I DO NOT OWN CASTLE!

Chapter 1

Beckett, Castle, Ryan and Esposito sat in the conference room cleaning up all the files from their last case. "I'm telling you, you wouldn't last an hour with her." Ryan said. He was telling his friends about his newborn daughter, Kayla. He had been out on paternity leave for the last two months and had returned two weeks ago. Jenny and Ryan were running ragged, as they could not get their daughter on a sleep schedule let alone to find a way to appease her in the middle of the night.

"Did you try the car rides? Or swaddling?" Castle asked him as he put another file in the box. "That always helped Alexis."

"We've tried everything we can think of, even asked our parents and looked on line. She doesn't like any of it." Ryan told him as he sat in his seat heavily.

Beckett looked at him and shook her head. "She can't be all that bad." Ryan just shook his head.

"Yeah, bro, I mean she has to sleep at some point." Esposito made fun while Ryan gave him a little glare.

"You wouldn't last ten minutes." Beckett laughed at Esposito as he looked at her.

"I watched her for a few hours the one day." He defended.

"That all you could handle?" She smiled at him.

"You think you could do better?" He asked making her smile.

"Yeah, I could." She stood straighter as they stared at each other.

"Fine." Esposito looked at Ryan then back at Beckett. "Okay, you think you can do better. How about a little bet? I bet you can't get through the weekend and be wide awake on Monday after watching Kayla. Loser has to do all the paperwork for the winner and Ryan for the next month."

Beckett looked at Ryan who sat watching the two; even Castle had stopped to watch. Looking back at Esposito she stepped closer to get into his space more. "You're on." Looking over at Ryan, she added, "If you and Jenny are alright with it. You guys look like you could use the rest." She told him.

"I'm pretty sure Jenny will be fine with it." He told her. Beckett gave a nod before finishing cleaning the conference room before gathering her things. "I'll let you know what Jenny says." Beckett nodded and the four left the precinct on their own ways.

Later that evening Beckett opened the door to see Ryan holding the baby carrier with a sleeping baby Kayla. She smiled as Ryan set the carrier on the counter and Jenny carried in the diaper bag. "I'll go grab the pack and play." Ryan said softly before leaving.

"You sure you don't mind this?" Jenny asked as she set the bag down. "Kayla can be a handful at times, and the whole weekend…" she trailed off as Beckett shook her head looking back at the baby as she opened her eyes.

"I don't mind at all. Really. You and Kevin use the weekend to relax and just catch up with sleep or go out to dinner or whatever. Don't worry about Kayla. We're going to have a really awesome weekend." Beckett looked at Jenny with a small smile. "I'll call you if either of us needs anything." Jenny nodded as Ryan walked in with the pack and play and the car seat portion of the carrier.

"You want me to set it up?" He asked.

"No, I'll take care of it. You two go home and sleep." Beckett told him.

"Okay, well, all the formula, and everything is in here. I packed it with a bunch of diapers but if you need more let us know." Jenny explained.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Beckett reassured her. She kissed Kayla's forehead as Ryan walked over. "I don't know what we would do if it weren't for you and our parents taking her a few nights so we can get at least one night of sleep."

"Thanks, Beckett." Ryan told her before they said their goodbyes and the Ryans left Beckett alone with baby Kayla looking around her loft not really focusing on anything. After a minute, Beckett saw her face start to scrunch and she began to cry.

"Oh, don't cry Kayla." She said softly as she unbuckled the baby and pulled her to her as she started to rock.

Two and a half hours later Beckett was standing in front of the carrier looking at the still crying baby girl. Letting out a frustrated sigh she looked at the counter next to the baby. There were bottles, blankets, pacifiers, and a million different toys. Kayla was not having any of it and now she understood why Ryan and Jenny looked so worn down. She tried to think. She did everything she could think of and she even tried to find other ways on line but nothing worked. Kayla was looking red in the face and she needed to calm her somehow. Beckett picked up her phone and quickly dialed.

"Hello." She heard an answer.

"Hi, dad?" She said as she watched the baby still wailing.

"Katie? Is that a baby? You have a baby and forget to tell me?" He asked as she rolled her eyes.

