This one-shot follows the last chapter of "Dissolution" pretty much immediately. This is completely unnecessary and gratuitous but I have been struggling with words lately so I wanted to stay in that realm - minus the angst. This is mostly fluff.

The end of this one-shot ties back to my other companion (wherein they have a child), "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

You don't really need to have read "Dissolution" to read this. Basically just know that C+B were on the brink of divorce before they found each other again.

He hasn't been able to stop touching her.

She's slipped into the blue button down he was wearing yesterday and stolen a pair of boxers out of his drawer while he was in the bathroom. He comes out to find her dressed, her hair haphazardly piled halfway on top of her head.

He pouts. "Does this mean we're getting out of bed?"

She clicks her tongue and sidles up to him, her hands sliding up his bare chest to snake around his neck. "Castle, we spent most of yesterday afternoon and last night in bed," she chides him gently, touching her nose to his.

God, he's missed this.

"Yeah, but it was our reunion, Beckett. It deserves to be commemorated."

She rolls her eyes. "As much as I would love to go for round…" She trails off, frowning as she tries to remember.

Yeah, he doesn't remember how many either.

She waves it off, but doesn't stave off a grin. "Anyway, I'm hungry, Castle." She pats her stomach for emphasis.

"So you finally admit that you can't sustain yourself on just coffee and sex?" he teases, caressing her hips with his palms before sliding around to rest in the perfect curve of her spine.

Honestly, her frame still feels a little thinner under his hands, so if she wasn't eating well during their separation, he'll cook her anything she wants. She laughs, sinking her hands into his hair as her nose sparks off his. He captures her mouth to sip from her lips, inhaling her, and it isn't enough. Will never be enough.

His thumb scales the length of her back, a little teasing, and a shudder wracks through her. He grins.

"God, you're so cocky," she murmurs, breathless against his mouth.

His lips slide trail across her chin before sliding down to the curve of her neck. "Didn't hear you complaining last night," he rasps out, nipping at her neck. She gasps, her nails deliciously scraping at the nape of his neck.

"Hmm, I believe my mouth was occupied with other things," she husks into his ear, sending a shiver down his back.

He chuckles, low in his throat as his rough palm slides against her chest, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt when her stomach interrupts them with a loud growl.

He groans, his hands ceasing their journey before falling down to her waist.

"Don't look so glum, chum," she gently teases, lifting a finger to his chin. "Plenty of days to make up for lost time."

Fuck, he loves her.

"I love you, too," she says reverently, the light from her smile tipping into her eyes. Did he say that out loud? She's stunning his brain.

"Now, come on," she breaks the spell, patting his chest. "Gotta feed the beast to keep up with you." She throws him a wink and smudges a kiss across his mouth before padding out of his room.

"I think it's the other way around," he calls after her as he walks to the dresser to pull out a t-shirt and his own pair of boxers.

When he shuffles into the kitchen a moment later, she's standing in front of the open refrigerator, her hip cocked out in thought. He presses his hand to the small of her back and examines the contents. She sighs, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asks, kissing her head.

She makes a face, sighs out dramatically. "I don't want anything that's in here."

He laughs at that. "Well, we don't have to eat here. We can go grab brunch somewhere."

She closes the fridge, tugging at her bottom lip. She looks serious.

He frowns, his hand sliding around to grip her arm gently. "Hey, what is it?"

"I know that they arrested him - Bracken - but I just," she shakes her head. "I need to stay here today, with you, away from the world. Tomorrow I'll see my dad and I'll finally look my mother's killer in the eye, but today...I just need this."

Her smile is small and tremulous, but it's there, it's everything, and he can't imagine what she must be feeling right now.

He wraps her in his arms and brushes his mouth against her forehead. "Ask and ye shall receive," he murmurs. She snuggles into his chest, a contented hum vibrating through her chest.

"What about waffles?" he asks after a moment, his fingers gently combing the ends of her hair.

She turns her head to look up at him. "The waffle iron is broken."

He holds up a finger and slides away from her, proffering a small box from the cabinet. "Au contraire, mon frère."

She rolls her eyes, her lips twitching with a smile she fails to suppress. "I'm not your brother, Castle."

"Yeah, but it rhymes," he emphasizes, removing the iron from its new packaging.

Her eyes fall to his hands. "Hang on, is that a — Castle, did you buy a Darth Vader waffle iron?"

"You're damn right I did," he says, tearing into the plastic off with his teeth, before the iron falls out the other end into his hands. Whoops. "And let me tell you, Beckett, they really undersell these things. Can you believe I bought this for only 50 bucks? I mean, talk about - "

She cuts him off with the quick press of her mouth to his.

"Did I mention that I missed you?" she asks shyly, her eyes sparkling.

He grins. "I missed you, too."

"Now, let's get this thing fired up, shall we?"

He manages to convince her he needs to have strawberries and bacon for their breakfast feast, so he dashes out to the store as she stays behind, whipping up the batter as she hums along to the soft rock playlist that floats out of her phone.

She scrapes her hair into a loose, low bun and throws on an apron for the hell of it — happy, comfortable and not willing to chance dripping anything on her favorite shirt of his. She should toss it into the hamper to be washed but she relishes the way it feels against her skin and the scent of him that lingers on the collar.

