Epilogue

Richard Castle let out a chortle of joy when he checked his inbox and found a message from the Love Matching Center, Inc. Nearly twelve weeks had passed since he sent DNA samples to them and he'd been almost obsessively checking his inbox as the results were to have come to him in "eight to ten weeks, though it could take up to fourteen." Naturally when he had not received the information at the eight-weeks-and-one-day mark he'd been immeasurably frustrated. Worse yet, he had to keep his frustration to himself because the matching event was a surprise for his wife, but now finally the wait was over.

"C'mon, C'mon," he muttered to himself when he opened the email and then double clicked the attachment to review his results. The page loaded with an agonizingly slow speed, but when he viewed the results he let out a cheer and punched the air with glee. Wanting to be certain that everything was in order before he called for Kate, he returned his gaze to the email and forced himself to actually read it instead of skipping to the results right away.

In Castle's mind, the relationship he had with his wife could hardly have been more perfect. Once they put their respective divorces behind them, their relationship had been more extraordinary than he'd ever hoped. They loved each other. They were best friends. They were partners. What could have been sweeter than that?

His love for her ran so deep that he became a bit overzealous about moving their relationship forward and brought up the topic of marriage barely six months after they'd first made love. Kate had assured him that while she definitely saw that for their future, she didn't feel the need to rush, and was enjoying their relationship as it was. Mildly disappointed but undeterred, he brought up the subject again every other month until she finally agreed to get engaged, just a little more than a year after their first kiss. She moved into his apartment officially shortly thereafter, and they officially wed six months after that.

Around that time, the Love Matching company, which had been in business for over forty years had a very public fallout among its senior management. A whistleblower had gone to every major news network and revealed their bias practices, which had resulted in a divorce rate that, while still lower than it had been before the system was in place, was once again steadily climbing. Castle had read about such suspicions for several years, but it wasn't until the public blow-up that they were revealed to be true. The company was then disbanded and reorganized to use the same technology, but without the restrictions of age, geographical location, race, and other limitations that might prohibit someone from getting their true match. Naturally, the public remained skeptical, and their image was forever tarnished, but for someone with as much disposable cash as Castle had, there wasn't even a question about whether or not he would submit his DNA along with his wife's to be analyzed.

After reading all he needed to in order to confirm their results, Castle called out, "Kate! Kate! Come here quick—you've got to see this!"

Almost a full minute passed before Kate waddled in, her hands on the small of her back as the swell of her belly led the way. "'Quick' really isn't in my vocabulary these days, Castle."

"Right, of course." He smiled at her and when she walked all the way over to where he sat at his desk, he kissed the top of her belly. Then, pointing to his screen, he said, "Sorry about that, but I really wanted you to see this."

"What is it?"

"Our soulmate profile."

"Our…what?" she asked with notable confusion.

"The reorganized Love Match company started taking pairs of DNA samples to compare. I mailed ours in like three months ago and I just got the results."

"Wha—what do you mean 'ours'? When did you collect my DNA?" she balked.

He cringed. "Well…I might have used one of the hairs from your brush."

"CASTLE!"

"But look, honey." He grabbed her hand and cradled it in his in an attempt to assuage her anger. "We're eighty nine percent compatible. According to the email they sent out the average match is only seventy-one."

"Great. Too bad its complete nonsense."

"Not complete nonsense…." He said, a bit miffed.

"Well. it didn't work out for either of us."

"AH!" he held up his finger as he explained the beauty of the new match. "But that was the original system—the rigged system. This is the real match. No restrictions on age or geography. If they'd used this system all along and didn't put that stupid cap on couples only being a few years apart in age we would have been matched all along!"

She gazed down at him, amused. "Is that what you think?"

"Of course!" He stood up and placed his hands at her hips. "We're made for each other."

She smiled softly and leaned in to give him a kiss. "Well, I already knew that."

"So did I, but it's nice to have the proof. I'm going to frame it and hang it next to our wedding photos."

Shaking her head with a laugh, she told him, "You're crazy."

He made no argument to the contrary. "But you love it."

"Most days."

"Kate…"

"Okay. All the days."

"I love you all of the days, too. "

A/N: thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! It is greatly appreciated!