193. Chapter 193

AN: We'll reach the year 2020 in this chapter, and after a few discussions with myself I decided this was always AU, and we already have enough COVID concerns surrounding us. This story doesn't need to create more and visit them on our favorite characters and their friends.[And yes I know the implications of holding discussions with yourself; but if I weren't at least a little bit crazy, I probably wouldn't still be writing this story. : ) ]

And thank you to those who have been leaving reviews. I'm shamefully behind on individual thank yous, but I'll catch up soon. I really do appreciate them.

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Chapter 193

The most intense part of Christmas for the Castles was Christmas Eve dinner. The family had grown enough to need a lot more table space than they used to. They all gathered for the meal, and in the original Castle/Rodgers tradition, dressed up for each other and enjoyed being together. Everyone was allowed to open one gift, and the children were excited. The family would be back late the next morning to see what was in their stockings, open the rest of the gifts, and nibble up the leftovers from the feast the night before. By then the Santa gifts would have been taken for a test drive and would be ready to show off when company came.

When the noisy fun died down on Christmas Day and everyone went home, the family left at the loft was lazy. They watched a couple of Christmas movies and enjoyed them with popcorn and hot cocoa and some of the remaining Christmas cookies.

Kate had the day after Christmas off, and they took the children to the park to try out Jamie's new bike and Jo's tricycle and three year old sized soccer ball. Kate praised Castle for the basic soccer skills he had picked up from Bentley.

"Bentley and I might take the kids to Central Park again before he goes back home…if he can drag himself away from Gina," he told her.

"I know all of you would enjoy that," Kate said, as she went to show Jo how to move her new soccer ball around more easily while Castle went to help Jamie balance on his bike.

His boy was catching on fast, but it didn't take too long for the bike to be wobbling again. The bikes would end up at the Hamptons house when the weather was better, and they could take family bike rides. Bikes in Manhattan wouldn't get nearly as much use as bikes in the Hamptons; but if Jamie knew how to ride by the time the weather was nice enough to be at the beach, they could jump right into using them. Jo would probably have a seat on one of her parent's bikes for a while, though.

xxxxx

Beckett went to work on Friday just to see that things were still running smoothly and see what new trouble had visited her detectives over the previous three days. She still had the weekend at home, though and left a little earlier than usual to get back her family.

On Monday, she was back at her desk, organizing things that needed to be completed before the new year began.

She worked on New Year's Eve as well; and before she left for the day, she let Sergeant Chambers know she would be at a New Year's Eve party her husband was obligated to attend. "I'll check my cell phone frequently just in case, though."

He promised to leave that information for the sergeant who would be covering the night shift.

At home, she spent some time with her children before taking a nice, hot shower and putting on clean clothes. Castle had ordered dinner, and it was delivered while she was in the shower. They had another couple of hours before the town car would pick them up for the party, so she read Jamie another chapter of a book they had been reading together and snuggled with Jo for a book of her choosing.

Afterward, Kate put on her nice underwear, stockings, and a long satin robe, and sat down to put new color on her nails, and her daughter was there to observe. Jo watched her mother smooth her nails and then use nail polish, and she was, as always, fascinated. "It's so pretty," she said almost reverently.

"I have a little extra time. Would you like me to paint yours, too?"

There was vigorous nodding, and Kate took one of Jo's small hands and used a file on her nails, then repeated the process on the other hand.

"When do I get colors?" she asked.

"Any minute," Kate told her. She finished smoothing the ends of the nails and found a nice pink color for her baby girl. In no time, her daughter had pink nails and a big smile on her face.

"Now you have to let them dry like Mommy did, so leave your hands on the table until I tell you that you can move them. If you don't let them dry, you'll smear the color and they won't be as pretty.

"I want them to stay pretty like yours."

"You leave them right where they are until I've put on my makeup. When I finish that, they should be dry."

Jo was fascinated by the makeup, too, and wanted Mommy to make her face look like that; but Kate stopped at nail polish. When Kate's hair was styled, Jo was still intrigued. Castle came in wearing his tuxedo pants and pleated shirt, and carried the hanger with Kate's dress. He laid the dress on the bed, an elegant jade green dress they had bought on one of their trips into town on their last visit to the Hamptons. He had insisted she try it on and said it would be perfect for the party tonight. After leaving the dress on the bed, he placed two small gifts in front of her. What is this?" she asked.

