A/N: I am so sorry. I suck. But I'm writing it now! She was going to have a bath...

37

Lanie carried in the large tin tub, then came back with water. She started to light a fire in the fireplace but Kate stopped her.

"I can do it. You go, get some rest."

Lanie touched her arm, looking down at Richard on the table.

"Take care of yourself, Kate. He is strong."

Kate bit her lip, the drugs in her system making her brain move more slowly than usual.

"I know," she said, her voice slightly slurred. Lanie left the room; Kate closed the door behind her and finished the fire. The water in the bath was warm; she stripped off her bloody, grimy clothes, and got into the water. The room was still quite cold despite the fire.

"I really am in heaven," said a weak voice from the table.

"Quiet," Kate called to him. "And stop looking. It's rude."

"You are going to be my wife. I can look if I wish to."

"You should not look until we are married," Kate said, pretending to be angry. She could feel him grinning at her.

"If you really feel that way, perhaps I should not pleasure you in other ways-"

"I don't," Kate said quickly.

"Stand up," Richard said.

"What?"

"I can't see you well enough. Stand up."

Kate laughed. "No."

"Please? What if I die and you did not fulfil my last wish?"

Kate grinned, and stood up in the tub so she could meet Richard's eyes. She smiled even more when she saw his face – he had colour, he looked better.

"You're so beautiful when you smile," Richard said happily.

"But you are not dying," she told him sternly.

…

They moved him to his bed the next morning. Kate woke up on the couch in his room with a splitting headache. She blinked, then downed the glass of water on the table beside her.

She put on his robe over the shirt she had been sleeping in. He was in bed; Ryan and Lanie must have put him there. He looked good, really good. She settled herself carefully on the bed beside him, kissing his cheek before closing her eyes to rest until he woke up.

"Good morning..." Richard said quietly, amazed at how much better he felt.

"Good morning," Kate said groggily. "You sound so good."

"Do I not always sound good?"

She laughed. "I suppose you do. You're going to get better."

"How are you?"

"Me? Fine."

"And the baby?"

"I... You want to talk about that now?"

"Yes. But... I do have a question. When I asked you to marry me, you didn't only say yes because-"

"No, Richard, I did not. I said yes because I love you, and because I want to marry you. Regardless."

"Do you... You're happy about the child?"

Kate grinned. "Yes. I am."

"Good. Me too. Can we call him Richard?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Firstly, what if he is a girl? And secondly, no."

"But I almost died..."

"And that is the last time you will get away with saying that. No."

"What would you call him?"

"I..."

"You see, you don't even have a suggestion."

"Go back to sleep before I stab you."

"Now that was too much."

"Sorry."

"No you're not."

"I am. I'm hungry, though, so I'm going to the kitchen."

"Get me something."

"I'll make you some soup."

"Please ask Lanie to make it."

"Just for that, I'll make it myself."

"And because I love you, I will eat it."

"You had better."

Kate left the room, hurrying downstairs. Lanie was sleeping in the parlour; she left her to it and went down to the kitchen. She found some ingredients and tried to cook, munching on an apple as she went. An apple, then a cake, then some bread, then some cold meat, then... She tried to remember when she had last eaten. She poured the soup she had made into a bowl. It looked like muddy water. She sighed. Cooking was not her calling.

She took the bowl upstairs to a bored looking Richard.

"You took forever. And that looks horrible."

"You're lucky you have someone to cook for you."

"I could cook better myself."

Kate sat on the edge of the bed. "Open wide," she instructed.

Richard did as she said, forcing himself to swallow. It actually wasn't that bad.

"It could be worse," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"I tried it, I know it's fine."

"I like it," he admitted.

"You like everything about me."

"I do."

He looked down at her stomach. "And there's really a baby in there?"

"Yes. There's really a baby."

"When I woke up and I remembered, I thought maybe I had dreamed it. But sometimes when I wake up and I think about you, I think I dreamed you too."

Kate leaned in and kissed him gently. "You have too much of an imagination."

"I think our first time was the best."

Kate rolled her eyes. "So now you want to talk about that?"

"No. What I want to do is do that. But I'm not strong enough."

Kate stroked his hair. "It's alright. And, fine. I liked our first time too."

"I liked your underwear."

"I liked your hands."

"You know," he said, lifting his hand up to touch her face, "there is something I can do." He grinned wickedly. Kate laughed.

"You're not serious?" she asked when he looked a little hurt.

"Why shouldn't I be? Don't you want me to? I know it's not-"

"It's lovely, Castle, but you were stabbed. Yesterday. I should be taking care of you."

"You have been taking care of me. Very well. You even made me soup. So let me return the favour."

"How about I just let you make me some soup when you can walk again?"

"I like my idea better."

Kate thought about it. Richard tugged at the cord of his robe. She sighed with anticipation, her heart already racing.

"Lie down," he whispered. She complied, setting the soup bowl down on the nightstand. He slid his hand under her shirt. He couldn't reach her breasts; she touched them herself, grasping them the way he usually did. He watched her, trailing his hand lower. She parted her legs, letting him in.

"I'm glad you didn't die," she gasped as his finger brushed across her centre.

"I'm very glad you're glad," he replied. "You should think about-"

"When you slammed me into that bookcase," she finished for him, her eyes closed. She opened them suddenly; he'd taken his hand away. He was licking his fingers.

"This is so much better than your soup," he said. Kate pressed her hands against the bed, not wanting to give in and touch herself. She could tell from his laborious movements that it was what he wanted. She stayed still, very wound up, but determined to wait him out. He chuckled.

"I want to watch you."

"That wasn't what we were doing," she said, not as controlled as she wanted to be.

"Kiss me," he said to her. She got up carefully, supporting herself with her arms, taking care not to jog him. She met his open mouth with hers, tangling their tongues together, burning with desire. It wasn't fair that he could do this to her, but at the same time it was the best thing she ever felt. She could taste herself in his mouth; she moaned with something like desperation and finally his fingers found her centre again.

It didn't take long for her to finish; she had been more ready all morning than she'd realised. He might have only been using one had, it might have been a lot more 'boring' than she was used to, but he was so good with those long, thick fingers. Tender but firm, he knew his way around her so perfectly... She clenched her hands into fists and Richard felt a twitch in himself as she screamed with her release.

He let her recover, sucking on his fingers again as she lay with her eyes closed, aftershocks rippling through her body.

"I like you to do it because you do it so much better than I can," Kate murmured. She wondered if Richard knew how big a compliment this was. From the smirk on his face, she thought he just might.

…

the end

A/N: I know, there's loads more I could write about, but I have so many stories, I think it's better if I just let this end. It's reached its natural conclusion for me, and while I could write a wedding and a baby and lots more drama and fun, I have other stories with all of those things in and I don't want to string you along with this one any more! Thanks so much for sticking with me throughout this whole thing and for all the amazing feedback you've given me.

If you liked this and want something similar, the thing I'm writing right now that's most like it is PERSEPHONE.

If you want to talk to me about this fic or any other please feel free to send me a PM or find me on twitter – zanna_sk.

Loads of love to you all! Thank you again, you all rock. X