New chapter! Some of you mentioned not liking the name Ridley or thinking she'll get teased for it. I have a name like Ridley's, no nicknames, pretty exotic, nobody can pronounce it their first try, you know the drill. But it defines me, and Ridley's name definitely defines her, as you can see in The Strawberry Story. So please give the name a try. Don't change it to something else when you read it because that's disrespecting a character just like you wouldn't call Rick "Rob" or something of that nature. Thank you.


Today was definitely a scorcher. The precinct, even with air conditioning, was sticky and uncomfortable. Kate felt dehydrated. She was warring with her body about how much fluid she should be drinking, because it seemed anything she drank went right back out again. In the end, she decided water was more important and stayed on the cycle of drinking and then peeing.

Right now, the precinct was pretty quiet. Everyone was out chasing down a lead or a suspect. Castle went with Esposito and Ryan after Kate insisted one of them had to have some fun and although he tried to tell her he should stay, she could see the twinkle of excitement in his eyes.

This particular murder was a day old. Someone had killed a mailman and stolen his mailbag. Kind of a weird one, but Kate liked it that way. After going through a few leads and interviews, they found someone they liked. Joshua Horowitz, who had been seen rousting the mailman they day before he died (this was found off a sketch and then identified by another person they questioned). Kate was eager to take part in this interrogation because Gates told her she would not take part in many more. Although Gates had said "for your safety and your baby's," Kate knew it probably meant "you're not intimidating enough any more."

It was true, with a now pretty obvious pregnant belly, she probably would not be taken seriously in the interrogation room. Not to mention, every time she and Castle did any sort of questioning together and the person moved, he would flinch. Overprotective ass, she thought with a small smile to herself.

Staring at the murder board, Kate was looking for evidence to use against Horowitz in interrogation. However, she was getting distracted pretty easily. She had been feeling flutters that her doctor described as "quickening" for a few weeks but they had gotten more pronounced, particularly today. She could not wait for that first real kick; that just gave her more nervous flutters.

Just then the elevator door "dinged" and in came Ryan, Esposito and Castle with none other than Joshua Horowitz.

"I didn't do it. Whatever you want against me, I didn't do it!" he shouted to anyone within earshot. Esposito took him into Room 2 while Castle and Ryan made their way to Kate's desk.

"Sure you want this one?" Ryan asked, sitting down next to Kate, "He's a bit of a loose cannon."

Kate gave a half-smile. "I'll be fine, Castle will be with me. You guys just watch from Observation."

"Just don't overdo it," the Irish detective cautioned her.


"Kate? Kate!" the voice sounded far away. Everything was spinning and her body hurt.

"Wha-what?" the female detective responded with a raspy voice. She fluttered her eyes a few times before everything came into focus again. Okay, so she was lying on the floor and staring up at four concerned pairs of eyes. The pair belonging to Castle was much closer, which suggested he must be kneeling down over her. Had she fainted? The harsh lighting told her she was in the interrogation room. Interrogation room… suspect… going to question Horowitz. Wait, then why am I on the floor?

"She was out for less than a minute," said Esposito's voice in a relieved tone.

"She still needs to go to the hospital," Gates told everyone, "If not for her, then for the baby. That was a nasty shove from the table."

Ryan was talking into a cellphone urgently.

"What happened?" Kate asked them, frustrated at not being included in the conversation.

Castle stroked her cheek as if he could not believe she was alive. "We didn't expect Horowitz to get that angry Kate, I should have stopped you."

Oh. All the thoughts came flooding back of interrogating Horowitz and trying to get a reaction out of him by relaying why she thought he killed the mailman. After about the fifth insistence of "I didn't do it!" he lunged at her. Whatever happened after that was a blur but he definitely knocked her out given her current state.

At that point, other people entered the interrogation room. Paramedics and EMTs. Everyone was talking at once, asking and answering questions. Asking Kate questions. Talking to each other. It was so loud.

