746. Chapter 746

After I, Witness

Episode 7.13

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I've got an alibi for not owning Castle. I have plenty of witnesses who'll say I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Castle put the second cup of coffee down on the kitchen island in front of Kate, then leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you."

She looked at him and smiled. "You made the coffee for me. Aren't I supposed to be thanking you?"

He shook his head slowly. "Thank you for letting me be your partner, your friend, your lover and your husband."

"You left out that I let you bring me coffee every day. But, seriously, babe, what are you thanking me?"

"I've been thinking about my career as a PI, and that got me thinking about my life in general. I decided that I haven't had much luck with women until I met you, and then it was like I hit the Mega Millions Jackpot."

Kate did her best to keep a straight face. "The force of your logic is overwhelming. I have to agree with you. Accordingly, I'll let you continue to bring me coffee every day." Seeing that Castle didn't smile, she put her arm around him and pulled him close. "That bad, babe?"

He nodded. "My first love, Kyra. It was like you said, all of a sudden all of the songs made sense. She was my one and done. The yin to my yang." Castle frowned. "Or am I the yin and she's the yang?"

"I don't think that's at all important."

Castle sighed. "And then one day she gets on a plane to London and I don't see her for twenty years. And when I do, she's marrying someone else."

"For which I am very, very grateful. Do you know that when she left the precinct, she told me "He's all yours."? She could see what I couldn't see."

"I should have seen how perfect you were for me long before I did. But, I spent a long time wondering what was wrong with Richard Castle. The woman who made the stars shine for me decided I wasn't enough. That hurt."

"I for one hope that she cries herself to sleep every night realizing that I have Richard Castle and she doesn't."

Castle smiled. "Somehow I doubt it."

"Me, too."

"And then I married Meredith. Meredith is the kind of a girl you take on a long sex filled trip to Hawaii or Cancun. Why anyone would marry her is beyond me."

"Temporary insanity?" Kate suggested.

"I plead not guilty by reason of insanity and throw myself on the mercy of the court. What's my sentence, Judge Beckett?"

She did her best to look stern. "You are hereby sentenced to a lifetime of rehabilitation at the Kate Beckett Center for Foolish Writers, and you are reminded that you have Alexis because of Meredith, so it isn't all bad."

"Firm but fair, as I've always said about you. And Alexis is a joy. And then I married Gina. If Meredith is the sort of a girl you have sex with, Gina is the sort of a woman that you don't marry, instead you have a corporate merger with. She's nothing like me. I don't know why I thought it would work. And he second time we got together, I knew before we ever got to the Hamptons that it would never work. But I kept at it because I was too stubborn and too hurt to say I'd made a huge mistake."

Kate ran her hand down his cheek. "We both made mistakes. And I'm not sure either one of us were ready for a serious relationship. You do remember my wall, right?"

"I should have offered to tear it down for you with my bare hands."

Kate giggled. "It's a metaphoric wall, you know."

"I have metaphoric bare hands."

Kate made a show of examining his hands. "You're right. These are the most metaphoric hands I've ever seen, and as a NYPD homicide detective, I've seen a lot."

Castle put his hands on her cheeks, and kissed her forehead. "I didn't do at all well when we first met. Trying to impress you with my bad boy ways. I should have known that would never impress a cop. And I never should have bragged to you about how great the sex was with Meredith, the Deep Fried Twinkie."

Kate looked serious. "Oh, I don't know about that. It did make me curious and you were right. Sex with a crazy man is fantastic. That's all I ever want now."

"I think I've been…." Castle stopped. "You're right. Then there was Ellie Monroe. It's a good thing that I had good friend to try to tell me that she was just using me to get a part. God knows what my ego would have been like if I'd continued to believe that I was irresistible to all women."

"Wouldn't your ego have been pretty much like it's always been?" Kate teased.

"No, I had plenty of proof that I was very resistible to one woman."

"The proof you had was because I wouldn't tell you how I felt. I liked you a lot, from our first couple of cases. I wanted you as my partner and as my friend. But I was too busy hiding behind my walls, too frightened to come out from behind them and really talk to you." She kissed him again. "Sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll be forever thankful that you didn't give Kate Beckett up as a lost cause and leave me all alone behind my walls."

"I almost did. I did walk out on you, in fact. You could have died."

"And that gave me the courage to go to you that night, and here we are, married to each other."

"It all did work out, didn't it?"

"So, what are you going to do about your PI career?"

"If there's one thing that I've learned from my time with you is that you should never, ever give up. Unless a woman who cheated off me in high school wants me to see if her husband is cheating on her. Then, I give up."

"Very wise, Obi Wan."

"So, how about a nap?"

"I thought you'd never ask."