For some reason, I thought I had posted this, then realized I hadn't…oops. Here goes anyway! I'm not 100% happy with this chapter either, it just seemed to be forced but, hey ho!

Slipping into his office, Rick closed the door before pulling his phone out of his pocket. Dialling the now all too familiar number, he waited for Kate to answer.

"Hello?" Kate yawned, rubbing her eyes as she pushed herself up off the couch.

"Did I wake you?" Rick asked immediately. He knew he should have text her first to make sure she wasn't sleeping.

"Mmm, no." Kate sighed. He could hear rustling in the background. "I was just dozing. Waiting for my food to arrive."

"Kate…"

"Don't blame me." Kate argued and he could feel her glaring at him through the phone. He could understand how she had made Detective so quick – one glare from her and every criminal in the city would be admitting to their crimes. "The baby wanted Chinese food. You wouldn't want me starving him now, would you?"

"No, we wouldn't want her to go hungry. Although I am happy to hear the morning sickness seems to be staying away for today." Rick confirmed, laughing. "Listen, Kate. I won't keep you, but I just wanted to make sure you know I'm in this. If you crave cupcakes from some obscure bakery in New Jersey at three in the morning or you run out of diapers in the dead of winter and there a snow storm battering the city to pieces. I'm in this. You only have to call."

"Rick…"

"No, Kate. You don't have to say anything, I just wanted to make sure you knew. I know I was a bit forceful this morning about your job and where you are living, but I wanted to make sure you know it doesn't change anything." Sniffling, Kate wiped her eyes furiously as the tears started to fall. "Kate?"

"I'm here. Thank you Rick.

"Always. Just remember that you're not in this alone, okay?" Hearing her doorbell ring in the background, Rick smiled to himself. "Got get your food and feed the unborn. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Rick."

"Goodnight."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Daddy? What are we doing?" Alexis questioned, her hand swinging backwards and forward as she glanced around the small elevator. "Are we going to jail?"

Smoothing his hand down her long red hair, Rick laughed. "No, Pumpkin, we're not going to jail. We're actually here to break someone out."

"What?" Alexis gasped a horrified look finding her features. "Daddy! That's naughty."

"Kate," Rick laughed again, uncontrollably. "We're here to break Kate out."

"Kate's coming to dinner? Daddy?"

"She is." Rick smiled. "We have something that we want to talk to you about."

"What daddy?" Alexis question as the elevator opened on the homicide floor of the Twelfth precinct.

"We'll talk over dinner. Look, there's Kate." Rick pointed the detective out to Alexis who immediately broke out in a sprint. Her affection for the woman was a strong as ever. It warmed his heart. Although Kate wasn't her mother, she could be a positive female influence in her life.

"Kate!"

"Al-Alexis?" Kate stuttered, turning on her heels just in time for the red head to barrel into her. She felt Rick hand on her elbow to steady her as she stumbled slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're going out to dinner!" Alexis exclaimed, her head resting gently against Kate's side as the woman subconsciously played with the girls' hair.

"I thought I was meeting you are the restaurant?" Kate questioned.

"You were, but I know what you're like Kate Beckett and I know what you're like when you've got a case. You'd probably forget to eat if we didn't come and get you."

"I hear ya." Esposito piped up from his desk, pushing out of his chair he strolled towards the group. Standing up straight, he looked Rick up and down before holding out his hand. "Detective Javier Esposito, and you are?"

"I'm Rick, Rick Castle and this is my daughter Alexis." Taking the detectives hand, he shook firmly. "We're friends on Kate."

"You're the writer?"

"Yes?" Rick answered as a question.

"Okaaaay," Kate drew out, grabbing her purse from desk. "Enough of that. Run the financials and call me if you find anything, if not, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Kate." Esposito snarked, earning himself a look of death from Kate as she lead the father and daughter duo to the elevator.

"Sorry about him. He-"

"Cares about you?" Rick finished, his hand slipping to the small of Kate's back.

"I was going to say has my back but cares works too. He's like a brother to me." Kate clarified. "A big brother who doesn't know when to butt out so I wouldn't be surprised if he is running a background check on you right now.

