Disclaimer- I don't own Castle, Andrew Marlowe does. Please don't sue me for writing this story! Just having fun playing in the Castle Sandbox! Errors corrected, but I do not have a beta reader, so there's probably typos and dropped/redundant words (my apologies). I am not getting into the fandom and making friends for a reason; all my experiences with fandom in the past have brought me friends and some great charity work, but at the same time, incredibly gross and unappealing drama (like having my account hacked. Nice job, right?). I actually had my life threatened by someone once (are you kidding me? It's only fanfiction!). I am never going to fall into that trap again. It's not worth it at all. But the nice people who've reviewed the prequel to this story, I do appreciate you! Thank you!

I basically wrote this as a distraction from the stuff I *should* be focusing on this week, plus it's unbetaed. Sorry! It was a good distraction to write again. And I'm completely blaming this chapter on kittykatgurrl63 who left a review saying I should write this chapter.

Mornings in the Castle household had a routine, one I had established personally. Richard had never raised Alexis with a routine, she had established one herself.

I woke up around five-fifteen to do a quick couple of miles on the treadmill and take a shower. I dressed, putting on my mother's engagement ring necklace and my father's watch as I had for twenty years, and put on some foundation and mascara before starting breakfast. The kids liked their own omelets; Noel liked mushrooms and red peppers, Jace liked spinach and feta, Jo-jo liked hers with tomatoes and cheddar. I didn't mind making eggs for my babies when it was my turn. I put some turkey bacon on as well. The coffee maker was already brewing.

Richard woke the kids up. I knew Jo-jo was probably kicking and pouting, she hated waking up. She made that clear. We usually just gave her the task of dressing herself and coming down for breakfast. Noel had been the same way until a few years ago, too. Now, he was setting his own alarm. I could hear them thumping around upstairs.

"They'll be down in a minute," Richard said. "I'm going to take a shower, now."

"Alright," I said. "Thank you, honey."

One-by-one, the kids came downstairs, still sleepy-eyed and dressed in their uniforms, except for Jo. I served the boys their omelets and I went upstairs to check on her. She was dressed, but still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Come on, sweetheart, it's time for breakfast," I said.

"Hmm!" she pouted. I brushed her hair out of her face.

"How do you want your hair today?"

She wriggled a little bit and I took her to the bathroom to brushed her hair into something decent. I put her hair into pigtails. "Are we going to be happy today?" I asked her. "Have a good day at school?"

"Mm-hm," she said, nodding. I knew she'd get caught talking in class eventually. That was the big problem with Jo, at least during our parent-teacher conferences. Richard and I were the rare couple that came together concerning our children's educations and went to every event.

"I made your omelet. It's ready."

"Okay."

I took her hand and led her downstairs. I wondered how long it would be before she'd get too embarrassed to hold my hand, like Noel and Jace had pulled away. She climbed onto the barstool at the kitchen counter and started eating her omelet. The boys were almost done.

"Boys, remember to put your plates in the sink when you're done," I called, going to the bedroom to check on Richard. He was standing in front of the mirror in a towel, still a little damp, shaving.

"Remember, we have to approve the Dallas invites for the Foundation today," I said. "And book the Dallas florists."

"This Foundation is like planning five weddings a year," Richard grumbled, wetting down a washcloth with hot water. He pressed it to his face. "I'll be out in a minute."

"I'll make your eggs."

I went to the kitchen, where Jo-jo was still eating, and the boys were packing their lunches. I started on some scrambled eggs and bacon for Richard and myself.

Richard came out right as I was finishing up, dressed in a winter sweater and jeans; his usual for dropping the kids off for school.

"Mom, your phone went off. It was Alexis," Jace said. "She said her ultrasound was going to be on Friday."

"You were snooping on my phone?" I teased. Privacy was a foreign concept Jace and Noel were just mastering at this phase in their lives. The moment you went into labor, your body wasn't your own for the next seven or so years of your child's life.

"You shouldn't snoop on your mother's phone. Or her purse, or our room in general," Richard said. I scooped out some scrambled eggs onto a plate while he poured his coffee.

"Eat fast," I told him.

Once we were done with breakfast and had lunched packed, Richard got the car warmed up in the basement of the building and I got the kids bundled up in their winter coats. I was now used to Richard driving, not myself. I didn't always drop the kids off at school, but today, I was. Richard turned on Bohemian Rhapsody and the kids got pumped up for school as we drove through the traffic-ridden New York streets. It always made me laugh when I saw Jo-jo making up with words that she couldn't pronounce in the rearview mirror. I got another text from Alexis.

