A/N: Hope you enjoy this new Medical Attention adventure. I plan to update this along with North Star at least once a week...

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of its dialogue, but all mistakes are mine.

Family Practice

Sequel to Medical Attention: Balancing life in a blended family can be hard enough, but when a pipe dream becomes a reality, can they survive with all pieces intact?

Chapter 1

A piercing scream shattered the silence of the early morning hours. So close to a full eight hours. Kate groaned into her pillow as she tried to nudge her sound asleep husband awake.

"I will pay you."

"Hmm?"

"Name a price," she whispered, curling up into the warmth of Rick's bare chest with her eyes still firmly shut.

"You're offering to pay me?" he asked, chuckling. He already sounded more awake than before. Blinking her eyes open, she squinted from the light through the window and yawned.

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

"You're cute when you're tired…" Rick kissed her forehead quickly as he eased out from under her body.

"I have to be up in an hour… I just need 20 more minutes," she said, muffled against the pillow.

"You're lucky I have today off," he teased, rolling out of bed to get their crying infant.

"Because you wouldn't go if you didn't?" she asked, smirking.

"You're also lucky I love you both." A sleepy smile spread across her face as she watched her husband pull a pair of pajama pants over his boxer shorts.

"I can't argue that. I'm very lucky."

"Hopefully I can have the kids all packed and ready to go by the time you're home from the precinct."

Her maternity leave was nearly over. It had flown by and was over almost as soon as it began, so Rick suggested that before their lives turned into complete chaos with a full time doctor and a full time detective that the family should take the last two weeks to relax at the beach. Fortunately for them, one of the other doctors in Rick's practice owned a house in the Hamptons and he was letting the family use it for their little trip.

"Pray that they let me leave after my meeting with Montgomery."

"Pretty sure if they don't, it would be considered kidnapping."

"Very funny, Dr. Rodgers. The meeting shouldn't be long anyway. He just wanted to go over my schedule for when I'm back from leave." She paused for a second as the sound from the other room got louder. "I think someone is reminding you that they're still there." Kate smiled as she felt the mattress shift and her husband lean over her.

"Hard to forget," he murmured against her forehead, brushing a quick kiss onto her skin. "Go back to sleep."

"Love you."

Rick snuck out of the room toward the door at the end of the hallway, noticing a soft light coming through the opening, which was slightly unusual for the fact that they always left the door closed.

"Baby Charlie, it's okay." Peeking his head into the nursery, Rick heard their five year old little boy whisper to their daughter. "Mommy and Daddy are still sleepy. They'll be up soon."

In the corner, Liam stood on a step stool so he could reach into the crib to rub the little girl's back, trying to calm her cries. Rick's heart swelled at the scene before him. He wished he had brought something to snap a picture for Kate to see. Their son had taken to the role of big brother with fervor. Anything he could do to help take care of his little sister, Liam was there.

Initially it had been one of their biggest fears when it came to telling their friends and family about their expanding family. He had just adopted Liam and the next week they were having a dinner revealing the news of Kate's pregnancy. Everyone was overjoyed by the news, but Liam sat there quietly instead of joining in the celebration. Rick grew more concerned and pulled the boy aside.

"Hey, Buddy, you've been awfully quiet tonight. Everything okay?"

"Um…" Liam looked down at his shoes, avoiding Rick's eyes.

"What do you think about your mom having a baby?"

"Are you not going to be my daddy now?"

His heart broke at the question.

"What?" Rick asked, stunned. He instantly pulled his son into his arms and held him tight. "Listen to me. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that will make me not be your father. Just because you're going to have a brother or sister doesn't mean that I'm not going to still love you and Alexis just as much."

"You promise?" he whispered.

"Liam, nothing in this world would ever make me stop loving you."

"Thanks, Daddy." His voice was soft as he reflected on the meaning, but after a short moment his eyes perked up with curiosity. "Now what happens if Chewy doesn't like the baby?"

