Epilogue 2

Scribbled surprises

„I want to shout to you again and again and again!

The wind direction is North,

and now its my time

to make a stormin your heart..."

(Tuulevaiksel Ööl - Liisi Koikson & Marko Matvere)

"Kate!" he yells out as he is rushing in the front door. Extremely elated, he wants to share the good news with her. The reception of his new book has been through the roof so The Black Pawn extended his "Nikki Heat" contract for 3 more books. With the ones existing already, that would make it to 8.

The loft seems to be abandoned, dark. Only the ambient lights in the kitchen are switched on. Weird. She said she would be home after work. But she isn't here. Why?

Confused, he scratches his head, making his way to the kitchen counter. With one swift move, he places his jacket and his phone on the counter and walks to the fridge. A cold wave of air welcomes him when he opens the fridge door. Sighing, he leans into the fridge and fishes out a pack of juice. He drinks in big gulps, the cold liquid running down his throat.

It's about that time when he sees it.

A tiny piece of paper on top of the counter.

What is it?

He puts the juice back in the fridge and softly closes the door. With small but calculated steps, he makes his way to the counter again, gently pulling the paper into his hands.

He opens it and finds Kate's swift and hasty handwriting.

"Find me where the music is."

Huh?

'Where... the... music is?'

What is she playing at? Is this... some kind of a game? Is this like a Treasure Hunt?

Oooh.

His mouth hangs open and his eyes fill with silent glee.

"This is so cool," he whispers to himself. So... where is the music then? His eyes dart up and he starts looking around the loft. Music... music... Maybe the stereo in his office? Yes.

He pushes himself away from the counter and almost runs to the office to check his stereo. There is no note. Not on top of it, not under it. Not even behind it. Well. Shoot.

But the music is here. Where else the note could be?

He is disappointed, his pouty lips curl and he huffs out a frustrated sigh. Not fair.

Music... music...

Oooh! The piano.

Like struck by lightning, he rushes to the piano. Opening the lid, he finds another small note tucked between the keys.

Hastily, he pulls it out and reads.

"The firstborn who once roamed the royal lands."

Firstborn?

He drops his hands to his side for a second, deep in thought. What could she mean?

Alexis? She is his firstborn. Might Beckett mean that next clue is hidden in Alexis' bedroom? He needs to check out, at least.

Furrowing his brows, he makes his way upstairs quickly, skipping some steps on the way. He doesn't really know what is going on, but he is excited.

He stops behind Alexis' bedroom door. It doesn't matter that she really doesn't live here anymore, her bedroom is untouched and welcoming her back whenever she finds time to visit them again. It's her sacred place, it's her home.

Castle slowly opens the door to her bedroom. He is sure that she is isn't there. After all, it is the middle of the week. Alexis is supposed to have classes.

Before he can peek into the room, he hears hissing.

"Dad!"

He startles. Alexis is home. Since when?

"Alexis?" he squeaks out. "I thought you had lectures this week?" He steps into the room, rushing to hug his kid. He hasn't seen her in a week, he missed her.

"Ah," she laughs. "No classes this week, I thought I should come home. Missed you guys."

Hugging her tightly, he whispers into her hair. "Missed you too."

Untangling herself from her father's tight grasp, she giggles and extends her hand with a note in it.

"By the way, somebody left you this note. What is going on here?"

Castle snaps it away between her fingers with haste. Its the next note from her

"I have no idea," he confesses, smiling. "But it's fun!"

"What's written in there?"

He shrugs, opening the folded paper in his hands. There are some hurried letters in there, too.

"I do know this one thing with ice cubes."

He freezes. Seriously. Beckett gave THIS letter to Alexis? It's naughty! Wait. Ice cubes? Does this mean... the freezer?

Alexis tries to peek at the letter, too, but Castle covers it with his palm.

"Daaad," she whines, but Castle ignores it, swiftly changing the subject.

"Did Kate give this to you?"

