It was Hallowe'en night, and like many others in the city tonight, every little squeak, creak and other unnatural noise was making Ryan jump out of his skin, but for different reasons than thinking the undead was out for his sweet Irish blood. Honey-Milk was less than a month from her due date and despite Harvey's assurances the baby wouldn't be early like Dell had been, Ryan couldn't help feeling a little antsy. So instead he tried to occupy himself with party-night. Castle hadn't gone for a specific theme this year but the children old enough to trick-or-treat had: Dell had suggested that since there was five of them, they could all dress up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles plus an April O'Neil. Since it meant little effort on costume co-ordination or inspiration, the parents had jumped at it.

'Kev?'

'Yeah.'

'A little help?'

Ryan, dressed as the Riddler from the Adam West Batman series, stood up from the kitchen table where he was painting Dell's face to follow the sound of his bride's voice from the bathroom. He walked in, saw her face peaking around the edge of the shower curtain, her hair in dry and piled on top of her head with some kind of clip. She had a slightly embarrassed look on her face and bubble bath foam around her breasts.

'Oh, honey, are you stuck?' Ryan tried not to laugh, knowing that she could probably crush him like a bug if she sat on his chest.

'Not stuck, just want some help so I don't risk slipping. I drained the tub already so I only need a hand up.'

'You got it.'

Ryan shoved the curtain back, helped her steady her balance as she stepped out of the tub. 'You want a hand drying off?'

'No thanks, Kev. You patting me down will just give me ideas and I don't want to be late for Castle's party.'

'Fair enough. You want a hand with-'

'Kevin, enough!' Honey-Milk snapped, then sighed. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, I just don't want to be fussed over right now.'

'Understood. You need any help getting dressed?'

'I'm good, thanks honey. I'm puffed up and pregnant and sweating my wide-load buns off even though it's October thirtieth but my costume I can manage.'

'Hey.' Ryan took her face in his hands, kissed her reassuringly. 'I love you Jennifer Agatha.'

'I love you right back, Kevin Thomas.'

'Daddy!' Dell hollered from the kitchen. 'Mama is okay?'

'Indoor voice and yes, she's fine,' Ryan replied, patience straining as he returned to his son in the kitchen where Dell was swinging his legs patiently as he sat waiting on the chair. 'She's just getting a little cranky because it's almost time for the baby to be born.'

'Why she cuh-ranky?'

'You know how antsy you get when you have to eat your broccoli and there's only a few more bites before dessert, and you're sick of broccoli but you have to eat them to get your sugar-free treats? That's what Mama's feeling right now.'

'Oh. That is not very fun.'

'No.'

'She should have ice cuh-ream now,' Dell decided. 'I share my tuh-reats with Mama.'

'I'm sure she'll appreciate that. There.' Ryan set aside the Hallowe'en makeup kit and held up the mirror so Dell could inspect his handiwork. 'How does that look?'

'I'm a Ninja Turtle. Tessi gonna love me.'

'I'm sure she already does.'

'Okay boys, what do you think?'

Both Ryan men turned to see Honey-Milk in bloodied scrubs with a black pointed hat on her head; the ensemble made her son scoff a little. 'Those are your work cuh-lothes, Mama.'

'I'm a witch-doctor, honey.'

'Oh. Okay. I gonna go find my shell and my suh-taff.'

Ryan stood up once more, pressed his hands to his wife's pregnant belly. 'This little party-goer going to make an appearance soon?'

'Nope. Not even feeling close to it. But keep this up-' she gestured to him with a mischievous smile '-and you'll get to keep that Freaked-Out Daddy blue ribbon you've held since Dell was born.'

'I didn't realize our stork-derby had prizes like that.'

'Mm-hmm.' Honey-Milk checked her camera battery, her purse for her cellphone. 'Let's see, Javi gets the Bravest First-Timer because he didn't lose his cool once when we nearly did an emergency C-section on Meredeth right in front of him, Meredeth gets Biggest Girl Baby and Longest Labour, I have First Natural Birth, Lanie gets Biggest Boy Baby and Biggest Baby In General and Beckett gets the Tortoise Prize.'

Ryan laughed. 'The Tortoise Prize?'

'Yeah, because she's the last one to cross the finish line.'

'Daddy, I need some help, puh-lease!'

Dell wandered out from his room, his bo-staff in hand and the plastic turtle shell hooked over one shoulder. 'I can' reach.'

'Sure.' Ryan adjusted the costume for him, then flicked a fingertip down his nose. 'My little hero in a half-shell.'

'Turtle power!' Dell finished. 'Okay, time for Tessi and tuh-rick-or-tuh-reatin'!'

They got to Castle's with minimal scrapes to Ryan's already-fraying nerves - a pregnant wife and a four-year-old looking forward to candy, though, would make anyone a little nuts. When they arrived at the SoHo loft, Ryan gave his wife a kiss as she went with Dell and the other young-ones on the candy-quest, then made a beeline straight for the bar.

'Can I get a double whiskey neat?' he told the bartender.

'Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big pregnant lady with the scary hormones?'

Ryan turned around, blinked extra hard. 'Javi?'

His partner was dressed in tight black leather head to foot and was sporting some wicked facial hair along with three eight-inch claws on each hand. 'Tonight it's Wolverine.'

'Let me guess, Meredeth is Mystique?'

'Jean Grey, and she went on the trick-or-treating circuit with Tessi.'