"No. I'm babysitting Ryan and Jenny's baby. She cries almost all the time and they are wearing down. I was wondering if there are any secrets you could share?" She asked hopeful. "I've tried everything I can think of and even looked up a few on line. She just doesn't want any of it."

Jim started chuckling. "Katie, you were a good baby. Only cried when you wanted something like food or sleep. Try rocking her in something."

"I did that and she screamed more." Beckett sighed.

"What about Rick, maybe he knows some special ways." He offered. "See how he calmed his daughter. He might have some tricks."

"Thanks, dad." She hung up and looked at the still crying baby before dialing the phone again. She heard Castle's voice on the other end as he answered. "Castle, do you have any ideas about how to calm her down?" She asked before she heard him laugh a bit. "It's not funny. She's been like this to a couple hours and nothing works."

"Did you try to go for a drive?" He asked.

"In Manhattan?" She questioned. "I drove where I could but traffic is not on my side today." There was a pause and she could almost hear him thinking. "Could you… come over and help me out?" She asked shyly.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." He told her before they disconnected and Beckett walked closer to the baby.

"You hear that? Castle is coming over. There's no way you can cry with him here." She told her baby before she realized her own words.

It took ten minutes before Beckett heard a knock on the door. She was again cradling Kayla in her arms when she went to the door. When she opened the door, it wasn't Castle standing there, it was one of the neighbors. "I know babies cry but usually the adults calm them down. It's getting late; I really would like to sleep sometime tonight." The man said.

"I know I am so sorry." Beckett apologized. "I have been trying to calm her; I have a friend coming to help."

He still looked at her angrily as she swayed and bounced a little to try to sooth the baby. "You better." He warned as Castle walked up. he looked at Castle then glared at Beckett. "You better." He turned and walked away.

"What was that about?" Castle asked as Beckett moved out of the way to let him in.

"He's complaining about the noise." She told him. Castle pulled his jacket off and put it on the couch before turning to the baby. "Please tell me you know a secret that I haven't thought of or found." She said handing the baby over to Castle.

"Hey there princess." He cooed as he brought her to his shoulder. "Did you try a bath?" He asked as she looked at him. "Sometimes it can sooth them." He walked over putting the baby in the carrier, turning it to face the sink. Beckett put a stopper in the drain and started the water before looking for Kayla's extra clothes and baby washes.

"Can you find clothes; I'm going to get a towel." She told Castle who nodded and took over rummaging through the baby bag to find clothing for the night. A few minutes later Beckett walked back out and saw Castle setting the baby into the sink gently. His sleeves were rolled up and he had a small smile on his face.

"There we go. We'll get you all washed up and then you can get some sleep so you're auntie Kate can shove her being wide awake in uncle Esposito's face." He said making Beckett smile and shake her head.

"I am not." She said walking over to his side. "Ryan and Jenny really needed some rest. I'm helping them out."

Castle paused washing the baby and looked at her. "Really?" He asked skeptical as she rolled her eyes. They both looked back at Kayla as she started to calm down a little. "See, all she wanted was a nice warm bath." He said as he finished washing her before he handed her off to Beckett who was holding the towel out. They dressed her and found her still fussing.

"Any more bright ideas Mr. mom?" She asked making him look at her a minute before taking the baby from her and buckling her into the carrier. "Where are you going?" She asked and saw him look off to the side to her dining room. "Castle?" She asked but followed him into the other room where he turned to the large closet doors. Opening them, he found the washer and dryer making him smirk as he placed the carrier on the washer.

"You have any clothes that you need to wash?" He asked

"they're in there, why?" When asked curious what he was doing. He reached over and turned the washer on. Kayla calmed a bit more at the noise of the washer. Then it started to wash and spin the water inside, gently moving the entire machine. Beckett watched as Kayla calmed more and more before she was looking at them. "That's amazing, Castle."

He smirked at her. "What can I say? I know how to treat the ladies." She couldn't help the little smile that crossed her lips as he looked back at the baby sitting content in her seat. "She have a crib?" He asked.

"Yeah, Ryan left the pack and play in the living room. I didn't have a chance to set it up since she started crying not long after they left." She explained. "Keep an eye on her. I'll go set it up." He nodded and looked back at the baby as Beckett walked off to the living room to grab the pack and play. Castle saw the baby's eyes started to close. Once she was asleep, Castle turned the washer off, unbuckled her and cradled her to him as he turned to find Beckett finishing with the pack and play.