"They're presents," Jo told her seriously, as if she might not recognize them. "Like Christmas."

Castle chuckled. "Open them and see."

The two boxes contained a simple but exquisite emerald and diamond necklace and earrings, and she put on the earrings and asked Castle to clasp the necklace for her. "It's stunning, Rick. I love it."

"I saw them while we were shopping and thought they would be perfect with the dress, so I bought them when I went to pick up those groceries that took so long to get. Thank you for letting me enjoy giving them to you without telling me I shouldn't have. You make them look beautiful." He leaned and placed a light kiss on her temple.

"Let's see how they look with the dress." She stood and put the dress on and slipped on the shoes she had beside her chair. "What do you think, Baby Girl?"

"You look like a princess, Mommy." Then tiny brows lowered and they heard, "Not a baby."

"Does Daddy look like a prince?" Castle asked.

"No. You have bare feet and floppy shirttails," Jo informed him

"Yeah, If you intend to be Prince Richard, you need to get yourself together," Kate agreed.

He went back to the closet and finished dressing before he came back, touched up his hair, and asked Kate to tie his bow tie. "I don't ever get it straight," he complained. Once the tie was in place, he put on his jacket, showed Jo that he was wearing shoes and socks, and asked, "Do I look like a prince yet?"

"You look like Princess Mommy and Prince Daddy," Jo answered.

He bowed, and kissed Jo's hand, and she giggled. Then he gasped. "You have pretty pink fingernails."

His daughter giggled again. "Princess Mommy painted them."

"Good job, Princess Mommy," he answered with a smile. Then the doorbell rang and he went to meet Alexis and JD at the door. They were taking it easy. No party this year. They just wanted to relax, so they were going to spend some time with their siblings, get them to bed, and stay overnight in Alexis' old room.

"We'll try to be quiet when we come in so we don't wake you up," Kate promised as she came into the living room.

"Mom. Wow," JD said.

"You do look gorgeous," Alexis agreed. "I love that dress. And the jewelry is new, too, isn't it?"

"Your father surprised me with it tonight."

"You did good, Father."

"Thank you, Daughter." Turning to Kate, he said, "The car should be here in a few minutes. We should go. Black Pawn hasn't demanded our presence since just before Jamie was born, so we should probably look like we're trying to cooperate."

"You look really pretty, Mommy," Jamie told her.

"What about me?" Castle asked, feigning insult.

"You look good, too, Daddy. Do I get a suit like that sometime?"

"Yeah. It's called a tuxedo. One of these days, we'll have you looking like a prince, too," his father promised, ruffling his son's hair.

"Thank you for staying with the kids tonight," Kate told their older children as they were leaving.

"No problem. Have fun," Alexis answered.

The party was just getting started when they arrived at nine, and there were a couple of party approved photographers snapping pictures as the guests entered and taking random candid shots during the party. As Black Pawn's best known author, Castle was frequently drawn from Kate's side to meet other authors, some of whom were just getting started in the writing world. When one of them, a young woman, made it clear that she wouldn't mind some very private time with her publisher's golden boy, Castle pointed Kate out. "Do you see that exquisitely beautiful woman in the green dress? That's my wife, and I would never do that to her." As if she felt him looking at her, Kate turned away from her conversation with Alex Conrad, lifted her glass in his direction, and smiled. At the look on his face when he smiled back, the young woman looked defeated and moved on. Castle joined Kate and put an arm around her waist possessively as he joined the conversation.

As they walked away with Kate's arm wrapped around his, she said, looking amused, "You didn't have to claim your woman, you know. I've already told you I'm a one writer girl."

"I just needed to touch you. One of the new authors propositioned me, and I pointed you out and said I'd never do that to you. I think I needed it to look like you possess me."

"So come and dance with me. It's slow and romantic, and we'll wrap our arms around each other and let her know she doesn't stand a chance." Then she looked at him mischievously and asked, "Wait. I didn't think to ask. It was a woman, wasn't it? 'Cause I've seen a few men give your rugged handsomeness a once over."

