Next Summer (4/4)
The final installment...
"You're really staying?" he asks a while later, his eyes lighting up like a little child, laughter creeping into his voice.
"I've told you more than once." She smiles, "I'm not going to change my mind."
His mouth hangs open a little as she turns back to the coffee machine.
The next thing she knows, arms are snaking around her, wrapping around her middle, and he's kissing the spot on her neck that since he discovered the previous night, he's been hardly able to keep his hands off.
She wants to brush him off with a witty comment and leave him hanging there, but he smells so good, and he feels so solid against her back that she leans into him, resting her head back on his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment.
"There's no chance of me letting you escape now, anyway." He whispers, his words tickling her skin, eliciting a low giggle, "This place has security systems a Swiss bank would be proud of…"
Her hands wrap over his, where they're joined so tightly at the join of her sweatpants and that tantalising centimetre of bare, brown skin.
"Castle." She whispers, turning her head to kiss him and bumping noses instead, making him laugh this time. "I'm staying here, with you."
"That's really good news." He murmurs, before turning her deftly in his arms, hardly allowing her space to breathe, and fixing his lips to hers without an ounce of hesitation.
"That might not stay PG, you know." Martha whispers, surprising Alexis from where she's been standing in the doorway, having stepped in to make herself a sandwich, and seen her father and Kate Beckett all wrapped up in one another by one of the marble kitchen counters.
Alexis wrinkles her nose slightly at the thought of that, and turns to her grandmother, a wide smile on her face.
"I haven't been missing something big, have I? This-" she nods in the direction of her father and the detective, "-is a new thing?"
Martha nods, smiling herself as she watches her son pull away from Beckett and rest his forehead against hers, sharing a smile with her quite different to one she'd ever seen on his face. "Not for your father's lack of trying though…"
Alexis laughs slightly, "That's what this weekend was about, wasn't it?"
Martha shrugs. "He'd never tell us - or Detective Beckett, for that matter - if it was… but I know my son, and you know your father…"
Richard Castle's daughter turns to stare at him for a moment before speaking. "He looks so happy." She says, grinning. "Time to surprise him."
"You are so busted, Dad." She says loudly, walking out from the concealed doorway into the kitchen, a massive smile on her face, laughing out loud as her father and Beckett spring apart like teenagers. "Caught in the act."
The next sound anyone makes is Kate's laughter, watching Castle screw up his face, closing his eyes, and then peeking through one slit in the direction of his daughter.
"It's… it's not what it looks like?" he attempts, making Alexis smile.
"I hope it's exactly what it looks like." Martha says, stepping into the kitchen, "This woman's been waiting for you to man up for a while, Richard…"
Alexis feels something catch in her stomach as she watches the look that passes between her father and Detective Beckett - that's a look she hasn't seen on his face in a long time.
"Alexis, I was going to tell you… this is… this is still new, and we were just…"
She laughs slightly, wrapping Kate in an impromptu hug, "I think it's great , Dad…" and the slight softening of his face, the grateful look in his eyes when he realises she's completely in earnest - Alexis Castle knows then that her father's more serious about Kate Beckett than he's ever been about any woman. Beckett, taken slightly aback by the hug but finding herself comfortable, almost sentimental with the youngest Castle's arms around her, finds herself tucked into Castle's side, his arm around her waist, fixing her to him. Instinctively, she leans her head against his shoulder, bringing a smile to all of their faces.
"I… uh… despite the influence those cocktails may have had, part of last night was me acting on Alexis' advice." She grins, giving the younger girl a pointed look. "We both decided it was finally time to start talking…"
Among other things, she thinks, but now is definitely not the time.
"As long as it's all right with you, Lex… I know you thought you were getting your father to yourself all summer… your dad's invited me to stay with you…"
"Are you kidding me? Dad hates sunbathing, and he never wants to take me shopping, and he's hopeless at helping me choose an outfit when he throws a party… Stay as long as you can stand him, please…"
Alexis hugs her again, without detaching her from Castle's side, and for a moment, sandwiched between the two Castles, Beckett feels a slight stinging in her eyes - for the first time since her mother died, in those moments, she feels like she's part of a family.
She blinks furiously, but not before Castle notices, and squeezes her hand in his.
Alexis puts a hand on her hip, looking her father in the eye in a way that is scarily Beckett-like. "Kate tells me you brought Gina out here last year, Dad…" she cocks her head to one side, her tone accusatory. Castle looks between his daughter and the woman on his arm who, despite the sudden conversation change, is still smiling up at him.