"All done?" He asked as she stepped back with a sigh.

She looked at her room then at the pack and play. "I guess I should have set it up in there." She went to close it and redo it in her bedroom when Castle just, gently, handed Kayla over and he maneuvered the little crib into the room. He turned around to see Beckett standing in the doorway holding Kayla and his breath caught in his chest as flashes of her standing there holding their own child filtered through his head. He quickly pushed the thoughts away as she walked closer and gently laid the little girl in her back and covered her with a little blanket. She stood back up and glanced at Castle looking down at Kayla before she turned and looked at him and the two left the room as quietly as they could.

"Now you know how to get her to sleep." Castle smiled as they walked towards her kitchen to begin cleaning up.

"I would have never thought of putting her on the washer. Where did you come up with that?" Beckett asked as they started cleaning the counter and putting everything away.

"When Alexis was a baby I was trying to do the laundry and take care of her. She was being fussy so I had to keep her with me so I put her in the carrier and moved her around as I did what I needed to do. I put her on the washer when I was emptying the dryer and she quieted down and fell asleep. The vibrations soothed her." He shrugged as he explained.

"You're amazing." She said with a smile. They looked at each other and their eyes locked.

Castle pulled his gaze away and started for his jacket. "I should get going. She'll probably be out for at least most of the night, after all that exercise she just had." He said grabbing his jacket. Beckett walked over grabbing his arm to stop him.

"Castle?" She asked. "You think you could… stay here? I mean I can take care of her and all but you know all the secrets." He looked at her a minute before giving a small smile.

"Yeah, sure. Alexis is off with her friends for the weekend and Mother is on a retreat. So I'm just going to sit alone at the loft. Might as well use my time wisely and teach the beautiful detective something." He saw her roll her eyes but she couldn't keep the smile from her face before she turned back towards her kitchen to grab them drinks before the sat talking about how Castle learned all his tricks for calming and taking care of babies.

The two were woken up by a scream. Beckett jumped and Castle sat up quickly. They heard the baby cry again and they climbed to their feet Beckett going to pick up the screaming infant while Castle worked on getting a bottle made for her. Castle turned mixing the bottle to see Beckett walking over holding the crying Kayla. She handed her over and Castle set the bottle in the baby's mouth and she quieted instantly. Beckett watched Castle sway ever so gently back and forth, as Kayla ate. She saw the father in him surface once again. She always loved watching him as a father; he amazed her with how he could go from a child on a sugar rush to a responsible, caring adult. She could see him holding their child one day. Beckett stopped, their child. They weren't even going out. not yet at least.

Castle looked at Beckett; he furrowed his brow a bit seeing emotions rush across her face. "You want to feed her?" He asked making her look at him. He shifted and started handing Kayla over. Beckett cradled the girl in one arm and held the bottle in the other. Castle watched as Beckett gave a small smile as she watched Kayla eat. He could get used to watching this.

Beckett looked up at Castle and their eyes locked. For a brief moment he saw something filter through her eyes. Something he hadn't seen before but it disappeared back behind her walls before he could figure it out.

"What?" She asked, seeing him staring at her.

Castle shook his head and pulled his eyes away. "Nothing." He turned back to the baby bag on the counter and started rummaging through until he found what he was looking for. Beckett watched as he put the pacifier on the counter. "When you're done give her this and she should be good to sleep another couple hours." He explained and saw her nod.

"What time is it?" She asked making him look at his watch.

"It's almost five thirty in the morning." He told her before there was a pounding on her door. Beckett looked at Castle who glanced at her before going to answer the door leaving her to sway gently feeding the infant. He opened the door to see the man from earlier standing there looking very unhappy.

"I understand you don't have children so you don't know what to do to calm that baby down but do something fast before I start calling the cops for disturbing the peace." The man threatened before Castle looked at Beckett who walked over feeding the baby.

"Beckett, he said if she doesn't stay quiet he's going to call the cops for disturbing the peace." Castle told her looking a bit too amused.

