Just A Little Quick Summary:As Kate navigates pregnancy, the boredom of being away from the precinct and impending parenthood, Castle comes up with a fun way for them to get back to their crime-solving tendencies while Beckett's on maternity leave. How? Why the game of 'Clue' of course, with the whole 12th gang in the Hamptons for the weekend.

Author's note:

Just some drabble for the hiatus. I was inspired by Castle's Rear Window episode from the last season. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Castle. It belongs to ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

Detectives, Hormones and the Game of 'Clue'

Chapter 1: Get a 'Clue'

A groggy and pregnant Kate Beckett sipped her herbal tea thoughtfully. The pregnancy had caused her to give up her coveted caffeine and opt for a decaffeinated replacement. This meant special pregnant lady tea Jenny had recommended. It tasted like fancy dishwater.

She jealously eyed Castle across the breakfast table, and his hand holding a cup of espresso.

Beckett grumbled into her tea cup: *Grumble grumble*… Men. That damned Y chromosome. They don't have to give up anything when they get their girlfriend pregnant... The only contribution they had to make was the fun baby-making part. They don't have to wear clothes that look like they were fashioned for a whale. And they don't get swollen feet or morning sickness either. Lucky little-

Rick's sweet smile from the other side of the table knocked her from her hormonal tornado of rage.

Maybe men aren't that bad. I mean Castle does have some pretty loveable qualities. Fierce loyalty. The occasional heroic bravery- when I'm not saving his damsel-in-distress ass. And that smile- oh that smile. Castle reached across the table and took her hand and squeezed it.

Kate smiled contently, before letting her hormones take over again.

But he still gets to drink coffee and I don't. He still gets to go out in the field if he wanted to, and I don't. Breathe Kate, Breathe. The jealousy subsided. It's only one more month. Besides it's for the baby. Kate calmed again, letting her other hand rest on her bump.

Damn hormones; they make everything so complicated. And they made her inner monologue sound a little too much like a bi-polar Gollum. Kate starred longingly at Castle's coffee cup. We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious.

Castle, oblivious to his girlfriend's crazy hormonal thoughts, innocently slurped up the last of his coffee.

"Feeling better today? Castle Jr. isn't giving you too much of a hard time is he?" He muttered into his cup, subtly.

She looked up from her teacup, eyes narrowed. He gave her a sly grin. A short staring contest.

"Castle Jr.? How sure are you that we aren't having a girl?" Beckett questioned, rubbing her belly as if to apologize to her baby if he/she/it happened to be female.

"Because I just know."

"Oh really? Wasn't it your idea to find out the gender until after he or she was born?" Her eyes narrowed further.

"True but only because I know I'm not going to be surprised, when you say 'oh look it's a boy. Let's name him Richard Castle Jr.'! And ill pretend to be surprised and say: What a wonderful idea!" He was teasing her.

Beckett grumbled in response; she loved Castle more than anything but the thought of a mini Rick filled her with a mixture of adoration and terror. Kate thought she had trouble handling a faux five year old Castle, but a real one? She shuttered to think of the mischief that ruggedly handsome baby boy would cause. He'd be pretty adorable though, she smiled a little.

But part of her wanted a girl. Someone teach things to, about life, about being a woman. Someone to name after her mother.

"So- how's the first few weeks of maternity leave going?" Rick asked, cutting the silence as he put the dishes in the sink.

"I miss the precinct." Kate replied quicker and more frank than she planned, her hands resting on her pregnant belly once again.

"Yeah I figured it was going to be kind of weird for you, you know, not solving murders and chasing down suspects all the time." There was a suspicious tone in his voice. Like he'd rehearsed this phrase. Rick was up to something, she knew it.

"Well I haven't done that in months remember, I was on desk duty since everyone in the 12th figured out I was pregnant."

Castle hesitated realizing the comment was supposed to be a jab at him. The premature exposure of the baby secret was his fault. They had wanted to keep it to themselves for a while; at least until Kate started showing. It had started with a simple comment made by Castle about how cute baby feet are to Esposito (who was completed weirded out and puzzled by the conversation). But soon Castle's natural talkative behavior set in; he wanted to tell the world how proud he was that Kate Beckett was having his baby.

Then he promised to just tell Ryan and Espo and keep it from Gates until the time made sense. But then Espo told Lanie one night, who told a chatty-Kathy friend of hers in the morgue. And Gates, well Gates spent most of her years as a cop in Internal Affairs; so it's kind of her job to know how to uncover secrets. And so it turns out it's pretty hard to keep a secret from a bunch of detectives, and people who 'detect' things for a living. Like pregnancies, and baby bumps.

