Solid Ground – Epilogue

"Like the legend of the phoenix
All ends with beginnings
What keeps the planet spinning
The force of love beginning.
We've come too far to give up who we are
So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars."
- Daft Punk, Get Lucky

The sheer white curtains fluttered in the gentle breeze, parting just enough to let some warm sunlight filter in across the bed. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned, shifting comfortably on the sinfully soft mattress. She tugged the duvet up and snuggled back into the pillow, lazily stretching an arm out for the warm body that was supposed to be right next to her. But there was nobody. The sheets on the other side of the bed were cool.

Frowning, she blinked her eyes open and stared at the empty pillow beside her. Closing her eyes, she groaned inwardly, and rolled over to glance at her bedside table and the digital alarm clock. It read 9:30 AM; too early to get up when she was three and a half months pregnant. They were supposed to be meeting with Martha, Alexis and her Dad for lunch. She should really get out of bed and start getting ready to go out. But she didn't want to. All Kate Beckett wanted to do was stay buried under the deliciously soft covers and sleep.

They had just arrived two days ago, and Kate had been forced to spend the first night back in civilization at the hospital. The doctors wanted to run test on her. She'd tried to fight them off, scoffing at their concern. Kate may not have had prenatal vitamins or modern medicine on the island, but she had had Kimberly Watson, and she trusted her friend's expertise when it came to her growing baby.

Sprawling her hand across the smooth round swell forming around her middle, Kate bit her lower lip as she smiled, envisioning a blue-eyed child with unruly brown hair. Her imaginations hadn't yet assigned a gender. In truth, she didn't care. Which ever it was, boy or girl, it would be a perfect combination of her and Castle.

Speaking of Castle…

Kate pushed up to a sitting position, her tousled hair flopping down over her eyes. Raising a hand, she brushed back her hair and grinned lazily as she gazed down at the rumpled bed sheets, remembering just how they got into that state. Last night had been sublime. She closed her eyes, a dreamy expression flashing across her face as she recalled their night of passionate lovemaking… in a bed! It felt like it had been an eternity since they'd had use of an actual bed.

Wetting her lips with her tongue, Kate arched her neck and peered towards the ensuite, the door sat ajar, listening for the shower. Nothing. "Castle?" she called out, wondering where he was.

Seconds later the door to the ensuite jerked open and Castle appeared, dressed in a bathrobe, and distractingly scrubbing his face with a plush white towel.

Confused, Kate knitted her eyebrows together and wrinkled her nose as she looked up at him, scratching the side of her head, still a little lost in the cobwebs of her slumber. "What were you doing in there?"

His eyes flashed with amusement over the obvious answers. Kate sighed and raked her fingers through her tousled hair. In her current state she thought her question was a logical one, as she hadn't heard the shower going at all. He could have just gone into the bathroom to relieve himself and wash his face, but the sheets on his side of the bed were cold, indicating he'd been out of bed for a while.

Castle pulled the towel down, revealing a beardless jaw, thus answering her query. Kate gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes went wide in shock.

"Oh my God!?" she declared. "What did you do to your face?"

"Um… exactly what you asked," he replied, brow furrowing in confusion as he gave her a suspicious look. "I did promise to shave at the first available opportunity. And I'm a man of my word. You should know that by now."

"I do," she asserted, with a hint of frustration. "I… I just didn't think you'd actually do it. You seemed awfully attached to that beard. You thought it made you look like Commander Riker."

"Oh Imzadi," Castle crooned dramatically, theatrically raising his hand up into the air as if he was about to wax lyrically about his love for her. He opened his mouth, when Kate silenced him with a glare. Chuckling Castle tossed the towel onto a nearby armchair and rubbed his hands over his shaved cheeks. "Come now, Kate," he gave her a pointed look, admonishing her assumptions with a shake of his head. "You should know by now that I'd do anything for you. Anything."

Kate bit her lower lip, and bobbed her head, her sun-kissed curls bouncing around her shoulders. She stretched out her arms, silently and unashamedly beckoning him to her. Castle grinned wolfishly and gave his eyebrows a suggestive waggle as he climbed up the mattress until they were face to face. His warm breath touched her skin and she flushed with arousal. A shiver of anticipation danced up her spine as she flicked her eyes down to his lips. Without warning, she grabbed his face in her hands and pulled him down into a fierce and passionate kiss.

Breaking away for air, Kate rested her forehead against his. They stayed like that for a moment, sharing oxygen as her fingertips skimmed along his smoothed cheeks. Castle reached up and tenderly combed his fingers through the loose strands of her long hair.

"Well, we've swapped one tropical island for another," he said, chuckling slightly. "Except this one has room service! Gotta love Hawaii, am I right or what? Hey, want to order something before we have to get ready to face the music?"

"Ugh," she scowled, turning away from him and pouting like a sullen child, folding her hands in her lap. "I don't know if I'm ready to face your mother and my father…" She paused and moved her hands to the small baby bump. "Not to mention Alexis."

"Hey, they'll be thrilled," Castle asserted, not missing the significance of the placement of her hands. "Alexis always wanted a sibling. My mother, she'll probably give me a head slap for knocking you up while we were stranded, and then crush us in one of her crazy hugs. Always the dramatic one, my mother."

"And what about my Dad?"

Castle smiled softly at Kate in an attempt to reassure her. "I'm sure Jim will be happy that he's finally going to become a grandfather."

"You think so?" she asked, uncharacteristically timid and unsure.

"I do," he declared, caressing the side of her face with an affectionate and loving hand. "Better?"

"Much," she nodded, sighing as she turned into him, seeking more comfort. "Now shut up and kiss me again, you big lug."

RICK CASTLE & KATE BECKETT

will be back in

THE RETURN