Sooo I guess it's more than a one-shot haha. Thank you guys so much for the awesome feedback for the first chapter. This kind of just flowed.

Again, I'm sorry if some details aren't realistic; I had to ask my mom some things about how the night after birth usually goes, etc.

Hope you enjoy, and don't forget: REVIEWS ARE LIKE LITTLE TOKENS OF HAPPINESS FOR ME :D

DISCLAIMER: Disclaimed.

She tentatively shifts onto her left hip in the small hospital bed. It's late; all of the lights are off, minus the city lights shining through the window. The monitors in the room provide a dull glow that illuminates it enough for her to get her bearings. Her gown falls off of her shoulder, so she pulls the blankets up more. A large sigh escapes her and a small smile tugs at her lips as she peers over to see her husband.

Rick is passed out in the spacious chair, with his feet sprawling out and his butt scooting almost off the seat. His head rests on the back of the chair, with his mouth slightly agape in slumber.

Lucy is in the nursery with the caretakers for the night, despite Kate's strong objections. Her doctor recommended—okay, demanded—that Kate get sleep tonight because of her long labor.

The events of the previous day filled her head again. She is now a mother; they are parents to a teensy little human being, so innocent and perfect. Could she do this? She pushes the doubts out of her head. Of course she can do this. Her partner will be there a hundred and ten percent of the way, and he believes in her. With him, she could face bombs, freezers, drowning, even being shot. Being a mother will be a journey, but it will be a hell of a ride, and with the man she loves with all of her heart, mind, and soul.

As she stares at his sleeping form, she feels a need to be close with him, to have some sort of contact. Skin on skin.

"Rick," she barely whispers to where he lay motionless about six feet away from her. At this point, it is a lifetime away if you ask Kate. Getting no response, she increases her volume a bit.

"Rick. Honey," she says in more of a hushed tone, between a whisper and a normal talking voice. Still not even a twitch.

This time, she talks in a normal volume, getting desperate to have him by her side.

"CASTLE."

Nothing.

She takes one of her pillows from the pile behind her head—that man really wanted her to be comfortable and insisted she have them all—and chucks it at him.

Now, that causes him to jump straight up, snorting a bit as he leapt into consciousness.

"Wha-huh?" a drowsy Rick replies, rubbing his eyes slightly before he realizes where he is and who chucked the pillow at him.

"I tried to call your name, but you wouldn't budge," she explains in a matter-of-factly tone.

His face softens as he steps toward her bedside, running a hand through the hair that fell on his forehead.

"So naturally, you decided throwing a pillow at me was the best way to wake me," he comments with a chuckle.

She simply shrugs.

"What's up? What do you need?" he strokes her forearm before planting a kiss to her forehead. She closes her eyes at the intimate touch.

"Will you—would you mind sleeping in here with me?" she scooches over to the side to make a bit more room for him and pats the bed to really get her point across.

He climbs in carefully, swinging a leg over the plastic barricade and sinking into the miniscule space for him. Her body is sore, but she doesn't care at this point; she'd much rather have him here with her and have her abdomen be a little bit tender rather than the alternative. She snuggles into his side as he lifts his arm to hold her close, leaning back against the pillows. They pull the covers up over them both as Kate leans her head into the crook of his shoulder, placing a kiss on the back of the hand closest to her.

"You okay?" he asks quietly after a minute or two, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

"Yeah, I am. I just need you here with me. It's strange sleeping in a bed without you," she admits, smiling and biting down on her lower lip.

He pulls her closer hearing her confession. She's expecting him to have a proud, cocky, goofy grin pasted on his face, but instead she finds a warm, content smile waiting for her.

"Well, I'm here now. Go to sleep. You need the rest. You did something incredible today."

She closes her eyes and nuzzles him with her nose, but before she succumbs to the slumber that wants so desperately to take her, she winds a hand around his neck, her thumb brushing his cheek, and silently asks him to lean down towards her.

The kiss is more like a 'thank you' than anything else; it isn't supposed to lead anywhere, and it lingers between them for a while.

Once she is content with the kiss, she lets his neck go, but entwines her legs with his and throws her slender arm across his chest, anchoring herself to him fully.

"I can't believe we're parents," she hears him say and feels the deep rumble in his chest, and looks up at him to see a slightly awed expression.

"I know. I'm not going to lie; I'm scared. But it's a good kind of scared, you know?"

He looks down at her and rubs her shoulders without even thinking.

"I do. It was different with Alexis. I mean, Meredith didn't exactly take mothering seriously and by the point of Alexis' birth, we weren't on the best of terms. I was completely on my own once she realized it wasn't like playing dolls."

Kate gazes at him and sits up a tad to brush her fingers into his hair to lightly scratch his scalp and leans her forehead against his.

""You know that's never going to happen with me, right?"

Her voice is just a whisper. There is something intimate, soaked with pure emotion and incredibly sexy about the way she says it.

"I know," he says in a similar tone to hers, pulling back and cupping her face with his large hands.

"You will be an amazing mother. You already are with Alexis. That girl looks up to you so much. She kept texting me today saying how much she wishes she could be here, but since she couldn't she wanted to know everything in play-by-plays. I left out the gory bits," he stops to smile when she smacks his chest tiredly with the back of her hand. "But the importance of this is that she has never texted me about her biological mother. She looks to you as more of a mom than Meredith will ever be."

"Oh Lex. I told her I would call her after Lucy was born," she grumbles to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose and furrowing her brow.

"It's okay, I called when you were asleep. She was disappointed she didn't get to talk to you but she understands what you went through today and says she has a test tomorrow anyways. After that, she's flying out to see us."

He leans in to place another kiss to the top of her head, inhaling the familiar scent of cherries, salt from the dried sweat, and the aroma that could only be described as Kate. It is his home; his place where he feels complete. No, it doesn't matter where he is geographically, as long as this woman is by his side.

"Now, get some sleep, momma."

"You too, daddy."

"I love you so much."

"Always," she mumbles, already drifting into the waves of slumber.

He looks down at the sleeping form of his wife; the mother of both of his children, no matter who's DNA his oldest daughter has in her genes. How lucky he is to have such fabulous women in his life. A peaceful expression rests on Kate's features as she dreams and she subconsciously snuggles even further into him. Oh, yes. He is lucky.

I know this was short. Will try to make it lengthier next time.

I am really loving A Fine Frenzy to write to. She's an amazing singer and it's inspired me to a whole new level.

Thanks guys!