"I get woken up because you two can't keep her quiet and you'll be arrested." Castle looked back at Beckett who was praying he would just leave it alone, but this was Castle, she was talking about.

"Hey Beckett, do they even make cuffs small enough for Kayla?" He asked

"This is not a joking issue. I will call them." He told them again.

He went to walk away but was stopped by Castle. "Look, babies cry. We're doing what we can to keep her quiet but she's a baby. Besides I don't think anything can be done because a baby is crying." Castle said before turning and looking at Beckett. "Is there a law on that?" He asked her.

"Castle." She said before walking closer, still rocking gently as Kayla continued to eat. "I'm sorry you are having issues sleeping through the baby crying but we are doing the best we are able to." She gently handed the baby to Castle. "Besides the fact that she cried for all of two minutes. And the police aren't going to do anything about a baby crying."

"Well then I'll call them and we'll see about that." Beckett shrugged. "You'll be arrested for disturbing the peace." He said angrily before storming off.

"He's going to call the cops." Castle said as Beckett shut the door.

"This area is filtered through the 12th." She said with a smug look making Castle smirk. The two walked back into the apartment, finished feeding the infant before laying her in her bed and placing the pacifier in the baby's mouth.

Castle looked at Beckett. "Why don't we go to the loft?" She looked at him a bit confused. "Mother's at a retreat and Alexis is staying with her friends. Alexis was brought up there, so you know baby cries isn't going to bother the neighbors." He shrugged watching her think for a minute.

"Okay, let me get some stuff. Pack up her stuff and we can go." She agreed. Castle gently picked up the baby and set her in her carrier as he started packing everything up. Beckett was walking out of her room with a bag over her shoulder when there was a knock on the door. Beckett sighed, annoyed and went to answer it.

Kayla started to fuss making Castle pick her up and gently rock back and forth to calm her down. Beckett opened the door to see her neighbor looking extremely angry to the side and Esposito standing in front of her. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I told you I would call the cops. Now you're in trouble." He said as Beckett turned and walked away leaving the door open. Her neighbor looked confused. "Hey. You going to arrest her now right?" He asked Esposito who just looked at the man. When he looked back, he saw Beckett arranging things so Castle could put the baby back in her carrier.

"Oh come on." Esposito said walking in. "Getting writer boy to help isn't fair." He complained. The neighbor looked between them as Castle looked over.

"First of all you never said I couldn't get help, and secondly," Beckett said as she pulled the diaper bag onto her shoulder. "Just because you didn't think of it doesn't mean I can't."

"Really? You're going to play it like that?" Esposito said watching her smirk at him. "I get a tip from a buddy that there's a disturbing the peace at your place, I drive all the way out here to see the look on your face and I get nothing."

"Maybe next time." Castle said as he walked past him and into her bedroom to fold up the pack and play. Esposito narrowed his eyes at Beckett.

"It wasn't in the bet, it's fair game besides it's better to have Castle work his magic and keep her happy than to have her screaming. Look what happened with that." She said pointing to her neighbor who was still standing at the door watching the exchange. "Can you grab Kayla? Castle and I have the other stuff."

"Where you going?" He asked curiously.

"Castle's. His mother and Alexis are out for the night and if Kayla decides to have another screaming match with herself his neighbors won't hear her, let alone care." She explained looking at her neighbor being even nosier looking around in the apartment.

"Where'd Castle get to?" Esposito asked looking around.

Beckett pointed towards her bedroom. "He's probably folding up the pack and play Ryan left." She saw Esposito glance through the door.

"In your bedroom? You sure he isn't sniffing around?" He asked with a smirk making her roll her eyes. He knew how close they were, he and the rest of the world could see they were inches from each other but they refused to just let go and crash into each other.

"Carry the baby." She told him making him walk closer to the quiet baby.

"How'd you get her to be so calm?" He asked.

"Um, excuse me." The neighbor said at the door. "I know you know her but she has been disturbing the peace all night. I want something done about it."

Esposito looked at Beckett then the man and back to Beckett. "You really disturbing the peace, boss?" He asked making Beckett shrug. "Waking everyone up with that baby cry." He shook his head.

