'Mom?'

'Yeah, Lex.'

'Does that feel really weird?'

Beckett laughed as she looked down at her baby boy, who was cradled in a football hold as he enjoyed his six-thirty am snack. 'There's no way to explain it, Alexis, it's just one of those things you'll have to experience for yourself. When you're graduated and married, of course.'

'I think I want a big family.'

'You think so?'

Alexis nodded. 'I used to think that no family was too big or too little. Then Ryan got married and everything change and one of the best changes is that Meredeth came into our lives and began having those big holiday dinners. You know my first two years of school that was the only thing that kept me from going crazy during exams, thinking about seeing everyone?'

'Not just seeing us?'

'Thinking about seeing you and Dad and Gram just made me want to cry because I miss you. I want to go into the kitchen and have Dad make me one of those ridiculously sugary candy mudslides. But thinking of seeing everyone, that made me excited so I could share my stories with the big girls too, the kind that would make Dad lose his mind if he heard them.'

Beckett laughed, then studied her tired eyes. 'Lexie, how much sleep have you gotten in the last two days?'

'A few hours here and there.'

'I may have to put my foot down and tell you to get some rest.'

'What would be the point in that? All I'd be doing is thinking how I should be here with you and my brother.' Alexis grinned as she watched Beckett switch sides. 'Does it hurt?'

'So far, not really. One of the girls said that the baby sucked her nipples raw when she was breastfeeding but I can't remember who. You won't do that to Mommy, will you RJ?' she cooed at her son. He'd closed his eyes, as if to concentrate on getting his fill and Beckett brushed her finger over his cheek. She still couldn't believe this was the beautiful creature that she'd chatted with and made friends with the last nine months as he'd grown inside her.

'Where's Dad?'

'He took Ryan to get him some coffee. Dell being up at all hours has thrown his sugar out of orbit, and he wants to make sure that Ryan's handling everything okay.'

'What about Jenny?'

Beckett flexed her toes as RJ continued eating. 'She's doing really well, from what I understand. She's not allowed to have any visitors just yet because she had surgery, but I heard Ryan say that by about lunch time or so today, she should be good to go. Me personally, I just want to go home, you know? I want to be at home with my husband and my kids.'

'That's such a mom thing to say.'

'It's also very true. I want to be in my own space, you know?'

'I understand. It was like when I was first in England, it took awhile to think of it as my space and not just a room in an apartment I was renting.'

The door opened and Castle walked in with a tray of food and Harvey following him in. 'I found this new daddy wandering around in the cafeteria and he invited me for breakfast before I came on shift at seven.'

'Turns out he digs apple cinnamon pancakes just like you do, Lex,' Castle told his daughter, giving her a warm kiss, then turned his attention to Beckett. 'And how's our boy this morning?'

'Hungry, but I think he's almost done his milkshake for the morning.' Beckett felt the infant's mouth slide away from her breast, gave herself a little poke. The flesh felt soft and supple and she knew he'd gotten his fill. It was one of the many tips she'd had her friends who were all mothers write down for her about the first twenty-four hours of being a mom. 'Yep, time for a burp.'

'Can I try this time?' Alexis asked and Beckett nodded.

'Sure. Here.' She draped the receiving blanket on her daughter's shoulder, showed her the same technique the nurse had shown her for bringing up the air bubbles. 'That's it, you got it.'

'There we are, RJ,' Alexis crooned, gently rocked back and forth while she patted her brother's back. He was so tiny, was all she could think, such a little guy. 'Come on, let one rip like Daddy.'

'Hey...no you're right,' Castle conceded as he passed Beckett a glass of juice. 'That burpiness he gets from me.'

'Burpiness. Wow, good thing your career doesn't depend on your vocabulary.'

'Funny lady.'

'Before I begin this lovely meal you've offered to share, I must do a quick little check, Kate.' Harvey pulled a pair of latex gloves from his white coat pocket while Beckett assumed the position. 'Very quick, just to see how you're healing.'

Beckett closed her eyes, breathed deeply. 'Oh, that's a little cold,' she grunted when she felt the doctor's fingers check between her legs.

'Well you're bruising up quite nicely and your uterine walls and cervix are beginning to reshape themselves. I'll need to do a full exam but I'd guess that by Valentine's Day you and your husband can be fully intimate again.'

'Overshare, Doctor Harvey,' Alexis laughed. 'I know they do that stuff, otherwise this little guy wouldn't be here, but I don't need to know they do that.'

'Well, overshare or not, I know that despite how you might be feeling right now, many couples fear intimacy will disappear when they have a newborn and yes the adjustment is tough, but on the other hand, there's a whole new level of it you get to enjoy with each other which a lot of couples are eager to explore.'

Castle instantly thought of Esposito and how he'd been chompig at the bit to get his hands on Meredeth after Tessi had been born. 'Valentine's huh? So that means no...anything?'

'Okay, I really don't want to hear this so I am going to take RJ for a little walk,' Alexis decided, and with the baby in her arms, zipped into the hallway to finish burping him. 'No, we don't need to hear about how Mom and Dad made you, do we? No, that would send us into therapy already, and you are barely a whole day old.'

