a.n. I would like to thank everyone for the reviews and the favorites and the follows and for giving me such a warm welcome into the fandom! I'm glad you all have faith in me and I'll make sure that it's justified.

As for the story, I've been so inspired by this couple and your words that I think the chapters are going to come quickly, much more so than any other story I've written. I'll probably be posting one or two chapters a day. I'm having too much fun not to!

Now, I won't delay any longer and let you get to it. So please, read, review, and enjoy!

Month Two

"Castle?" Her voice was weak from sleep. When she didn't receive a response, she tried again, this time louder. "Castle?" She heard shuffling coming from the vicinity of the living room and she was tempted to get up to track down her husband, but she was too exhausted and feeling too poorly to even lift her head up off her pillow. Sighing, she buried herself in the bed and closed her eyes, hoping to get some sleep in spite of the protest from her stomach.

It had to have only been a few moments later when she found herself being woken up by a gentle hand on her shoulder. Turning toward the offending person, she groaned. If Castle came to wake me up to show me the newest baby things he just purchased, again, I swear I'll…

"Katherine?" The soft feminine voice that greeted her, rather than the deep gentle timbre of her husband, eased her frustration at being woken up and she opened her eyes to the visage of her mother-in-law.

"Martha?" The older woman smiled down at her.

"I'm sorry to have to wake you up like this Katherine." There was a sincere hint of regret in her voice and Kate pulled herself up to sit against the headboard, yawning.

"It's okay, Martha." Her voice was full of sincerity as she gave her mother-in-law a tired smile. "What's wrong?"

"Richard asked me to make sure that you had something to eat if he didn't get back before I came over. I was hoping that you'd be awake and when I saw you weren't, I was tempted to just let you sleep. But I did promise Richard…"

"Don't worry, Martha," Kate stated gently, cutting the older woman off. "It's fine. I think I've gotten too much sleep as it is."

"Nonsense, dear," Martha scoffed. "You're pregnant. You're growing another life inside of you. That's tiring work. Trust me, I know." She gave Kate a conspiratorial grin and Kate grinned back. "Now is your time. Do what you need to do. Sleep if you feel like it. Eat when you have the urge. Your body knows what it's doing, even if you don't think you do. Trust your instincts. From what I've learned about you, you're good at doing that. You've always done that before. Why should this time be any different?" An easy silence fell across the two women as Kate absorbed her words. She always had liked Martha, even before she and Castle had started dating. There was just something about the woman that made it easy to talk to her about anything really. She was always full of advice from her many years of experience, both on and off the stage. Even if Rick sometimes complained about her often unsolicited advice, she knew that he usually appreciated what she had to say. Speaking of Rick…

"Where is Rick anyway?" Martha waved her hand towards the door noncommittally.

"Oh who knows. You know how easily distracted Richard can get, Katherine. He probably got some notion or other in his head or some foolish idea and he just had to dash off to see it through. I'm sure he'll be back soon though."

"Oh." Kate was hoping she didn't sound disappointed that her husband wasn't there but her stomach was queasy and she was feeling terrible. She learned fairly quickly in her pregnancy that Rick's presence often helped alleviate some of the worst symptoms and he did whatever he could to help her, whether it was back rubs or foot massages or drawing her a warm and bubbly bath.

Her fluctuating emotions didn't help the matters any. She would inexplicably go from being happy at one moment to angry the next to inconsolable the moment after that. Fortunately, Rick was exhaustingly and enduringly patient with her and did whatever he could to help her through the turbulent moods she was experiencing.

"Don't worry, Katherine," Martha seemed to sense something more to her daughter-in-law's mood and placed a calming hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "It's nothing to worry about, I'm sure. He called me just before he left to ask me to come over and keep you company and to make sure that you ate something and were getting some sleep." Kate snorted at the insinuation that her husband thought she couldn't take care of herself.