"You can throw me in lock up at work Monday." Beckett rolled her eyes before looking at her neighbor and walking over to the door. "I know you're new to the building so I'll introduce myself. I'm Detective Kate Beckett with the NYPD. This is one of my team members, Detective Javier Esposito and the other man is my partner Richard Castle. We all know the law very well and there is nothing that happened tonight that is grounds for disturbing the peace. It may be annoying yes but nothing illegal since you can't force an infant not to cry. So I suggest you go back to your apartment and get that beauty sleep that you desperately need and leave me and my friends take care of the infant." Esposito had walked over to stand to the side behind her and was trying not to laugh at the man's face.

"Richard Castle the writer?" He asked as if that is all he heard from her rant. Beckett paused before looking at Esposito who started laughing before he walked away. "Can I get his autograph? I'll drop the disturbing the peace charges if I can have his autograph."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "There are no charges because nothing was illegal."

"I will call the cops and have them send someone who doesn't know you." He threatened.

"That's going to be pretty hard, buddy." Esposito said now back behind her. "See she's a pretty big deal around the precincts besides she knows Castle who's buddies with the Mayor so no matter what you do you're not getting very far." Esposito explained.

"Can't I just have his autograph?" The man asked giving up on arguing. Beckett sighed and turned back towards her bedroom.

"Castle!" She called. After a minute, there was no answer. "Castle!" Again nothing. Beckett huffed as she turned and started towards her room. "Rick." She said as she walked in gaining a suspicious look from Esposito. He knew they rarely called each other by their first names. It was always Castle and Beckett between them unless things were running hot.

A minute later Castle and Beckett walked back out and to the door. "You're really Richard Castle?" He asked, star struck. Castle nodded before looking at Beckett and Esposito.

"The pack and play is folded up and ready to go. Just have to take everything to the car."

"KB and I got it. Go play famous." Esposito said making Beckett shake her head and walk away as Castle followed the neighbor. "So, what's with the 'Rick'?" Beckett looked at him quickly.

"He wasn't answering when he needed to." Beckett told him before grabbing the baby bag and her bag. "Grab the pack and play from my room. I'll take Kayla and we can head down." Esposito walked in, grabbed the pack and play and followed Beckett to the elevators.

"So what's with you and Castle?" He asked once the doors closed.

Beckett looked at him quickly with furrowed brows. "Nothing." He just hummed and dropped it seeing the look on her face. She hooked the carrier into the car seat as Esposito put the bags and pack and play in the trunk. "Can you stay with her a minute. I'm going to go get Castle and lock up."

"Yeah, no problem." He told her letting her run back to her apartment to see Castle in the hall trying to politely get away from her neighbor.

"Come on, we got everything in the car. Esposito's watching Kayla until we get down there." She told him making both men look at her as she went to her door. "You need anything from the apartment?"

"My jacket's still in there." She nodded and went to get it hearing the neighbor start another conversation with him. She smirked knowing Castle was too polite and too great a person to just walk away and tell the guy to be quiet. So she grabbed his jacket and went back to him, locking the door behind her.

"Esposito needs to get back to the precinct. We have to go Rick." She said making him look at her and nod.

"See, I really need to go. Kate and I are baby-sitting for a friend and our other friend is watching the baby." Castle started to explain.

"Castle." She said sternly. "I know you're a big fan of his but you know we have to get going to take care of our friend's baby that cries a lot. So we should get going." Beckett said knowing she couldn't just leave his fan looking at their backs. She decided to play nice for Castle's benefit before handing him his jacket. Putting it on Castle said good-bye and they walked quickly to the elevator.

"How can you do that?" He asked making her look at him. "I had been trying since I followed him to get him to stop and you walk up and get him to stop talking and actually let me go."

"It's a cop thing." She smirked and saw mischief flash in his eyes before he looked back straight ahead.

"You should go to my book signings. Save me from the fans." He said making her laugh. She looked at him seeing a grin slide across his face as she shook her head.

"Let's go Castle." She smiled as the doors opened. They went out to find Esposito bent into the car talking to the fussing Kayla. "Leave you with a baby for five minutes and you make her cry, good job Javi." Beckett smirked at his surprised face.

"She was fine and then she started making noises and she won't calm down." He said right before she started crying.