'Jean Grey never hooked up with Wolverine, it was always an unrequited love on his part.'

'That's why the reality is better than the fantasy for me,' Esposito took the beer from the bartender, tossed him a decent tip.

'You two just love being all couply, even with an eighteen month old, don't you,' Ryan muttered, then slurped down nearly half the contents of the whiskey-glass the bartender passed him.

'You okay?'

'I'm starting to freak out again,' he muttered. 'I thought I'd be cooler this time around but looks like no such luck. I'm still on edge thinking every cough or burp is it.'

'You've got Dell needing you now, that's got to help split your focus, give you something concrete to focus on.'

'It does a little but half the time he's just as emotional as my wife is.' Ryan swirled whiskey in his glass. 'At least you're not going through this for a little while yet.'

'Actually...' Esposito scratched the back of his neck. 'We're trying again.'

Now Ryan's irritation vanished. It had been great fun to see his partner, the Maverick to his Goose, go through being a first-time father and now to watch him possibly go through it again was another golden opportunity. 'That's fantastic man.'

'We want a big family and our kids close.'

'You just wanna see Mere's boobs get bigger again, don't you?'

Esposito's grin was part lascivious, part sheepish. 'I can't help it if my wife is built like an Amazon.'

The door opened and the five little ones of various sizes all clambered in with the parents behind them - Dell as Donatello, Rosie as Raphael, Kelley as Leonardo, and Carey as Michelangelo, and Tessi, the youngest in the quintet, in a yellow jump-suit with little white knee-high boots as April O'Neil.

Across the room, Castle had seen their return and excused himself from talking to Beckett and Lanie to greet the trick-or-treaters warmly, took them over to the little table he'd had set up just for them to dump out their loot. 'What's the haul lookin' like this year?'

'Yummy yummy goodies,' Rosie said with a smile that matched her mother's.

'I got the suh-pecial kind. No sugar for me,' Dell added with a nod as his mother came up beside him. 'Mama, you look tired. Go sit down.'

'Hey Dell,' Castle asked, helping them poured the contents of their treat-buckets and sacks into bowls far easier to inspect. 'How did Tessi score getting to dress up as April when there's three girls?'

'Misser Castle, her birthday is in A-puh-ril,' Dell explained patiently; sometimes grown-ups just didn't get it.

'Makes perfect sense,' he laughed.

'Okay, picture time.' Beckett, who'd used her bump to her advantage and found an Ursula the Sea-Witch costume, wandered over with her camera and got Meredeth to line the kids up so all the parents could take shots of their precious tykes in their get-ups. 'Okay looks good guys, now time to get changed.'

'We hafta?' Carey asked.

'Well you can leave your costume on, but then you don't get to enjoy your mini Oh-Henrys,' Beckett bargained.

'I shange.'

The little ones handled, Castle turned to Beckett, gave her a kiss. 'Nicely played, Detective. You'll be a great mom.'

'Yeah, they're all cute like that once they're outside the womb,' Honey-Milk groused as she shifted on her feet. This baby was not playing nearly as nicely as Dell had late in the game and even standing perfectly still was making her agitated. 'I need to go sit down. My hubby ran off to be a little boy for the night with his partner so I'm left on my own for the moment, it seems.'

'Now what little boy doesn't want to be a Batman villain?'

Honey-Milk turned around; Ryan was there with a smile on his face for his girl which made her feel more than a little guilty for badmouthing him. She leaned in, gave him a kiss. 'Thank you for being so patient with me tonight,' she murmured in his ear. 'I know I've been nasty the last week or so, but I just want the baby to get here.'

'I know, honey. And feel free to use me for target practice.' He ran his hand over her shoulder. 'You thirsty?'

'Always.'

'I'll grab you a soft drink, why don't you snag a table.' Castle looked down when he felt the small hand patting at his knee and saw Dell there. 'What's up, Donatello?'

'Misser Castle, is there any buh-roccoli?'

'Broccoli,' he repeated and Dell nodded.

'I think we can find something.' Holding out her hand, Beckett took Dell over to the buffet and he zeroed in on the plate of veggies and dip. She passed him a stalk in a napkin. 'What are you needing it for?'

'Mama. Thank you, Detective.'

Treasure hot in his hand, Dell wove his way around the forest of grown-up legs until he found his mother and father sitting together at one of the tables. 'Mama, here,' he said, passing her the vegetable. 'You can have your ice -cuh-ream soon.'

Honey-Milk accepted the treat from her son with a kiss, examined it with confusion. 'Why is my son giving me broccoli? Kevin?' she asked when her husband started to laugh, shoulders shaking uncontrollably. 'What did you do?'

'I may have said that right now you're feeling the same way he does when he has to finish his broccoli before dessert.'

'Oh.' Honey-Milk's heart melted a little. 'Such a sweetie-pie. What would I do without you two?'

'Mama, eat your veggies,' Dell prodded the bite of vegetable towards his mother, stared her down with hands on hips. 'They are good for you.'

'Yes they are,' she agreed and popped it in her mouth. It didn't mingle at all with the flavour of Diet Coke but she knew it would satisfy her little man. 'There, happy?'

'Uh-huh.' Dell turned to leave but Ryan caught him around the waist, making him giggle. 'Daddy, leggo. Mama ate her buh-roccoli, now she gets to have dessert.'

R&R&Enjoy.