Only Women of Substance

by Minstrel164

(The story behind the blue sapphire drop earrings that Martha gave to Kate on her wedding day in 6x23-for Better or Worse. Based on a Castle Fanfic prompt.)

Martha Rodgers closed the door of her bedroom and rested her back against it a moment as if she was trying to catch her breath. With all the preparations going on that she had been supervising there had not been a moment to herself. She needed a few minutes to herself. The closed door blocked out most the sounds of the horde of assembled wedding guests down on the lawn below and the slightly frantic preparations taking place in the bedroom at the other end of the hallway.

Easing herself off the door Martha slowly crossed the room walking over to the dressing table. She sat down at the dresser and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, briefly smiling at what she saw. She had taken extra care with her hair, makeup and clothes for this special day.

Martha slowly pulled open the top drawer of the dresser. Reaching in she took out the small red velvet jewellery box that she had placed in the drawer the moment she had arrived at the Hamptons house. It had been one of the first items that gone into her suitcase when the wedding was transferred here.

The red velvet covering had seen better days the material having dulled over the years and in a couple of places had worn thin belying its age. In the not too distant future the box would need to be repaired or replaced but for now it would do. The box was not the important thing. What it contained was.

Martha slowly opened the box and could not help but smile on seeing the pair of sapphire drop earrings as they nestled on a bed of pale blue satin. The sapphires were encircled by white gold. In the light of the room gemstones sparkled brightly almost as if they knew that today was the day they would be worn.

"Only women of substance…"

The words of her mother echoed in Martha's mind and she found herself nodding her head in agreement. She truly never understood those words until today.

Martha could still picture the scene on her own wedding day. She had been standing in her parent's bedroom where she had changed into her wedding dress when her mother had produced the jewellery box and on opening it revealed these beautiful earrings.

"Only women of substance have worn these." Her mother had said.

Martha had almost ruined her make up that day as she put on the earrings. It had only been recently that she had reconciled with her family. They had not been happy Martha had chosen a life of treading the boards and had all but disowned her when she had a child out of wedlock

Her family had even urged her to give up the baby for adoption but Martha had taken one look at baby Richard and knew she would never give him up no matter what. She would raise him on her own if she had to. That is exactly what she had done. It had not been easy and despite some of the difficulties never once had she regretted her decision.

She had reconciled with her family only when she informed them that she was getting married. There were bruises and other hurts to heal but both sides made the effort. The sapphire earrings had been her mother's way of a peace offering. An offering that Martha had willingly accepted.

Martha continued to gaze down at the earrings. They had been waiting over twenty years to come out. Twenty long years waiting for a woman worthy enough to wear them. She had feared that the next time might have been for Alexis' wedding, whenever that would be in the future.

On the day of her son's wedding to Meredith, Martha had considered bringing out the earrings and giving them to her. Martha was glad she had not done so. Even now Martha still harboured some regrets for having introduced that manipulative talentless gold digger to her son. Then again, how was she to know they would end up getting married?

At the time Meredith had been a struggling actress who had only shown glimpses of talent, she had joined the cast of the play that Martha was staring in. Meredith had a minor role in the play, replacing the original actress who had fallen sick. Even back then she had displayed signs of self-centredness and self-absorption. But every actor Martha had ever come across in her career showed those attributes to one degree or another. She had taken pity on the girl. That, as it turned out, had been a big mistake.

Martha had expected Richard to date Meredith a handful of times and then move on. No one had been more shocked than Martha the day they told her they had gotten engaged. And no one had tried harder to dissuade Richard from marrying Meredith than Martha. Yet nothing that Martha could say would change Richard's mind.

It was only on the day of his wedding did Richard tell her why he was marrying Meredith. She was carrying his child.

It was only a couple of months after the wedding that Martha retreated to the wings, to use a theatrical term. She had a couple of verbal altercations with her daughter-in-law and rather than be the cause of disharmony to the point of her son turning against her and siding with his wife, Martha exited stage left. It hurt to do it but Martha thought it was for the best.

