Hey, friends! I promised a story following the ending of my 2024 fic We'll All Be Here Forever and I've finally got some time to write that sequel. Here is the first chapter of Forever. If you haven't read the previous story, you'll likely miss some of the context for this story, but it isn't absolutely crucial. I'm looking forward to exploring Rick and Kate's life after Ruby's death and how they find happiness despite their grief.

This fic is rated mature for a handful of pretty spicy scenes, especially in the earlier chapters. As for other content warnings, please be aware that given this story is a follow up to some pretty traumatic events, there will be mentions of cancer, death, and pregnancy loss.

I hope you enjoy and, as usual, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

January 16, East Hampton, NY

Bright.

So bright.

Why was it so bright? It's never bright enough to wake her up in the morning, at least not in January. Kate casually reaches her arm behind her a few inches to grab for Castle on his side of the bed. She knows he's there, she feels his warmth, hears his quiet snores, but the soft caress of his leg stirs him a bit.

"G'mornin'," Castle hums sleepily.

"Is it?" she wonders, reaching for her phone. "It's really bright."

"I might not have closed the blinds all the way," he shrugs.

"Maybe," Kate says as she grabs her phone and yawns. "It's also...11:30."

Rick chuckles in disbelief as he pulls Kate into his side and she rolls onto his chest. "Feels like winter break in college. Nothing stopping us from spending all day in bed."

He brushes the hair out of Kate's eyes and kisses her on the lips. The taste of her immediately wakes him up. So sweet. So freaking sweet. She moans softly as her teeth rub against his bottom lip. She takes a sharp nip as she kisses him back. And that's all he needs to decide that he really could stay in bed all day.

He's already sporting a semi as Kate's lacy silk pajamas and her soft skin dance across his bare chest. His heart pounds in his ears as blood rushes to his groin.

"Oh," Kate chuckles. "It is a good morning."

Then, Kate does the most evil thing possible. She straddles his hips and slowly, ever so slowly, slides her inner thigh against his hard length. His breath hitches. He's about to explode at the slightest touch. This is what Kate Beckett does to him. Still does to him. His legs are jello and he's about to come in his boxers like he's 16 years old.

"Kate," he pleads. Every muscle in his core is clenched as she rubs against him, a little harder, a little faster each time. He's white hot with need. He sees that same intensity as he looks into Kate's eyes, her pupils dilating as his hands work their way under her top. She slows her pace, moves her entire palm over his boxers, slides her fingers up his length just before reaching the tip. And then she...stops. He bucks his hips begging for the friction to return, but Kate skillfully denies the wordless request. "Evil woman," he whispers, digging his hands into her hips and holding her in place.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Kate teases, her dexterous fingers on one hand unbuttoning her top. Her other hand is now at the waist band of Rick's boxers; she eliminates the fabric barrier and walks her fingers down to his dick. He can already feel the stars forming in his eyes, but Castle is determined to keep his wits about him. He grabs Kate's hips even harder and roughly jerks her up his chest. He can feel how wet she is on his skin even through her shorts. Holding his wife's perfect body on top of his, Castle slides himself further beneath her, taking her exposed nipple into his mouth. He circles it with his tongue before biting down, the way he knows she likes. She bucks her hips on top of him and he can't help but smile wryly at her approval. Castle feels Kate's fingers at his waistband again, but he can't let her get home or he'll be done for. He had to make another move. He musters the strength to slide down even further, Kate's boobs and stomach collide with his face until he's reached the band of her shorts. He closes his eyes, knows that if he doesn't, the mere sight of his wife from this angle will send him over the edge. In one swoop, he pulls Kate's shorts down to her mid thigh.

"Castle, let me..." Kate huffs as she pulls herself onto her knees, grabs the head board and slides forward, hovering over his face. He wordlessly grabs on to her hips again and buries himself him her sticky, sweet folds.

