She could not believe this was her life. Not only did her murder victim not have any prints (burned fingertips), but he was shot in the face, making identification extremely difficult. Even Lanie looked discouraged.

"I can run dental records when I get back to the morgue," she said, studying Beckett's face. Kate nodded.

"Or maybe Ryan and Espo will get lucky with the canvas and find his wallet or something."

She inspected the body. The guy was fit, but not muscular. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, so his clothes didn't really tell her anything about what he did or who he was. He had short, dark brown hair and aside from the burned fingertips, he didn't any unusual marks or wounds that she could see. They had found him laying face-up on the bed of the hotel room she was currently in. It wasn't a seedy motel, but it wasn't a five-star place either. Everything she had so far was very…..plain. No clues, no evidence.

"Hey, Becks."

She looked up and saw Ryan in the doorway of the hotel room. He was grinning and holding a black leather wallet. She beamed and caught it as he tossed it to her. She pulled the driver's license out and smiled to herself.

"Gotcha."

Back at the precinct, Kate and Esposito were setting up the murder board. Their victim was Daniel Roberts, a 34-year old lawyer at a small firm here in Manhattan. They were trying to map out a timeline, but they didn't have much luck. They barely had any information at all. They didn't know who had last seen him or talked to him before he died. Lanie also hadn't called them with COD yet. Beckett was hoping Ryan would get lucky with the family.

"Hey, Beckett." Ryan crossed the Precinct and joined Esposito and Kate at the murder board.

"You talked to next of kin?"

"No," he said hesitantly. "But I did find some other information you might find interesting. Turns out our murder victim was a murderer himself."

"Really?" Kate turned around and looked at him curiously.

"Well, alleged. There was an APB out for Daniel Roberts, he was wanted for the murder of Elizabeth DeKay, socialite and suspected black widow."

"Hey, I've heard about her," Esposito said. "She was a person of interest in the death of a wealthy Wall Street dude a few years back. Prelim was heart attack, but they found out he was poisoned. They had no evidence that she did it, so she didn't get charged with anything."

"Huh," Beckett said. "Call in . I think we should have a little chat with her about how she knew our victim," she said to Espo. He nodded and he and Ryan left. Kate was studying the pictures of Daniel, trying to figure out what he had gotten into, when her phone rang. She prayed it was Lanie with her COD. She needed to get this investigation moving.

"Beckett."

"Hey, Kate. It's me."

"Hey, honey." She smiled, loving the way it sounded even more than she had this morning. Which was weird for her. She wasn't really a terms of endearment kinda gal. But Rick Castle made her want to be.

"How's work going?"

"Good. I'll tell you all about it tonight, you're gonna wish you were here. But I want you to meet your deadline."

Kate had put her foot down and told Castle he couldn't come back to the precinct until he finished the first draft of his newest Nikki Heat manuscript. He had whined at first, but then agreed. It was almost finished, anyway.

"Yeahhh… I'm actually not writing today. I was gonna move some more of your stuff. I called to see what you want me to do, or if you'd rather do it together."

"Oh." She paused. "That's really sweet, thanks. I guess you could pack up all my books and take everything off the walls. We can decide where to put it later, but the more stuff that's in boxes, the easier it will be to movie, right?"

"Sounds good," he said. She could tell he was smiling. "Hey Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too," she said happily. She loved how all this felt – it made everything else bad go away. She was about to tell him that, but then he phone beeped and she saw she had a text from Lanie.

"Hey, I gotta go. Lanie has something for me."

"Okay. Have a good day, I'll see you when you get home."

"I will, thanks. Bye."

"Bye."

Kate hung up and slipped her jacket on, praying for COD. She needed some more pieces before she could try to solve this murder. And she also really wanted to get through the day so she could go home to Castle.

xxxx

When Kate got home, she let herself into the loft with her new key. The pretty little ceramic coffee cup made her happy whenever she saw it. She let herself in and called out, "Honey, I'm home!"

She heard Rick's warm laugh and followed it to his office, where he was just getting up from his desk. He held his arms out and she rushed into them for a hug. He squeezed her tightly and she squeezed back. When they broke apart, he followed her into the bedroom, where she kicked off her high-heeled boots and slipped off her leather jacket.

Rick whistled jokingly and she playfully punched him.

"Not tonight, mister."

"You never know…," he said, wiggling his eyebrows as she twirled her hair into a messy bun. She just shook her head and laughed.

"So what do we do now?," she asked, as he put his arm on her shoulder and they walked out into the living room. They sat on the couch.

"What do you mean?," he asked, pulling her into his lap.

"Well… I don't know. I've never done this before."

"Lived with someone?"

"Well, yeah. Lived with a boyfriend." She paused, feeling silly. He smiled and kissed her neck.

"We talk about how our days went, and we eat dinner and tease Alexis about the things teenagers hate their parents teasing them about, and then we curl up together on the couch or in bed and cuddle. Sometimes we watch a movie or read. We just enjoy each other's company, really."

She smiled and kissed him. "That sounds perfect, actually."

