A/N: Thank you all so much for your kind words and I so wish this wasn't the end but I feel I've written everything I wanted with this story. Anyway, hope you enjoy this last chapter, will try publish the epilogue tomorrow! Until next time, xxxx
It started out as a beautifully calm day, the two of them taking a bath together with fingers traveling places no other set of fingers were allowed to and then they'd cuddled on the couch with a movie they both loved. They'd even managed to start the lunch when it all had changed rapidly. It had begun when Kate had lifted the glass bowl of salad and gone to put it on the table. A pain so sharp and unexpected that she dropped the bowl and it hit the floor only to shatter in a million pieces. Or at least that's what it felt as. Apparently Castle was more prepared than she was because within moments he'd called the number for the hospital and was leading her out of the glass maze towards the door. He told her to breathe calmingly, take deep breaths. Before they managed to get out of the door Alexis had come running down the stairs asking what was wrong.
"Baby's coming," had been the only thing Castle needed to say before the redhead said she'd clean up the mess and take care of the dinner so it wouldn't burn or start a fire somehow.
Castle insisted on driving to the hospital, saying an ambulance would take too much time, besides, they have the bag with everything in the car already. Kate had laughed at him when he'd told her it was better to prepare the bag early rather than not having it prepared at all. She'd thought there was no way the baby could come earlier than the due date, but apparently Castle had done research and found that the due date could have a variety of two weeks before and two weeks after. It was the before that had made him prepare for everything earlier than she had.
Once at the hospital she was taken into a room that would be the room she'd deliver their baby into. She had never felt pain like this before and it kind of irritated her that she couldn't ignore it like she could with wounds from the job. Probably because the pain came from inside her and not from a wound on her skin. Castle never left her side, all while also calling to make sure both his mother and her dad knew the baby was coming, along with their coworkers and her captain. They'd earlier agreed on letting the people know but Kate had been perfectly clear on not wanting anyone other than Castle at the hospital with her. The only ones she could allow in the waiting room were their family, her dad, his mother and Alexis. Lanie had argued at first but when she'd threatened the M.E. she'd promised not to show up at the hospital until Kate called her and told her she could.
"It's time to push."
Kate tried to listen to the nurse and do whatever the nurse asked her to do. She knew the pain would subside once everything was over. And so she pushed when the nurse told her to, paused and breathed when she told her that, and kept going like that until she felt a relief consume her body as something popped right out of her, and a scream filled the room.
"Kate," she heard her partner whisper with wonder in his voice, then he kissed her forehead. "It's a girl."
"Do you want to cut the umbilical cord?" the nurse asked Castle and he nodded.
Kate laid back, finally being able to take a few deep breaths and felt her body relax. It took another few minutes before she felt a warmth being put on her chest and she looked down to see the small bundle still crying against her. Carefully she put her hand over the baby girl's back, gently letting her fingers stroke through the blanket they put her in. Soon enough the crying came to a stop as the little face turned content and the sounds turned into a kind of gurgling. She's beautiful. Everything else was a blur, but not her. She was perfectly clear the whole time and Kate couldn't take her eyes off of her. This little girl had been growing in her stomach for the past nine months and she was finally meeting her. God, she finally understood what Castle had been talking about. A love so instant.
"Hi," she whispers to her daughter and she swore she could see the corners of the small mouth lift in a smile.
"Oh my goodness, Kate she's beautiful," Martha said the second she laid eyes on her new granddaughter.
"Awe, a baby sister," Alexis cooed when she went up to Kate still in bed with the small bundle in her arms. "Takes after the beauty of her mom."
"Hey!" Castle exclaimed. "What about me?"
Kate chuckled at that and so did her dad and Alexis.
"Well, you get your looks after your dad, can't blame me," Martha said with a shrug, only making the chuckles turn into laughters as Castle just gruntled.
"Don't worry babe, I find you handsome," Kate promised and looked at her partner.
He grinned and bent down to reach her lips, kissing her sweetly.
"May I?" Alexis asked, hands reached out towards the little girl and Kate nodded before she handed the baby girl to her big sister.
The teenager started instantly talking to the bundle, gently bouncing in her knees, and Kate could see the pride and love in the redhead's eyes. After a few minutes she passed the girl to her gram, then it was time for grandpa. Kate couldn't help but feel her eyes get watery, seeing her dad interact with the daughter she just gave birth to a couple hours ago.
"She looks just like you, Kate," her dad said after a few minutes of silence. "Just like you."
Kate felt her insides melt, and when she got to hold her baby girl again she couldn't help but lean down and kiss her daughter's forehead. She kept like that for a while just to take in the newborn scent and let her nose fill with it.