He gave an eye roll worthy of his wife and said, "Yes, it was a woman." And she giggled as they walked on the dance floor and did as she had suggested, his hands clasped behind her waist, and hers behind his neck. They danced cheek to cheek for a while and then leaned their foreheads together to talk before he guided her head to his shoulder. They both looked quite content, and neither of the two photographers could seem to resist them. After their dance, they went back to wandering the room and talking to other guests.

By eleven, the party was in full swing, and between the band's sets, Walter Haskell, the publisher at Black Pawn, went to the microphone and asked for everyone's attention. "I won't stop the party for long, but we have an announcement to make. It seems that our managing editor, Gina Cowell from here in our New York office and Bentley Keane, who heads our London operation have a few words to say." He handed the microphone to Bentley.

"We're here among a lot of friends and acquaintances, and it seemed to be a good place to announce that I have asked Gina to marry me, and she has agreed; so we are announcing our engagement. There were cheers around the entire room and applause, and when that died down, Bentley said, "I'm not sure whether all of that was for us or whether the open bar had an influence, but thank you. The wedding will be sometime this year, but our plans haven't reached that far yet."

He leaned the mic toward Gina, who said, "Thank you from me, too. Eventually, I'll be moving to London to be with Bentley, but for the time being, you're still stuck with me."

Taking charge of the microphone again, Bentley added, "Walter has generously offered a champagne toast to help us celebrate, so stop one of the servers and have some bubbly with us." Then he gave the microphone back to Walter.

Except for the fact that Gina will eventually move to London and leave us, I'm very happy for them. So, a toast to the happy couple. Congratulations." Walter raised his glass, as did the others in the room, and the party picked up again.

When the band returned, they played Sinatra tunes, and Rick and Kate danced to most of them. He would occasionally throw in one of his Fred Astaire moves, as Kate called them. He would turn to the side and walk them side by side or pull her to his side and walk her backward, then switch sides, a dip now and then, or twirling her out and then back to him. They were obviously enjoying it and looking impressive as they did…being two tall, very attractive people wrapped in the glow of being in love didn't hurt the picture, either.

Reminders that midnight was approaching started about twenty minutes ahead of time. At the five minute warning, Rick picked up two champagne flutes and returned quickly to his wife. They sipped the champagne until the countdown, then put their glasses aside in favor of counting down to the midnight kiss, her hand on his neck, and his in her hair. The photographers were snapping pictures of as many couple as they could. Rick went back for another kiss before he was done, and then they had wide, smiles for each other.

It wasn't long after midnight when the Castles were bowing out of the party, but Rick took time to speak to the two photographers.

"I have two requests. The first is the engaged couple…the man is our friend and the woman is my ex-wife... from about twelve years ago. We're happy for both of them, and this should be their night. I know you were taking a lot of pictures of us, but whatever you give the Ledger, please give the engagement its due. And second, this is my card. I'd like to arrange for personal copies of the photos of my wife and me. Call me when things settle down and we can work it out if you're interested."

Then they went home.

Kate was going to work the next day, so they were up early on New Year's Day making breakfast for all four of their children. The New Year's pancakes had chocolate chip smiles, and there was enough bacon to serve that many bacon addicts. The smell of bacon had always brought Alexis downstairs, and she rounded everybody up and brought them with her that morning.

xxxxx

The twenty-seventh moved into 2020 in much better shape than it was in the summer before. Operations were more efficient, community involvement was looking promising, and as the year moved on, the closure rates were improving. At a meeting with her Lieutenants, Beckett told them with a mischievous grin, "We're about to make a few other precincts nervous about competition. I'm proud of us."

Since the precinct was back to its former pride in good work, Beckett was able to actually use a some of her vacation time to spend a week at the beach with the family a couple of times, and had weekends there now and then. She and Captains Dohrman and O'Conner provided each other backup. Life was running more smoothly for the Castles again.

xxxxx

Beckett and Gates had fallen into the habit of planning lunch after the captains' meetings at 1PP. While Kate was already in the vicinity of Gates' office, it made it easy. After the October meeting, Gates again met Beckett for lunch.

During their conversation, Beckett said, "I've realized recently that the people assigning me to precincts knew well ahead that there would be openings. If I intend to retire next fall, I probably should turn in a letter of intent to retire."

"You probably should," Gates agreed. But expect cajoling and bargaining before it's accepted.

"I doubt they'll try to talk me out of it.

