The obligatory one time only author's note:
an open ended collection of fills based on the winter 2012 Castle kink meme. To avoid spoilers, prompts are included at the end.
Read, enjoy, review?


i. a spoonful of

It takes his eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness. She's pulled the curtains shut and almost managed to plunge the room into complete blackness, save for the sliver of sunlight that leaks through the gap where the pieces of fabric come together.

When he can, he scans the room. She's curled up on the bed, her eyes shut. He's fairly sure she's not asleep; her breathing hitches every fourth or fifth breath. He makes his way to the bed and sits on the side, reaching out to run his hand over her cheek.

"Kate?" he asks softly. "How are you feeling?"

A low moan escapes her throat and she nudges her head further into his hand.

He grimaces. "Not good?"

"Oh God, Castle. This is awful. I feel awful." She takes a deep breath. "If I had known this is what morning sickness feels like –"

"You wouldn't have gotten pregnant?" He laughs lightly. "It's not like we planned this."

"I would have made you wear a condom. From now on, you always have to wear a condom."

"A condom?" He makes a face. He can't remember the last time they used a condom. Not since they were married, he's almost sure. "That's going to put a serious crimp in our sex life. I'm not a boy scout, Kate. I'm not that prepared."

"Then we are never having sex again. Ever."

He laughs at her melodramatic tone. "If I recall, you like sex too."

"I've been on birth control for years. My side is taken care of."

"And yet – "

"It's never been an issue before. You must have super sperm or something."

"Super sperm?" He straightens in pride and a small smile crosses his face. "You know, you're probably right. Look at me. I would – "

She raises her head far enough to shoot a halfhearted glare in his direction.

He takes the hint. "I'm sorry." He lowers his body so he's reclined next to her. She's got her head on his shoulder before he's made himself comfortable, but he manages. He gently runs his thumb down her temple and her eyes slide shut again. "I'm sorry. It should end soon."

"I hope so. I'm sick of being tired. And everything makes me nauseous." She glances up at him. "We can add my body wash to that list, by the way."

He cocks his head. "Your body wash?"

"As of this morning," she nods.

"Then we'll get you some new body wash. Something unscented, maybe." He thinks for a second. "Do you want anything right now? Tea? Crackers?"

She shakes her head. "I just want to stay here. The dark seems to make it better. And you."

"Me?"

"You smell good. It makes me feel safe." She smiles wryly as she snuggles closer. "And it's not making me sick."

"Ah, Kate. You really know how to woo a guy."

She laughs. "Yeah."

They're silent again and when Castle looks down, she's asleep on his shoulder. He pulls her closer and grabs his phone with his free hand. He hates to see her like this, his strong wife brought down by nausea and vomiting. So he scrolls through his web results for morning sickness cures. There has to be something they haven't tried.

Ginger doesn't work. She tried the pills to no avail. And ginger ale just made her think of being sick.

They've tried tea. Chamomile tea makes her sleepy and because she's already so tired, she hesitates to drink it. Sipping green tea didn't have any noticeable effect. Peppermint tea works the best, but even then it's only for maybe an hour before she's back to feeling nauseous.

Crackers distracted her from the nausea, which worked for a while. Until it didn't and instead of just feeling nauseous she was actually throwing up. And as it is, she's taken to eating crackers and some sort of protein as a meal when a craving doesn't take over.

So he searches for something else, some alternative remedy that can help her feel more like herself.

He searches until he comes across a lone link to an article about a study that suggests that morning sickness is the result of a pregnant woman trying to reject foreign genetic material of the baby. And that ingesting the unfamiliar genetic material – his sperm – might be a way to build up a tolerance and lessen morning sickness.

Hmm. He's intrigued.

At first he's not sure it makes sense to him or if he's just interested by the opportunity for lots of oral sex, but then he wonders if Kate would even be willing to entertain the idea. Maybe. She's never been put off by the idea of a blowjob; in fact, she's always quite enthusiastic about them. But for medicinal purposes? She's likely to laugh in his face.

By the time she stirs against his shoulder he's trying to figure out a way to broach the idea. Hey Kate, wanna swallow?doesn't really seem like it's going to work, but he hasn't been able to come up with anything better.

"Hey," he says quietly as she blinks up at him. "Feel better?"

"A bit, for now." She yawns. "But I don't expect it to last."

They're silent for a minute and he can tell she's concentrating on her breathing, trying to keep down the bout of nausea she's sure is coming. When she speaks, she's quiet. "We're going to have to tell everyone soon. I don't know if I can keep coming up with excuses as to why I'm sick all the time."

