Caress


"Hi, sweetheart." Kate grins, sitting up in bed and opening her arms to her little boy. "Come cuddle with Mommy."

Her son toddles over to the bedside as fast as his fat little legs will allow him and then Castle swings their boy up onto the mattress and Kate can finally get both arms around him, squeezing him tight enough to make him giggle. "I missed you, sweet boy."

"I missed you Mommy." Jack enthuses, sitting up to plant both hands at his mother's cheeks. Rick sinks down to sit at her feet and she nudges her toes into his thigh with the sheets between them, shoots him a questioning look.

She wants him by her side, crammed into the too-small bed the way he has been all this morning. Over lunch, her father and Martha came crowding in to fawn over their new granddaughter and so Kate didn't have time to miss her husband while he went to go pick up their son from Alexis' place.

Castle's eldest daughter and her fiancé will stop by in an hour or so, but for now it's just Kate and her husband and both her babies. "Do you want to meet your sister, Jackson?"

"Oh, yes Momma." Her son beams, his cheeks pink with excitement. Kate arranges the pillows behind herself and sits up a little straighter, guides Jack until he sits close at her side and she can get an arm behind his back, support him with a hand underneath his.

At the bassinet, Rick takes a moment to touch his lips to their brand new daughter's forehead, murmuring something against the so-soft skin before he comes to place the baby in Jackson's arms. And sure, Kate has to help him out quite a bit, but the sight of their son holding his baby sister makes her eyes fill, has Castle leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek.

"I holding her, Daddy." Jack beams up at his father, so much pride in his little face and Rick laughs, sifts a hand through their son's hair.

"You are. Would you like to know her name?"

Jack blinks up at his dad, a hand tentatively coming to splay at his sister's belly. He shoots a startled glance to Kate and she smiles, comes in to kiss her son's cheek. Yeah. . .she's familiar with the surprise at how the baby feels under her palm, that sleepy heat and wonderful sense of jubilation that comes along with it.

"My baby has a name?"

"Her name is Bea." Kate murmurs to her son, and then Beatrice's eyes open and Jack gasps, touches a finger to the baby's cheek.

Glancing up, Kate finds she doesn't even have to ask Castle to film this moment. He's holding his phone in both hands and coming around to sit at her hip, getting a close up of their children meeting one another for the first time.

Jack touches his finger to Bea's palm and her tiny fingers close around his, making him giggle and rest his cheek at Kate's shoulder. "She holding my hand."

"She likes you, buddy." Rick is saying, his voice thick with pride.

It's the hormones, she knows, but Kate could cry. Her family is so incredibly beautiful, so much more than she ever could have dared hope for. Her baby girl is getting a little agitated now, these soft, pitiful little cries that tell Kate it's almost time to feed Beatrice.

She scoops the baby up before Jack starts to get any more panicked and then her husband is pocketing his phone and coming around to climb into bed with the rest of them, gathering Jack up to sit in his lap. "You did so good with her, my man. She's so lucky to have a big brother like you."

"She's so small, Daddy." Jack says reverently, scrubbing his face into Castle's shirt. He should be napping right about now, but his eyes are wide and awe-filled and Kate doubts they're going to get him to sleep until he crashes sometime later tonight.

Both of Rick's arms are tight around their son, keeping him somewhat contained as Kate arranges the baby at her breast for the girl to feed. Her husband's fingers stroke at Jack's little knee where it peeks out from underneath the bottom of his colourful shorts.

Not for the first time, Kate's heart swells with gratitude for the amazing man with whom she's lucky enough to be doing this. "You were this tiny once. Even smaller, actually. You know Daddy could hold you in just one hand?"

"Mommy's right." Castle laughs at the astonished look their little boy turns up to him. "You were this teeny tiny little red person. You yelled a lot, too. Wanted Mommy or Daddy's attention all the time."

Kate laughs at that, murmurs an apology when it startles the little girl cradled in her arms. Stroking a finger down the curve of Bea's cheek, she waits until she's sure the girl is focused on feeding again before she turns to look at her boys.

Whispering together, Jack giggling and Rick laughing too. She doesn't know what about, but that's okay. Her husband and her son have plenty of secrets, man to man. And now here's her baby girl, someone to help her team up against the crazy boys.

"Okay buddy." Castle says, wriggling his fingers under Jack's arm to tickle the boy. "Let's go down to the lobby and wait for Papa. He's gonna take you home, and Mommy and I will see you tonight. Say goodbye to Mommy and Bea."

Jack leans in to place a sloppy kiss to Kate's cheek and a much softer, more careful one to the baby's forehead. Kate gets a kiss from her husband too and then she leans back against the pillows, watches them walk from the room hand in hand.

Her little girl yawns and Kate fastens her hospital gown closed, leans down to kiss the baby. They'll go home soon.