where is Alexis and Martha?"

"Alexis went on a date with Ashley and should be back at 10:00 or so, Mother is with some friends and should be back…at some point."

She smiled and kept eating. After dinner they chatted for a while and Rick told Kate to pick a movie to watch. She went to the shelves where all his DVD´s were and began to search for them when one caught her attention.

"Eh, Rick, Care to explain this to me?"

"Oh, Mean Girls? Don´t give that look, it´s Alexis´s DVD. She was crazy about the movie. I didn´t see the appeal."

"You SAW it?"

"Of course! I was having a movie night with my daughter."

"You´re telling you endured an hour and a half of the life of high school and all of the atrocities a girl has to endure there?"

"Hold on, how do you know what´s about?"

Busted. Kate thought, while two red spots appeared on her cheeks.

"Don´t tell me you actually watched this! Or like it!"

"Ok, ok. I watched it, but I didn´t like it. It was on T.V a while ago and I just wanted to relax."

"Right. Whatever you say, love." He got up and wrapped her in a bear hug. "I kind of like it that you watched this. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think it´s cute." She kissed him lightly and they went over the shelve to look for something to watch, Rick had his arms wrapped around Kate from behind, with his head on her shoulder, looking at the movies. They settled for the first chapter of a sci-fi series that Rick had, called Firefly.

As the credits rolled over, she snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "I love it, next time I come here, we´re watching the second episode."

"Could you be any more perfect?" He kissed her then, and before they realized, things were getting pretty hot. Their tongues were battling, her hands were on his hair, pulling him even closer and his were on the small of her back, trying to bring her as close to him as physically possible. His mouth began to attack her neck, nibbling at her pulse point, making her elicit a moan from deep within her. When he heard that heavenly noise his brain started to function again and he remembered the promise he´d made to both the love of his life and his favorite ME. He stopped abruptly, panting and took some deep breaths to gain some form of control. "I'm sorry, Kate, I…I lost control." When he opened his eyes he saw that she was trying to regain control herself. "No, Rick, don´t be sorry, I got carried away too. I just, couldn´t think straight."

"Tell me about it. Good god, woman, what you do to me." She grinned at this, a spark of mischief on her eyes, which make him gulp. She was going to be the death of him, he was sure. She was opening her mouth when she heard the voice of Alexis come from the doorway. She was saying good bye to her boyfriend, which gave her time to rearrange her hair and remove some of her lipstick from Rick´s mouth. Still, when Alexis approached them, Kate couldn´t help but to blush a little. God bless that child, who didn´t notice or acted like she didn´t notice.

"Hi, Kate! I'm glad you´re here keeping dad company."

"Hi, Alexis, how was your date?"

"It was great, we watched a movie and went for ice cream afterwards."

"That´s great, pumpkin," interjected Rick, "I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yeah." She tried to content a yawn, but failed. She blushed a little and smiled nervously. "It´s kind of late and I'm really tired so I'm going to bed." The teenager said as he hugged them both. "Good Night, Dad. Good Night, Kate."

Rick smiled as he saw his little girl go up the stairs; the pride and love that irrigated from his eyes took the breath out of Kate. She really loved that side of him; it turned her insides into mush.

She stole a glance at the DVD player that read it was almost eleven. She really should get going.

After about 10 minutes of Rick trying to convince Kate to stay for the night, he agreed to accompany her downstairs to get a cab. As they waited, they were holding hands, loving the feeling of such a gesture to come so naturally to them now. When the cab arrived he kissed her good night and gave her a hug, whispering ´I love you´s´ before she got into the vehicle. He waited until it was out of sight and then headed to his home. Feeling more content than he had felt in a really long time.

….

Sunday rolled around with no novelties. The couple exchanged a few phone calls and Rick was thoughtful enough to send her a good morning text that made Kate smile. She went grocery shopping and cleaned her apartment; lord knows it was time for that.

Rick went for a walk on Central Park, it was something he enjoyed to do every other Sunday to clear his thoughts and get some ideas for his books, not that he needed the inspiration now, but it was a little routine he liked.

….

It was Monday, Kate was already up at 7, showered and dressed at 7:30 and on her way to practice some of Rick´s locks with him, when her cell phone rang.

"Esposito? What´s up?"

"Hey, Beckett, have you heard from Castle this morning?"

"No, I was just leaving to the precinct, I thought you guys trained at 7."

"We did, we were supposed to, but he never showed up or answered his cell and I don´t have Alexis´s number to call her."

"That´s weird, I'll call him and let you know, ok?"

"Sure."

She hung up and dialed Castle´s number. She must´ve tried half dozen times. It went straight to voice mail after six or seven rings. Worry started to find its way through Kate´s mind. Now what?

What could have happened to Castle :O? don´t worry, it´s not the 3xK, I could't do that to them, I love them too much xD

Anyways... please review? I´m not really sure I covered all the basis with the characters... hope I did some justice to them.

And thank you, as always, for reading and reviewing :D you guys are the best, honestly :D

-AC.