The Castle clan didn't arrive home until almost eleven, after they'd seen Kevin Oscar Parrish-Robbins, who weighed in at a hefty eight pounds, three ounces, and chatted with the exhausted Lanie. Alexis, who was still trying to adjust to Eastern Standard time after her flight in two days before from London, immediately headed upstairs with a cursory 'night, love you' for them both.

'I think this calls for something distilled in a large glass,' Castle sighed, fatigued from waiting but so thrilled for his friend.

'No argument here.'

Beckett went over to the couch, flopped face first onto the comfortable fabric. A hell of a day, she thought, a major serial homicide closed and her best friend becoming a mother to a beautiful baby boy. Kevin Oscar, she thought, Carey for short. A unique name, that was for sure, thought its reasons were as old as the hills - Oscar after Lanie's dad and Kevin after Detective Ryan, whom the group had learned was also named godfather. That was a no-brainer for sure; Lanie and Ryan's friendship had grown and bloomed during her pregnancy as he was the one who understood what it was to have unplanned pregnancy be a welcome if surprising game-changer.

As had happened since she'd driven to the hospital, Beckett could shake the baby thoughts from her head. Lanie had said she'd make a great mom and part of Beckett believed her. She was a strong independent woman, and yet...she was a cop, a job that put her in harm's way more frequently than, say a nurse or a teacher, other more accepted 'female' or 'motherly' jobs. Of course, that was bullshit, as Cam had recounted stories of a woman he knew from the army, a fellow nurse like him - Carla Rostan who made some of the Marines he knew look like whining little prisses, particularly when she'd dealt with combat crank the way most women dealt with menstrual cramps. And the stories she'd heard Meredeth tell about her mother Freja were just as impressive; Beckett particularly liked the one where Freja had told the man with the shrapnel wound until he'd given birth to an eight pound baby with no medication he better shut his sound-hole.

So why shouldn't she be able to do that when she had her own children? Hell, there was something that had thrown her completely off yet again. One she could handle, she thought, but Castle had said 'some', as in more than one. He was an only child, so was she, and Alexis had no siblings. What the hell would they know about having more than one child?

'You're awfully deep in thought, Detective. Fortunately, I have a cure for that. Oh-six Mersault. I'm not one for Burgundy wines but this is pretty good.'

Castle came over with the wine and two glasses in hand, pressed the remote for the fireplace after pouring; despite the warm weather outside, the loft was cool, almost chilly and a low burn would definitely help take the edge off. 'Congratulations, Auntie Katie.'

'Same to you, Uncle Ricky.'

'Lanie's a mom.' Castle shook his head, drank his wine as Beckett sat up to do the same. 'So we've got three little ones now, a girl and two boys. What do you think it'll be for Robina and Gil?'

'No clue.' Beckett sipped her wine, the crisp taste refreshing and clearing the fog away. 'When we have a baby, I don't want names starting with the letter J.'

'Oh?'

'No. And Johanna is definitely off limits. Stop that.'

'What?'

'You're grinning.'

'Am I?' It wasn't a coy trick; Castle didn't realize his face had split into a smile. He rubbed a hand over his jaw, tried to give in but just couldn't do it. 'Perhaps I'm just very pleasantly surprised to hear the phrase 'when we have a baby' trip so lightly off your tongue.'

'There's nothing light about it, Rich. I've been thinking about it since Valentine's Day, when you said we'd have 'some', meaning more than one. It's a lot to think about, I mean I've always known I wanted a family when the time was right, but that always stayed very hypothetical. Being in a relationship where saying things like that have pretty hot-button consequences...let's just say it's a reason some of my past relationships didn't work out.'

'Or maybe, deep down, you knew they weren't the man you wanted to have those conversations with. Let me ask you something.'

'Sure.'

'When I first mentioned having more than one, what was your initial emotional response?'

'Fear.'

'Why?'

Beckett sipped her wine as she gave him an answer, which had been a conclusion reached after many restless nights. 'Because one I can handle, but two or three is even scarier. Neither of us have siblings, so what do we know about that kind of family environment.'

'I know it will be many things, but the words 'dull' 'boring' or 'lonely' aren't on that list.'

Beckett knew this to be true; it was why she loved living in Manhattan, being surrounded by all that noise and commotion. 'Since we seem to be having some life-altering conversations today, can we talk about my name?'

'Huh?'

'My name, like what happens after we're married in July.' Beckett took another drink, topped off her glass when she saw it was nearing empty. 'It occurred to me when I heard Lanie and Dave use both their names with Carey.'

'Ah.'

'Please don't take this as a slight against you but I don't want to be Detective Castle. I just don't. I've worked hard for my badge and my name means something, you know?'

'I do, nor would I ask you to change it for the sole reason that we're married. But that being said.' Castle paused as he drained his own glass, wrapped his arm around her to keep her close. 'Would you object to being Detective Beckett and Mrs. Castle?'

'No. It's not like Meredeth, you know, she's in the entertainment business of literature, and she's , or Lanie, who is Doctor Parrish and will be Mrs. Parrish-Robbinses. Damn, I think this is getting me a little goofy.'

Castle nodded, wisely keeping his mouth shut; she was exhausted and he knew the wine was going straight to her head, making her babble like a brook. Knowing she would probably not notice, given how inside her own head she was, he pulled her to her feet and walked with her upstairs to their bedroom, keeping the conversation going the whole time. 'But here's the thing Kate, something you told me on one of our earliest cases together. You have to treat each case individually. You can use the others as guidance but when it comes down to it, it's something fresh. So you can use your friends' examples to justify if you need to, but what it boils down to is what you want to do for yourself and for your relationship with me.'

'I want to be Detective Beckett and Mrs. Katherine Louise Castle.'

'Then that's what you shall be.'

'But Alexis doesn't have to call me Mom, unless she wants to.' Beckett looked around, saw they were now in the bedroom. 'Did we walk and talk?'

'Yes.'

'Huh. Okay.' Curling into the fetal position, Beckett leaned over on her side and tugged the summer-weight blankets up to her nose. 'Sounds good. Wake me up in a few hours for work. I'm on the roll at seven thirty.'

R&R&Enjoy.