a.n. Here we are folks. This is the last chapter (the epilogue is also included here). I'm sad. This story is over two years old. It's my longest story and my most reviewed story. Thank you to EVERYONE who took the time to read this. Thanks to everyone who left a review, faved or followed it. And especially thanks to Her Pegship. She's stuck with me for two years making this story so much better. Thank you, Peg.
I'm aware that the first part of this last chapter is pointless filler/fluff. Without it, though, the chapter would be too short.
Disclaimer: Say it with me, one last time: I don't own Castle.
-:::-
September 19 2011
"Happy Birthday, bud!" Kate said, pulling her son into her arms and squeezing him tight.
"Thanks, mom."
"Come on, your dad is making breakfast."
"Pancakes?"
"Is there anything else?" Kate asked seriously.
Alex laughed and followed her into the kitchen where he took a seat at the island.
"Alex! Bud! Wow, you're really old!" Rick said, waving a spatula around dramatically as he turned around and grinned at his son.
"Dad! Take that back!"
"Not a chance," Rick said as he turned back towards the stove.
Kate laughed. She walked to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice. As she poured three glasses, she asked, "So, are you ready for tonight?"
"Yeah. It's going to be a blast."
"I'm sure you'll have fun." Alex had gotten them to agree to allow him to have a birthday party at a paintball arena with a bunch of his friends. She and Rick had differing opinions on how 'awesome' it was going to be. Rick – the man child that he was – thought it was going to be so much awesome, while Kate thought it was going to be a disaster.
The three ate and joked and had a good time for the next hour. When they were all done and the dishes were in the dishwasher, Rick led them to the living room. "Presents!"
Alex whooped, causing Kate to laugh as she sat next to him on the couch. "You're opening ours now so they don't get lost in the ones you'll get tonight from your friends."
Alex bounced up and down on the couch excitedly. Kate grinned. It was nice to know that Alex, who normally was so serious and mature, could still act like the little boy she still saw him as. It made her feel like she hadn't missed him growing up completely.
October 31 2011
Rick was pretty damn sure Alex was the cutest 12 year old in the world. This year Alex had insisted on going trick-or-treating as Harry Potter. Rick and Kate had thought about being James and Lily, but given the outcome for those characters, they decided against it. Instead, Rick was dressed up as Dumbledore while Kate had decided on McGonagall. Overall, they made quite the sight as they traveled from door to door in their apartment building with bags getting progressively fuller of candy.
Rick noticed that Kate was a little quiet all night. She smiled and laughed, but she didn't say much. He'd asked several times if there was something wrong, but she'd just smile at him and shake her head, so Rick let it go.
Granted, he was pretty nervous too. If everything went to plan, this was going to be a momentous night for them both.
"Come on, bud," Rick said, grabbing his son's hand. "Just two more doors."
"Are you sure we can't do Gram's building this year?"
Rick laughed. "She's not there, and we didn't get a very good haul last year. Besides, we got started late."
Alex pouted, but soon he was smiling again as an older gentleman opened the next door. "Trick or Treat!"
Rick looked over at Kate, who was smiling back at him. "We could go over there if you want," she said.
"No. It's raining out and even just a little water will ruin both of our costumes. No, we have enough candy."
Kate laughed. "I'm sure we do, though if it's like last year, you'll hog most of it."
"Take that back, I did no such thing!"
"Liar," Kate said affectionately.
Rick grumbled, then thanked the old man and pulled Alex away and towards the last door.
-:::-
An hour later, Alex was conked out on the sofa. Rick and Kate were sitting on the floor going through the looted candy, supposedly checking through the candy to make sure it was safe. How else were you supposed to check it if you didn't eat it?
"Oh, a Butterfinger!" Kate exclaimed. She closed her eyes as she took a crunchy bite of the miniature candy bar. Rick used her distraction to pull something out of his pocket and place it on the floor in front of him with the candy.
"What's this?" he asked, his tone serious.
"What's what?" Kate asked, still crunching on her candy. She looked over only to see Rick holding a ring in his hand.
"Rick?" she asked. "That….What's that?"
Rick grinned. "I think it's an engagement ring, but it might be made of candy."
Rick looked down at the ring then back up at Beckett. "Nope. Not candy."
"But…"
"I love you, Kate Beckett. I've loved you pretty much all of my life. The best day of my life is the day we knocked on your door two Halloweens ago. I was a shadow of myself, just living one day at a time. My future didn't matter to me at all. All that mattered was Alex's happiness. Now, I know the future is bright, because you're going to be right there beside me. So, Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"
Kate nodded through her tears. "Yes. Of course, yes."
