"Castle," she caresses his name on her tongue as it rolls off easily from there. He turns his head towards her voice, his eyes barely open.
"Kate…?" he whispers, his voice barely audible. "Wha…"
"Shh…" she places her index finger on his sleep-dry lips. "Sleep. Everything is alright."
He closes his eyes again and draws in a long breath.
Cracking one eye open again, he furrows his brow and looks at her observing him.
"Why are you up?" he croaks out, his throat still dry with sleep. "Kate," his voice turns into a whisper.
"It doesn't matter Castle. Sleep. You need it," she whispers back, leaning closer to him. She places a kiss to his cheek, making him close his eyes again. "Sleep, you have a long day tomorrow."
"Yeaaah…" he mumbles for an answer and his breathing starts to slow and deepen and sure enough, he has fallen to the land of the sleep.
She stays there for a long while, hovering over his sleeping form. She draws soft circles on his skin with her fingers. She loves the feeling of his warmth so close to her, somewhere where she can just touch him and feel better in an instant.
When she grows tired of watching him, she places her head onto his chest, where she can hear the firm beating of his heart. His arm instantly snakes around her and the wave of happiness rushes through her. She loves him. So much.
Before she closes her eyes and yields to sleep, she looks down at her swollen belly. "You better not wake me up again. I would really appreciate some sleep, honey."
For an answer, there is a movement of tiny foot inside her belly and she smiles. She closes her eyes and lets the sound of his deep breaths carry into the sleep.