Had some serious heartburn last night, I really think it was pregnancy, not dinner.

I wrote back. That's really normal. Anything little or weird, let your doc know. You can never be too careful.

We're on our way right now.

Alright. Hope it goes well. Love you.

I love you, too, Mom.

With traffic, we got to the school right as the song ended.

"Have a good day at school," I said. "Can I get a hug goodbye?"

"No!" Noel cried, offended. "Give me your hand, Mom."

He took my hand and squeezed it three times. I. Love. You. My heart melted. Alexis said that she used to do this with Richard when he dropped her off at school, too, she was too embarrassed to kiss him good-bye by age eight. She had taught her younger siblings this when they got too embarrassed. Jo-jo and Jace did the same thing with my hand, but Jo hugged Richard before she got out of the car. The teacher that was greeting students waved good-bye to us.

"I feel I just gave birth yesterday. They're all getting so big," I sighed as they walked into the building.

"I look at Alexis and feel the same way, too," Richard said. "And she's having a baby, now. Man, I feel old."

"Age is just a number, my love. Can we stop for coffee before we go to the office?"

My office was a thirty-by-twenty room in an old warehouse-turned-office in the Meat Packing District. Running the Foundation through our home was nice at first, but then it got difficult when our Scholarship Fund got over a million dollars in donations in a year and we rented out a small office. It was big enough that the board of the Alexis Foundation could meet here, especially when screening applicants and their therapists over Skype, after we approved them. At this point, we approved anywhere from 5-10 scholarships to approved treatment centers a month. My assistants, mostly interns from NYU and Columbia, did most of their phone and email work at their apartments. Luckily for us, there was a coffee shop downstairs. We ordered venti-sized lattes and took the elevator upstairs. There was a nothing like a sugar-free peppermint latte on a cold winter's morning.

Richard got out his laptop and started reviewing what Alexis wrote yesterday on their collaboration. I settled into the calls to the Foundation's accountant and bookkeeper. I had to process payroll today, which mostly included small stipend checks for my interns. While on the phone, I got another text from Alexis.

Everything's good. We're going to have some coffee and meet Dad at the bank. You'll be there?

I glanced down to my schedule while my accountant read off some numbers I could hardly keep straight.

I can't. Too much to do today. I'll be there on Friday, through.

The ultrasound was an important event. They were going to find out if this baby was a boy or a girl, and she wanted us there. i had scheduled it into my week. I decided I'd pull the kids out of school for this; it was important, a once-in-a-lifetime event. I wasn't sure they'd appreciate it, yet. But in a few years, they would.

I'm bringing the kids to see it.

Do you think they'll understand?

Not a chance. I'm on a call, brb.

I finished my macchiato while waiting for the kids to get out. Some of the other nannies and moms noticed me. I got a few waves and a "Hi, Kate!" as I walked past. I needed to cut back on the amount of caffeine I was drinking. I was messing with my sleep. Today, Jo-jo and Jace had ballet, and Noel had the night off. The bell rang and the students started coming out, lead by their teachers. I had to show my ID when Jo-jo was lead out by her teacher.

"Hi, Mommy!" she cried, as I picked her up.

"Hi! How was your day?"

She stopped to think. "I got a card pulled because I was talking too much," she admitted.

"Imagine that, chatterbox."

"It wasn't fair, she hadn't started the lesson," Jo-jo complained.

I kissed her head. A moment later, Jace and Noel came out with their classes, and they came over to me.

"Hi, Momma!" Jace cried.

"How did your day go?" I asked.

I listened to them talking about school on the way to the Subway back to TriBeCa.

We did a quick change and I took Noel along, since Richard had a few telephone interviews. Noel didn't mind going to watch the ballet classes; I think he liked looking at the girls in their leotards. Jo-jo liked ballet because she wanted to be a ballerina like all little girls. I remembered Martha telling me how important it was for little girls to take ballet for a few years to get their sense of balance and grace, to consider it like a social vaccine so she wasn't awkward and kultzy. Jace had been invited to dance with her class five years ago, and I had no idea it would turn into a competition between the two and how much talent Jace would show in it. He loved ballet. His usually hyper nature was calmed and he concentrated hard. I had been so proud when he was cast as one of the party guests and one of Mother Ginger's polichinelles in the Metropolitan Ballet's production of the Nutcracker at Christmas. It had been hard work, but he loved it. Jo-jo was incredibly jealous, which I expected. But after a long talk, and telling her if she worked hard enough in ballet, she might get chosen to audition next year, she wanted to bring Jace flowers every night. When the kids were in ballet, and Noel was doing his homework, I got out my phone. Alexis was telling me about how she had to prepare for the ultrasound on Friday, and she didn't look forward to trying to drink thirty-two ounces of water before the exam.

