Merry Christmas and a safe new year.

Chapter 45

The day was very early, pre-dawn, when Rick arrived at the Candela's apartment, something he didn't think about at the time he had closed the doorway of the loft not that long ago. The build-up of excitement in his gut was impossible to control and had pushed him out the front door of his home in the wee hours of the morning.

There had been the minor problem of getting into the Candela's apartment, but as it so happened the uniformed officer who was on duty at the main entrance knew Castle, the writer. The officer also knew Castle was partnered up with the as he quoted, 'the hot Detective Beckett'. Castle also knew not to repeat that to the Detective. Quite frankly he liked it that other men thought his girlfriend was hot. She was. She was his boyhood dream. Tall, leggy and brunette. Luck hadn't been his friend with red heads or the bottled blonds, so he hoped fate was giving him a hand with Kate.

The first show morning light seeped in around the window shades, but it was mostly dark in the little girl's bedroom that Castle quietly crept about in. Beckett was asleep on a rocking chair with a blanket over her shoulders. She looked awfully cute and he was briefly reminded of a night he'd found her asleep on the pink occasional chair. Occasional chair. More than occasionally, they'd had the best sex on it. He smiled to himself, mesmerised by the fond memories his imagination brought up while he listened to Kate breathe steadily. He didn't want to wake her up in case he was wrong. He could just hear the feds talking in the living room. He continued his search, tossing soft toys about keeping his flashlight out of Beckett's eye line.

However, Beckett's breathing altered and she soon stirred, opening her eyes to find Castle searching Angela's bed with a flashlight.

"Castle?" She hissed.

"Go back to sleep," he murmured. He peered out the room to ensure no one was around, then leaned over and gave her a kiss. "Hey," he whispered with a smile.

"Hello," she smiled and touched the side of his face briefly, "What are you doing?"

"Looking at you and thinking about how gorgeous you are while you sleep."

She released a little laugh, "No, really?"

He smiled, "Really," then returned to his search.

"You said that yesterday morning."

"I meant it then too."

"What are you doing?" She repeated, more awake.

"When Alexis was little, she had a stuffed monkey that she could not live without. One time we were on vacation, she forgot to pack him. I bought another one, but she knew it was not Monkey-Bunkey."

"So?" Kate sat up, still savouring the tingle of his lips, the touch of his breath on her skin.

"So..." Castle picked up the framed photograph of Angela clutching her bunny in bed and held it up to Beckett. "There's two more pictures of her clutching this bunny out there. So, where's the bunny?"

"You think whoever took Angela knew her well enough to take the bunny, too? But we already checked the Candelas' list. Couple of teenage babysitters, a cleaning lady... They've all been cleared."

"Only not all baby-sitters are teenagers. Sometimes they're people close to us. Sometimes they're family. When did we lose the signal on the phone?"

"Right after we told the Candelas we were tracking it," she whispered then smiled, totally turned on by their conversation. "Like we said yesterday. Inside job."

Rick smiled, "God, that felt good," he whispered, watching her eyes dart between his eyes and lips.

"We're so in sync. We need to tell Sorenson."

"That you're mine or about the soft toy?"

She bit her lip. "The soft toy."

"Ok, keep the other a secret."

"He knows."

"He knows?"

"Yes. FBI Rick."

Rick paused, suddenly aware Sorenson hadn't brought it to Kate's attention, that he had inadvertently told the agent they were a couple, while he was being a bit of a jackass.

"C'mon." Beckett hissed.

They left the child's bedroom and discreetly approached Sorenson who was resting in an armchair in the living room.

Beckett leaned over and whispered. "Wil, Theresa's sister, Nina. You got an address?"

Half asleep he vacantly stared up at Beckett then nodded, "Yeah. What's going on?"

"I'll tell you outa here. C'mon, sleeping beauty, wake up."

"We'll go for a coffee." Rick suggested looking about them. There was no way they could have a conversation in this confined home without raising suspicion. Telling people they were going for coffee wouldn't raise suspicion. They left the house.

An unmarked police vehicle pulled up curbside opposite a small children's playground that surrounded by multi storey domestic buildings. It was barely visible from the street and the occupants of the car couldn't see any children from where they were positioned

"Hold back." Kate said in to the police radio. "But follow us."

"Roger that." Esposito replied.

Beckett, Castle, and Sorenson got out the car. Beckett looked along the road noting Ryan and Esposito were out of their vehicle and behind them two police cars had pulled up. They walked across the road towards the playground.

Mrs Candela's sister, Nina Mendoza, sat on a garden bench by the playground watching over a child in the playground equipment. She noticed the police approached, an anxious expression coming across her face. Castle saw she held Angela's stuffed bunny that he'd searched for. The woman stood and looked as though she was going run but she saw Ryan and Esposito closing behind her.

As they approached, Sorenson began, "Nina Mendoza, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Angela Candela."

Esposito said, "Taking your own niece. Put your hands behind your back."

Ryan continued to read the woman her rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used..."

Rick paused, his focus going to Beckett who continued to Angela who was confined in a fenced off area. She bent down to the little girl in a pink coat. "Hello, Angela."

Beckett crouched to the baby's height, "I am so happy to see you. You wanna go and see Mommy?" She picked up the child and stood up to full height, the baby in arms, "Come on, baby. Look at you." She smiled, and began to walk towards the garden bench where the soft toy had been discarded, "Hello. Hi, beautiful. Want to grab your pink rabbit?" Beckett picked up the stuffed rabbit off the bench where Nina had sat. "Look at the rabbit." She gave the baby her toy when she reached out for it, then started back to the car.

