Hey everybody, I'm so sorry it has been so long, like I said before, I'm the worst updater ever! Anyways I hope you like it, it's longer than the last chapter. Please leave me a thought if you want to, I really appreciate the reviews, they make me so happy! Enjoy, and thank you for reading and reviewing!

I do not own Castle or anything associated with it!

Kate awoke the next morning to find Castle curled around her, his warm clutch welcome against the cold.

She could feel that the temperature of the room had dropped; it felt like icicles were infesting any part of her body not under the covers or wrapped up in her lover's arms.

As she blinked through the light that streamed through the curtains above her; they had been to busy last night to close any besides the one people could see through, she saw tiny crystals falling down, and lightly dusting the bottom of the window still. Snow!

Kate had always loved the cold beauties, when she was little she had always gone to the park with her mom at the first snowfall, and made snow angles, and snowmen all day long.

Sometimes her dad would join them and they would have boy vs. girls snowball fights, but it was mostly something she liked to do with her mom.

Then, after a hard day of playing they would head home to a big cup of hot chocolate for Kate, and a coffee for her mom, and they would watch Sesame Street when she was little, and then Temptation Lane when she got older.

The first snowfall always brought these memories back and made her feel safe and warm. And today the feelings were especially powerful, with Castle here too, their first winter as a couple.

She closed her eyes again, settling back, and thinking of how maybe they could go to the park together- she was sure she could beat him in a snowball fight, although he had surely had practice with aim with Alexis…

And then she remembered. Her daughter; her Emily. For a second there she had felt normal again, had forgotten that she had been reemitted into Emily's life and now that she had remembered it was all she could think about to see if she was okay.

She moved away from under the covers, the warmth of their flannel calling her back to them as if they were a real voice, and had arms that held her back. She shook off the feeling though, and pulled her arms through a robe at the foot of the bed.

Grabbing her phone, she went into the living room, and dialed the hospital's number, inquiring about her daughter. The cool female nurse's voice assured Kate that Emily was fine, and as it was 5:30 in the morning, had not woken up yet.

Kate hung up, reassured for the moment, and went into the kitchen to make Castle breakfast.

He had been there for her through all this; the least she could do was bring him breakfast in bed for now.

So she began to make him pancakes, saying thank you for all he did for her. She also made coffee, of course, and decided to make some bacon as well, he liked it after all.

Finally the ensemble was ready, and she put it onto a tray, and walked into Castle's room. When she entered she found him starting to get up from bed, but when he saw her, he sat back down, and pulled back the covers for her to join him.

She sat down, handing him his breakfast with a smile. "Thank you." He said, kissing her lightly, his lips brushing hers in a slight touch, reassuring her, surely he had not forgotten the previous days events, and knew how hard this was for her.

He took a bight of the food, and upon swallowing, smiled at her.

"Very good, as usual," he exclaimed, "And dare I ask how Emily is this morning? I assume you have already checked in on her?" He raised his eyebrows curiously, and waited for her response. "Yeah," she said, "I already called and they said she is doing fine, still asleep. I thought that I might go back into work today, and see where the case is going."

She finished, looking at Castle, wondering what he thought of it. "Well," he said hesitantly, "that's probably a good idea, but you know that when you go back in you're going to have to explain to Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, and Gates what happened to you, and why you freaked out and haven't come back to work for two days. You realize that right? How hard this is going to be. You had trouble telling me, and I know you better that anyone except maybe your dad."

She looked at him, and smiled.

"Don't worry about it Castle, I know that I have to talk to them, and I know it will be hard. I think I am going to go in and talk to Lanie first, and then see if she will come up with me to help talk to the boys. If I have you and Lanie with me I'll hopefully be able to do this." She replied, and Castle looked her with confidence. He knew that she would be able to do this; he just wanted to make sure she knew that she could too.

….

Kate reached the morgue just as the snow had begun to fall harder. When she had left the building this morning, calling Lanie ahead of time to tell her that she was coming and she wanted to explain what was going on, she had emerged into a sort or winter wonderland, an odd thing to see in city that usually turned grey rather than white in December.

The snowflakes had been falling softly for the last twenty minutes, and were getting thicker by the second. She was initially glad to step inside, but as the cool morgue air hit her she almost wished she was back outside, surely it was warmer there than here!

She walked to Lanie's office, praying that it would be better in there, after all, her friend always insisted on turning up the heat when she came over to Kate's house for a drink and some girl talk, the most resent subject of Lanie's gossip being her and Castle, and how freaking long it had taken them to get together.

The room was a tinge warmer, but she didn't have a chance to feel it before Lanie pulled her into a hug. "Oh honey, are you okay?" she asked, concern littering her voice, and sitting Kate down on the couch.

"Yeah, yes, I'm okay." Kate said a little bit shakily. "I…I have to tell you something Lanie, and you're going to freak out, and probably be really mad at me, but please just listen to me, and try to accept this. It's a really hard thing for me, and just please, please listen." Kate said, and glanced up from her hands on her lap, and looked into Lanie's eyes. She was surprised to see fear in her friend's eyes, and started to speak. "Lanie," she said, looking up again, "Lanie, I have a daughter. Her name is Emily. She is the girl who was attacked in the murder last week and survived."

So I hope you liked it, sorry for the huge cliffhanger, hopefully I will be able to update sooner than usual! Thoughts?

-E