"Where's the diaper bag?" Castle asked. Beckett opened the trunk letting him get to it to pull out a little container of juice. "Watch and learn detectives." He said as he bent in to see the baby had spit out her pacifier. Slid his hand under her feeling for the pacifier, finally finding it under her bottom Castle leaned out of the car, dumped a little juice on the pacifier and put it in her mouth. Within seconds, she was quieting down sucking on it. She shifted and Castle quickly pulled the pacifier out dumping juice on it again and replacing it. Kayla looked at him a minute before falling completely quiet looking drowsy.

"Wow, no wonder you called him." Esposito told Beckett. "He's good." She just nodded.

"Alexis would only take the pacifier if there was some kind of taste to it." He told them as he shut the back door.

"You got to teach me that stuff." Esposito said, as Castle looked smug and shook his head. "Bro, he's got me watching her so they can run to the store. You can't just leave me hanging with nothing to help."

"Secrets of a dad." Castle smirked before looking at Beckett who was smiling at him.

"We better get to the loft so we can set everything up and get some more sleep." She interjected. Esposito narrowed his eyes but shrugged.

"No more disturbing the peace." He warned before walking away to his own car.

"You really did cheat." Castle said once they were in the car and on the way to his place.

"I did not. He didn't put any limitations, just that I watched her for the weekend." She explained. "Therefore, I didn't break any rules, therefore, I didn't cheat." Castle looked out his window, not arguing.

After a few minutes, the car was silent. "Cheater." She heard making her look at him as he grinned at her. She couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips. She tried to focus back on the road in front of her. What was going on? They had finally worked things out and gotten things back to normal after he started acting strangely. Little did she know that it was because he heard her revile her secret. They had somehow managed to bring things back around after the Slaughter fiasco and now she was losing control over her feelings for him again.

She knew from her last talk with Dr. Berk that things between them shifted. She was now the one chasing him. But she had promised to hold her feelings in check until she saw he was ready again. She wasn't going to cause a big confusing problem because she's ready and he's not now. She needed to continue to keep herself in line until she knew they were both in the right place at the right time to reveal their feelings. Castle glanced at her as she fell silent. He could see flashes of different emotions fly across her face to be hidden in a matter of moments. He knew she was thinking about something, thinking on it hard.

They pulled up to his apartment and Castle stole another look at her as she drove with thoughts spinning in her head. They climbed out and they started gathering the things to carry in. Castle pulled the diaper bag onto a shoulder, Beckett took her bag and the baby as Castle took the pack and play. The two started for his loft, both staying silent seeing the gears working in the other's head, neither realizing they were spinning for the other.

Castle opened the door and let them in. Beckett walked over setting the baby on the couch before putting her bag on the coffee table. She looked at Castle who shut the door and dropped the diaper bag at the door before setting the pack and play down.

"You want me to put it in my office?" He asked wondering if she wanted the baby close to her or close to him.

"I can take care of her during the night." She half defended.

"I know you can. I was just thinking then if she's asleep during the morning she can be down here where we both are and she won't get disturbed by Alexis when she gets home." He explained. Beckett looked at him and nodded before he went to set the pack and play up in his office. She looked down at the baby who was once again back to sleep. She was amazed at how Castle does a few things and the baby is asleep when no one else can do anything to calm her. he really is an amazing father to have known all those tricks and ideas. She looked back to where Castle disappeared into his office to the side. She makes sure Kayla is fastened in her seat and it is not going to fall before she turns and walked in to see him rearranging the chairs to fit the pack and play.

"Need help?" She asked watching him.

"I got it. Just going to move the chairs and it will fit right here. You can take my room if you want so you can be near her." He offered making her give a small smile.

"I'll take the guest room; just wake me up if she gets up." She told him as she watched him set the pack and play up.

"You okay?" He asked, stopping his work to look at her concerned. She nodded but he just looked at her, knowing she was thinking about something hard. "Kate." He said with a tone telling her he wasn't buying it.

"I'm just thinking. It's nothing, Castle. Just set this thing up so we can put her to bed and we can get more sleep." He grinned at her before getting back to work. She looked at him a moment longer after seeing his grin and a look that flashed across his face. Shaking off her thoughts, she went back to the baby.

