The day that passed was one of the longest of Beckett's life, as she had nothing more she wanted to do that day than tell her father, daughter, future son-in-law and her mother-in-law there was another baby on the way. However, RJ kept her plenty entertained until their seven pm reservation at Mezzaluna for endless-pasta, watching her like a hawk and even 'paddisin' to be a big brother by schooling the ever faithful Omeo on good manners around a pregnant lady.

'Omeo, gotta be kite a-roun' baby,' he'd shushed the stuffed rabbit when Beckett was reading on the couch with a glass of iced tea. 'Baby needa nap.'

'So does RJ,' Castle murmured as he worked on chapter twenty-three on his laptop, watching his two, well three, favourite people in the world. 'So Mumum and Daddy can have a nice not-so-quiet nap.'

'Mumum, you nee' mo' milk?'

'No, sweetie, I've got it covered. I'm having iced tea right now.'

'No' goo' fo' baby, Mumum. It daffy-na-ted.'

'Okay.' Beckett bookmarked her page, swung her feet to the floor so she could face her son more fully. 'RJ, where are you getting all this information on babies from?'

'Ev-ee-one, Mumum. Dell an' Tessi an' Daddy an' An-dee-ah. She 'mart. She make babies bedda.'

'That she does. Listen, RJ-'

'Yes Mumum.' The little boy gave her his undivided attention like she was giving him a ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

'Tonight when we see your grams and poppy and Alexis and Shane, we aren't saying anything right away, we want it to be a surprise for them.'

'I gedda tell'em?'

'Yeah, buddy, but we have to wait for the right time, so they will be super-surprised,' Castle told his son.

'Oh. Like suh-pise bir-day?'

'Exactly like that.'

'Daddy?'

'Yes RJ.'

'When it time to go? I wanna tell ev-ee-one.'

Beckett laughed; as she heard the eagerness in RJ's voice. 'Soon, my little prince, soon. Right now it's nap time.'

'Okay.' As if on cue, RJ let out a monster yawn, smacked his lips together. 'Mumum, I 'nuggle wit' you an' baby?'

'Sure honey. We'll go upstairs, though, more room for each of us.'

Taking her book upstairs along with her drink, Beckett watched RJ clench the banister with a death grip; when they made it to her bedroom RJ climbed up on the bed and flopped backwards in the middle, arranged Omeo in the blankets.

'Sssh, Mumum, Omeo suh-noozin' too.'

'Good idea.' Beckett stretched out on her side, then fought the catch in her throat as RJ nestled close to her and put his little hand on her belly.

'Nap time, baby, be nice-a Mumum.'

'I love you RJ.'

'Love you too, Mumum. And love baby.'

By seven, Castle wasn't sure who was more excited, RJ or Beckett or himself. He remembered very well the look on Beckett's face when she'd told her father they were having RJ - it had been by phone so this time was going to have a much different flavour.

When they were seated in their booth at Mezzaluna, Castle turned to RJ, spoke in his public-places voice. 'Now remember what we talked about?'

'No suh-pillin' baby-beans.'

'Right, when do we get to say so?'

'Mumum give-a sin-nil.'

'Right again, your mama will give you the signal.'

RJ grinned, scrunched up his cheek in a wink. 'What we gonna ea'?'

Before either of his parents could respond, they heard the very tired 'Hi you guys' and RJ did a giddy little wiggle in his booster seat.

'Alessis! Shane! Hi-hi!'

Alexis' smile was warm even though she looked like she'd walked back from New Jersey. It was most definitely noticeable that she was literally leanign on Shane as they came to the booth. She leaned over, gave her brother a kiss on the cheek, then her parents each a hug. 'Have you been here long?'

'Just sat down about five minutes ago. We haven't even gotten water for the table yet.'

'We eaten' soon? I'm hun-gah-ry' RJ said, and Alexis gave him a high-five.

'Me too, little bro.'

RJ nearly opened his mouth to say he was going to be a big bro too, but he remembered his promise to his mother and father and clamped his little lips together to keep the words from escaping. Instead he reached for the little cup of crayons on the table and began to draw the traditional grid of tic-tac-toe. 'Alessis, you wanna puh-lay?'

