449. Chapter 449

After Hollander's Woods

Episode 7.23

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: There are many things that I do own, but Castle isn't one of them. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate relaxed on the bed, waiting for Rick to finish in the bathroom. Just before they were due to go to bed, Castle had finally resolved a plot point in his latest Nikki Heat book and had rushed into his office to get it written down. He had promised to join Kate in the bedroom in "no more than five minutes. I promise." Knowing her husband, Kate had been able to take a long, luxurious bubble bath before putting on a mid-thigh length sleep shirt, turning down the bed and crawling in. Rick had come in, apologized profusely and went straight into the bathroom.

When he came out, he apologized again. "I'm sorry, Kate, but things just…kept going."

She smiled at him and held out her arms. "You're forgiven, but come here. We need to talk."

Castle frowned slightly. "We need to talk? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I think it's a good thing."

Castle smiled and crawled into bed next to her, putting one arm around her and pulling her close. "I am all ready to talk."

"I have a decision to make about our future."

"Have you made a decision?" He asked, slightly worried. He hated it when Kate made decisions without him, but it was her future.

"Rick, tell me. What do you want me to do?"

He answered quickly. "Whatever makes you happy."

She laughed and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I knew you were going to say that. And that's one of the reasons that I won't be running for the state senate."

"One of the reasons?"

"One." She said. "Rick, honestly, can you see me as a politician?"

Rick decided he had to answer honestly. "Not really, but you are extraordinary and you've surprised ne before."

"I was extraordinary when I took the job in DC with the Department of Justice. I managed to get in the face of the Secretary of Defense. Oh, sure. I did save his wife's life, but I made him look bad. And, I kept Svetlana Renkov from becoming a CIA agent, which got me fired. And if I was state senator Kate Beckett-Castle, I would have done the same things and gotten in trouble. I want to make a difference, and to make the world a better place, but politics is not what I'm all about."

"So, you'll be Captain Beckett?"

"That's my plan, but it's not all that I have planned."

"There's more?"

She nodded. "I've been talking to Martha and Alexis about this."

"Were they any help?"

Kate shrugged. "They were very supportive. They told me that they fully supported any decision that I made and they were both sure that I would be outstanding at either job, or anything else I wanted to do."

"I agree."

"And then Alexis said something to me that made me stop and think."

"Alexis? What did she say?" Castle was slightly worried.

"She told me that she had never seen you as happy as you've been since we've been together, and especially since we got married."

"That's true. Absolutely true." Rick wasn't sure where this conversation was going.

"But then Alexis started to say something else, but stopped and blushed. I asked her what she was about to say, but she just shook her head and blushed harder. But, I am a crack interrogator and finally got the rest of it out of her."

Rick knew that Alexis had been very angry at Kate at one point in their long relationship, feeling that Kate was using Rick for her own purposes without really caring for him. "I'm sure whatever she said…"

She put her hand up to stop him from saying anything else. "What she said was that I had made you unhappier than she had ever seen you before."

"Kate, the happiness outweighs the unhappiness by a bunch. A really large bunch. Tons and tons of happiness."

Kate put her hand over his mouth. "I know. You said just now that you wanted whatever made me happy. And that's all you've ever wanted for me. You helped me on our first cases together. You began the investigation that ended with Dick Coonan's death and Bracken's imprisonment. You allowed Tom Demming to take your place because you thought I was happier with him. And in spite of the jealousy you showed to Doctor Motorcycle Boy, you stood back because, you thought he was the one who made me happy."

"Well, it didn't make me very happy." Castle said.

"You put up with my walls and my lying to you for a year and in spite of all of that, you allowed me back into your life, which made me very, very happy. And, in spite of my taking off for Washington without even considering how you'd react, you were willing to rearrange your life to make me happy."

Kate ran her hand down his chest. "So, I think it's time I worried about making you happy."

"You've had no trouble doing that." Castle said with a smile.

"But I want to do more to make you happy. Being a precinct captain is a lot of work, but it's not all work 24/7. I want to go places with you. To book signings, and booksellers conventions and just go to places I've never been before with you. I want Mr. and Mrs. Richard Castle to make the Ledger's Page Six. I want to help you write Nikki Heat. I'm the real Nikki, so I should have some good ideas, right?"

"I can see it now," Rick said proudly. "Infernal Heat, by Richard and Katherine Castle."

Kate shook her head. "No, I don't want to take any credit from you. Nikki is your creation."

"Nikki is our creation, Kate. In fact, I think I should ask Black Pawn to put your name on as a co-author no matter what. I know you, and I know how big a help you've always been."

Kate smiled and blushed slightly. "We can talk about this later."

"We can, but my mind is made up, Mrs. Co-author."

"Do you remember when I showed up at the loft, all wet and dripping all over everything? I knew we were never going to work. I knew you would eventually leave and break my heart."

"Never." He said quickly.

She smiled at him. "But my heart told me that I loved you more than anyone or anything and that any time I had with you, I had to take. And you taught me to listen to my heart and not my head."

"You've always had a great heart. And I've always loved your heart."

"There's something else, Rick." Kate took a deep breath. "My life changed when I was nineteen. I became a very different person from what I had been. I was a happy, fun loving, adventurous free spirit. I was fun and uncomplicated."

Rick groaned, remembering how he had used those words to describe Jacinda, the stewardess.

"There's nothing wrong with being fun and uncomplicated." Kate said. "All things considered, after everything that's happened since I was nineteen, I won't be anything like the nineteen year old Kate Beckett, but I'd like to try."

Castle hugged her. "I may be able to give you a few pointers on how to be fun loving and adventurous."

"Okay, but no stealing of police horses, and certainly not naked."

"Killjoy." Castle teased.

"I think I can start being adventurous now." Kate swung over him so that she was astride him and pulled her sleep shirt off. "I can ride you in the nude." She said in a low, sexy voice.

"Yahoo!"