Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I hope you all enjoy this one as well. I wanted to show the strong bond this makeshift family has forged. How Well they know each other, that they know exactly what to do to help. I hope I don't disappoint. We will learn more about Castle, in the coming chapters. So please don't worry. I hope you're all along for the ride! Thank you for reading! Is it September yet? My 2014 Ficathon Entry! Thanks dtrekker for the awesome cover art!

Even on the worst days there is a possibility for joy.

~ Katherine Beckett

She stood immobile and watched as the setting sun greeted the darkened ocean from the window. Everything was a haze, a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. She didn't remember the ride back to the house, or how she had gotten to their bedroom. Unwanted images of his car burning in the ditch, flashed relentlessly through her thoughts.

Outside, the wedding venue had been torn down, piles of tables and chairs littered the manicured yard, and the caterers waited patiently for the trucks to haul it all away. Soon there would be no trace of what would have been their wedding.

The sudden silence in the room washed over her and reminded her that it had always been quiet on this side of her wall. Outside the darkness of the night-time ocean mirrored the darkness that ebbed it's way through her heart. The tears had dried, but they would undoubtedly re-surface when she was left alone, in his bed, with his scent and her memories.

Martha and Lanie talked, but she couldn't make herself listen. It was the kind of talk done when silence would have been far worse, but she remained lost in her own thoughts.

"Katherine, Dear," Martha said as she approached her, and gently laid a hand on her arm. "Maybe, we should help you get out of that dress?"

"Come on Kate, let's get you into something more comfortable." Lanie suggested. She realized she had no idea how long she had been standing in that room, and she needed to get out of the dress.

She glanced down at her mother's beautiful dress, it had fit like a glove when her original dress was ruined. It had felt like a positive omen at the time. Like her mother had looked down on her and sent her blessing. Now it was soot stained, torn at the hem, and ruined by the horrific memories of the day.

She didn't move as Martha's fingers nimbly released each of the tiny pearl buttons down the back of the dress. Lanie plucked the hairpins out of her hair with care, when she was done she handed Kate a brush. She hung up the dress in the closet and brought her over some comfortable clothes she had found in a drawer. Then she excused herself and went to check on Alexis and the rest of the wedding party.

The silence in the room was deafening. There just weren't any words left in her. It wasn't until Kate heard a stuttered sob and turned to look into the older woman's tear rimmed eyes, that the torrent of emotions she had held at bay all afternoon ravaged through her.

"I'm sorry, Martha. You've been so good to me." Kate wrapped her arms around her would be mother in law. "You're hurting too, and here you are worrying about me."

Martha led Kate to the bed and sat on the edge. She took Kate's hands in hers. "Castle women are strong, Kate. When faced with adversity we stand strong. We do what has to be done. Richard was married twice before he found you, and those earrings sat in a box each time. He never knew what love was until you. He picked you, and you'll always be family, with or without a wedding. It's what he wanted, more than anything. It's what I want."

The tears streamed down both women's faces as they held each other. "Martha, it doesn't feel real to me. I feel like I'm in a dream, and any moment he's going to walk through that door. This is something you would see in a bad episode of One Life To Live. I need him Martha. I don't know how to exists without him anymore. How will our lives continue?"

"None of us do, Katherine." Martha said through trembling lips. The women wrapped their arms around each other, both lost in their own thoughts and memories.

As they parted, Kate reached up to remove the stunning sapphire earrings, but Martha stilled her hands. "Keep them for now, Kate. They'll remind us of the strength we all have within us, and help us get through this."

Downstairs, Gates and the boys had been on the phone all afternoon trying to get as much information as possible. The remains found at the accident were being sent to the local ME who, out of professional curtesy, had agreed to let Lanie assist in the autopsy the next morning. Espo, Ryan and Gates offered the Hampton PD their assistance, and the help was gratefully accepted. The next morning they would all go out to the scene, then to the police dept. to see the any evidence that would have been collected. Lanie would head to the Coroner's office first thing in the morning.

Jim Beckett and Jenny had thrown together a simple pasta meal for everyone, because the wedding party hadn't eaten all day. Jim marveled at the small but strong family his daughter had become part of, as he prepared the meal. The commitment, loyalty and love of this hodgepodge group to his daughter and each other was incredible.

Kate and Martha walked down the stairs hand in hand, as the crew of the 12th watched them. Both woman had changed, washed their faces and slipped on comfortable shoes. It was rare to see either of them so exposed. Everyone crowded around them eager to share what they had accomplished. After they thanked everyone for their help, Martha escorted everyone to their rooms for the night. Before she went upstairs she gave Kate a hug and kissed her cheek before whispering, "This is your family, Katherine."

Jim Beckett hung back as the group disappeared up the stairs. He had watched his daughter carefully, and saw as she began to build back the walls that Rick had carefully broken down over the last five years.

