AN: All mistakes are mine. Sorry - I'm sure there are a few. I don't own Castle. Clearly. I never would've tortured the audience with that season finale.

Chapter 2

"Kate, sweety, I really think you should take another test."

"Rick, I'm tired of taking these stupid tests. You always get your hopes up, and then I end up getting my hopes up, and then I finally take one of those stupid tests, and when they come back negative, we're both disappointed. I really don't want to face that disappointment again."

"I know, I know. I'm with you all the way on this. But I truly believe this time will be different. Just take the test. For me? Please?"

"Castle, we've been trying for months now. What makes you think we've finally succeeded?"

"Call it a gut feeling…Hey! I can feel that eyeroll all the way over here…Just remember I was right about you being pregnant last time."

"I was…not…rolling my eyes…" Castle let out an audible scoff, causing Kate to amend her statement with "much". How does he know I just rolled my eyes? He's calling me from his hotel room in San Francisco!

"Kate, you've been kind of moody lately. And, well, tired." Castle says while cringing. He knows he'll pay for this observation later.

"Castle, we have toddler. And you've been gone for two weeks. Of course, I'm tired and moody. Most of my conversations only include the reply of 'no'. And the rest of my conversations are with perps and victims." Did I just say perps? I have read one too many crime novels. Note to self: For your next marriage don't marry a crime novelist.

"Did you just say perps?" Castle asks with a smile breaking out on his face.

"Not the point here, Castle." Kate says in her less-than-impressed tone of voice.

Trying to quickly recover, Castle agrees "Right, yeah, ok. But don't try to sell me this whole woh-is-me-story. You know you love spending every minute you can with your mini-me."

"Rick, she is not my mini-me." Kate tries to deny, while a grin spreads on her face from ear to ear.

"pff, yeah ok. As if she didn't look just like you, she's got your attitude and mannerisms down to a T. I'm not even sure my DNA is in that kid. I mean, I know she's mine, because, well, I was there, but if I were a more suspicious man, I might question her paternity."

"I think you were going for flattery, and took a 90 degree turn right into insulting me. And besides, I can think of another daughter you have that only mildly resembles you in both looks and personality." Kate's voice built up into a form of a whispered yell over the phone. You're at work, Kate. Don't draw attention to yourself. Even if you want to reach through the phone line and strangle your husband. Deep breath, In and Out.

"Look, Castle, I've got to go. I'll see you tonight when you get home. Have a safe flight." And with that Kate hung up the line, not even waiting for a reply back from Rick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Caskett~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Always~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"DADDY!" the two and a half year shouted his arrival as soon as he opened the door.

"Olivia!" Castle greeted back, attempting to match her enthusiasm. He scooped her into a hug and then placed her on his hip. He leaned over her to pepper kisses on her head until she broke out in a fit of giggles.

"Daddy! Stop! Stop!" Olivia squealed between giggles

"Stop? Why? I thought you love daddy's kisses?" Castle pouted his lips in an exaggerated way to show Olivia just how much she was hurting his feelings.

"I sorry daddy. I love daddy kisses. I'll kiss you and make it better." And with that Olivia leans over to give Castle a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "See? All better!"

"Awwww, thank you angel. Now, where is your mother? KA-" Castle begins to shout for Kate when Olivia's hands slap across his mouth.

"Sssshhhh Daddy! Mommy is sleeping!" Olivia shouts in a whispered tone.

"She's sleeping? Where?" Castle's eyebrows arch up in concern, but he schools his facial features in attempt to hide his true emotions from his toddler.

"There, silly." Olivia points across the foyer to the couch in the living room. She begins to squirm in his arms signaling she wants to be put down, so Castle complies.

Once her feet touch the floor she grabs her father's hand and drags him in the direction of her mother.

"See?" she whispers to her dad once they reach the couch.

Upon seeing Kate resting peacefully, Castle kneels down and whispers to his daughter "Why don't you go look in the bag I left by the front door sweetheart? I bet you might find a little something for you. Hm?"

Olivia's face lights up with a smile and she dashes off in the direction of the bag.

Castle stands and looks upon his sleeping wife. Studies her, might be a better description, as he drinks her in. He's specifically looking for any clues that she might indeed finally be with child again. He notes that her breasts do seem a little fuller.