"No, Kate. I wasn't kidding about that. You've built more of a reputation for yourself than I think you're aware of."

"I just do my job. But I know I'm good at it."

"Well, don't expect to send the letter and have them just say, 'Okay.' It isn't likely to happen. If you didn't retire, it wouldn't surprise me if the people at the top were grooming you as the first female chief or commissioner."

"You'll have to do that for the female population of the department, Victoria. I can see it happening. I just never had the intent to take it that far. My focus is on the victims and the victims' families, and how we can work in the community to have fewer of them. I don't need anything beyond that. It puts me too far from what I care about most. After my mother's death, my priorities changed." She paused a moment and smiled. "I know you're aware I started out intending to go into law. Did I ever tell you my goal then was to be the first female chief justice?"

"No. A lofty goal," she answered with a smile. "But I know you. I can imagine it happening."

"After what happened to Mom, I just wanted to find her killer and save other families from going through what we did. Things like that change perspectives. Would you want to be the first female NYPD chief of police, or the first female commissioner?"

"I wouldn't turn it down; but that's a few big steps down the road…if it ever happens."

"I'd be behind you all the way."

When Beckett returned home that day, she took the resignation letter she had drafted earlier in the year and made a couple of revisions. It stated that she intended to retire on September first of 2021, twenty years from the date she had officially entered the NYPD as a rookie officer. She had Castle read it and make suggestions, and she edited and mailed it a couple of days later. True to Gates' prediction, Alvarez was at her office door the Friday before Thanksgiving...asking how they could change her mind.

"To be honest, Beckett, we had hoped to see you rise a bit higher in rank eventually."

"But to be honest as well, I'm not interested in rising above Captain. I'm happy in the atmosphere of the precinct with the people who do the work we have to count on. It's where I'm most comfortable and where I feel I can contribute best."

"Then why not stay and continue it? Your husband has always supported police work."

"That's part of the reason I'm retiring. He spent four years working with my team at the twelfth…getting up to meet us wherever we were called to a dead body…at any ungodly hour of the night. Looking back, I don't know how he did it. He was still a single father at first, with a daughter in high school, and he still had events and tours connected to his books. But his work supporting my career took him away from his enough to cut his book production in half…for four years. It's my turn to support his career and give him enough of my time that we have the freedom to do what he enjoys."

"What can we offer to entice you to stay?"

"Full time? Nothing. Rick and I planned this retirement together. He's patiently giving me the five years I asked for to put in my twenty and feel I've done enough to warrant the confidence Roy Montgomery had in me. And I won't back out of the promise I made to Rick. If there are part time options on the table, we've discussed that possibility and agreed it would have to be six months of the year or less, and between the first of January and the end of June when the children are in school. His publishing company will get similar limits for book tours. He's a family man to his core, and he wants us with him. I owe him for his patience with my work while he played single dad during the day. I've promised him a minimum of summers through all the fall and winter holidays."

"All the most prominent family parts of the year?"

"Right. We have a house in the Hamptons where he used to spend most of the summers with his first daughter. He and the children had to go without me most of last summer. When I first transferred here I only saw the place for a week in June and a weekend in September, and I want more time with my family as much as he does. But he knows me well, and knows I'm likely to have a hard time quitting cold turkey." She smiled and added, "He said he didn't want me to have police withdrawal."

"What kind of part time work were you considering?"

"Is anything available for a captain? I wasn't even sure you'd consider it. But I was hoping you might need interim assignments for leaves of absence, short term assignments of some kind, maybe teaching a class or two for a couple of sessions at the Academy…and I like working in community outreach. She paused briefly and added, "And separately, on a different note, if she hasn't been assigned a command before then, I'd like you to at least interview Lieutenant Lorins as a possible replacement for me when I leave the twenty-seventh." She paused and smiled. "I told you I hadn't made my last pitch for Lorins."

"You're a valuable asset to the department, Captain Beckett. Let me have some conversations. We have ten months before you intend to retire. Maybe we can find an answer that allows you to have it both ways."

"I appreciate that you're considering it."

She called home after Alvarez was gone and told Castle, "They got my letter, and Victoria was right. Alvarez just left." She told him about their conversation. "Just talking to him about it, I could taste the edges of some freedom."

"I can hardly wait, Mrs. Castle."