A/N: I am just over a year into my fan fiction writing journey and I have been blown away by the talent, kindness, support and encouragement that seems to be in abundance in this fandom. You are amazing and I fully intend to keep paying your kindness forward.

Sadly, we've reached the end of this story and to everyone who has made it, thank you for your time, your words and your stamina. Back to a 'T' rating for this chapter.

Recap: When they fall into another pleasantly exhausted slumber, they are again wrapped around each other, sated, safe, content; joy and hope where once resided pain, regret and despair.

Epilogue - Love

Kate's eyes fly open and she sits up suddenly, not completely awake but her body nevertheless in motion before the last remnants of her dream have a chance to disappear into the recesses of her subconscious. As she places her hand over her thundering heart and takes several deep, calming breaths a large, gentle hand reaches for her in the semi-darkness and begins making soothing circles over her back. As her memory is flooded with the vivid images of her dream she looks down at the sleep-rumpled man beside her and leans into him, his touch like a balm; tender and reasuring.

"Nightmare?" Castle asks in the deep, gravelly voice she has so recently become used to waking up to. His morning voice is as rough and scratchy as the stubble on his face and she finds them both sexy as hell.

"No, not a nightmare just a really vivid dream," she reassures him with a soft smile as he sits up beside her, his hand still rubbing her back, but she's calmer now, her pulse settling, her breathing regular.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe later," she whispers and drops her head, Castle immediately noticing her lack of eye contact, her smile and the slight pink stain to her cheeks, and he realises whatever images thrust her so abruptly into breathless, startled wakefulness may have been shocking, but not necessarily frightening or even unpleasant.

"Katherine Beckett, were you just having a sex dream?"

"What? No."

"Oh, you so were." Castle teases with a delighted smirk.

"Castle, at the risk of further inflating your already sizable ego, I will admit to having had the occasional salacious dream about you, but I can say with complete honesty that the dream I just had was not a sex dream," she admits as her mind drifts back. She becomes momentarily lost in the vision of a chubby, blue eyed baby grinning a toothless but unmistakably Castle smile at her and she feels her heart rate quicken again and there is a warm flutter in her chest and belly.

She is more than a little stunned by the image, but what is most surprising is the lack of some other, fairly strong emotions; panic, dread, fear. In fact, there has been a notable absence of all those feelings since the first time she kissed him on the moonlit porch. She isn't terrified, she hasn't been keeping one foot out the door; instead, after weeks of sharing not only the cabin but now, also a bed, she feels a deep sense of peace, a calm acceptance that she is edging ever closer to where she wants to be and she is filled with a sense of endless possibility.

"Well since you're not going to be forthcoming with the details of your dirty dreams..." Castle continues to tease, jolting her out of her reverie, "I will very happily share the wildest, hottest details of some of my dreams."

Kate can't help but laugh as he nips at the side if her neck, and she playfully fires back, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a whole series of books chronicling, in rather steamy detail, at least some of your dreams about me?"

"Touché, Detective." Castle laughs, but then his face becomes serious, his eyes hold hers and as he leans in to kiss her he whispers, "But not one of those dreams, not a single fantasy comes close to how amazing the reality of being with you actually is. We're so much better, so much more than I ever dared dream."

Even after all this time, even after the tens of thousands of words he's written about her, it's the words he utters to her that take her breath away, render her wordless and she does the only thing she can do to affirm her agreement; she kisses him back, at the same time promising herself she'll tell him about her dream... soon.

Their time at the cabin is almost over. Kate has been cleared for duty and will return to work in ten days time, and although there is a cloud of uncertainty around their continued professional partnership, their personal one grows stronger each day. They are both painfully aware that things won't be the same once the real world intrudes, with all it's dangers, complications and obstacles, but they are confident they can weather anything, together.

They are enjoying one of their last days of peace and quiet when Kate checks her watch and makes an announcement that throws Castle for a loop.

"What? Your dad's coming here? To stay? Today," he gasps, his tone panicked as he wriggles out from under her and almost deposits them both onto the porch in his haste to be an acceptable distance away; as if the man himself had suddenly materialised beside them, frowning disapprovingly at their proximity, not to mention at the location of one of Castle's hands. "Thanks for the warning. I should go. Now."

They had been sprawled in the hammock, hands lazily exploring the abundance of bare skin on offer, not to mention other no-so-bare but particularly tempting areas, until the mere mention of Jim Beckett sent Castle into a flurry of guilty panic.

"You don't have to leave."

"Uh, yes I do. I can't... we can't... What if he'd arrived two minutes ago... while I had my hand down your... Jeez Beckett... we were about to..."

"About to what?" She's laughing at him now. "Have you ever actually tried to have sex in a hammock, Castle?"

"Have you?" Kate quirks an eyebrow in response to his question and Castle's eyes widen. Let's not go there right now Rick, he thinks to himself. "Where's he gonna sleep, because I'm in the guest room remember... allegedly."

"Castle, it's only for one night. And he knows you're not sleeping in the guest room any more."

