DISCLAIMERS: 'Castle' is the property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Studios Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be archived without her permission.
SUMMARY: Sequel to 'A Bright, Shining Hope.' Kate and Castle receive troubling news regarding the newest member of their family, while facing a possibly more sinister threat. Rated T, but that rating will probably change.
A/N #1: I want to thank everybody who has waited so long for me to write the next chapter in my Castle family universe. I hope this will be worth the wait.
A/N #2: To understand the events that are going to take place in this story, it will be necessary to read 'Mind Games' and 'Freefalling into an Abyss.'
A/N #3: This story will take up immediately following Baby Hope's birth.
A HOLE IN THE HEART
CHAPTER 1: A JOYOUS ARRIVAL
Kate was lying on the hard hospital bed in the emergency room, exhaustion taking over from the adrenaline rush of just a couple of hours earlier. She was still waiting for Castle to get there from home. He'd promised to be right behind her as soon as he threw on some clean clothes.
She never in a million years would've imagined that her husband would also have to act as her midwife, being there to catch their daughter when she decided that she wasn't waiting for paramedics to get there. At first she'd read the terror in his eyes, but the moment that she told him that she needed him, he'd immediately snapped into action, safely delivering Hope shortly before the paramedics arrived on the scene.
Kate sleepily opened her eyes when she heard footsteps at her bedside. She smiled at the sight of her doctor, who was slowly shaking her head. "You never do anything by convention, do you, Kate?"
"I guess not. How long do I have to stay here?"
"A few hours. We want to give your new daughter a head to toe checkup and make sure that you're not running a fever. Then we'll send the both of you home."
"That sounds great," her smile widened when Castle walked into the room. "There you are," she held her hand out to him.
"Sorry I took so long. I wanted to clean up our bathroom since it resembled a crime scene," he made a face before leaning down and kissing her before turning to face the doctor. "How is she?"
"She's doing great. How are you? I heard that you had quite the exciting morning," the doctor teased.
"Hey! I'm the one who gave birth!" Kate protested.
"But I was the one who had to catch the kid. I wish somebody had told me that they're like holding onto a fish."
"Castle, that's our daughter you're referring to," Kate managed to look suitably hurt as Castle bent down and kissed her again.
"Speaking of which, I'm going to go and check on her. I'll have someone get you moved to a room."
"You have to stay?" Castle was disappointed.
"Just for a few hours. They want to make sure Hope is healthy and they want to make sure I don't start running a fever. We should be released later this morning. I'm glad that you were there, Castle," she clutched his hand. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"Well, you could have, but it wouldn't have been as easy. Kate, I can't even explain what being there like I was tonight means to me. There aren't words," he blinked back tears, smiling when she pulled him forward and kissed him.
They broke apart when they heard someone clearing their throat. "I'm here to move you to a room on the maternity floor," the orderly said, pushing a wheelchair in front of him.
"As soon as you're settled, I'll call our families," Castle said, following the orderly and Kate to the elevator.
Once she was settled in her room, Kate patted the spot on the bed beside her, smiling when Castle climbed up on the bed and pulled her against him. Within moments, she was sound asleep, her head sagging heavily against his shoulder. With her asleep, Castle checked his watch before taking out his phone. Since it was still so early, he made the decision to text everybody as opposed to calling to wake them up. Since Hope had already arrived, there was no sense in the family coming to the hospital, especially since Kate and Hope would be going home later that day.
After texting the family, Castle settled himself more comfortably and closed his eyes. He awoke with a jerk a couple of hours later to find Kate beside him, almost frantic with her need for her baby. "Why is it taking them so long to bring her to us, Castle? I'm sure that she needs to nurse! Ari nursed almost immediately. Even after having a c-section, I still got to nurse Jack the next day! Go find Hope, Castle!" She shoved at him. "Go bring her to me!"
"Okay," Castle did his best to placate her fears. "Okay, sweetie. I'll go and see what's going on with her."
Castle slipped into his shoes before leaving the room and walking in the direction of the nursery. He expected to see Hope in one of the rows of layettes in the newborn nursery, but when he looked in the huge glass window, she was nowhere to be found. One of the nurses saw him and motioned for him to wait. Moments later, she came out of the door leading to the nursery. "May I help you, sir?"
"My wife gave birth to our daughter at home earlier this morning, and they promised to bring her to us. That was a few hours ago and my wife is getting very upset."
