The snow was falling gently as Detective Kate Beckett looked out the window of the apartment. She was exhausted, thrilled, overwhelmed and a whole host of other things all at once. In her arms was a beautiful baby. Her baby. The little life she'd made with her husband when he'd ravished her on the couch in front of the fireplace on Valentine's day.
'You are the best early Christmas present Mommy ever got,' she murmured to her son. Her beautiful Richard James Castle. Little RJ, a precious piece of heaven to call her own. 'I know you can only really hear me right now but this thing we're at right now, that's home and that nice warm thing bringing the heat is called a fireplace. And that smell is Daddy making us dinner.'
'How's our man doing?' Castle asked her from the kitchen stirring the pot of beans and onions; he was making chilli, one of Alexis' and Beckett's favourite winter warm-ups.
'He's pretending he's napping, I think, he's got his funny face on.'
'He's got a funny face already?'
'Yeah, like you get when you're pretending to be innocent when you're secretly scheming with Ryan and Esposito.'
'I just bet he's been having coded baby exchanges with Mallory Ryan already,' Castle decided, adding onions. 'I sincerely believe that babies have codes like that, and once we figure out how to breed babel-fish, we're going to find out what they really mean when they're cooing and gurgling.'
'But do we want to know, that's the question.'
Castle set the timer for the chilli to simmer, went to sit with his wife with the baby. How far they'd come since they first met, Castle thought. The first conversation he'd had with this beautiful woman was when he'd been in a police interrogation room and he'd told her he'd be happy to let her spank him. She had indeed spanked him, albeit playfully two and a half years later, the first night they'd spent together.
Now they had a gorgeous son together, and a daughter who was on her way down the stairs sniffing like a bloodhound.
'I smell my favourite winter warm-up,' she said, stretching upwards as she went to make tea. 'Though after the baby shower yesterday, I doubt I'm going to need to eat until next week.'
'Meredeth knows how to put on a spread, that's for damn sure,' Castle agreed. 'Tessi and her little brothers and sisters are going to be spoiled for life, and so will RJ and whatever one comes after him.'
'Okay, easy tiger, we can't even make love for fun yet, let's not go thinking about the next one. I want to enjoy this little man right here.'
Beckett reached into the baby seat and cuddled her son close. Her son, she thought again. This beautiful creature was her child she'd made with the man she loved. One look at him and she knew there wasn't a thing in the world she wouldn't do to keep him so pure and innocent as this moment right now. She put him against her chest and hummed a little, gently rocking back and forth.
Castle watched her and felt his heart spill over with pride. His wife, his beautiful Kate, never failed to amaze him with how much she could evolve. He hadn't expected their relationship to turn out like this, but it had never stopped him from wanting it with her. The journey they'd taken to get to this point together, with all its highs and lows, speed bumps and fast-tracks, meant more to him than gold.
When Alexis brought over the tray with tea and its fixings, he gave her a smile. 'Guess all that time in England cured you of your New-York-bred coffee impulse, huh?'
'I like them both, but at different times for different things.'
'I surprisingly haven't missed coffee,' Beckett said, tracing her fingertips over RJ's back as he snoozed against her. 'I thought I'd have turned into a monster but knowing I was doing it for this little guy made it easy.'
'He's so cute, I could sweeten this earl grey just by dipping his fingers in the pot,' Alexis cooed. 'I'm going to miss him so much after Christmas.'
Castle gave Alexis the eagle eye. 'Hey, now, none of that. It's still three weeks until Christmas Eve and we're going to have so much fun with this little guy.'
'You want milk, lemon or sugar, Dad?'
RJ seemed to be very in tune with the word 'milk', for it was barely out of Alexis' mouth when RJ woke and began to fuss for his snack-time. Beckett steadied him against her body as she lifted her shirt, adjusted her nursing bra so he could feed.
'Okay, there we are my little prince, drink up,' she murmured, then gave Alexis an apologetic look. 'Sorry for whipping these things out in front of you.'
'Nothing I don't see in the shower every day. And while babies who drink breast-milk do take longer to settle into an overnight sleep routine because they digest it so quickly, they experience fewer health problems such as broken bones or jaundice.'
Alexis glanced down, saw the number on her ringing cellphone. 'Oh, um, excuse me, I have to take this.'
Beckett furrowed her brow at Alexis' exit into the kitchen, heard the young woman's low murmuring laugh and words. The last time she'd been this secretive was shortly after she'd become intimate with JP, and it concerned her that though it was almost six months since then and she'd had a few dates here and there, Alexis might be getting into another relationship when deep down she was still working out things from her last break-up.
She turned to Castle and wasn't surprised to find her own fears mirror in his expression. 'Are you-'
'Yeah, I know that look. I remember her acting like this when I found out about...her and JP last New Year's.'
'Did you expect her to stay a virgin forever?'
'There's not enough alcohol in the world that will make this conversation any easier so we'll try for a different branch of it. You know of anyone she's mentioned or talked about?'
'No, and you cannot borrow my service weapon to scare it out of every boy who walks through that door to see her, assusming of course that's what it is.'
'But that would be so much more fun than a laser-tag gun.' Castle held out his arms for RJ, who'd finished nursing and put his son against his shoulder to burp him. 'Eh, there, little bro, what is your big sister up to?'
Alexis wandered back into the kitchen and smiled at them as she sat back down, poured tea. 'So, what are you guys wanting to do tonight, make it a family thing or did you want some time alone?'
'Who was on the phone?' The question popped out of Castle's mouth before he could stop himself and immediately cursed inward.
'Oh, ah, just a contact for medical school, wanted to know if I wanted to meet to discuss some things. I'm meeting him tomorrow afternoon for coffee.'
He wanted to open his mouth and press the matter further but caught Beckett's eagle-eyed look and cleared his throat. 'We were thinking we'd have chilli and then maybe take a little walk, break in that new stroller of RJ's he got at the shower yesterday.'
'That sounds great.'
'Castle, can you get me my nursing pillow from upstairs?' When he'd gone, Beckett pinned her other baby with a look. 'Is it a boyfriend, Lex?'
'It's...complicated, is what it is, and I'd like a little privacy to sort it out for myself first, but the moment I do, we'll have a nice mommy-daughter heart-to-heart, okay?'
'You got it, besides, every woman's entitled to her secrets, right, RJ?' Beckett flicked a fingertip down her son's cheek. 'Yes, even your sister.'
R&R&Enjoy