"Can we call it a momentary lapse in judgement?" his fingers thread through Beckett's, "She went home after a week and a half, I was trying to make a point… to myself more than anyone, and it just wasn't the right way to do it…"
"And I should have told you about Tom and I long before yesterday, we could have cleared this up a long time ago…"
Martha smiles between the two of them, who in that moment seem only to have eyes for one another. "Maybe you needed the year to cool off, both of you… to sort out in your own heads what you really wanted…"
There's some sense in that, Castle thinks, realising again with incredulity that he's standing in the kitchen of his Hamptons house with his mother and his daughter and his arms around Kate Beckett - and no one's threatened to remove any of his limbs yet.
Alexis frowns. "Wasn't that you two were supposed to be together just glaringly obvious?"
**
Lanie's mouth hangs open and she appears unresponsive for a moment after Beckett tells her. The silence that follows makes her friend laugh.
"Lanie. I was expecting a bit more of a response than this."
The medical examiner blinks, the incredulous expression still all over her face. "Sorry, girl, but I was beginning to give up hope that you and Castle would ever wake up and smell the roses, so to speak… I guess I was beginning to figure that last summer you both had the opportunity and it kinda… passed you both by… I was beginning to think that was it… hell, I had my 'Kate, it's time to move on from Castle' speech prepared…"
"I was thinking the same thing… until last night…"
"Let me get one thing straight… you - Kate Beckett - drunkenly seduced Richard Castle… who you have not only been pining after for nearly three years now, but have been practically ignoring for the last nine months because he took his ex-wife to the Hamptons when you broke up with you boyfriend for him."
Beckett takes a deep breath. "Yes."
Lanie's jaw drops again, followed by the two of them bursting into laughter.
"Tell me everything." Lanie says, folding her arms and leaning back on the sunbed with relish, "Is writer boy as good as we're all led to believe?"
**
Esposito and Ryan won't stop making inappropriate comments and rude gestures right until the moment they pile back into the cars to leave for the city. Beckett rolls her eyes good-naturedly and smiles at the two of them like they're toddlers learning how to blow raspberries, and Castle laughs along with them. Jenny gives them both a hug, thanking them for their hospitality, and Lanie demands credit for Castle and Beckett's reconciliation - she did, after all, pick out those shoes. Montgomery shakes hands with Castle, maybe a little firmly, and gives Beckett a hug, levelling his gaze with hers and saying quietly, "don't let it interfere with work and I won't even have to notice it's going on."
As the cars drive away they stand on the strip, holding hands, Beckett lightly resting her head on Castle's shoulder.
As they turn out of sight, he looks down at her. "I can't quite believe you stayed." He smiles, kissing her temple as they turn to walk back to the house.
"Me either." Beckett laughs, and he nudges her in the other direction slightly with his hip, making her smile. She's twirling a strand of hair round her finger again and Castle's struck once again by the sudden stroke of good fortune that seems to have hijacked his weekend.
"So… tell the truth, Mr Castle, was this what this whole weekend was about, winning me back?"
"For that, Detective Beckett, I'd have had to have had you in the first place…"
Her eyes meet his, suddenly deadly serious. "Oh, you had me." She whispers; remembering suddenly the clenching in the pit of her stomach as she'd watched Castle step into the elevator with Gina, step out of her reach.
There's a silence for a moment as they walk slowly, joined hands swinging between them.
"Do we need to talk about last summer?" he asks slowly, slinging his arm around her shoulders as she wraps hers around his waist. "Because you have no idea how sorry I've been, that I took Gina, that I didn't listen to what you had to say, I just… when I got back it all seemed like it was too late."
She leans into him, biting her lip slightly nervously. "I should have called you back, I should have told you about Demming…" she breaks off, "Jesus, Castle, we've wasted a hell of a lot of time."
He presses a kiss to the top of her head, noting the cherry smell, bringing a slight smile to his face.
"But…" she continues, "I don't think there's any sense in rehashing last summer until we're ready to scream … it's in the past now… we just…" she looks at him shyly, "Don't waste any more time?"
"I definitely second that, Detective." He grins, taking her hand again as they walk up the steps to the front door. "Now, Mother's gone back to the city and Alexis is staying with friends… why don't we see if we can get to not wasting any more of that time?"
He fumbles with the key in the lock, finding every inch of her pressed against him, her lips on his throat, across his jawline, reaching his mouth with a hunger he finds himself unsurprised they both possess.
"I love you." He whispers in her ear as he closes the door behind them, pulling her through towards the bedrooms, her hands working feverishly on his shirt buttons.
"I love you too." She reciprocates in complete sobriety, her heart thumping and her pulse racing, and as she says it, clear as anything, the midday sun streaming through the window, not a single Piña Colada to cloud her judgement, she realises not only how true it is but how comfortable she is with that truth, to suddenly be the woman this man loves, to suddenly be part of this family.
For the first time, as she lands among the pillows on Castle's bed, as she finds his hands reverently lifting her vest over her head, his eyes dark, she wonders whether they needed this miserable year apart to validate everything between them, whether it only made them stronger. For the first time, she's grateful for last summer.