Martha had wanted to tell her son, "I told you so", the day Richard had come to see her and informed her that it was over with Meredith. The words had been on the tip of her tongue but they died away when her son explained that he had found Meredith in bed with her director.

Yet, for all her faults, and when it came to Meredith, the list was near endless, the woman had one saving grace in Martha's eyes. The beautiful granddaughter she had given her.

All the same, Meredith was not worthy to wear these earrings and would never be.

Martha let out a long sigh as she banished those memories from her thoughts but other thoughts quickly filled their place.

Richard's second wife, Gina, was a step up from the first, Martha had to concede but she never really warmed to the book publisher, especially when she became her daughter-in-law. No doubt Gina felt the same way towards her.

Gina was a good business woman as well as an exceptional book editor. Richard had the writing talent but it had been Gina who had helped him to rise to the dizzying heights he had reached.

Martha did not think it was a good idea to merge their successful working relationship with their blossoming personal relationship. Yet whatever Martha thought about the union she never voiced it aloud, preferring to keep it to herself.

She had tried hard to maintain a cordial relationship with her daughter-in-law for the sake of Richard and Alexis but it was not easy at times. Gina did not go out of her way to make things easy.

Many had been the times Martha had to bite her tongue as she observed Gina belittle Richard for one reason or another, or tried to restrain his man-child personality because as she used to say it was time that he grew up. His man-child personality was one of his modest endearing qualities. It made Richard who he was but Gina could not see that. Could not understand it.

At the time Martha could not comprehend why Richard allowed Gina to get away with such things but for a while he did. It was a measure of the man her son was that while the second marriage eventually failed, he was still able to continue the working relationship with Gina.

No. Gina had never been worthy to wear the sapphire earrings. Martha had been right not to lend them to the woman on her wedding day. She had a feeling Gina might not have even accepted them if Martha had offered them.

Martha was drawn from her reveries by a knock on the door. She quickly closed the jewellery box and turned to face the door in time to see Alexis poke her head through.

"Grams, are you okay?" Alexis inquired.

Martha saw the look of concern on her granddaughter's face and she immediately switched on a bright beaming smile.

"I'm fine, darling." Martha breezed. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, so far so good." Alexis replied. "I hadn't seen you for a little while…I got a little concerned."

"Don't worry about me darling. I just popped in here to pick something up, that's all."

Alexis smiled and nodded her head feeling reassured by her grandmother.

"Has your father arrived yet, dear?"

The smile slipped from Alexis' face.

"Not yet."

"Oh dear." Martha sighed.

"But don't worry, Grams. Dad will get here on time."

"He'd better or she's going to kill him."

"Who? Kate?" Alexis asked, a little shocked.

"No, a certain New York medical examiner." Martha arched an eyebrow.

Alexis let out a relieved laugh. She could very well believe that Lanie would kill her father if he arrived late to his own wedding.

"Okay, I'm going to check on the guests downstairs, Grams."

"You do that, darling. I'll be out in a minute."

Martha smiled and nodded her head and waited until the door had closed before she turned back to the dresser table.

It had been a logistical nightmare to transfer the wedding ceremony to the Hamptons after the roof top venue in the city that had been book had suffered some fire damage and could no longer be used. It had been Alexis' idea to move the wedding and a stroke of genius it was.

Martha had boasted proudly that she could handle the transfer of venues, mentioning that she had staged a performance of A Chorus Line on a subway platform when her theatre group had lost its original space. She had risen to the challenge when Richard had questioned whether it could be pulled off in just two days.

What Martha had neglected to mention was when she had moved the group to the subway platform she had been at least thirty years younger. This time around it had been an exhausting exercise. As much as she hated to admit it, she was not as young as she once was. The mind and heart may have been eager and willing but the body struggled.

If Alexis had not been here to assist and do most of the heavy lifting, so to speak, Martha doubted that she could have pulled this off. Alexis had overseen the change of venue with all of the precision of a quartermaster general moving an army.

