AN: Thank you so very, very much to dtrekker for the cover art and beta-ing this story. I can't believe she's agreed to come along on this crazy ride, freely! Also, thanks to my friend Lesa for the hate mail that really has made this into such a multi-chapter story. Without her, it ended at chapter 2.

I hope to post a new chapter each week.


The sun was shining brightly into the loft windows. For a mid-April morning, it was too gorgeous outside to be stuck indoors. The boys had been awake for almost an hour. Kate had made breakfast, done the dishes and was sweeping up spilled Cheerios when her phone rang.

Looking at the screen, an involuntary smile came across her face. Her screen saver was a photo she took of Castle and their boys just two days before. The boys wanted to make waffles and had gotten flour everywhere. She's not 100% sure who got the flour on their face first, but she couldn't resist taking a picture of their goofy smiles as Castle pulled the boys closer to him. He had one boy on each side of his face and enough flour for five loaves of bread sprinkled all over their heads and faces. She swiped her thumb across the bottom of the screen and then raised the phone to her ear.

"Hey," she said softly as her oldest son, Jackson, ran by, hugging his Mom's legs, almost knocking her over. Screeching by on his ride-along police car was his little brother, James. Both were doing their best to make "real police car noises."

"Jack, wait for meee!" cried James as he rounded the bar into the kitchen.

"Hey, I hear your morning is already up and running." It was her friend Lanie.

She let out a soft laugh, "Yes, as usual. We never sleep in. You know that."

"Well, the reason I called is Paul has cabin fever and we, I mean, he, wants to get out. I already called Jenny, and we are going to take the kids to the park on Hope Street. You and they boys have to come."

Kate never imagined she would be here, at this point in her life, in this place. She was a retired FBI agent; married to a ruggedly handsome author, step mom to Alexis, mother to 5-year-old Jack, and 2-year-old James. Both boys were named after their grandfathers. And as the cherry on top, she and Castle just found out the week before that they were expecting a girl.

As she absent-mindedly rubbed her small swollen abdomen, Kate recalled when the technician showed them the 4D image of their unborn baby displayed on the screen. They instinctively looked at each other and cried as if this miracle was their first pregnancy.

Alicia, the technician excused herself from the room to give them some privacy.

Castle smiled down at his bride, letting the tears fall.

"A girl. We'll finally have our girl," he said, his voice filled with such pride that she could only smile at him. She knew he loved and adored Alexis, but the idea of having another girl was exhilarating.

Staring at the screen, she wanted to remember this forever. She loved her sons, more than they would ever know. But there was something different about having a daughter. The bond she had with her own mother was special, treasured and extraordinary. She had developed a deep connection with Alexis and even Martha. The thought of a dream becoming reality became overwhelming.

When Castle leaned down to kiss a tear in the corner of her eye, she smiled.

"I love you," she said. "Thank you."

"Always."

They sat in silence for a moment before he nudged her hand.

"You know what this means, right?"

"I finally have a shopping buddy next time Lanie and I go out. Oh! Lanie is going to want to go shopping and replace all of the blue." Kate couldn't contain her happiness and excitement. Her cheeks were going to hurt from all the smiling before the appointment was over.

Castle laughed. "Well, now I know I need to keep writing. Someone is going to have to support her spending habits." He handed her a hand full of tissues from the counter.

Kate rolled her eyes and wiped the gel from her expanding belly, pulled her shirt down and set herself up.

"No, what I meant was, you know what her name is going to be, right?" When she was pregnant with the boys, they only discussed boy names. Secretly, neither wanted to get their hopes up for a girl.

Tears rushed to Kate's eyes, again. She had no power to blink them away nor did she want to. When she finally looked at Castle, he was crying, too.

They both knew these were tears of joy. They were expanding their family. After James was born, they were happy. This tiny dream was a surprise and a very welcomed one indeed. Kate began wearing bulkier clothes to hide her pregnancy. Neither had told any of their family or friends that a new baby was expected. From the moment she found out she was pregnant; she knew something was different, almost special, about this baby. The night she had told Castle, he said he felt the same. It wasn't that they didn't want to share the exciting news; they just wanted to bask alone in the sweetness and surprise a little more.

They made plans to have a small get together at the loft in two weeks and intended to tell everyone then. Castle had just released a new series and was going to be gone for six weeks on a book tour. They figured they would use that as an excuse, and no one would be suspicious.

