She woke terrified. Mind racing, body trembling, blood pumping in her ears. She doesn't do this, hasn't in years. Not since the cold band starting resting on her finger and the warm body of her partner resting on her back came along.
She laid there, pulse rate slowly coking down confused. Was it a dream? Did she hear something? After a quick surveillance of the sounds of the loft she decides she is safe. Safer when the arm wrapped around her waist pulls her in tighter to the solid body behind her.
"Nightmare?" The groggy, sleep laden voice of Castle startles her again. "Hey, hey. You're safe. Everything is ok."
Kate turns in his arms, pulling herself flush with his naked chest.
"Not a nightmare."
Her voice is so soft he's not even sure he heard her speak. Rubbing smoothing circles up and down her back he searches for what has Kate panicked at, what time was it anyway. He hastens a look over his shoulder to see the alarm clock teasing him, 4:30 am. He just put Nikki and Rook to bed 30 minutes ago and was looking forward to a couple hours of peaceful sleep curled up to his beautiful muse.
Castle quickly realizes that in another couple months he better get used to sleep interruptions. He moves one hand to the growing bump, the physical reminder of the big change coming into their lives.
"Was it the baby? Is he kicking again? Does he need his daddy to make him a smorelette?"
"Castle, that was a one time craving." Pulling back, she tries to fix her best 'Detective Beckett' glare but it quickly falls into a chaste kiss of Castle's pouting lips. "Your son is not the problem. I don't know what the problem is."
"Kate, talk to me." He rolls onto his side pulling her against him, bump resting against his hip. He can't help the smile that breaks across his face. Kate Castle is his wife, soon to be mother of his child and she has never looked more beautiful.
Looking at her rumpled, sleepy and with that smile Kate can't help the smile that she returns. Her 'one and done' is her best friend, soulmate, partner and her everything. Her heart rate quickens again, but not out of fear.
Lifting her hand from his stomach, Kate cups his check pulling his attention back to her. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened." Silent tears fall from her cheeks before she can fight them back.
He quickly thumbs away the moisture concern ripping through his chest. "Kate. It's ok. You're safe, the baby is safe. Don't ever apologize for letting me be here for you. I love you. I'm your husband, through good times and bad, remember?"
"I love you too Rick." She lazily draws patterns and words on his chest as sleep slowly comes.
Castle feels her breathing even out as she sleeps. He places a soft kiss to her head, inhaling her scent, cherries and something he can only describe as essence of Kate. "I love you Kate. I love you too Peanut."
Kate smiles and sleepily says "I thought we said no more pet names."
Castle's grin threatens to split his face in two. How did he get so lucky? "I didn't call you honey, sweetheart, baby, baby momma..." His train of thought is derailed when suddenly Kate is straddling him, hips rocking in her hypnotic fashion.
"That is not what I'm talking about and you know it, I don't want your little nickname sticking with my child the rest of its life. Alexis is 20 and you still call her pumpkin."
How she can have a rational conversation when she is naked and doing those delicious things with her body he will never know. But she has always been a mystery he was never gonna solve. "She loves that name."
If the increase in pressure on her thigh is any indication, Kate knows her little display is having it's desired effect. Not one to lose a battle tho, she leans over Castle's we'll defined chest leaving her lips millimeters from his. "I said no pet names." She quickly reaches up grabbing his ear and twists.
He is putty in her hands, those hips, those eyes, those lips that are getting ever closer to his. He is so mesmerized by her that he doesn't see her hand come around the side of his head and make contact with his ear. "Apples, apples!"
She releases his ear, rolling off of him and back onto her side away from him. "Goodnight,"
The growl that comes from him is almost her undoing but she keeps her composure counting to 5 in her head. 1, 2, 3, 4...
"Kate Castle you are an evil woman."
She will never tell him what it does to her to hear her new last name, his ego can't take much more inflating, instead she calmly rolls over stroking his face that is now looming over her gently. "Speaking of apples, the baby is hungry Rick,"
Castle grumbles something under his breath before changing tactics quickly. He captures Kate's lips in a searing kiss quickly deepening it. His tongue battles for dominance against hers eliciting a moan from the back of her throat. Pushing himself up he carefully hovers above the growing bump hands mapping her skin, finding all of her secret spots he has found in the years they have been together.
Kate whimpers when suddenly Castle pulls back quickly from her and off the bed. "What will it be tonight? Pancakes, waffles, peanut butter and pickle sandwich?" He stares at Kate from the door jamb, lips swollen, eyes glazed with desire and almost gives in then.
"Richard Edger Alexander Rogers Castle you cannot start something like that and just leave with the promise of food." Kate tries to keep her face stern against the growing smile on her ruggedly handsome husbands face. She almost has his until her stomach growls loudly causing them both to break out laughing.
"Food first Mrs. Castle then I will take case of your other hunger." He winks as he crosses back to the bed bending over to give her a soft kiss and place another on her bump.
As Kate watches the very sexy backside of her husband disappear into the office she can't help but shake her head. She doesn't know what caused her to wake in a panic but she knows that as long as she wakes up with Richard Castle by her side she will be ok. Unless... "Rick, no smorlettes!"