"Not without someone thinking you're terminally ill," he agrees, smiling into the darkness.

"I think Esposito already suspects."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He offered to make me tea yesterday."

"Tea? Kate, that doesn't mean he thinks you're pregnant. Maybe he just thinks you're sick."

"Esposito never makes tea. And he told me if I needed anything to just ask. That he wouldn't mind covering for me. With Gates," she adds pointedly.

"Oh."

"Yeah. And if Espo knows, it's a pretty safe bet that Ryan does too," she sighs.

Her pregnancy was a surprise, but not unwanted. They've talked about this. They hashed it all out one night, in bed like they are now, under the cover of darkness. They put every possible fear on the table – her ability to be a mother, having a baby with her job, him starting over with an infant – and came out of it stronger, more sure about this than they ever could have imagined.

But they hadn't talked about how they'd tell everyone else. "Is that a bad thing?" he questions.

"No. I just wish this morning sickness would go away. Then at least I would feel like myself and I could take all the teasing I'm sure we're going to get."

It's probably the best opening he's going to get. He cringes a bit at having his opening be directly following a mention of Ryan and Esposito, but he pushes that aside. "Yeah, about that …"

He trails off and she narrows her eyes at him. He knows she's aware that whenever he starts a conversation like that she's not going to like what comes next.

"What did you do?"

By her tone he can tell she's more wary than upset.

"Nothing! I didn't do – I want you to feel better, Kate. So while you were asleep I did some reading and there might be a way to combat the morning sickness."

She relaxes in his arms and smiles. "That's sweet, Castle. But we've tried everything the doctor has recommended. Teas, ginger, crackers – nothing seems to work all that well.I don't know what's left."

"This article I was reading, it suggests that the reason for morning sickness is it's your body's way of trying to reject alien genetic material." He watches for her reaction, but she's not giving anything away.

She shrugs. "Well I am growing a human. That's pretty alien."

He's encouraged by her response. "Yeah. And the theory is if you're exposed to more of the alien material, you'll build up a tolerance to it. So less morning sickness."

She's quiet as she tries to parse through his meaning. "I don't think I understand. It's not like I can get more pregnant."

"No. But the baby is half you and half me. So to you, the alien half –"

"- is you." There's a slight flicker of understanding in her eyes and he cringes. "So I need to be exposed to you?"

He clears his throat. "Uh … to my genetic material."

"Your – you mean your sperm?"

He raises his eyebrows, instantly regretting his idea to even broach the subject.

"Castle, if this is some weird way to coerce me into sex, it's not really working."

"It's not, I swear! I really did read about it in this health study." He holds up his phone in defense. "And at first I thought it was weird, that maybe I just liked the idea of you –" he trails off, realizing what that sounds like. "- but then I thought about it and it actually does make sense. And you even said e being around me makes you feel less sick. So this is just like an extra powerful dose of me. My super sperm." He watches her bite her lower lip to hide her smile and he's instantly less afraid that she's going to maim him for the suggestion. "Look, if you don't want to, or you think it's too weird, we don't have to. It was just an idea."

She studies him for a long moment before she speaks again.

"And this … genetic material. How am I supposed to be exposed to it exactly?" she asks in a dry tone.

"Uh … the study dealt exclusively with ingestion." She nods impartially and he continues. "It's not like you haven't before," he blurts out.

Her face changes instantly, something between amusement and incredulity. He cringes again. That might have been too far. "Is this a doctor recommended treatment?"

He hesitates. "Uh, no. It's still just a theory at this point."

She nods twice before she shifts away from him. His heart sinks and he tenses, afraid he's pushed her too far with the suggestion. But when she swings a leg over his thighs and leans back, a hand on his chest, his eyes widen and his hands find a grip on her hips. For as well as he knows her, she still manages to surprise him.
His beautiful, amazing wife.

"You make an interesting argument." She meets his eyes and grows serious. He studies her, tries to figure out what is going on in her mind. She's silent, but a grin breaks out across her face and he instantly relaxes.

She leans down to kiss him. It's slow and sweet, but there's a hurry behind it that pools low in his stomach. She doesn't pull away to break the kiss, instead choosing to mumble against his lips. "You know, morning sickness aside, I'm pretty lucky." He grins up at her, so large it makes her heart skip. "Lucky and so happy."

His heart swells and if he ever had any doubt about her and him and their baby, it's long gone in this moment. She's amazing and she's carrying their baby and he can't quite wrap his head around it all. And when she bites his lip, he stops trying. His focus narrows in to the single point of her lips on his and suddenly nothing else matters.

