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Lying in the bathtub with her eyes closed, Kate lets the tension of the day unwind and settle slowly into the water. Her body loose and limp, so even with the curve of her pregnant stomach cresting up out of the water she feels more graceful than she has in months. Smoothing her hand over her skin, she feels the insistent pulse of life against her palm.

And then the creak of the door as it pushes slowly open. She really needs to get around to oiling that. Maybe when she's not the size of a house. Even with her eyes closed, she knows who it is that's slipping inside of the bathroom to join her.

Kate waits until she hears the quiet, steady breathing right by her ear and then she rolls her head to the side and opens her eyes, comes face to face with her little boy. "Hey there, sweetheart. You want to get in?"

Her son is gloriously naked, balanced precariously on the stepping stool and Kate sits up in the bath to gather him close. Hands wrapping around his ribs, she lifts him over the lip of the tub and arranges her son to sit at her feet.

Bending her knees, she holds onto Jack's hands and drags him through the water, guiding him to lean against the slope of her shins. She wants to lean in close, kiss his cheeks, but the swell of the baby at her stomach prevents that. So she'll settle for raking her fingers through his hair.

"Daddy say I bath with you!" Jack giggles, throwing himself backwards to submerge his head under the water. Kate's heart lurches, but he comes up gasping, his eyes dripping with water and delight both.

Kate smirks, pushing his sodden hair back from his face so it doesn't annoy him. "I just bet he did. Daddy just doesn't want to deal with you and your antics, sweet boy."

"I heard that." Her husband's voice calls out from the bedroom and a knot of tension comes undone in Kate's stomach. At least he's right there, ready to intervene if Jack gets too boisterous. It's probably the only thing she has truly disliked about being pregnant this time around. Not being able to keep up with Jack, roughhouse with him. Now that she's getting close to her due date she can't even hold her son close, can't snuggle him the way he loves.

"Mommy?" Jack says, resting his elbows at her raised knees and pillowing his chin in his cupped hands. "Will my baby swim too?"

Kate gets her hands underneath her son to help him float, laughing as he kicks vigorously for a few moments. There's water all over the floor now, the slate tile hazardous. And oh, what a shame that she can't bend down to deal with it.

"Not right away, but when she's bigger then I'm sure she'll love to." Kate says softly, returning the beaming smile her boy gives her.

Jack pauses for a moment, his little face creased in thought, and then he looks to his mother again. "My baby have peanut butter?"

Jack's absolute adoration for peanut butter is a fairly recent discovery, one which both Kate and her husband are beginning to regret. He wants it all the time, for every meal, and last week Kate caught her son trying to clamber up onto the cabinet to fetch the jar.

"She might not like it, buddy. That's the fun thing about having a baby sister. You get to show her all of your most favourite things, and we get to see if she likes them too or not."

His whole face lights up and Jack scrambles to sit up, his chin resting against the lip of the bath tub. "Daddy!"

"What's wrong?" Castle's voice rings out, a note of panic to it as he hurries through the door. He visibly relaxes when he sees that Kate's alright, that his family are just fine. "What is it, Jack?"

"Daddy, we can teach my baby about dinosaurs? And the park?" Jack asks, wet hands reaching up and leaving darker, starfished imprints in Rick's button down.

He grins, leaning in to press a smacking kiss to Jackson's cheek before he strips off his clothes and climbs into the bathtub opposite Kate. Good thing the tub is so ridiculously enormous. Castle gathers their son up into his lap and snags Kate's feet as well, playing with her toes as he corrals Jack with an arm tight around his belly.

"That's our job, as baby girl's family. We all get to teach her about the world." Rick nuzzles at the warm skin of Jack's neck until the boy peals with laughter and wriggles out of Castle's grip.

Kate shares a soft look with her husband over top of their son's head, her hands smoothing over her stomach again. And then Jack swims his way closer and plants both hands at Kate's bump, leaning in so close his nose almost touches her skin. "Hi, my sister. I show you about toys."

He presses a sloppy kiss to Kate's stomach and she has to close her eyes against the wash of emotion, fumbling for Castle's hand. Her husband laces their fingers together and draws her hand up to his mouth, brushing a soft kiss to the back of it. "You okay?"

Swallowing hard, she manages a watery smile for him before she turns to their son. "You're a good big brother, Jack. Baby girl will be very lucky to have you."

"Will baby girl-?"

"No more, my man." Castle interrupts, pressing his finger to Jack's mouth to quiet the boy. "Mommy is super tired. Let's you and me get out of the tub and give her some time to relax, okay? We'll start dinner."

He clambers out, their son in his arms, and once they're both wrapped in towels he leans in to kiss Kate. "I love you, Mrs Castle."

"Me too, Mommy!" Jack squawks, almost toppling right out of Rick's grasp. "I love you, too."

And then she really is crying. Damn hormones.