Building a Life
Chapter One
"Dammit, Rick, I'm pregnant!"
The words reverberated around the break room, and Richard Castle stared at the woman who'd just spoken.
"Pre... pregnant?" he stuttered.
Kate Beckett sighed, and nodded. "Yes."
"Oh."
They stood, staring at each other, as the coffee machine finished making their drinks. They sat, untouched, as Rick and Kate stared at each other.
"Is it...? I mean..."
"Yes, it's yours."
"Right. Well, um, okay."
"Castle..."
"Yo, Beckett, got that background check you wanted." Javier Esposito stuck his head into the break room, holding a file. He stopped as he saw the standoff between the detective and the writer. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Yes."
They said it in unison, and then glanced at each other, before looking back towards Esposito. He glanced at Kate, then at Rick.
"Okay. I'll just..." He looked at the file in his hand, then threw it to Kate, before leaving.
"Kate..."
"We can't have this discussion here, Castle. Your place, 8 o'clock, okay?"
"Okay."
Kate avoided eye contact as she brushed past Rick on her way out of the room.
"Oh, God, Castle, more!"
Kate fingers scraped down Rick's back as he moved above her. His weight was pressing her into the mattress, and Kate relished the feel of him.
"Oh, Kate, Kate..."
Kate's legs tightened around Rick's waist, and she moaned loudly, her head falling back onto the pillow. Her eyes were tightly shut, and Rick looked down at her in wonder.
"You're amazing, Kate," he said as he paused.
Kate opened her eyes, her mouth falling open. "Please don't stop, Rick, not now."
Rick grinned, and gave her a quick kiss before he started moving again. Kate was the first to fall over the edge, and she did loudly.
"Castle!"
Rick came soon after, collapsing against Kate as he did.
They lay panting for a few minutes, before Rick rolled off Kate, and turned to look at her.
"Kate...?"
She sighed, and climbed out of bed. She threw on her coat, and walked to the doorway. She turned back to Rick before she left, and said, "I'm sorry, Rick. This shouldn't have happened." And then she left.
Rick rolled onto his back and sighed.
As Rick expected, his doorbell rang at 7:58 that night. He got up to open it, and let Kate in. She walked past him without saying anything, and flopped down on the couch.
"Alexis and Martha?" she eventually asked.
"Not here," Rick replied. "So... pregnant, huh?"
"Yeah," Kate answered. "I don't know how this happened."
"Well," Rick said, "When a man and a woman love each other very much..."
That earned him the beginning of a smile. "I do know that part, Castle. I meant, I was on the pill."
"Doesn't always work."
"Obviously."
They sat in silence for a moment, before Rick reached out and took one of Kate's hands.
"Kate... you know how I feel about you, right?"
"I think I've figured it out by now," Kate answered. She shuffled closer to Rick, and put her free hand on his knee. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to do what any expecting couple does. Love each other, hate each other, freak out..."
"Love each other?"
"Well..."
Kate smiled up at Rick, and moved her hand to his cheek. "And you'll be here for me?"
"No matter what."
Kate leant closer still, and kissed Rick gently. "Thank you."
Rick kissed her back. "I love you, Kate."
Kate just smiled back at Rick.
A/N: More to come soon :)