I know, it sucks. Just think, tomorrow by this time, we'll know if you're having a boy or a girl, though! It's worth it.

I love you Mom, but seriously, becoming a human water balloon does not work for me.

I grinned at the message, and looked up to see Jace turned a pirouette. Jo-jo was trying just as hard, studying herself in the mirror. For a moment, Jace's head was gazing up, spotting on something on the wall, his expression solemn. Jo's expression was studious as she watched her foot pointing to the side, then resting back in 4th position, and then, she tried to whip herself around. It was that moment that I saw Martha's face again in both of them.

I walked into Martha's apartment to help her over for dinner. The first round of chemo was not being kind to her; she had already lost nine pounds and we were getting to the week that her hair was about to fall out. She had pre-emptively cut it in a pixie, and it was thinning rapidly. She had given up on the idea of wearing a wig daily, so she had figured out how to wrap colorful turbans to match each of her outfits.

"...If you can just hold out for a few more minutes, Mamma Martha," Ben was saying. He was sitting beside Martha's recliner that she was laid out in. He had lovingly nicknamed her that, which she didn't mind at all, "it's gonna hit. You're gonna be real high, but it's so good for you right now. We'll feed you anything you want, you can act the fool and we don't care."

I knew that Ben and Alexis had been heavy pot-smokers when they first moved in together. Ben had been sober and substance-free in the last four years, and Alexis had supported him by not doing drugs or alcohol, either. It didn't surprise me if they were cooking Cannabis Extract Oil and administering it to Martha to help with her cancer treatment. When she got sick, I looked up every cancer treatment, and it had come up as being more effective than chemo and radiation.

"Oh, Benjamin," she sighed. "You're going above and… beyond."

"Don't you worry about thing. This is gonna buy you a little extra time."

"I have no interest in being on borrowed time," she said. "When your number's up, your number's up."

"Don't you talk like that," Ben drawled. I noticed for the first time a few strands of silver against his black mop of hair.

"Hi, Ben," I said, entering the room. "Hi, Alexis."

"Hi, Mom," Alexis said, shooting to her feet. I saw the guilt on her face when she saw me.

"Hi, Martha," I said.

"Oh Katherine, is that you?"

I could already hear it in her voice. The pre-stoned high. I was quite familiar with it. I saw Martha's eyes roll up in the back of her head for a moment.

"I came here to get Martha for some dinner."

"Oh," Alexis piped up nervously. "I meant to come by sooner, there was a lot going on."

"Martha?" I asked.

"Hmmm?"

I could see it in Martha's expression on her un-made up face; the high was starting to hit her. I knew what Ben had been doing without much evidence. "Ben," I said pointedly, a little annoyed.

"Look," Ben said, standing up. "I know you still have your badge. Just… please, don't turn me in until we've finished the 90 day cycle. I'll take full responsibility…"

I looked at Martha and saw the sticky dark honey-coated syringe inserted into Martha's g-tube that had been pushed flush.

They had drilled into us that marijuana was just as chemically and mentally dangerous as heroin and crystal meth in POST. I knew it all too well in reality; I had lost count of the number of joints I had rolled and smoked in high school and college. I remember doing wake and bake junior year of college; I couldn't start the day until after I had my first joint. Then, I'd have an Adderoll my dealer had dealt me so I could focus better. I remember the deep shame in POST of having to admit that I had smoked weed before to my Sergeant, hoping it didn't disqualify me. To my surprise, I had been met with a smirk and a promise that almost everybody who passed POST had done weed at sometime in their lives. Becoming an adult and having to have clear mind had brought me to put weed smoking to the way-side. I didn't want to be a dirty cop, either.

"Ben," I said to his rambling. I held up a hand to indicate that he stop talking. Despite being stoned, I saw Martha's face grow serious. Ben hadn't heard me; maybe it was his bad ear, maybe he was anxious about getting caught, he hadn't stopped talking.

"Katherine," Martha said softly. "Benjamin, Katherine wants to say something."

That, Ben heard. Martha had that kind of presence; she could command a room with a soft word. He stopped.

"Dinner's almost ready. I don't see anything, and I expect you to be at our apartment, washed up and ready to eat, in five minutes. Martha, I hope you have an appetite."

She chuckled. "Trust me, Katherine, I will."

Jace was practicing a double pirouette by this time, but Jo was still working on making hers fluid. And I knew what it was that triggered this memory of Martha; those few moments she was serious, but always the hint of enjoyment. That was Martha.

