A/N: I came up with the idea for this story not that long ago. Please don't be too harsh on me because this is my first Castle fic. Please enjoy.

Chapter 1

It had been a long and boring day at the precinct; both Castle and Beckett were ready to leave. Castle had a nice evening planned for the two of them at his loft since Alexis was now off at college and his mother would be out for the night. He couldn't take the wait any longer; he wanted to go, now. He was trying to resist the urge to bounce, like a child, in the chair he sat in next to Beckett's desk.

"Can we leave now?" Castle whined.

"Soon Castle, I shouldn't be much longer, but this paperwork has to get done, so if you want to go ahead and leave, be my guest," Beckett answered as she set her pen down on her desk and turned to him.

Castle huffed in annoyance. "But do you really want to waste your life doing boring paperwork when there are much better things to do?"

"No, but it has to be done," Beckett replied.

"Ah, but we could go back to my loft, I have chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us," Castle responded as he winked playfully at Beckett.

That truly sounded tempting to Beckett, but she still had paperwork that needed to be done and she couldn't just throw it on somebody else. She shook her head. "We can get to that later, but now I have paperwork to do. Now go on, leave, you're distracting me."

Castle stood up and grabbed his coat. "Fine. I'll be waiting around the corner."

Beckett smirked; Castle was just a big kid sometimes. "Good night Castle."

"Good night Detective Beckett," Castle said as he held out his hand for Beckett. She took his hand for a brief moment and then let it go. "Later Esposito. Later Ryan."

"Bye Castle," they replied in unison.

"I'll see you soon," Beckett mouthed. She watched as Castle went to the elevator and then she picked up her pen and turned back to her tedious paperwork. She hated doing paperwork, but it had to be done and she couldn't leave until it was done and filed properly, and the sooner she got the paperwork done, the sooner she could have a relaxing evening with Castle. As soon as she was done with the paperwork, she got up and filed it in its proper place, and then she went back to her desk and gathered her things. "Good night Espo, good night Ryan. See you on Monday."

"Yeah, unless a murder comes up," said Esposito.

"Night Beckett," Ryan replied.

Beckett walked to the elevator and when it opened she got in and rode it down to the ground floor. She walked out of the precinct and around the corner where Castle was waiting for her.

"Well, long time, no see," said Castle playfully.

Beckett smiled and shook her head. "Your place or mine?"

"I was thinking my place, my mother's supposed to be out, and besides like I said, I have chocolate covered strawberries," Castle responded as he flagged down a cab.

"All right, your place it is," Beckett replied as they got into the cab.

The ride to Castle's building was quiet, but enjoyable. Soft music played from the cab's radio. Castle grabbed Beckett's hand and she smiled at him; he noticed a strand of hair was in her face and he tucked it behind her ear. They gazed into eyes others eyes. Castle couldn't wait until they got to his loft; he wanted to punish her for making him wait so long. Beckett, on the other hand, had other plans; she wanted to be the one to dominate him, not the other way around. When they reached his building Castle paid the cab driver and they went inside. They walked over to the elevator and Castle pushed the button; the elevator door opened and Castle allowed Beckett to enter first and he went in behind her. Castle pushed the button for his floor and door slid closed. As they passed each floor there was a quiet ding; finally they reached Castle's floor.

"I need some new ideas for my new Nikki Heat book. How about some role-play?" said Castle as they walked out of the elevator.

"That sounds great," replied Beckett as they reached the door. Perfect, she thought, I'll get to dominate him.

Castle unlocked his front door and opened it; once the both of them were inside he closed the door. He pushed Beckett up against the door and began to kiss her ravenously; he wanted to get his revenge on her for making him wait. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck and entangled her fingers in his hair.

Suddenly someone cleared their throat. The two of them pulled away from each other and turned toward the couch and a woman was standing there. "Hello Richard."

"Who are you and what are you doing in my loft?" demanded Castle. She looked oddly familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

She smiled some-what sadly. "You don't remember me do you?"

"Um…no?" Castle responded as he shook his head.

"We dated about six years ago."

Castle blinked his eyes as he recognized her. "Claire?"