Martha opened the jewellery box and the smile returned to her face. And now there was Kate, Martha thought to herself and her smile deepened.

Richard had called Kate Beckett extraordinary and Martha could not think of a better word to describe this beautiful young woman. She was indeed extraordinary. Almost from the first time they had met at the precinct when she and Alexis had to come down and bail Richard out after getting arrested, Martha could see that Kate was special.

She had seen how smitten her son had become over this police detective, and remembered how he could not stop talking about her. Oh yes, Kate Beckett was special because for one thing she had inspired Richard to create his best character yet. She had rekindled his passion for writing at a time when he was in the doldrums after he had killed off Derrick Storm.

Martha's breath had been taken away the night when she had opened the front door and found Kate standing there in that wonderful red off the shoulder evening gown. Kate had looked simply stunning in that gown. She had no hesitation in giving Kate the ruby necklace to adorn her graceful neck. The necklace was the perfect accessory for that gown, that and her son, Richard.

Admittedly, Martha did shamelessly question the poor girl to find out where Richard was taking her dressed up like that. She was never above gatecrashing a high society fund raising event.

One thing that had struck Martha as she had watched them leave was how perfect Richard and Kate looked together. That thought had been reinforced later in the evening when she and Powell had made their appearance at the ball and Martha had watched them from a distance.

Then the following day when Kate had stopped by the loft to return the necklace, how easily she had fitted in amongst the family as she recounted the previous evening's events, providing more details than Richard had.

Or that other time when Kate stayed at the loft for a little while after her apartment had been blown up. Making that brunch was not the only time Kate had cooked during her stay over. One evening Martha had watched in fascination at the way Richard and Kate moved about in the kitchen as they prepared dinner. It had been like a choreographed ballet or like a couple who had been together for many years.

It did not surprise Martha when Richard continued to shadow Kate even after he had gathered enough material to write countless books. She could see that Richard enjoyed helping the police to solve murders but most of all he loved working with Kate, and though he had not been ready to admit it, he had fallen in love with Kate.

The best description that Martha could use to characterise these last seven years was a rollercoaster ride. There had been so many ups and downs, violent turns to the right and sharp turns to the left that had made one's head spin and stomach lurch. There had been moments of tragedy and heartbreak and bouts of joy and happiness. Truly there had been moments when Martha despaired that this day would ever come.

What was truly remarkable on this seven year long journey was the transformation she had witnessed in Richard. Seven years ago there were times when she did worry about her son and what he was going to do with his life. Whether he realised it or not he constantly tried to be a better man and in that task he had succeeded and it was all thanks to Kate Beckett.

Kate herself had changed as well over the past seven years not just physically but emotionally as well. Martha remembered back to the early days when Richard had mentioned that Kate was someone who kept things close to the vest, giving little away of herself. Kate had not fallen easily for her son's charms like countless other women had done over the years. Kate Beckett was a woman who challenged her son in ways no other woman had ever done and he had risen to the challenge.

If there was ever a couple that were made for each other, destined to be together it was Richard and Kate. Martha could only shake her head that it took them nearly six years to realise it for themselves.

Martha could not help but let out a soft chuckle as she remembered back to that morning after Alexis' graduation when she had brought home a very hung over Alexis and had walked into her son's bedroom and had seen with her own eyes the evidence of what had transpired during the night and with whom. If she had not been concerned for Alexis' welfare she would have done a cartwheel or two there and then. When Alexis had been settled Martha had done a little jig of joy in the privacy of her own bedroom. But really, did Richard have to shove Kate into the closet? Martha would not have been happy either if it had been done to her. Only her son would do something juvenile like that in a moment of panic.

All the same, Martha had kept their secret.

Even now Martha still marvelled at Kate's ingenuity in creating that elaborate birthday present for Richard. She doubted very much that either Meredith or Gina could have come up with something like what Kate had conjured up. Meredith would have wanted total control over the project as well as the starring role. Gina would have strangled it at birth, considering it far too juvenile for a grown man, or simply it was beneath her to involve herself in such a thing.

