AN: Hi fellow Casketteers! -waves- This is my first Castle fic ever…PLEASE blame the evil plot bunnies under my bed that forced me to write this! Hope it's not too mushy/confusing/OOC. I hope I don't give you a terrible first impression either. The first part takes place during 2x24. Castle decided to leave for the Hamptons early, thus giving Kate no opportunity to change her mind about going with him. Don't hate me too much. Not all my fics will be like this. Enjoy! ^.^ (I don't own anything).

P.S. For those of you who were at the live chat with Stana Katic last weekend, you might get the reference I threw in here!

Tears were streaming down her face as she blindly ran toward the scene of smoke, fire, and twisted metal that lay before her.

He was slowly being pulled out of the wreck and lowered onto a gurney.

"Is he alive?" she asked one of the paramedics, in a hoarse whisper.

"Barely," the paramedic responded, not looking up from Rick Castle's soot-covered, blood-stained face. He blew the breath of life into Castle's mouth, and began chest compressions.

"1-2-3-4…"

Kate closed her eyes and whispered, "Breathe, Castle. Come on, BREATHE!"

It was no use.

She shouldn't have let him leave early for the Hamptons. She shouldn't have said no to his invitation, and a small part of her wished she wouldn't have said yes to Tom Demming's.

5 years later

Kate found herself struggling to catch a deep breath. With each push, the pain her abdomen worsened. She threw her head back on the pillow and let out a cry.

Through the sweat and tears that clouded her eyes, she grasped for his hand, and he held it tightly. He looked at her, a mix of fear and encouragement in his eyes. This was finally it, the moment they had been waiting for.

"Breathe Katie! Breathe!" he yelled, trying to take her mind off the pain.

"I AM! It's…kind of…difficult…when there's a…baby the size of…a…BASKETBALL com…ing out of you!" she screamed between breaths.

He quickly got the message, but continued smiling and squeezed her hand even tighter.

"One last push Kate!"

Four words Kate had been waiting to hear for seven hours. She gathered up all the strength she had left and shoved. Hard.

"It's a boy!"

Three other words Kate was not expecting to hear. She had hoped for a girl, but the arrival of her son could not have been a more welcomed surprise.

When Kate finally got to see her little boy, he was snugly wrapped in a white hospital blanket, and had a white, knitted hat on. He was beautiful, perfect in every way that a baby should be. Her husband leaned down and whispered in her ear, "What are we going to call him?"

"How about Nathaniel Alexander?"

He paused, "Nathaniel Alexander," he repeated. "Nathaniel Alexander Demming. I like it," he said, smiling down at his family.

Tom gave Kate and little Nathan a kiss, and headed out of the room so they could rest.

After he left, Kate looked down as Nathan snuggled closer to her. She smiled, knowing that even though she chose Tom, and despite the fatal accident, a little part of Richard Castle would always be with her and her son.