AN: I'm sure this has been done before, but I wanted to get out of my writing funk and publish a new story. All of the chapters have been written, so updates may come sooner rather than later. Some of these chapters are AU, some are not. Enjoy!

Always

Always had been their word for...well for a long time. She couldn't remember if she said it first or if he did. It had been years now since that moment, but it was their word as soon as it was uttered. They didn't have to say that verbally (that it was their word), they just knew. To this day, they said that word to each other and neither of them planned on stopping. She would say it when he told her to be safe at work, when she told him that she loved him, and when she told him that she was going to be his wife for as long as they lived. They used it other times as well and whenever it was uttered by one of them, the other smiled.

When she first told him that they were going to be parents, a few weeks later he started to come up with names, even though she told him to wait until they found out if it was a boy or a girl.

He got into bed next to her one night and before she could even lean over to kiss him goodnight, he spoke. "What's a name that means Always?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Castle. We don't even know if we're having a boy or a girl yet."

"Then we should think of a name for both, that means always."

"And what if we can't find one?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." He took his laptop off of the side table and opened it up. "Google, don't let me down."

She rested her head against his shoulder as he typed in, "Names that mean always." He clicked on the first link and pressed, Crtl and F, to find what they were looking for faster.

"Nitya."

She shook her head. "No."

"Zyanya"

"No."

"Eileifr"

"No"

"Hoai"

"No."

"It looks like that's it." He sighed. "I was hoping that we could name them after our word."

She smiled. "I could tell, but we'll find the perfect name for our little one. It might not be always, but they'll be our always." She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I am glad though that you wanted to name them after our word and not..."

"What about Darth Vader?"

"And that's what I was afraid of."

"Han Solo?!"

"Goodnight, Castle."

She was right though, they did think of the perfect name and now their daughter was about a year and half. Kate knew that she was going to start talking any day now. She already was so smart. She shook her head no, told them when she didn't want anymore food, clapped when she wanted to say yes, said "Ma" when she wanted Kate, and "Da" when she wanted Castle. She really hadn't said her first word yet though.

They weren't too worried about that, considering she had her own language and they understood their daughter. She would talk when she was ready. That didn't mean that they weren't getting anxious though. She seemed to be babbling more so these past few weeks and they were both hoping that it was a sign that their daughter was going to say her first words.

Martha tried each day to try and make her say "Grandma." She would come over to the loft and babysit when Castle wanted to go into the precinct and Martha wasn't busy. She would also come over when she just wanted to see her granddaughter. With Alexis living in California, their little one was the only granddaughter that Martha got to see often. It was no secret that she wanted to spoil her, which Kate and Castle allowed to an extent.

Today, Martha was busy with her studio, so Castle was staying home to watch after their little girl. Even though he loved working a case with his wife, he loved this more. Sure, he missed his wife, but playing with his daughter was so much better than dealing with a murder. He only wished that his wife was able to stay home too. Kate got jealous at times, wishing that she could be the one that stayed home and spent that one on one time with their daughter. However, Castle made sure to let her know that their daughter loved her and if that didn't work, the big smile on their daughter's face when she walked through the door proved that.

Kate still had some time though before she had to head into work, so she spent it on the sofa, resting her head against Castle's chest as they watched their daughter play in her play area. She loved this one toy, that had animals on it. She especially liked the noises that came from it when she pulled on the monkey's tail or pressed the button that made the lion roar. Castle joked that those two were her favorites because it reminded her of them. Kate was the leader, the strong, and sometimes scary lion while he was the goofy monkey. She humored him, but she was pretty that wasn't the explanation as to why she liked them the best.

As she took the last sip of her coffee, her phone went off. She closed her eyes and grumbled. That was her alarm, telling her that she had to go to work. She had one more alarm, the alarm that said "This is your last chance before you're late for work." She took one more sip of her coffee before she placed the empty mug in the sink. She'd get to it when she got home, if Castle hadn't washed it by the time she got home. She walked back over to Castle and gave him two soft kisses to his lips.

"I'll be home about six." She pressed another kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"I love you too. I'll have dinner waiting as long as our little one doesn't give me a hard time about taking a bath."

"If not, call me and I'll pick something up on my way home." She made her way over to their daughter, who was still content playing. "You be good for daddy sweetheart. Don't say your first words until I come home, missy." She told her that every morning. She knew that the chances of their daughter listening to her was slim, but she could try. So far, it was sort of working. She pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Mommy loves you."

She headed into Castle's office, opening the safe where she kept her gun and her badge. She took it out and placed her gun in her holster and her badge on her hip. She then headed out of his office and towards the coat closet. She got her jacket out and as she placed it on, Castle said the words to her that he always said.

"Be careful, Kate."

She went to open her mouth, to respond, but their daughter did it for her. "Always."

They both looked at their daughter and Kate headed over to her. "What did you say?"

"Always."

Kate and Castle both smiled at their daughter. Castle picked her up and Kate placed a kiss to her head. "See, Castle. I told you...she would be our always, even if we didn't name her Nitya."

"I still say that we should name the next one Han Solo."

She rolled her eyes. "No, Castle. And next one?"

He looked down at her and smiled. "I'm ready whenever you are."

She leaned in and kissed him, nipping at his top lip before she pulled away. "Call your mother up. See if our peanut can spend the night with her tomorrow. We'll start trying then."

He grinned at her words. "I'll call her right now." They then heard their daughter start to fuss in her play area. "After I get our daughter to stop fussing." He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Have a good day, sweetheart."

"I will. Make sure she doesn't say any more words until I get back."

"Always," they heard their little one say.

They both smiled before Kate walked out the door, leaving the two people that she loved the most home and waiting for her to get back.