"Yes," Alexis nods, smiling. "She came by an hour ago and asked me how long I was going to be at home. Since I don't have any plans for today, I told her that I would be staying home for the night. She was quite happy to hear this and gave me this paper. She asked me to hold onto it until you came by. So." She crosses her arms on her chest. "Tell me what's going on?"

Castle shrugs. "I don't know yet."

"How can you not know?" Alexis laughs. "You came in here to find the letter, but not expecting me to be home, right?"

"Well..." he backpedals. "I thought you had classes."

"Yeaaah," she draws out. "But seriously. What's happening."

"I wish I knew," he confesses. "Kate has been leaving me these little letters throughout the apartment." He pulls out the other two from his pocket, showing his daughter. "It's some kind of a treasure hunt, as far as I know."

"A treasure hunt?"

Castle shrugs and starts inching away from his daughter's room. "I need to go find the next clue."

"Dad?" she reclaims his attention. "If you find out what's going on, tell me later, ok?"

His heart is flooded with affection for a second. God, he loves his daughter. Ever so sweet and loving, yet very nosy. Just like her grandma. He smiles the sweetest smile. "Of course."

"Good luck," Alexis breathes out as he is closing the door of her room. "I'll be here if you need me."

He is still smiling when he descends the stairs to the dining area. He is really happy that his daughter is home. It means family dinner this evening - with Kate, Alexis and him. And if Martha comes by (which she probably will), she must join their dinner too.

He arrives at the fridge.

Ice cubes... Ice cubes.

He opens the freezer door and sure enough, there is a little note peeking out between the trays of ice cubes. He pulls it out and opens it. He feels his excitement levels rising with each note he finds. This must be good. Really good. He reads slowly, taking in every word.

"Where the writer's heart belongs."

Huh? Where the... writer's heart belongs. Immediately, his mind is flooded with pictures of her - his beautiful and extraordinary girlfriend. Could it be it? The clue? But where is she?

He looks around the apartment, but... he doesn't see any sign of her being at home.

Writer's heart... Writer's heart...

Ooooh!

She doesn't mean him particularly. That must be it. She means writers in general. What would writers love the most?

Unconsciously, he starts walking towards his study. Because - that's the place where he does most of his writing. He loves what he is doing. But … what could Kate mean by her little note?

Writer's heart lies within the space he can work. Uh. Could it be so simple? His laptop?

Needing to check that out, he quickly makes his way from the doorway of his office to his desk, opening the lid of the laptop. But no. No note there this time.

Huh? What? Where is the note?

He looks around in his study as the orange glow of setting sun illuminates the room. Where is the note? He spins himself around on his spot. He is getting frustrated, he wants to find that note... but he can't think of where she could have put it. Suddenly his eyes find his old typewriter sitting alongside his most successful books. Between the keys of his typewriter, he can see piece of yellow paper stuck in there.

Yes! Success!

He smiles and almost runs to the note. With shaking hands, he manages to get the note out between the keys and he opens it with a rush.

"Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you,

sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.

But in your dreams whatever they be,

dream a little dream of me"

Suddenly his eyesight gets blurry as he notices the tears falling from his eyes. Dammit. She is using Louis Armstrong to get to him. Oh, the power of that woman. She can make him cry like a little girl. But this. This little note. This is beautiful.

He furrows his eyebrows and glances towards his bedroom for a second. The door is closed, so he can't see inside, the darkness of the room behind the shelves doesn't give anything out.

He glances back to the paper. Could it be so simple? His bedroom?

With a little smile on his face, he starts to walk towards the bedroom. Slowly, he opens the door. He freezes and takes in the sight that greets him there.

Kate is laying down on the bed, silently reading his most recent book. He hears the rustle of the paper when she turns the next page. She must have been waiting for him. For quite some time, as it seems. She is dressed casually - black yoga pants with wide red T-shirt. Her hair is pulled up in a sloppy little bun. She must have had a shower before getting into the bed.

Suddenly, she notices him. He feels her gaze shift from the book to him.

