Disclaimer: If I was Milmar, I would probably have a lot of money and wouldn't need to write fanfic because I would be busy writing episodes.

Two centimetres

"Shiit shit shit." She groaned as she curled forward, a hand pressed to either of her stomach. They'd only been there roughly two hours since her water had broken but in those two hours, Rick had heard more insults and curse words come out of her mouth than he'd ever thought possible in his entire life. He could only thank that she hadn't gotten physical yet. He was pretty sure he still had bruises from Alexis' birth. "I'm going to fucking kill you." She said as she glanced up, looking him dead in the eye. "Just you wait until they don't have me attached to monitors and shit, I swear to god, Castle."

He extended his hand toward her without a word and she wrapped her hand around it roughly, tugging it toward her as she began to scream again. At only two centimetres, they expected quite a large time period before she would be granted the epidural she'd begged for the moment she'd been instated. They'd tried to get her to go home at first, truthfully, but she'd shot them down fairly quick. He gritted his teeth as she squeezed through the contraction.

She fell back on the pillow a moment later, shifting uncomfortably as she made a face at him. "I hate you." She promised, rolling her hand over her stomach. She kept the grimace as she kept a watchful eye on him. "So much."

Rick nodded once more and squeezed his hand around hers. Kate just grumbled softly, turning away from him. "Have you called my Dad?" She asked softly, twisting her head back to see him. It was really hard to avoid his big stupid face if he was the only one there. "Lanie?"

The look that crossed his face told her all she needed to know and she gestured to the door, which caused his eyebrows to raise in her direction. Kate scoffed slightly as she rolled her eyes and smacked her head back against the pillow, rubbing her hand over her face.

"Dear Jesus," she said before she tipped her head back toward him. "Are you seriously that stupid? Go call him! Call Lanie, just get out of my face."

So, maybe she wasn't the nicest person on the planet when in labor, but he'd give her pardon. Without another word, he pushed himself out of his seat and moved toward the open door, hauling his phone out of his pocket on the way out. Kate settled back into the bed again, breathing through the pain.

Shit, if she knew labor was going to be this bad she would have optioned out of it a hell of a long time ago. Like about ten seconds before he came over and hit on her. She grumbled softly, closing her eyes in a mild attempt to sleep through the worst of the storm. However, when only moments later the nurse stumbled in, she gave up on the idea of sleep all together.

Rick moved into the room quietly after speaking on the phone with her father and Lanie, who both offered to spread the news among their friends. The nurse checking Kate over repeated her words from earlier, informing her that it was going to take a long time to build to a point where she could successfully deliver her son.

The look Kate gave her could have murdered thousands.

He passed by the woman, moving to sit down in the chair he'd pulled up by her bed. Kate gritted her teeth slowly, glancing over at him. "It's been two hours and still not a centimetre of progress." She told him, huffing softly. "She gave me this sympathy speech of "Oh, you should have known that the first always takes the longest" like… I don't want to hear that. I want you to tell me that you can give me dr-" she cut off her words as she suddenly lunged forward and grasped her stomach. He leaned forward and offered up his hand which she grabbed gladly and clenched it between her fingers.

If he didn't leave the hospital with a broken hand, it was going to be a god damn miracle.

"Shit," she whined softly, grimacing as the pain slowly washed over her. "How much longer do I have to do this?" She asked as she finally sunk back into the pillow. Rick moved and sat down beside her, taking the wash cloth from the side of the bed and wiping her sweaty forehead off. She batted his hand away from her face and closed her eyes, draping her arm over his arm. "I hate you." She reminded him softly.

"I know." He chuckled softly, placing the wash cloth to the side. She pulled back her arm to glare at him. "Just think, in a few short hours we'll have our son." He said, as though she wasn't quite aware that the several more hours of pain she was about to endure had a wonderful outcome. Her hand traced the expanse of her stomach as he spoke and he placed his hand over top of hers.

Kate closed her eyes again, yawning. "When's my Dad coming?"

