Author's Note: All right, so I did decide to do a sequel to No Declarations or Expectations because a lot of you said that you would be interested. I admit that it is coming slow, so bear with me as I'm getting into the story. I promise that I won't rush through the pregnancy… I know that so many get frustrated with that, so I'm going the slow route. Review if you would like!
"So that's all I have to do?" he asks the doctor, eyebrows up in the air.
"That's all you have to do Mr. Castle. It is going to be most uncomfortable this first week, but after that, it should start calming down a bit. You were lucky that it was a clean break… it doesn't appear that we are going to have to do any surgery."
"Yeah, well, thank you. Can you point me in the direction of my wife now?"
"I believe that my colleague has her up in the OB/GYN suite. Said that you put up quite the fight to stay with her."
"She put me in my place though." Castle says with a laugh.
"How long have you been married?"
"For real… not even a week. In my head… years."
The doctor laughs, escorting him out of the small office and showing him the way to the stairs and elevator where he can find his wife.
"Dad! What did the doctor say?" Alexis says, coming out of the elevator just as Castle is trying to get up to where the doctor directed. She was the one who insisted on coming with the two to the hospital, while Martha and Jim went back to the loft to get a meal ready for the group.
"He wants to see me in six weeks. Six weeks in the sling, and if it starts feeling worse and doesn't start getting better after a week or so, I need to see him again as well. Did Kate send you down?"
"She did. They wanted to do an ultrasound and she said that you didn't get to see the first one… thought that if you were nearly done they could wait for you."
He smiles a large smile before linking his good arm with his daughter's.
"I… ummm… I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad she found you."
"I wouldn't expect anything less of Kate, button… she always gets the bad guy."
"Dad." Alexis says then, in a voice that forces him to turn and stop to look at his daughter, who has fresh tears in her eyes.
"What is it?" he asks.
"You can't do that to us again. I don't want you doing this anymore. It's too dangerous… I just… I've gotten close to Kate and thinking about her being a cop makes me realize that she's going to put herself in danger and that scared me… but then I realized that you are always right next to her. You're always there for the danger, and I can't lose my parents… and I want my baby brother or sister to know BOTH of their parents…. And Kate… she can't take this again… I've never seen someone so lost."
"Alexis, this was a fluke…"
"No, it wasn't… how many times have you come home to tell us a story about chasing down some suspect, getting shot at, getting locked in a freezer… this wasn't a fluke, it was part of the pattern."
"So what do you want me to do?" he asks hesitantly, knowing exactly what his daughter is asking.
"Quit… stop shadowing Kate… or… at least can you guys be more careful with things? All the rules that Gates agreed to with the suspects and when you guys go arrest people while Kate is pregnant. Why can't that be all the time?"
"Have you told her you feel this way?"
"No… but I'm telling you. This just… this felt different this time…"
He moves to hug her to him with his good arm, kissing the top of her head like he usually does to comfort her, "I'll talk with Kate, Alexis. She and I will have that conversation, okay?"
Alexis nods and they step into the elevator to get up to where Kate is with her doctor, being escorted back to the room right away.
"I got him!" Alexis says, entering the room with her father right behind.
With a large smile, Kate looks to her husband after telling the younger Castle thank you. "You ready to see the baby?"
"I am. Where's the doctor?"
"She went to go get all the equipment she needed for the ultrasound. Said she would be back in a few minutes. What did the doctor say for you?"
"I have to keep it in the sling for 6 weeks. If it starts getting worse after these first weeks, I need to go back."
"You're lucky." She says quietly, and Castle notices Alexis turn to him at the admission.
"That's something we're going to talk about when we get out of here… as a family." He says, placing one hand on his wife's and one hand on his daughter's shoulder.
They are distracted away from their private moment when the doctor knocks on the door wheeling some equipment in the room.
"I'll wait outside." Alexis says, starting toward the door.
"No! Alexis, you can stay… in fact, I want you to stay so you can see your baby brother or sister." Kate replies, holding a hand out to the girl.
"Are you sure?" she asks.
"It's okay that she stays, right?" Kate asks her doctor, who is still setting things up.
"I'm okay with it as long as you're okay with it." Dr. Meyers says with a smile. "Now lets look at this little one to make sure that everything is going okay in there… lift up your shirt, Kate.
She does as the doctor says, and flinches a bit when the gel goes on her stomach. That's when everything goes quiet except for the rapid breathing of everyone in the room waiting to see or hear anything.
"Here we go." The doctor says, flipping a switch and filling the room with a whooshing sound, "Baby's heartbeat looks and sounds good. Your blood pressure is down significantly, so I would say that we are out of hot water. Let me look around a minute though so I can get you guys a good picture to see…" she says, moving the wand around as the group waits to look at the little one. "… and this looks like a great angle."
Alexis gasps, watching as the baby on the screen moves his or her arms while they are watching, "that's so cool!"
"So cool, but something that you are going to be waiting a VERY long time to experience first hand." Castle says, not even taking his eyes off the screen.
"Question for the group… do you want to know what the baby is?"
"We decided that we didn't a few weeks ago… can you tell now?" Kate says.
"I can."
"I totally want to know!" Alexis says with a laugh, and Castle smiles at her enthusiasm.
"How about this… I can put it in an envelope and if you guys change your mind, you can open it later." The doctor suggested which has Alexis smiling even wider.
"You know what, I have an even better idea. Tell our daughter, and if we want to know… we ask…. But Alexis, both of us have to tell you at the same time that we want to know… otherwise you can't tell us." Kate says and looks up to find Castle smiling down at her.
"Can I tell Gram?"
"No!" both adults shout, knowing that the older woman could never keep something like this to herself.
"You're probably right… bad idea."
After a moment of writing a few more things down, the doctor speaks again, "While I know that the blood pressure incident was the result of something out of the ordinary, I'm still going to treat you like I would if someone just came in with that presentation. With that said, I would like you to come in for the next few weeks so I can monitor the blood pressure and make sure that it isn't always so up and down. And I can print off a few more pictures for you two, which will be waiting at reception when we are done here… which also will give me the opportunity to tell your daughter the sex of the baby. So… scoot!"
With matching smiles, the pair exits the small office into the reception area, leaving Alexis in with the doctor.
When she comes out to join her family, she is smiling wide and has a twinkle in her eye.
"Oh no… it's another girl… the house will be full of females." Castle says, seeing her expression.
"I'm not telling either of you anything, so don't worry about it." Alexis replies, knowing that of the two of them, he father is going to be the one to crack first.
"Besides, Castle… maybe the twinkle in her eye is because it's a boy and she knows that he'll be just as crazy as you and she wants you to get a taste of your own craziness?"
"She's right, dad, I could be thinking that…"
"I don't like the two of you so buddy buddy… you get all… gang up on daddy on me…" he says with a small frown.
Kate kisses his forehead then and walks past him with Alexis in tow, "Come on, you big baby. My dad and your mom are waiting for us at the loft with food."