"We should get going, let the new mom relax," Martha said after a while and Kate realized she had closed her eyes. "Talk to you later kiddos."
The older woman leaned down to kiss her cheek before doing the same with her son, Alexis said goodbye as well with hugs to them both. Lastly Jim said his bye as well, kissing Kate on her forehead and shaking a hand with her partner before he too left the room. The second they were alone Kate didn't fight off the urge to yawn.
"You okay?" Castle immediately asked, concern in his voice.
"Yeah," she whispered and looked up at him. "Just tired. Do you wanna hold your daughter for a while?"
"Of course I do," he immediately nodded and held out his hands to accept the bundle she's handing to him.
Before she's even close to dozing off she opened her mouth again. "Castle?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you lay down with me?" she asked and moved a bit in her bed to make room for him.
He smiled at her and carefully sat down beside her before he laid down. Kate snuggled towards him, her arm looping around his stomach, her head cuddled into his shoulder.
"I love you, both of you," she whispered as she felt herself be consumed by sleep.
"I love you too," he whispered back, his lips finding her hair to kiss her gently.
A squeal filled the loft and Kate couldn't help but chuckle at the sound. She kept rocking the small girl as her daughter continued to latch onto her breast.
"That's your auntie Lanie," she cooed to the baby girl. With a whisper she added, "Get used to that, peanut. Every time you tell her something exciting, that's how she'll sound."
Her baby soon finished eating and Kate made her best at holding her peanut at the same time as she reattached the nursing bra and pulled down her shirt before she pulled up her baby onto her shoulder and stood up. She bounced a little as she patted the back of the girl to see if she could get a burp out of her.
"They're all here Kate, anxious to meet her," Castle walked into the nursery and Kate chuckled.
"I bet," she said and he came up to them in order to lean down and kiss her lips.
"You ready?" he asked in a whisper and she nodded with a bright smile on her face.
She changed her holding on her baby to be able to look at the small girl. "You ready peanut? Ready to meet the rest of your family?"
The little girl made a sound and both parents chuckled before they went towards the waiting guests. When they came out into view they heard their friends gasp as they took in the scene none of them had thought would be possible ten months ago.
"Hey cutie," Lanie immediately said as soon as Kate, with the small bundle, was close enough for her to see the baby.
"Peanut, meet Lanie," Kate introduced her daughter to her best friend. "And this is Ryan and Espo," she turned the girl so that her eyes were turned to the two goofy-looking detectives. They were probably as excited as the M.E. only due to them not wanting to display it, it made them have funny expressions on their faces. "And this, this is Captain Montgomery."
"I'll be the one making sure your mom doesn't work too much," Montgomery said in a promise and Kate huffed.
"Sir, I won't," she started but the captain just smiled and shook his head.
"Just yanking your chain detective, I know you'll be a great mom," he said and she felt her cheeks blush.
"You and me both," Castle came up from behind her and she felt her blush deepen as his hands landed on her hips. "Should I take out the cake?"
"Yes, and after we've eaten you can all get your chances at holding peanut, by then she's most likely heard your voices enough," Kate told the gang and they all nodded.
Kate and Castle had spent many nights before the birth talking about how they wanted to do everything. They'd agreed they sometimes thought people were too quick on bouncing babies from knee and arm to knee and arm without any thoughts of how that could make the baby feel. They'd eventually told their friends about their plans as well, told them how they wanted their baby to be around them for more than just a few minutes before they started holding and bouncing the baby in their arms. They had all agreed, and that's why there were no complaints now. They all ate cake and enjoyed themselves, talking to peanut sitting in either Kate och Castle's embrace,
"So, do you call her peanut or is her name actually going to be Peanut?" Esposito asked with a small judgement in his voice.
"No, it's just a nickname until we've decided on a name," Kate said.
"Who says it's just until then?" Castle argued and Kate rolled her eyes. "I've been calling Alexis for pumpkin since she was a baby, I'll do the same here."
The men in the room chuckled while the M.E. joined Kate on her eye rolling.
"Have you thought about any names yet?" Lanie asked and Kate groaned. "What?"
"Don't get him started," she warned her.
"No, please do, I've got a lot of suggestions," Castle said with a big grin on his face.
"Such as?" Esposito asked anyway.
"How about Wanda, Scarlet, Diana, Natasha, Agatha," he's stopped by Ryan holding up a hand.
"Why do these names feel familiar?" he asked.
"They're comic characters," Kate groaned before handing over their peanut to her dad. "I need coffee, who else?"
Everyone held their hands up in agreement and she set footsteps towards the coffee machine.