"You're really staying?" he asks a while later, his eyes lighting up like a little child, laughter creeping into his voice.
"I've told you more than once." She smiles, "I'm not going to change my mind."
His mouth hangs open a little as she turns back to the coffee machine.
The next thing she knows, arms are snaking around her, wrapping around her middle, and he's kissing the spot on her neck that since he discovered the previous night, he's been hardly able to keep his hands off.
She wants to brush him off with a witty comment and leave him hanging there, but he smells so good, and he feels so solid against her back that she leans into him, resting her head back on his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment.
"There's no chance of me letting you escape now, anyway." He whispers, his words tickling her skin, eliciting a low giggle, "This place has security systems a Swiss bank would be proud of…"
Her hands wrap over his, where they're joined so tightly at the join of her sweatpants and that tantalising centimetre of bare, brown skin.
"Castle." She whispers, turning her head to kiss him and bumping noses instead, making him laugh this time. "I'm staying here, with you."
"That's really good news." He murmurs, before turning her deftly in his arms, hardly allowing her space to breathe, and fixing his lips to hers without an ounce of hesitation.
"That might not stay PG, you know." Martha whispers, surprising Alexis from where she's been standing in the doorway, having stepped in to make herself a sandwich, and seen her father and Kate Beckett all wrapped up in one another by one of the marble kitchen counters.
Alexis wrinkles her nose slightly at the thought of that, and turns to her grandmother, a wide smile on her face.
"I haven't been missing something big, have I? This-" she nods in the direction of her father and the detective, "-is a new thing?"
Martha nods, smiling herself as she watches her son pull away from Beckett and rest his forehead against hers, sharing a smile with her quite different to one she'd ever seen on his face. "Not for your father's lack of trying though…"
Alexis laughs slightly, "That's what this weekend was about, wasn't it?"
Martha shrugs. "He'd never tell us - or Detective Beckett, for that matter - if it was… but I know my son, and you know your father…"
Richard Castle's daughter turns to stare at him for a moment before speaking. "He looks so happy." She says, grinning. "Time to surprise him."
"You are so busted, Dad." She says loudly, walking out from the concealed doorway into the kitchen, a massive smile on her face, laughing out loud as her father and Beckett spring apart like teenagers. "Caught in the act."
The next sound anyone makes is Kate's laughter, watching Castle screw up his face, closing his eyes, and then peeking through one slit in the direction of his daughter.
"It's… it's not what it looks like?" he attempts, making Alexis smile.
"I hope it's exactly what it looks like." Martha says, stepping into the kitchen, "This woman's been waiting for you to man up for a while, Richard…"
Alexis feels something catch in her stomach as she watches the look that passes between her father and Detective Beckett - that's a look she hasn't seen on his face in a long time.
"Alexis, I was going to tell you… this is… this is still new, and we were just…"
She laughs slightly, wrapping Kate in an impromptu hug, "I think it's great , Dad…" and the slight softening of his face, the grateful look in his eyes when he realises she's completely in earnest - Alexis Castle knows then that her father's more serious about Kate Beckett than he's ever been about any woman. Beckett, taken slightly aback by the hug but finding herself comfortable, almost sentimental with the youngest Castle's arms around her, finds herself tucked into Castle's side, his arm around her waist, fixing her to him. Instinctively, she leans her head against his shoulder, bringing a smile to all of their faces.
"I… uh… despite the influence those cocktails may have had, part of last night was me acting on Alexis' advice." She grins, giving the younger girl a pointed look. "We both decided it was finally time to start talking…"
Among other things, she thinks, but now is definitely not the time.
"As long as it's all right with you, Lex… I know you thought you were getting your father to yourself all summer… your dad's invited me to stay with you…"
"Are you kidding me? Dad hates sunbathing, and he never wants to take me shopping, and he's hopeless at helping me choose an outfit when he throws a party… Stay as long as you can stand him, please…"
Alexis hugs her again, without detaching her from Castle's side, and for a moment, sandwiched between the two Castles, Beckett feels a slight stinging in her eyes - for the first time since her mother died, in those moments, she feels like she's part of a family.
She blinks furiously, but not before Castle notices, and squeezes her hand in his.
Alexis puts a hand on her hip, looking her father in the eye in a way that is scarily Beckett-like. "Kate tells me you brought Gina out here last year, Dad…" she cocks her head to one side, her tone accusatory. Castle looks between his daughter and the woman on his arm who, despite the sudden conversation change, is still smiling up at him.
