"Well, we will probably be there in thirty or forty minutes…" Rick grinned upon hearing his mother's animated gushing about how adorable her granddaughter was. "Is she asleep?" He laughed lightly at his mother relieved answer. The flamboyant Martha Rodgers trying to get a baby to sleep? That should be interesting to witness. She probably sang show tunes. "Yes, well, that ought to put her out…" Show tunes it was then. He paused to listen to her question, leaning against the bar and spotting his wife on the dance floor with an awkward-looking teenage boy.
Ah, another fan. Go figure.
"No, she's dancing with a young admirer right now who's completely in awe of course," Rick answered with a soft smile, watching his wife dance with one of Esposito's nephews. A fourteen year-old boy who's been in love with Kate ever since she first smiled at him when he was about six years old and visiting Uncle Javi at the precinct. Judging by the dreamy expression on the boy's face and the fact that Kate had to make sure that his hands did not stray from her waist, the teenager was clearly still smitten.
Who could blame him?
Especially when she was smiling at him like that. Like he was the only person in the world. Yeah, it was official: Ruben Esposito was ruined for all other women.
His mother's inquiry about the wedding dragged him out of his thoughts. "Beautiful, it was really beautiful… Esposito teared up a bit during his speech. And there was nearly a cat-fight about the bouquet which was quite entertaining." He caught sight of Kate again who was still busy charming the lovesick teenager.
Rick paused to listen to his mother and laughed, shaking his head. "No, Mother, there was no repeat performance. That was a once in a lifetime event."
Elvis was definitely not in this building...
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He was going with amused and charmed. He was her amusing, charming and ruggedly handsome husband after all.
And it was their wedding day.
"Okay guys, Pete has everything set up. You ready?" He could barely contain his excitement, bouncing on his toes.
The other two looked completely miserable. And a little pissed off. But whatever, he didn't care. It was his wedding day and they lost a bet.
That would teach them not to challenge the king of Madden.
"Castle, do we really have to do this?" Ryan whined, frowning furiously.
Esposito nodded, his face grim. "Yeah, Bro. C'mon, can't we settle this bet any other-"
Rick grinned. "No. A win is a win, Espo. Ryan, turn that frown upside down. And smile gentlemen, we're almost up."
Ryan glared at him, wishing he had his gun with him. "I hate you, man. You're gonna pay for this."
The frown on Esposito's face got deeper, cursing in Spanish as he led Ryan away.
Like lambs to the slaughter.
Rick grinned and went back to the wedding table. Back to his wife. He stood there and (creepily) watched her for a moment. Kate Castle was beautiful in the soft, romantic glow of the fairy lights, completely unaware of how captivating she really was. And tomorrow he would be waking up next to her for the rest of his life, this ethereal creature, his mortal muse.
A mystery he had a lifetime to solve.
He wanted to kiss the soft skin of her exposed back, the ridges of her spine, the hard edges of her shoulder blades. He wanted to so badly. Only a little while before he could undress her with whispered words, caress her with gently spoken pledges and make her come undone with breathless sighs. But for now he'd settle on telling her the truth. And the truth was that-
"You're beautiful," Rick whispered into her ear before kissing her cheek.
Kate laughed lightly, sounding like a ray of light, tilting her head back to look at him. Her husband. "You're not so bad yourself," she replied softly, leaning in to kiss him. "So, Mr. Castle, when are we going to get out of here?" She murmured close to his lips, her dark eyes full of carnal promises.
Rick smiled. "Why, Mrs. Castle? So you can have your wicked way with me?"
Her lips curled into a sly, sexy grin. "Something like that, yeah."
A mouth like that had to be kissed over and over and over again. To infinity and beyond.
He wrapped a large hand around the back of her neck and crashed his mouth onto hers, stealing her breath. He grinned against her mouth before breaking away completely to look at her dazed expression. "We'll be getting out of here soon enough. I just have a surprise for you before we go."
Kate sobered and eyed him skeptically. "A surprise? Rick, you know I don't like surprises."
He shrugged and grinned like a little boy. "Yeah, but you're gonna like this one. I promise, Babe."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Stop calling me that... Castle, this better be a good surprise. Or I swear I'm gonna-"
Rick silenced her with another quick kiss before getting up. "You'll love it. I promise."
Everybody loved Elvis.