Wow, their time spent apart has made her sappy.

Or, well, who is she kidding — sappier.

The extra 100 pound weight lifted from her shoulders helps, too.

Speaking of, she should call her dad, make plans to sit down with him tomorrow so she can tell him that it's -

She lets out a startled breath. That it's finally over.

She snags her cell from the counter and pulls up her dad's contact info before hitting send, sandwiching the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she finishes whisking the batter.

"Good morning, Katie," Jim Beckett greets her warmly.

She smiles. "Hi, Dad," she says brightly.

"How are you this morning?" he asks, and she can hear the rustle of his newspaper, knows the right corner is stained with the ring of his morning coffee.

"I'm good. Just making a little brunch," she says, a little proudly.

"Yeah?" The rustle of his morning ritual stops. "You sound good, Katie."

She stops whisking and lifts her hand to her phone as she spins around to lean against the counter. "I am good, Dad. I'm…" she trails off. "I'm really good," she says softly.

"Where are you?" he asks curiously.

Kate's fingers hang on the curve of her top lip as the corners of her mouth lift. "I'm at Rick's. He just stepped out for some bacon and fruit."

"Oh," he says, kind of stunned with it. "Does this mean that you two - "

"I was going to tell you all about it in person tomorrow, but yeah, we've worked things out. It's new," she admits. They only finished putting the pieces back together yesterday. "But so good," she lets out on a shaky breath.

"I'm so happy for you, sweetheart," he says softly. "You're tough as nails, Katie, but I know it was hard on you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Give Rick my best and I'll see you tomorrow?"

"It's a date."

As soon as she hangs up the phone, she hears Castle bursting through the door, grocery bags crinkling in his hands.

"Okay, Beckett, I might have gone a little overboard but I just really wanted us to have options — " he flurries into the kitchen, breathless, and stops short at the look on her face. He deposits the bags on the island and cocks his head.

"Out with it. I know you're not that happy to see me," he jokes as he sidles up to her, slipping his hands around her waist.

She swats him for that. "I just got off the phone with my dad. We made plans to have brunch tomorrow," she says, lifting a hand to push his hair out of his eyes. So adorable.

"Did you tell him anything?" he asks.

"Well, apparently, I couldn't keep the happiness out of my voice," she rolls her eyes at his smug grin. "So I told him we were back together."

He looks nervous. Oh, Castle. "What did he say?"

She smooshes her nose against his. "That he's happy for us," she says softly, brushing a hand down his chest. "And he wanted me to give you his best."

Castle's eyes crinkle at the corners. "Really?"

"Yes, you goof. Did you think he'd be upset?"

Castle shrugs. "I don't know."

She clucks her tongue. "It was my decisions that got us to that point, Rick. You made the best of a bad situation until you didn't have it in your heart to do that anymore. I could never blame you for that, and neither does he. Okay?"

"Yeah," he exhales, brushing a stray curl behind her ear. Hmm, she loves that. "Are you nervous about telling him about your mom?"

She bites at her lip, ponders it. "Not at all," she decides. "Relieved. It's ju - just been so long, you know?" she says quietly.

His hand palms at her cheek and she wraps her fingers around his, keeping him there as she leans into his touch, his eyes shining with so much love she doesn't quite know what to do with it.

God, how was she ever without this man?

She curls her fingers around his neck and captures his mouth in a sweeping, toe-curling kiss. "I love you so much, Castle," she murmurs, light at his cheek.

"I love you, Kate," he whispers.

She breaks the spell, exaggeratedly looks over his shoulder at the bags on the counter. "Did you leave anything behind at the grocery store?" she asks, eyebrow raised.

"Okay, well, I had to get chocolate chips - "

She frowns. "We always keep some in the cupboard." She moves around him and opens one of the cabinet doors, but the morsels aren't in their usual spot.

"I might have indulged a little on a night - or two - while you were away," he admits sheepishly.

"Oh," she says flatly. She's never been great at remembering to eat when she's going through a rough time, but Castle tends to be the opposite — an emotional eater.

"Will some strawberries and whipped cream help turn that frown upside down?" he asks with a waggle of his brows, shaking the can of the sweet topping in his hand.

She laughs a little before she rearranges her features to be more grave. "That depends," she says, slow and serious.

"On?"

She removes the can from his hand with a seductive smile, spraying a little onto her finger before she wraps her lips around it, sliding it off slowly with the pop of her mouth.

"Will I be eating them off you later?" she husks out as his eyes darken.

He swallows hard. "That can be arranged," he rasps.

"Good." She smiles. "Now let's get the show on the road. I'm still starving."

They eat brunch on the couch, propped up against pillows, Kate's feet snug under Castle's thighs. She hums appreciatively when she's done, her plate clattering to the coffee table.

"That was delicious, Castle. Thank you." She pats her stomach, her head listing into the side of the back cushions.

"Best welcome home brunch ever?" he offers.

The backs of her fingers sweep against his cheek before her thumb swipes over his lips in a slow, loving gesture. "Hopefully the only welcome home brunch ever," she says quietly.

He wraps his hand around her wrist to smudge a kiss to her palm. "Except when we bring our kids home," he whispers.

Her breath hitches at that before he watches it expel from her, slow and easy.

She beams. "Except when we bring our kids home."

Fin.