Chapter 1
"Hey Castle, what are you-" She stopped as soon as she saw his body lying, unmoving, on the floor. She rushed over to him and fell to the ground, her hands hovering over him, afraid to touch him.
Earlier in the Day…
"Castle, c'mon we're going to be late for work!" She yelled from the kitchen, holding her keys in one hand and travel mug in the other.
"Coming, coming!" He said, rushing out, still tucking his dress shirt into his pants. "Sorry, I couldn't find my bag, have you seen it?"
"Right here." She said, picking it up off the counter and handing it to him. "I put all of your stuff in it last night. Everything is there; laptop, notepad, pens…"
"What about-"
"Yes, the picture is in there also. I know you don't like to go anywhere without it." She said with a smile.
"I don't, and definitely not when I am going to be away from you and little bean most of the day." He said, placing his hand on the barely-there bump.
"Castle, you're really going to call this baby little bean the whole pregnancy aren't you?" She said with a knowing look.
"What? I like it. Little bean…it just, it has a nice ring to it. This way we don't have to refer to the baby as 'it' because we don't know the sex."
"So if we find out the sex of the baby you would stop calling the baby little bean?"
"No. But wait, do you want to find out the sex of the baby?"
"I don't know. I mean, I think I'd like to know whether we're having a boy or girl. You know I'm not a big fan of surprises." Kate said, placing her hand over his on top of her bump.
"Well we still have a month before your sixteen week appointment, so there's still plenty of time to decide."
She smiled and stroked her thumb over his hand. "C'mon, let's get to the precinct. The boys are probably wondering why we aren't there already."
As the pair makes their way into precinct shortly after seven thirty, they were met with empty desks where their partners normally sat at this hour. Castle and Beckett shared a knowing look and both said at the same time, "Lanie."
Ever since the boys and Lanie found out about the baby, the way they've acted towards Castle and Beckett has changed. For instance, everyone has softened towards Kate when she has her cranky spurts, knowing it's mostly due to the lack of caffeine. As soon as Castle and Beckett found out about little bean, they switched Kate from coffee to tea. Knowing how hard it would be for Kate to go nine long months without it, Castle had also decided to stop drinking caffeine as well. He didn't think it was fair to drink it in front of her, knowing she can't have it.
Right now, Lanie and the boys were probably down in the morgue discussing little bean. Ever since they found out, that's all they seem to want to talk about; not that Kate or Castle really mind. Both agree that it's actually kind of sweet how much they care about the future little Castle.
The pair takes a seat in their chairs; Kate starting up her computer, Castle pulling out his iPhone, waiting for the boys to return.
Fifteen minutes later, the boys return to their desks, and everything is normal. Two days ago, a body dropped in central park. With no witnesses, a lead that didn't pan out, and no promising suspects, the team was becoming frustrated very quickly. To make matters worse for Beckett, Castle has to leave at ten for a meeting with Black Pawn that will probably end up going all day. Without having him there to provide crazy theories or lighten the stressful mood, Kate is in for a long day. She didn't like to seem needy, but everyone including Kate new that she did much better with Castle around.
Castle and Beckett were sitting on her desk looking at the murder board when Castle's phone went off, reminding him of the meeting. Sighing, Kate capped her marker and stood up, turning towards Castle. He pocketed his phone and faced her, a small apologetic smile on his face.
"It's okay Castle. Go, I'll see you at home later." She said with an understanding smile. As upset as she was that Castle had to go to his meeting today, she didn't want him to feel guilty about it. It wasn't his fault. This is after all, his actual job. Hoping to convince him a little more, she took his hand and led him into the break room, closing the door behind them.
"Castle, really, it's ok. I'll be able to handle one day. It doesn't mean I won't miss you though." She said with a smile.
"I'll miss you too…and little bean." He said, placing his hand on her bump.
She smiled and pulled him into a hug, burying her face into his neck, inhaling his wonderful 'Castle' smell. When they pulled back, he knelt down and put his hands back on her belly.
"Okay little bean, Daddy's got to go to a meeting. You be good for Momma alright?" He stroked his thumb across her belly a couple times and placed a kiss just below her belly button before standing back up. She cupped his face with her hands and kissed him. After pulling apart, she rested her forehead against his.
"I love you."
"I love you too." Castle said before giving her one final kiss and pulling away, leaving the break room.
She smiled, rubbing her growing belly, thinking about the wonderful man that helped make this all possible.
