there should be stars - epilogue (30/30)
Title: there should be stars - epilogue (30/30)
Characters/Pairings: Castle/Beckett
Summary: Four years can make a world of difference. AU.
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Up to Season Four finale.
There’s a gentle weight on her chest, compressing the air out of her lungs. Something pulls at her hair, not quite hard enough to hurt. Still, she reaches up and untangles the little fingers from her ponytail, letting the tiny digits curl around her pointer finger instead.
They’re both tucked under the blanket, keeping the late autumn breeze from chilling them. He said he’d be right back, just running to the store to get more stuff for the dinner party tonight. So she had picked up the baby and the soft fleece blanket he had bought them once they got home from the hospital and headed out to her couch.
She can hear the others in the living room, chatting with glasses of wine and the plates of hors d’oeuvres set out on side tables. She should go back instead and socialize but she’s tired and her daughter is sleeping on her chest, finally quiet.
The girl was noisy, crying as she was passed from arms to arms as people arrived. Normally she’s a happy baby, so like her father while around people. Thriving on the attention and smiling at all of the faces, familiar or otherwise. But this afternoon was different. She was fussy and unhappy and not even Esposito could make her smile.
“Daddy will be home soon,” she murmurs, brushing a hand over the girl’s thin head of dark, dark brown hair.
“Home now, actually.”
She looks up from their daughter’s head as he sits on the end of the couch. “Hi. You get the sauce and more crackers?”
“Lanie and Jenny are setting them out now. I think Mother has commandeered the kitchen and won’t let anyone else in so she has the chicken,” he says, leaning a hand next to her stomach to press a kiss to her cheek. “She said Sam was unhappy.”
“Think she was just a little colicky,” Beckett admits, her free hand sneaking from under the blanket to wrap around Castle’s wrist. “She’s asleep now, though.”
“Want me to take her, put her in bed?”
“I’ll come,” she says, swinging her legs off of the couch. “I need to get up anyway. My feet are falling asleep.”
He untucks the blanket, folding it over the arm of the couch to give her a chance to work feeling back into her feet. She brushes her fingers over the silk of his tie, giving it a gentle tug toward the wide French doors.
Castle holds a finger to his lips as they go into the living room. The people go silent as Beckett walks in, the sleeping baby cradled against her chest. She smiles at them, keeping Sam’s head tucked under hers, supporting her neck. His hand is warm at the small of her back on the way up the stairs, keeping her balanced and close to him. Her head tilts against his shoulder, tugging him to a stop just outside of the baby’s room.
“What’s wro -?”
Her lips are soft as she presses up on her toes, Sam cuddled between them. “Nothing,” she sighs, using her free hand to cup her cheek. Her wedding band is cool against his skin, the diamond setting off subtle sparkles onto the wall. “Everything is wonderful. Thank you.”
“For what?”
She leans back against the doorframe, shifting the sleeping baby so that little Sam smacks her lips against her neck, fingers grabbing the strap of Beckett’s tanktop. “For waiting all of these years -”
“Fourteen years, but who’s counting?” he teases as she shoves at his shoulder.
“And for giving me back that happiness that I had before. For staying with me during the trial. For Sam.” She takes a deep breath, smelling baby lotion mixed with Castle’s cologne, and turns a quiet smile up at him. “I can’t thank you enough for everything.”
“You don’t need to.” His fingers wrap around her wrist as he steps between her feet. His head falls onto her forehead, their noses sliding across one another gently. “You’re both worth waiting for,” he whispers. “I’d do all fourteen years over again.”
“I love you,” she says, voice heavy with emotion.
“So glad we can say that now,” he replies, breathing the words into her mouth. “I love you.”
Once they have Sam in her crib, that silly stuffed monkey that Alexis passed down to her little sister snuggled into the infant’s side, Castle drags her back out onto the porch. She hears Lanie calling her to come have a glass of wine but Castle begs another minute from their friends.