"What is the last name of the baby?"
"Castle."
"Castle, Hope," the nurse consulted her clipboard. "Right now, she is still with the pediatrician."
"Why is she still with the pediatrician? She was brought in hours ago. Is something wrong?"
"Mr. Castle, in cases of emergency home births, the doctor tends to be more thorough in their examination since your daughter was born in a less than sterile environment. I assure you that there is nothing to worry about. I'm sure that you and your wife will be reunited with Hope very soon."
"You're sure?"
"I'm positive. I've seen it before."
"Thank you."
Kate looked up and wiped her eyes with the sheet when Castle walked back into the room. "I thought that you went to find Hope! Castle, where is our baby?"
"Shh, she's fine," he walked over and once again sat on the bed beside her. "I spoke to one of the nurses in the nursery. Hope is still with the pediatrician. Apparently, they're more thorough with babies who are born in unexpected locations like home or the backseat of a Buick. She said they should be bringing her to us at any time now."
"But she said that Hope was all right?"
"She said that she's fine. It's just that being born on the bathroom floor isn't the cleanest of places to be born as opposed to a super sterile hospital."
"I just want to hold her, Castle. I want to hold her and breathe her in."
"I know and we will very soon."
"Tell me a story, Castle," she settled her head against his shoulder once again, her worries lessened somewhat for the time being.
"Once upon a time there was this kick-ass detective named Kate, who was married to a ruggedly handsome writer named Rick. They were the parents of two beautiful kids and were getting ready for baby number three. Kate woke Rick up in the wee hours of the morning to tell him that baby number three was making her debut now. As in this minute. Now Rick didn't know what to think. While he had written a number of best-selling novels, he didn't know the first thing about birthin' no babies," he said, causing Kate to smile.
"Keep going with the story, Prissy," she urged him.
"Well, it turns out that when a baby is on the way, thought goes right out of the window—" he stopped talking when the door opened.
Kate looked at the doorway and smiled when she saw a nurse walking into the room pushing an isolette in front of her. At the sound of her newborn daughter's squalls, Kate's breasts immediately began to ache. "What took so long?" Kate sat up as the nurse reached in and removed Hope, handing her over to her mother. "I was starting to worry."
"She's fine, Mrs. Castle. When a baby is born in an unsterile environment, the doctors like to take every precaution to make sure that they're healthy. Dr. Jimenez will be in shortly to release her to go home."
"Thank you," Kate loosened her gown and let Hope root around before she finally latched on. "Ooh, it's been a long time since I've felt that," she let out a hiss before glancing at Castle, who was giving her a peculiar look. "From a newborn, Castle. Why do you have to make everything about sex?"
"Because everything is about sex. After all, sex is why Hope is here."
"You know, it's hard to argue with that logic," she looked down at their new daughter. "She's perfect, Castle."
"Yes, she is. But, I told you," he kissed the top of her head, "we only make perfect babies. But why do they make it sound like our house is a pig sty? I can guarantee you that there are probably less germs on our bathroom floor than in this entire hospital."
"I'm sorry if I sounded like a hysterical mom. I was just worried about her. When I had Ari, she was handed right to me and almost never left my sight. I thought they'd bring me up here and bring Hope right to me."
"You have every right to act like a hysterical mom." He noticed that Kate was frowning while she watched their daughter nurse. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she was quick to give him a reassuring smile. "I think I'm just tired." She unlatched the baby and handed her over to Rick. "It's your turn, daddy. I'm going to get a little more sleep before the doctor comes in."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. We're fine."
Rick threw a towel over his shoulder before lifting the slight weight of Hope up, rubbing her bony back as he talked to her. "Hope, welcome to the world. I'm your daddy. I was so glad to be the first person who got to see you when you made your debut."
Kate listened to Rick talking nonsense to Hope while her eyes got heavier and heavier. But as she fell asleep, she couldn't erase the nagging thought in the back of her mind that there was something wrong with their daughter. She felt like there was something that the doctors weren't telling her.
A/N #4: First off, Hope isn't going to die. In fact, her condition is going to be the secondary story because I have something planned that is much bigger as my primary story.
A/N #5: Originally, this was going to be a Winter Ficathon entry, but since I inadvertently, unknowingly violated a couple of rules, I have decided it'll just be a regular, old fan fiction story.
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