epilogue
"Careful, Castle," she warns, holding tight to the back of his coat like a leash. She sighs, a dramatic long suffering sound he's rather proud to hear. He's totally rubbing off on her. "This is such a bad idea."
"No, no, it's great!" he promises, grinning over at her.
"You were just cleared for activity," she mutters, but her lips are tugging upwards in the corners. "Why is this the first thing we have to do?"
"Actually, you were just cleared for activity, Detective." He winks over at her, watching the pale skin of her cheeks rise with a hint of color, of pride.
It's been just over six weeks since they celebrated their first Christmas together in a hospital room. Six weeks since she suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder, him to the arm, and they both took physical therapy incredibly seriously this time around. She was cleared to return back to the NYPD for work just a couple of days ago and this is their final weekend together before he has to fly back to California.
He hired movers to clear out the house in Bakersfield, the sad little place returning to the market by January, but Alexis had asked him to fly out just once more before they both told California goodbye.
His daughter would be finishing out the Spring semester of her sophomore year at Stanford, but she had already put in her transfer request for Columbia. To his delight, she was even willing to finish her final college years living in the loft.
"And because, I've been wanting a redo since December," he quips, stealing her hand from his back and twining their gloved fingers. The torn and repaired muscles in his bicep tug at the motion, the flexing, but he imagines it's nothing compared to the constellation of wounds on her body - the hole between her breasts, the slash along her ribcage, the tear through her shoulder.
Remaining more consistent with the physical therapy program they adopted in the city helped, she promised him. She followed all of her PT's directions, battling with herself on a daily basis to refrain from pushing too hard. He could see the difference this time, how she grew stronger with the exercises prescribed to her, how they even managed to aid in healing the older injuries he feared would plague her for the rest of her life.
"I am enjoying knowing there's no chance of you falling through this time," Kate concedes, her lips tugging upwards as they glide together through Rockefeller Center's famous ice rink.
They missed the tree, the Christmas magic New York City offers so beautifully in the winter, but none of that seemed to matter to him anymore. Instead, he thinks he is more enamored by the wonder that is the city on a Thursday afternoon, with Kate beside him on the couch, a book in her lap while he writes the final chapters of his fourth Nikki Heat book. He is so much more grateful for the magic that he has found in having an ordinary existence with the woman he loves in the city he's missed.
After the investigation into Mason Wood's mysterious organization, LokSat, after Bracken was put in a high security prison facility and Mason transferred to a similar location, after the blood was cleaned from her father's cabin and their bags were packed, they came home. He helped her move back into her place in Tribeca, she helped him take down some of his mother's more ornate touches in the loft, and it almost felt as if the last year never happened, as if they could pick up where they left off. Only that wasn't exactly true. Instead, he thinks, they were able to have something better - the opportunity to start anew.
She spent most of January in the loft with him, taking over a side of the bed, sharing coffee and laundry and intimate secrets. Claiming a place in his every day life as if she always belonged in it, just as he now felt certain he belonged in hers.
The first day she ventured back to the Twelfth for a meeting with Gates, it was with him at her side. They entered the bullpen to applause and he sat on the sidelines while she argued with Gates for him, selling her worth to her new superior and crediting him as her backup, her partner.
The other woman eventually folded, but warned them of the strict leash they were on. But he didn't mind, didn't fear the terse threats from Captain Gates; he was back at the Twelfth with Kate Beckett, back in the part of his life that allowed him so much inspiration and joy. He would be good, desperately good, as long as he was allowed to keep it all this time.
"I'm actually pretty good," he says now, coasting alongside her with only a hint of the fear that used to plague him at the idea of traipsing across ice on blades.
Even after falling in the lake and nearly freezing to death at her dad's cabin, the fear of falling no longer afflicts him. She holds his hand too tightly and indulges in the habit of pressing promises to his cheek between the press of her lips.
Kate checks the other skaters around them, ensuring they have the space, and eases ahead, circling to skate in front of him. He extends his other hand for hers as she glides backwards so she can see his face.
"Showoff," he scoffs, even though he prefers this position, being able to have a perfect view of her smile, her sparkling eyes.
"Don't be jealous, baby," she teases, bending her elbows to allow him closer, the toes of their skates nearly touching. "I'll teach you."
"Oh, I love when we play that game," he muses, smirking as she rolls her eyes.
"Hey," she begins, the ripple of a swallow disappearing beneath the pretty red fabric of her scarf. "I've been thinking."
"You want burgers from Remy's for dinner tonight?"
She laughs, a quiet giggle she tries to hide from him, but the flash of her teeth, the glint in her eyes, give her away.
