Prompt from beinginthedarkesthour (via castlefanficprompts on tumblr); "Beckett is about six or seven months pregnant and she's feeling sad and emotional and paranoid that everything is going to go wrong and she doesn't want to do anything but lie in bed under the covers. So Castle builds them a fort out of bed sheets and pillows and they hide out all day while Castle reads to her."
Hope you enjoy!
"Honey, I'm home!" Rick yelled into the loft as he walked through the door, bags of groceries swinging as he hobbled over to the kitchen counter and placed them down gingerly. He paused for a few seconds as he noticed that his wife didn't respond, though he quickly shrugged it off, assuming she was sleeping – she had been napping a lot since she entered the third trimester.
He carefully walked over to their bedroom, not surprisingly finding Kate curled up next to her large pregnancy pillow. She smiled at her lying form, until he recognised her almost silent sobs. Castle suddenly leapt to her side, moving her hair from in front of her face, seeing her slightly pink, tear stained cheeks.
"Oh, love," He cooed as he stroked her hair gently, "What's wrong?"
She only hiccupped as she attempted to speak, causing Rick to whisper comforts to her until she calmed down. The husband slowly peeled the covers back and shifted onto his side of the bed, holding her in his arms and rocking her gently. Kate mumbled some words into his chest, but they were completely incoherent.
"What was that, love?" He inquired.
Kate slowly lifted her head, and tried to speak again as her husband gently wiped her tears with his thumbs.
She leaned into his touch, "What if everything goes wrong?"
Rick's heart clenched slightly as his partner burst into another flurry of tears, "Could you be more specific so my advice can be better and more suited to the question?"
Kate gave a small smile despite everything, "What if I l-lose her?"
He emitted a long exhale as he brought Beckett closer, "Well, that would be incredibly shitty, but we would get through it together, and we would do anything we needed to. But you've already taken leave from the precinct after that tackling scare with the suspect last month, so there's no worry about harming her in that way, and miscarriage is most common during the first trimester, and we've already passed that stage."
"But it's still a possibility." Kate stated, fingers fiddling with his shirt buttons.
"I don't think so. I think it'll be the opposite." Kate looked up in confusion, "I think you've made such a lovely home in your body for our baby girl, she won't want to leave."
Beckett chuckled, "Look at you, making up crap to make me feel better."
"It's what I do."
The two stayed huddled close together in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Kate's small voice piped up, "What if the delivery goes badly? She's already big, and I've still got two months to go! What if I mess it up?"
"We'll be in a hospital, with many fully trained doctors and nurses, who have experienced more or less anything. And, it's just pushing, I don't think there's many ways to mess that up."
"Easy for you to say. You don't have to do anything."
"Not true!" He scoffed, "I'm obligated to get you the best push present in the history of ever."
Kate's eyebrows furrowed, "Push present?"
"Yeah! It's a present the father gives to the mother to mark the occasion of the birth! And also to say well done for being a super hard-core badass and pushing a human out of your vagina."
"I think a healthy and happy baby girl would be a more than wonderful present." Kate smiled, causing Rick to grin too.
"And we'll get her. And we'll be so overwhelmed with love and joy and life. It's going to be indescribable."
"And this time you won't be forced to wait outside like with Alexis." Kate said, a slight harsh tone showing in her voice.
"Well, maybe we'll get in and you'll decide you don't want me to see you like that, just like Meredith did."
"Are you kidding? I need someone's hand to hold and possibly break during labour." Kate joked, a glint visible in her still watery eyes.
"And I'll be happy to fulfil that role." Rick confirmed, planting a light kiss to Kate's forehead.
Kate closed her eyes and shuffled closer to Rick, his hands wrapping tightly around her frame, his right palm placed over the baby bump, rubbing soothing circles. He was almost certain that Kate had finally fallen asleep, but she shuffled in discomfort and let out a small whimper.
"What if I'm a bad Mother?"
Rick's gaze softened as he met his partner's eyes, "You know you won't be." Beckett opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off, "You've already done so much for our baby girl. You've kept her out of harm's way, you've bought her all the clothes she'll need for approximately the first three years of her existence," Kate rolled her eyes at his exaggeration, "You made sure her nursery was perfect, from the colour of the walls, to the arrangement of the cushions, and everything in between. I've heard you sing to your little bump when you think I'm asleep. There's no way you'll be anything less than an amazing Mother."
