You cannot go against the Universe!

Chapter One

The Union of Two Houses.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?" The words had caused all the air to leave her in a rust even as her heart tried to burst forth from her chest. She thought that he was going to end it, end them. Taking a breath for what felt like the first time in an eternity, she blinked, a stray tear falling down her cheek. "Castle…" she gasped, he wanted a future with her, regardless of her choice one thing was clear: he loved her… Always.

Richard Edgar Castle thought back to his friend Kevin Ryan's wedding, remembering Kate's words. 'Oh who knows Castle, maybe third time's the charm.' Despite all that they had gone through in the five years they had known each other he loved her more than he could even put into words. (Kind of funny, a writer at a loss for words.) He heard her say his name, almost as a whisper. She was surprised at his words, he could clearly see that. Her answer told him everything about where their future was heading.

"Yes…" Kate managed to get the word out past the heart of hers that seemed to have taken up residence in her throat. Now she saw it, that light that shined with a radiance of almost child-like wonder & innocence. He stood as he slid the ring onto her finger & Kate recalled her own words from one of their very first cases. 'When it comes to marriage, I'm more of a one & done type.' This was it, he was her one & done. As he stood to kiss her, Kate forestalled his advance. "Castle, wait. There's something I need to say first." The grin on his face made his eyes crinkle & the light seem to shine just a bit brighter. She said yes, whatever came next, he knew they would work through it. He'd be there for his fiancée. "I know that things haven't been easy between us, these last few weeks especially." They both shared a little laugh over that. "I just want you to know that I'm done running from us. You deserve to be happy Rick, & for some reason, I seem to make you happy." He opened his mouth to say something, but, her finger over his lips once again rendered him silent. "I get to finish this time." She playfully reached for his ear & he quickly ducked his shoulders while bringing a shielding hand up to guard his poor tender earlobe. Her smile got bigger as she continued, "I want this Rick. I want your face to be the last thing I see when I go to sleep & the first thing I see when I wake up. I want us to fight over who gets to use the bathroom first in the mornings & who makes coffee. I want us to make 'little Castle babies'. I want it all." Now there was something else in his eyes. The twinkle was still there, but, it was now accompanied by tears of happiness shining in the late evening light. He pulled his lips between his teeth, an action that she thought only added to his boyish charm, & glanced down towards his mouth. "We still need to talk about the D.C. thing… I was offered the job." She felt the crushing weight on her heart at making the statement lift when he nodded, his face not falling in the slightest.

He knew that the job in D.C would come up, but, he knew they could make it work. He knew in his heart that they would make it through whatever the Universe threw at them (after five years he was pretty sure it was running out of truly bizarre ways in which to try & kill them, right?) He wanted so badly to just kiss the air right out of her now & he started bouncing on his feet. "Shouldn't you have used the little boys room before you came here Ricky?" Even with the teasing tone in her voice he could hear the smile there as well & decided to throw caution to the wind. He threw his arms around her & proceeded to kiss his fiancée silly. Once they broke apart (damn pesky oxygen!) Castle gave her a few minutes to allow her legs to no longer feel like jelly. "I need to tell mother & Alexis the good news!" as he tried to pull her towards her car she stayed rooted in her spot. As he looked back she squeezed his hand & gave him a reassuring smile. "There's someplace that I need to go first." Castle nodded in understanding. "Would you like me to come?" he noticed that Kate was holding the hand with her engagement ring close to her heart, right next to her mother's ring. "Can I have a few minutes first? Then I really think that she should meet her future son-in-law." The words caused an even bigger, if possible, smile to form on his face. "I understand, I just hope she doesn't fry my ass with a lightning bolt for doing this backwards." Castle nervously glanced at the sky as he spoke. "Castle, my mom wouldn't do something like that!" she playfully swatted his arm as she laughed, feeling oddly warm as she thought of her mother. She'd always miss her, but, after she had said yes to Castle she felt a warmth that was like Johanna Beckett had hugged her daughter again. "Hey, I'm not taking any risks on screwing this up. Your mom's epically awesome, I guarantee you she's made powerful allies up there!" She couldn't hold it in, his theory & how serious he delivered it had her doubling over in laughter.

Kate was already through the cemetery gates before she realized that the cab ride there had been little more than a blur. She was spinning her engagement ring on her finger as she walked towards her mother's gravestone. With a smile she brought her eyes up as she neared her destination & froze in place. "It can't be…" As she got closer her shock was confirmed, there standing before her mother's grave, was someone she never thought she would possibly see in this lifetime, if ever at all. "… sorry it took so long to get here, you know how deployment goes. I'm actually glad to be in the city for a bit before I have to swing up to D.C before all's said & done. I'm hoping I'll be able to catch up with-" She attributed it to him hearing the grass bending under her feet as he spun around, his feet shoulder distance apart & hands already rising to defend himself. "Kate?!"

He was running about ten minutes late, but, Castle didn't care. He knew that Kate would appreciate the time he gave her to talk to her mother. He was smiling as he read a text from Alexis describing her day when his eyes were brought up to an odd scene by Kate's laughter. Castle froze as he saw his fiancée hug a rather tall stranger after she'd given him a lingering kiss on the cheek. As Kate moved to sit down with the unknown man Castle got a pretty good look at him. He was tall, six & a half feet easy, wearing dark blue camouflage utilities. His hat was off & his hair was in a top knot (bit of an odd choice) & the sleeves rolled up to his elbow showed off chiseled forearms. As Kate looked around to make sure she had the room to sit she saw Castle standing there. Thinking he was waiting for permission to approach she smiled & waived for him to join them. As Castle approached the man with Kate stood up as well. As he got closer Castle could see that this guy was handsome & seriously ripped & felt a not so small twinge of jealousy rise up. "Hey, I'm so glad you could make it." Kate gave him a tender kiss on the lips before she turned towards her mystery guest. "This is my fiancé Richard Castle. Rick, I'd like you to meet Kayne Beckett… my cousin."