"Oh yeah? Who knew Kate Beckett could be so domestic?," he chuckled, stroking her hair.

"Not me," she admitted. "I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Yeah, well you're about to be more surprised," he said, getting up from the couch and taking her hand, pulling her with him. "Come here."

"Hey, speaking of, where is Alexis?," Kate asked as they walked down the downstairs hallway.

"In her room, filling out college applications. They're due soon," he said, stopping in front of a closed door. He put one hand on the doorknob, and took hers in the other.

"Okay, close your eyes," he said, that excited 9-year old-on-a-sugar-rush grin appearing on her face. Becket raised her eyebrow, but before she could say anything, Castle shook his head.

"Trust me."

She closed her eyes and gripped his hand. She heard the door open and walked carefully, lead by Castle. She had only taken a few steps when they stopped and he said, "Okay, open your eyes."

Kate opened her eyes and was taken aback. The room was filled with her stuff. Her computer sat on her desk from her apartment, with her chair too. On the wall, her poster of a woman on a bridge and a few photos of her and her parents when she was younger were hung up. There was a picture of her and Castle at that ball they went to for undercover work a few months after she met him sitting on the desk in a picture frame. There was also a picture of the two at them at the 'Heat Wave' book party. Her books lined a shelf on the left wall of the room, along with some of her little knick knacks, and an armchair from her living room with her gun pillow (that she had gotten as a joke from a friend) was in the corner. But perhaps the most amazing thing was that the boards she had put together for her mother's murder hung on the back wall, right above a row of cabinets.

She turned to Castle, amazed. "You did all this today?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yep. Alexis helped a little too. It's not all your stuff, but we can put more in here. I just thought you might want your own little place."

"Rick….." She noticed for the first time that the walls were painted a purple-gray color, one of her favorites. It was perfect.

"Thank you," she whispered, kissing him deeply. He put his arms around her and kissed back. When they broke apart, she leaned against him and he put his arm around her waist.

"I love it."

"I'm glad," he said, kissing the top of her head. They stood there for a few minutes in silence as Kate took in the room some more. Rick had put some cute things around the room, like a stack of heart-shaped post-its on her desk and a coffee can wrapped in police tape with pencils and pens in it. She turned around and hugged him again. Then, he surprised her by swinging her up into his arms and carrying her down the hall.

"Castle!," she shrieked, laughing. "What are you doing?"

They came into the kitchen, where Alexis was setting the table for dinner. She saw her dad carrying Kate and rolled her eyes at his childish antics, then laughed. Castle smoothly set Kate down on a barstool and then offered her a glass of wine, which he accepted. He also offered Alexis some, and when she said, "Dad, I'm only 17. I'll drink when in 4 years, when it's legal," Kate burst out laughing at the crestfallen expression on Rick's face that his daughter wanted to follow the rules.

"So, Alexis, how are the college applications going?," Kate asked over dinner 15 minutes later. Rick had made a really yummy chicken salad that the three of them were enjoying. Kate hadn't had a family sit-down dinner like this is so long, and she liked it.

"Good. I'm applying to a lot of places. NYU, Colombia, Oxford, a few places in Boston and DC…"

"Not Stanford?"

"No," Alexis said, a little sadly. "Ash and I broke up. Plus, they didn't want me the first time, and I don't want to apply again."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kate said, frowning.

"Thanks," Alexis said. "I guess I'm bound to get in somewhere, right?"

"Hey, sweetie, even if you don't get in anywhere, you can always just live here with me and work at the Chevy's down the street," Castle joked, causing Alexis to look at him in horror. Kate tossed her napkin across the table at him. It landed on his head and covered most of his face.

"Zip it, kitten," she said. He pulled the napkin off his face and his expression soured at the use of "kitten." Alexis and Kate laughed, and Kate her hand on Alexis's arm.

"Don't worry, Alexis. Any college would be lucky to have you."

"Thanks, Kate," she smiled. The sight of his two favorite people in the world getting along made Rick very happy. He smiled.

"Hey Alexis, do you want to join me and Kate for a movie after dinner?"

"I'd love to, but I really have to finish those applications. Some of them are due next week. But you guys have fun." She excused herself and went upstairs.

Rick winked at Kate across the table. "We will!," he shouted up to her, trying not to sound suggestive. He failed, but luckily Alexis didn't hear him. He got up and stood behind Kate's chair, putting his arms around her neck and kissing her hair.

"Nuh uh," she shook her head, standing up and starting to clear the table. "Movie."

He looked like a kicked puppy. "Fine," he pouted. "Doubt?"

"Ooh, yes," she said with a grin, pouring herself and Rick some more wine. "I haven't watched that in the longest time. And you know I love me some Meryl."

Rick laughed. "Me too."

Rick popped the movie into the dvd player and Kate joined him on the couch, snuggling into his lap. She pulled a blanket over the two of them and Rick wrapped his arm around her shoulder, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. He could smell her cherry shampoo and he inhaled happily. Life was good. Even though there were many things he liked to do with Kate Beckett, just sitting and watching a movie was lovely. It felt comfortable and domestic. And he adored every second of it, as did she.