Kate watched Castle walk away. He turned at the doorway and winked at her, then entered the hearing room. She closed her eyes and smacked her forehead with a free hand. "Why did I do that?" She knew the answer. Part of it was what he said to Dan about raising a daughter but most of it was the way he looked. He was wearing a navy suit and tie with a baby blue shirt that made his eyes look amazing. He looked totally…..edible. Kate shook her head, to try and clear the images of removing that suit piece by piece, which woke up Emma. The baby started to whimper and then cry softly. "What the matter sweetheart?" Moving her, Kate quickly discovered why she was so cranky. The back of her dress was wet and her diaper was soaked. "We can fix that right now, don't cry!"

She looked around for the ladies room and grabbed the handle of the small rolling suitcase. There were no changing stations in the courthouse bathrooms but there were lots of counters. Kate put Emma down to wander around as she opened the suitcase. She took out a clean diaper and some wipes, then laid down some paper towels on the counter. "OK Sweetie, let's get you cleaned up." The dress was quickly removed and put aside because it was much too wet to be put back on her. After a quick clean up and a fresh diaper, Kate put Emma back down to explore as she tried to rinse the back of the dress and put it under the hand dryer. After a few minutes, Kate gave up and looked through the suitcase for something else to put Emma in but there were no other dresses. "Looks like you'll have to go casual this time, Cinderella."

Dressing her in a pair of pants and a matching top, Kate put the baby back down to finish exploring as she put everything back in the suitcase and filled her bottle with some water. Taking a quick taste, Emma threw it away. "Alexis is right, you don't like water, except to splash in. Retrieving the bottle, she zipped open the small front pocket to put it away and found a small sandwich bag that held some crackers. Emma ran over and quickly devoured all of them. Kate looked at her watch and was surprised to see it was nearly six o'clock. "Let's go see if they are done yet. If not, I'll find someplace close by to get you something to eat."

Rick was waiting on the bench outside the hearing room when Kate and Emma returned from the ladies room.

"Diaper change?"

Kate nodded."Her dress got really wet, so I had to change everything. She is hungry, how much longer will this take?"

"We are done, at least for today. The panel decided to give Dan some time to get to know Emma and see if he can handle being a single dad. Mr. Schuler got really angry and walked out of the hearing. So he has pretty much given up his claim on Emma. Social Services is going to follow up with Dan in sixty days before they make any decision. He will need to graduate, find a full time job with health care benefits and arrange for child care for Emma when he is at work. Dan waited for a few minutes to meet Emma but he had to be at his job by six."

"I didn't realize it was so late, I already gave her the package of crackers I found but I think she is still hungry."

Picking up a wandering Emma, Rick turned to Kate. "Well then, let's go to dinner? Hey munchkin, what do you want? How about a grilled cheese?"

"Well have fun." Kate put the suitcase closer to them and began to walk away.

"You're not joining us?"

"I also have a job, goodnight Castle."

Kate was chickening out and she knew it. Lately it was getting harder and harder to concentrate with him around. Since Rick came back from the Hamptons alone and discovered that Kate was no longer seeing Tom, he seemed to be watching her constantly. He was subtlly chasing her and she was running out of excuses to keep him at arm's length. It was an ever-growing elephant wandering around the squad room. She knew that her co-workers had pools about not if but when she and Castle would "become a couple".

Kate grabbed some Chinese on the way back to work. The two new cases that had come in were no brainers. Two idiots got in a bar fight over a basketball game bet, that left the winner dead and the loser in jail for involuntary manslaughter. The other case was an angry wife that hit her husband with a cast iron skillet when he told her that she was a lousy cook. The routine of paperwork was soothing after three very emotional days. Kate finished the last report and was surprised that it was still so early. She would be home around nine o'clock for a change. A hot tub, some wine and a full night's sleep sounded great...if she could just keep Rick out of her dreams.

Kate got home and was determined to get through the night without one thought about Rick Castle or Emma. The book she chose to read in the tub was the new Nora Roberts, not the usual choice of a Castle book from her library. Unfortunately the book was all about brides, weddings and finding the man of your dreams. Kate put it aside and got ready for bed. She was putting out the lights when she heard a quiet knock at her door.

"Castle, why are you here? Who is taking care of Emma?"

"Alexis is watching her but she is asleep. She is why I am here. Emma was very upset that you didn't kiss her goodnight."

"Oh really, she told you this?"

"It's kind of a Jedi mind thing...so I thought I'd deliver her kiss in person."

Kate was frozen...he wouldn't, would he?

Rick leaned over and gently kissed her cheek. "That was from her...this is from me."

The toe curling kiss that followed was definitely worth the wait for two long years. Shock and surprise quickly wore off and Kate became a very active participant in the kiss. She made a small sound between a moan and a groan as they broke apart for some much needed air.

"Now why were you blushing, Kate? I can keep kissing you until I get an answer." He leaned in again and captured her lips. Kate hands ran up his chest. He was wearing the same baby blue shirt he had on earlier but now without a tie. Not breaking the kiss, Kate grabbed that shirt and pulled him into her apartment. Rick nudged the door shut behind him with his foot.

************************EPILOGUE*******************************************

Sixty days later, almost the same group gathered again at the courthouse. Dan Long was holding a happy, babbling Emma. His older sister came with him, proud that her little brother had decided to keep his daughter. He had graduated with a degree in Computer Science and now had a full time job with the web publishing division of Black Pawn Press. He had spent a lot of time with Rick Castle was learning how to be a good dad. The two had become good friends and she knew that Rick had helped him get the job and would always be there for them both.

Dan had been stunned when he first met Alexis Castle, she looked so much like Rebecca that he was infatuated at first. Gradually, he learned the two young women were nothing alike. Alexis was smarter and much more worldly than Becca had ever been. Alexis was too young for him and had plans for college and beyond. She offered to help babysit, so did Rick and Kate.

Kate was now sporting a new diamond ring on her left hand and was often seen hand in hand or on Rick's arm everywhere.

Esposito and Dr. Parrish were now the subject of the precinct gossip. There was a lot of money riding on which couple would get married first: Rick and Kate, Javier and Lanie or Kevin and Honey-Milk.

THE END

AN: Thank you to all who made this a favorite. A lot of you wanted to have a steamy sex scene, which I am not great at writing, so I'll let each of you fill in the blank, once the door closed. Some of wanted Emma to stay with Rick but I want to see a lot of Castle-Beckett babies. I don't own Castle but if I did New York City would have a population explosion.