With a smile on her face, Kate snapped back to Lanie talking in her ear. She knew her friend had asked her a question, but she wasn't paying attention.

"Sorry, Lanie, what did you say? I got distracted."

"I said, we are thinking we'll take the kids to the park and eat lunch there. Is there anything you can't have?"

"No. Why? I can eat just about anything, you know that."

"Well, missy, since you had the stomach bug a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure if everything was back to normal."

Stomach bug. How did she know about that? Castle! He must have mentioned something to Ryan and Esposito during their poker game. She had called and asked him to pick up some antacid tablets on his way home that night. She was suffering from recurring heartburn this time. She had morning sickness with both boys, and this time wasn't any different. It wasn't as bad as it had been with Jack, but bad enough that she still needed medicine.

"Oh, not too bad. I'm better now. I think Jack brought a bug home from school, and I was the only one that caught it. Castle joked our boys are too stubborn to get sick. Stubborn like him," she laughed.

"Girl, you know that's true. I hope Paul is strong like his daddy and sassy like me. Javi says we will be in so much trouble when he gets older," Lanie was so happy, you could here the smile in her voice.

Both women laughed. Lanie and Javi had been married about 30-minutes when she got pregnant with Paul. Jenny and Kevin were the first to have children, and it spread like wild fire within the group. The Ryan's had a 6-year-old daughter, Kylie and a 3-year-old son, Grady. Castle and Beckett joined the club with Jack and then James. Baby Paul joined their little makeshift family just two months prior. So Kate knew a girl to the mix would be welcomed. She would have her own biological brothers to look out for her in addition to Grady and Paul. Kylie would be an excellent big sister and friend. She already was the mother hen to the boys.

"So," Lanie continued, "how about we all meet at the loft in an hour?"

"That sounds great. I'm here alone, so come on in."

"Alone? Where's writer-boy?"

"He had to fly to D.C. this morning. Paula needed his help and demanded he come down there. He had planned to take the train, but Patterson said he could borrow his jet for the day. He just hired a new pilot, and the flight time is needed, anyway. They should be leaving JFK in about an hour."

"How long will he be gone?"

"Just for the day. He said he booked his return flight after 10 p.m. but is hoping he can put out what ever fire Paula has stirred up before then."

"Well, get your kiddos packed, and let's go play in the sun."

"Sounds great. We'll see you soon."

Kate put her phone on the bar and went back to sweep the cheerios. When she turned around, she saw her boys eating the pile of cereal off the floor. She laughed as she sat down with them.


Walking around the plane, he noticed one of the tires was low on air but not low enough to represent a safety issue, so he decided not to change it. He had a clipboard in his hand with a preflight checklist. The years of classes and flight lessons were slowly paying off. He learned the different flight maneuvers to fly solo. The pre-solo test was no challenge. Learning was easy for him anyway. Whenever he applied himself, he accomplished anything he put his mind to. The first job he landed after flight school was for a private security office, quietly making his way up the ladder.

His cell phone quietly buzzed in his pocket. As he removed it, he chuckled when he read the name of the caller.

"Hunter here."

"Yes, hello Mr. Hunter, this is Patterson. I am calling to see if you and the jet were up to an impromptu flight today?"

"Sure, sir. In fact, I was checking the plane right before you called."

"Great, just great. I need you to go to Washington, DC, probably in about an hour. You'll have to stay there for the day. The flight back is planned to be around seven, but could easily end up being later. Does that itinerary work for you?"

"Yes sir."

"Ok, very well then. One more thing, the flight is not for me; it's for Richard Castle. He's got to take care of some book stuff with his agent. I'm pretty sure he's flying alone."

"Not a problem. I'll make the arrangements."

"Thank you so much, Hunter. You never let me down."

With that, he taped his phone to end the call.

The day had finally arrived and much sooner than he planned. His mind was racing with everything he had to get into place with in an hour.

He tapped his phone to make one more call. After two rings, he said, "It's time. You have thirty minutes to meet me at the hangar. Today, we continue the mission."

The biggest pawn in his game was headed right for him. He was almost giddy. For so many years he had dreamt and planned for this moment.

On a bright, sunny mid-morning in April, it was all coming to an end.


AN: Alrighty, be gentle with me... Reviews are more than welcome!