Suddenly a shriek pulls Castle from his thoughts. His head whips around to find the source of the noise, and he went sprinting to his daughter in the foyer. At the same time Kate is suddenly pulled from her slumber and she too pops to attention at the sound of her daughter's screams. She arrives in the foyer hot on her husband's heals.

Kate catches her breath, when she finds her husband kneeling on the floor next to their daughter hugging her tightly. Kate looks around trying to determine what caused the commotion in the first place. She quickly spots Castle's bottle of cologne on the floor near the new toy, she can only assume her husband brought home from his travels.

What was she doing with Rick's cologne? And when did Rick get home? I must've fallen asleep, but when? Ugh, man, my head hurts.

"Castle, is she ok?"

"I don't know" Castle responds to Kate. He then turns to his daughter, "Sweety, what happened? Are you ok?"

Between sobs Olivia manages to whine, "Your smelly spray, got in my eyes. Aaaaand it huuurts!"

"Ok, honey, let daddy see your eyes, please."

"No, daddy! It huuuurts" she cries out.

Castle scoops her up and takes her to the bathroom, to rinse her eyes in the sink. Kate follows behind to see if she can be of any assistance.

Once he's got Olivia situated and rinsed her eyes a bit, he addresses his hovering wife, "between the tears she's crying and the water, she'll likely be fine. It probably just startled her more than anything."

"Yeah, I know" Does he think I don't know these things. Why does he feel like he has to calm me down? I'm not the upset toddler that needs coddling. I'm allowed to be concerned about my daughter. It's very reasonable. "C'mon baby, why don't you show me your new toy" Kate says to Olivia as she picks Olivia up placing her on her hip and walks back to the foyer.

Castle stayed in the bathroom and let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, she's definitely pregnant. And lucky me, the mood swings have already started." He says to his reflection in the mirror.

Eventually, Castle comes out of the bathroom to find his wife and youngest daughter playing in the living room. He suggests delivery for dinner and places the order. The family has an uneventful night, with Kate giving Olivia her bath, and Castle reading her a bedtime story, until she fell asleep.

Once Castle had successfully gotten Olivia to sleep, he joined his wife on the couch in the living room.

"I haven't taken a test yet, if that's what you were about to ask."

"Actua-"

"And what makes you so sure I'm pregnant? Huh? I haven't had any morning sickness and we both remember how bad the morning sickness was when I was pregnant with Olivia." With that she was on her feet beginning to pace in front the couch.

"I-"

"And don't say you 'tasted it' again! Because you haven't been home for the past two weeks so you definitely haven't been around to do THAT!"

"Can I talk now? Please?" Castle calmly asked his wife.

"hm" Kate hummed her acceptance.

"Kate, you're late-"

"I've been late before, without being pregnant!"

"Yes, but you're moody, and tired. And if you ask me, your breasts are bigger. But if you're so determined to prove me wrong, then go take a test, and we'll both know." Castle watched Kate as her pacing slowed, and she paused to stare at a family photo they had taken soon after Olivia was born.

Ok, so I am late, and maybe, MAYBE, I'm a bit moody. But being tired is nothing new. I swear I've been tired since Olivia started crawling. And- wait, did Castle say my breasts are bigger? He noticed my breasts are bigger?! Never mind, it's Castle, of course he's paying attention to my breasts. She took a deep breath, and picked up the picture of her family to examine it further. Look at how happy we all were, and look at how tiny Olivia was. It's hard to believe it's been over two years. I want to experience all that all over again. We agreed to try for another baby. So why am I fighting with my husband? Why am I being so resistant to taking a pregnancy test? Right, don't want to get my hopes up. But still, what if Castle is right? He was right about Olivia. And he seems very sure this time. Ok, Kate, time to woman up, and take the test.

"Ok, Castle, you're right. I'll take a test in the morning. You know that's when the tests are the most accurate. In the meantime," she takes Castle's hands, pulls him up from the couch, and wraps his arms around her waist "let's go to bed. I'm tired, and I've missed sharing my bed with my blanket-hog-of-a-husband." And with that, they head to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Caskett~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Always~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy!" Olivia yelled while running into her parents' room.