"But what about the little things? Like when I'm working late and I can't tuck her into bed? Or when she wants to find out about her grandmother and I can't tell her because I'm afraid of scaring her? Or when I can't make her favourite food because I'm too tired from work? Or-"
Kate paused as her husband abruptly got up from the bed and retreated to the living room. She put her head in her hands, cursing herself. She was being stupidly paranoid, and now she'd managed to piss off her husband in the process. Running her hands through her mussed up hair, she let out a loud sigh.
Suddenly, Rick appeared in the bedroom in front of her, gallantly holding out his hand.
"Come, m'lady!" He announced in a posh voice, bowing slightly as he said the words.
Kate hesitantly held her hand out to meet his, and was quickly pulled out the bedroom door.
She gasped slightly as she saw the scene in front of her. Duvets and bed sheets being held up by the tall speakers that had been moved to create a square, each inch of the inside covered with pillows of differing colours. The Christmas fairy lights that were originally on the tree were draped over the top of the sheets, making the dark room twinkle as the lights periodically flicked on and off. As she looked inside, she saw that he had placed two bowls inside; one filled with popcorn and another filled with candy of all types.
She whipped her head round to look at her husband, his face grinning with glee.
"I will not allow the pregnancy hormones to plaque you anymore!" He continued in the loud voice, "We shall hide in the Fort of Awesome, where sad thoughts cannot penetrate our minds, and should they attempt…" He scurried over to one side, picking up the lightsaber that was hidden beneath the pillows, "I shall fight them by duel!"
Kate laughed loudly at Rick pretending to joust with the blue lightsaber, hopping around the fort. When he made it back to her, he placed the makeshift weapon down, "So, shall we enter, m'lady?"
She bit her lip to avoid her face breaking out into a large smile, but failed, "We shall, my knight."
"No! I am the King!" He shouted, but nonetheless took her hand and carefully guided her under the blankets, being cautious of her bump. She finally plopped down with a large exhale, and he sat close to her, wrapping his arm around the small of her back.
"Okay, we have important decisions to make, as King and Queen of the Fort of Awesome. Are you ready for this responsibility?" Rick said in a serious, hushed tone.
"As I'll ever be." Kate shrugged.
"So, our first royal decree. Do we…" He motioned his arms to a pile of DVDs in the corner, "watch DVDs of the Queen's choice? Or…" He picked up a large was of papers that was precariously held together by a binder clip, "Do we order the most ruggedly handsome writer in the land to read from his newest, yet unpublished book, 'Wandering Heat'?"
Kate pretended to mull over the choices, before smirking, "I'll take the book, as long as this ruggedly handsome writer isn't too busy?"
"He's never too busy for his Queen."
"Wow. After four years of marriage, I didn't even know there was more levels of corniness, but you just hit an all-time high, Castle."
"Shush and let the writer read, okay?"
"Fine." She mumbled as she poked her tongue out at him, causing him to lunge forward and catch her tongue between his lips. They kissed slowly for a few moments before Kate broke away, leaning her forehead against his.
"I love you, Rick. Thank you for putting up with me."
"Thank you for putting up with having a baby in your uterus for nine months, you super-woman."
Kate grinned and moved forward for another small, chaste kiss, before carefully lying down onto the soft pillows, resting her head on her partner's lap as he cleared his throat.
"Wandering Heat by Richard Castle. To KB, my partner, my wife, my best friend, my life, my always."
Kate felt her eyes welling up again as he read the dedication, but kept silent as he continued, "You're going to be an incredible Mother, just as you are incredible at every other aspect of your life. Our baby girl is going to be so damn lucky to have you, and she's going to love you just as much as I love you. And there's nothing to worry about because I'm going to be here every step of the way, because you can't get rid of me even if you tried. Even if you throw a breast pump at my face – not that that's a specific incident from my past or anything – I will be standing next to you the whole time. You, me, and our perfect little daughter. Who is going to be extraordinary, just like her Mother."
Kate tilted her head to look up at Rick, eyes filled with love and passion, though her words were just as teasing as always, "It's a bit long for a dedication, isn't it?"
"Don't question the King." He responded, mimicking a stiff upper lip.
Kate rolled her eyes good-naturedly and settled back down into his lap, letting the warm, calm voice of her partner send her to sleep.
Two fics in two days!? Yup, that NaNoWriMo for you!
Not so sure on this fic, but the prompt was so sweet, I couldn't resist!
I would love it if you let me know what you think, it really does help me improve.
Also, as I said before, I'm still trying to write 50,000 words of Caskett-y goodness in the month of November, so if you have any prompts, feel free to send them my way, I'd really appreciate it!
Thanks for reading, my lovelies!
Lou xo
Castle Tumblr and AO3 accounts; pullingbeckettspigtails