Doomsday

"Are you eating carrot sticks?" he said, looking aghast.

She bumped his hip with hers to move him out of her way, stalked out of the bunker's kitchen. Kamille and her sister had apparently decided to make a Last Supper out of their Doomsday Lunch; they were still working at the stove making mashed potatoes for one of the boys.

Kate wasn't sure which of the boys - her detectives or the Ryan nephews - but everyone had gotten to pick a favorite dish, much like the family in the movie Signs.

"Why are you eating carrot sticks?" Castle asked, following after her. Just as he'd been doing since - since they'd - well . . . figured things out.

"I'm hungry, Castle," she snorted, rolling her eyes and plopping down on the couch next to Lanie. "Lay off."

"That's not what you said-"

"Castle," she growled, pointing a carrot stick at him.

"But if you're hungry, there's much better things to eat," he whined, settling down close to her, their sides pressed together.

"I like carrots," she huffed.

"Carrots are rabbit food," Lanie said.

"No, they're good. I want to snack on something. They're actually sweet."

"Girl, this is why I hate you." Lanie sighed and got up, heading off down the hall, yelling for Javier.

"Kate," Castle tssked.

"I like carrots," Kate said. "So sue me."

"Well, ok, but for the sake of the rest of us mere mortals can't you go snack on chocolate chip cookies or a bowl of ice cream or potato chips?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, but he was rubbing two fingers up and down her knee in a thoroughly distracting, entirely seductive way. "I eat potato chips. Sometimes. And I eat ice cream. And cookies."

"But you're hungry, and maybe a little restless, and you chose carrot sticks? Ug. Disappointing."

"They're crunchy," she muttered, but her defenses were down and the feel of his fingers along her jean-clad leg only reminded her of what they hadn't actually done yet - what they hadn't wanted to do with family and friends just outside the door.

He'd been the one to push her away; he'd been the one to suggest that they save it for later. And now he wanted to caress her knee like he was trying out for a starring role in her bed?

"You're blushing," he murmured, his lips near her ear.

"You're - you're stroking me," she muttered back. "And as you pointed out, I'm hungry and restless, damn it. Entirely your fault."

He laughed, his breath in a hot wash against her cheek; she felt his lips suckle at her jaw.

She dropped the bag of carrot sticks and they spilled across the floor.

"Crap," she groaned, wrenched herself away from him to gather up the mess. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him smirking and she really, really, really wanted to get him back for that.

The kids had been crammed in around the dining room table - there were more kids here than she realized. Five nephews and four nieces and a baby girl that Kate could swear wasn't here before. A baby? How had she missed that?

Castle was dictating the flow of traffic in the kitchen with help from Kamille and Jenny, so Kate was able to sit on the floor at her father's feet, eating a strange mixture of foods - spaghetti, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and carrot sufflé. A lot of orange-red-beiges on her plate, actually, which bothered her aesthetically, but she was trying to be less that person and more - more someone who didn't care if her food matched too much? So she was ignoring it.

Esposito had once called her a control freak; he didn't know the half of it.

From his place on the couch, her father brushed his fingers through her hair, tugged. "How you doing Katie?"

She turned and gave him a small smile. "Good, Dad. You okay?"

"Did you - had you planned on us staying here long?"

She shrugged. Things were - everything was kind of up in the air.

"Well, when tomorrow dawns, as you and I both know it will, the Ryans have all said they're going home for Christmas. And Lanie and Javier have plans too."

"Oh. Yes, I - I know," she said softly, glancing down at her plate. "I don't - Castle and I-"

"Oh?"

She looked up into her father's gently curious face, felt his hand on her shoulder. She sighed and glanced over towards the kitchen where Castle was teasing his daughter and jostling her as she tried to fill her plate.

"Katie?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"Yeah, like there's something there and I should be spending Christmas getting to know his family?"

She looked back at her father, slid up onto the couch beside him, ignoring the grunt of protest from Esposito as she made him scoot down. Great. Esposito was probably hearing every word-

Or not. Looked like he was too busy stuffing his face. Okay.

"Dad."