"You wanna name your daughter after a comic book?" Esposito questioned and Castle immediately held up his hand.
"Not just a comic book. It's Marvel!" he stated with excitement. "Imagine her being able to tell her friends she's named after superheroes!"
"Isn't Agatha a villain?" Kate immediately questioned and he waved his hand in dismissal.
"Potatoe potato. Anyway, I'm mostly thinking Wanda but Kate doesn't like it," he said and she sighed.
"It's not that I don't like the name, I just don't feel it right for our peanut," she told them.
"Wait, Diana isn't Marvel, she's DC," Esposito suddenly said and the other three men looked at him with big smirks. "What?"
"Looks like someone has a crush on a certain Wonder Woman," Castle said in a mocking tone and Esposito immediately narrowed his eyes on the men.
"Leave him alone, guys," Kate said and when Castle was about to say something she added. "Or I tell them what crushes you have."
"You wouldn't dare," he exclaimed and she narrowed her eyes with a smirk on her lips.
"Try me," she suggested and he immediately shook his head.
"No way," he gave up by holding a hand up in surrender.
"Good, now, can we stop talking about baby names," Kate suggested and the others agreed.
Soon enough they were drinking coffee and eating some more cake, peanut being passed around soon enough. They made sure she could always hear or see one of her parents and also made sure she'd spend more than just a few minutes in each embrace to make sure she'd get familiar with all of them. Once it started to get late they, one by one, said their goodbyes and left.
"You know, we could name her Johanna," Castle suggested and Kate looked at him with question. "After your mom, I mean."
Kate smiled but shook her head. "It's sweet but no, maybe as a middle name though?" she said and he nodded.
"Absolutely," he agreed. "Why don't you want to name her after a superhero? I mean," he added when he saw her irritation, "I just wanna know why not."
Kate took a deep breath and thought about it for a second. She hummed. "I don't want her to grow up with the thought of needing to own up to the name."
His eyebrows furrowed. "Why would she need that?"
"Just imagine, if we named her Wanda, and you and me being us, maybe she thinks she needs to be about justice or fighting criminals as well. I would never tell her anything like that, but just imagine."
She could see he was thinking about it for a while and she let him, she continued to clean up the mess while she, every once in a minute, glanced towards her baby girl sleeping in a beanbag.
"Okay, I get it. But… what should we name her then?" he asked and Kate shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know." She was getting kind of sick of not knowing what to name their daughter but she couldn't for the life of her think of something good.
"Hey, what about Coffee?" he asked and she wrinkled her forehead.
"We just had coffee," she said and he chuckled, shaking his head.
"No, I meant naming her Coffee, we both love it and it's one of the things I gave you every day before we got together," he explained and she shook her head.
"We're not naming our daughter after a beverage," she said and put in the last of the dishes in the washer.
Kate started to put back the lanterns they usually have on the counter to make it all comfy during the dark evenings. Then she went to their daughter to look down at the small bundle, still sound asleep. It was kind of difficult to not give into the urge to pick up the girl and cuddle her all the time. At the same time maybe this was her saying it was time for the parents to take a moment to breathe as well.
"Do you mind if I go take a bath?" she asked and turned around to her partner.
She observed him as she waited for his answer but when an answer didn't come she looked closer. He'd put the vase back on the counter, the vase with flowers he'd surprised her with this morning. It was the same kind of flowers he'd gotten her on their first date as well as when she'd given birth to their daughter a couple hours earlier.
"What is it Castle? You wondering if you can strangle someone with flowers again?" she teased and chuckled.
"Lily," he said and she raised her eyebrows.
"They're lilies yeah, I know. Why?" she asked and he looked at her with a bright smile playing on his lips.
"No, I mean Lily, a name."
She felt her heart skip a beat and she looked at their daughter. "Lily," she whispered for herself, testing out the name. "Lily Johanna Beckett Castle," she tried a bit louder and when the small bundle of joy smiled she couldn't stop the corners of her lips lifting in a mirroring smile. "I like it, do you?" she asked her partner and turned to him.
"I love it," Castle admitted and she bit her lower lip.
"Me too," she agreed and his face lit up.
With just a few steps he was right in front of her, his lips claiming hers in a sweet kiss. She chuckled at that and couldn't help but let her fingers travel to his hair. When they slowed down the kiss she let her thumb caress his cheek.
"You should go, take that bath. We don't know when Lily wakes up and wants feeding," he whispered against her lips and she chuckled.
"Yeah, I could definitely use a soothing bath before Lily decides to wake up," she agreed, also testing out the new name.
It felt right. Lily it was.