"Ugh, Rick, it is so your turn. You owe me two weeks." Kate grumbles from her sleepy haze.

"Ok, I'm up." Castle mumbles. He sits up, as Olivia crawls into the bed between her parents. Castle steals a glance at the alarm clock.

"Kate, it's 5 o'clock. She's not going back to bed."

"Daddy, I want happy cakes!"

"Hmmmm, yeah Rick, pancakes sound nice."

"Ok, ok, I will go make happy face pancakes to appease my women. But I'll need a sous-chef in the kitchen. Care to join me mademoiselle?" Castle climbs out of the bed and gestures wildly to his little daughter making a show of it to entertain her. Olivia giggles with delight as she crawls out of the bed to run off to the kitchen.

Before Castle can leave the room, Kate gets out of bed and mumbles so only he can hear, "And I have a test I need to take." Castle grabs her hand as she attempts to walk past him. He tugs her gently to him, and kisses her.

"No matter what, Kate, I love you."

"I love you too."

"Ok, I will be in the kitchen, if you need me"

At this, Kate quirks an eyebrow at him, and Castle stutters out "Yo-you-you know what I mean". With a quick peck to her lips he leaves the room.

Five minutes later, Kate enters the kitchen. Castle turns around to greet her with two mugs of coffee in his hands.

"Decaf or regular?" Castle asks, knowing that the answer will tell him everything he wants to know.

Make him sweat it just a moment longer. School your features. Deep breath. He looks so anxious. Ok, moment of truth. Kate breaks out into an ear-splitting-grin. "Decaf please."

"YES!" Castle shouts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Caskett~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Always~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Say it. C'mon say it. Say it." Castle begs of Kate. To which Kate responds with an eye-roll.

It's hard to believe he's lasted this long before demanding I admit he was right. Let's see, I told him around 5:15 this morning, and it's now 9pm, so that means he's lasted nearly 16 hours. That's progress! But I still don't get how he was so sure. Even now, when I know for sure, I'm still having some trouble believing it. But he seemed absolutely certain. I know he listed off my symptoms, and he was right. They were all there. But how did he pick up on all of them before me? He's been gone for the past two weeks. Wait! He's been gone so how'd he know my breasts were larger? Ok, so he saw them when he got home, but he was bugging me to take a test before he got home from his trip. As the thoughts progressed, Kate's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in concentration. Did someone else notice my symptoms and tell him? Who would dare tell Castle they noticed my breasts? It would have to be one of the girls! Lanie? Nah, she would've come to me directly. Alexis? Martha? I've barely seen them these past couple of weeks. We've all been so busy. I don't get it.

"Hey babe?" Kate starts.

"Hm?" Castle replies.

"How were you so sure that I was pregnant? I mean you listed off my symptoms. I get that. But you were bugging me before you left San Francisco. So how did you know?"

"Ummmm…" Castle stilled.

Oh this is definitely worth knowing now. He's frozen. He doesn't want to tell!

"Babe?" Kate prods with raised eyebrows showing that she's waiting for his answer.

"Um, well, actually, see, it's actually a pretty cool story, when you think about it-"

"Babe, you're rambling. Out with it."

"Well" he chuckles under his breath while momentarily reminiscing. "Well, the other night, I went back to my hotel after a long day of meet and greets, and in the lobby of my hotel, a fortune teller had set up a table. So I figured I'd go see what she thought was in my future. She told me that by the year's end, my wife will introduce me to someone who will change my world forever more. When I pressed for more details, she said that this person was already on their way into our lives, and she hinted that it may be a family member of some kind. So, naturally, my mind went to baby."

"Wait, you're telling me, that you were absolutely certain I was pregnant because a FORTUNE TELLER HINTED that a family member would be arriving? That could've meant anything! I could've introduced you to my aunt Theresa finally –for all those hints were worth!"

"Yeah…but…it was the WAY she said it. I just knew. Baby."

Kate rolled her eyes again, and turned off her bedside lamp. She laid down and nestled into the bed until she was comfortable. Just as she started to drift off to sleep she heard, "I can tell people I figured it out before you this time, right?"