A/N: Remember, not even a week ago, when I said I was going to wait a while to continue All My Secrets? How I had other story ideas to play with before checking in on Castle, Kate, and little Roy? Well, basically, the Castle living in my head wouldn't shut up about how perfect his son was and how perfect a mother Kate was being, and tons of other completely romantic and adorable stuff. The only way to quiet him is to write it out. So, here I go, diving into the All My Secrets sequel - Bringing Up Baby.
Disclaimer: Since I'll never be Andrew Marlowe, I would settle on becoming Terri Miller... She's pretty perfect too.
When Castle opened the apartment door, back from running errands, he wasn't surprised to find the lights off and the blinds pulled in the living room. Soft classical music was coming from the iPod dock on the coffee table. He recognized the tune as "Fantastia on Greensleeves," one that Kate was so fond of. He put away the ice cream and other freezer foods before moving onto boxes of cereal and cans of soup.
Folding up the reusable grocery bags and placing them in the closet, he moved to the living room. There, sprawled out on the couch, was Kate. Roy was on her chest sleeping soundly with his fists curled into Kate's shirt. Her breathing was steady, their son's head rising and falling as she inhaled and exhaled.
Instead of waking them up, Castle went into the study, grabbing his laptop and setting up in the armchair that sat kitty-corner to the couch. Before opening the latest chapter of the next book, he dug his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of his wife and child. It wasn't often enough when the two of them slept at the same time.
It had been a week of sleepless nights for both of them. He had been used to them from raising Alexis as Meredith went right back into acting after their daughter's birth. And Kate had long ago trained her body to run on little to no sleep thanks to the hours she spent on cases in the precinct. But those years of sleepless nights were due to a crying newborn that didn't let her crash when her own body ran itself thin. They were at the beck and call of Roy and, sometimes, his needs didn't fall at the right moments.
But sometimes, things lined up just right. Like now, as Kate and Roy slept on the couch and Castle had a few moments to work out this chapter.
Twenty minutes of his clicking keys and quiet piano music later, Castle saw Roy stir. Before he could get up to take the newborn so Kate could get a few more minutes, she, too, shifted.
"Hey," she muttered, obviously still sleepy. "When'd you get back?"
He placed the laptop on the coffee table, scooping Roy up into the crook of his arm so Kate could sit up. "About half an hour ago. How long was he out?"
She sat up, crossing her legs under her and running a hand through her tangled hair. "Maybe an hour." Despite the exhaustion that was evident in her voice, she was smiling. "You pick up ice cream?"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" he asked, slightly affronted. He ran his finger down Roy's fist, a grin breaking out when the little hand wrapped around his forefinger. "Yes. We now have all of Ben & Jerry's living in our freezer."
"Get any writing done?" Kate asked, tilting her head toward the laptop. "I know it's been hard lately."
"Not hard, per se. Just a matter of re-arranging peak writing hours. It's harder on you and there's no use denying it," he added, knowing there was a protest coming. "Do you know when you're planning on going back to work?"
Kate got up, stretching. She had been living in her pajamas since getting back from the hospital, feeling no need to dress up just to wander the apartment, rocking Roy to sleep between feeding him and changing diapers. She pulled down a glass, holding it out to Castle. "You want water?" He shook his head, so she took the time waiting for the tap water to cool down to organize her thoughts.
But he butted in. "Because you don't have to. Go back, you know."
She sighed, closing her eyes. "I know. Listen, can't we talk about this later?" From his mildly hurt expression, Kate backpedaled. "Just not two minutes after my first real nap in a week and maybe when we're alone?"
"Kate, we're not going to be alone for a while. We have a newborn."
Drink forgotten, she leaned her elbows on the counter, resting her head in her hands. "I know." She heard him get up, heard the little gurgle from Roy as he moved over to the kitchen. Kate felt him at her side and made the effort to smile. "It's been all of a week, Castle. I have to go back because it's who I am, but give me some time to think of when, okay?" She pushed away from the counter, getting up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.
