A/N: I don't own any of this.
This one is pretty short. Just a quick moment. The next chapter will be much longer and heavy.
Kate awoke to lips making their way down her body. The corner of her mouth twitched when said lips paused over her stomach. She heard a whispered 'I love you' as she opened her eyes.
"Hey," she said as she ran a hand through Rick's hair. He smiled at her kissing his way back up to her mouth.
"Good morning, Momma."
"Good morning," she murmured, kissing him slowly. She went to deepen the kiss when Rick suddenly pulled away rocking back until he was sitting on his heels. She sat up while giving him a 'why in the hell did you just stop' look. He smirked at her as he reached under his pillow and pulled out a small black box. Her eyes widened. "Rick..." He then popped open the lid revealing a beautiful, but surprisingly modest white gold diamond ring.
"I've had this for awhile..." he started nervously. "I love you. You're without a doubt, next to Alexis, the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't know where I'd be right now if it weren't for you. You make me a better man-"
Kate couldn't breathe. Was this really happening? When in the hell did he buy that ring? They had come straight home from the precinct and made love for several hours before they passed out from exhaustion. Which means he already had it. Before she told him she was pregnant. Holy shit.
"-will you marry me?" Kate had started crying the second she saw the ring and began nodding her head unable to find her voice. Rick's face lit up, his hair adorably rumpled from sleep, as he clumsily took the ring from the box and slid it on her waiting finger. Once the ring was in place Kate's ability to speak returned.
"Yes. Yes. Yes." She laughed as she pulled him down to finish what he had started when he woke her up.
...
They laid, chests heaving an hour later still wrapped around each other. Kate stretched her left hand out admiring the result of Castle's obvious restraint. She wouldn't have guessed he was capable of buying something so simple. Simple, but beautiful.
"It's perfect," she murmured.
"I'm glad you like it," he said grinning, clearly proud of himself.
"I really do," she sighed. She pulled herself up until she was leaning on her elbow and looking down on him. "So we're getting married..."
"Yes, that's generally what these things mean," he teased.
"And we're having a baby..." His face lit up, a smile crinkling his eyes.
"So, you tell me." He nodded. "When do we get to see him?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Him?" she questioned.
"I'm telling you babe, boy." he said running his finger tips over her abdomen. "I've never been wrong." She laughed at this.
"Babe, you guessed once and had a 50/50 shot," she said resulting in a pout from him. She leaned in and kissed his protruding lower lip.
"You'll see," he mumbled.
"Do you want a boy?" she asked softly.
"I want healthy," he responded. She hummed her agreement, still trying to wrap her head around everything that had happened in the last 12 hours. Although she found out she was pregnant last week, it wasn't until she told Rick that it felt real. Rick brought her back to the present with a slight squeeze of her waist. "Overwhelmed?" She brought her eyes back to his from the spot on the headboard she'd been staring at.
"No," she said softly. "Incredibly happy. And very thankful you're a writer." He smiled at the first comment and frowned at the second.
"Why?"
"Because you're going to need to come up with a more appropriate proposal story to tell my dad," she said with a teasing grin. Castle's eyebrows shot up, eyes wide. "Didn't think about that, did ya?"
"Nope," he yelped in panic. She kissed a little of the worry away before leveling another blow.
"Make sure it's good so he doesn't kill you when he finds out you knocked me up," she said patting his chest, laughing when he gulped loudly.
"Do you really think..." he said now in full panic mode. She figured he was putting himself in her father's shoes and now imagining his reaction to finding out that Alexis was pregnant.
"Relax. My dad's going to be thrilled."
"Really?" His voice was still a tad high but his breathing had slowed.
"My dad loves you Castle, it'll be fine. Awkward as hell, but fine." She reassured.
"Oh, thank God." Rick breathed. "That was mean," he whimpered. She captured his lips as an apology, making him instantly forget why he was pouting in the first place. He groaned in protest when she broke the kiss.
"I have a doctor's appointment on Monday, you'll come?"
"Of course," he grinned. "What are you going to do about work?" He asked.
"What do you mean?"
"What's the protocol with this stuff?" He inquired. She breathed a sigh of relief. For a second she thought he was going to ask her to quit or something equally archaic.
"Oh, um I think once I start showing I get benched. Until then I'll have to stick to the easy stuff. Body drops, witness interviews, canvassing...all the stuff I make Esposito and Ryan do," she sighed. He laughed softly.
"Don't worry, it'll be worth it." he promised. She nodded and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"I know," she said smiling.