They trailed out in a line like schoolchildren, across the skywalk from the maternity ward into the obstetrics procedures room. Having been here before to see Dell when he was first born, they already knew the way but the anticipation and the lack of sleep had them disoriented. They lined up like the usual suspect in front of the nursery's viewing glass and just watched for a few minutes.

'Which one is she?' Lanie asked, stretching her neck to try and read a name-tag on a plastic crib.

'Right there, with Andy.' Honey-Milk pointed to where the young nurse had picked Tessi up from her bassinet.

'Jenny, is that baby wrapped in NYPD receiving blanket?' Ryan asked.

'Uh-huh. That way you know it's her.'

Ryan laughed, pulled his wife in for a quick, juicy kiss. 'God I love you.'

They watched, everyone getting a little sniffly when they saw Esposito come in and take a seat in a rocking chair, waiting excitedly. He was as tired as he was deliriously happy; when Andy put the newborn into the good detective's arms, Esposito held her carefully, like she might break if he moved too quickly. All the girls let go of the control they were greasily clinging too and let the happy tears fall.

When Esposito leaned in to put a gentle little kiss on Tessi's forehead, Beckett wiped away her own tears as she heard a great wet snuffling sound behind her. Turning, she saw Ryan knuckling his eyes.

'My bro's in the daddy club now, too. I'm not made of stone,' he said matter-of-fact tone.

'I don't think any of us are right now,' Castle agreed, dabbing at his eyes with his handkerchief, then passed it to all the girls who pulled it together.

'Come on.'

With a little nudge Honey-Milk got them to walk forward, moving softly past the other new citizens of New York City, stopping when they reached Esposito and his new baby.

'Hey, big daddy,' Ryan said softly, using the phrase his partner had often teased him with when Honey-Milk had been carrying Dell. 'Who's the cutie?'

Esposito looked up, pure joy radiating from every pore on his face. 'Hey guys. I'd like you to meet the newest addition to the Twelfth Precinct. This is Constance Tessiana Marie Esposito.'

'That's a lot of name for a little girl,' Beckett commented, her voice low so it wouldn't crack and she wouldn't sob all over Castle's shoulder. That could wait until tehy were in his car.

'We're calling her Tessi for short.'

'Dude, she's Tessposito,' Ryan murmured, making his partner laugh. 'How's Mere?'

'An Amazon. She's upstairs getting some sleep and has requested we all have pizza in her room after she's awake.'

Beckett laughed, unlooped her arm from Castle's. 'Can I hold her?'

Esposito's instinct was to say no, who would want to give up such a precious treasure even for a few seconds? But he shifted to place the baby - his daughter - into Beckett's arms. He rubbed the back of his hand under his nose as he watched the cool-headed detetive coo to the snoozing infant.

'Hello. I'm your Aunt Katie, and I'm going to spoil you rotten. You will be the best dressed baby in Chelsea, and just wait until my girl Alexis gets an eyeful of you.'

'And don't forget Uncle Rick.' Castle brush his finger tip over the tiny forehead peeking out from under the little hat, pulled a gooey face when Tess gurgled in her sleep. 'I'll be there to teach you to play poker and video games, and my mom will be the best babysitter you ever met.'

'Okay, my turn.' Lanie held out her arms, cuddled Tess close. 'Oh, beautiful little Tessi. I'm your Auntie Lanie and don't let Uncle Rick fool you, your mommy kicks his behind at poker.'

'She's not even an hour old, and you're lying to her. Nice, Lanie,' Castle mock-admonished her, making her smile.

Beside the petite doctor, Ryan flicked his finger down Tess cheek. 'Hey you. I'm Uncle Kevin and when you're old enough, I'm going to take you out for a beer and tell you the story of how I accidentally saw your mommy and daddy making you.'

'I'd rather you didn't,' Esposito said, taking Tess back into his arms, then felt his breath catch in his chest as she yawned hugely and blinked those large dark blue eyes just like her mother's. They squinted at him and Esposito felt himself fall in love all over again.

'Hello my sunshine. It's me, your daddy. I will do everything I can to make you and your mommy happy.'