She looked around, saw the door to Honey-Milk's room open, so she and RJ took a little stroll. 'What do you say we go and visit, huh?'

Since RJ's response was a solid little burp, Alexis took this as a yes and they walked the fifteen feet to the other maternity suite; she stuck her head in to make sure a visit was okay.

'Knock-knock,' she called out softly and smiled when she saw Ryan back in his street clothes beside Honey-Milk while Dell sat on the end of the bed and the new mother held the little girl in her arms, nursing her gently. 'The doctor's in with Mom so we thought we'd come for a visit. I can go, though, if you're busy.'

'No, no, she's almost finished.' Honey-Milk pulled the blanket discreetly over herself so she wouldn't embarrass Alexis.

'Hi RJ, Hi Alexis.' Dell waved brightly, feeling great from the sugar boost of his insulin injection. His sleep pattern was thrown completely off and he knew he would need an extra long nap. 'We are having buh-reakfast with my new little si-suh-ter. She eats from Mama buh-reasts, 'cause that's where the milk is to get her big and suh-trong like me. Did you have buh-reakfast already, Lex?'

'Yes I did, I had pancakes, and RJ had milk just like...I'm sorry, I don't even know her name.'

'Oh. silly Dell!' The little boy gave his head a little tap. 'Alexis, RJ, this is my little si-suh-ter, Mallory Agatha Ryan. I got to name her.'

'You did?'

'Uh-huh. Mama and Daddy pick out Agatha after my nana and I pick out Mallory.' Dell leaned over, studied his sister. 'She almost done, Mama, I wanna hold her.'

'Almost, honey. She has to be burped and then she'll be ready to visit.'

'I got to hold her when she wasn' even an whole hour old,' Dell informed Alexis proudly. 'She is my little suh-now-fuh-lake and she and my Tessi are gonna best fuh-riends. We gonna puh-lay Legos together, and do artwork together, and go suh-wimmin' together, all kinds of adventures.'

The word swimming triggered a thought in Alexis head as she shifted RJ from one shoulder to the other. 'So who won the baby pool?'

'Ah, let me think. It was Karpowski's boy Newman who won for Beckett, seven hundred and change, and Shane Weaver from the ME's office on Jenny here, a cool five-fifty,' Ryan told her, putting a towel on his own shoulder as Mallory finished nursing and was in need of a burp. 'Have you met Shane?'

'No.'

'He's a nice guy, always our second pick after Lanie if we tag a body, though Esposito likes to spar with Perlmutter. In some sick perverse way it makes him happy.' Ryan paused, thought on it for a minute or two. 'He'd have some great insight on medical school, too, just like Lanie. If you want, I can give you his contact information, you two can touch base before you go back to England after Christmas.'

'Thanks Ryan, that'd be fantastic.' Now it was Alexis who paused. 'He's not like single or anything is he?'

'He is, and a decent looking guy but way too old for you. If I set you two up, your father would do things to my body only my wife is allowed to do in a fun way,' he teased her, glad to see her laugh. 'So no school girl crushes, okay?'

'I'll try to control myself,' she said with a dry smile.

'Lexie, you sit down.' Dell hopped off the end of the bed and dragged an extra chair over to the side of the bed, patted it with his hand. 'You should sit while you holdin' onto RJ.'

'Or she can walk him down to his room,' Castle commented from the doorway. 'Lex, we're finished with the doctor if you want to come back.'

'Oh, we were just having a little visit, and RJ's fine, he has been asleep almost the entire time.'

'Really, Castle,' Honey-Milk added from her spot on the bed, passing Mallory to her daddy as she covered herself back up. 'I've still got a big ol' catheter in me and can't get out of bed yet, so the mountains are coming to Mohammed, as it were. And truthfully, Lex and RJ are our first visitors.'

'Lexie is very polite,' Dell chipped in helpfully. 'She doesn' dis-uh-turb Mallory.'

'Mallory? Oh, is that the name we decided on?' Castle was momentarily distracted as he went over to see the baby.

Dell nodded. 'Yes, she is Mallory Agatha Ryan and I got to help pick her name.'

'That's quite an honour, Dell.'

'I am the best big buh-rother ever in the world.'

'That's a pretty bold statement.' Castle glanced up from looking at Mallory against Ryan's shoulder to look at Dell. 'Your daddy's a big brother to your aunts, and he's pretty cool. Same with Javi.'

'They are not as good as me.' Dell jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb. 'I am Dell Ryan.'

'Well there, best brother why don't you help me out and get a couple of the baby wipes from the box in Mama's bag?' Ryan asked.

The boy nodded and went searching while Ryan held Mallory on his shoulder. 'He's determined to do a good job. He loves Mallory so much, and has already decided her BFF is his little girlfriend.'

'Aw, that's so sweet.'

At the sound of his father's voice, RJ began to fuss a little so Castle came over, plucked him out of Alexis' arms. 'Hey little man, why don't we go and visit your new playmate.'

Alexis reached into her pocket, pulled out the camera to capture the moment - dueling papas with their babies.


R&R&Enjoy.