Thanks for all your reviews. I really love reading them

O-o-o-o-o

He sat down opposite from her. He was nervous but smiled at her nonetheless. She was so beautiful. The way she smiled back at him took his breath away.

„Your sister didn't have to leave because of me" he said.

Kate's brows furrowed in confusion for a moment before she started to laugh.

„She would love you for that. She's my mom, not my sister. And I'm pretty sure that she was glad that she could finally leave." Kate told him, smiling at him. It was so good to see him. Her heart was doing somersaults.

„Why's that?" he asked curiously. How could anyone not want to spent every second of their day with Kate Beckett? Especially her mom. And from what he'd seen they had a great bond too. Not that he'd seen that much. But he just had this feeling. Call it writer's intuition…

„Oh, you know, something about getting on her nerves about the same problem for the last two or three months. I think she's impatient that I finally get it resolved."

„And what problem would that be?" he asked in a flirting tone, but his eyes were nervous, curious.

„Ah, well" Kate started. Better now than later, right? „So, like, three months ago I met this guy. Funny, smart, good-looking." She watched his eyes light up before she continued.

„We went to his hotel, had amazing sex." A smirk accompanied the light in his eyes now. „But when I woke up in the morning I remembered this exam I had. And it was already so late. So I ran out, forgot to leave my number and because we didn't exchange names I had no chance of finding him"

He wanted to cut in at this point but she held up her hand. She had to get this out before the courage left her.

„About a month later I was reminded in a very unexpected way that we had sex three times but only used a condom once"

She watched his eyes got dreamingly as he remembered their night but then the full meaning of her sentence registered in his brain and his eyes grew wide.

He was speechless.

So she added „I guess my mom is getting tired of me missing this guy I barely know"

„You are pregnant?" he asked in a strange tone that Kate couldn't interpret. She nodded.

„With my baby?" he inquired. Kate nodded again.

His eyes light up. „Wow. That's amazing!"

What? That was not the reaction Kate had anticipated. She'd just told a guy she really didn't know at all that he got her pregnant and he was happy about it?

„Really?" Kate asked skeptically.

„Yes!" he exclaimed. „It's great. I always wanted to have children. It's going to be so amazing. Imagine all the fun things we can do. We can go to the playground and to the zoo and the museum and…"

He stopped when he caught Kate gaping at him like he'd lost his mind. Suddenly a terrible thought occurred him. His throat tightened.

„You are keeping it, right?" his voice was nowhere near cheerful anymore. He sounded afraid. His eyes were glistering suspiciously. Kate was shocked by his reaction. In a good way. He was so much greater than she'd ever imagined.

„Yes" she replied and watched the tension fall from him again. The devastated look vanished.

He sighed in relief. „Thank god. You scared me"

„Sorry" she apologized. „I just didn't expect you to be this happy about it"

Of course he was happy. How couldn't he not be? The woman he was in love with was pregnant with his child. It was perfect. „Aren't you?" he asked. „Happy, I mean."

Kate was thrown back by the question. Was she happy? She hadn't really thought about it. All she knew was that she was overwhelmed and scared as hell. But did she feel happiness too? She didn't really know.

„Mostly I'm scared" she admitted.

„Why?" he asked as if a child was nothing you should be scared of. Like having a child was the easiest thing in the world like… like tying your shoelaces or something.

„Because I'm 19 and having a child doesn't really fit into my plans and I'm pregnant. With the child of a man I thought I'd never see again. And because a baby is the scariest thing I can imagine."

„Don't worry. I'll help you" he said smiling but then something occurred to him. „Wait. I'm allowed to help, right? We are going to do this together, right?"

Kate's heart fluttered at the thought. Together. That sounded nice. Maybe she was happy about the baby. At least she found that she could be if they would be doing it together. As a couple. That was what he was talking about, right? A relationship. A family. Right? He wasn't talking about raising the child together but not actually being together, right?

Just ask Katie. Don't assume. She heard her mother's voice in her head. Her mother was right, of course. She was most of the time, though Kate would never admit that.

„Together as in…" she drifted of, left place for him to fill in what he'd meant.

Oh. It hadn't even occurred to him that there was another way than together together. But there was. There was shared custody. Where they weren't actually together. Was that what she wanted? God, he hoped not. As ridiculous as it was, he was already in love with her.

He studied her, she seemed nervous. And despite his insecurity's whenever it came to her, he didn't think that's what she wanted. But then again he'd thought that their night had been special to her too but then she'd been gone when he woke up… But there'd been special circumstances, right? She'd hinted at that earlier in their conversation. Maybe they should talk about that night first, or the morning after. Get it out of the way to have a talk about the baby. Open honesty was important, right?

„I really like you, Kate" he told her. That wasn't an answer to her half-asked question but Kate felt her heart flutter in excitement.

