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She stared down at him as he slept, mesmerized by the sight of this man who knew her so well, who knew the right words to say to her, and who brought her such joy. After all that had happened in her life, she sometimes still had trouble believing her luck in finding such a man.

Oh, it was true he could sometimes be immature and annoying. She had accused him in the past of being arrogant as well, but had come to realize that he really wasn't. His confidence – which sometimes translated into arrogance – was simply a disguise that he wore to protect himself. She had come to realize, over the years, that Castle was an extremely sensitive and imaginative man, who could be easily hurt. He'd developed a persona to cope – a brash, irreverent, sometimes silly persona – that charmed people, but kept them from getting too close.

Well, just like he'd battered down her walls, so had she taken down his. She smiled as she gazed at him. He was such a good man and she loved him completely. What was even more amazing, was that he loved her to the bottom of his soul.

And now, she was going to have his baby! When she'd first realized she had missed her period, she'd simply thought that it was because of all the stress she was under. First there had been everything with Bracken, ending up with him finally being arrested. Then there was the wedding and all the last-minute details. She had a right to have been stressed and to assume that had been why she was late. Hell, she'd been on birth control so it should never have even been an issue.

Except you forgot to take your pill that one night, she scolded herself. Because Castle had been beyond relieved that she was alive – and because she had been equally as relieved they had celebrated the night away, and she hadn't given a moment's thought to taking that pill. At least she hadn't until she realized she was over two weeks late.

It had hit her just after she got home from work. She'd fixed herself a bite to eat, had thought about Castle and how he was doing on his book, and had gotten changed into some comfortable, lie-around-the-house clothes. It was only as she had settled back on the couch and opened the latest Patricia Cornwell novel, that for some reason she had thought again about being late. Stress was one thing, but it was already more than two weeks overdue and – she was in a serious relationship – a very serious relationship, with a very active sex life. She'd grinned at that – a very active and amazing sex life.

But the smile had quickly faded and she'd gotten a strange feeling in her gut. She'd tried to convince herself that she was getting anxious over nothing. But ultimately the detective in her won out. She couldn't ignore the facts and so she had to find out if it was true.

Quickly throwing on some clothes she'd run out to the nearest pharmacy. Walking down the 'Family Planning' aisle had given her a strange feeling – as if she somehow didn't belong there, as if she was a fraud. Then she'd been faced with a multitude of packages. Did it matter if it took one minute, two or three to find the results? All of them said they were over 99% accurate and could tell as early as fourteen days. Finally just grabbing one – and then adding two more to be safe – she had made her way to the cashier.

It had been years, since she'd felt embarrassed at buying any kind of feminine product or birth control, but for some reason she had felt terribly uncomfortable placing the tests on the counter. She had felt suddenly like her whole life was exposed and that people would think that of all people she Katherine Beckett, shouldn't dare to try and bring a child into the world. She almost grabbed the tests and said she'd put them back, until the young clerk – looking completely disinterested in the whole thing – asked if that was all and told her the total.

"You know they're supposed to be totally accurate", the woman – more of a girl really – had told her. "One will do."

"Yeah – yeah I know. But – I – it's – here", she handed the money over, figuring she didn't have to justify herself to anyone. Hell, if she wanted to buy 100 pregnancy tests she damn well could!

After returning home she had plunked herself down and simply stared at the bag. Part of her reasoned that if she ignored it, if she didn't take the test, then she wouldn't be pregnant. The part of her that could never lie to herself, told her she had to get up off her ass, go pee on that stick, and find out. She told herself that she would feel much better once she found out that she wasn't pregnant and that it had simply been a false alarm.

"Oh Richard", she had cried softly, wishing he were with her – and then instantly being glad he wasn't. God – what would he have thought at that moment? With that, she had risen to her feet, feeling like an old woman, and made her way into their bathroom. Picking a test at random she had opened the box and read the simply instructions.

"Okay Kate – now or never", she had muttered to herself. She used the test and then set in on the counter beside her. This test said to wait two minutes – but not to leave it any longer than that so as not to get a false reading. So – she had carefully timed it and at one minute fifty-five seconds took a deep breath and reached for the stick.

She didn't know if she could ever describe the feeling that had come over her when she saw that small pink heart. Her first thought, of course, was that there had been a mistake. That had her reaching for, and taking, the second test. It showed two little blue lines instead of a heart. She had a hysterical desire to laugh at the little symbols – two very basic symbols that had completely changed her life.

A moment later – after being faced with a third positive test – she felt something else wash over her. Was it terror? Was it disappointment? Was it joy? The fact was - it was all of those. After the initial disbelief, and then fear, there had been a moment when suddenly everything in her life popped into place – it was almost as if her whole life had led to this incredible moment. That instant was followed immediately by a return of the fear and by the realization that she had no idea how to be a mother, and that they had agreed to wait. Would he be disappointed in her? She didn't know.

