CH23

It is still Kate's birthday: (November 17, 1999)

They only made it as far as the car. "Castle?" Kate needed to hear it, whatever IT was.

Rick stepped over to Kate and wrapped his arms around her. "Gina put me in a spot back there. I didn't want to tell her that you were just my girlfriend, not when you mean so much more to me. Way more than only you being a girlfriend. We've been together for something like 9 months now and I love you."

"I needed Gina to know you were a part of my life. I owe you my thanks for that quick read of the contract she handed me. I or my lawyer might have missed that."

"I know you're not my fiancé, it's just that the term girlfriend doesn't begin to describe you and trust me, when I ask you to marry me… and someday I will...you will know it. And it will not be at some outhouse of a chapel in Vegas. Your father is going to be there to give you away to me and he's going to be sober when he does," Rick finished while gently smiling at her.

Kate's heart was pounding in her chest again. She still thought of herself as a now 20 year old nobody. No diploma, no job, no mother, no place else to live, nowhere else to go, and no one she loved more. And Richard Castle was talking about asking her to marry him one day!

"I love you too Castle, and who knows, maybe I'll even say yes when you do." Kate couldn't help but tease him with her answer to his question that he wasn't asking yet.

"It's a little early for your first birthday present but it might take us close to an hour to drive there in this traffic." Rick kissed Kate getting her to kiss him back.

Kate was quiet while he put in the address and drove to her first birthday present. HE'S GOING TO ASK ME TO MARRY HIM! Played over and over in her mind all the way.

53-21 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City.

"Hi. We are here for one class under Rodgers," Castle told the lady who greeted them.

"Of course, please come this way. Normally we only take students who want to take classes however we have space and time at the moment so your timing is perfect. So who is our student today or is it both of you?" the lady asked.

"It's only for Kate here, it's her birthday today," Rick remarked to her.

"Really! Well we'll just have to make it a memorable one then, won't we?" She started smiling and led them inside. As they went inside Kate's eyes flew wide open. It looked like…it looked like… "What do you teach here?" Kate was suddenly scared.

"This is the Circus Warehouse and we teach students flying trapeze, static trapeze, trampoline, and various balancing and acrobatics. In your case we are going to teach you how to fly the trapeze…up there." She pointed to the flying trapeze area, way, way up there.

"First we are going to stay on the ground and get you used to the feeling of flying. It's a lot like having a line on you for when you do rock climbing. The thrill of rock climbing is still there but you stand no chance of falling since you will be in a harness."

"Once you are comfortable with that we are going to show you what to do with your arms and hands so that Victor can catch you," she clarified.

Kate was shaking a little as they fitted her in a harness. She found herself on a trampoline. "Now bounce as high as you wish to go. We will have a hold of you and will be holding you high so that you can feel like you are flying before letting you come back down and then bounce back up. Ready? Bounce!"

Kate didn't know why she didn't put an end to this before she got this far since there was no way in hell she was going UP THERE! Still she gave a little bounce and felt weightless for a moment. "Bounce Kate, reach for the stars!" Castle yelled at her.

It took close to half an hour but they had Kate bouncing up and down really high. They held her up high not letting her fall until they lowered her down. She landed on her feet and ended up bouncing up even higher. With the last two bounces Kate was reaching the end of the security system and had to stop. "You're a natural Kate," the lady told her as she started taking Kate out of the harness.

"You were really high Kate," Rick said to her, meaning like really high!

Kate was smiling wide. "It was fun and easy. What's next?" Suddenly being way the hell up there didn't look so scary.

"Now we are going to introduce you to Victor who will be your catcher. He is going to teach you what you need to do."

It turned out to be simple. Kate would run a little and jump on a mini trampoline. When she came down on her feet past the trampoline, she was supposed to hold her arms out and let Victor grab her arms as she reached for his arms. Then he would spin her before letting go of her.

"You understand? I grab your arms, not your hands. Never just your hands-they are the weak spot. Always the arms," he told Kate and slapped his arm for emphasis. "Now we practice." Victor reached out, slapped his hands on Kate's arms, and held on tight. Kate followed his instructions and grabbed his arms.

"Too slow! Grab my arms just as I grab your arms…again." And Victor repeated his action.

"Again… Again… Again..." Kate was starting to worry that her arms were going to be forever bruised by the time Victor stopped. "Good, now we do it up there." Victor walked to one end and started climbing the rope ladder to get up.

The lady took Kate to her end and climbed with her. "Scared?" she asked after they got to the top and are standing on a simple board. "Yes." Kate looked down; it was a long way down!