"It's good to see you again." She turned to Beckett. "You must be Detective Beckett, the real Nikki Heat."

"Hello," Beckett said cordially with a slightly tight edge. She wasn't very happy by the other woman's presence, she had waited all day to have Castle to herself, and now this woman was going to make her wait even longer.

"What are you doing here?" Castle asked. He was sure Beckett was thinking the same thing.

"I need to talk to you…alone," Claire answered.

"I'll be right back," Castle replied. Beckett and Castle went out into the hallway. "I promise I'll get rid of her as fast as I can and then we can go on as if nothing ever happened."

Beckett simply nodded, she still wasn't happy that her plans would have to be delayed. Castle sensed this and kissed her on the lips and then went back into his loft.

"Why are you here?" Castle repeated once he had closed the door behind him.

"I need to talk to you," Claire replied. She was once again seated on the couch.

Castle sat down in his chair. "What about?"

"You don't sound too happy," said Claire, but she really didn't expect him to be happy to see her again.

"I'm just surprised to see you after all this time," Castle replied. He hoped that she would hurry up and get to the point so he could get back to his evening with Beckett.

"I'll just get to the point," Claire responded, "Remember about a month before we broke up, we went out on a date, and then we came back here, and I was more hesitant than normal?"

Castle thought for a moment, and then nodded, "Yes."

"That's because my birth control prescription had run out and there were some problems getting it refilled, and you figured that since neither of us were sleeping with anybody else, and since you took my virginity, that protection wasn't necessary," Claire said.

"Oh," was all Castle could say. She's not about to say what I think she's going to say. Oh please don't let her say it.

"Not long after we broke up I found that I was pregnant," Claire replied.

Castle sat there absolutely stunned; he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head in disbelief. He had to be dreaming, this couldn't be happening to him.

Claire pulled a picture out of her purse and handed it to Castle and decided to break the silence. "He looks a lot like you."

Castle shook his head. "Are you sure he's mine?"

Claire nodded. "Yes, I'm sure, and why would I lie about something like this?" There was an awkward moment of silence. "I suppose you'll want a DNA test."

Castle simply nodded.

"He has your personality, he's very imaginative," Claire stated.

Castle chuckled softly. "Well, maybe he'll end up being a writer."

"He does love to be read to," Claire responded. Suddenly, Claire grabbed Castle's hands and pulled him so their faces were only inches apart. Fear was in her eyes. "Richard, promise me that when it's proven that he's yours, promise me that you'll take care of him, just like you do Alexis."

"Yeah, of course, I promise. Why are you telling me this now?" Castle said. That was the biggest question he had.

"I was scared that you would try to take him from me; that you would want full custody; that's why I didn't tell you sooner, but recently he's asked about his father," Claire replied.

"He's asked about me?" Castle questioned.

"Yes, we just moved to the area and at the last school Adam, that's his name, went to, they had one of those 'bring your parent to school days' and he was the only boy who brought his mother. He apologized for it later, but he said that he was ashamed of me. It was then that I knew that I had to come and tell you," Claire said.

"This is a lot to take in," Castle replied. He couldn't believe that he was a father for the second time.

"I understand that," Claire responded. "Would you like to meet tomorrow to get a DNA test?"

"Yeah…sure," Castle said.

"I guess I won't interrupt your evening any more than I already have," Claire replied. She wrote down her phone number and address on a slip of paper and handed it to Castle.

Castle looked at the paper. "This is a pretty bad part of town."

"I know, but it's all I can afford," Claire responded as she gathered her purse and stood up. She walked to the door and then turned back. "Richard."

He turned to face her. "Yeah."

Claire bit her bottom lip and he could see the fear in her eyes. She shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah…tomorrow."

Claire opened the door and then left, closing the door completely behind her. After a moment Beckett walked in she saw Castle sitting in his chair with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. She walked over to him quietly.

"Castle," she said softly. He looked up at her and to her he suddenly looked a lot older than he really was and much more tired too. "What happened?"

"I…I can't believe it," Castle muttered.

"Can't believe what?" Beckett questioned.

