This one has a little angst, but you know I'm not done with them yet. Thanks for reading!

Ch. 2

When they knocked on her door at precisely five, all Kate could say was that she was dressed and had half a cup of coffee in her system. Jorge quickly went to work. He was a good looking guy, even though he had lost quite a bit of hair since Kate had known him. He was olive-skinned with dark eyes and dark hair. Jorge was maybe an inch taller than Kate (when she wasn't wearing heels). He brought Ethan in first, all snuggled in the car seat. The baby had changed a little from the day she first saw him; the day he was born. He had his parents' olive complexion, and she was sure he would eventually have dark eyes, but he was the most beautiful infant Kate had ever seen next to her own nieces and nephews. Emma came in and immediately sat down. Emma was also attractive, but her olive complexion was very pale today, and even her long beautiful straight hair seemed to be weighing her down. Kate thought she looked terrible.

"What can I do to help?" Kate asked Jorge.

"You are helping enough." He smiled at her, but she could sense the worry behind his expression and she knew it was for his bride. He went about setting up the portable crib in Kate's room, explaining how breast milk had to be thawed and warmed up and that his sleep pattern was no pattern whatsoever. Kate went over to the carseat where the infant now slept soundly.

"It's going to be fine, guys. Don't worry about us." She looked over at Jorge and Emma, hugging and kissing each of them on the cheek, she said, "Call me later and let me know how it's going."

Emma smiled weakly and commented, "I'm just ready for this to be solved so I can get back to being a mom." They left after kissing Ethan on the head.

Kate had decided the night before that the best way to keep the Captain from saying, "No" to the day off was to show up in the morning, baby in tow, and insist. Her plan was working perfectly.

Beckett walked into the precinct Friday morning and all eyes were on her. All eyes except Castle's that is, because he was getting coffee. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white v-neck t-shirt, jeans and running shoes. Beckett was attractive and never had any trouble getting the visual attention of her peers, but today what drew their stares was the brown and blue wallpaper looking bag thrown over her shoulder and the very tiny blanket wrapped infant she was clutching to her chest.

Esposito's first thought was that she found an abandoned infant, but he quickly dismissed it. She would have called them. No, something was definitely up. Kate headed straight for the captain's office and entered without knocking.

Captain Montgomery looked up at her and was instantly speechless. "Captain, I need to have the day off." Beckett stated.

"Detective Beckett, where did you get that baby?"

Kate explained the situation and that her friends really had no other option. At that moment, Ethan decided to test his lungs. Kate looked at her watch and furrowed her brow.

"What's wrong, Beckett?"

"Nothing. He's hungry."

"Okay, take the day. But you know I hate it when you spring things on me. Call me next time."

"Yes, sir." Kate rolled her eyes after she turned around. She knew that surprise was the only method of attack for the Captain. Kate exited his office and headed straight for the break room. She quickly side-stepped Castle as he was coming out of the room with a steaming hot cup of espresso.

Castle took a few more steps into the squad and froze. Did I just see that? He turned around and watched as Kate Beckett set the diaper bag down on the counter. She grabbed her coffee mug and ran the tap constantly feeling for it to get hot.

"Kate?" Castle inquired. "What?...Whose?..." Castle was dumbfounded. When he finally found his voice he asked "Are you taking life coaching from Angelina Jolie?"

"Huh?" She responded, wrinkling her nose and furrowing her brow.

"Did you adopt a child, because I know you weren't pregnant yesterday?"

She blushed, "Babysitting for a friend Castle." She was actually a little surprised. He sounded a bit like the old Castle.

She filled the mug with hot water and set the bottle inside. As the bottle was warming, Beckett murmured to the top of the fussy newborn's head. "I know. You're hungry. It's coming, little man." Castle watched her with a new fascination. It brought him to a new level of attraction.

"Wouldn't the microwave be faster?"

"Yeah, it would, but microwaves leave hot spots and this is breast milk, so no microwaving." She continued to sway with the baby. He couldn't stop staring at her, and she knew that she was having an effect. After a few minutes, Beckett picked up the bottle and swirled it. She sat down and laid Ethan on her lap. She shook the bottle over her wrist. Perfect. Beckett picked Ethan back up and cradled him to her chest. As he turned his head towards her, she slipped the nipple into his mouth. Easy.

Finally, she had a moment to look up. Castle was leaning against the counter staring at her with a look she couldn't quite place. Ryan and Esposito were standing in the doorway. The looks on their faces were easy—shock. "I'm taking the day off. Little Ethan's mother is having surgery today and I'm babysitting."

"Oh. You don't strike me as the babysitting type, Beckett." Esposito remarked.

"Don't get any ideas, Esposito. I don't change diapers that big."

They all grinned. Almost like old times. Kate looked back down at the baby and the bottle. "Castle, can you look in that bag for a burp cloth?"

Rick opened the bag and quickly found what she was looking for. Throwing the cloth over her shoulder, Kate removed the bottle from the baby's mouth with a little "pop." He objected loudly, but she brought him to her shoulder and proceeded to pat him on the back firmly. After, she extracted two solid burps from him (that happened to impress the men in the room) she let him resume his meal.

"So where are you going now?" Castle queried when she finished feeding him.

"Home." She smiled. "I think Ethan here has had his little outing for the day."

"Do you have any help?"

"What, Castle? Don't think I can handle it? I can incapacitate Russian mobsters with my bare hands but I can't take care of a newborn baby?"

"Two completely different skill sets needed for those tasks, Detective."

She bristled and was about to strike back.

"And I didn't say you couldn't handle it. But babies are…well…demanding." She had finished burping Ethan the second time. Castle was curious. "May I?" He held out his hands.

"Sure." She said and her brow furrowed again. She moved the child off her shoulder so she could hand him off.

"Don't be so surprised, Detective," Castle remarked as he took the burp cloth off her shoulder and threw it over his own. "I do have a child who started out as a baby. Now let's see how much of this I remember." He reached down and slid one hand in between hers and the baby's head and the other hand up the back of the baby.

Watching him hold this child stirred something new in Kate. He caught her eyes and she tried to look away before he could see her desire. But she was too late. He noticed, and he couldn't resist.

"Can I come with you?" He asked.

"Where?"

"Home. To help you with Ethan. I swear I'll leave when you tell me to."

"Why do you want to? I mean he's cute and all, but not many people would like to spend their day with a baby. He doesn't do much." Her thoughts drifted to Will.

"I like babies." He said. "Not likely to have anymore of my own. Hopefully it will be a while before Alexis has one." He cringed. Kate smiled. "And you forget, detective that I'm writing a series of books based on you. This adds a new element to your character." He said this with a gleam in his eye.

"Okay, you can come. You might prove to be useful. However, you have to promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"That you won't use this to get Nikki Heat knocked up." She smiled, but inwardly thought, would that be so bad?