Slaying the Beast

Chapter 44

"Was that Gloria?" Kate asks.

Castle lays his cellphone on his desk. "It was. She said we lost our ballroom. Smashing Heads had a release party in there last night, and they smashed everything, including holes in the walls. Not only does the hotel have to fix those, but the damage caused a short that knocked the power out on that whole floor."

"Rick, our wedding is this afternoon. What are we going to do?"

"We're going to do better. The hotel is giving us the roof, and they'll direct our guests to the right location. There's a garden up there, complete with heaters if we need them. There's room to set up for the ceremony and for dancing."

"What if it rains?"

"There's no precipitation in the forecast. I checked first thing this morning. But Gloria says they can set up an inflatable shelter for us if it looks like there's any chance of something coming down. There may be some wind, but we'll be on the lee side of the building. Kate this is serendipity. It could be even more beautiful than we planned."

"I hope so, Babe."

"Look, Gloria's already over there. So's the florist. I'm going to grab my wedding gear and join them. We'll make sure that when you come down the aisle, no one will have a reason in the world to concentrate on anything except my incomparably gorgeous bride."

Standing on the slightly crunchy surface of the roof, Castle gazes upward. There aren't any clouds. The sky is bright blue. Unfortunately, it's the shade of blue that is typical of an inversion layer that holds warmer air closer to the ground. They won't be needing the heaters. The weather is going to be more like Summer than Fall. Air conditioning would have been nice. He can try to get the hotel to scare up some fans. He's already sweating, and under his wedding suit, it will be worse - at least until the ceremony is over and he can shed his jacket. Most of the men coming will be uncomfortable as well as may some of the more mature ladies.

The hotel will be laying down a portable dance floor to compensate for the roughness of the surface. The able staff, in red vests and black bow ties, is already setting up tables, chairs, a bar, and a makeshift kitchen of sorts.

The florist brought a roll of satiny white fabric for Kate and Lanie to tread, as they approach the flowery arch that bounds the area where the ceremony will take place. She's busy laying it down while the tables are being set up. She'll bring up the centerpieces as soon as she has a place to put them.

He strolls through the elevated beds that make up the garden from which the chef gathers fresh herbs. Good for her. He would have expected them to be trucked in from upstate. The greenery does add an air of life to an atmosphere that could become stifling before the ceremony takes place. He strides back to the door that leads to the elevator. Gloria can more than ably supervise the arrangements. If the hotel doesn't have fans, he knows a rental house that provides them for movies shooting in New York. They should be able to get them up to a hotel roof with no trouble.

Kate paces the suite that she and Lanie are using as a dressing room. Both Castle and Gloria have assured her that everything is fine, but she's not worried about tables and chairs - or even the temperature. As she stepped into her mother's dress, it came home to her exactly what being married would mean. Until the day her mother died, her parents were totally devoted to each other. That didn't mean that they never fought. She'd heard some pretty good ones when they thought she was asleep or lost in her music. But she never had a moment's doubt that they took the pledge of "until death do us part," seriously. Obviously, Castle couldn't keep that promise to Meredith or Gina, if it had even been made at his marriage ceremony with either one of them. Kate wants to make that vow, and mean it, and she wants Rick to do the same. She's just not sure the kind of marriage her father and mother had exists anymore.

Roy and Evelyn Montgomery have been together for thirty years and if anything seem to be getting closer. From what she's been able to gather, Captain Gates and her husband are quite close too, as are Lanie's parents. Maybe it can still happen. She just has to let herself believe that the love she and Rick have for each other can overcome any challenges they face. God knows there have been enough of them already, and every one of them has just bound them more tightly together.

Maybe that's the way it works. It did for her parents. When they found themselves on opposing sides in a case, they found a way to get past it. When they clashed over Kate buying a motorcycle, they found a way to get past that too. The one thing Jim Beckett could never get past was Johanna's death.

Lanie puts a hand on her shoulder. "Kate, what's going on? You should be walking on air, but you look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Kate sinks down on a leather ottoman, with the full skirt of her gown spread around her. "Lanie, I'm just thinking about what happened to Dad after my mother was killed. It tore him apart. His practice went to hell. It took years for him to get sober and start putting his life back together again. What if I get killed in the line of duty? What's going to happen to Castle? Should I be taking the chance of putting him through that?"

Lanie pulls up a chair near Kate. "Girlfriend, you listen to me. If there's one thing I know as a medical examiner, it's that everyone dies. They never know exactly when it's going to happen, and they rarely know how, but death is inevitable. Castle is older than you are, and men have shorter lifespans than women. He could be the one to go first. And Bracken is locked up. There's no one gunning for you anymore. You could live to retire like Montgomery, or you could be hit by a bus tomorrow. Any of us could. The important thing is to get as much out of life as you can, while you can.

"Your biggest enemy, the beast that's been eating at your soul, was never Bracken. It's been your own fear. You can't let it win. I know you love Castle, or you wouldn't be torturing yourself with the what ifs. And I know he loves you. The whole world can see it every time he looks at you. You two are meant to be together for however long and in whatever way you can."

Lanie stares at Kate's face. "Damn! You messed up your makeup. Not that Castle would mind, but you need to do this looking good. I'll fix it. Then you are going to grab on to your daddy's arm, get your ass down that aisle, and marry Writer Boy. Are you hearing me, Kate?"

"Loud and clear, Lanie. Thanks."

A tall, white-haired man watches the ceremony through a scope from a nearby rooftop. He can't hear the vows, but he can see in the faces of the bride and groom that they mean every word. He grins when his son and Kate Beckett come together for their first kiss as husband and wife, and lays down his scope. "Finally, Richard, you got it right."

Finis

A/N Thank you for joining me on this journey. Tomorrow I'll have a chapter of a new AU story. When a nineteen-year-old Kate meets Castle at a book signing, she tells him how his books are helping her through her mother's death. He invites her for coffee, and the two become pen pals. Where it goes from there, you'll see in "Stay in Touch." Love, Sally.