"I promised myself that I would never let a child of mine carry around the title 'bastard' like I had to; like I still do," Castle answered.

"Castle, what are you talking about?" Beckett inquired. She also wondered what the woman who talked to him looked so upset when she left.

"Not long after Claire and I broke up she said that she found out that she was pregnant, and she said her son is mine," Castle said.

Beckett sat down on the couch. "Oh."

"You can stay if you want, but I'm not really in the mood," Castle said.

Beckett got up off of the couch and stood behind Castle; she pulled him into an upright position and began to massage his shoulders; they were as hard as rocks, but she didn't say anything. Castle let his head fall forward as she continued. After about five minutes, Beckett stopped; she walked into the kitchen, grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinet, grabbed a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator, poured some wine into each of the glasses and then walked back over to the living room. She handed Castle one of the glasses. Castle took the glass, swirled the contents, took a small sip and then set the glass on the coffee table.

"What if it is true?" Castle suddenly asked.

"If what's true?" Beckett questioned as she sat down on the couch.

"What if he really is mine?"

Beckett grabbed Castle's hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb.

"I mean I always wanted more kids, Alexis grew up way too fast. I mean he's five years old, I've missed so much already; I've missed his birth, his first word, him learning how to walk…"

"Do you want to miss more?" Beckett queried.

"No, but how will my mother and Alexis react?" Castle said.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about Martha," replied Beckett with a slight smile.

"You're right, she'll be ecstatic and she'll spoil him rotten, just like she did Alexis; I don't know how she didn't turn out to be a spoiled brat," Castle responded.

"She has a level head on her shoulders," Beckett stated.

"Yeah, someone has to," Castle sighed.

"You don't have too level of a head yourself," Beckett said.

"I may be a goof ball sometimes, but I'm better than my mother; my mother passed me from nanny to nanny and I never really brought my girlfriends around Alexis, yes, I did have a lot of girlfriends, but I made sure that I dated a girl for at least two months before I brought them around Alexis. My mother brought anybody she found off the street around me," Castle responded.

Beckett saw the picture lying on the table and she picked it up, "It this him?"

"Yes, Claire says he looks like me. I don't see it. I see her," Castle replied.

"No, he looks a lot like you," Beckett said.

"Where? He has her red hair," Castle responded.

"All right, he has her hair, but he has your eyes, your shape of face, your nose, and I even think he has your ears," Beckett replied.

"Hey!" Castle exclaimed.

"What? I like your ears," Beckett said as playfully grabbed one of his ears.

For the first time since they arrived at his loft, Castle smiled. "How about we make a bowl of popcorn and watch a movie in bed?"

"That sounds good," Beckett agreed.

They made a bowl of popcorn and retreated to Castle's bedroom. Both of them undressed and then Castle put in the movie and joined Beckett on his bed. As the movie went on Beckett could tell that Castle was distracted and wasn't really watching the movie. Finally Beckett grabbed the remote and turned the movie off and then she grabbed the bowl of popcorn and set it aside.

"You're distracted. What's wrong?"

"I just can't stop thinking about earlier," Castle sighed.

"You'll work everything out, I know you will," Beckett said. She snuggled closer to him, wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his bare, muscular chest.

"I sure hope so," Castle responded. "What if he doesn't like me?"

"Castle, you may be annoying sometimes, but I'm sure he'll love you," Beckett encouraged. "Now, you need to clear you head, get some sleep."

"All right." He didn't even feel up to making a sarcastic remark. Castle turned off the lights and eventually the two of them fell asleep.

Around 2:00 the next morning, Beckett heard her cellphone go off. She opened her eyes and reached over to the bedside table and grabbed her phone. "Beckett." The person on the other end told her that there had been a murder and gave her the address. "All right. I'll be there as soon as I can." She hung up her phone, placed it back on the bedside table, and turned over to wake up Castle. "Castle, wake up."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"Castle, wake up, there's been a murder."

Castle opened his eyes sleepily. "What?"

"There's been a murder." She gave the address.

"What? Where?!" Castle exclaimed.

Beckett gave the address again. "Castle, is there something wrong?"

"That's the address Claire said she lived at."