A.N. So here it is ... the moment you've all been waiting for lol, I hope you enjoy it. I've tried to make it as realistic for them as I could but have probably disappointed a few people with how I always saw it playing out but I hope you all like it anyways :)

Chapter Eight – The Proposal

The afternoon and evening passed much the same way as the rest of the day had. They had leftover's for a snack later on and had loud boisterous games on the Wii. Most of the time Kate and Alexis teamed up and they made an unbeatable team. Castle watched as they celebrating winning the bowling tournament by Alexis jumping to wrap her arms around Kate and Kate spun her around before they pulled apart and high fived. They grinned widely at each other and Kate happened to glance at Castle as he was watching them. She couldn't place the look on his face but as he walked over to her and hugged her, he whispered "I love you," into her ear and any doubt at how he felt with her interaction with Alexis vanished. It wasn't until Castle released Kate and sat down to watch the next competition (slaloming) that he finally knew exactly how he was going to ask her to marry him. He smiled as he formulated the plan and didn't notice as Lanie sat down next to him.

"Hey writer boy," she nudged him, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm great." He grinned at her. He brought his left hand up to scratch his ear and Lanie's eyes followed his wrist.

"Nice watch Castle." She said as she caught his arm to look closer at it. "When did you get this?"

"It was Kate's present for me today." He replied and grinned as he thought about the engraving that was touching his skin at that very moment. Lanie looked at him closely.

"There's more to this present than just a watch isn't there?" she asked.

Castle nodded and replied, "Yes but at the moment it's just between us, I'm sure she'll probably tell you herself at some point though."

Lanie just nodded. She knew how private a person Kate was but to the medical examiner she wasn't all that mysterious. She had probably given him a specific watch that meant something to her or even more likely had it engraved with something similar to the dedication in 'Naked Heat'. She sighed happily. She wanted to know, of course, what exactly was special about the watch but she respected her friend's privacy enough to let it be ... At least for now.

When everyone eventually started leaving, it was about midnight. Ryan and Jenny left first followed by Esposito and Lanie. Jim was offered the guest bedroom and he accepted so after saying goodnight, he went up the stairs at the same time Martha did so she could show him where everything was, as she was staying in her old room that night.

Alexis grinned as she watched her Dad pull Kate in a slow dance to the song that was playing on the credits and decided to go up to bed and leave them to it.

"This has been probably my favourite Christmas ever." Castle smiled as he looked down at Kate who wasn't wearing her heels today and was a few inches shorter. Kate rested her head on his shoulder and smiled as she thought about everything that had happened that day.

"Yeah mine too." She told him as she breathed in Rick's unique scent.

"Are you happy?" Rick asked.

Kate looked up into his eyes and replied, "Yes, very happy."

"I want to ask you something and I hope you'll say yes." Rick started, "I love words and I'm usually a master of them, especially on paper but right now I don't have the perfect words to say to you other than I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I want to be with you as we grow old and hopefully have a few more kids as well as Alexis to take care of us in our old age." Kate looked confused as Rick started speaking but at this point her jaw dropped as he sunk to one knee and pulled a box from his pocket. "I really hope you'll make me the happiest guy in the world and say yes to being my wife. Please Kate, will you marry me?" he asked and opened the box to show a simple diamond on a platinum band. The diamond wasn't overly large but was clearly a flawless one.

Kate opened and shut her mouth a few times before looking into Rick's eyes and noticed the sincerity there. She took a deep breath and hoped he would understand why she had to ask what she was about to ask. "Rick, I really do love you but how do I know that you aren't going to get bored of me like your ex-wives?" she asked, a little of her vulnerability showing through.

"I can only say that you are the first person who I have ever seriously thought about growing old with and that I'm wanting to make this work so badly that I've asked for the blessing's of all the closest people in your life. I know that having their opinion matters to you and they've all given their blessings." He paused and grasped her hand to place a kiss on it before continuing, "Please say yes Kate?"

Kate knelt down next to Rick and took both his hands in hers and then she smiled at him. "Yes," she answered, "I would love to be your wife."

Rick couldn't help but grin as he took the ring from the box and slide it onto her finger before kissing her hand. "I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." Kate replied before throwing her arms around his shoulders and kissing him urgently.

Rick broke away after a few moments, completely breathless, "Shall we take this upstairs, Mrs Castle?" he smirked.

"Who says I'll change my name?" she grinned mischievously, but she stood up and raced up the stairs laughing all the way. Rick stood to and chased after her, determined to convince her that changing her name was the best course of action.

A.N. So what do you all think of the proposal?