'Actually, honey, I need to use the bathroom to freshen up a little bit.'

'I'll play with you RJ,' Shane offered as Alexis slipped out of the booth beside him. 'You want to be purple or green?'

'Guh-reen, puh-lease.'

Beckett watched them together, the doctor her daughter loved and the little boy who tried and occasionally succeeded in giving the older man righteous crap about making sure Alexis was treated right; there had been more than one time when the tyke had succeeded. She wondered if RJ knew his personal standards for Shane would be lessons he would teach to a younger brother, or if Shane was merely the dress rehearsal for a little sister who would need to have his okay on her boyfriends.

When Shane looked up at Beckett, he caught the pensive look in her eyes and felt a little punch, wondered if his keen medical sensibilities were on the money.

'You're looking awfully...relaxed, Detective,' he started to comment, then shut up when Alexis returned, looking marginally refreshed after some cold water to the face and a layer of lip gloss.

'I hope Grams and Poppy get here soon, I could eat a whole truckload of cannelloni,' she groaned good-naturedly.

'Alessis, godda eat veggies a-fore dessert.'

'No, sweetie, that's cannoli. Cannelloni is round pasta filled up with cheese and meat and covered in sauce.'

'That soun' yummy too.'

Beneath the table, Beckett gave Castle's hand a squeeze; the ability to hold back was getting weaker and weaker. To distract herself, she opened her menu for the endless-pasta and found herself getting very gurgly in the tummy. The baby was hungry and craving something with meat and cheese, but more importantly, something with bread so Beckett decided she would have the chicken parmigiana sandwich with endless spaghetti bolognaise on the side.

She was so engrossed in her decision that she didn't register someone beside her until she heard the unmistakeable sound of her father clearing his throat. Glancing up Beckett offered him a great big smile, rose to give him a hug. 'Hi Dad.'

'How are you, Katie-Lou?' Jim Beckett held her close, patting her back.

'Hungry.'

'I hope we haven't kept you waiting long,' Martha added, making her appearance by Jim's elbow, giving hugs and kisses all around before sliding into the large booth beside her daughter-in-law. 'Jim called the loft just as I was dropping off my little surprise for Alexis and Shane and said he was on his way over, so I waited for him and we shared a cab.'

'Now we eat?' RJ asked impatiently and Beckett nodded.

'Now we'll ask for something to eat.'

The waiter was flagged down and they placed their orders; once their drinks had arrived, Alexis looked around the table and asked, 'So what has everyone been up to since I saw you all back in May?'

As segue-ways went, it was hard to top that. Beckett gave Castle's hand another little squeeze under the table and grinned at RJ. 'Pretty much the same, but I think RJ has some news to share, don'tcha big guy?'

'Uh-huh, Mumum, I so 'cited fo' sharin!' RJ grinned just like his daddy as the other eyes around the table focused on him. 'I gonna be a big buh-ro!'

'What!' Alexis' eyes went big and round like blue marbles as she looked at her parents. 'Mom? Dad? Seriously?'

'Seriously.'

'Congratulations you guys!' Shane reached over, slapped palms with Castle. 'Didn't even know you were thinking about another one.'

'Well, we kinda only decided about two weeks ago to try for another one and when I went to go for a check-up with Harvey to make sure everything was green-light, he did his exam-thing and it turns out I'm already eleven weeks gone,' Beckett explained with a mile-wide smile. She looked over at her father, whose eyes were brimming with tears. 'Oh, Daddy, it's okay.'

'I'm fine, really,' he reassured her, dabbing at his nose with his napkin. 'You're gonna be a great mother again, Kate.'

'She gonna have a boy,' RJ added for good measure.

'Do you know that already?' Martha asked, grinning like madness at the knowledge of grand-baby number three. 'You know already it's a boy?'

'No, that's RJ's wishful thinking, Mother,' Castle laughed. 'He wants another guy around the house.'

'No, Daddy tha' no' why.'

'I'm sorry, RJ, why do you want a brother.'

RJ leaned over, gave Alexis a hug. 'Alessis bes' sisser ever. No need 'nudder one.'