Castle was left to set the pack and play up as he tried pushing away the thoughts of a future with Kate Beckett. She was talking and acting like this was her baby and it led to vivid images of them setting up a crib or bassinet for their own child. She's holding a little girl with her brown hair and hazel eyes as she watches him work his magic on the baby furniture.

He shakes his head. She doesn't feel the same about him as he does about her. He still loves her with all his heart and he still works beside her but it's only because of his ability to push away his own pain to help her. They had a hard time getting through the rough patch and then there was Detective Slaughter who only cared about himself and nearly got Castle killed on several occasions. Beckett had had enough and stepped in on the last occasion cause both he and her to get injured.

He felt the anger and jealousy rising as he remembered the comments Slaughter had made to Becket about how hot she was. She was furious with the man and Castle used everything in him to pull Beckett away before she got herself into trouble. Once she walked away leaving the two men Castle, for once, showed his anger. He could act childish and completely immature and stupid at times but when it came to Beckett, no matter what her feelings were for him, he would never let anyone talk about her the way Slaughter had. The two had an argument. A very loud one at that making Esposito and Lanie run in to see what was going on. Slaughter tried to take a swing at Castle but Esposito was pulling him back out of the way.

That was not one of his best moments as he pulled from Esposito's grasp, took a swing knocking the large Detective to the ground. Lanie and Esposito stood looking at him. They had never seen him like that; they had never seen him so angry he took a swing at anyone except the one time in the hospital when Josh shoved him. Castle shook the thought from his head. The matter was done and over with. Esposito reported Slaughter for what happened, and everything the man had been hiding tumbled out. He was not a problem on the force anymore.

"You done?" He heard making him straighten and look at the doorway where Beckett was cradling the infant. He had to pause to catch his breath and remember the baby was Ryan and Jenny's daughter. This was not a dream of any kind. She was babysitting and he was helping. Glancing at the pack and play, he nodded to her.

"It's set up. She should be good in here, she's where we can get to her but where she won't be bothered later." He told her as she laid Kayla in the little section for infants.

"I'll grab her blanket." She said softly before leaving. Castle took a step forward looking down at the baby sleeping as he leaned onto the rail. He gently reached out and ran a gently hand over her abdomen. He remember sitting up watching Alexis sleep when she was this young. He remember taking care of her and doing all of this on his own since Meredith was doing her acting. He really did miss those days. He felt Beckett nudge him making him pull his hand back so she could cover Kayla. She looked up at him and couldn't take her eyes from his intense, thoughtful, blue eyes.

"What?" He asked as she stared at him.

She shook her head still looking. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He answered.

"We've been partner for almost five years. I know when there's something floating around in that head of yours that you need to get out." She told him making him look at her. He looked hesitant to say anything, to tell her what was circulating in his head. "Castle." She said softly as she reached out grabbing his arm. "What's wrong?"

He was about to shake her off again when the words started to just flow from his mouth. "Just remembering the days when Alexis was this little." He looked back at Kayla. "Sometimes I miss those days." He told her, not looking to see what she was thinking. Beckett looked at Kayla sleeping peacefully then back at Castle.

"You're really good at this." She started. "You are a good father to Alexis and if you were to…." She paused to look away not wanting to look at him for the rest of the sentence. "To have another child, you would be amazing with them too." She paused feeling his love, and not feeling his gaze. "Is that what you want?" She asked finally pulling the courage to look at him. He looked at her surprised by her question.

"Another kid? Yeah." He said with a small smirk looking at Kayla. "I would love another kid or two. If I can find someone to feel the same about me I would love to have another child." Beckett looked at him. She wanted badly to yell at him and tell him to open his eyes. She loved him; she wanted to be with him. She knew he felt the same about her but was in a new place in his feelings. "What about you?" He asked looking at her. She was back to looking at the infant.

"I think if I get the right guy, I would like to have at least one child." She said softly not looking at him as he stared. He wanted to tell her he was the right guy for her but he knew she wasn't on the same level, knew she didn't have those kinds of feelings for him so he stopped himself and settled for a nod.

"Let's go sit for a bit." He offered, leading her back to the living room to watch the TV. The two settled next to each other and started searching the stations for something good.