'Excuse me, Detective.' The nurse who'd led the group up from the lounge had reappeared, an apologetic smile on her face. 'We need to do a check up on her and then she needs a little nap before we take her up to mommy.'

'Oh sure.' With a little reluctance, Esposito passed Tess over to the nurse, stood up from his chair. 'I could use some fresh air. Meredeth's doctor gave her a sedative along with her post-baby drug cocktail so he said she'll be out until about six or seven this morning.'

'What about the baby?'

'I'm on shift until six, so I'll be staying in the room with her,' Honey-Milk reassured them. 'Kev, why don't you and Javier and the rest go to his house, it's the closest to the hospital. Get some rest and be back here for six-ish.'

'I think we all agree that's a great plan,' Castle concurred.

They waited while Esposito gave his daughter a kiss, murmured to her. 'Daddy's going to be back soon, my sweetheart. You're going to go have a nap with Mommy and Auntie Honey-Milk. I'll explain what that means when I'm back with breakfast. I love you so much, Tessi.'

He straightened, and they filed out to the elevator. The moment the doors closed, Esposito pressed his hand to his eyes and snapped.

Every emotion he'd been holding in since Meredeth had shown up at the precinct had resurfaced and came gushing out of him with such force it overwhelmed him. He slid down the elevator wall, his breathing ragged at it wheezed in and out of him, his body wracked with sobs.

The rest them froze. They'd never seen Esposito like this, not even when he was ready to beat a criminal he thought was responsible for killing his old partner to a bloody pulp. He'd been angry, but to see this strong man absolutely undone by his ferociously passionate emotions was like a roundhouse kick in the face. Lanie had enough wits to pull the emergency stop; Beckett leaned over to say something but Castle put a hand on her shoulder, subtly shook his head.

'I got this one.'

He crouched down so he was at eye level with Esposito. 'It's alright man.'

'Tessi almost didn't make it out of Meredeth.'

The group exchanged horrified looks as he continued, 'They wanted to cut into my Meredeth's belly to they could cut the cord so Tess wouldn't be born sunny-side up and risk choking herself on the cord. And Mere was scared. I've never seen her so scared in my life. LIke a little frightened doll. And Tessi went into distress before they fixed it, they had to have a crash cart on standby when we went to the delivery room. She could have...they both could have...'

'But they didn't.' Castle's voice was firm. 'Both of them are here, and healthy, and Meredeth can still have babies, right?'

'Right.'

'Then that's all that matters. Tessi has some hearty genes to pull from, she's not going anywhere.'

Esposito's breathing had calmed somewhat but it was still sporadic as he swiped embarrassedly at his face, which was ravaged with tears. He blushed as he came back to himself. 'You must think I'm a real pussy for crying, huh?'

'Not at all, and it's probably healthier than what I did, which was go home and get blind drunk after watching my ex squeeze Alexis out.'

'I was just through this two years ago, man.' Ryan held out a hand to pull Esposito to his feet and into a bear-hug. 'It's the scariest damn thing I ever saw, to see Jenny like that. I'd have sold my soul to stop it for her. But we got through it and you guys did too.'

'Yeah. Don't be so hard on yourself, man.' Castle pulled Esposito in for a supportive manly hug as well, slapping him on the back. 'Don't forget you're sleep deprive and your mind has been in complete overdrive. So we're going to go your place, all of us. We're going to order Meredeth's pizza, you're going to get a shower and maybe catch an hour of sleep and then we'll come back here and you'll be with your girls again before you know it.'

'My girls,' Esposito repeated dreamily, thinking of the look on Meredeth's face when she'd held Tessi for the first time. 'My girls.'


Once at the Chelsea town house, the first thing Esposito did was go face-down on his bed, while the others were in his kitchen, finding drinks and the phone to order food Castle ordered Meredeth's beloved Petrelli's pizza for them to take back to the hospital with them while Ryan raided the liquor cabinet; he found a bottle of Appleton Estates rum and poured short glasses for toasting all around.

'Here's to my boy, my partner, my brother Javier Esposito, and his lovely Meredeth, our friend and sister, and the safe arrival of their little girl Constance Tessiana Marie.'

They clinked glasses and drank, the spiced alcohol making their heads reel.

