Hello, all. This is my first Castle fic though I've been reading the many, many, many amazing ones on here for quite some time. I'm a little late to the Castle party, having recently binge-watched my way to 5x04 (don't worry, I'll be finishing all the seasons) after watching the S6 finale.

Anyways, this is yet another S7 supposition fic. My intention is that it will be short, 2-3 chapters at most. I won't be going into cases or much background info at all, as I want my focus to be on Castle and Beckett.

I hope you enjoy it, and of course I don't own the characters or the show.

"Take me to my wife," he demands (not caring that technically she's still his fiancée) as soon as they've finished poking and prodding him and asking him the same questions over and over.

His name is Richard Castle. The year is 2014. He lives in New York City. Kate is somewhere in this hospital having their baby.

Yeah, he's about to become a father for the second time and he just found out an hour ago. So forgive him if he's freaking out a little bit. Oh, and he was kidnapped and held hostage for almost nine months. There's that. He should be heavily sedated right now, he should be resting right now, he should be giving a statement to the police and talking to a psychiatrist.

He should be with Kate.

So he forgoes the CT scan and the extra blood work and the heavy drugs because there is only one place he needs to be right now, and he is not going to let her down again. Missing the wedding was one thing, but missing this, the birth of their first child, not gonna happen.

He weasels the nurse into giving him a wheelchair and hauls ass down the hall to the elevator. It's only a couple floors to the maternity ward, but it feels like he's on the slowest elevator ride of all time. He needs to get to her.

The room is easy to find when he finally gets to the floor; their entire extended family is waiting outside in the hall.

"Richard!" his mother exclaims. "The doctor said you'd be out for several hours."

"And miss the birth of my child? No way. Now let me through."

"Take it easy, bro," Javi interjects. "We'll get the nurse to let you in."

Javi stands and knocks on the door before sticking his head in.

"Javier Esposito! What did I tell you about barging your big stupid head into this room! Now is not a good time!"

Lanie's voice carries to the hallway and he can't help but laugh. At least Kate hasn't been alone the whole time.

A nurse appears in the doorway almost instantly.

"Mr. Esposito, what did I tell you earlier about interrupting?"

"I'm sorry, Sally, but this is really important. Her fiancé's here. Castle's here. He needs to come in."

The nurse looks beyond Javi to him and must read 'nervous-father-to-be' all over his face because she instantly softens and beckons him forward.

"Come in right away, Mr. Castle. You're just in time. She'll need you for this."

He's quickly draped in scrubs, properly sanitized, and wheeled behind a blue curtain. There she is, his beautiful, brave, bad-ass almost-wife. She's sweaty and screaming and he's never seen anything more perfect.

"Castle, get your ass over here. I can't feel my hand."

He swaps with Lanie, slides his hand into Kate's iron grip and doesn't even care that all of his knuckles instantly crack. Kate turns her head toward him, exhausted green eyes meeting his. She's a little out of it, probably on the bare minimum of drugs that he bets she resisted until they made her take them.

"Castle?" she groans. "You're here?"

He smiles down at her and brushes a few loose strands of hair from her forehead.

"I'm here, love. You're doing great. You're extraordinary."

"Thought you were gone. Tried to find you. M'sorry I couldn't. Love you."

"I know, Kate. You did everything you could. They couldn't have found me without you. But that's not important right now, okay? It's time to have this baby. You ready?"

"I'm scared, Rick. Can't do this without you."

"You're not doing this alone, Kate. I'll be with you the whole time, for everything. I'm not going anywhere."

The doctor gives him a nod.

"It's time Kate, you gotta push."

He squeezes her hand and presses a kiss to her damp temple.

"You got this, babe."

She takes a deep breath, clamps down on his hand, and the next series of moments are all a blur. She's screaming, they're both crying, suddenly there's a piercing squall filling the room, he's trembling as he cuts the cord, Kate's grinning wide and bright through her pain and tears when they place the baby briefly on her chest, and then they're whisking the little squirming red body away.

Kate's eyes follow the nurse and then they settle on him and it's like she's seeing him but looking through him at the same time.

"Kate?"

She sinks back onto the hospital bed.

"I'm so tired, Castle. Wish you could've been there for this. Baby has your eyes."

He starts panicking. He's right here, he's right next to her.

"Kate. I am here. I was with you. What's wrong?"

But she doesn't answer him because machines start beeping and the nurse ushers him away with reassurances that everything's fine, it was a long birth, she needs fluids and rest. And then suddenly he's back out in the hallway, several expectant faces staring back at him.

"It's a boy," he beams when he finds his voice again. "It's a boy."