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Ruben Esposito glanced at Kate and then back at Rick. He shrugged, his shoulders sagging slightly. "Sure." The fourteen year-old let go of her hand rather reluctantly. "Thank you, Detective-"
"-Kate. We've been over this now. It's Kate." She smiled brightly at him before leaning in to kiss his cheek. The boy froze, his knees feeling suspiciously weak. "Thank you for dancing with me, Mr. Esposito." The brunette beauty winked at him before taking her husband's hand. Ruben only nodded dumbly, feeling a little dazed as he placed a hand to his kissed cheek. Slowly a wide smile spread across his face.
Someday he was gonna marry a girl like that.
Rick grinned as he pulled his wife closer. "You just made his year."
Kate laughed softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "He's a good kid. I like him."
"Yeah well, he more than likes you. Look at him." He nodded towards the teenager still staring dreamily at Kate. "Poor kid. He's completely in love with you and I don't blame him. I mean look at you. How could he not be?"
Ah, a writer and his words.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, flushing slightly. "Did you call your mother?"
His lips quirked. She always changed the subject when the focus was on her. "Yeah, everything is under control. Lizzy is asleep even though it was a bit of a struggle according to my mother."
Kate's brow furrowed briefly. "Well, she's always a little restless when we're not there." They swayed quietly for a few a moments, her head nestled in the hollow of his neck. "Should we get going?"
He kissed the side of her head. "Almost. Just... another few minutes, okay?" He murmured into her dark hair, not willing to break the gentle swaying just yet.
"Don't tell me you have to participate in a surprise for Lanie," she said, her lips twitching.
Rick chuckled lightly. "No, thank the gods for that. I wasn't stupid enough to make any bets with the groom."
She allowed the grin to blossom fully. "I still can't believe you did that."
"What?"
"That surprise. At our wedding."
"Oh right, how could I forget?" He chuckled. "I still can't believe I got Ryan and Esposito to participate... You liked it, though. I could tell from the huge grin on you face that you loved it."
She shrugged, her head on his shoulder. "Mmm, it was... sweet. In a completely embarrassing way."
"Lucky for me that you love Elvis."
"And you," she muttered without missing a beat.
He grinned. "And me."
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What the-
Kate burst out laughing, immediately clamping a hand over her mouth. She was completely taken aback and utterly amused. Along with the rest of the crowd of friends and family.
In the center of the dance floor stood three very different and comical-looking Elvises. Rick being the main one of course, smiling like the idiot that he was. The other two just looked utterly miserable and uncomfortable in their Elvis outfits, complete with the wigs and sunglasses. The crowd of friends and family were whistling and clapping their hands like crazy. Kate could hear Lanie laugh somewhere in the cacophony of sounds. She saw Alexis grinning and shaking her head in amusement. Her father clapped and laughed while Martha just shook her head, trying, but failing, to suppress the upward quirk of her lips.
Kate just stared at them in disbelief, thoroughly amused.
"Well, thank you... thank you very much," Rick said to the cheering audience in his best Elvis impersonation. He turned to look at Kate, grinning widely. "I would like to dedicate this to my beautiful wife. I love you, Honey."
She flushed bright red, but failed to keep the huge smile off her face. It was embarrassing, but sweet... in a Castle sort of way.
Life with this man was never going to be boring, was it?
"Well bless my soul. What's wrong with me?" He was singing it. He was singing this song to her. And dancing for her. Mmm, he was a pretty good dancer. All kinds of hot when thrusting like that...
What a ridiculous, adorable, infuriating, sexy man.
The other two nuts were dancing in the background and also provided back-up vocals. Who would have thought? Detective Javier Esposito and Detective Kevin Ryan singing and dancing in the background dressed in ridiculous Elvis-outfits.
Yeah, somebody definitely lost a bet.
"My hands are shaky and my knees are weak. I can't seem to stand on my own two feet." The audience was going absolutely wild. Yep, Rick Castle sure knew how to work a crowd. "Who do you thank when you have such luck?" He approached the wedding table, eyes on Kate. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb were flanking him. "I'm in love... I'm all shook up. Mm mmm, ooh huh, yeah, yeah." He held out his hand to her, but Kate refused to take it, staring him down with mirth-filled eyes.
Martha was nudging her and laughing, her father was only smiling in amusement and nodded in encouragement.
"Come on, Kate!" Alexis yelled over the noise.
"When I'm near that girl I love best. My heart beats so it scares me to death!"