"He said he'd come as soon as was possible." Rick responded softly. In his talk to him, he'd attempted to rush Jim to get there as soon as he could, knowing that Kate would have liked him to be there as much as possible. He just wasn't sure how long it would take him to show up.

Letting out a soft groan, she pulled the rough hospital sheet to cover her stomach and pointed to the wall. "Turn off the lights." She told him. "Wanna take a nap."

"I don't-" He started to say, but when she lifted her head and shot another glare in his direction, he was across the room without a point of hesitation. He shut the door for extra measure and closed the blinds and then settled back into chair.

Kate murmured appreciatively and curled into her pregnancy pillow the best she could, drifting off.

Rick glanced at her quietly and then lifted his phone up, pressing the Angry Birds in Space app and beginning to play.

4 centimetres

"When can I get the drugs?" was the first thing out of her lips upon the news that she'd gone far enough in labor to receive it. The nurse had the gall to laugh at her, which only made her that much angrier at her. She already wanted to punch her face in for her indiscrete flirting with Rick once she learned that he was single. The laugh that came shortly after her question was the nail in the Big Tits' coffin.

"I'll get you an epidural as soon as is possible, I promise. Just have to do a few things and then I'll be right back." She was talking to her, but her eyes were all over Rick. Kate refused to hold back the urge to throw up and she gagged softly and rolled her eyes.

Rick smiled politely and nodded as she ducked back out in the hall. "I don't like her." Kate said and he turned his head to look down at her from where he stood. "Not a bit. Can you ask for another one?"

"Why don't you like her?" He asked, ignoring the second part of her question.

Kate just glared at him, leaning forward as the rolling pain of another contraction hit her. She gripped onto the handles on the hospital bed and breathed it out, choking softly. "Why don't I like her?" She asked mid contraction. She waited until it passed before she fell back into her bed. "She has big tits that she has no problem flashing in your face. For Christ sakes, if I weren't in the room, I'm sure she would have rode your lap."

Before he can answer her and deny the claims when they heard a tap on the door. He lifted his head to see the withered face of Jim Beckett. Kate's face instantly softened and she reached out for him. "Dad!" She said as he moved forward at her beckon. She wrapped her arms the best she could around his middle when he was close enough and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, gently wrapping her in his arms.

"How are you doing?" He asked softly, rubbing her back. She pulled back after a moment, leaning into the pillows as she reached and grabbed his hand in hers.

"I'm alright." She said with a sigh, rubbing her stomach. If her count was right, she had about four minutes until the next one rolled through. "I'm going to kill the next person who tells me I can't have drugs, though." She paused. "Or tells me that I can and then spends the next hour prancing around like she's a cheerleader."

He chuckled softly, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'll stand out in the hall and ask every passing nurse if they've got an update on that epidural if you want me to."

Though he was joking, her eyes lit up at the idea. "Would you?"

6 centimetres

"Over halfway there!" The doctor cheered, but the enthusiasm wasn't accepted by either of the soon-to-be parents. He quickly straightened up and looked between them. Going on hour twenty two of labor, she still had four whole centimetres to go before baby. "I'll check back within an hour to see how you're progressing." He nodded a head toward both of them and disappeared into the hallway.

Kate groaned as she leaned back into the pillow again, staring at Castle. "Shit." She whined, rubbing her belly. "Why doesn't he want to come out faster?" She pouted, her lower lip trembling slowly.

In the past twenty two hours, Rick had seen plenty of emotions from her, and learned somewhat how to navigate them. He perched himself on the side of the bed and wiped the tears as they surfaced. "Shh, Kate." He whispered softly, cupping her cheek. "This isn't a personal thing, sweetheart. You gotta remember that."

"I don't 'gotta' remember anything." She tossed back at him quickly. "I'm hungry." She whined softly, reaching for the cup of ice cubes that he'd gotten for her an hour earlier. It was mostly empty, and the ones that were still left in there were melted. "Go get me more." She said once she realized this, shoving the cup in his direction.