"I can take care of myself, Martha. I'm not a child or an invalid." She knew she sounded a bit hostile and that the woman in front of her was not the object of her frustrations. But the man who was was nowhere to be found at the moment so she sought out the closest target. "Castle doesn't need to worry about me. I'm just fine."

"I know that dear and he knows it too. He just loves you and wants you to be happy. He knows that the last few weeks have been hard on you, especially with the morning sickness. He just wants to make this time as easy on you as possible. My advice is to let him." Kate sniffed as she realized the truth of the redhead's words. She knew Rick, as annoying as it was for him to be waiting on her hand and foot, was only trying to help. While she believed her anger towards his hovering presence was justified, she did appreciate all of the effort he was going through to make things less difficult for her.

"It's just…frustrating, Martha, you know? I'm not used to feeling this way. Sure, I've been sick before and I've been laid up in bed for days, even weeks on end, but this is different. I just feel so…helpless." The tears were starting to come, but she refused to let the other woman see them. She never cried in front of anyone, not since her mother died.

Anyone except Rick. And now he wasn't even here to help her deal with all of her frustrating and conflicting emotions.

She was only mildly surprised when she felt the warm arm wrap itself around her and she looked up to see Martha's smiling face looking at her warmly.

"It's all right, Katherine. This is a very emotional time for all women, trust me. It's a big change in a short amount of time; no one would begrudge you for the way you're feeling right now. Feeling helpless…it's not a great feeling. Especially for strong, independent women like the two of us. You remind me a lot of myself, Katherine." Kate stayed quiet as Martha's voice took on a more serious tone. "When I was pregnant with Richard, I was alone. I had always considered myself a strong woman, able to take care of myself in spite of whatever the world threw at me. Yet, those nine months were some of the scariest times of my life and I felt like I could, and would, collapse at any time. It was tough most days and there were times when I didn't know what I would do or even if I could do it all alone. But," a wistful gleam was in her eye, "I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. I made it through and I came out in the end even stronger than ever. And richer and more fulfilled than I ever thought possible." Martha squeezed Kate slightly as her voice took a more upbeat tone.

"This will be a very rewarding time for you as well. You'll have this time to feel your child grow and develop inside you. The knowledge that you have another life inside you, a brand new life forged from the love between two people who care about each other deeply, is both scary and awe-inspiring. That connection that you are forming with your child right now as we speak…that connection is something that you will never lose, even once your child is grown and living his own life with his own family, close to home or miles apart. Even if that baby never completely grows up and stays an irrepressible man-child." They both shared an amused grin at that and Kate was thankful for the chat. She felt much better after the talk with her mother-in-law. Martha was right. She was strong. She could do this.

"And don't forget, dear, you have something that I never had." Kate looked at Martha curiously. "A husband that loves you dearly and would do anything to keep you happy." The older woman's admission threw Kate a little and she opened her mouth to speak but Martha put a hand up to stop her.

"Don't worry about me, Katherine. I've made my peace with it. Like I said, I wouldn't trade all those months and years for anything. I made it through and you will too. You have Richard. You have me and Alexis. You have your father. You have all of your friends at the precinct. You have us all, Katherine, and we will all be here with you and for you, whenever you may need us. It's all right to need some help from time to time. Don't be afraid to ask." There was a hint of finality in that statement as Martha removed her arm and stood back up at the side of the bed.

"Now, how about some lunch? I know I'm not the chef that Richard is, but I'm sure I can manage to throw together something edible. After all, as an actor, I certainly know how to improvise." Kate smiled brightly as Martha retreated to the door.

"Sounds good, Martha. I'll be out in a minute to help you." She started to move out of the bed but Martha's voice stopped her.

"Nonsense, dear. You stay there and get some more sleep. I'll bring you something to eat when it's ready. I wouldn't want Richard accusing me of making you overexert yourself." The two women grinned and Kate settled back into bed as she watched Martha walk out of the room. The door clicked softly as it closed and Kate once more buried herself in the sheets and drifted off to sleep, her mind and heart settled and at peace.