I had prepared the kids last night for pulling them out of school to go see Alexis's ultrasound today. I was met in the school's office with a gap-toothed grin from Jo-jo. "Hi, Mommy!"

"Hi. Are you ready to go see Alexis's baby?"

"Yes, ma'am!" she cried. I helped her into her coat and Jace and Noel arrived.

"Alright boys, get your coats on," I instructed.

"Yes, ma'am," the chorused.

"I don't understand how we're going to see the baby, yet," Jace said. "The baby's in her tummy, still."

"Is it going to be like an X-ray?" Noel asked as we went out to the car. Richard hadn't been able to find a parking space, so he had stayed in the car on a yellow curb for no-parking, the engine running.

"No, it's not like that," I said. "It's sound waves bouncing off her insides so we can see if everything's normal. And we get to see it, too."

The kids got themselves into their carseats, and I retreated to the warmed seat on the passenger side. "Hi, honey," Richard said. "Hey, kids."

"Are we going to behave at Alexis's doctor's office?" I prompted.

"Yes, ma'am," they chorused, buckling themselves in.

"I expect everyone to be on their best behavior." I didn't want my kids running around, picking up stuff, asking questions, causing chaos. They knew what I expected. "We'll go out for lunch if you do."

"Yeah!" I heard Noel cry.

"Yeah!" Jo-jo repeated, pumping her fist.

"Huh?" Jace asked. "Where are we going?"

"Chinese?" Richard suggested.

"Yeah!" Jo-jo cried. "Pot-stickers! Finally!" she moaned, as if we had been starving her.

We parked in the garage across from the medical offices in uptown, and Alexis and Ben weren't there, yet.

"Everyone has a book, I expect you to sit down and read it while we wait," I said.

"Yes, boss," Richard teased me.

I sat down on the white, perfect couch, praying my kids didn't have anything on their shoes or butts that would smear onto the fabric. I had given up on white couches a long time ago. I had a few things to review for the Atlanta Fundraiser, and I had just gotten my iPad out when Alexis and Ben arrived.

"Hi," Alexis cried, taking off her coat. She was wearing a teal sweater that showed off her baby bump and a pair of maternity jeans with her boots. I had warned her that she'd never want to stop wearing maternity jeans, even after the baby was born. I had been tempted myself. "I'm so glad you all made it!"

"I'm just happy to be out of school," Jace said.

"Slacker!" Alexis cried. We all laughed.

"You're making up for all the classes you're missing," Ben said, picking up Jo-jo. "You too, baby girl." She moaned and flopped down in his arms.

Alexis checked in with the receptionist and it was only a moment before the nurse called her in.

"How long is this going to take?" Noel asked.

"It'll be a few minutes," I said. "Read your book."

He settled back into the couch and tried to read. I remembered my own ultrasounds and when I saw Noel's little lima bean form in the blurry outlines, and the little pulsating thing in the middle. It was his heart, beating like a miracle, and my own damaged one was supporting it. I had been there in the last few months to see Alexis's baby in the first ultrasound when she was only a month along. Her OB-GYN was prescribing more and more ultrasounds, maybe due to her illness. I was relieved that she had a high-risk doctor, like I had had when I was pregnant with Jo-jo.

"Castle family?" the nurse asked, opening the door. I killed the view on my iPad and we gathered ourselves to follow her. Down the hall, we were lead into a small room. It was cramped enough, and darkened. Alexis was laying on the examining table with a sheet over her legs and hips and wearing a hospital gown while Ben was sitting beside her, the ultrasound technician on the otherside. Her OB-GYN was there, looking on at the black-and-white screen. Alexis's stomach had flattened a bit by laying down, but they had the KY on it already. She was grinning, shining, glowing.

"Hi," Richard said.

"Hi, Daddy," Alexis said. "Are we ready for this?"

"I think so."

My kids barraged the doctor and ultrasound technician with questions as they moved the wand around. He gave an explanation of what was happening and how the ultrasound worked, and the technician moved the wand around on her stomach.

"Almost ready," the doctor said.

"I'll never be ready for this," Richard muttered.

"Here we go… It's a girl."

It struck me, finally; I was going to be a grandmother. I had taken Alexis on as my own child when she seemed to need it the most; and she had become my daughter, for good and for bad, we were still mother and daughter, even if we disagreed or got angry at each other. She was so much a part of me, now, that even though we joked about it, Alexis and I had had a few psychic mother-daughter moments, like I had had with all my children. And now, I couldn't help the joy that bubbled up inside me, and I knew it was from Alexis, too.

A baby girl. A new baby girl was coming into our family. And she was going to be perfect.