Prompt from Clarkson124 here on fanfiction: what if Kate was pregnant in 'Death Gone Crazy'? Not sure if this is what you were looking for, but it's kinda what came to me.
"One day I'll tell her his story, how Beau gave his life to be her father," says Candice, a sad smile coming across her lips at her thoughts, the images her mind in conjuring surely bringing on a mixture of joy and pain.
Kate feels a small smile come to her own face as she lets herself wonder if their baby will be a girl, like Candice's. She finds herself thankful for the file cupped between her palms that keeps her from running her hand over the tiny bump beginning to protrude from her mid-section. Nobody at the precinct knows, besides Castle, of course, and this isn't exactly how she plans on telling her friends.
That doesn't stop the images from playing in her mind, one of Castle cradling a little baby dressed in a pink onesie against his chest instantly melting her heart. She wonders if he's thinking about their baby now, too, even as she pushes the images back to focus on the grieving woman in front of them.
"So, you're having a daughter, then?" she asks.
"Yeah," answers Candice, nodding slowly, a wistful tone to her voice as if she had just been imagining her daughter, a little girl so innocent, already losing someone no child should ever lose: her father.
"That's wonderful."
"Congratulations," Castle speaks right after her, nodding slightly and smiling as well.
"Thank you."
She watches as the elevator doors open behind Candice, an elderly man revealed, one she recognizes.
"I think your dad's here to see you," she points out, making Candice turn to look at him, to see the small smile playing at his lips.
"I guess I should tell him what's going on," she says softly, as if speaking to herself. From experience, Kate knows she probably is. And then she turns back to them. "Thank you, for finding out the truth."
She smiles sweetly in acknowledgement of Candice's thanks and watches as she walks away, towards her father. She finds herself wondering if Candice is thinking that it's unfair that her baby will go without her own father, like she still sometimes thinks when she sees people with their mother.
And then her brow furrows as she realizes that Candice might have to go without her father, too, if he can't get past the fact that she's pregnant with Beau Randolph's child, if he rejects his grandchild.
"You think he'll be able to accept his grandchild?"
"Absolutely," he answers almost instantly, watching with her as Candice continues to walk towards her father, the older man reaching out to run his hand over his daughter's shoulder.
"What makes you so sure?" she asks, watching the affectionate, familiar way father and daughter are acting now, still wondering if it'll be that way tomorrow.
"Because a father would do anything for his daughter," he answers, sure of himself, of his answer. He'd do anything for Alexis. He'd already do anything for this baby, their baby.
She feels a smile come across her face before she can even think of stopping it. He'd do anything for their baby, boy or girl, even his early into their little one's life. She's not even three months pregnant yet—ten weeks, she's ten weeks pregnant—and already he'd do anything for their child.
She knows he's right about Candice and her father, too. She might not be a father, but she is a mother now, and she'd do anything for her baby—god, she'd do anything for Alexis and she's technically her daughter. And he'd do anything for his children.
"You ready to go?" he asks suddenly, cutting through her thoughts of how amazing of a dad he is.
"We kinda have paperwork to finish, Castle," she teases softly, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. He doesn't need to know what she was thinking just seconds ago, even though she'll probably tell him how amazing he'll be with their baby a thousand times before the baby actually comes alone, and even more after the baby gets here.
"Get Ryan and Espo to do it. You almost always stay the latest and do the most, they owe you," he says. She can tell he's fighting the urge to touch her, to take her hand in his, to run his hand over her belly like he's down countless times in the month since she told him she's pregnant. "Please, Kate? After this case, after seeing that smile on your face, I just want to curl up on the couch with you and talk about..." He trails at the end of his sentence, letting his eyes somewhat-discreetly fall to her stomach.
She smiles, already giving in, and with a slow nod turns to walk back to her desk. She drops her files on Espo's desk and tells him she's leaving, asks him if he minds finishing it up for her. He looks up at her curiously, but graciously accepts anyway.
She's back by Castle's side waiting for the elevator before he can so much as tell her to have a good night.
"Something's up with her...with them," he points out softly as the elevator closes.
"Maybe she's pregnant," says Ryan with a chuckle, watching unknowingly as Castle takes her hand in his right as the elevator doors close.
The minute they get home, he goes into the kitchen and gets them both a glass of apple juice and a plate of leftover spaghetti, as she settles herself on the couch and watches, finally letting her hand slip down and under her shirt to run over the slight bulge of her lower abdomen.
As she watches him walk around the kitchen, warming their dinner up in microwave, testing the temperature by running his finger through the red marinara sauce and tasting it, her mind conjured up images of him warming up a bottle, testing the temperature on his wrist, intending to feed their little baby.
And then her mind drifts to him sitting on the couch, baby in his arm, a little person so tiny that they literally fit in the crook of his elbow, the perfect mix of him and her, giving the little one his or her bottle, looking down at their baby so lovingly even her imagination had her heart melting.
"Here you go." His voice breaks her thoughts and she blinks before smiling up at him and taking her glass and plate from his hands, taking a sip of the juice almost instantly, quickly taking a bite of the pasta. Since the initial round of morning sickness finally passed, she's been hungry all the time—and trying to control her food intake at the precinct in order to keep suspicion low.
It's not that she doesn't want anyone to know about the baby, or that she's embarrassed by the fact that she's pregnant—even though the dates say they conceived only about four months into their relationship and she's already ready to promise forever and raise a family with him. Actually, she wants to scream it off of rooftops, most of the time, that she's dating Richard Castle, her favorite author since way before she was biased. She wants to tell the world how in love with him she is, and that they're going to spend forever together, that they're having a baby.
"Thank you," she says as soon as she swallows, almost instantly shoving a second bite into her mouth. He laughs softly, watching as she chews and swallows. "Not just, uh...for the food. For everything. For loving me and being with me and being such an amazing dad," she says softly, a hot blush rising to her cheeks.
"Thank you," he says back. "For giving me the opportunity to show you all that."
She takes another bite before setting her plate aside, next to the one he never really picked up, and scoots closer to him, into his welcoming embrace. His hand, just as she expected, slips around her waist and runs over her stomach, his palm large and warm against her skin, over their child.
"You know, a mother would do anything for her child, too?" she asks softly, settling into his embrace, resting her head against his shoulder and taking in a deep, soothing breath.
"I know. You would do anything for our baby," he answers, his thumb rubbing a small circle into the skin over their baby.
"Do you think our baby...will they do things like that? Like 'College Girls Gone Crazy' or 'College Boys Gone Nuts'?" she asks, her own hand slipping down and under her shirt to intertwine their fingers.
"No. You'll be an amazing mom, Kate. We'll raise this baby so they never even think of doing things like that," he answers softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"I was hoping you'd say that." She smiles and turns her head to press a kiss to his shoulder. "That's all I was thinking about during most of the case, that those girls...that could be our daughter one day."
"Daughter?" he asks softly. She smiles against his shirt and shrugs.
"I don't know. There's a fifty-fifty shot, right?"
He smiles and pulls her closer, his hand still caressing her small bump as he reaches over and grabs her plate, handing it to her. "You know, a mini Kate Beckett would be perfect," he tells her softly.
She just smiles and presses a kiss to his lips in thanks for the compliment, and then stuffs another forkful of pasta into her mouth.