"Uh-huh. Do I need to sit Rick down and have a conversation about his intentions?"

She wasn't blushing. She wasn't. "Dad," she groaned. "Little late for that."

"Little late for that?"

Oh shit. "I mean - no - we - not that," she gasped, fumbling her plate as she panicked.

"Kate," her father said, shaking his head at her. "I don't want to know!"

"I know! I don't want you to know either!" Oh God. Oh God, seriously?

"Then don't say things like that."

"I didn't - you - I-"

"What are you doing to your father?" Esposito said, pointing his fork at her. "Leave the poor man alone. He spent all morning with the terror twins-"

"You did?" Kate asked, swiveling her head to stare at her father.

"I don't have any grandkids, so. . ." He trailed off, shrugged at her.

Oh no. No. He'd gone from embarrassed to hear that she and Castle hadn't had sex to asking about grandkids?

She glared at Espo, then at her father. "And you won't."

"Ever?" Esposito asked, stabbing at a piece of honey-baked ham. "Cause you know Lanie's mom was 40 when she had Lanie's youngest sister-"

"How old do you think I am, Espo?" she growled.

"Naw, naw, I'm just saying, Beckett, you know, that you and Castle still got time."

"What the hell?"

"Still got time for what?" Castle said, suddenly looming over her at the couch. He held a plate in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, and he promptly sat at her feet. On her feet practically. Set the wine on the coffee table.

She stared at him.

"Time for grandkids," her father supplied.

Castle turned startled - and oh so hot - eyes to her, and then his face split into a wide, joyful smile that squeezed her heart.

Oh shit.

This - this was just the very worst time and place to be diving into this - into them.

Kate wanted kids?

Of course Kate wanted kids. She was - Kate. Never what he expected, always an extraordinary surprise.

"How many?" he asked, leaning against her shins and balancing his plate on a thigh.

She was staring at him.

"Five?" Esposito offered. "No, even number. Four. Six?"

"Six is a lot," he hedged, glancing over his shoulder to look at Espo. "Maybe-"

Kate snorted. "Maybe you should be having this conversation with the woman who'd have to give birth to these six - four - whatever number kids?"

Castle's guts clenched at the sudden image that sprang to life in his already-too-fertile imagination, pictures of a too-fertile Beckett, and damn, holy mother of - he had to stop thinking about that with her father sitting right there next to her on the couch.

He cleared his throat and lifted an eyebrow at her; she was already averting her eyes. Blushing. Again.

"So four or six?" he asked, wanting to see how far he could push it.

"Oh jeez, neither." And then something came over her face, something rippled in her eyes, and he saw the idea take root in her too. She wiped a hand over her mouth and shook her head. "No. No. Castle. This isn't - no."

"Two is good," he said, casting a swift look to Esposito.

"Two is boring. Everyone has two kids. And three is an odd number - plus it sucks to be the middle kid. So four." Esposito grinned at his logic, then lifted his voice to call across the living room. "Yo. Chica. Beckett's thinking four."

"Espo!"

"Four what?" Lanie called back, rising from her place at the bar to head towards them. Castle grinned at the horror plainly written across Kate's face.

"Four kids," he offered, then turned and gave Lanie a dazzling smile. "Jim wants grandkids."

"Girl, your tiny hips will not take four vaginal births."

"Oh God," Kate groaned, burying her face in her hands. "You did not."

Castle laughed and pressed his ribs into her shin, feathered her ankle with his fingers. "She's a badass; she can do it."

"Hey, watch the language!" Ryan called out from his position in the kitchen, still filling his plate. "Lanie. Seriously, kids here."

"Don't Lanie me. Castle's the one who said ass. And he is the kid here."

"Come on," Ryan huffed, Jenny elbowing him to knock it off.

"Lanie, just stop stalking," Kate said, lifting her head again to glare at her friend. Castle sneaked another look at Eposito and grinned.

"I apologize for saying a bad word," Castle said, directing it towards the table where none of the kids were even paying attention. "But I stand by my statement. Kate's tough. She could do it."

"It's not a matter of being tough," Lanie went on, coming towards them on the couch. "It's a matter of not enough room for a head to pass-"

"Oh jeez, oh please. Lanie. Don't make me come over there."