Without arguing with her, he got up and moved toward the door, running to Jim in the hallway. "How's she doing?" Her father asked, eying the doorway that lead to his daughter's room.

"She's… fairing." Rick explained the best he could, running his hand over his face. The lack of sleep had gotten to them both and if their son wasn't born soon, he feared that Kate would either a) murder him or b) try pushing prematurely so she could get it over with. He knew she was so uncomfortable; she had been for months now. This was just the tail end of it. "Six centimetres now. He doesn't think it will be too much longer, but then again, he said it could extend to another six to eight hours considering her progress."

Sharing a grimace with the younger man, he nodded his head. "I called in sick to work today, so I'll be here until the baby is born. Assuming it's born today." He joked and watched as Rick pulled a face. Nothing short of pure terror crossed his features. "He will be born today, Mr. Castle." He told him with a nod. "You better go get a refill of those chips before she gets impatient. My Katie hasn't had patience since the day she was born."

Offering a soft smile in his direction, he nodded and moved toward the end of the hall, twisting around to where the station was. Jim advanced toward the door, stepping inside. Kate's head whipped toward the sound, a softness contorting her features. "Daddy," she said softly, resembling a small child.

It still took his breath away at how she was an adult sometimes; never mind an adult that was about to give birth to her own child. He walked to her side, holding out his hand. She grabbed it carefully and he cupped the back of her head, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You're doing great, Katie." He told her softly and she shook her head against the pillows but didn't argue any further.

8 centimetres

"Not too long now, promise." The nurse's words weren't satisfying in the slightest, but she took them in with a grain of salt. At twenty six hours of labor, being told that she was going to give birth soon was just laughable nonsense.

Lanie had arrived not too long before, Javier at her heels. She assumed Castle had called her once she hit seven centimetres but she couldn't care less. She'd been relieved when she'd seen her friend.

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" Her nurse asked again, glancing over at Rick from the corner of her eyes.

Kate scowled at the nurse and shook her head. "Let my friends back in and leave." She asked as politely as she could, nudging Rick with her knee a little harder than she intended but somehow the sound of him in pain gave her great pleasure.

A few moments after everyone's favorite slutty nurse moved out, Lanie and Javier moved in. Lanie rushed to her side, wrapping her friend in a half hug. "Oh, honey, you look horrible." She told her as she pulled away.

Shooting an "I told you so" look at Rick, she turned her head back to Lanie. "I've been in labor for a day, Lanie, you're going to have to forgive me for the lack of makeup and fancy clothes." She drawled sarcastically, patting her belly as she felt Ethan nudge her belly. His feet and knees seemed to be up toward her ribs, so she took that as a good sign.

Lanie rolled her eyes and grabbed the railing on the side. "I wasn't expecting that." She told her. "So how much longer do we have to wait?"

"Oh, 'not too long now' big tits said." She rolled her eyes, turning her head over to Castle. "I bet you liked that, though. She was practically undressing you with her eyes."

"I didn't notice," he said quietly, shrugging as he continued to play his game. She nudged his leg again and rolled her eyes again.

"Don't lie to me. I'm not blind." She turned her attention back to Lanie, sighing softly. "Men."

Lanie reached and grabbed Kate's hand in hers, squeezing softly. "You getting excited?" She asked, deciding to change the subject. When her friends grin split her cheeks, she mirrored the movement and grinned just as wide.

"I'm ready to meet him." She said softly, nodding her head. Without much consent, she could feel the edges of her lips pull wider. Yeah, the last day and a bit had been nothing short of terrible, but in a few hours – give or take – she'd have her son. That made everything exceptionally better.

10 centimetres

"We see a head!" She heard, though she couldn't tell where it was coming from. On one side, Castle was washing her head of sweat while on the other side, Lanie stood, ever the birthing coach. "Okay, Kate. On the next contraction, I'm going to need you to push really hard."

