After waking up, Beckett grabs a shower and goes looking in the closet to select something from the new wardrobe they picked out yesterday.
After she dresses, Kate Beckett is ready to start a new day. She is looking at herself in the full length mirror in the dressing room. She feels much better about herself now that she has some new clothes that fit properly but not completely at ease…yet.
She takes her badge and weapon from the lock box and places them on her belt. She looks again and decides that the hardware needs to be not in plain sight. A pregnant woman would not normally be carrying a 23
When he enters the kitchen she finds her husband has made her another healthy meal to begin her day.
"Hey babe" she says to her guy as she steps up beside him looking over his shoulder and putting a kiss on his cheek
He turns to look at his wife and mother of their child "Well, don't you look lovely this morning" he is appreciating the image before him "I love the new outfit"
She is still a little self conscious about her appearance "Do I look too…I don't know too big?"
"Kate, you look like a woman carrying a new life inside her and ready to go out and face the world" He turns to take her in his arms
"I have just never felt like this before" she remarks
"You have never been pregnant before…I mean have you?" he teases her a little
She pokes him softly in the chest "NO!"
"You like poking me…don't you?" Castle comments
She looks up to his face and with a tease in her voice "I believe you like to poke me too" causing him to choke
She looks at the plate he has put in front of her. A slice of wheat toast, fresh fruit, and a scrambled egg.
The coffee is still decaffeinated, however and the sneer on her face gives him a full view of how she feels about the drink
After she finished her breakfast she stands and gives her husband a goodbye kiss "Will I see you later at the precinct?"
"After I clean up, I need to finish the chapter I am working on and I will be there before lunch"
"Good. We can have lunch together. I will probably be very hungry by then" Then, after a pause, she turns to leave and gives her last comment before closing the door "I might want some food too"
She does not need to look back at Castle. She knows he has been left speechless
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Beckett leaves the loft garage and is on her way to the morgue to see Dr. Parish. Kate received a text this morning from the medical examiner about her cases and that there was some new information for the detective
She pulls into the parking space and as she gets out of the cruiser she hears the voice of one of her partners
"Beckett" Ryan calls her name
"Yeah Ryan"
"Did you hear the news about the victims?"
"No. I am just coming down to get the information from Lanie"
"All the women have recently had children and Lanie has been able to pull DNA from several of them"
"I thought we only had skeletal remains. No soft tissue"
"Lanie said she used the teeth. She has sent the samples out for full DNA profile. She said it might take a couple of weeks to get results"
"OK then. Head back to the precinct and I will be there shortly"
"You got it" Ryan answers as he walks toward his cruiser
Beckett enters the building and heads toward the morgue. When she gets to the main doors she looks through the windows she spots the ME. She knocks on the glass to get her attention.
Lanie acknowledges Beckett's presence and motions for her to go to the office and wait.
When Kate sits down beside Dr. Parish's desk she takes out her phone to read a message that just arrived
'missing you already'
She sends a message back to her husband 'at the morgue waiting to talk to Lanie. call me if you head to the station. Miss U 2'
Just fifteen seconds later she gets his response 'LUV U'
She rubs her finger across the screen.
'What did I do to have this man love me?' She wonders to herself 'And what did he do to make me love him?'
The office door opens and Dr. Lanie Parish enters the room "Well girlfriend! Do you look great or what?"
Kate drops her head to hide a slight blush that appears on her cheeks "You like my outfit?"
"It is very nice and you look beautiful. Did Castle pick it out?"
"Thanks Lanie, but no I selected this and several more on our way home last night. Anyway, what else do you have on our victims?"
"The two we found in Manhattan…we got preliminary DNA. Both white and one was probably blond with blue wyes. The other was a red head with blue eyes according to the DNA:
"Anything else about them?"
Not yet. I sent the profile to CODUS and am just waiting for a return"
"Were the two related? I mean they were found together or was there a match in the DNA"
"No. No familial match"
"What about the others? The ones from the other borough?"
"I got the other case files from the precincts where the bodies were found late yesterday and they did have samples to compare DNA. I sent those over to the lab for processing. They will have something tomorrow or the next day and I can add that profile to my search"
"Then you think we can start comparing the data by tomorrow afternoon?"
"Count on it" Lanie replies with a positive tone to her voice
Kate walks out of the morgue and back to her car. Just as she opens her door a voice she knows well is on the other side "Do you ever pick up hitchhikers?"
A smile fills her face "Only the ones I plan to take home with me" she tells her husband "What are you doing here? I thought you were doing a chapter before coming in"
"The story about the victims being women who had just given birth sounded more interesting that the dull and boring chapter I was going to write"
"How did you find me?" she asks as she is sitting down in the driver's seat and Rick is buckling his seatbelt
"I have your phone on active track just in case you need me. Remember I told you about that?"
"Yeah but I didn't know you already started using it"
"I need to make sure my favorite girl is safe and sound and if something happened I could locate you"
In her past having someone know her every move would have brought out gunplay and serious injury to the perpetrator, but now she just looks across the seat and smiles "that's sweet"
She puts her cruiser in gear and the pair starts toward the precinct.
"So, Kate what do you have on your victims?"
"Still too early but Lanie believes them to be mid twenties. She has a hair and eye color profile based on the DNA"
"So we go set up a murder board without pictures this time?"
"That about sizes it up"
Castle reaches over and places his hand on his wife's leg. He sees her smile down looking at his hand and she places her hand on top of his and intertwines her fingers "I wish we could go home for a few minutes" she comments
"Sorry. Wrong direction"
She huffs out "I know"
"Since you have a new case, I thought I could come in and help. It might give me food for my next Nikki Heat book. I am close to finishing this one and I need a new crime to start the next one"
"I am just getting started and don't have a lot yet"
"I think if you tell me all about your current case, I might help you tie things together. Wait! You are not going out chasing bad guys down dark alleys anymore…are you?"
"No babe. This case allows me to sit behind a desk and read reports and scan computer data"
"That is even more boring than watching you doing paperwork"
"When you married Nikki Heat you promised 'for better and for worst"
"I guess this falls into the worst times part?"
She smile then speaks "But the good times are really good"
"Yes they are" He pauses a minute "Tell me what you have so far"
"The two here in Manhattan had old injuries besides the cause of death. They all had just recently had children"
A change can be seen on his face "Maternity?"
"What?"
His heart is breaking thinking about these women who just gave birth and now will not see their children grow up and mature and these children that will never see their mother.
He looks over to the love of his life and with a wistful look on his face knowing his child will grow up knowing his mother as he and Kate raise their child together