"Well I'm glad you have someone looking out for you when I can't."

Smiling, Kate felt the tension leave her body. He wasn't pushing. He wasn't pushing her to quit her job and move in with him. He seemed to have dropped the idea of having her barefoot and pregnant. At least for now. "Where are we going?"

"I was thinking we could go for Italian. Unless you want something else?" Rick offered with a pointed look at her abdomen.

"Italian would be good." Slipping into the cab, she smiled as Alexis pulled out a book and started to read. Hopefully the baby would share the love of books that its sister clearly had. She could remember long winters night curled up in an armchair reading the classics with her mom. She wanted to share that with her baby.

"Are you sure?" Rick pushed, pulling Kate out of her daydream.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sure."

"How are you feeling?" It had been a few days since they had spoken. Between Kate's case and his book deadline, they had barely had time to send more than a few texts before dropping into bed each night.

"I'm feeling better, more like myself. I have more energy, but my pants don't fit anymore."

Laughing, Rick glanced at Alexis before speaking softly. "That's the second trimester for you. Maybe we could go shopping some time? Get some ideas of what to buy for the…you know what. We could look at furniture and strollers. I don't know if you know this, but for such little things babies come with a lot of stuff."

"That would be nice, as long as you promise not to try and pay for everything."

"Kate!" Rick whined, frowning like a child who had been told he couldn't have dessert. "You should just let me pay."

"Pay for what?" Alexis piped up, her book closed in her lap.

"Dinner," Kate answered smoothly. "Your daddy thinks he should pay for dinner."

"You should let him." Alexis grinned. "People give him lots of money to write stories!"

"See. She agrees with me."

"She's your kid, of course she's going to agree with you!" Kate exclaims, exasperated. She watched as the taxi stopped outside the restaurant and before he knew it, she paid the fare.

"How…Kate!"

"That's what you get for being slow, old man. Now come on, I'm starving."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Hey Lex?" Rick questioned, nervously pushing his food around his plate. "Remember I told you there was something Kate and I needed to talk to you about?"

"Yes daddy." Alexis smiled, pushing her ice cream sundae away.

"Well it is really important so I need you to listen carefully okay?"

"Okay."

"Kate…Kate's…" Biting his lip, Rick took a deep breath. "Kate is having a baby."

"Really?" Alexis gasped, her eyes lighting up.

"Really," Kate smiled, reaching for the girls' hand across the table. "In about five months."

"That's ages!" Alexis exaggerated. "Does the baby have a daddy?"

"Actually Alexis," Rick started, running his hand through his hair. "I'm the baby's daddy."

"But you're my daddy." Alexis stated with childlike innocence. Her face falling into a frown. "Don't you want to be my daddy anymore?"

"Oh Pumpkin, of course I want to be your daddy. I can be your daddy and the baby's daddy."

"But Kate isn't my mommy, is she?"

"No, sweetheart I'm not." Kate answered softly.

"I don't understand." Alexis sniffed, tears pooling in her eyes. "Don't you like me?"

"Oh sweetheart." Kate started, pulling Alexis into her arms, only for the child to pull away.

"No! You don't want me! I hate you!" Pushing away from the table, Alexis stomped her sneaker clad foot. "I want to go home!"

"Kate?" Rick questioned, watching at the tears welled in her eyes.

"Go, take her home, Rick. It's fine."

"Kate…" Rick pushed, torn between the two. On one side he had his crying five year old and on the other he had his almost crying pregnant…Kate.

"Take her home Rick. It's fine."

Gathering up their stuff, Rick pressed a kiss into the side of Kate's head. "I'm sorry. I don't know what has got into her. She's never like this."

"It's fine." Shrugging on her jacket, Kate rested her hand on her almost small bump. "Rick I think it's best if we-"

"No, don't Kate." He interrupted, moving to grip her hand. He knew that look on her face. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I'm going to take Alexis home then I'm going to call you and we will work this out okay?"