He deserved an award. Multiple awards. All the awards. This wasn't exactly how Kate imagined she'd start her day, but she sure as hell wasn't going to complain. In fact, she could barely even think, her primordial need taking her over completely. She could only bear to grip the headboard and writhe her hips in unison with his magical tongue. She was so close already. Then he spread her legs even further and buried himself even deeper and all she could do was wimper as he sucked her clit between his teeth. Her core muscles tightened uncontrollably and her back arched. And that was it. She came long and hard, her heartbeat loud and heavy in her chest. The world fades to the edges of her consciousness until she feels Castle's grip tighten, pulling her on to his chest as he joins her in orgasm. They collapse onto each other in relief with heavy breath and a sheen of sweat. Rick manages to push himself up to rest his back against the headboard, Kate rolls over to snuggle into the crook of Rick's arm, her head resting lightly against his chest.

"Breakfast," she whispers.

"Hmm," Castle groans. "Already ate."

Kate ignores the joke. "Well, now I know what we'll be doing today."

"What's that?" Rick asks.

"Laundry," Kate sighs.

"Yeah, hah," Rick chuckles. "Sorry."

"I'm not," Kate shrugs. "Maybe next time you can come in me, though."

Oh. Oh. That caught him off guard. Not the cheeky quip, per say, but the implication of it. They've been intimate in other ways, obviously, but Kate had made it very clear in the past three months that she was not ready to try to get pregnant again. And Castle was okay with that. But now...

"I certainly think that can be arranged," he says. He doesn't say what he's really thinking. Later, maybe. Instead, he lets out a puff as he leans over toward his night stand. "After all these years I'm still amazed at how quiet it is out here," Castle sighs as he grabs the remote. With one click, the window shades ascend to reveal the double french doors that lead out to the master suite patio. Daylight floods the room, a sunny warmth in the cold winter sends goosebumps down their spines. The only ambience was the vague ripple of the winter waves hitting the icy shore in the distance.

"Still, I can't believe how late we slept," Kate says as she walks across the heated floors to the bathroom.

"Meh, enjoy it now, Captain," Castle shrugs as he grabs his robe and follows her. "At this time of day in a few weeks you'll be solving a murder already."

His tone is joking, but Kate can sense an underlying bitterness. "Hope you're right," she says. "Closing a case before noon is a really good day."

Rick huffs as he leans against the bathroom door frame. "Yeah. I'm just...going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too," Kate says. "But it'll be good to get back to normal."

Normal.

He can almost feel his cheeks burning up.

Normal.

What a goddamn loaded word.

"I just mean, how things were...before," she clarifies. He takes a breath. He couldn't be angry with Kate, couldn't blame her for wanting to return to the precinct. But it's only been three months. That didn't feel nearly long enough of a mourning period. But it also feels like forever. Forever, and no time at all.

He recalls the date, recites it in his head every morning. Its been three months, and five days since Ruby died.

Their beautiful, headstrong, quick-witted, thirteen-year-old daughter came into Rick and Kate's life only a year ago, but that has not made her loss any easier to cope with. In fact, Kate was basically catatonic with grief for the month of October and Rick was certain he had lost her, too. To go from rotting in bed for multiple weeks straight to returning to work as a New York City police captain a few months later seemed miraculous. When Kate spoke with the NYPD Captain's Commissioner about returning to her position in February, Victoria Gates was ecstatic to welcome her back. But Rick was terrified. Because it's only been three months and nothing will ever feel normal again.

And now she wanted to try for a baby again, too. That was a lot to process. Too much, too fast, Castle thought.

"Okay, come on," Kate sighs as she turns off the faucet. "I'm hungry."

Kate knew how apprehensive Rick was about her returning to work. She was apprehensive about returning to work. But like she said, she wanted to get back to normal. No, she needed to get back to normal, whatever that was. Rick's reaction to her nonchalant "let's make a baby" pitch wasn't exactly what she had expected, but she knew that he wasn't the one who wanted to take a break from trying in the first place. Even though she still felt like she was drowning some days, she was ready for normal.