Rick grinned and put the ring on her trembling finger. Then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly.
"I love you," she said, when they pulled back.
"And I love you," Rick said, squeezing her tight.
"I love you both," Alex said, making both of them jump. Their son had tears in his eyes but a grin on his face.
"Alex, bud…"
"It's about time, Dad!" Alex exclaimed. "You've had that ring for months and months."
"Well…" Rick stuttered.
"It's okay, babe. This was the perfect time," Kate said, looking down at the ring on her finger. It felt right. It wasn't the same ring he'd given her as a teenager, which Kate was thankful for. That ring had too many bad memories associated with it. This was tasteful. Not too ostentatious, though it was still bigger than she might have picked out herself. It was perfect.
Rick stood and helped Kate to her feet. "We should get the Boy Who Lived off to bed."
"Yes, that's a good idea. Actually, though…" Kate said nervously.
"Kate?"
Kate was silent for a moment. "This has been such a good day…"
"It has," Rick said. "Is something wrong?"
"No." Kate looked down at Alex and then took his hand so that she was holding Rick's hand on one side, Alex's on the other. "No, everything is perfect. I just...I love you both so much. And I have...I have some news."
"News?" Alex said.
"Good news?" Rick asked.
Kate nodded. She took a deep breath and squeezed both their hands. "I'm pregnant."
Epilogue
Three Years Later…
Kate Rodgers grinned at her fourteen year old son who was currently carrying around his nearly three year old sister on his hip. Sarah was not a happy camper. She wanted down. Like her mother at that age, Sara Rodgers hated to rely on anyone else to do things for her.
"She's so much like you," Rick said from behind her.
Kate laughed. "I was just thinking the same thing."
Rick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his chest. He rested his hands on her expanding waistline. Kate grinned. Whenever he touched her nowadays, his hands almost always gravitated towards her pregnant belly. She wasn't that far along yet, but already she was bigger than she had been when she'd been pregnant with Alex or Sarah. The doctors were telling her that there were triplets growing inside her. When she'd been told that, Rick had fainted. The wuss.
Not that she hadn't felt like fainting, of course. Of course, she'd never tell Rick that. Nope.
"I'm only two months in, Rick," Kate said. "It's going to get so big you won't be able to wrap your arms around it."
"Nonsense," Rick said as he buried his face in her neck and took a deep breath, causing Kate to shudder. "You're gorgeous."
"That's not what I was complaining about, you doofus," Kate laughed. "Now, are you going to tell me where we are going for dinner?"
"Once we're done here at the park, I thought we'd do something simple. Goodness knows Sarah isn't going to eat anything but nuggets or spaghetti. So Remy's is the only choice."
Kate moaned. "Oh God, we've not been there for ages."
"I know. It's been at least a year."
"At least," Kate agreed. Her mouth was watering just at the thought of a burger and a strawberry shake.
"Alex has been bugging me for a trip there too, so I thought we'd just go there instead of some fancy restaurant where neither one of them would eat."
"Good choice, babe."
"What are we going to do with three more of them?" Rick wondered.
Kate laughed again. "I haven't the foggiest. But I'm happy."
"Oh, me too. I'm just scared. If all three are girls, Alex and I will be very outnumbered."
Kate giggled. "If they're all like Sarah, they'll have both of you wrapped around their little fingers."
"So true."
The two parents stood quietly and watched as their son played with his little sister in Central Park. The day was glorious. Sunshine shone over head, birds tweeted up in the green trees, and Kate Rodgers nee Beckett was wrapped in the arms of the only man she had ever truly loved while watching the rest of her expanding family play in the grass.
Kate sighed happily. At one point in her life, she had thought that she would never again be happy. She didn't want to be happy. Her mother was dead. Why should she get to be happy? So she'd thrown it all away. She'd broken up with Rick, who even then had been the love of her life – and she had known it – and she'd given up her baby to his care. Selfishly, she'd spent the next ten years living behind a veil of grief and walls so thick that no one could penetrate their fortress.
Well. Almost no one. It turned out that those walls had actually been made of glass. When Rick and Alex had knocked on her door that Halloween night, Kate Beckett had found her life again. It had taken so much effort to get them back. But in the end...well…in the end, she was happier now than she had ever been in her whole life, and she didn't see that ever changing.
Fin.
-:::-
a.n.2. Hope you liked it. This is the end. There won't be a sequel, so don't ask for that. The good news is that I have another Castle story planned. I'll probably start publishing that sometime in June. Something completely different than I've ever done before, so it should be fun.
Thanks again for reading!