Frozen Love (A Castle Fanfiction)

Long Enough

Rick's POV
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After a few weeks of Ryan being back, everything was starting to get back to norma. The only problem with this was everything was unchanging. Kate was back to working as often as she could, the cases kept coming, our son kept distracting us, and so far, even though I proposed a while ago, we hadn't been able to talk about a wedding. It was as though we were ignoring the engagement entirely. And, don't get me wrong, I wasn't exactly pushing the topic constantly, but the few times I tried to mention it, she found some way out of talking about it. They were honest reason, actually. Generally it was late at night when she was half asleep or Brayden was crying or it was the middle of the work day or something, But I didn't want to have this particular conversation in front of my mother or daughter if she was just going to tell me she wanted to extend the engagement a bit longer.

Finally, however, I got to the point where I couldn't really put it off. While she was working, I called my mother to ask her to get Alexis out of the loft that night so that we could talk, and she happily obliged (outwardly accusing me of just simply wanting to sleep with her without worrying about anything). Kate had no idea I'd done this until we got home that night, because the first thing I said when the door was closed was, "So, about the engagement." I didn't even wait until Brayden was out of his car seat to start into it.

"Where are Alexis and Martha?" Kate questioned, clearly half avoiding the subject.

I answered, "I asked my mother to get Alexis out of the house so we could talk about the engagement."

"Alright," she said as though she was unknowing of why I was being so forward. "What about the engagement?"

"Kate, it's been five months since our son was born. We've been engaged for almost a year and we haven't talked about a wedding or whether we want to have a big or small ceremony or anything since before Brayden was born."

"Yeah, but-," she looked at me strangely and hesitated on her words, choosing them carefully so as not to offend me, "Castle, for two months before Brayden was born, we swore we were going to city hall and just never got around to it. Then after Brayden was born, we needed time. Things were chaotic. And things at the precinct haven't exactly been steady since I got back. It's like we've moved from one problem to the next without time to breathe. I wasn't purposefully putting off having a wedding, I just haven't been able to think about it. We haven;t had time to plan."

"I get that, but- we do now," I pushed.

"Yeah," she said, "We have time now. So, Brayden's asleep, your mother and daughter are out, we have the house to ourselves and we definitely have time to... talk."

She was teasing me, hard core, full out teasing me. It was like she was undressing with words. But I stayed focussed, "So, big wedding or courthouse wedding?"

Again, she played, "Well, I've always liked thing big."

Focus, Castle. Focus. "Alright, so, like, how many people? One hundred? Two hundred? Or maybe we should stick to just close family. I mean, my mom, Alexis, your dad, Brayden, probably the boys and Lanie, maybe a few other people. I mean, we are already living together and we have a son and, this isn't really my first wedding."

"Mmmmh, but, you know, this is my first time. And just because we've been bad and haven't followed society's rule doesn't mean we should enjoy ourselves." God, her voice, her eyes, her body. God, Castle. Focus.

I then plowed to, "Did you want to do a church wedding or like a beach wedding? We could find a venue in the city if you wanted to. Book it for the spring."

"Speaking of spring," she said, just as she clutched below the belt. I couldn't stop my body from responding. "Ah, looks like someone's starting to get the picture."

"K-Kate, we should really... ummm... Brayden's still- still in his umm... he's..."

"Oh, come on, Castle. Relax," she said. "You're too... buttoned up. Why don't you let me help you get comfortable." As she said this, her hands slipped beneath the lining of my jeans and pulled out the ends of my shirt, giving her the ability to slide her fingers along my abdomen.

I didn't look at her. I looked up at the ceiling and tried, "Kate, Brayden shouldn't stay in his- in his car seat. One of us should- should put him in his crib."

She then relaxed her hands and stopped what she was doing. "Really, Castle? Come on, don't you just- feel that urge to just- ugh! It's been five months, Castle. Five months. I just want to be close to you again."

Her whimper of unhappiness was to me like a puppy's plea. It took every ounce of me to say an reluctant, "We really need to talk about this, Kate. As much as I would love to-... I really need to talk about this."

She sighed. "Alright. Why don't you put Brayden to bed. I really want to get out of these heels. My feet are killing me." I nodded and agreed, picking up the car seat as she wandered into our bedroom.

Looking down at my son as I walked up the stairs, I told him, "You know, I must really love you if I gave that up so that your mom and I can tell you we're married some day when you actually understand what that means." Brayden didn't respond, but I thought he should hear that he was loved again.

When I picked him up and held him in my arms, for just a moment I had to sway with him. I knew he wouldn't be asleep for long and that in a half an hour or so he'd wake up and demand to be held for the rest of the night. There was just something about car rides that always put him straight to sleep whether he was super tired or not. Plus, he didn't sleep well at daycare and nearly never took naps there. Instead he napped only when one of us came to get him to go home. It was sweet and all, but it was also kind of annoying.

After I laid him down, I picked up his car seat and started downstairs. There, Kate was sitting on the couch with her back toward me. I continued in, set the car seat down on the kitchen table and then started toward her. It wasn't until I was standing in front of her that I realized there wasn't a stitch of clothing on her besides those black leather, strappy heels that she knew were my favorite. She bargained, "We have a half an hour, Rick. I might focus a bit better later if you took my mind off things now."

I couldn't argue with that logic. Besides, at the sight of her, that half reaction earlier fully animated.