So, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I hope that it lives up to expectations set by the end of chapter 13. I don't really have much else to say in the way of an author's note because I'm too excited to get to the actual chapter! Enjoy!

Also, props to Tonya95 for catching the little nod to Captain Reynolds during the Castle/Esposito argument!

Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters are property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC.

Playlist for this chapter:

"Walk A Little Straighter" by Billy Currington

"There Goes My Life" by Kenny Chesney

"Soldier of Love" Sade (yup, that's a FLO shout out)

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"Pre...you're...what?" Rick stammered, his eyes widening more than he had thought possible. "Kate." He whispered, letting himself slide down the wall until he was seated on the balcony, his hands hanging between his knees. Rick stared directly ahead of him, not exactly sure what he was thinking himself, let alone how to explain it to Kate.

He was in shock. Another child? Already? Alexis was only seven and, granted she had been a bit of a surprise as well, he had been far too young when she was born. However, Rick wouldn't change a thing about that little girl for anything in the world. He vaguely registered Kate shifting her weight between the balls of her feet uncomfortably but couldn't seem to bring himself to look at her until he had collected his thoughts.

"I didn't tell you to force you to stick around, or try to get money from you, Rick. I don't want you to think that." She whispered, toying with the fabric of her dress. "I just thought that you should know." Rick felt tears burning behind the lids of his eyes, and his heart felt as though it was going to beat right out of his chest. He suddenly felt uncomfortable in his own body. He didn't know how he was supposed to react to this, but he knew that Kate needed him to say something.

He took a deep breath, wiped the palms of his hands on his slacks, and pushed himself off of the ground. When he turned to face Kate he found that he was alone on the balcony, but he saw the large bay doors swinging shut and watched the tail end of her dress disappear back into the reception.

"Shit." He muttered and took off after her, his black leather boots plodding loudly on the polished wood floors. He skidded to a stop when he rounded a corner, looking in closets and empty conference rooms, calling her name quietly but he found nothing. Rick was on his way back into the spacious hall where the other guests were when he heard a soft sobbing sound coming from in the women's bathroom. He peeked around to make sure that he was alone before ducking into the restroom,

"Kate?" He whispered, cautiously walking further into the room.

"Go away, Rick." He heard her sniffle from inside one of the stalls. Glancing under the door he found her curled into the furthest corner of the last stall and he slid under the door. "Did you hear what I said? Get out." She said, but her voice held no malice or conviction, only saddness. Rick slid into place beside her, tucked his arms under her legs and behind her back, and pulled her into his lap. Kate wrapped her arms around his neck and Rick felt a fresh slew of hot tears running down the skin over his pulse point.

"Shh," He murmured, stroking her hair and placing gentle kisses to her temple. "It's alright, Kate. I've got you. I'm here." He whispered and he rocked her gently from side to side until the sobbing subsided. Kate sniffled loudly before pulling away from him just far enough that she could look into his face. "Better?" Rick's voice was soft and quiet in the sanctuary of the bathroom stall. Kate nodded subtly and she gave him a shy look.
"I'm sorry, Rick. I know we haven't been using protection, but I'm on the pill. I don't know how...oh, God, I'm just sorry." She said and Rick brushed away the single tear that fell down her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"Hey," He smiled lovingly at her. "It takes two to tango, so to speak, so I don't want to hear any apologies from you, little missy. This is as much my fault as it is yours. I'm usually very careful about things like this, but with you...I, well I'll be honest, Kate. The thought of not trusting you to be clean never crossed my mind." He brushed a strand of hair off her face.

"You're not mad?" She sniffled.

"Mad, no. Shocked? Surprised? Scared shitless? Hell yes. But I'm not mad, Kate. Are you?" He asked, concern suddenly filling him.

"No. I'm just scared, Rick." She let her fingers tangle into the hair at the base of his neck. "You know, your mother knew the first time she met me." She chuckled humorlessly.

"Really, now?" Rick quirked an eyebrow, urging her to explain, and Kate smirked as she went into the details.

Rick had brought Martha home from the airport a few days after they had picked Alexis up. The woman was the spitting image of her granddaughter, and Kate vaguely wondered how Rick had such dark brown hair when the other two women were firey redheads. She made a mental note to ask him.

"Well, hello dear." Martha wrapped a very surprised Kate into a gentle embrace as she waved Rick off with her bags. He rolled his eyes so that only Kate could see him, causing her to stifle a laugh, but took the bags upstairs with a smile reguardless. "You must be Katherine?"

"You can call me Kate, Misses Castle." She smiled as the older woman released her from the hug, but held her at arms length by the shoulders.

"Oh, no, dear. It's Misses Rodgers actually. Richard changed his last name to Castle when he joined the military. He said that it sounded more like a soldier's last name. He always had been one for dramatics."

"Only because I had a fantastic teacher, mother." Rick called from the top of the stairs. The women chuckled when they heard him stumble over, what they could only assume, was one of Martha's seemingly endless bags.

"He's only teasing." Martha waved her hand for Kate to follow her into the kitchen and the she set about pouring herself a glass of scotch from the decanter that was perched on the marble counter top. She set a glass of water in front of Kate. Kate looked at the scotch in the other woman's hand and scowled at her water. "You know it's frowned upon to drink while you're carrying, darling. That's how crazy people that ride bulls come about." Martha winked at her and Kate choked on the water that she was nursing.

"What? I no...no...I...why would you say that?" Kate stammered.

"You're glowing, dear. It's hard to hide that." Martha smiled, sipped her scotch and winced. "My, Richard never did skimp on buying scotch. That is good stuff." She chuckled before patting Kate's hand and leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Trust me, Kate. You are. And I couldn't be happier for you. You seem to be one of only three women in this world that can put that dopey grin on my son's face and that makes you alright in my book." With that, Martha was gone in a flash of red hair.

"Well, mother was always good at doing that to people." Rick chuckled when she finished telling him the story. Kate smiled and placed a chaste kiss to the side of his neck as she settled her head into his shoulder. "So," He took a deep breath. "Kate, I need you to be completely straight with me." Kate laced her fingers with his and drew absent patterns on his skin.

"Always." She murmured almost inaudibly. Rick smiled against her hair at the use of the word that had come to embody so much trust between them.

"Do you want this?"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning this baby. Me. Us. All of it."

"Do you?" She lifted her head and gazed into the pools that were his eyes.

"Of course I do. Kate, I've been in love with you since I saw you at the bar that first night. I've never tried to hide that from you. All I need to know is that you're going to be in this one-hundred percent with me. Can you do that?" He asked softly, cupping her face in one of his hands and running his thumb over her lip. Kate gnawed on her bottom lip nervously before her face broke into a grin.

"I'm ready to dive into this, Rick." He returned her smile and kissed her soundly, his hand running over her stomach lightly.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that." He said, his hand fishing in his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small velvet box, and Kate felt her breath catch before he even opened it. "Katherine Beckett, will you marry me?"

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