Summary: Anonymous prompt. The second time around, Castle realizes Beckett's pregnant before she does.

A/N: Takes place about 3-4 years after Season Six.


Beckett stared at the computer screen, trying to make sense of the characters strung across it. She had already read it several times, but it just didn't click.

And Castle was there, in his chair, playing a game on his iPhone, silently driving her nuts.

"You know," she put her hands on her desk and pushed her chair back, then faced him. If he would leave, she could probably get this done. "You should go home. I'll finish and be there in a few hours."

He looked surprised at her request. "But we've been leaving together for mon-"

"Don't you have writing to do? Maybe pick up Cosmo and take him to a movie or something?" she interrupted, then opened the drawer where she kept her bag of gummy bears."

"They're gone," he offered, "The gummy bears... You ate them about half an hour ago. And Alexis texted me earlier and asked to keep him overnight so she could take him to the zoo tomorrow. You were okay with it at the time... Are you feeling all right?"

Kate thought about it for a moment. She vaguely remembered him saying something, but she agreed just to makes him be quiet. But the gummy bears... there was no memory of that. "Did I really eat the whole bag?"

Castle nodded slowly and said, "Yeah, and you slapped my hand away when I tried to get one."

"Are you sure you're not making this up?" She reached for her coffee, and before she could get her hand on it, Castle swiped it away.

"WHAT. The hell. Castle?" She stood and was ready to take her husband out. "Give me the coffee!"

He also got to his feet, and immediately started backing away from her, his eyes wide, and a smile playing at his lips. "I would, but you really shouldn't have any more for a while."

For some reason, this made her insanely mad. She wanted to tear him limb-from-limb, and it had been years since she had honestly imagined doing so. In her most dangerous voice, she said, "If you don't put the mug in my hand in TWO seconds, I will shoot you."

"I tell you what," he was beaming now, just as he backed hard into the wall. "What if I give you a cup of hot herbal tea in about five minutes?"

She couldn't move. He really wasn't intimidated by her anymore, and he couldn't be reasoned with. She was going to shoot her husband.

"I promise," he said, suddenly serious and looking deeply into her eyes. "Five minutes. Hot tea. Because it's better for the two of you, right?"

"Wha.. huh?" The two of them? Kate caught the edge of the desk closest to her.

He was right, and she knew it. It would explain a lot of odd things that had been happening earlier in the week. The slight sick feeling in the mornings, sometimes all day, and especially the giant bowl of Cheerios covered in caramel sauce she devoured at 2am yesterday morning.

"You've been doing this for about three days straight... gone through at least seven bags of gummy bears. I kept replacing them because, well, you're not happy when you run out, and if you're not happy..." At the look she shot him, he moved on, "Anyway, why don't we pick up a test to make sure?"

She agreed, and Castle helped her gather her things. When she took his hand in hers, he seemed to relax.

"You okay, Castle?"

"I'm great," he answered, "because for a minute there, I honestly believed you were going to murder me."

"And I thought I was slipping," Kate teased, then pulled him into a kiss. She could feel his happiness, and it magnified her own.

"Come on, let's go."