"Is Ridley okay?" Kate asked, "Is my baby okay?" She was trying to reach for Castle; all she wanted was Castle. Why did everyone else have to be in here? They kept putting her arm down as she reached up. Nobody would answer her questions. Her body was beginning to hurt more. She just wanted to go to sleep and wake up when less people were talking. Kate closed her eyes. Sleep sounded really good right now. The last thing she heard before letting a black wave wash over her was someone calling her name from very far away, just like when she woke up.


Kate awoke with a start, her body jumping without consent. She kept waking up in unfamiliar places. The body in a chair next to where she was shifted and then noticed Kate's open eyes.

"Hey, you're awake," it said. It was Alexis.

Kate blinked a few times, adjusting to the room's light and glancing around. Definitely a hospital.

"Yeah," she replied, "How long have I been out?"

"You keep waking up and falling back to sleep, Dad said you went into shock after initially getting knocked out. They just want to keep you over night in case anything changes. Luckily, you and the baby are both okay," Alexis replied, a relieved smile on her face.

Kate let out a sigh. "Okay and comfortable are two different things though," she joked, "I feel light someone threw an elephant at me and was on target."

"Even if that suspect didn't commit murder, he's being charged with assault," Alexis told her, "Though Dad punished him too. Got him in the jaw to get him off you."

"Oh dear," Kate remarked, "Speaking of which, where is your father?"

"He went out to get us dinner. We had hospital food for lunch and it tasted like shoe leather."

"And he's okay?" Kate asked, concern flitting across her hazel orbs.

"After they said you'd be fine and the baby was fine too, he relaxed considerably. Apparently it wasn't as bad as everyone thought at first. But just in case, you have to stay here tonight and can go home tomorrow," Alexis explained.

Just then, the door opened and Castle entered with amazing-smelling Chinese food. His shirt was dappled with wet spots and Kate guessed the heat had given way to rain by now.

"Hey Dad, look who woke up!" Alexis greeted him. She got up to take the food from his hands.

"Hey, Castle," Kate said with a shy smile.

"Kate," he started, walking to her bedside and taking the hand she had stretched out for him, "I'm so glad you're okay. You and Ridley."

"Me too, believe me," Kate told him, squeezing his hand. The room got more crowded as a doctor wearing a white lab coat entered the room.

"Ah, Mrs. Castle, glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked. Kate read his nametag; it said "Dr. Paul Saltzer" on it.

"Like someone hit me with an elephant," Kate replied with a humorous glitter in her eyes, "But otherwise, I'm feeling fine. I don't have a headache or anything, and everything feels normal with the baby."

"Excellent," the doctor said, "Would you like to try sitting up?"

"Sure."

After a bit more of a discussion, Dr. Saltzer left satisfied and promised she could be discharged tomorrow morning. Then the three Castles were able to start on their meal.

"So I hear you clocked him one," Kate commented to her husband, "Horowitz, I mean."

"Yeah," Castle told her, "Yeah I did."

"The only other time you've ever done that was with Lockwood," Kate said.

Castle shrugged. "I think the fatherly instincts kicked in there."

Smiling, Kate said sincerely, "I'm glad they did."

They ate in silence for a while until Kate gasped and dropped her chopsticks, her hand coming to rest on her stomach and her eyes going wide.

"Kate, what is it?" Castle asked alarmingly, "Is she okay?"

"She?" Alexis put in questioningly.

Kate's smile answered that question as much as her words. "She's fine. More than fine," she answered, hand moving from her stomach to take Castle's hand, "Come here."

Following her lead, Castle put his hand where Kate's had been. Then he felt it, the little reverberations penetrating his skin. Ridley was kicking, or punching, he was not sure how to distinguish. His smile grew wider than his wife's.

"That's her?" he asked in disbelief. Kate nodded, eyes glittering with excitement.

Alexis quietly cleared her throat, breaking up the mush-fest between her father and step-mother. Both looked her way.

"Am I allowed to meet my sister?" she asked quietly.

Kate grinned. "Of course you are," she replied, taking Alexis's hand.

They sat there for quite some time, the talking to each other and the little one hiding away inside Kate. All was perfect for that small bubble in time.


I have a really entertaining idea for the next chapter involving Leggy and a kicking baby.

Please review if you can spare a moment!