He walked over to her, and drew her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Katie. If there is anything I can do, don't hesitate to ask. Please, don't let this do to you what it did to me. I hurt you, when you needed me most, because I was too selfish in my hurt to share it with anyone, even you. Don't let it destroy everything he worked so hard for you to have."

"Dad, I keep waiting for him to walk through those doors. Hoping this is all just a bad dream. He can't be gone, after everything we have gone through. We were finally here. He made me believe in fairytales, Dad. Look what good that did me!" Her tears came fast. "I love him. I love him more than I have ever loved anyone. He's everything. He didn't stop until he had broken down my walls. He saw me! I was happy."

Her sobs wracked through her body, all the hurt and pain steamrolled through her with unbridled intensity. She wanted to hurt something, wanted to kick, and scream at the unfairness of it all. Instead she emotionally fell apart in her father's arms.

"I knew a few months into him following you, that he was something special. Your stories became less critical, they made you laugh. I heard more about Castle then I did your boyfriends. You fought him for so long, Katie, but he loved you, and he never gave up. He brought out the best in you." Her father wiped away the tears still running down her face.

"I love him. I'll always love him."

"There is someone else who lost her world today. She needs you as much as you needed me. Don't let her down, Kate. She has you and Martha, and she will need you both. Alexis has been outside on that deck since we got here. I brought her food and made her eat. She didn't want to talk, but I'm not you. Don't let her stay out there alone." He hugged his daughter tightly one more time before he kissed her and started towords the stairs.

"I'm upstairs if you need me. Don't hesitate to ask for anything, Kate. This time I won't disappoint you." He walked up the stairs slowly. Kate saw the sadness in his eyes. So many years and the pain from losing her mother was never very far.

Alexis sat on the deck, her feet dangled over the side as she watched the waves crash against the shore. She had come out here the minute they came through the door. It was one of her dad's favorite places at the house. She sat and had begged, pleaded and bargained with any higher power who'd listen. Had prayed that this was all a nightmare. It just couldn't end like this, her father was finally happy. Alexis heard the slider open behind her.

"Is there room for one more?" Kate asked the young woman. She wanted to let Alexis know she was there for her. She didn't want her to think that her feelings in this weren't important. She painfully remembered how it felt to be in Alexis' shoes.

Alexis turns towards Kate, her eyes are filled with unshed tears, her lips trembled as she tried to voice her innermost fear. "Kate, is he really dead?"

Kate couldn't answer her. The question knocked the breath out of her, and she's stunned into silence. Her eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around Alexis and rested her cheek on her head.

Kate wanted to tell her that he was alive. That there was hope and possibility, but she saw the scene and the Mercedes with her own eyes. There was no reason to think it wasn't Castle in the drivers seat, but she couldn't find it within herself to tell the girl he was dead. Alexis knew the answer to that as well as she did.

"Come inside, it's getting cold out here, and you need to change and get some rest." Kate offered Alexis her hand and headed in with her for the night. "Your Dad's so proud of you and everything you've become. You are the best thing that ever happened to him. You're the reason I let him in. He was real with you, not a spoiled, playboy, writer. He's a wonderful father to you, and it shows in the person you have become."

"Kate, you sound like you believe he is still alive."

" I'm not ready to let him go, Alexis. I can't see how he could have survived that crash. We saw the body, but I won't say those words until the all the proof is in front of me. Let me help you. I'm here for you, and if you don't want to be alone tonight. You can stay with me."

"I don't think I'm ready to go in there yet. That room is all, Dad. I'm going to go upstairs to my room." Alexis hugged Kate tightly. "Kate, you made Dad happy. He became a better Dad and a better person after he met you." Then she went upstairs.

Kate stood alone at the doorway to what was supposed to be their room. She walked across to his side of the bed, turned down the covers and crawled in. She wanted to surround herself with him tonight.

"Don't leave me Castle." She whispered into the dark room before she closed her eyes.

Kate tossed and turned all night. Nightmares plagued her, and the smell of him on his sheets teased her senses. Each time she woke she expected him to be lying beside her, watching her, and the tears would start again. It felt like she had just fallen asleep when her phone woke her up.

The picture of Lanie flashed across her screen. She swiped her finger across the screen and answered it. "Hi Lanie."

"He's alive Kate! Castle's alive! It wasn't him in the car. We matched the dental records, and the man in the car is also about 3 inches shorter than Castle. DNA isn't in yet, but Kate it's not Castle!"

Don't forget this will have weekly updates, with longer chapters. I'm honored at the reception this fic has gotten! Thanks again for reading :) Follow me on Twitter glo1196 - Tumblr: MyCastleObsession and Pintrest glo11962 I have a Castle board!