"I can take your skinny white butt any day, Beckett."

Castle turned and put his back against Kate's knees when it felt like she might jump up and leave the couch. However, Jim did decide to flee instead; Kate's father got up and offered his seat to Lanie, who took it willingly.

When her father disappeared, Castle twitched his lips at Kate, grinning at her over his shoulder. "I don't think your dad enjoys quite so much detail about the grandkids."

"I don't enjoy so much detail. And my hips are not that narrow."

"I could do a full inspection-"

She grabbed his ear, started to twist; he hunched his shoulders and ducked away. He'd save his safe word for when it really mattered; he kinda liked the ear-twisting. Sometimes. In a sexy, I'd let you spank me any day kind of way.

"So we're up to full inspection, huh?" Lanie asked, smirking. "That sounds promising. Alexis told me she'd sent you guys to your room until you could behave. Or maybe that's misbehave?"

Behind him, he heard Kate groan again and had to smile. "Yeah, mostly misbehaving."

"Good for you two," Lanie said. "Now this talk of grandkids sounds so much more possible. Four?"

Castle leaned forward and shifted so he could see Kate's face; mortification was bright in her eyes, washing down her cheeks, but there was something else there too - naked longing that knocked the breath out of him.

"Kate?" he murmured.

She swallowed hard and shook her head at him, then pushed off from the couch. "I - I have to talk to my dad. About this week."

Castle took the plate she shoved at him, watched her thread through the adults towards the kitchen where her father was.

Esposito thumped his ear. "Get up, Castle. Go after her."

He glared at the other man. "You were the one who said-"

Lanie thumped his other ear. "My man's right. Get off your ass - sorry, your butt - and don't let her get scared."

Yeah, yeah, there might be - yeah.

Castle stood with both plates, headed towards his partner.

"I guess I know his intentions," her father said, giving her a half smile.

"I'm sorry. I think they were teasing me on purpose. Because you were sitting right there."

"I did kind of aid and abet, though, didn't I?"

"You really did," she said, giving a soft laugh. She was still shaking from all that - narrow hips and even numbers and Castle so calmly discussing it all. Like he'd given it some thought already.

Oh jeez, he probably had. He probably had names picked out.

"Katie, if you want to stay the week, we can stay the week. If you'd rather go back home, then that's fine too."

"I don't know yet, Dad. That's - that's all I meant to say. Castle and I-"

"We what?" came a voice from right behind her, sliding down her spine and pooling heat in her belly. Just like that.

She turned and saw Castle standing there with both their plates of food; she reached out and took him by the forearm, pulled him in. He was watching her carefully, but she only grabbed her plate from him with a tight smile.

"We what, Kate?"

She shrugged. "I was just explaining - to my dad - that I didn't know what Christmas was going to look like now."

"Now?"

She felt her father's eyes on them and wished they weren't doing this here, in front of everyone, with Lanie debating her ability to birth children and Esposito insisting on even numbers and Castle egging them on.

"Now that you're - now that we-" She shrugged at him, bit the bullet. "Now that we're - us."

Castle grinned at her. "We're us."

"Yeah."

"Eloquent. You have a way with words."

"Shut up," she growled, even as her father laughed and clapped Castle on the shoulder.

"I guess we should be asking you if you mind the two of us sharing Christmas with your family."

"I'd love it," Castle said quickly, shooting her a look. "I'd really love it."

She was glaring, leftover glare from the 'eloquent' comment, but it melted down into tender and hesitant and hopeful, even though she didn't want to be any of those things.

"Will you stay with me, Kate?"

She regarded him for a moment, let him tiptoe up to the edge of nervous, and then she smiled a slow, seductive smile. "Only if you let me decide."

"Decide? Decide what?" he gasped, blinking rapidly as she slipped in closer and trailed her free hand down his back, slipping a finger in the waistband of his jeans.

"How many kids we have, Castle."

The air rushed out of his chest and he stared at her. He gulped. "How - how may?"

"For. . ." she drawled out, let him think four. "For me to know. And you to find out."