Words cannot describe how sorry I am that it took so long for me to get this up. I have no excuse but this is a super fluffy fun chapter that I hope you love!

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The morning of the scan had started like any other, Castle woke to Kate draped against him. Kate's arm still wrapped in the sling resting on his chest her head slumped against his shoulder, their legs tangled in the middle of the bed.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?" She replied lazily

"As much as I love lounging in bed with you, we have to get up and get ready to find out the gender of our baby. I didn't think you'd want to miss it." At these words, Kate leapt out of bed and raced to the shower. "Hey, wait up. I need a shower too Beckett."

"Really? Are you going to be examined from head to two and everywhere in between, babe?" Kate called over the splashing sounds of the shower being turned on.

"Well No, but maybe I can give you a hand cleaning everywhere," he replied using the same seductive tone she was. Not waiting any longer Richard Castle stepped out of his pajamas and joined his wife in the shower.

After a thoroughly enjoyable shower, doing their best to avoid Beckett's arm. The doctor had said she would be able to move it again on February 14th. Beckett dressed in some of the maternity clothes she and Lanie had bought the previous week. Castle put on a shirt and sweater under his coat with a blue scarf. All the while assisting Kate with her shirt, jacket and gloves.

"Okay honey, let's go!" Castle called from the front door.

"I'm coming Castle. I was just finishing my teeth."

Castle swooped in for a kiss, "Ooh, minty," he quipped. Beckett rolled her eyes and grasped his hand, leading him down the hall.

At the Doctor's office faint Christmas music played jauntily from the overhead speakers. A few basic ornaments hung loosely on the artificial tree, almost sadly. The secretary seemed forcibly jolly as she checked the couple in. "Merry Christmas," she smiled weakly before gesturing to one of the many empty chairs in the waiting room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle?" a nurse called from a newly open door.

"That's us," Kate smiled as she stood with the help of Rick. Waddling slightly, leaning heavily on Richard. They stepped through the door way and into the dimly lit hallway of the doctor's office. The room they were examined in was filled with more basic decorations but a few of those inspirational posters peeked out through the department store tinsel.

Once seated in the examination bed, Castle beside her, Kate was instructed to lift her shirt upwards. The cool sticky gel was dribbled down onto her belly and the ultrasound's wand created the black and white image on the screen. Castle and Kate stared transfixed at the screen where they saw the tiny human shape projected onto the black and white tv.

"Hey do you think you could get this in colour?" Castle whined jovially.

"That's not how it works babe," Kate grinned patting his back.

"We can get copies of this image for friends, family and our desks right?" Castle asked the busy nurse.

"Absolutely," The nurse replied not looking up from her work. She was taking notes on a clipboard and also continually moving the wand across Kate's belly. "See this here is your babies heartbeat," she pointed at the screen to the slight fluctuation on the alien forms chest. Soft tears had begun to fall down Kate's cheek as she gripped tight onto Castle's hand.

"Castle, this is amazing. That is our baby."

"It sure is," he said before touching his lips to her cheek.

The nurse stared closer at the screen, "So you want to know the sex of your baby then?"

They shared another meaningful look before turning to the nurse and saying together as they always do, "yes!"

"Well, congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Castle looks like you're having a son."

"I knew it!" Castle shrieked.

"You know what that means?" Kate added grinning. "We have to start thinking of names. And not Cosmo," She laughed, reading his mind.

"That's odd," the nurse stated looking to the screen again.

"What?" the pair replied in unison once again, panic creeping into their gazes. "You see this here," she pointed to a lump.

"The blob?" Castle questioned.

"Yes, this is the baby's head."

"Okay, what's odd?" Kate asked in concern.

"You see, there's another head here."

"We have a two-headed baby?!" Castle squealed in a very Castle-esque way.

"More like you two are having twins, Mr. Castle," the nurse explained. "Both boys by the looks of it as well."

"Two-" Kate started.

"Babies?" Castle finished.

"Two-" Kate added.

"Boys." Castle finished

The nurse nodded, "I'll give you a few minutes to discuss this new information." The nurse, a kindly young blonde woman, left through the door. It shut with an audible click.

"Well, that was unexpected," Beckett ended the silence that contaminated the room.

"Good thing we didn't get that pink stroller," was all Castle could manage.

"Babe? Can we actually do this?"

"Looks like we're going to have to."

"Twins," Kate whispered.

"This just got a whole lot more interesting."

"You can say that again."

Castle was just about to say it again when the nurse, this time accompanied by the doctor, returned. "Hello Katherine, Richard. Looks like we just found out that your baby-load has doubled." Both parents, still in shock, merely nodded. "You'll be glad to know that both babies are very healthy with good strong heartbeats."

"That explains the extra kicking we felt. We thought Sprout was kicking up a storm but if his brother's in there too it explains a lot," Castle put his hand on Kate's hand as he said this.

"Yes, it's likely that you will feel lots of movement, Mrs. Castle. It's great for the novelty, not so great for your bladder," the Doctor explained and Kate smiled grimly. "It says here that you are a detective with the NYPD," the doctor gestured to the clipboard in hand. The couple nodded, "and I assume you're already in a desk position as of your pregnancy?" Again Kate nodded, this time with a distinct frown upon her face. "Typically with high-risk pregnancies, such as twins, we prefer to have the mother begin maternity leave a month earlier. If you could adjust for your leave to begin at the 28 week mark."

"I'll work it out with my Captain when I return from my Christmas break," Kate replied.

"Well then, looks like that covers everything, Nurse Knowles will get you cleaned up and you are free to go."

"Here are the extra copies of the ultrasound picture you requested," the nurse smiled kindly as she passed over the bulky envelope.

Once cleaned and dressed Beckett and Castle left the offices, hand-in-hand glowing with pride at the new life they had discovered and their growing future.

"Hey Kate, I think we should just tell family about the twins."

"Not Espo and Ryan?"

"No, I think we can use the extra baby to mess with Espo and Ryan. I'll come up with the plan later but yeah just the closest relatives for now," Castle smiled wistfully but Kate was sure that his mind was filled with devious plots on how to fool Esposito and Ryan.

They strode through the busy Christmas streets of Manhattan, neither wanting to call over a cab merely enjoying the togetherness and the joy of Christmas blanketed on the city. Kate looked up at Castle, due to her not wearing heels in her state of pregnancy, "Tonight, how about we start brainstorming baby boy names?"

"Why would we do that when our kids are going to be Cosmo and Frodo," Castle replied seriously.

"Very funny Castle! I'm being serious here. We are not naming our kid after a hobbit by the way." Castle opened his mouth, no doubt with a sassy remark ready, "not Legolas, Aragorn or Gandalf either." His mouth closed disappointedly.

"It's a deal, we start on names tonight."