Epilogue

Standing on the balcony of the Hamptons beach estate, Kate moved her hands from the railing to the ever-growing swell of her belly beneath her dressed and danced her fingertips gently across the bump. The day itself was idyllic: eighty-four degrees with low humidity and a light sea breeze dancing through the air; the sun shining brilliantly above them. They could not have asked for a better day for their picnic, which would take place at a home so gorgeous most days she could hardly believe it was hers—well, theirs. Three years earlier Kate could never have imagined such a moment taking place in her life, but now she couldn't imagine not having moments like that one and for that she had never been more grateful.

"Kate? You ready, love?"

She turned her head to see her husband ascending the stairs to the porch from the side yard and she smile at him. "Yeah…ah, yes; yes. Just a little bit nervous, I guess."

"Why nervous?" he asked when he came up beside her, place his large hand on her belly, and gave it a little rub. "This is the most fun part!"

When he wiggled his eyebrows at her she laughed and said, "You mean especially since we're not doing as my mother suggested and waiting to find out."

"Precisely." With that, he grabbed her hand and led her down to the area of the yard where their family and friends waited. As they walked, she thought briefly about all last significant life moment she had in that same space when Castle proposed to her.

That weekend was far from the first she'd spent at the Hamptons estate, but it had started out as the most interesting long before the proposal took place. It originally started as just the two of them on a brief retreat, but then his mother had showed up with a new boyfriend in tow. Castle had seemed disproportionally annoyed, though in hindsight she realized that was only because her arrival had disrupted the original proposal plan, which involved dinner, great wine, and filling almost the entire downstairs with vanilla-scented candles. In the end, the proposal still involved dinner and great wine, but they'd been forced to escape to the back yard due to the loud volume of the laughter coming from the room of his mother and her companion. They'd been seated side-by-side on chairs in front of a burning fire when Castle stunned her in to speechlessness by getting down on one knee before her. Truly, she had never thought he would propose as she thought they were both happy with the state of their relationship as it was, but she also never once thought about saying no.

In the light of that significant moment, they later floated the idea of marrying in the Hamptons as well, and it had certainly been in the running, but then Kate visited and fell in love with a romantic rooftop venue in the city. Considering that was more practical for their guests, it was the one they went with, but she always believed she would have been happy with either. As such, she was glad Castle had suggested the Hamptons location to let their family know whether their baby would be a boy or a girl.

As someone who did not want to flaunt her personal life, Kate had been staunchly against the gender reveal party. They could find out at the doctor's office during the ultrasound like normal people. But that wasn't what her husband wanted—and he knew exactly how to get his way. Ultimately, she relented, as long as he kept the guest list below twenty invitees, which he agreed to. Now that the moment was upon them, butterflies filled her stomach.

Kate truly did not have a preference for the gender of the baby she carried. She and Castle had discussed their future both after they became engaged and after their wedding, and they agreed to have at least two children together. Knowing that, she thought she might care a bit more for the second baby, so they could have both a boy and a girl, but for the first, all she wanted was a healthy child.

Castle led the way to their decorated picnic table on which sat a cardboard box that would either be filled with blue or pink balloons. As they needed someone to facilitate that surprise, Alexis had immediately volunteered, so she was the only one of their group that knew the baby's gender—and had teased her father about that fact quite thoroughly for the prior ten days.

"Um, excuse me—if I could have everyone's attention." Castle spoke loudly over the low hum of conversation until all eyes were on the parents-to-be. "Thank you all so much for coming today. It really means so much to Kate and I to be surrounded by someone who loves us and is just as excited about this baby as we are. You know, it's times like this that-"

"Dad come on!" Alexis groaned loudly. "Speech later—just open the box!"

Kate chuckled as he looked momentarily annoyed, but then agreed and reached out for the box. He looked at Kate, smiled, and then instructed her to grab the opposite side of the box opening, which was only loosely taped together. "Ready?"

"Ready." She echoed as her heart began to hammer.

"On three then. One. Two. Three!"

As soon as she heard the cue, Kate pulled hard on her side of the box flaps. Castle did the same, and just one second later, three bright blue balloons made their way out into the open and the whole group began to clap.

"Oh Kate!" Castle rubbed his hand over his mouth before turning to her with tears in his eyes. "A son; we're having a son!"

She pulled him in for a hug and said into his ear, "I know it's what you wanted." He had never really spoken as much aloud, but from the way he'd gravitated towards the blue-colored items as they shopped, and made a few mentions of playing baseball, she suspected he wanted to have a boy next, which only made sense because he already had a daughter.

"Oh, no I…" He sniffed had pulled back from their embrace enough to meet her eye. "I didn't care—either would have been…but…I love you so much!"

She smiled and kissed him, "I love you, too."

Fifteen minutes later, after everyone had congratulated and hugged them, and the cake had been cut and passed out, Kate stood off to the side of the yard, hand on her belly as she watched the blue balloons bump together in the wind. She thought about how much she already loved the little boy inside her, and how she could not wait to meet him. More than that, though, she could not wait for him to meet his father, and to watch her husband be an incredible father.

For Kate, the evolution of her relationship with Castle had been as unexpected as it was wonderful. She surprised herself again and again with how happy she was being in a relationship since she had become so accustomed to being alone for the majority of her adult life. Sure, they had some rough points, particularly near the beginning. She found herself struggling to be as "all in" as she wanted to be simply because of her instinctual desire to protect her heart, but in hindsight her fears were silly. She had learned very quickly that no one in the world would love her the way Richard Castle did. She loved him as well, more and more with each day, and with each new phase of their life.

"Oh Katie—look at you; you're just glowing."

A light chuckle escaped her lips as she looked over at her approaching mother. She nodded and continued to hold her stomach. "I know—who would have thought pregnancy agrees with me this much?" Due to the lack of men, Kate had not known very many pregnant women before she and Castle decided to start their family. As such she was nervous about morning sickness, raging hormones, and her belly expanding to the point where she feared it would explode. Since she was only halfway through her pregnancy, her belly was still a concern, but her morning sickness had been minimal, and other than being more tired than usual, she felt great. In fact, she had just felt the little guy move significantly for the first time the day before, and though it was slightly strange, she definitely looked forward to him growing and moving more…at least until he started to use her internal organs as playthings.

Johanna hugged her daughter and then gave her stomach a little pat. "I'm just so happy to see you so happy."

"Me too. I just…you know I never once thought seriously about having a husband and children, let alone a fairytale like this but somehow I got it and it's—oh." She snuffled and quickly swiped at the tears flowing from both eyes before grumbling towards her belly. "Damn hormones. You're a boy you shouldn't make me cry this much!"

Johanna laughed and said, "Hate to break it to you, but they make you cry no matter their gender."

"I know I know…I'm…I'm really excited to meet him." Kate said softly to her mother and Johanna nodded.

"We all are. Especially you're husband."

That time, she groaned. "Oh god…he's going to be out of control now that we know it's a boy but…" Smiling broadly at the mere notion she added, "I really can't wait."

A/N: thank you all so much for reading and for all your kind reviews!