Author's Note: As requested by many of you, here is a short epilogue to "Too Late for Kate?" We hope that you enjoyed the story and enjoy this wrap-up. Again, none of the characters belong to us, unfortunate as that may be.

Epilogue

It had been almost three months since the wedding of Kate Beckett and Richard Castle, and the new Mrs. Castle had been back at the precinct for almost two of those months. After a whirlwind honeymoon (Castle never did anything by halves, and his desire to bring back some of the innocence Kate lost when her mother was killed meant starting with 4 days at Disneyworld and working from there), and some time for Kate to settle into her new home and for them to adjust to married life, Kate was working again. Her team still referred to her as Beckett. It was easier than calling out "Castle" and having them both turn.

They'd just caught a new case. A body was found in an industrial warehouse close to the docks, and Kate was going over the report from CSU. She, Esposito, and Ryan had gone over the scene themselves and already discussed their impressions, but Kate wanted to see if CSU could fill in any of the gaps. She got up to walk over to the murder board and was briefly dizzy.

"Must remember to eat more than a breakfast bar," she muttered to herself as she gathered the papers and walked to join her colleagues. Castle was already there with Esposito and Ryan, the three of them having a lively discussion about the newest addition to their favorite football team. Castle smiled at her and held up a fresh bear claw.

"I managed to keep Ryan's grubby paws off this one. This is just to show you the lengths I'll go through for my wife," Castle commented as he handed Kate the still-warm pastry. Kate grinned at him. His wife. She still felt a thrill whenever she heard those words.

"Thanks, husband," she replied. Castle grinned back. Obviously those words from Kate meant as much to him as his words did to her. They both turned back to the murder board and mulled over the pictures and words already up. Even though Castle was now working as a reserve cop, his unique scheduling allowed him a couple of days or more at the precinct each week. Kate wasn't complaining. She knew that he could have been pulled away completely, and she loved seeing him at work and solving crimes together the way they did when they first met.

After about half an hour of discussion, they felt that they had a good handle on motive behind the murder of 23-year old Carlie Janken. She was from money, judging from the quality of the clothing and jewelry she was wearing. The fact that the jewelry was present at the scene indicated it was not a robbery gone wrong. They'd also had an interview with a friend of hers, Serena, who said Carlie was in a bad boy phase and her latest fling was hot-tempered. Her friend had witnessed a heated argument between Carlie and her boyfriend a couple of days ago.

Castle got up and headed into the breakroom to make them all fresh cappuccinos. Esposito and Ryan took one final look at the murder board before getting going.

"Ryan, let's go and have a chat with Mr. Yellsalot before he takes it in his head to skip town," Esposito commented. Ryan nodded and grabbed his jacket.

"Be careful, guys. Serena said this Mike likes to fight and really likes knives," Kate cautioned. Esposito scoffed.

"Piece of cake," he said easily.

Kate, who was sitting on the edge of her desk, suddenly turned pale and grabbed her stomach. She felt like she was about to throw up. Ryan noticed.

"Hey, Beckett, you ok? You don't look so good," he said as he moved a little closer, peering down at her. She shook her head.

"I don't know. I just felt queasy. It might be that food we ate last night at the new Mexican place."

Esposito shook his head. "Can't be. We all shared the food around. If something was bad, we all would've gotten sick. Maybe we all just ate at too late a time for you, Beckett." He smirked slightly.

Kate's eyes widened. "Late…oh my god! I'm late! I didn't even notice with all the settling in and everything!"

Ryan's eyes now widened. "Wait, Beckett, you mean…late? Like diaper and formula late?"

Kate nodded, and wished she hadn't. Her stomach was protesting any movement. Esposito barked out a laugh and went over to stand by Kate.

"Looks like there's been a lot of celebrating at Casa Castle recently," he teased, and reached out to pat Kate hard on the shoulder. That was the last straw for Kate's unsteady stomach. With a moan, she leaned over and vomited all over Esposito's shoes.

Esposito's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, only to snap shut as the smell reached his nose. He looked down at Kate, pale and mortified, and down at the ruin of his shoes. His eyes narrowed and he turned his head, unerringly finding Castle through the window of the breakroom.

"CASTLE!"