"Rick-"

"No, Kate. Just let me sort this out and we'll talk."

. . . . . . . . . .

Walking into her apartment, Kate stripped off her jacket, gun and shoes before dropping heavily into the couch. This was exactly what she had feared from the moment she found out she was pregnant. If he had to choose between his daughter and the baby he had never met, it didn't take a genius to work out who he was going to choose. She should never have opened herself up to him. Grabbing her phone, she switched it to silent before dropping it on to the coffee table. She'd already had three texts from Rick in the twenty minutes it had taken her to get home from the restaurant. He'd apologized for Alexis' behavior. He'd promised that she would come around. That he just wasn't sure what had got in to his little girl.

But that was just it, wasn't it?

They were screwing with this little girls life. Changing everything she had ever known and all because of their moment of weakness. She couldn't be the person who ripped a parent away from a child. She couldn't cause her that pain.

Snatching her phone up once more, she took a deep breath and dialled Rick's number only releasing the breath she had been holding when she heard the voicemail kick in. "Hi, it's me. It's Kate. What happened tonight was what I was worried about. I've upset your little girl and I can't live with that. I'm not blaming you, and I'm definitely not blaming Alexis, but I can't be the cause of that look on her face. We tried Rick, but this is never going to work. I'll make sure the baby knows that you love them. Goodbye, Rick." Ending the call, Kate let the tears she had been holding in finally fall.

"Alexis, pumpkin. I need you to talk to me."

"No, I don't like you anymore!" Alexis ground out, her face pushed into her pillow.

"It's okay that you don't like me, but I still need you to talk to me." Rick pushed, kneeling next to her bed, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"You don't love me anymore." Alexis mumbled, turning her head to look at him with wide eyes.

"Of course I love you, Alexis." Shifting to the bed, Rick lifted Alexis onto his lap and pressed a kiss to her head, brushing the tears out of her eyes. "I will always love you."

"But, Dylan stopped seeing his daddy when he had a baby. He moved to Florida. Dylan said he doesn't love him anymore."

"I can love both of you. I know this is confusing but I promise you I will always love you." Smiling, he held her close. "Sometimes I forget you're just a little girl because you act like such a grown up, but this baby will never change how I feel about you. It may seem like we have less time together when it is first born but it won't stay like that."

"Really?"

"Really." Rick confirmed. "And I thought you always wanted a little brother or sister?"

"Yeah…" Alexis sighed, her little body relaxing. "You won't send me away?"

"Never."

"I'm sorry, daddy."

"You don't have to be sorry you're allowed to be angry and confused, but you do have to apologize to Kate. You said some mean words to her."

"I know." Alexis sobbed, fresh tears falling from her eyes. "What if she doesn't like me anymore?"

"She loves you, sweetheart. I'll call her later and organize when we can see her, okay?"

"Can we but her a present?" Alexis requested, fighting sleep as she yawned.

"I think that's a great idea."

"And the baby…"

"Of course, close your eyes now, it's way past your bedtime." Watching her sleep for a few moments, Rick carefully extracted himself from the bed, pulling the covers up and tucking her in before making his way downstairs to the kitchen.

He needed a large drink.

Sitting heavily on the couch, Rick groaned. How could he have got it so wrong? He should have expected Alexis' confusion. He should have anticipated the reaction and shielded Kate from it. Slipping his phone out of his pocket, he smiled when he saw a missed call and voicemail from Kate. Hitting play, he waited for her message to start. "Hi, it's me. It's Kate. What happened tonight was what I was worried about. I've upset your little girl and I can't live with that. I'm not blaming you, and I'm definitely not blaming Alexis, but I can't be the cause of that look on her face. We tried Rick, but this is never going to work. I'll make sure the baby knows that you love them. Goodbye, Rick." Feeling his heart dropped, he dialled Kate's number. "No no," Hearing her voicemail kick in, he let out a frustrated groan. "Kate, damn it. Answer your phone. Alexis is fine. She wants to see you, please. Damn it Kate! Don't do this. Please, Kate. Just…just call me back. Please don't take my baby away."