And then grinned when he placed a hand over Roy's eyes. "Minor in the immediate area! Tone down the PDA, Kate."
"You love it." Crisis temporarily averted, she picked up the glass of water to take a sip, leaning against the counter.
"That's true…" he mused. "We do love Mommy, don't we, Roy? Even when she scars you for life by kissing Daddy."
Kate sidled up against his side, looking down at Roy. Every time she looked at him, she swore her heart could explode out of her chest. "God, Castle, how'd we get so lucky?"
"Still waiting for the answer myself," he responded. "Let me take him for an hour or so. You can use all the sleep you can get."
"Thanks, but he'll be hungry again in no time. You'd just be waking me up in ten minutes." Before the words were out of her mouth, the bundle in Castle's arm let out a wail. "Or right now. Hand him over."
Castle watched as she walked back to the couch, bouncing the crying baby gently as she sat. "Hey, kiddo."
She was a natural. Meredith hadn't had this connection to Alexis when she was born. Yes, she was maternal and caring, but she was always distant, always focused on the next role or contract negotiation. Kate had dropped everything work-related, sending all the files she had brought to the apartment back to the precinct so she wasn't tempted to dive into something. Her every action revolved around Roy.
Still, Castle was waiting for the breakdown. It happened with every new parent. Meredith had hers about two weeks after Alexis's birth. His had come after a month. He had a feeling that he would have to look for Kate's meltdown from the way she expertly hid such moments.
He took her glass of water and set it on the coffee table in front of her, sitting next to her on the couch.
"Thanks," she said, supporting Roy with one arm and taking the glass with the other. "I was thinking of visiting the precinct tomorrow. Just stopping by to say hi, you know? Want to come along?"
"And pass up the opportunity to show off my son to Ryan and Esposito? I think not!" he exclaimed softly, leaning over to kiss her neck. "Plus, he can wear the little police outfit I picked out!"
She looked up from Roy's chocolate-brown eyes and raised a brow at Castle. "You mean the little uniform you found at the Build-a-Bear store?" When he just nodded, she shook her head. "No way. First impressions and all that."
"Aw, come on, Kate!" Castle whined. "He's a week old. No one is going to be judging him on his outfit on the first trip out into public."
"Except the paparazzi that is still camped outside the building. Save the uniform for Halloween, okay?" She held Roy out to Castle. "Here. Hold him for a second." Kate re-buttoned one of Castle's dress shirts that she had long ago claimed as her own. She was about to ask for him back, but Roy had just shut his eyes and looked more than content in the crook of Castle's arm. So, instead of reclaiming the boy, Kate curled into Castle's side, resting her head on his bicep.
"I still want to know where his brown eyes came from," she murmured.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Babies eyes change color until about six months in. He'll keep us guessing until then. It's my hope they settle on green."
"Didn't we go over this? He's going to have blue eyes," Kate said with certainty.
Castle laughed and kissed her upturned face. "Care to bet on that, Detective?"
Rubbing her nose with his, Kate replied, "Absolutely. In six months, it'll be October. His eyes stick with green, he can be a detective for Halloween. They go with blue, I get to pick the Halloween costume. Deal?"
"You run a tough bargain, but yes, you have a deal." A third kiss before he dipped his head to talk directly to his sleeping son. "Royce Arthur, you better look like your mother in six months or she will never let me live this down. Got it?"
Roy answered with a gurgle.
"Good."
A/N: Well, this wrote itself in the course of six hours. All in a single day. I actually took a poll on tumblr as to whether people wanted this sequel now or later and the resounding answer was "now." It was a silly question to ask in the first place since most of the reviews from AMS said they would eagerly await a sequel...
Writing a baby story is much harder, I'm finding, than writing a pregnancy story. I'm trying to keep the development of Roy accurate to real life (which means, instead of having Pregnancy Week-by-Week open, I have Newborn Development Week-by-Week open). All accuracy mistakes are mine - if you have raised a newborn and would like to give me hints and suggestions, I welcome them!
Review away!