Author's note: This scene, or parts of it, popped into my head while I was watching a production of Hamlet. If you can't see the connection, it's because it was in German and my German isn't good enough for The Simpsons, let alone Shakespeare. So my mind drifted, and I ended up with this. That's also the reason for the title - Liebe is the German word for love.
This is set at least four years in the future. By 'least' I mean if he knocks her up tomorrow. Post-engagement, pre-marriage, one-shot. Any innaccuracies are my own as I'm too lazy to Google and I've never really experienced living with a pregnant woman, thankfully. (Hey. Pregnancy leads to babies. Babies lead to crying all night. Crying all night leads to me running away very quickly.)
Unfortunately, the characters aren't mine. This is probably a good thing, as I have a tendency to be rather trigger-happy when it comes to my own characters, and if they aren't getting shot, then they're getting pregnant. However, I own a hoodie, a notepad and the season one DVD, but this is the extent of my Castle ownership.
I hope you enjoy the story, however brief. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated; I may be a veteran fanfic reader but I don't write that much of it so I'm new to the art of making sure they're in character.
All errors are mine. Unbeta'ed. If you see a Y where a Z should be or vice-versa, blame the fact that I'm writing this on a German keyboard when I'm used to Australian ones. (So if you see, for example, "humor" spelt as "humour", it's because I'm Aussie.)
"Mummy, how come you can fit a baby in your tummy?"
Kate Beckett looked up from her book to see the blue eyes of her three-year-old daughter staring back. "Well, it used to be smaller, but it grew, and my tummy grew so it could fit."
"How did it get in there?"
The talk was not a conversation that Kate had anticipated having with her daughter for a very long time, and she planned to keep it that way. Instead, she skirted the conversation, and simply replied, "Love."
Young eyes widened at this response, too innocent to see past the ruse. "Can I see it?" She stared at her mother's six-month pregnant stomach.
"The baby's not ready to come out yet. You'll have to wait a little longer before you can see your little brother or sister."
Rather than looking disappointed, the little girl jumped up on the couch and sat next to her mother. "What does it feel like?"
Mother's hand guided daughter's to her stomach. "Sometimes it kicks, and you can feel it when it does."
Kate's arm rested around her daughter's back as the girl snuggled into her mother's side, hands resting together on her enlarged stomach.
Richard Castle wandered out of his office and into the lounge room, only to smile at the sight before him: His fiancee's arm was wound around their daughter's back as she read and the child slept soundly.
"Hey, Rick." Kate looked up from her book and met the eye of the man now making his way towards the couch.
"Hey, Kate." He gently kissed her lips and settled in on the side not occupied by a sleeping three-year-old. "Any particular reason that the little miss is hugging your stomach?"
"She wanted to see the baby, and when I said she couldn't yet, she asked if she could feel it."
As if on cue, Kate felt a bump near her hand and grinned. "It's kicking." She removed her hand from on top of her daughter's in order to guide her fiance's to the kicks. With the somewhat sudden movement and the loss of warmth, the little girl woke up.
"Mummy, what happened?" She watched her mother through bleary eyes before looking at her father, eyes still drifting in and out of a sleep-induced haze.
Kate gently lifted her daughter's hand - after shoving Rick's aside - and placed it where the baby was kicking. "Can you feel that?"
"Yeah."
"That's a kick."
"Really?"
As the girl looked at her mother's stomach in amazement, Kate rested her head on Rick's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her back. The three stayed curled together on the couch in familial comfort until sleep gradually took over.