"The force of the crash has caused your vertebrae to compress your spinal cord, resulting in the lack of mobility you have been experiencing in your lower body. Looking at the scans, the cord appears to be bruised, not severed. It is my opinion that the lack of mobility will be temporary and will not require surgery; however, you should be prepared for a long recovery period."

"How long are we talking about here?"

"No less than six to eight months. Possibly as long as two years."

"But I will walk again?"

"I believe so."

"That's good enough for me. How long until I get out of here?"

"Mr. Castle, we don't want to rush things. It will be at least three or four more days, and then, we'll need to give your femur plenty of time to heal before we think about beginning physical therapy—not before the first of the year."

"Okay." Castle sank farther into his pillow.

"Thank you, Doctor."

The doctor nodded and left.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015.

It has been just over four months since Rick and Kate's accident. Rick began physical therapy at the end of January, after giving his broken bones time to heal. The strength is slowly coming back to his upper body, but he has not regained function in his legs yet. He still relies on a wheelchair to get around.

Rick rolls out of the bedroom at 10 a.m., surprised to find Kate sitting on the couch in her pajamas. Kate returned to work on the eighth of December but made sure she had today off to celebrate Rick's birthday.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here, remember?" Kate rolls her eyes. She loves that, although—naturally—he has had his bad days, Rick has kept his sense of humor throughout this whole process.

"I mean what are you doing here now?"

"I wanted to spend the day with you—celebrate your birthday." She gets up from the couch and walks towards their kitchen. "Come here."

Rick follows behind her, stopping when he enters the kitchen and smells something baking. "What are you making?"

"Well, I'm trying to make you a cake." Kate scrunches up her nose in the adorable way he loves. "We'll see how it comes out. I used one of my mom's old recipes, but I've never actually made it before. Not by myself. Hopefully it tastes alright." The timer goes off, and Kate removes the pan from the oven. The smell of chocolate cake fills the apartment. "Now, I just have to let it cool and put the icing on it."

"I know what we can do while you wait." He wiggles his eyebrows at her. Luckily for them, there was one part of his lower body that had not been affected by the car accident, and his doctor had cleared him for sexual activity soon after he began physical therapy.

"Really? What's that?"

"Come here." She walks over to him, and he pulls her down to sit on his lap. He presses a firm kiss to her lips and rolls them toward the bedroom.

An hour later, there is a knock on the front door. "Don't get up."

"I have to. I'm expecting something." Kate gets out of bed and quickly puts her leggings and oversized t-shirt back on before rushing out of the room. "I'll be right back."

Kate opens the door to find Lanie waiting with a bag of food from Rick's favorite restaurant. She takes the food and gives Lanie some money. "Thanks so much, Lanie. I owe you."

"No problem, Girl. Go have fun with your man. I'll see you later."

Kate sets the food out on the coffee table and ices the cake before going to get Rick. "Lunch is ready, Castle. I've got it set up in the living room."

Kate and Rick enjoy their Italian food on the couch, and spend the rest of the afternoon watching a marathon of bad science fiction movies on TV.

Around 6 o'clock, there is a knock on the front door. Kate answers it and welcomes Espo and Lanie into the apartment. In the months since Rick and Kate's accident, Esposito and Lanie's relationship has become very serious. Just the other day he asked Kate for proposal advice. He hasn't asked her yet, but Kate knows it's coming soon. Lanie has no idea.

"Hey, bro! Happy birthday."

"Thanks, Espo."

"Happy birthday, Castle."

"Thanks, Lanie."

Martha is the next to arrive, followed by Alexis and, then Jim Beckett.

Soon after, Kevin and Jenny Ryan arrive with Baby Jack, who is now 15 months old. Kate watches as Jack runs right past her and makes a beeline for his Uncle Rick. "Wide! Wide!"

"You wanna ride, Jack?" Jack jumps up and down with excitement and claps his hands as Rick lifts the toddler onto his lap. "Okay, Buddy, hold on!"

Jack wraps his hands around the armrests of the wheelchair as Rick rolls them around the apartment. "Weeee!"
"You having fun?"

The little boy shakes his head up and down.

"Alright!" He rides the little boy around for a little bit longer. "Okay, hop down. We'll go for another ride later, okay?"

"Oh-Tay."

"You don't have to do that every time he asks. You know that, right?"

"I know, Jenny, but it's good for both of us. It strengthens my arms, and he has so much fun."

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure."

The group enjoyed their dinner of cheeseburgers, french fries, and macaroni and cheese—all of which Rick had requested. For dessert they ate the cake that Kate had baked, which turned out fabulous. She said it didn't taste like her mother's had, but everyone agreed it was one of the best chocolate cakes they had ever tasted. Jack sat in a highchair between his parents during dinner but insisted upon sitting on Kate's lap to eat cake.

Shortly after they were done eating cake, the Ryan's left the loft. It was past Jack's bedtime, and he was getting fussy. Jim Beckett was next to leave, followed by Alexis, who was busy preparing for a big exam.

Before leaving, Lanie excused herself to the restroom, and Espo took Kate aside. "Sunday."

"What?"

"Sunday's the day. I'm gonna ask her. We both have the day off, and we're having a picnic in the park."

"She'll love it, Espo." They rejoined Rick and Martha as Lanie came back around the corner.

"Ready, Chica?"

"Yeah, ready when you are."

Martha leaves soon after Espo and Lanie, having an acting class to teach the following morning.

After doing some cleanup in the kitchen, Kate and Rick retire to their bedroom for the night.

Kate wants to talk to her husband, but isn't sure where to start. So she says, "I was doing some thinking tonight, Babe."

"Oh! Is that what that was?" Rick jokes.

She rolls her eyes, but gives him 'the look,' too.

"Sorry. What about?"

"Do you think you might want more kids?" she blurts out.

He is kind of shocked by the topic. "I mean, I haven't really thought about it, but, yeah. I mean, someday. Whenever your ready."

Kate feels relief flood her body, and she relaxes. "What would you say if I said 'I think I'm ready'…to start trying, anyway?"

Rick pulls Kate's body to him, pressing a kiss to her lips. He pulls away with a huge smile on his face. "I'd say, 'What brought this on tonight? And 'let's get started'."

Kate leaned into Rick for another kiss and says, "I've always known that you are an excellent father to Alexis, but watching you with Jack tonight made me realize how badly I want to have a baby with you – to raise a child with you. And, as for part two? I agree."