"Hi," she murmurs with a soft tone.

"Hi," he greets back, stepping fully into the room.

She puts the book down on the nightstand and turns her full attention to him.

"Finally," she laughs. "Took you long enough to get here."

He chuckles lightly, coming closer to the bed and sitting down on the dark comforter. She inches closer to him, her hand covering his.

"I was caught in the middle of the treasure hunt," he apologizes jokingly.

"Ah, and did you find what you were looking for?" she asks innocently.

"I think so?" he smiles and bends his head a bit to place a kiss to her lips. She doesn't move away and welcomes his tender lips against hers. He sighs and melts into her embrace, letting the kiss grow deeper. Oh, he loves her. He loves her so much. He tries to pour his love for her into the kiss. She understands without words and melts into the kiss as well. Finally, they have to separate. She pulls her lips away gently and they both gasp for air.

After a minute of silence and long caresses with his fingers, she asks breathlessly. "Don't you want to see the last note?"

"There is one more note?" he asks, his voice laced with surprise and giddiness. "There's more? I thought you were my prize," he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

She laughs and shakes her head slightly. "No. Not this time. Look around a bit. Maybe you'll find it."

And he does look around. His eyes travel from her to the big pictures hanging in his room. Their room. Finding nothing there, he turns around and investigates from afar the dressers and mirrors. But no, nothing there either. He glances back at Kate. She is smirking. Okay. He is definitely missing something right now. He looks at her, but no notes seem to be attached to her.

Then finally, his gaze stops on the book she had placed on the nightstand. Could this be it?

He glances back at Kate.

She had been watching him the whole time, waiting for the exact moment of his discovery. And when his eyes meet hers, she gives a little nod with a soft smile. He is on the right path.

Castle reaches for the book. He opens the purple cover and shuffles through the pages until he finds it.

His breath stops.

There is a black and white picture nestled between the pages of his own novel. A black and white picture of a tiny blob. An ultrasound.

He gulps.

Then he reads the yellow sticky note at the top right corner of the picture.

"Welcome home, Daddy."

"Ohhh..." he breathes out. Suddenly not knowing what to say, he raises his head and searches for her eyes. Their gazes meet and she smiles the sweetest smile at him.

A new kind of happiness rushes through him. A baby. A little baby. With Kate.

His mind gets lost in the images running around in his head. A little baby with hazel eyes and brown hair, looking like a little Kate Beckett. A little baby he can call his. The thought of it puts a smile on his face. Their baby.

He looks at her as she is looking back at him. They don't say a word. But somehow she knows. She knows what to do.

She inches closer to him and sneaks her hands around him, hugging him tightly. He buries his nose into her hair and hugs her back. Hard.

"Is this real?" he whispers into her ear, not really believing his eyes.

He hears her chuckle. She nods against his shoulder and whispers a faint. "Yes."

"I'm gonna be a dad... again," he whispers, his voice full of amazement. He pulls back a little from their embrace but not letting her go. Their eyes meet and he can't help himself anymore. He crashes his lips to hers, caressing her face on both sides with his hands. He kisses her like there is no tomorrow, passion and electricity flowing through them, mixed with a new wave of amazement. She is just perfect. They are perfect. He loves her. And she loves him. And they are going to have a baby.

After a long while, he pulls his mouth away from hers. They need to breathe. Apparently, it's deemed to be necessary.

"Thank you," he whispers, his forehead kissing hers. "Thank you so much."

She smiles with her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of him around her. "No, thank you," she whispers.

"We are going to have a baby," he finally mumbles. And then he is kissing her again.

A/N: I had a feeling I needed to do this. I had this scene in mind when I was writing the first epilogue. It was either this or the marriage proposal. It has been a year since I stopped writing for this fic. I thought It would be nice way to celebrate my first ever (that long) fic with a nice epilogue.

Thank you my friends, who have inspired me to write. You have made my year!

Let me know what you think of this thing, please? I would be so happy.