"Good. Scared is good. It means your adrenaline is pumping and yet you are armed with knowledge. Knowledge and your practice are what make the difference. You are perfectly safe. If you and Victor fail to catch there is a net you will land in. Simply walk to the edge and flip over it, climb back up here, and we'll do it again," the lady told her.

"Here is your bar that you will be using. Take it in your hands and get a feel for it." Kate took the bar that she will be using to swing out into space and prayed that Victor would catch her.

"Now take some chalk and rub it into your hands like this," she demonstrated and waited for Kate to follow.

"Slippery hands are the enemy. This will absorb your sweat and allow your hands to rub against the bar as you release your grip. Now take the bar…feel the difference?" she asked.

"Yes." Kate thought it didn't feel as rough, like it wasn't going to give her a rope burn. "Now squeeze your hands closed and move your wrists." And she demonstrated the motion getting Kate to copy her.

"Have you seen anyone do this before? Gone to a circus maybe?" the lady asked her.

"My parents took me when I was a little girl." Kate could suddenly remember going to the circus and watching the flying trapeze as the lady did flips and twists and other death defying stunts.

"Good, then you know how this works. You are going to take the bar and start swinging. Like on the swings when you were a little girl. I'm going to be on this end so that when you come back this way, I'm going to push you out there."

"This may take two or three swings. I will warn you when this is the last swing. Victor will be swinging with you, trying to match your swing. So you must be steady in your swing, no sudden surges or getting scared and suddenly stopping."

"Victor is going to clap his hands and yell at you, which will sound a lot like a yell. We yell a lot in this business." It was humorous and made Kate laugh.

"Who is your handsome man on the ground looking up at you?" Kate was instantly worried. This lady was pretty and thin much like she was and older. Probably had a mother, father, wasn't broken, and obviously had a job.

"Rick…my fiancé." Kate answered. She came to the realization that Castle was right. He was more than just her boyfriend, he was way past being just a boyfriend.

"You are a lucky woman. I don't know many men that would do this for someone they love. Birthday gift or no… Ready?" Kate squeezed the bar in her hand. "Remember two maybe three swings and then Victor will clap his hand and yell. When he does you will let go and simply fly across to him and let him catch you like you have practiced. Then Victor will swing back this way and yell. When he does he will let go of you and you have to let go of him. You must spot the bar that will still be swinging. You grab it and swing back to me. I will grab you and help you step onto the board." The lady signaled to Victor who started swinging, then he clapped his hands and yelled. The lady shoved Kate out into air.

Kate watched as Victor swung close and then swung away from her. Then Kate could feel hands on her hips behind her that pushed her back out into the air a little harder. Victor again came in close and then swung away from her.

Just as Kate felt the lady's hands on her hips again she heard her say, "Get ready." And she pushed Kate hard again. It really was a lot like when her dad would push her on the swings.

Victor clapped his hands and yelled. Kate let go of the bar and reached for Victor. The second she felt his hands slap her arms she grabbed him. They swung back and forth two times, and then Victor yelled and released her. Kate spun in midair; she could see the bar that she only had a second to grab.

It actually caught her by surprise that the bar was right in front of her face. She almost screwed up trying to grab it, and ended up swinging up to the lady who grabbed her and placed her on the board. "Good?" the lady asked her.

"It was great!" Kate was smiling wide. "Ready to go again?" The lady asked her, smiling herself.

Kate squeezed the bar while still smiling. "Ready." Kate was determined this time.

The lady gave the signal then she pushed Kate and they repeated it with Kate standing next to the lady again. She was grinning so much that her face felt like it was going to break.

They did it three more times and Kate was still standing on the board looking very pleased with herself. "Ready to add a twist? You've been twisting to pick up the bar on the way back. This time you need to do a full twist before Victor catches you. Think you're ready?"

"Yes. Please?" Kate looked at her and the lady took the bar and swung it out where Victor was still swinging back and forth. "More chalk," the lady told Kate who took a little and rubbed it in her hands.

The lady caught the bar and swung it back out to catch it yet again and to hand it to Kate. "Just like last time. Swing until Victor claps and yells at you. You will let go and twist in place as fast as you can and let Victor catch you before you grab his arms. Remember there is a net down there so you are perfectly safe. That and your fiancé is watching your every move, smiling just as wide as you are. Which is good, all performers must smile all the time. It kinda hurts my face after a while, but you get used to it." The lady signaled Victor and shoved Kate out into the air again.

Two more swings and Kate can see and hear Victor clap his hands and yell at her. Kate let go quickly and did her damnedest to twist in place before reaching for Victor who was right where he was supposed to be.

"EXCELLENT!" Victor said, smiling. Two more swings and Victor yelled and let go of her, allowing Kate to twist and grab the bar and swing up to the lady.

