Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. Nor am I affiliated in anyway.
Author's Note: This is from my tumblr. I just got a tumblr btw, I'm nellie-rai and I accept prompts. Within reason because I do still have my long fics but I'm all for writing quick ficlets in my free time. So if you want to see me write something, you can leave it in my ask on tumblr.
which is how this ficlet came to be, it was an anonymous prompt that I'll post at the end.
It's been all wrong from the moment they found out. Beckett had been sick for over a week, convinced she had the flu or some nasty virus that would not let up. But no. After hours sitting in an emergency room waiting to be seen, after hours hooked to an IV to get some fluids in her system, she'd left shocked and shaking. Castle had been just as stunned. Her hands had quaked so hard they were incapable of making the call to inform anyone that she was fine. Castle had been in charge of calling the family, telling Martha the news. She wasn't sick at all. She was pregnant. She was carrying a baby and that's why she hadn't been able to keep anything down.
It started with the nausea pills. Her morning sickness was non-stop. She'd lost weight. She'd barely kept water down. And the doctor had prescribed the pills. They had helped. And Beckett thought everything was fine after that. Things were smooth. She was keeping food inside her body, gaining steadily. And actually enjoying the fact that she was pregnant and they were starting a family.
But then one night left them terrified. She was barely twelve weeks when it happened. When the bleeding starting and they'd rushed to the hospital in their pajamas. Too scared to wait long enough to get dressed.
And then they'd had to wait. With tears barely at bay to listen to a doctor assure them that while their baby was fine, there were some complications with the pregnancy. They'd barely heard anything after that, both struck with the fact that something was wrong. Something wasn't okay and the word 'complications' was horrifying. An occurrence known as Placenta Previa and it left Beckett feeling as though she'd done something wrong. Despite the reassurance that she hadn't, despite the knowledge that most of the time it fixed itself within the first twenty weeks. She'd felt guilty.
It had limited her mobility, made it impossible to do her job and left her with nothing to keep her mind off the fact that this was her first pregnancy and nothing seemed to be working out the way it was supposed to. She'd never imagined complications when she'd dreamed of having kids with Castle. But she did everything the doctor recommended to keep their baby healthy. She listened and even when she was going crazy, she thought of their unborn child. She kept him or her safe at all costs.
Weeks. Months. Doctors appointments and tests. And they'd been relieved of the burden. She wasn't one of the ten percent cases. It wouldn't leave her bed ridden or complicate her delivery. Everything had worked out and their bump was fine, she was fine. And things returned to somewhat normal for a few weeks.
It hadn't lasted. Their bliss of a normal pregnancy was short lived due to a spike in her blood pressure. And then came the medication, the bed rest. The restlessness of not knowing what to do. She worried, Castle hovered. She got frustrated and then he'd back off just enough to let her cool down. It repeated. It wasn't helping her blood pressure when it was a never ending loop of stress. She'd done everything she could. But sometimes she'd probably walked around more than she was supposed to. She'd been too bored. Too tired of being cooped up. She'd read all the books, watched all the movies. And had taken more naps than necessary.
One thing after another. And finally it'd been too much. She'd cried on his shoulder for hours because of it. Thirty weeks pregnant and sobbing because the majority of her pregnancy was spent on bed rest. Instead of shopping for their little one and decorating the nursery. She'd been reduced to online shopping and sitting in a rocking chair while Castle put together everything for the baby's room. She got out of the loft for doctors appointments every two weeks and that was the highlight. They snuck for ice cream after and she loved Castle even more for that. But the pregnancy was not what she'd planned.
It wasn't fun. Not like she'd thought it would be. It was stressful. It was one appointment after another. One test after another. And the grossness of collecting urine for twenty four hour periods had never had any appeal. And through it all, she thought of the baby. Of the little one stretching inside her and kicking her ribs. There were good moments. The movement of their child. The nights they spent reading to her bump, the lazy mornings where Castle stayed in bed just to keep her there too and they'd end up laughing over something utterly ridiculous until her sides ached and she told him to knock it off before he made her pee herself.
But then it happened. The last test came back with too much protein in her urine and they'd been forced to talk options with the doctor. Thirty-four weeks and she was being induced. They'd tried to put it off to thirty-five but it was too dangerous. Her blood pressure too high. It would risk them both.
And now she's here. In the hospital with contractions rippling through her, strong and hard and Castle at her side. He's been the one constant. And she clings to his hand. Ignores the tears that sting her eyes because she just wants everything to be okay, just wants their baby to be healthy and okay. It's hard to be optimistic when everything has gone so terribly wrong.
She's monitored constantly. Her blood pressure taken every half hour. She wants this to happen naturally, she wants just one thing to go the way it's supposed to but the threat of an emergency c-section looms. And if it comes to that, she knows it's for the best.
It's hours of painful contractions, of leaning on Castle for support when she wants to curl into a ball and be done with it. She wants it over, she wants their baby in her arms, crying and pink and perfect. But through it all, he never leaves. Her partner. He whispers words of comfort even when she doesn't want them. He tells her it'll be okay even though she knows he doesn't fully believe that himself. Not after everything they've been through. And when it's time to push, he's he one holding her up when she's too exhausted and scared.
Their baby is born silently. Sparking panic and a sob that rips from her throat. But it's only a moment, one moment and then the cries fill the room and her chest feels as though it's going to burst with relief. She doesn't know anything more than that sound, hearing nothing else. And it's beautiful. It's worth every fear she had, every struggle they faced with her pregnancy.
When the tiny baby meets her chest, red faced and wrinkles, she's never seen anything more beautiful. Squirming in a blanket and more than a little mad, she's already so in love. She asks, because she needs to know, needs to be sure.
And the pure happiness that floods her from head to toe when all is good shows in the smile that blooms on her face. Their baby is okay. Small but okay with fully developed lungs and a cry that makes the doctor happy.
Beckett holds the bundle carefully. Reaching to stroke one cheek and reveling in how the cries reduce to whimpers with just that touch. And when she looks up at Castle and sees the tears in his eyes, she beams at him.
Nothing else matters when she turns back to their baby. The difficulty of her pregnancy no longer lingers in her mind at all. Because all she sees is a tiny little face yawning up at her and one equally tiny nose scrunching. And then those eyes open and she's lost completely. Big bold eyes blinking up at her and staring.
"Hi," she whispers it, hopes not to startle their child in the very first moments.
She doesn't know what she was expecting but this is above anything she could have ever dreamed. With their baby in her arms and Castle leaning in to kiss her forehead, she's content. For the first time in so many months, the fear eases.
"We have a son, Kate."
A perfect beautiful tiny boy. With wide eyes. They're so madly in love with all of him. The little ears that already look like hers, the nose that scrunches every time he yawns. His mouth. The frowny face he makes when she stops touching him.
"We have a son." She echoes it back. Soft and awe filled. Months of trials and now she's holding their little boy.
Prompt: Outside the Cub'verse, Castle & Beckett experience a high-risk pregnancy but it ends well enough to make it all worth it.
Thank you person that prompted this because it was challenging to write a oneshot that covers everything. Also thanking my sister for having a high risk pregnancy and making the details super easy for me. (her boy was born early just like in this fic but he's five now so it worked out well too)