AN: You may want a tissue of this chapter, since the few people that have read this before I published it said they got teary eyed. Enjoy.
Old
The first time she heard his bones pop when he got out of bed, she called him old. He gave her a look that said, "Not funny, Beckett." That look didn't last too long though, since she removed the sheet that was covering her naked body and he was focused more on that than her comment.
The second time she called him old, was when he groaned as he bent down to pick up the piece of paper he dropped. Again, he gave her one of those look that said that it wasn't funny. Before he could stand up, she goosed him and for the rest of the day he thought about how he just wanted to solve this murder so he could get his girlfriend home.
The third time was when Alexis moved out to her own apartment, with Pi. She reminded him that they all grew up and got old and that he couldn't pretend Alexis was a baby anymore. She hadn't said the words directly, but she reminded him that none of them were getting younger and it was Alexis's turn to grow and learn to live her life without him constantly in it.
The fourth time was when she found a gray hair in his hair as she washed his hair in the shower. After an intense love making session, he was not expecting his fiance to call him old and find a gray hair. He was just glad that she found it after and not before. That would have been a mood killer.
The fifth time was when Alexis graduated college. He stopped her though before she could say the getting old part. He knew that that's what she was going to say because he caught the smirk that graced her face. However, Alexis called him old, once they met after the ceremony, so it didn't matter if he had stopped her. He still got called old.
The sixth time was when he went undercover in a nursing home. They hired someone to do his makeup and he pretended to be an older man to catch the nurse that was killing the patients. When she first saw him, she said, "Wow, Castle, just when I thought you couldn't get any older." He gave her a look, but she kissed that look right off of him. She told him that she'd still find him sexy when they both got old and gray and that was all he needed to hear. She told him to be careful, which he was, until the nurse tired to almost push him down the stairs when in the wheel chair. He was obviously arrested and and when Castle went to take his makeup off, he looked into the mirror. He hoped he didn't get too old too fast. He still wanted to spend many more years with Kate.
The seventh time was when she had her first mood swing. She said that he was an idiotic old man and she didn't want to speak to him before she headed into their bedroom. Twenty minutes later, she came out and said that she was sorry. He handed her a bar of chocolate and told her that he accepted her apology.
The eighth time was when their daughter was born...but this time, she called them both old. He told her that they weren't and that their lives were just getting started.
The ninth time was a week after their daughter was born. They were sleep deprived and again, she called them both old and that they couldn't run on four hours of sleep like they did when they were teenagers and in their twenties. It seemed liked yesterday they were that age, but in reality it had been some time. He told her that he would get their daughter tonight and that she could catch up on sleep. They would switch tomorrow night.
The tenth time was a few days after their daughter started walking. She came home from work and saw him exhausted. "Too old to keep up with her, Castle?" He didn't have enough energy to give her a look, which she smiled at. "I'll make you some coffee and some dinner."
The eleventh time was when they found out they were having twins. This time, she called them both old, said that they were too old to raise twins. He reminded her that they would be just fine and that if she survived a bullet to the heart and he survived his kidnapping, they could handle twins. The twelfth and thirteenth time also involved her thinking that they were too old to raise twins, but again he reassured her.
The fourteenth time was when their daughter started school. He had been surprised that she hadn't had a moment between then and now. She called them both old, yet again, saying that it was just yesterday that they found out that she was pregnant. It did seem like yesterday, but their daughter was growing up and so were their twins...and yes, they were getting old.
It had been some time before the fifteenth time came along. They were at The Hamptons and he had pulled something in his back. Instead of having a romantic date on the beach, she was nursing him back to health in bed. She said, "Can't do the things you used to, Castle." He glared at her. "Don't worry, I'll put on that nurse costume you got me as a joke for Halloween. That will make you feel better." Oh yea, that made him feel better.
The sixteenth time was when their daughter graduated high school. "Castle, before we know it, she's going to be out of the house and married." He was not going to think about that, but as he looked at their baby girl walk on stage, he knew that that day would be coming sooner rather than later. He wished they didn't have to get old and they could just stay at this age forever, but he knew they couldn't.
The seventeenth time wasn't far from their daughter's graduation. Kate had ended up in the hospital. She had gotten shot, not fatal, but enough to get her out of work. "Castle, we're getting too old for this." This time, he agreed with her. The next day, she put in for her early retirement.
The eighteenth time was when she ran for senator...and won. "Castle, do you think we're too old for me to be doing this?" He shook his head and said that he still thought she was thirty and didn't look a day over that. She smiled at him and said that maybe he wasn't as old as his birth certificate said.
When the twins graduated high school, which also happened to be the day after Kate stepped down as Senator (wanting to really retire and spend time with him traveling), that was the twentieth time. "Castle, we're..." He just nodded, knowing that they were. The next day he told Black Pawn that he was retiring from writing and the day after, him and Kate booked a ticket to Paris. The twins were going to spend time with their sisters while him and his wife traveled around Europe. It was amazing.
When their daughter got married, he could have sworn that that was going to be the twenty-first time. She didn't say anything though. She just cried, mostly happy tears. He did too. He then thought that it was going to be when their daughter told them six months later that she was pregnant, but again, Kate didn't. She just cried, again. She later told him that she was glad that she was able to see what her mother never got to. The twenty-first time though happened when his mother died. She rested her head against his shoulder as they said their goodbyes at the grave site. "She made looking old look so easy. I hope we make our kids think that when they look at us." He brought her closer to him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He couldn't speak, but he knew that he didn't have to in order for her to know that he was saying that they did.
The twenty-second time was when their granddaughter was born. They looked at their grandchild, in the nursery, and Kate rested her head against his shoulder (something she loved doing). "When did we get so old, Castle?" He laughed, but didn't respond to her. Instead, he just looked at his first grandchild. Alexis found out that she couldn't have kids and had been working on trying to adopt. It was a lot harder than what the movies and TV shows made it out to be. He knew the day would come though and sure enough, two weeks later, Alexis and her husband were parents to a beautiful baby boy.
It was years until the twenty-third time came around. He had fallen in the loft and ended up in the hospital. He didn't break anything, but from that moment on he was now advised to use a walker. He was in his late 70s, but that still didn't mean he had to like it. "Castle, we have to do something with your walker to make you not look so old." They ended up putting superhero stickers on it and super glued a small cape to the front of it. He loved it.
Now, they were at the twenty-fourth time. He was sitting next to her, in their bed. The doctors had sent her home yesterday, saying that there was nothing more that they could do for her. She had cancer and they couldn't fight it. "Castle, do you think we made looking old look easy?"
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yea, I think we did."
She moved her head to place a kiss to his lips. "I'm glad we got to grow old together."
"Me too, Kate. I just wish we had more time."
"I know...but I'll still be here to haunt you."
"Just don't flush the toilet when I'm in the shower."
She smiled before she placed another kiss to his lips. "I love you."
"I love you too...Always."
"Always." With that, Kate closed her eyes. He rested his forehead against hers and cried, knowing his wife was now gone. He didn't make it even more than a day without her. He took a nap as their children went out to arrange their mother's funeral and never woke up.
The twenty-fifth time was when he saw Kate on the other side. She looked exactly like she did on their wedding day. "Couldn't live without me, old man?" He smiled brightly and picked her up in his arms, holding her tightly to him and knowing that he would still be able to hear his wife call him old.