He can feel her fingers tugging on the buttons of his shirt, but it's hard for him to focus on anything when her tongue is in his mouth. But he can't not notice when her hands run up the bare skin of his chest and her soft touch leaves a trail of fire behind.. And when her lips leave his and she kisses her way down his chin to suck at his neck, he can't stop the moan from erupting from his throat.

She pulls back and giggles, a sound that she only ever lets him hear, readjusting herself so her hips are flush with his. He knows there's no way she can't feel him straining against her and he shifts, pressing his hips more firmly into hers. Her smile grows wider and she leans down again to catch his lips with hers.

Her fingers trail his chest again, but this time they settle against the waistband of his jeans. She makes no move to undo them, instead just resting them against his skin, teasing the exposed flesh with soft caresses. When her lips follow the path of her fingers he sucks in a breath, watching intently as she dots kisses across his chest and stomach.

The button of his jeans slides out of its hole under her nimble fingers. "Kate," he manages, his hesitation breaking through the haze of his arousal. "Are you sure?"

She glances up up him as she pulls him from her pants. Her grasp is just firm enough and her hands are so warm and the look she gives him is so saucy that he's almost afraid of her answer. "I'm always sure," she says, her eyes never leaving his as she shimmys down his body. And then she's tugging his pants down his legs and he manages to lift his hips to help, but he can't stop his groan when she places a firm kiss against him, and when she adds in her tongue he's pretty sure he's going to pass out. He tries to keep his mind; tries to focus on her tongue and her lips and her hands, but it's so warm and wet and so amazing that the only thing that runs through his mind is that it feels so, so good.

Her hands wander, up his chest and down his thighs, touching as much exposed skin as she can. He thinks he's vaguely aware of her humming around him, but his skin is burning so hot and his brain is firing in all directions that maybe he just imagined it.

The pressure in his groin builds and builds until she backs off. She slows her tongue and he finds himself wanting to cry at how well she knows his body, knows exactly how to drive him crazy. He glances down and finds her looking up at him and she doesn't break eye contact when she starts pressing light kisses to his hipbones, watches as he catches his breath.

They've played this game before and he tries to prepare himself for what he knows she's capable of. She presses one last kiss to the skin below his bellybutton and doesn't disappoint. Before he can comprehend her next move, he's down her throat and his eyes are sliding shut. The pressure and the warmth are more, everything is more, and her name is tumbling from his lips over and over until he just can't take it any more.

"Kate. Kate, I'm gonna -" he pants, over and over, hoping that he's coherent enough to warn her.

She pulls back just enough. He can feel her warm breath on him, her hand still working over his length. "That's the point, right?" she says pointedly, before she continues on.

He feels like he's going to explode, like his whole body is just going to blow to pieces and he tries to hold back, to let her keep control. Every cell in his body is focused on her, on her tongue and her lips and her hands as he tries to make the pleasure coursing through his body last as long as he possibly can. Until it's not possible anymore, he can't, and he lets himself go, the pressure exploding into white lights behind his eyelids.

There's no concept of time to him; he has no idea how long he's been in his haze of pleasure. He can feel her mouth pulse around him, but the immense pressure is gone. It's nice. Comforting, almost.

He opens his eyes when he feels her pull back,the lack of the warmth of her mouth him feeling almost empty. He doesn't like that so much. But the look on her face, the slightly smoky, self-satisfied look, makes it better.

"Hi," she says low. "You okay?" He thinks he responds, but she laughs and he's not so sure. "And I thought you were the one with the words."

He clears his throat. "I'm pretty sure you just sucked them all out of me."

"I'm flattered." She slides up his body, curling into his side to wait for him to come back to himself and trails lazy patterns over his skin. He takes a minute to get his breathing back to normal, then catches her cheek in a kiss. "So?" she asks.

"You are so goddamn good at that." He pulls her tighter to his chest and she laughs. "But this was about you, too. How do you feel?"

"Not nauseous," she almost purrs. She throws a leg over his. "Actually, I feel pretty good right now."

That seems to kick the haze from his head. "Yeah? So it worked?"

She catches herself before she can complete the roll of her eyes, choosing instead to run her hand down his chest. "Oh, I don't know, Castle. I think that's going to take more testing. Lots and lots more testing."

His eyes grow wide. "I don't think that'll be a problem. No problem at all."

"Good. 'cause you might be on to something. Lots of benefits." She drops her voice. "Wanna try for more?"

He rolls her so she's flat on the bed and hovers over her. "I really, really do. Lets see what else we can do for you, shall we?"


prompt: based on the New York Daily News article, oral as a cure for morning sickness