"Well…"

The memory faded as he was brought back to the present with his children. It was amazing how far they'd come as a family already.

After a fairly uneventful pregnancy, three months ago Charlotte Elyse Rodgers had been born a couple days shy of her due date. Striking blue eyes and gorgeous brown curly hair, she was nearly a carbon copy of her mother aside from inheriting his eye color. The baby girl had everyone in the family wrapped around her finger, but no one as much as her big brother. From the moment they met in Kate's recovery room, Liam had been attached to his little sister's every move. He had been fascinated. Every cry, every whimper out of her mouth and he had been there making sure that his little sister was okay.

Poor Charlie really wouldn't have a chance in the future when she wanted to date; Rick was already overprotective of Alexis and he knew he'd be the same way for Charlotte, but she had Liam as a protective older brother as well.

That might be even worse.

"I love you, Baby Charlie," Liam said before he kissed his sister on the cheek. Rick didn't want to startle his son from his little sibling bonding moment, but Charlotte needed a bottle soon, or her feeding schedule would be off.

"Need some assistance, Buddy?"

"Daddy!" he shrieked, causing Charlotte to wail out in surprise.

Well that was one way to start the day.

Moving to stand behind his son, he placed his hands onto his shoulders and looked down into the crib at his little girl. "Want to help me feed your sister?"

Liam flew around to face him and smiled.

"Yes! Please! Can I hold the bottle?"

"Okay, but we need to be quiet so we don't wake up your mom or Alexis."

"I can be super quiet," Liam whispered, jumping into Rick's arms, causing him to stumble back.

"Whoa, Liam. Careful. Let's take care of Charlie first and then you can help me make the rest of the family breakfast."

"Something special?"

"Something special."

"Mommy doesn't like the s'morelet, Daddy."

"I know. Not like we do. We can make her and Alexis something boring."

"Yeah, we're not boring like they are," Liam said, giggling while Rick set him down to pick up Charlotte. She curled into his chest with a content sigh as he ushered Liam by the hand out the door.

"Nope, nothing about this is boring."

Rick and his helper had Charlie fed and relaxing in her swing in plenty of time to make the family breakfast before Kate emerged from their bedroom ready for her meeting. She was still half asleep which was odd because she was normally a morning person. Alexis was on most days, too. Today it didn't seem to be the case. It took some coaxing from Liam to get her to finally trudge down the steps for breakfast.

"I thought the point of vacation was to sleep and relax," she whined into her plate, lamenting the early hour.

"We can sleep and relax tomorrow when we're at the beach house. Today we need to have everything packed," Rick explained, sliding Kate's normal eggs onto her plate. She leaned forward to press a quick peck on the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks. We should be able to leave as soon as I'm home from work."

"We'll be here all ready."

"Hopefully since we're leaving midweek, we can avoid some of the Hamptons traffic," she mused, sipping from her coffee cup. Alexis perked up for a second, finishing her bite of toast.

"Paige said we have to eat at the South Hamptons Grille while we're there."

Rick nodded at his daughter as he finished plating the rest of their breakfast and moved to sit down next to Kate. "We'll have plenty of time to explore the entire area. Though I really love the idea of being on a private beach; we can have Charlie stay on a fairly consistent nap schedule."

"Live a little, Rick," Kate teased. "It's vacation. I don't see anyone staying on a schedule and that's okay."

"Who are you and what did you do with my by the books wife?"

"By the books makes me sound boring," she huffed.

"You're not bo— oh wait," Liam started, but looked down at his breakfast compared to hers.

"Rick?"

"We may have called you boring this morning," he muttered, as her eyes grew wide. "It was just about your lack of adventure with your breakfast. Nothing—"

"It's okay, Kate. We can be boring together," Alexis added, digging into her equally boring meal. Kate jabbed at her husband with her elbow and finished chewing.

"You're an ass," she mumbled under her breath with a laugh, low enough that the kids were out of ear shot. Chuckling at her comment, he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Maybe, just a little bit."