"Yeah, but also… I've been thinking about the summer recently," she states, surprising him. "I mean, it'll be spring soon and you know I like to plan ahead."
The blades of their skates nearly kiss and Kate uses the newly acquired strength in her arms to pull him along after her.
"We've never had a summer together," she continues, chewing on her bottom lip and averting her eyes. "We got to have Christmas, New Year's-"
"Kate-"
"And I just started thinking about how I don't want to be in the city or the cabin, or anywhere without you this summer," she gets out with a great exhale, glancing up at him with a hint of uncertainty, that tender shyness that shows her vulnerability like a heart on a sleeve. "So what if we finally go to the Hamptons this summer? It's your tradition, right?"
Castle's eyebrows raise, excitement brewing in his stomach, fluttering in his chest.
"That sounds perfect," he finally says, slowing to a stop with her near the back of the rink. People skate around them, but he barely notices. "I don't want to spend the summer without you either and - and I don't plan to again."
A gentle smile spreads across her lips and she releases his hands, extends her arms to lace around his neck.
"And I plan to spend every holiday with you, build new traditions with you-"
"Rick," she whispers, the cool leather of her glove caressing his cheek as she fits her palm along his jaw.
"I'm in no rush," he prefaces softly, resting his cheek into the cradle of her touch. "But one day, I'm going to marry you, Kate." She sucks in a quiet breath and he slips his arms around her waist, holds her steady. "I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you. And we're going to be happy, so happy."
"I am happy," she breathes, her gaze suspiciously shiny, but her voice fierce with conviction. "You… you make me so happy, Castle."
He pulls her closer and she slides a couple of inches across the ice to bury her face in his neck. He tightens his arms around her, hugging her close and shivering at the graze of her mouth to his throat.
"I love you," she murmurs, the shiver traveling down his spine like a wonderful spark of electricity. He's certain it will become normal to hear one day, that it will be a commonplace phrase between them, but for now, every time she tells him, the words feel mesmerizing and brand new.
Castle nudges his nose to her temple, staining a kiss against her hair. "I love you too."
The alarm on his phone begins to buzz, vibrating in his coat pocket and alerting them that their designated rink time is up.
Kate sighs and disentangles from him. "Do you still want to come shopping with me?"
He straightens a little at that, a new tinge of excitement flickering through his veins. He enjoys shopping with her, watching her sort through the clothes, the delicate touch of her fingertips along fabrics, the intimacy of slipping into a dressing room with her, watching her change.
"You know I do," he grins, twining their fingers once more as they skate toward the exit. "Gotta pick the perfect outfit for your first day back."
"Yes, so you can just see it in the store and not worry about rushing back next week," she chastises, shooting him a look.
"Beckett, I have to be here on your first day," he argues, lifting their arms as two children race between them. "Who's going to make your morning coffee? Cook you a five star breakfast? Crack jokes on the ride to the precinct to dissolve your nerves?"
"Not necessary," she chuckles, turning toward him as they reach the edge of the rink. "I want you to enjoy your time in California. You don't know when you'll have the time to go back after this trip and-"
He tugs her closer, listening to her grunt in irritation. Her back touches the cold barrier of plexiglass and Castle comes to a stop in front of her, fingers curling on either side of her, boxing her in.
"I am going to be here for your first day," he promises her, his voice a low husk that has her eyes narrowing.
"Fine, partner," she says, reaching for the lapels of his coat. She holds him there as she leans in, tilting her chin to brush her lips over his. Castle hums, ducking his head to kiss her thoroughly, to feel the rise of her chest into his, the tightening curl of her fingers in his. Her mouth spreads into a smile and her arms band around his neck, sealing him close. "Now, let's take off our skates, shop a little bit, and-"
"Go home," Castle murmurs, forehead brushing against hers. "Order the food, watch a movie, soak our sore muscles in my massive tub, and-"
"Home, huh?" she muses, earning the flick of his eyes to hers, the mini panic in his chest. He's been slipping up about that lately, interchangeably calling wherever they end up that night - his place or hers - home. But this is the first time she's called him out for it.
"Wherever you are, Kate," he shrugs, skating his thumbs back and forth along the bones of her hips. "Is where home will be for me."
She sucks in a soft breath and purses her lips, sliding her hand down to steal his fingers from her waist and lead him off of the ice.
"Then let's go home, Castle."
A/N: I want to thank everyone who read this story so very much for the warmest welcome back into the fanfiction publishing world. It's been the greatest joy to write for you again and a true gift to receive such kind support. I am wishing you all the most beautiful holiday season.