Sorenson glanced over at Castle, and nodded at him. Then both men turned and followed Beckett as she comforted and carried Angela. Castle saw his partner's instincts of nurture with the toddler, which caused him to wonder whether the woman in her late twenties wanted to have babies of her own. She had avoided his question yesterday morning. He'd made it clear to her that he was willing to have more children - with her. But was he? She wasn't pregnant and seemed fine about that. Watching her with the toddler, he didn't need to even dwell on it to make a decision. The answer immediately came to him the second Kate Beckett looked back over her shoulder directly at him, with the baby in her safe embrace. Her eyes were bright, her smile beautiful. They'd saved the baby but it was more than that he saw when she looked right at him.

A feather could have knocked him over.

Later in the morning, after the arrests had been made, Beckett was seated at her desk, finalising the NYPD paperwork to hand into their Captain and the FBI. She was just winding up the email when Sorenson walked up and took the seat next to her desk, being Castle's chair. Kate hit send, then paused her work. She immediately noticed he had something on his mind other than work.

Sorenson tapped the top of the desk, a sure sign he was going to make small talk before he got down to business. "So, how do you think she'll do?"

"Well," she began, "I guess it depends on how many mothers are on the jury." She took in the sight of Will on Castle's wrecked up old chair, determining there and then she preferred to see Castle sitting there. She had dated Will for just over six months and they had been talking about moving in together when he'd then hit her with the news he wanted to accept a job offer in another town. She'd also like him and thought she saw a future with him. His career decision has caused things to be rough for a few months for them, but time had caused them to forget. She hadn't forgotten the heartache she'd experienced but what she had felt for Will she didn't remember now. Kate now appreciated that the job offer had come up before she had given up her apartment to move in with Wil.

"So, now that it's over... now that I'm back, I was... thinking, maybe we could give it another shot."

"And when you leave again?"

"You come with me."

She looked at him for a moment, then looked away, then down and nodded. "Think about it." He stood up.

Beckett stared at him, took a deeper breath then said, "You know why I can't, Will." He glanced beyond her peripheral vision and she chose not to follow and kept her eyes on his face.

"I do." He nodded and turned. She watched him walk away.

Not seconds later, Castle took his place on the chair and leaned over the desk absorbing her expression with great interest. She smiled understanding Rick's expression, and why Sorenson had gone. He'd seen Castle enter the bull pen. Castle got her attention.

"Nice guy," he commented waving his hand in Sorenson's direction. "I can see how it wouldn't work, though," he stated.

"Really?" She sat back waiting for his response.

"Sure."

"How?" She really wanted to know what her current boyfriend thought of her ex. The men were completely different.

"Handsome, square-jawed, by-the-book."

She raised an eyebrow, "And that's a bad thing?"

"Yeah, he's like the male you. Ying needs Yang, not another Ying. Ying-Yang is harmony, but Ying-Ying is... a name for a panda," he said with a smirk, amused by his own humour.

"Any more wisdom, Obi-Wan?" She inquired trying not to laugh.

"Nope. That's it for today. What say we celebrate by going out for a drink?"

"I can't." She said, "I've got a date tonight." She stood up and grabbed her stuff.

"A date? You date? Who?" He glanced down the way, to see they had the attention of the boys.

"That's why it's called private life. Because it's private. Unlike you, I don't live my life on Page Six." She said as she walked from her desk.

"Well, you're a mysterious woman, Detective Beckett." He remarked as he chased her down.

"Maybe there's a little more Nikki Heat in me than you think." She shot him a mysterious smile as she headed out of the precinct.

In the elevator, standing side to side, Kate turned to Rick. "What are you doing for the rest of the day, Castle?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, Beckett. Alexis is at school. My mother is out, hopefully. I could write."

"Mm." A dissatisfied expression appeared as she stepped in closer, capturing his gaze, "I haven't eaten in about twelve hours and haven't slept for like a day." She raised an eyebrow, waited for his response.

Rick gazed from her head to her waist then looked forward to the elevator lights, "Sorted then," he said. "Let's go back to my place. I'll make lunch while you take a shower freshen up, we'll eat, then go to bed for a nap."

She smiled. "Yes. I have a change of clothes at your place."

"You do, yes."

"A nap would be perfect." She said. "Can we stay at my place tonight? My dress for our date is at home."

"Oh yes your date." He smiled. "You will love the restaurant I've booked."

"I know I will. I also have tomorrow off." She hinted.

"Sounds like you wanna spend time with your boyfriend, Ms Beckett."

She laughed. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Kate stepped out ahead of him. "Subway or cab?"

"Cab. Walk a couple of blocks, Beckett."

They pushed the doors open, exited the building and went down the steps. They turned left and walked, blending in with other pedestrians on the city streets.

"Did you like my exit conversation?" She asked as they walked shoulder to shoulder.

"Perfect. You're going on a date. Esposito is sensing there is something between us, Kate, but he said you'd never date me. I'm not your type.'

She laughed. "How do you know?"

"He cornered me in the breakroom. Big brother syndrome, very protective of you."

"Oh."

"Oh? If we break up, I think he might hurt me." He said and smiled.

"That's Espo." She laughed. "We won't break up." She affirmed. They continued in silence walking the distance of a few blocks. When Rick was confident it was safe they wouldn't bump into Kate's co-workers, he took a hold of her right hand and urged her to a cab stop.