Liam sat on the other side of Rick and ate his breakfast with a happy sigh. "Charlie will be like me and Daddy."

"I hope so, Buddy. I hope so."

She considered her words for a moment as she looked down at the gleam in her son's eyes when he spoke of his sister. Love for his sister was heard in every word he spoke of her.

It was more than she had ever hoped for when she had imagined her future.

Things had been a bit of a whirlwind since she had met Rick almost two years ago. If someone would've told her then that in time she'd be married with another child, she would've thought they were insane. Yet as farfetched as it all was, their lives complimented each other in a way she never thought possible.

When news of their expanding family was announced, Martha immediately started her search for a new place to live. She was still close by and often dropped by the loft more than when she had actually lived there. They missed her living with them, the kids especially, but it was a necessary evil so that they had a room to turn into Charlie's nursery.

This trip to the Hamptons was going to be a chance for Martha to spend some more time with the kids because she'd be joining them for a couple days of their stay. The house was big enough after all. It would be a nice change of scenery, change of pace.

They all needed this.

Waking up at the house in the Hamptons the next day was a dream come true. The bed was almost more comfortable than their mattress at home and she didn't think that was possible. Maybe it was just the idea of this being a getaway; maybe her body was convincing itself to feel more relaxed. They could've laid around all day and enjoyed their bed, but they knew it wasn't that sort of vacation and they didn't want to waste a second of their time here.

Last night after they settled the kids in their respective rooms, Rick had mused that one day he'd love to own a place like this. Even with his decently sized physician's salary, they couldn't afford anything this extravagant; this was how millionaires lived, but it didn't hurt to dream.

Maybe they didn't own a place like this, yet or maybe they never would. Either way, it was the first real family vacation they were taking all together. It would be special.

Sitting down next to her husband at the little table in the corner of the kitchen, she noticed a large envelope set on top of the surface.

"Rick? What is this?" she asked, sliding the envelope across the table as she sipped her latte he just made her from the home's expensive coffee maker.

"That?" His eyes darted from the envelope back to her, as a small smile stretched on his face. He hesitated for a moment before sitting across the table from her, staring into his own coffee mug.

"Yes, that—Black Pawn?" Confusion flooded her mind when it finally registered to her what Black Pawn actually was. The who in the equation didn't explain the why.

"Oh. Um—" Her husband cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair.

What the hell was he so nervous about?

"Rick, what's going on?"

"Don't be mad." He reached for her hand, lightly holding and brushing his thumb over her soft skin. A soft laugh left her mouth before she met his eyes again.

"Typically stories that start with 'don't be mad' end up with someone being mad…"

He shook his head and laced his fingers through hers. "It's nothing bad. I just did it on a whim."

"Babe, the kids are going to wake up soon…"

"I sent in the draft," he confessed.

"Of Nikki Heat?" she asked with a gasp, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Heat Wave, yes. I sent it out just to see. You told me it was good, but you're in love with me. So I wanted to send it to someone who wasn't in love with me. Just—" She could hear the catch in his voice as he rambled his explanation.

Since reading the completed manuscript, Kate had encouraged him to seek out publication, but he always refused. He never felt like it was good enough and didn't want anything to affect his pediatric practice.

"And?"

"I didn't want to open it without you," he said, walking over to her and kissing the top of her head.

"Okay, well, I'm here. Open it. Open it." She practically shoved the paper into his hand as a nervous flutter buzzed in her veins. Whatever happened, she'd be proud of him.

"Kate—Mr. Castle, we would…"

"Mr. Castle?"

"I'll explain later," Rick mumbled, looking back down at the letter.

"Mmhmm."

"Mr. Castle, we would like to express our interest in publishing Heat Wave." He dropped the letter and looked at her with an expression of surprise and horror. "They- they want to publish my novel."

She jumped over into his arms and kissed him hard on the mouth.

"Congratulations, Rick! Or should I say, Mr. Castle…"

tbc

Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear what you think :)

Thanks Jo for the beta!

xoxo