"Yeah, come on! Don't leave him hangin' girl!" Lanie piped up.
"My tongue gets tied when I try to speak. My insides shake like a leaf on a tree."
Someone let out a piercing whistle when Rick imitated shaking 'like a leaf on a tree'. His wife only shook her head and bit her lower lip to try and suppress the wide smile that was fighting to escape.
"There's only one cure for this body of mine. That's to have the girl I love so fine." Not waiting a moment longer, Rick snagged her hand and pulled her up.
He led her to the dance floor and let her stand right in the middle. "She touched my hand, what a chill I got." He mimicked shivering. Right up against her. Ridiculous man.
Ridiculously sexy man.
"Her lips are like a volcano that's hot." He traced her jaw as he sang the lyrics, his thumb touching her lower lip for a moment. "I'm proud to say you're my buttercup." He beamed at her, eyes sparkling. "I'm in love... I'm all shook up."
Before he could finish his performance, Kate had her arms wrapped around him and kissing him amid loud cheering, cat-calls and clapping.
She was smiling when they broke apart. "You are ridiculous, Rick Castle," she said on a laugh, toying with his wig.
He grinned and removed his sunglasses. "And you are absolutely gorgeous, Kate Castle." Rick kissed her again, once, twice. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Her lips quirked. "Elvis... is leaving the building."
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Rick grinned, hanging up their coats. "Well you always say that beauty is pain, Babe." He stepped in behind her, wrapping his arms around her. They stood in silence for a while. "Hey, how about a glass of wine," he murmured, sweeping the hair away from her shoulders and exposing her neck. "And a nice, warm bubble bath? With me joining you of course." He placed a few kisses on her exposed skin, opening his mouth to taste her.
"Mmm, sounds nice," Kate hummed, her eyes fluttering closed. She quickly sobered and stepped away from his embrace. "But first I want to say goodnight to our baby girl." She took his hand and started leading him towards the stairs. "Come on, Daddy."
They stood silently side-by-side watching their daughter's sleeping form. Watching how her small chest rose and fell with every quiet breath, how the soft, dark curly hair flopped over her forehead, how her small, open mouth rounded to form an O, how her fat little cheeks were coloured pink.
Kate brushed a hand over her daughter's skull and leaned down to kiss her head, making Lizzy stir for a moment. Her mother whispered a soft goodnight and kissed her again on each cheek. Rick stepped closer, trailing a finger over his little girl's face, not willing to accept the fact that was she was already turning one year closer to 18. He sighed and bent down to place a kiss in her hair, her temple and finally her forehead.
"Goodnight, Sweet Pea."
Kate led him out the room and as soon as she closed the door, he was crowding her against it, his arms on either side of her head and trapping her with his body.
"So..."
She grinned, her hands on his hips. "So?"
"You still up for that bubble bath?" He hummed, his mouth next to her ear, his stubbly cheek against hers.
"Yeah, definitely," she said softly, her voice dark and rich. "You up for it, Mr. Castle?"
A slow, sly smile curved his lips. "Oh, you have no idea, Mrs. Castle."
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Suddenly Kate was straddling him, only wearing a robe and a smile. Rick removed his arm to look at her, smiling at him like that. Like he was the only being in existence, the only person in her world, the keeper of heart.
"Kiss me, Kate," Rick said with a grin, his hands gripping her waist and tugging her down towards him.
She laughed, going willingly towards him. "Morning, husband," she greeted before kissing him sweetly, softly like dew on a flower.
"Morning, wife."
She rolled her eyes, still grinning. "We are disgustingly cute, aren't we?"
He shrugged, rubbing his hands up and down her sides. "So? We've been married for like twelve hours-" He grinned at her, suddenly feeling drunk with happiness. "-Mrs. Castle."
She returned a wide, beaming smile. "Mmm, Mrs. Castle. I like that. A lot."
"Me too."
"Mr. and Mrs. Castle. Wow. For the rest of our lives, huh?"
A writer and his muse. Friends, lovers, partners.
Husband and wife.
He slowly undid the tie of her robe. "Until eternity began and forever ended."
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Your love is my turning page
Where only the sweetest words remain
Every kiss a cursive line
Every touch is a redefining phrase
Title of this chapter and lyrics at the end is from Sleep at last's breathtaking song "Turning page".
Do yourself a favour and listen to it; it's gorgeous.
Do yourself a favour and listen to it; it's gorgeous.
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