He took a deep breath, gathering all his bravery to continue. „And I thought we had something special that night. So…I'm not going to lie…I was kind of disappointed when you were already gone when I woke up"

Her eyes filled with guilt. „I'm so sorry. I didn't register that we had no way to contact each other until after my exam was over and by then it was to late. I couldn't even remember the location of the hotel. But we had something special. And I regret not leaving my number. Or better: Wake you up. But I was in such a hurry. I'm sorry" she ended on a whisper.

„It's okay" he said, he just wanted to move forward. He could easily get past the heartbreak of the last three months if it meant that he could be with her. „But where do we stand now? What do you want? Because I'd love to get to know you better."

„I'd like that too" she told him, the biggest smile on her lips.

O-o-o-o-o

Johanna couldn't wait for Katie to finally come home. She absolutely needed to know how her talk with Richard Castle went.

Holy hell. Her daughter had slept with her favorite author. And he seemed to be as much in love with her as she was with him.

„Why did you set the table for four people?" Jim asked his humming wife. She was excited and nervous at the same time. Stirring the sauce she was cooking just a little faster than usual.

Johanna shrugged. „Just in case Katie wants to bring him for dinner." She'd told Jim where she had dragged their daughter this morning and where she was now.

„You know she won't do that, Johanna. She thinks we'll embarrass her." Jim knew his daughter. She'd rarely brought a boyfriend home. Even when she did, it was only to get on his and Johanna's nerves. She wouldn't bring this guy she was so much in love with home tonight. Not after she'd just found him again. She would be afraid that they would embarrass her in front of him.

Of course Johanna knew that too. She just wanted her to bring him with her and held onto the hope that she would.

But when the lock of the front door turned, Katie entered the apartment alone like expected. Johanna immediately noticed that she was in a better mood than she'd been the last months. So her talk with the author went well. Not that Johanna had expected anything less.

„Hey Katie" Jim greeted her with a warm smile. He was happy his daughter was finally smiling again. He didn't really like the fact that some boy had so much power over her happiness but as long as he wasn't going to hurt her again he could get to accept it. „Come on, sit down. We were just about to start dinner."

„So?" Johanna asked after they'd started eating. „How was your date?" she shoot her daughter a teasing smile.

Kate rolled her eyes at her mother but couldn't help the smile around her lips. God, she loved this man so much. She couldn't wait for their dinner the day after tomorrow. And she was eternally grateful that her mother had made her go to the book signing today. Not that she'd tell her that of course.

„It wasn't a date" was all she said. But then she remembered that she still had the book they'd forgotten at the signing. Castle had given it back to her when they'd met for coffee but not before signing it for her mother and making Kate promise not to read what he wrote.

Kate pulled the book out of her bag and gave it to her mother. „He signed it for you" she said and rolled her eyes when her mother's eyes light up. She hadn't known that her mother could be such a fangirl.

Eagerly Johanna opened the book to see almost the entire page covered in handwriting.

Dear Johanna,

First of all I want to thank you for making Kate come to my book signing today. She's really special. Extraordinary even. I've never met someone so smart, so beautiful, so interesting before. I can't tell how eternally grateful I am that I've found her again, or she's found me… or you found me…whatever…

I've missed her terribly the last few months because believe it or not I'm already in love with her. But please don't tell her that yet. I want to do that myself when the time is right (which is hopefully soon).

So I know you must be an amazing woman, having such an amazing daughter. As must be her father, your husband. I can only hope that I can be half as great of a parent for our baby as either of you clearly has been for Kate. I'm absolutely excited to have a baby and I promise to do everything in my power to raise it right and support Kate in everything.

Hopefully until soon,

Rick Castle

Johanna smiled when she finished reading. Rick wasn't an author for nothing. He just had a way with words.

„I like him" she said and handed the open book to Jim who read the little letter.

„Let me read what he wrote" Kate demanded.

„No" Johanna took the book back from her husband and placed in on the end of the table, far away from Kate.

„I hate to say it, but he really seems nice" Jim said. Kate stared at him for a moment. She'd never imagined that there was a guy in the world who could actually win her dad's approval when it came to dating her.

„Please let me read what he wrote" Kate begged her mother again. But Johanna shook her head again. Kate groaned annoyed. Sometimes she really hated her parents.

„Let me at least read the book" she pouted.

Johanna laughed. „Like you are not going to read the letter then."

„Then give me another one of his books" Kate demanded.

„That could be arranged" Johanna grinned. „But I only have three yet. Maybe you could ask him if he'd send me copies of his other books?"

„I'm not going to do that. You can go to the bookstore and buy them like everybody else does." God, her parents were so embarrassing. How would she ever survive introducing Castle to them?