As they sit on their couch, over the Atlantic, the stars are out.
Characters/Pairings: Castle/Beckett
Summary: Four years can make a world of difference. AU.
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Up to Season Four finale.
There’s a gentle weight on her chest, compressing the air out of her lungs. Something pulls at her hair, not quite hard enough to hurt. Still, she reaches up and untangles the little fingers from her ponytail, letting the tiny digits curl around her pointer finger instead.
They’re both tucked under the blanket, keeping the late autumn breeze from chilling them. He said he’d be right back, just running to the store to get more stuff for the dinner party tonight. So she had picked up the baby and the soft fleece blanket he had bought them once they got home from the hospital and headed out to her couch.
She can hear the others in the living room, chatting with glasses of wine and the plates of hors d’oeuvres set out on side tables. She should go back instead and socialize but she’s tired and her daughter is sleeping on her chest, finally quiet.
The girl was noisy, crying as she was passed from arms to arms as people arrived. Normally she’s a happy baby, so like her father while around people. Thriving on the attention and smiling at all of the faces, familiar or otherwise. But this afternoon was different. She was fussy and unhappy and not even Esposito could make her smile.
“Daddy will be home soon,” she murmurs, brushing a hand over the girl’s thin head of dark, dark brown hair.
“Home now, actually.”
She looks up from their daughter’s head as he sits on the end of the couch. “Hi. You get the sauce and more crackers?”
“Lanie and Jenny are setting them out now. I think Mother has commandeered the kitchen and won’t let anyone else in so she has the chicken,” he says, leaning a hand next to her stomach to press a kiss to her cheek. “She said Sam was unhappy.”
“Think she was just a little colicky,” Beckett admits, her free hand sneaking from under the blanket to wrap around Castle’s wrist. “She’s asleep now, though.”
“Want me to take her, put her in bed?”
“I’ll come,” she says, swinging her legs off of the couch. “I need to get up anyway. My feet are falling asleep.”
He untucks the blanket, folding it over the arm of the couch to give her a chance to work feeling back into her feet. She brushes her fingers over the silk of his tie, giving it a gentle tug toward the wide French doors.
Castle holds a finger to his lips as they go into the living room. The people go silent as Beckett walks in, the sleeping baby cradled against her chest. She smiles at them, keeping Sam’s head tucked under hers, supporting her neck. His hand is warm at the small of her back on the way up the stairs, keeping her balanced and close to him. Her head tilts against his shoulder, tugging him to a stop just outside of the baby’s room.
“What’s wro -?”
Her lips are soft as she presses up on her toes, Sam cuddled between them. “Nothing,” she sighs, using her free hand to cup her cheek. Her wedding band is cool against his skin, the diamond setting off subtle sparkles onto the wall. “Everything is wonderful. Thank you.”
“For what?”
She leans back against the doorframe, shifting the sleeping baby so that little Sam smacks her lips against her neck, fingers grabbing the strap of Beckett’s tanktop. “For waiting all of these years -”
“Fourteen years, but who’s counting?” he teases as she shoves at his shoulder.
“And for giving me back that happiness that I had before. For staying with me during the trial. For Sam.” She takes a deep breath, smelling baby lotion mixed with Castle’s cologne, and turns a quiet smile up at him. “I can’t thank you enough for everything.”
“You don’t need to.” His fingers wrap around her wrist as he steps between her feet. His head falls onto her forehead, their noses sliding across one another gently. “You’re both worth waiting for,” he whispers. “I’d do all fourteen years over again.”
“I love you,” she says, voice heavy with emotion.
“So glad we can say that now,” he replies, breathing the words into her mouth. “I love you.”
Once they have Sam in her crib, that silly stuffed monkey that Alexis passed down to her little sister snuggled into the infant’s side, Castle drags her back out onto the porch. She hears Lanie calling her to come have a glass of wine but Castle begs another minute from their friends.
As they sit on their couch, over the Atlantic, the stars are out.