"-But being in the apartment all day is worse than desk duty. I think I miss the all excitement around the office. I miss solving murders."

"-And I miss following you around. And helping you solve murders," Castle muttered softly. It had been the spark that had ignited everything for them. The thrill of it all had brought them closer together, and kept them together through all the years. Without it, they wouldn't be together. Ironically without solving murders, Kate knew she wouldn't be pregnant with his baby.

"Think about it this way. Isn't this the first time you've had any real time off in like five years?

"Six actually." Kate said, a bit embarrassed. Secretly one of the reasons she hadn't taken too many days off, was that even before they were together, going to work meant seeing him. Spending time with him all day. She loved that.

"Whoa."

"I know. But I've been just sitting around the apartment watching Temptation Lane re-runs. I've even resorted to watching 'cheesy crime dramas', but it's no use I always know who did it, because they always show the killer in like the first fourteen minutes of the show… It's just, it feels like years since I interrogated someone or solved a murder."

Kate thought for a moment. Kate and Castle both knew her job was everything to her. She put her heart and soul into every case. But they both knew that for the sake of the baby, she needed to get out of the stressful environment of the precinct and spend some time preparing for full on motherhood. But so far maternity leave was the pits. No dead bodies or vicious perps to interrogate, in her macabre world it just didn't feel right if she didn't see at least one dead body before 10 in the morning.

Kate glanced at the clock- 9 am. Since the first seventy two hours into her maternity leave she was already hoping for a murder to solve. Castle's phone buzzed, and the screen brightened on the other side of the table.

A case? Beckett wished. Even though she knew it wouldn't be the precinct begging her to come back, a little part of her wished it would. Rick complained into the phone. "No Mother, I'm not letting your acting class practice in my apartment again. You remember what happened last time?"Some girl scissor-kicked her way through 'Chicago' right into my coffee table."

Kate laughed, she remembered coming home that night wondering why a sparkly thigh high boot had gone through the glass table in the living room.

"Fumigated? Why would your acting studio need to be fumigated? Termites. How does a cement walled studio get termites?" Kate could here buzzing on the other end. "Ugggh… " He sighed away from the phone. Castle left the kitchen to bicker comically with his mother in the other room.

What am I supposed to do on maternity leave anyway? Kate thought as she stood up to dry her teacup. What am I going to do all day, waiting for this baby? Take up knitting? She shook off the idea quickly. She, Kate Beckett was not the knitting type. She was the tough as nails detective type who kicked down doors, shook up perps, and chased down suspects. Knitting just didn't fit into the image. What was she going to knit, a frilly gun holster?

There was the baby to prepare for of course, birth classes to take, and a room to decorate but she couldn't see herself spending every second of her time squabbling with Castle about what color to paint the baby's room. Besides her 'nesting period' (as Martha had described it) had already started. She'd spent a whole week furiously dusting things for no reason, and rearranging picture frames into odd configurations.

Castle reentered the kitchen, "Looks like my mother's going to need the apartment this weekend for her acting workshop," He reported, a bit of regret in his voice. Castle hugged her bump from behind. His hand laid on top of hers across her stomach. Kate looked at him warmly and smiled.

"Hey- why don't we go up to the Hamptons for the weekend? That way we can let my mother do the workshop, and get out her hair. And you my beautiful detective-"

He nuzzled her neck and kissed it softly. "-Can have a chance at some real vacation time."

"We could invite the whole gang at the 12th too. Espo, Lanie, Ryan and Jenny. Maybe they can fill us in on all the dirt from the precinct. We could all use a break. Get some sun." Rick proposed.

Kate looked up, "Sounds good to me." She pulled him in for a kiss.

"Mmmm," He pulled away after a few seconds of bliss. "We could all play 'Clue', if your murder solving talents aren't out of practice that is..." Rick teased.

Kate looked puzzled. "What's 'Clue'?" He let out a little girlish surprised gasp, "Uhhh… wait Detective Kate Beckett, you mean to tell me you have never played 'Clue'?"

"Nope."

"And never seen the 1985 cult classic film?"

"No."

He took in another gulp of disbelief."Well that changes this weekend. Prepare to get educated in the thrilling game of 'Clue'. A game you were born to play."


Chapter 2, coming soon.

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I love and appreciate suggestions. Oh and I apologize if there is any grammatical/spelling errors. I tend to write fanfics in the dead of night… caught in the frenzy of idea and inspiration.