"So…final verdict on the new Thai place?" Castle asked as he deposited his take-out container into the garbage can in her kitchen. He turned back to find his partner displayed a scrunched nose and was waggling her hand back and forth in an uncommitted manner. "Really? I thought it was good." It was certainly popular enough—they would have had to wait over an hour for a table in the restaurant, which was why they ended up getting take-out and eating at her place.

"I dunno; I didn't think the sauce was that great. Maybe I went too mild?"

He smiled at her. "There's your problem, Beckett—always err on the spicy side."

She laughed. "Says the man who practically drank ranch dip right from the container the last time we had wings."

He cleared his throat and tried not to wince at the memory of how aflame his mouth had felt. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm sure," she said while rolling her eyes.

As she walked their empty wine glasses to the sink, he leaned back against the kitchen counter and gazed at her, his heart rate speeding a bit. For the prior eight weeks they'd been sharing dinner an average of four times a week. Sometimes he'd cook for them or she'd eat with his family, and other nights they'd go out. He thought of each of these occurrences as unofficial dates. They were in the pre-couple stage where other than hugs goodnight their relationship lacked a physical element—but that was okay with him, she was still getting over her relationship with Josh and he was waiting patiently by her side. Still, there needed to come a time when they moved into the full relationship stage and he hoped that time was quickly approaching.

A few weeks prior, when they'd gone to see Forbidden Planet and then gone out for dessert, he'd wanted to kiss her so bad it almost hurt to restrain himself, but he managed. Still, when she'd stroked his arm and whispered something in his ear during the film, the feelings stirring in his gut had been hard to deny. Ever since, every soft touch of hers had him nearly growling with desire. If she needed more time, that was fine, but he wanted to know where they stood on the subject.

"So, um, I was thinking…we've been having dinner more frequently, and you know I'd never want to rush you, but I was just wondering…"

His voice drifted off when she turned to face him, drying her hands on her jeans. Her hair was swept back from her face and piled into a messy bun at the crown of her head and, god, she'd never looked more beautiful. He took a step forward which, in her tight kitchen, was enough to bring them almost toe-to-toe. He reached out his left hand towards her face, intent on cradling her jaw, but found himself frozen barely an inch away from touching her. He furrowed his brow and tried to look down at his hand to see why it was stalled, but found his head couldn't move either. "What the…" He began to momentarily panic, fearful of what bizarre medical condition had overtaken his body, when he spotted the smirk on his partner's face and grumbled out her name; she giggled.

"I'm sorry."

He huffed out a breath, thankful he was still able to move his jaw and blink his eyes. "Did you freeze me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Other than his requests for demonstrations of her powers, her use of them in his presence had been quite limited. Once she'd lit a candle in lieu of retrieving a lighter and she'd also summoned a television remoted that had accidentally fallen behind the couch, but otherwise she remained magic-free.

"Because…" She paused to grip his frozen outstretched hand and press her lips into his palm. "This is payback for every serious moment of mine you hammed up."

He let out a blip of laughter. "Touché. Will you unfreeze me now?"

She shook her head and released is hand so he she could circle his frozen from. "In a minute..."

He grumbled as he wondered what she might do to him now that he was helpless. The first thing that came to mind was that she would undo his belt and let his pants fall to the ground—which was something he would have done to one of the boys if given the chance—but the more he thought about it the more he realized he wouldn't mind being pants-less in front of Kate.

As his statuesque state persisted past the two minute mark, he grumbled out his displeasure. "This is kind of freaky, Kate; I can't feel anything below my jaw." It really was an odd sensation—not at all like the traditional "pins and needles" numbness one would occasionally experience. More so, it felt as though his body was encased in a cement block filled with numbing solution.

She circled back around so that she could face him, her expression curious. "Really? Interesting. I haven't frozen anyone since I was a kid so I guess I didn't think about it."

He laughed inwardly at the mental image of wild-child Kate in her younger days using her powers without hesitation. "Dare I ask the longest you've frozen someone for?"

"Froze my dad for about fifteen minutes once. He was so mad."

Fifteen minutes! God, he was suffering after two! "Why'd you do that?"

She gave an impish smile. "I wanted to finish watching a cartoon before he made me go to bed."

He laughed as he definitely could have seen himself doing the same. "That's great...but I'd appreciate it better if you—ah!" He cried out with relief when his body was released from her spell and he was able to drop his arm and shake out his limbs. "Thank you!" He gazed down at his left hand, opening and closing his fist rapidly as the feeling slowly returned.

"You're welcome. Are your fingers okay?"

"Yes just...tingly…" His voice drifted off when he looked up and caught her gaze. Her eyes now reflected a dark chocolate tone that sparkled with gold flecks every few seconds. He swallowed involuntarily. "So, um, as I was saying-"

But before he could continue, she stopped forward, placed her right hand against his jaw, and kissed him sweetly. She then grazed her thumb just beneath his bottom lip as she said, "I'm ready now."

He grasped her hips with his hands and pulled her body into his. Her smiled grew wider as her hands found his biceps and she brushed her lips against his jaw. "It's not too soon?"

She hummed with her lips on his cheek. "I think we've waited long enough, don't you?" Then, with that, she pressed her mouth of over his, giving him the deep kiss he'd wanted for weeks and—oh, god, it was perfect. She was perfect.

They kissed in the kitchen for several moments before she tugged at his shirt collar and began backing her way towards the bedroom. When he finally realized where they were going he hesitated and stammered out, "Wh...oh god, wait—should you warn me about anything?"

Her brow furrowed. "...such as...?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Is having sex with a witch different than with a non-witch?"

She tiled her head to the side as her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh you mean like the sparks that shoot out my ears when I orgasm?"

"REALLY?!"