She groaned, counting down in her head. She was pushing really hard. Any harder and she'd be tearing herself in two. As the beginning of a contraction surfaced, she took a deep breath and buried in her chin into her chest, beginning to push again.

She heard words of encouragement all around her, but nothing stuck enough to keep her going. In her ear, she could hear Rick's voice count up to ten. When he got there, she collapsed back on the pillows as she heard the Doctor rustle beneath her. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily as she waited for the next contraction to come.

"Head is out. He's got a headful of hair!" He told her and she laughed softly, remembering the constant indigestion and heartburn she'd gotten. Though she was pretty sure that little fact Lanie had told her was a myth, it did make an incredible amount of sense. "All that's left is the shoulders and then we're home free. Next contraction, work with me!"

She was about to work her first through his face.

Before she could say another word, she felt the first sharp wave wash through her and she took a deep breath, beginning to push through it. She felt Rick's hand on her back, rubbing slow circles and counting down from ten. "I hate you so fucking much!" She said as she squeezed his hand in between hers harder. "I'm going to kill you, I swear to God."

She could have sworn she heard Lanie laugh at her side, but she was too focused on the ten count coming finally to the zero. She fell against Rick, breathing heavily. For a moment, she could feel the occupancy of her child and then, as fast that, he was gone and screaming into the world. She couldn't control the tears that suddenly sprang and she reached for her child quietly.

After the umbilical cord was cut, he was laid on her chest, his cries filling the room with life. "Hi," she whispered as she gazed down into his eyes. He peaked out at her and she cried harder. "Hi baby."

Curled on the hospital bed, Rick's arm was slung around her back while they stared down at their son. Kate knew she was biased but he was the most beautiful little boy she'd ever seen. He clung onto her finger tightly while he slept and she fell more and more in love with him with each breath he took.

Rick moved his hand up to tug back the blanket wrapped around him a little, in as much awe as Kate was. He could distinctly see Kate in their son, and that warmed his heart a little. He just stared at Ethan as he slept quietly, curled up against his mother's bosom.

"You did great," he told her softly and she looked up at him. "I think this is the most beautiful version of you I've known yet."

Subconsciously, she lifted her hand up and ran her fingers through her messy hair. She didn't have a lick of makeup on and she smelled like sweat. "You're silly." She shook her head slowly. "I think this is the worst I've looked since I got into a car accident when I was sixteen."

Rick shook his head too, and adjusted slightly so he could catch her eye. "No, I mean it." He told her softly. "You've always been beautiful, but you are so much more than that now."

Kate blushed and ducked her head to watch her son again, brushing her fingertip over his cheek gently. Rick leaned in and pressed a gently kiss against her temple. She leaned into the kiss, sighing softly once he pulled away.

"I don't want to put him down ever." She laughed softly, turning to glance up at Rick and then dropping her head again. "He's perfect."

He nodded silently, staring too down at the life they'd created. He smiled down at the infant and she cupped his cheek, taking him off guard when she guided their lips together. He leaned a little closer into their kiss and only pulled away when she did. She offered him a soft smile and dipped her hand back down to Ethan as he began to fuss slightly.

While she tended to him, he started to think more about the relationship they'd built in the last seven months. He knew how he felt about her, was surer about that than he'd ever been about anything in his life. However, he couldn't expect that she would feel the same about him. The crippling truth was that he'd fallen in love with her before she was the mother of his child and she'd only ever love him as the father of hers.

He leaned his head against hers as the babe shushed and curled more toward his mother, and for a moment he wished he could stay in that moment forever.

A/N: And guess who has finally made an appearance! I know, I know, I was looking forward to writing this chapter from the moment I planned this story out. Castle and Beckett are getting closer- wee! Next chapter skips ahead a month to Momma's birthday. And for those of you who are wondering, Ethan's birthdate is October 4th. She would have been due on October 25th so the newest Castle wasn't too far off his due date!

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and followed. I love you all!

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