'Did he call his mother and Constance?' Beckett asked, sliding into one of the bar-stool chairs.

'No, Rosalita said if it was after one in the morning, wait until seven the next day.'

'Fair enough.'

Lanie fisted her hands on the kichen table, rested her chin in the nook of them. 'Esposito's a daddy. Who'd have thought it?'

'Do you remember when we first found out about Meredeth?' Castle said with a light laugh. 'All of us professionals in human behaviour and we didn't pick up that he had a girl.'

'I think we all knew he'd found his girl for life the first night we actually met her,' Ryan commented, 'after she had that night terror?'

'Oh yeah. Man, that's almost four years ago.'

'I know. Look at all the things that have happened since Meredeth came into our lives.'

Lanie giggled a little; she shouldn't have had that drink, she knew but it seemed like a good idea at the time. 'I know there's going to be one very excited little boy to see Meredeth and Tessi tomorrow.'

'Oh yes.' Ryan shared Lanie's laugh, scratched the back of his head. 'If Dell sticks to her the way he did when Meredeth was pregnant, that girl will never have a date in her life, he'll scare them all off.'

'Or he'll be the one to date her,' Beckett blithely commented. 'Let's hope he doesn't turn out like his daddy, chasing the ladies around. Oh I've heard the stories, Ryan.'

'My son is a perfect gentleman.'

'You keep believing that.'

As all were in the come-down phase of the night, the conversation died down by the time the pizza arrived. They divided up the pie and put it into easily managed containers, into the firdge so it could be taken to Meredeth in a few hours. All set alarms on phones and watches to catch an hour and a half's rest before they needed to toddle off home.

It was how Esposito found them when he woke up from his own siesta - sprawled around his living room. Castle and Ryan flaked on the floor, heads cushioned by the throw pillows. Lanie had taken the seats out of the arm chairs and made a makeshift bed while Beckett had gotten the luxury of the couch itself.

'Hey.'

Ryan opened his eyes, yawned. 'Hey bro. You catch any down time?'

'A little. Why are you all in the living room, there's another two guest beds upstairs.'

'We're not staying, well, I am. But these guys just needed a power charge before they head downtown,' Ryan explained as they went into the kitchen to make fresh coffee on Esposito's home espresso maker.

'You're staying?'

'Yeah, I'm going with you back to the hospital. Lanie texted Dave, and he said he'd bring Dell up to Meredeth's room when he came on shift at eight this morning, and then I'll head home with them after a little visit.'

'Oh yeah. Forgot he works out of Saint V's too.'

'It's permissible this time, bro, I mean you did just have a baby with your wife.'

'Yeah.' Esposito leaned against the counter, still trying to wrap his head around it. 'I'm a father, man.'

'Congrats, Javi. You'll do a kick-ass job, and Jenny said you were a rock-star in the delivery room.'

'No. Meredeth was the rock-star. She thought she was being such a wimp and a suck because the baby was giving her so much pain, but she didn't once ask for more drugs or for Harvey to do an emergency cut.'

'Wow. That's a strong woman.'

'She's my Meredeth.' Esposito went to the fridge to pull out milk for steaming and when the coffee was made, he gave one to Ryan. 'Come with me a moment.'

Coffee in hand, Ryan followed his partner upstairs past the sleeping beauties to the nursery. They went in and just stared at the crib, outfitted with sea-foam green sheets decorated with different kinds of seashells. 'This is were she's going to sleep. My daughter, this is her bed.'

'I remember that moment too. Dell was so tiny, he looked like a doll when we put him in his crib. Have you got her coming home outfit picked out?'

'Yeah, it's that onsie that you guys gave us the day we found out.'

'The little firecracker one?'

'Uh-huh. I can't wait to watch her sleep in here, come in here and feed her, take care of her.'

'You know Meredeth is in charge of the feedings mostly be default, right' Ryan asked him.

'Oh I know, but I can be there to help.'

'Kinda personal to ask, but did Meredeth have any tears?'

Not a one. That massage things I did for her was really good, at least that's what your wife said.' Esposito sipped his coffee. 'I just want to get back there as soon as I can, I can't stand this feeling of being away from them.'

'Then we'll get you back as soon as we can.'


R&R&Enjoy!