"Excellent work Kate, excellent." Kate looked down since she could hear someone clapping and whistling loudly. "I think someone else is impressed. Ready to go again?" Kate nodded her head. "Ready." She squeezed the bar and let the lady push her out into the air.

Once again it took a couple of swings until Victor clapped and yelled. Kate let go quickly and did her best to twist as fast as she could and found Victor right in front of her.

Victor was smiling approvingly. Kate was also smiling and soon found herself standing next to the lady again. "What do you do for a living?" the lady asked.

"I just finished Police Academy training. When I get hired I'll be a rookie beat cop." Kate left out the part that it wasn't going to happen if at all for another full year.

"Seriously, a cop?" That was not what she was expecting. "Well if it doesn't work out you should come back and take the full course. You could be good. Teach you to do some flips in addition to your twist. Could be fun… Well this is the end; I'd ask if you had fun but that would be a dumb question judging by the look on your face." Kate was so very pleased and happy. She started to blush.

"To get down you swing out, perform whatever maneuver you want and land in the net. Then walk to the edge and flip over into the arms of your lucky fiancé," the lady said to her. She waited for Kate to swing out, let go, and try to do a full twist with a full summersault thrown in and land on the net.

She and Victor both watched as Kate skipped and hopped over to Rick and ended up in his arms, kissing each other. The lady sighed. Kate had what she so wished she could find.

"I take it you had fun?" Rick just knew it was a stupid question.

"It was amazing. It was a blast… Thank you!" Kate kissed him again. Then they watched the lady do a double twist with a double summersault, land on her feet and bounce for a bit before reaching the edge of the net where she grabbed it and flipped over the side. She was followed by Victor doing something similar.

Victor and the lady said their goodbyes to both of them. "It has been a pleasure catching such a lovely lady. You should come back for the full course someday." Victor kissed Kate's hand and walked off.

"You are a lucky man, your fiancé is fearless and amazing. It has been a pleasure teaching you Kate. Come back anytime and I'll teach you a few tricks. And my name is Natalie," she said to them.

Kate hugs Natalie since it had been fun. "Thank you."

"Come on, time to go home." Rick told her. He escorted Kate to the car and drove home. "I'm going to order pizza for your birthday dinner and we can sit upstairs listening to music of your choice."

"Not another fancy dinner at an expensive restaurant?" From the look on Kate's face, Rick knew she was teasing.

"Not tonight. I want to sit close to you and have an intimate simple dinner with just you and some soft music. I'll think of something fancy for your 21st birthday when you can legally drink alcohol." Rick said to Kate, giving her a quick smile before turning his head back on the road.

"It sounds perfect." Kate only needed Castle anyway.

Kate was upstairs after sliding in her favorite songs of her favorite performer. She was listening to the first song as she used the remote to adjust the treble, bass, strength of each speaker and the volume. Castle came up the stairs with pizza, paper plates and two sodas, one being diet.

"I think I've heard this before. Who is this?" Rick set everything down on the table.

"This is John Coltrane, one of the best sax players that ever lived. I love his music, it is so...I don't know, he just helps me to relax. This song is called Crescent. It is arguably his very best work," Kate explained as she got up to retrieve her piece. Castle had gotten half Hawaiian and half all meat on the pizza.

"I used to listen to his music to decompress after driving my parents, mostly my dad, crazy." Kate admitted.

"Oooo, sounds like Rebel Beckett. What did you do?" Rick wanted to know some of her history.

"I was a little mean in my early teen years. I don't know why. Maybe I just wanted to get a rise out of my dad, or maybe I was trying to stretch my limits. Looking back I did a lot of stupid stuff. I was probably lucky that I didn't get gang raped or worse."

"Now I wish I had never done those things." It might be her birthday, but Kate was suddenly feeling bad and depressed.

"Your mother knows you loved her. With what you've told me there is no way she didn't know. You were her only child. Mothers seem to just know things somehow. I could almost swear that they leave a chip in our brains that they can tap whenever they want and learn our deepest secrets." Rick thought back onto his teen years, and the wild stuff he had done.

"It sounds like you are speaking from experience there Castle, care to share with the class?" Kate was willing to dig for a little information too, besides it got the topic off of her.

"Oh no Officer Beckett, you go first." Rick took a bite of pizza.

Kate took a sip of her soda. "Fine. I saved up money all summer long to buy my motorcycle. I wasn't even supposed to be riding it yet since I wasn't old enough, however the dealer bought my fake ID and let me ride it home."

"Dad blew a fuse, you should have seen his face." Kate started laughing as the picture of that day came to mind.