But now – now as she lay in bed beside him, she thought back to last evening. After she had seen the all-encompassing joy radiate from him – now she could let go of most of the fear of being a mother, and all of the fear that Castle would somehow be angry. She should have known, had known in fact, even if in her shock she'd let that knowledge hide. Richard Castle loved children and he loved family. In fact, family meant everything to him and there was no way he would be anything other than happy.

She couldn't contain herself any longer. She leaned over and kissed him right beside his closed eye. She smiled at how he twitched in his sleep, so she kissed him again, this time on the cheek. For the next few seconds she placed feather light kissed all over his face, ending finally with his lips.

"Mmm", he murmured. "Nice."

"Castle?"

"Mmm hmm?" he'd replied, his eyes still closed.

"I love you", she'd told him, moving over to curl herself around him.

"I know", he'd said softly, a small, crooked smile suddenly appearing, although his arms remained closed. His arm had moved to pull her closer and stayed wrapped around him. "And I love you too, and I love little Dashiell", he'd mumbled. "But both of you should be asleep. Ts'early."

"Okay", she whispered into the side of his neck, feeling warm and relaxed and safe in his arms. She was silent for a few minutes, as she slowly allowed herself to drift off. Just before she was gone she muttered: "not Dashiell."

"Come on sleepyhead, time to get up!"

Castle's insistent voice was – very irritating, Kate realized. It was when he pinched her big toe through the blankets that she groaned. "Go 'way!" she muttered. "Wanna sleep."

"Nope! Come on Beckett. Wakey, wakey."

"Why?"

"Why? Because we have things to do, plans to make, decisions. I've got a nice pot of tea waiting for you and I'm making pancakes. Come on." This time he leaned over and kissed her. "Don't go back to sleep or I'll have to come in and tickle you until you get up."

"Mmm", she groaned again and opened one eye. "What plans? What decisions?"

"Well, we have to figure out names. You haven't liked the ones I've suggested, although I think they're perfect – but you can throw out some suggestions too you know. And of course we'll need to think about a nursery, although I think we should keep the baby with us for the first few months at least. It would be too awkward to have to go upstairs every time it wakes up. Do you have any preferences as to a theme? With Alexis we went with yellow but that's because we didn't know if she was a girl or boy. When she hit about four I had to paint everything pink. I think she would have liked to have been painted pink herself, if I'd allowed it. Oh – and then we'll have to start picking out baby things. There's a lot more stuff even since Alexis was a baby. I've heard of this really great stroller that -"

"Castle!"

It was only at that moment that Rick realized his fiancée had been trying to get his attention for the last few minutes. "What?"

"I'm only a few weeks pregnant", she told him gently. "I think we have lots of time to discuss all these things. I'd rather sleep."

"Oh." There was a long pause. "Okay. You sleep. I'll just – I'll just – go – uh, do some stuff."

She could hear the disappointment in his voice and feel it in the way he stood up and turned towards the doorway. Her eyes flew open and she laughed softly. He was so excited and wanted to talk to her about it. Of course he would – this was Castle – and this was her. One of the things they did – and did well – was communicate. Their minds were so often in sink and they liked to shoot ideas off one another and to talk things out until everything made sense. That's what he was doing now – and she had been about to shoot him down.

"Just give me ten minutes to get up", she stopped him as he was almost out of their bedroom, "and I'll be out. Oh, and no mystery writer author names. I am not naming my son or daughter something weird."

"Hey – lots of mystery writers have regular, normal, boring names."

"Fine – those are okay, but no Sherlocks, or Dashiell's or Ngaio's or Hercules!"

"Fine", he'd grinned in reply. "I'll have your pancakes ready and waiting. Hey, we could look up names on the internet", his voice had faded as he'd walked towards the kitchen.

She'd finally allowed a huge smile to break out and then and kicked off the covers. She had a niggling feeling that over the next eight months she was going to learn more about pregnancy and babies than most first time moms ever did. Castle was going to go nuts reading everything ever written, and would want to share it with her. Kevin had nothing on her man.

"There ya go", he placed a huge, smiley face pancake in front of her with a flourish.

"Oooh – a smiley face! What's the occasion?" She'd quickly learned that smiley face pancakes were considered sacred in the Castle household. They were made for difficult events – to soothe and appease. They were made for joyous events – to laugh and celebrate. They were not however made for no reason whatsoever. "I hope it's something good?" she asked.

"Mmm hmm", he'd answered. "Very good."

"What is it …?"

"I'm going to have a baby with Kate Beckett."

"Yes you are", she nodded seriously, taking a bite of pancake. She frowned slightly when she realized she'd eaten off a corner of the smile.

"And I have to admit that she is a most fortunate woman. I've heard that the father's an amazing guy and that he makes amazing babies."

"You've heard that, have you?" she asked, a twinkle clearly evident. "Well, I must admit that I've heard something similar." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "This baby is pretty lucky to have you for a dad you know", she informed him.

