31. ThirtyOne: Tuesday

Thirty-One

Even though he's playing poker with his writers' group, even though he's currently out ahead and might even win this hand, Rick Castle isn't paying attention.

They can tell; they've stopped teasing him about it. He's grateful for their consideration, mostly because they seem to understand that this is different, that this time it's not just distraction but absorption.

He is in love with Kate Beckett, and she arrives in exactly two hours.

His mother made a grand entrance this morning, smelling of sunshine and perfume, her sunglasses on top of her head, stories tumbling out of her mouth. She and Alexis giggled and exclaimed over every new thing together, their two red heads pressed close.

Of course Martha had plenty to say about the change in their relationship status, and she made her enthusiasm known. In the midst of her theatrics, she turned to him with a tight grip on his forearm as if her squeeze could transfer all of her emotions. Her eyes were fierce with it, and Castle knew.

She wants it for him, but she was never sure it would happen. She wants it for him, and she's so glad it's finally happened.

They've given him his boys' night and made themselves scarce, but really, Castle can't help waiting for someone else entirely to walk through that front door and make herself at home.

He wants it so badly that he can almost feel her here, surrounding him, and he struggles through a last hand of poker.

Castle texts Kate the moment Patterson finally walks out the door - finally - and then he cleans up a little to take his mind off the quietness of his apartment. The chips, the salsa, the alcohol, the table, the chairs - they all get put away.

He finds himself staring out the windows in the living room but not seeing the view; he's wondering what Kate did all day today, if she enjoyed the time apart, if she wanted to call but didn't, if his texts randomly during the baseball game he watched were annoying-

The scratch at the door has him hurtling through the empty space towards the entry, but then he's stumbling to a stop when his daughter and mother walk through, excitedly commenting about something in Martha's acting studio. Castle deflates a little but gives Alexis a smile; she throws her arms around his neck, momentarily blinding and deafening him in her squeal of happiness.

"Look who we picked up downstairs, Richard."

He opens his eyes to see his mother ushering Kate in behind her.

Oh, it's Kate.

"Hi," he says inanely, his arms loosening from around his daughter.

Kate grins broadly, still with that slightly stunned look on her face that happens whenever anyone is exposed to his mother's brand of enthusiasm. But she slides out from behind his mother and steps towards him, threading her way past Alexis as well to claim a soft kiss from him.

In front of his family, her hand on his chest for balance, a low hum as she pulls away. He grins down at her.

"We're going upstairs," Alexis informs him. He glances up and sees his mother and daughter are already halfway up, both with self-satisfied smirks on their faces. Like they've somehow helped to orchestrate this.

"Good night, Alexis. Mother."

His mother waves farewell as she ascends, and then Castle glances back down to Kate.

"You staying long?"

"Maybe tonight," she says back, giving him a little shrug. "I didn't bring clothes or anything, but-"

"You can wear mine," he says eagerly, dropping a kiss to the upturned corner of her mouth, tasting her smile.

"I can wear yours?" she laughs, the sound of it wrapping around him.

"Yeah. Anything you want."

"You sound very eager, Castle."

"Oh, I am," he assures her, still grinning. He sees her smile catch and widen, pulled up despite her best efforts.

"I am too," she admits, leaning in towards him to press her forehead to his cheek, then shifting to kiss the underside of his jaw. Her hands are already sliding up his bare back, around to his chest. "Let's go to bed."

She lies next to him in the darkness, their faces close, her eyes just a starry pinpoint in the expanse before him. She has her arms curled up close to her chest, but he's softly stroking her jaw as she speaks.

"I might have missed you. Every now and then."

He grins and knows she knows it's there even if she can't see it.

"You miss me?" she murmurs, still with that answering smile in her voice.

"The fifty text messages in a three hour period didn't clue you in?" he says back.

"I just thought you were really excited about the game."

"No," he breathes. "Just excited about you."

She does that amazing little laugh; cute and small, like it's slipping past her, catching her surprised and unawares, off-guard. He loves that caught-breath laugh, the delight of it.

Her arm shifts, her hand comes to his neck, her fingers stroking his cheek. "You did miss me, didn't you?"

"All day."

She scoots a little closer; he draws an arm around her back. "What about yesterday?" she says on a sigh. "I thought for sure you'd bring it up."

"Bring it up?" he queries, but he knows the answer; honestly, he's surprised she knows.

"The fact that it's been thirty days, Castle."

"Hm, I hadn't noticed."

She flicks her fingers against his ear and he huffs in surprise, tilts his head down to kiss the top of her nose.

"Okay, I might have noticed," he admits.

Kate's fingers are on his jaw again, that soft stroking, just the tips of her fingers really, and it feels so amazing. He strokes his palm down her spine and revels in the touch.

"You noticed but you didn't plan anything? No crazy stunt? You didn't even say anything. I kinda thought it was a pretty big deal, Castle."

He touches his lips to her cheek, feels her fingers come up to curl at the nape of his neck, hold him there for a moment.

"Figured you could do with some time to yourself. And honestly, Kate, what's thirty days compared to a lifetime?"

She groans, laughing a little at him, but her forehead tilts into his and he can feel her fast breath against his chin, his neck. "You have an answer for everything."

"I thought that was pretty smooth, myself."

"Oh it was. Definitely smooth."

He curls his hand at the back of her neck and kisses her again. "But true, Kate."

She slides her palm down his jaw and then back, thumb skirting his ear. "Still." She nudges his cheek with her nose, kisses him softly, then softly again. "Here's to the first thirty days."

He chases her mouth until he can slant his lips over hers, slide his tongue easily inside, stroke and soothe. When he pulls back, he can only see the shadow of darkness where her lashes lift from her cheeks to reveal the night sky of her eyes.

He kisses her once more. "And here's to the next thirty. Days or weeks or months or years, Kate."

"I'm shooting for years."