"Can we call it a momentary lapse in judgement?" his fingers thread through Beckett's, "She went home after a week and a half, I was trying to make a point… to myself more than anyone, and it just wasn't the right way to do it…"
"And I should have told you about Tom and I long before yesterday, we could have cleared this up a long time ago…"
Martha smiles between the two of them, who in that moment seem only to have eyes for one another. "Maybe you needed the year to cool off, both of you… to sort out in your own heads what you really wanted…"
There's some sense in that, Castle thinks, realising again with incredulity that he's standing in the kitchen of his Hamptons house with his mother and his daughter and his arms around Kate Beckett - and no one's threatened to remove any of his limbs yet.
Alexis frowns. "Wasn't that you two were supposed to be together just glaringly obvious?"
**
Lanie's mouth hangs open and she appears unresponsive for a moment after Beckett tells her. The silence that follows makes her friend laugh.
"Lanie. I was expecting a bit more of a response than this."
The medical examiner blinks, the incredulous expression still all over her face. "Sorry, girl, but I was beginning to give up hope that you and Castle would ever wake up and smell the roses, so to speak… I guess I was beginning to figure that last summer you both had the opportunity and it kinda… passed you both by… I was beginning to think that was it… hell, I had my 'Kate, it's time to move on from Castle' speech prepared…"
"I was thinking the same thing… until last night…"
"Let me get one thing straight… you - Kate Beckett - drunkenly seduced Richard Castle… who you have not only been pining after for nearly three years now, but have been practically ignoring for the last nine months because he took his ex-wife to the Hamptons when you broke up with you boyfriend for him."
Beckett takes a deep breath. "Yes."
Lanie's jaw drops again, followed by the two of them bursting into laughter.
"Tell me everything." Lanie says, folding her arms and leaning back on the sunbed with relish, "Is writer boy as good as we're all led to believe?"
**
Esposito and Ryan won't stop making inappropriate comments and rude gestures right until the moment they pile back into the cars to leave for the city. Beckett rolls her eyes good-naturedly and smiles at the two of them like they're toddlers learning how to blow raspberries, and Castle laughs along with them. Jenny gives them both a hug, thanking them for their hospitality, and Lanie demands credit for Castle and Beckett's reconciliation - she did, after all, pick out those shoes. Montgomery shakes hands with Castle, maybe a little firmly, and gives Beckett a hug, levelling his gaze with hers and saying quietly, "don't let it interfere with work and I won't even have to notice it's going on."
As the cars drive away they stand on the strip, holding hands, Beckett lightly resting her head on Castle's shoulder.
As they turn out of sight, he looks down at her. "I can't quite believe you stayed." He smiles, kissing her temple as they turn to walk back to the house.
"Me either." Beckett laughs, and he nudges her in the other direction slightly with his hip, making her smile. She's twirling a strand of hair round her finger again and Castle's struck once again by the sudden stroke of good fortune that seems to have hijacked his weekend.
"So… tell the truth, Mr Castle, was this what this whole weekend was about, winning me back?"
"For that, Detective Beckett, I'd have had to have had you in the first place…"
Her eyes meet his, suddenly deadly serious. "Oh, you had me." She whispers; remembering suddenly the clenching in the pit of her stomach as she'd watched Castle step into the elevator with Gina, step out of her reach.
There's a silence for a moment as they walk slowly, joined hands swinging between them.
"Do we need to talk about last summer?" he asks slowly, slinging his arm around her shoulders as she wraps hers around his waist. "Because you have no idea how sorry I've been, that I took Gina, that I didn't listen to what you had to say, I just… when I got back it all seemed like it was too late."
She leans into him, biting her lip slightly nervously. "I should have called you back, I should have told you about Demming…" she breaks off, "Jesus, Castle, we've wasted a hell of a lot of time."
He presses a kiss to the top of her head, noting the cherry smell, bringing a slight smile to his face.
"But…" she continues, "I don't think there's any sense in rehashing last summer until we're ready to scream … it's in the past now… we just…" she looks at him shyly, "Don't waste any more time?"
"I definitely second that, Detective." He grins, taking her hand again as they walk up the steps to the front door. "Now, Mother's gone back to the city and Alexis is staying with friends… why don't we see if we can get to not wasting any more of that time?"
He fumbles with the key in the lock, finding every inch of her pressed against him, her lips on his throat, across his jawline, reaching his mouth with a hunger he finds himself unsurprised they both possess.
"I love you." He whispers in her ear as he closes the door behind them, pulling her through towards the bedrooms, her hands working feverishly on his shirt buttons.
"I love you too." She reciprocates in complete sobriety, her heart thumping and her pulse racing, and as she says it, clear as anything, the midday sun streaming through the window, not a single Piña Colada to cloud her judgement, she realises not only how true it is but how comfortable she is with that truth, to suddenly be the woman this man loves, to suddenly be part of this family.
For the first time, as she lands among the pillows on Castle's bed, as she finds his hands reverently lifting her vest over her head, his eyes dark, she wonders whether they needed this miserable year apart to validate everything between them, whether it only made them stronger. For the first time, she's grateful for last summer.