A.N. My dear readers, I am so sorry for leaving you for so long without a new update but I have been putting my nose to the grindstone (so to speak) studying for my exams next month. (Not fun at all) Anyway, this is just a little something to wet the mouth before the quenching of the next chapter. I swear, every time I sit down to write this, the characters take me in a different direction than I expected and they are stubborn little things. Anyway, enough of my babble...

Previously in IVF Backfire:

"Can we run tests to make sure that there's no mistake."

"I can only do so with Mr. Castle's consent." The doctor replied.

"Consent for what?" Castle asked, looking from Kate to the doctor.

"A paternity test."

"I…" A humorless chuckle escapes his lips. "Kate… You? You're?" Kate could do nothing but nod as tears welled up in her eyes, slowly spilling over as she covered her mouth.

"I'm so sorry Castle! I never mean for this to happen! I combined the baby photos and…"

"If you wanted a baby so bad why didn't you come to me for a direct deposit?" Castle grinned suggestively. Kate chuckled through a small sob. "Hey…" He moved closer to her, taking her face tenderly in his hands, his thumb gently brushing away the tears from her cheeks. "None of that. We're partners, Kate. And partners stick together." He told her softly. Angling his face to meet her eyes, he continued in hushed tones. "But Kate, if you really wanted a baby that bad, you really only had to ask. Even if you didn't want me to be there, I would still would help you in whatever way you needed me to." Kate closed her eyes as more tears slipped past and leant her forehead to Castles, quietly relishing in the intimate contact.

"How… How did I even wind up with your… Stuff?" Kate asked quietly.

"Ah…" Castle stood up and scratched the back of his neck as he chuckled nervously. "You see, it's kind of a funny story." Kate looked at him with her suspect stare and he quickly continued. "When I was young, I was really short on money and back then they were offering a fair amount for donations. I never thought much of it being in my early 20's when I did it but I only did it once and then I got published and started to make my own money. I made sure that they only ever showed my baby photo otherwise women might go nuts and impregnate themselves with my stuff and then try and get money from me." Kate nodded in understanding and unconsciously leant into him. Castle smiled and wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulders. "But it's nice to know you chose me for me." He whispered, placing a light kiss in her hair. "And that you think we'd make cute babies." He smirked. Kate scowled at him and lightly slapped him in the stomach.

"So I take it you are willing to do the test?" The doctor asked, breaking the couple out of their own little bubble.

"Huh? Oh! Y-yeah, I guess so." Castle replied, still dazed by the whole situation. "Um, what do you need?"

"Just a vile or two of your blood." She replied nonchalantly, collecting the relevant equipment. "Could you please role up your sleeve Mr. Castle." Castle numbly unbuttoned his cuff button and began rolling his shirt up to his bicep.
"Castle?" Kate called quietly. Castle's head slowly turned to focus on her, eyes searching for answers. "You ok?" She near whispered.

"I-I, uh… OUCH!" Castle called suddenly, feeling the doctor stick the needle in his arm and begin the process of filling the vials. "That hurt."

"Sorry, sir. It was a bit hard to find your veins."

"Castle?" Kate called again. He turned to her, onto to feel her hand slip into his, gripping it reassuringly. Castle gently squeezed back and smiled gently at her.

"Annnnnnnnd, done." The doctor announced, removing the needle and replacing it with a cotton ball. "Hold that there please." Castle did as he was told and soon his fingers were replaced with some medical tape. "I'll just go run these off to the lab and then we should have the results within the next few weeks."

"Weeks!" Kate yelled. "Can't you just cross reference your sample against the sample from the donor?"

"That's what I plan on doing Miss Beckett, but these things take time and I'm afraid that the lab is backed up with some other legal cases to be able to speed this one up."

"What if I told you it was to be put on rush for the NYPD Homicide?" Kate near threatened.

"I can try and ask one of my friends there to speed things along for the NYPD but I cannot promise anything I'm afraid. If you are lucky though and he comes through, you should be able to receive the results by this afternoon. In the mean time, I'll write you up a prescription for some prenatal vitamins and a list of dos and don'ts in terms of food and other activities. I'm afraid that you will need to be put on desk duty when you reach four months." The doctor told her, writing down some notes on a pad of paper.

"H-how far along am I now?" Kate asked nervously. The doctor looked up at her in thought.

"Ahhh, about a two months or so. You shouldn't be showing till you are at least four months but can show as early as now. In the mean time, don't do any vigorous physical activity and avoid injuries to your belly. Blunt force trauma could have some serious repercussions and can even bring on miscarriages." Kate and Castle stared at her, open mouthed and horrified. "But let's not worry about that now." She chucked awkwardly. "I'm sure that Mr. Castle here would be more than willing to help you with anything you need. And the morning sickness shouldn't last too much longer but you will be feeling fatigued soon. In this case, I suggest taking small naps in the day to refresh yourself." The doctor finished, ripping the information off the note pad and handing it to Kate, along with the various prescriptions.

"Thank you doctor." Kate and Castle said in unison, rising and leaving together in a daze.