Happy marriage, fulfilling job, growing family.

Normal.

Well, maybe normal was the wrong word. Kate Beckett knew that her life with Richard Castle was anything but normal. In fact, their life together was extraordinary, fun, chaotic, at times. But now, every damn day was so freaking slow. Going back to work was necessary, so that Kate didn't feel like she was losing brain cells with each passing day. And the baby? If there were any lessons to be learned from all of the loss in the last year, it was that life was too short to wait for what you want.

So maybe not right now, but someday soon, Kate was getting pregnant, and they were having a baby.

"You know, I can always wear a condom, right?" Castle asks as he pours the egg mixture into the pan.

"That would make it kinda tough to go to the bathroom, wouldn't it?" Kate chuckles as she hoists herself to sit on the island counter next to Rick as he cooked, the espresso machine whirs behind them. He gives a "you know what I mean" glare in response. "Castle, when I said that earlier, I didn't mean that you should knock me up tonight. Just...soon."

"Oh," Rick shrugs. "So...when's soon?"

"Um, maybe we'll talk about it in a few months? April?" Kate suggests, her leg bouncing lazily against the cabinet door. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

Rick takes the spatula to fill the omelette thats slowly cooking on the stovetop. "I'm okay with whatever you want to do. I think waiting a few months makes sense, especially with you getting back to the precinct."

"That's what I was thinking, too," Kate nods. "But if you wanted to do things in the meantime...condoms are...good."

"Condoms are good," Castle agrees with a mischievous grin. He turns off the burner as the omelette finishes cooking, sets the spatula down on the counter and steps between his wife's legs. He grips her thighs and tugs her closer to the edge of the island. "But I am also a fan...," he pulls at the loose knot in Kate's robe and it falls down her shoulders. "...of doing things," his thumb draws circles around her breast, "that don't need a condom."

Kate leans back on her arms with arousal, but stays locked into to the conversation. "Good. Me, too," she says. "So, we're good?"

"Kate," Castle whispers as he leans in to nip at her ear. "We're good," he confirms. He sucks softly on the lobe of her ear, the crook of her neck, heat flooding to his groin again. "I love you," he moans into her ear.

Kate pants. "I love you, too...but I really need breakfast."

"Hmm, right," Castle groans, pulling away in disappointment. He transfers the omelette on to a plate and carries it over to the table.

Kate follows behind him with two cups of coffee. "Don't worry, babe. We'll need to do lots of practicing for the next few months. And, now that I think about it, it is kind of like winter break, so..."

"Eat, quickly," Castle orders as he passes her a fork.

Later that evening, Kate rested her head against the headboard of their bed, her cheeks flush and her all of her appetites sated. "You know, I've been reading this book about grief that Lanie recommended," she looks over to Rick, who is still breathing heavily on top of the duvet cover.

"Oh?" Castle raises his brow.

"Apparently being super horny while grieving is very normal, its just not talked about often," she tells him. "Its all about endorphin-seeking."

"Well, see. We are normal."

"Uh, huh," Kate chuckles. "Though, I would never go so far as to describe you as such."

"Yeah, yeah," Rick says. "Hey, so, are you sure you want to go back to work? Because that's really going to cut into our endorphin-seeking time."

"Hmm," Kate sighs as she leans over and smacks a kiss on Rick's lips. "Come on, I think we should so seek some endoprhins in the shower." Kate rolls out of bed and Rick pops up behind her, following like an excited puppy.

"Oh, tomorrow we should check out the hot tub, see if there's any endorphins hiding in there," Rick exclaims. Kate certainly didn't protest that idea as they turned on the jet stream and her husband took her up against the cool tile.

By the time they returned to the city a week later, they had thoroughly searched the Hamptons House for all possible endorphins.