A group of people was forming in the center of the precinct. On any other day Captain Gates would be shooing them all away, but this time she was in the middle of it. Beckett was the only one standing back as Ryan introduced everyone to his son, Brandon. Gates was cooing over the little baby as he was being passed around from person to person. Esposito broke away from the group to walk over to Beckett.
"Look at that goofy grin on his face." Esposito leaned against Beckett's desk next to her.
"Oh come on Javi, he's just happy." Beckett had a huge grin on her face as well as she marveled at just how adorable Ryan was as a dad.
"Oh, I know." Esposito had a smile on his face too as he went back to his desk to work on some paperwork.
It took a while for the crowd to disperse, Captain Gates being the last one to hand over baby Brandon and walk back to her office beaming. Kate thought it was funny just how much she had changed over the years.
Kate was busy doing paperwork and she hadn't noticed Castle arrive at the precinct. It seemed like Castle hadn't noticed Beckett sitting behind her desk either, she was a little hidden behind the stacks of files on the desk in front of her. She peered around the papers and watched Castle as he shook Ryan's hand with a big goofy smile on his face. She couldn't hear what they were saying from across the room but she heard them laugh. Castle knelt over Brandon and made a funny face. She watched him as he picked up the baby and held him close to his chest. Kate kept watching him as he rocked the baby and held him up in the air. She was in awe at just how happy Castle looked, making funny faces and doing everything to get the baby to laugh. And it was all working too. Baby Brandon was in a fit of laughter when Castle handed him back to Ryan. Kate had to tear her eyes away so they wouldn't catch her watching them. She could feel the warmth inside her at what she just witnessed. She had seen Castle with Alexis plenty of times and had always marveled at his parenting skills and how he could shift from being a dad and being worried about Alexis to being his goofy self begging Kate to play laser tag with him. The warmth in her chest trickled up her neck and she could feel the redness in her cheeks as a smile spread across her face. Castle was such an amazing father and even though they had never really talked about it, she knew he wanted to build a family with her and even though she was completely scared to think it, she wanted to as well.
Kate jumped as Castle threw his jacket on the back of his chair and sat down next to her. "Isn't baby Brandon just adorable? What's got you so happy, Beckett?" Castle was leaning closer to her and she looked up at him, smile still spread across her face.
"Nothing. Just… happy to see you." She smiled wider at him and he smiled back, his eyes shining with happiness. She wanted to kiss him, to take him up in her arms and let him know just how much she loved him, but she knew Gates still wouldn't think it was proper to do that in precinct. Instead she reached over and gripped his hand and he gripped back. They sat there for a moment until Castle glanced at his watch.
"Listen, I've got to go. Alexis wanted to meet me for lunch before she went back to school. I just wanted to stop by since Ryan said he'd be bringing Brandon in today." He stood up from his chair. He looked worried for some reason, maybe because he though Beckett would be upset that he was leaving so soon, but she just beamed up at him even more.
"See you tonight then?" Her voice was full of anticipation and he just smiled down at her.
"Until tonight." He turned around and walked off. She watched him as he reached the elevator. Spinning back around in her chair she saw Ryan talking to Esposito while he fussed with Brandon in his stroller. She stood up and walked over.
"Do you need me to watch him Ryan?" Kate's eyes beamed as she did a little wave in Brandon's direction.
"You know, if you wouldn't mind, that'd be great. Javi has some paperwork I need to sign before I can head home." Ryan looked like he didn't want to burden Beckett but she waved him off.
"Don't worry, I could use a break from all that paperwork." She sat down in the chair next to the stroller as Ryan and Esposito made their way to the stairs. Kate looked down at Brandon in the stroller. Tickling his tummy and cooing softly at him, she started to recreate some of the things she saw Castle to do to make him laugh.
Castle had made it all the way downstairs before he realized he had left his jacket on the back of his chair. It was a nice day outside and he contemplated leaving it, he figured Beckett would find it and just bring it with her when she came home. He glanced at his watch, Alexis was usually late, and coming from across town there was bound to be traffic. Just to play it safe he decided to take the stairs back up to save time. He climbed them two at a time, almost running into someone as he rounded a corner. After his interaction with Beckett, he was still filled with that warm feeling only she could give him. She seemed to be even happier than she usually was and her smile was contagious. He got to the right floor but had to take a moment before opening the door. Maybe taking two steps at a time was a bad idea.
He swung open the door and as he rounded the corner he spotted Kate sitting near Ryan's desk. He slowed down a bit and watched her from afar. She had Brandon in her arms, wiggling her fingers at him and playing peek-a-boo as best she could with one hand. She spun a little in the chair and Castle instinctively ducked behind the pillar a bit so he could keep watching her without her knowing it. She had the biggest grin on her face which brought warmth to Castle's chest. He had never really seen Kate with a baby before. Kids yes, and he knew that she loved Alexis, but this was different. He always thought that Kate would make a great mother, even if she had her doubts.
He leaned his shoulder against the pillar, watching her giggle to herself and rock Brandon back and forth. She was doing some things that Castle had tried to get him to laugh, and it made him wonder if Kate had been watching him when he was playing with Brandon. He watched for several minutes, never taking his eyes off of her, and Kate never took her eyes off Brandon. It took a while for Castle to remember why he had come back up the stairs, and glancing at his watch he realized now he was late to his lunch with Alexis. He walked over to his chair and grabbed his jacket. Walking back to the stairwell, he took one last look back at Kate. She was bouncing Brandon on her lap and he had his little fingers wrapped around her finger. Castle looked up at Kate's face which was glowing so much he had to force himself to tear his eyes away and walk back downstairs. On his way down he felt like he was floating. He had always known from the beginning that he wanted a family with Kate one day, but finally seeing her with a baby in her arms made him feel such an indescribable joy. A joy that immediately started making his mind race and made him start wondering when he'd have some free time next week to go down to his favorite jewelry store while Kate was at work.