What amazed Martha was how easily Kate had been able to rope in everyone to help out. Martha herself, after having heard the plan, was more than happy to help out her future daughter-in-law, providing some of the best students from her acting school, and to stage and direct that elaborate pretend murder that would have Alfred Hitchcock nodding in approval. Alexis too had eagerly assisted.

For days after Richard could not stop talking about the best birthday present ever and the woman who had conceived the present. It would be a long time before anyone would top that present but if anyone could, Martha's money would be on Kate Beckett.

Martha smiled as she remembered last Thanksgiving when Kate had turned the tables on Richard and in the process created a new Castle family tradition. Richard had played a joke by telling Kate that the family always dressed up in costumes for Thanksgiving. The look on her son's face was priceless when Kate had appeared dressed as Pocahontas, he had been ready to laugh and tease her all through the dinner but his face fell when Kate shoved that pilgrim's costume at him and told him to put it on.

Oh yes. Katherine Beckett was truly worthy.

Martha slowly closed the lid of the jewellery box and rose to her feet. Quickly she walked out of her bedroom and made her way down to the room where Kate was getting dressed.

Martha paused in the doorway and looked at the bride and the matron of honour. A smile rose to her face.

"Wow. You look like an angel." Lanie observed.

"Really?" Kate replied, a little uncertain.

"Yeah. For a second there, I wanted to marry you."

"Oh, just stop, Lanie!"

Martha continued to smile, though she could not see Kate's face she could imagine her blushing at the complement. Slowly she walked into the room and approached the bride.

"I must say, your mother had great taste." Lanie remarked.

"Yes, she did." Martha agreed. The wedding dress was just perfect. Johanna Beckett indeed had very good taste.

Kate turned around and smiled at her soon to be mother-in-law.

"Look at you." Martha continued. "I believe you are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen."

"Thank you, Martha." Kate beamed.

Martha took another step forward and looked over to Lanie.

"Lanie, darling, could you give us a minute?"

"Oh sure." Lanie replied. She then looked to Kate. "I'll just tell your dad it's perfect."

"Thanks, Lanie." Kate said as Lanie left the room.

The bride smiled as she looked at Martha.

"Martha, I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am to you and Alexis for…for putting this all together,"

"And I want to thank you, for making my son so very happy."

Martha held out the jewellery box to Kate.

"I brought you something. In case you didn't have something blue."

Kate looked at Martha then cast her eyes to the jewellery box. She slowly took the jewellery box from Martha and carefully opened the lid to reveal the sapphire drop earrings.

"Oh, wow. They're…beautiful." Kate gasped.

Kate turned and moved to the mirror to put the earrings on. Martha followed to stand behind the bride.

"They were given to me by my mother to wear on my wedding day and by her mother before." Martha said slowly, her voice full of emotion, as she watched Kate putting them on. "Only women of substance have worn these gems."

Kate smiled.

"They've been waiting, Katherine." Martha paused. "For you."

Kate turned around to look at Martha.

"I'm so honoured Martha, thank you."

Martha pulled the younger woman into a hug.

"Oh darling, they're exquisite on you."

Kate's phone started ringing and Kate pulled away from her soon to be mother-in-law and went to answer the phone. She picked up and her face beamed.

"It's him." She said excitedly.

"Well, I will leave you to talk to your groom." Martha said as she started for the door. "I'll be outside."

Martha cast a glance to where Kate was standing as she answered the call from Richard. Martha doubted that she had ever seen a more beautiful or happier bride in her life. It filled her heart to over flowing that she was getting Kate Beckett as her daughter-in-law.

XXXXX

The full Fanfic prompt: 'When Martha gives Kate the earrings in 6x23 she says, "Only women of substance have worn these gems. They've been waiting for you Katherine". I want the story behind her decision to keep them from both Meredith and Gina. Especially considering she supposedly set Castle up with one of his ex-wives. So what's the story? How did she know?

As usual your thoughts would be greatly welcomed.

Con