Castle and The Originals

Chapter 19

"I think I'll catch the next one."

Kate winked at the handsome young man that had just offered her his elbow. She couldn't remember if he was Jenny's brother or cousin. She had briefly met him the previous evening at the rehearsal dinner but there were just so many of them. Kate remembered Detective Ryan once insinuating that Irish families tended to be large, but nothing had prepared her for the enormity of the Duffy O'Malley clan. In a way she was grateful, a large family on the bride's side meant Jenny had plenty of woke willing to be bridesmaids. Kate and Jenny had become close over the course of the last year and she would have gladly been in the wedding if asked, but admittedly she was relieved to hear that the bridal party had been filled with four family members and one friend; that friend being Lanie. Not that Lanie and Jenny were particularly closer than Jenny and Kate, but they did share the camaraderie of loving a special pair of Detectives.

Rick, on the other hand, was practically giddy at the prospect of being in their friends' wedding. For a man who had lived, what appeared to others, as a pretty extravagant lifestyle he could get excited about some of the simplest things. When they learned that other than Esposito, the groomsmen would consist of two of Ryan's brothers as well as two of Jenny's, Rick was a little disheartened. That changed the day the younger Detective took him aside and asked if he would speak before the ceremony while the bridal party prepared for their entrance. Of course Rick agreed and then was somehow also roped into helping with the ushering duties as well.

From her position at the back of the large sanctuary Kate watched her husband. He walked hunched slightly to his left, taking baby steps so as not to rush the elderly woman he was currently escorting her to a seat. Kate remembered her from the previous evening as well; she was Detective Ryan's great-grandmother. Having finally reached their destination, Rick helped the woman as she gingerly eased into the pew, then he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to the back of her aged hand. Kate was too far away to see for sure, but she assumed by the body language that the older woman was blushing. 'That man just oozes charm,' Kate smiled and shook her head.

Rick turned in the aisle, when he had volunteered to help with the ushering he had no idea what a task it would be. Jenny had insisted on a formal wedding. The guest list was just shy of four hundred, with only five groomsmen plus himself to do all the ushering. It was still thirty minutes until the ceremony would actually start and he was pretty sure he had already walked a marathon amongst the labyrinth of aisles and pews in the Gothic style sanctuary. He was halfway to the entrance before he noticed her; blushing the instant his toe snagged on the runner that had been rolled down the center aisle; he steadied himself with a hand to the back of the nearest pew. 'Stupid in love,' he half heartedly scolded himself before continuing.

"Nice footwork Baryshnikov."

Rick extended his left elbow. "'If thou remember'st not the slightest folly that ever love did make thee run into, thou hast not loved.'"

"Nice recovery."

Rick assumed his wife was referring to his rhetoric and not to his clumsiness. "Shakespeare trumps ballet any day."

Out of the corner of his eye he drank in the sight of her as they walked. She was a vision in a tri-colored cocktail length dress. Her bronze skin contracted with the black material as it plunged into a deep V between her breasts before meeting the wide light gray sash that accentuated the baby belly draped in shimmering charcoal gray below. Her exquisitely toned legs seemed to go on for miles before coming to rest in a pair of sensibly-heeled black shoes trimmed ever so slightly in a gray snakeskin pattern. For a moment he was reminded of the first time he walked arm-in-arm with his statuesque Detective. As always, Rick wore her with pride, but back then, in his cockiness he had foolishly thought of her as candy; an accoutrement to his playboy image. Now he considered himself the luckiest bastard on the planet. He was humbled with each glance, smile and touch she graced upon him. In fact, if he stopped and thought too long and hard about the fact that she was his forever, the gravity of it would surely crush him; in regards to the fact that she would soon bear his children; no words existed.