"No!" she half-laughed, half-yelled at him. Then she rolled her eyes and smacked his chest playfully. "Castle—think about it: how could I have kept my secret from every boyfriend if they could tell when we had sex?"

His expression morphed into a frown as he realized just how correct her statement was and how absurd he must have sounded. "Oh. Right. Sorry; I just got excited."

Her teeth grazed over her bottom lip and she gazed up at him. "Are you disappointed now?"

He stepped up to her, cupping her jaw with his right hand and resting his thumb at the end of her chin so he could tilt her face up towards his. "To make love to you? Not possible." When a soft rose color crept into her cheeks, he brushed his lips over hers and then placed his hand in the center of her back as they continued towards her bedroom, the excitement inside him practically bubbling over the edge. He knew with one hundred percent certainty that the night they were about to embark on would have a different kind of magic than he'd ever experienced before—and he couldn't wait.

Standing up in front of the trio of his friends sitting on the large sectional sofa in his apartment, Castle cleared his throat and called the group to attention. "Hey, everyone, ah, thanks for coming today to our little get together. Can I get anyone another drink or a-"

"Castle!" Lanie cut off his nervous commentary with an exasperated eye roll. "C'mon stop stalling—we want to hear the announcement!"

The writer bobbed his head, unable to blame the ME for her impatience; if their situations had been reversed and he received a somewhat mysterious invitation to her apartment, he would have been practically bursting through his skin. "Ok then let me turn it over to the lady of the hour and-"

"Oooh you are pregnant!" Lanie squealed happily and Castle turned his eyes to Kate to watch as her eyes flashed a pink hue and her skin paled.

"What—no! No, no." She insisted, pulling her hands out of her back jean pockets as she stepped up beside the writer. "I am not pregnant."

Lanie's shoulder's rounded. "What?"

"I'm not pregnant."

"She's really not—that's not the announcement." Castle added for emphasis. A baby would be wonderful and they'd get their someday when the time was right, but they'd barely been together for more than a year and he knew Kate wanted them to be married before they started their family.

The ME huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "But you're already engaged so what's this announcement about?"

The writer pressed his lips together and second guessed his decision to call their get-together an announcement. Technically that was correct terminology, though he understood why Lanie had jumped to the baby conclusion when engagement was off the table. Generally, marriage or babies were the major announcements couples made; there weren't enough witches and wizards in the world for, "I have magical powers" to even come close to any sort of top ten list.

In part, their choice to include the announcement word in their get together had been insurance for Kate so she wouldn't back out—again. It had taken her three tries to tell his mother and daughter about her magical status, but in the end both red-heads had openly embraced her and her powers, promising her it changed nothing of how they felt for her. Over the duration of their relationship, Castle was pleased to see Kate blossom into a woman who was no longer ashamed or afraid of her powers and who had no issues with using them regularly—particularly if they made household chores easier. After many long conversations on the subject, she had finally decided to reveal the truth to their closest group of friends. Though Castle knew she still felt nervous about it, he remained confident that neither Lanie, Esposito, nor Ryan would treat her any differently after they knew.

Kate offered her fiancé a small smile before turning to the group and clasping her hands together in front of her. "It's, um, something I probably should have told you guys a long time ago, but I was afraid. Castle helped me see that being afraid of who I am is silly and unnecessary so now I want you guys to know: I'm a witch."

For nearly thirty seconds, no one reacted. The trio stared up at her as Kate's knuckles grew whiter from how tightly she wrung her hands together. Castle reached out and placed his hand at the small of her back, patiently waiting for his friends to absorb and process the news. If they hadn't picked up on the sings like he had—and he imagined that they hadn't—this news would come as quite a shock.

Lanie was the first to speak when she echoed, "You're a witch?"

"Yes."

Fifteen more seconds passed before Esposito clicked his tongue and proclaimed, "You're a witch and you haven't installed a mute button on him yet?!" as he gestured loosely towards the writer.

While Castle refuted the comment with a wounded, "Hey!" Kate grinned and glanced up at him, "I couldn't do a button…maybe a spell?"

Removing his hand from her back, Castle pouted and stuffed his hands down into his pockets. "Seriously. I don't talk that much."

"Yeah you do." Lanie told him quickly before turning to Kate and asking, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

She shrugged a bit dumbly. "I…I wasn't sure if you guys would…"

Esposito stood off the couch. "What? Wouldn't want to be partners anymore? We're ride or die at this point, chica."

She smiled and accepted his hug with a thank you. A moment later, Ryan stood as well and said, "Doesn't make any difference to me—except maybe you're a little cooler."

She laughed and hugged him as well. "Thanks Kevin."

When the ME took her turn at hugging, she said, "You could have told me, you know? But I'm glad you did now. …and also I kind of wish you were pregnant."

"Lanie!"

"Well that would have been more fun—for me."

"For all of us." Espo added. "Can you imagine a baby that's half Castle and half witch?"

"You mean one hundred percent awesome." The writer beamed.

Kate laughed and gave his arm a little shrug, a pinkness creeping into her cheeks. "Castle…"

"'s true—I can't wait. I hope they're all magically inclined," he said, meaning every word, because the only thing better than having children with Kate Beckett would be having witch and wizard children with Kate Beckett—especially when he could convince them to use their magic in mischievous ways.

Kate arched her eyebrow at him. "Yeah? Wouldn't you be jealous?"

He shook his head confidently. "Not at all, because they'd be ours."

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading & reviewing this little ficlet of mine! I hope you enjoyed this magical twist on Castle

Up next is mini-fic The Illusion of Perfect which i previewed on my tumblr this week. It's...hard to describe. Futuristic AU with a twist of Forbidden Romance...yeah, i'll leave you with that :)