Kate swayed gently from side to side, humming softly with more than a hint of desperation in the notes, trying to soothe the obviously inconsolable child in her arms.
"Please Baby. Go to sleep. If you wake daddy up he won't be very impressed." Kate murmured, watching over her shoulder for Rick.
She really hoped he didn't wake up.
"Come on Baby, what is it you want? You're not hungry, you're not wet, not too hot or cold, I'm giving you attention and humming and singing and rocking and you just won't sleep." She sighed tearfully.
She'd been in the nursery for more than an hour, it was the middle of the night, and she had a three day old case, which she still had no leads for, open on her desk.
She needed desperately to sleep and her screaming infant son just didn't seem to get that.
"What more do you want from me?" She asked the still crying infant.
The only response she got was a single second of peace as a pair of huge bright green eyes locked onto her own before tears welled and broke free in rivulets down her son's face.
Kate sank to the floor, cradling her son tightly into her chest, rocking them both back and forth as she let herself sob.
"Kate?" Castle's exhausted, sleep roughened voice penetrated through the darkness and mutual cries of mother and son.
Kate looked up startled, but not moving to cover her tears or hide from him.
"I'm so sorry, Rick." She sobbed heart brokenly. "I tried so hard to get him to sleep. I promise."
Rick's face contorted into sympathy for his shattered wife, sat in a heap on the nursery floor, their distraught son screaming bloody murder in her arms.
"Oh Honey." Rick soothed, crouching beside her, laying one huge soothing hand on their son's back, dwarfing the already tiny child, and the other came to gently wipe away Kate's tears.
"I'm sorry." She sobbed, shaking with the sheer force of it.
Rick shook his head firmly.
"Don't apologise to me Kate. Never apologise for not being able to get him to sleep Darling. You don't need to apologise to me." She broke into a new wave of sobbing and Rick sighed.
He sat down beside her and gently took the baby from her arms, despairing when they only moved to cradle her own torso as she kept rocking, self-soothing while Rick helped their baby.
"Hey now." He murmured softly, cradling his tiny body in the crook of one arm while the other lay across the whole of his front from bottom to chin. "What's all that noise about hmm? Why won't you settle for your mommy?"
The baby's screams dampened to whimpers as Rick held him firmly.
"Now that's a little better huh? Less of that squawking."
He smiled broadly, it fell however when Kate stood and all but ran from the room.
"Now, how about you tell me what's going on and let me fix it so I can go after your mom?"
He stood slowly, keeping the baby steady while he did so, before gently rocking their son back and forth.
After a few minutes, the little boy drifted off to sleep.
Rick sighed, both thankful he was finally quiet but also regretting that he had had to take over.
He gently laid the now peaceful infant back in his bassinette and went to find his wife.
He found her, leaning against the wall just outside the room, head in hands, her shoulders shaking from the force of the silent sobs racking her body.
"C'mere." Rick murmured, pulling her into his chest.
"I tried so hard to get him back to sleep. I tried to not let him wake you." She sobbed into his shoulder.
"I noticed. You turned off the baby monitor." He murmured against her ear.
"Only after I heard him cry. I didn't just leave him." She defended quickly.
"Hey, I know that. I never thought any different. But Kate, he's our son. I can get up to him too. You're exhausted. You only got home three hours ago."
"And you had only just come to bed. Your deadline is in two days Rick. You need to sleep. You cannot be up all hours of the night dealing with a inconsolable infant."
Rick sighed and pulled her closer.
"I don't think he likes me very much."
Rick sighed again.
"Now you're being silly. He's four months old."
"And he only settles for you." Kate protested. "He just cries if I try." She sniffed, holding onto his t-shirt tighter in both fists.
"Kate, Sweetheart, can I share some advice?" She nodded quickly against him.
"That would be great." She breathed. Rick chuckled.
"Babies can smell fear." He murmured making her pull back, a strange mixture of amusement, curiosity and annoyance playing in her gaze. "No really. He settles better for me because I go in and stay calm. I've done this before so I'm not so scared of it all anymore." Kate settled back against his chest.
"I'm terrified." She admitted quietly. Rick squeezed her gently before wrapping his arms so completely around her they almost crossed.
"I know. And he knows. He picks up on your anxiety and it makes him nervous. He can't tell you that so he communicates the only way he can; by crying."
"That...actually makes sense." Rick scoffed.
"Thanks." He mocked, before pressing a kiss to her messy curls. The amount she'd, clearly, been running her hands through her hair, she'd need to wash it again before she went to work. "Look okay? My deadline may be in two days, but I've missed it before. It's nearly finished anyway, three pages and the dedication at most."
She pulled away again; the question of why he was telling her that, loud and clear all over her face.
"Kate you're exhausted. Let me take care of you, the both of you. I know asking you to take a step back from work is futile, but how about you just concentrate on that until it's finished? Just eat, work and sleep for a couple of days. Alexis is out of town until next weekend and mother won't be around for a while yet with her newest fancy man."
"And you?" She asked in a tiny nervous voice.
He gave her a loving warm smile that made her want to cry again.
"Katherine Castle. I love you, I need you and I want you." He told her softly. "But I'm a grown man. I can be chef and babysitter for a couple of days if you just need to be Detective Beckett."
"Are you sure?" Castle nodded.
"Always." He smiled warmly. "Now, the baby is asleep, for now. Why don't we go get some sleep while we can hmm? You have to be up again in four hours if you're going to work and I'll be dammed if I let you leave our home without a decent breakfast and a goodbye."
She smiled gently.
"There you are." He sighed happily. "I thought I'd lost you there for a minute."
She shook her head, her smile staying put.
"Bed, Mrs. Castle?"
She nodded sleepily against him, not moving an inch.
Castle smiled and bent just enough to get his hand under her knees.
He carried her down the stairs and into their bedroom.
She was asleep by the time he got into bed and tucked her into his side.
"Goodnight again, Kate." He whispered, kissing her forehead gently. "I love you."