He cleared his throat and turned around quickly, seemingly to look for the juice. When he turned back around his eyes were slightly moist, although he had his usual Castle grin on his face. "And even luckier to have you for a mom." He placed his hand over where hers was lying on top of the counter. "Thank you Kate."

"So, how about Christine?" she asked, changing the subject before things got way too maudlin.

"Christine? As in Cagney?" he stated knowingly, referring to the old, women's police drama.

"Uh huh. I used to watch reruns and I figured they were two kick-ass women police-officers. I always wanted to be Cagney. And Christine is a normal name."

"Yeah", he said sulkily. "Too normal."

"You want something unusual?"

"Something with character", he nodded. "It can't be just any old name. It has to be special."

"Marge", she replies.

"Marge?"

"As in Gunderson – you know, from Fargo. One of my all-time favorite characters."

"Yeah, I agree – but Marge?"

"No, you're right." She sighs and takes another bite of pancake, this time removing an eye. "You know I'm marrying you for your pancakes, don't you."

"Of course", he replies seriously. "Why do you think I've been plying you with them all these months?"

"Ah – so it was a plot!"

"Definitely." He leans on his elbows which are on the counter and regards her as she eats. "Feeling okay this morning?"

She stops for a moment, giving his question the attention it deserves. She knows he isn't asking lightly, that he is still worried about how's she doing with all of this. "Yes, I'm good", she tells him softly. "I mean, I would have liked to have slept a bit more, but as far as the pregnancy is concerned", she reached out and touched his face, "I'm still a bit freaked out, but – there's also a big part of me that's -"

"That's?"

"Happy – just – happy."

His whole face lit up at that. It made her realize that there was no one she knew who could do joy quite like Rick Castle. It made her feel warm to her toes.

After a few minutes of companionable – and cheerful – silence, Castle turned to her. "Uh – when did you want to tell everyone?"

She frowned – she hadn't even thought that far ahead. "Well – not right away. I'd like to enjoy it with just you for a while." She chuckled when she thought of their first night together. "As long as you promise never to hide me in a closet again."

"Okay, I can do that. But – how long do we have to keep it a secret?"

"Well, I want to make sure that – everything's okay – you know? So maybe – after the third month?" At Castle's sudden look of disappointment Kate peered at him sharply. "Wait! You're feeling proud of yourself, aren't you?" she suddenly asked, her eyes narrowed. "You want to call up the guys and brag that you got me pregnant, don't you?"

"Who? Me? Kate, would I do something like that?"

"Yes, you would."

"Okay – but you've got to admit that it's something to be proud of!" he smirked. "I mean, no one else has gotten Kate Beckett pregnant -"

"Oh my gosh – Richard Castle! You did not do this on your own and it's not something to brag about to a bunch of guys."

"I know I didn't do it on my own Kate" he waggled his eyebrows. "I distinctively remember you being there – all of you being there – and it was glorious. As for not bragging – Kate, I'm a guy. We brag about these kinds of things. Oh, we don't do it overtly – but it's expected."

She sighed and shook her head. "Fine – but you still have to wait until I'm ready for people to know"

"Okay, I won't say a word until you tell me." There was a brief pause and then Rick's face grew serious. "Uh – what about Alexis and my mother? I don't want them to feel –"

"Of course not – and my father. No, we should tell them sooner, but let's wait until Alexis and your mom are back. I don't want to do it over the phone."

"Deal!" He walked around the table and put his arms around her. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Well, you said you didn't get enough sleep, and you are pregnant and need your rest – so I thought we'd go back to bed."

"We? You're not pregnant."

"No, but I had to do all the hard work to get you that way", he said with a sideways look, ready to flee if she decided to hit him. "So I need my rest too."

"Just rest?" she answered, giving him that look – the look that said he was walking on thin ice.

"Mmm hmm, rest – right after I make love to this sexy, pregnant lady I know." He pulled her towards the bedroom, a satisfied look on his face.

As much as Kate felt like she should protest – on behalf of women everywhere – she shrugged and went with him. Hell- who cared about all those other women? She had her man, and she was going to enjoy him. "This pregnant lady thinks that sounds fantastic!" As she neared the bed she stopped suddenly, causing him to look at her in enquiry.

"What is it?"

"You know it's important that I remain stress free during pregnancy?"

"Ye-ess", he said, sounding suspicious.

"And that I try to rest and relax more?"

"Uh huh."

"And that my environment is both physically and emotionally healthy?"

"Kate, what are you trying to say?"

"Boba fett – he's gotta go."

Castle took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Okay – for now. But", he held up his hand, "Lion stays!"

She pulled him towards her and pressed herself into him. With a slow smile she stretched up and laid her lips on the tender spot he so loved on his neck. "We'll talk later – for now – love me Castle.

And that's exactly what he did.

Please let me know if you want me to continue with this story – or leave it here. I can go onto the reactions of friends and families – and even through the pregnancy, or leave it as a short story. Reviews and comments will make me decide (no/few reviews will indicate I should stop here). Thank you!