"I never knew anyone could be that red. I thought sure smoke was going to come out his ears like in those cartoons. Dad never said a word to me but I never saw him so animated then or since. Just days later I ran across a group of guys out riding their hogs like I was; I'm not sure who joined who."

"It never occurred to me what I looked like dressed in skin tight leathers while riding my bike. I bought the leathers for safety in case I had to lay the bike down."

"Everything was fine till I chickened out and turned around and went back the way I had come as fast as I could. I saw half of them turn around to follow me and try and chase me down."

"I learned a lesson that day and only rode my bike on short trips. I was shaking like a leaf while I struggled to get the leathers off,." Kate confided. Kate didn't know what those guys were thinking, but she was sure she had dodged a bullet that had her name on it that day.

"You have skin tight leathers?" Rick gaped at Kate as he tried to picture her in something that tight.

"If you're a good boy Castle I just might model them for you," Kate teased while taking a bite of her pizza, getting Castle to growl at her with his mouth full.

"Blue in Green," "Giant Steps," and "Resolution" songs had completed. "I've got something for you." Rick announced and ran down the spiral staircase. He was gone a little while since he had to go all the way down to the master bedroom closet area and then come running back.

"You mean a lot to me Katherine Houghton Beckett, so I got you a birthday present." Rick told her.

"You already got me a present Castle and I was amaz…" Kate stopped talking when Castle placed the small box in her lap. It was a small blue box that had a fancy upper case B on it in parenthesis.

Kate could only stare at it as she stopped breathing and started to feel her heart pound in her chest. It was the perfect size for a…the perfect size. "Rick?" Kate only managed to squeak out his name.

"Open it Kate." Rick sat down just across from her. That left Kate sitting there staring at it. Everything else just faded away, including her next Coltrane song "Alabama."

He wouldn't, would he? And if he had what would she say? Kate knew that she loved him. Loved him a lot actually, but marry him? Even if they had started referring to each other as being their fiancé to other people . If it was what she thought it was, it would actually make Rick her fiancé.

It took every ounce of strength Kate had just to lift up the box and hold it in her hand. GOD WHAT IF IT WAS!… WHAT IF IT WASN'T?

Kate was ready to fall apart. The little box creaked as she opened it to see what was inside. She started breathing again when she saw what was inside. Problem was, was she glad it was or glad it wasn't?

Diamond Stud Earrings. 2.95 ct. tw. each. Clarity of VS2. Color of H. Prong setting. "Rick! They are spectacular looking!" Kate started crying for what they were and what they weren't.

"Try them on," Rick told her. Kate took off the simple earrings she was wearing and worked at putting these on. There wasn't a mirror up here, however Kate simply felt beautiful just wearing them.

"Rick!" Kate was up letting the box fall on the floor as she descended on Rick and kissed him as passionately as she could. Those kisses were followed by little kisses all over his face. "Thank you so much baby, they're beautiful and I don't deserve them." Kate held his face and looked him in the eye and all she saw was pure love looking back at here.

It was now that Kate made up her mind and wondered if they could be exchanged for an engagement ring. "I've got one more thing for you." Rick pulled out an envelope from somewhere.

"Rick no, I don't need anymore." Kate looked at the envelope. It didn't look like anything special on this side.

"I disagree and I think you'll want this." Rick handed it to her. Kate ended up on her knees on the floor in front of Castle.

Kate turned it over and found that it was addressed to her at this address. It was her very first piece of mail at their new home. It also had FBI from Virginia written all over it. "Castle?" Kate looked up at him. What had he done?

"Open it Kate, it's addressed to you." Rick was smiling since he knew what was in it.

Kate ripped it open and pulled out a single piece of paper which was addressed to her. Kate read it silently trying to make sense of what it was telling her. "Internship training?" Kate had reached that part.

Ten weeks of unpaid FBI student internship training that does not require a degree from a 4-year accredited University. After completion of the program certain students are selected to follow up with a paid ten week internship training. Each can take place in Quantico, Virginia or at a field office. In this case Kate was accepted to the first ten weeks at Quantico, Virgina.

The second ten weeks, undergraduate interns were paid at the GS-6 ($23,820 annually) grade level on the government pay scale, while graduate honors interns are paid at the GS-7 level ($26,470 annually).

The first class started on March 1st and continued for ten weeks, followed by next ten weeks for selected students that complete and pass the first ten weeks.

"Castle!?" Kate started crying again as she looked at him.

"I found you a job if you want it?" Rick said to her. Kate started nodding her head and went back to kissing him. Kate loved him, loved him even more now if that was even possible. Now she was sure that she wished her earrings were an engagement ring, and she knew what her answer would be.