"And how exactly does he know that?" Castle asks incredulously and stops pacing in front of the hammock long enough to pull on a T-shirt before striding nervously inside. He has been back to the loft periodically, both Martha and Alexis guessing immediately that his relationship with Kate has changed, but he has not even considered that Jim Beckett is privy to the information.

"I told him." Kate responds and follows him in.

"What? Kate, no."

"Calm down. It's not like I went into details. But I talk to my dad, Castle. I tell him stuff."

At that news, a look of abject horror spreads across his already incredulous face. "Well, I can uncatagorically tell you that I never ever want Alexis to share that kind of stuff with me and I certainly don't want to be under the same roof as your father now that he knows that we... you... that I've...seen your stuff. Now put some clothes on."

She smirks at him then and throws in an eye roll for good measure as she tugs her shirt down over her still partially exposed abs and buttons the fly of her very short denim shorts. When she sees the shock in his eyes at the sound of her dad's car outside, her smirk morphs into more laughter. "Too late to escape now lover boy. Time to face the music."

Castle takes a deep breath and turns to follow Kate, but Jim is already at the door, calling out.

"Knock, knock."

"You don't have to knock Dad, it's your place," Kate tells him as they envelop each other in a warm hug.

"Just making sure I'm not interrupting anything."

Kate hears Castle's squeak of discomfort and she glares at her father. She knows the older man's tells, knows he's messing with them; well, with Castle mainly and she almost feels sorry for him. Almost.

"Rick," the senior Beckett greets, hand outstretched as he steps closer. "Good to see you."

"Mr Be... Jim." Castle gulps, taking the older man's hand in a firm handshake and silently hoping the sweatiness of his palm goes relatively unnoticed.

"So, Katie tells me you've moved in."

Castle's eyes widen in a new wave of unmitigated panic and fly immediately to Kate's, but he finds no sympathy there. Instead he encounters a Beckett death glare and almost recoils until he realises she has it directed squarely at her father.

"Jeez Dad, it's okay to mess with him a little, but please don't give him a heart attack."

Both Becketts turn their attention to the now hyperventilating man in front of them and he sees the conspiratorial grins spread across their faces.

"Seriously, you're ganging up on me?"

"Only because you're so easy, Castle." Kate teases and steps over to him, playfully kissing him on the lips.

Okay, so we're doing PDAs in front of her father too. Could this day get any more uncomfortable?

Jim almost takes pity on the writer then, and decides that maybe it's time for a little masculine unity, time to let the younger man off the hook and give his daughter a dose of her own medicine, but not before he messes with them both for a minute.

"As a father yourself Rick, I'm sure you have, or will have to make the 'what are your intentions toward my daughter?' speech one day."

"Dad." Kate exclaims loudly, her eyes widening in horror as she looks between her father and Castle, noting that Rick's eyes are like saucers.

"But." Jim continues. "Since I'm pretty sure your intentions are honourable, I'm going to skip it and wish you luck; because my Katie is as stubborn and challenging as her mother was, so you're going to need it. Hard work, but worth every ounce of effort."

That last sentence has lost it's good-humoured taunting and Jim appears to have drifted back in time, lost briefly in a memory of his late wife and they wait him out. It's Castle who eventually breaks the silence.

"Oh, definitely stubborn and challenging, but also remarkable, maddening, frustrating, the list goes on," he adds and smiles, first at Jim and then at Kate and both Becketts witness the teasing glint in his eye transform into unabashed adoration. It steals Kate's breath, a blush staining her cheeks and a rush of something else, something warm and increasingly familiar spreads though her.

The whole exchange makes Jim smile. His daughter is in safe hands and he couldn't be happier, for both of them and as Castle retreats to the kitchen to make coffee, Jim whispers, "Tell him you love him, Katie. Don't waste time waiting for the perfect moment."

Jim has no doubt that when the two of them leave the isolation of the cabin, once they return to the city they will navigate the difficult and dangerous road ahead, together. A united and formidable team for years, but now that they are together in every sense of the word, love will make them unstoppable.

She does tell him she loves him, on their last night at the cabin, and it is perfect. Well Castle thinks it is; because it most definitely is possible to have sex in a hammock and now, Kate is naked and limp on top of him as his foot keeps them swinging gently from side to side, the breeze drying the sweat on their skin and the calm peacefulness of their surroundings further lulling them. As the sun sets they are both quiet, thoughtful and she slowly lifts her head from his chest, smiles and presses her lips to his.

The words taste like wine and her as she breathes them into his mouth. "I love you."

Kate feels his arms tighten around her, feels his gentle fingers brushing over the bare skin of her back and the movement of his throat as he swallows thickly. When he speaks, his voice is as rough with emotion as it was the first time he told her how he felt, the words frozen in that one terrifying instant until now, when he whispers them again here, in this peaceful, tender and perfect moment.

"I love you too."

Yes, I stole that line about him seeing her 'stuff' because it's one of my faves and I thought it kinda fit. And I modified the remarkable, maddening etc line to suit my own purposes. Hope it worked.

If you have reviewed, faved and followed this story along the way, I am beyond grateful. If you haven't left a comment so far, please take this last opportunity to pass on your thoughts.