Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, though they have found their own way into my heart.

Her eyelids closed over her scared hazel eyes and they didn't open again. Her hand lost the grip on his fingers, but he didn't let go of her. He brought their laced hands to his face and pressed the back of hers to his lips, and held it there. Her voice, screaming his name, still pierced his ears, echoing in the memory engraved on his mind, tormenting him. His mind spiraled around a question he had no answer for. Why? Why them? Why their baby? Why ending a life before it has had a chance to start?

He shook his head trying to get that awful image out of his head. Closing his eyes for a second, he took in a deep shaky breath to calm himself. He couldn't bare the notion that a scalpel was about to cut into her stomach. The only thing he dared to watch was her sleeping face. He tried to fade out the doctors and nurses in the room, their masked faces, their short dialogues, requests and orders, the noises of the surgical instruments against the metal tray. It wasn't that hard; his heartbeat thrummed in his ears, covering almost every sound, masking everything else that was happening around him.

He felt so helpless, there wasn't anything he could do but stay with her, keep his promise to her, and stay by her side. He kept his eyes fixed on her, he concentrated on studying the face he knew better than anything else, both of his hands holding her cold one against his cheek, keeping it warm, and trying to keep his breathing even…

…

And then, after what seemed like hours later… someone said, "The baby's out."

And finally… the tears he didn't even know he'd been holding back, overflowed.

She'd been deep asleep but she felt herself waking up, slowly. It took her a few minutes to come out of her slumber, but once she was aware, the first sense that came back to her was her hearing. She could distinguish the soft murmur of an electrical… something. There was the distant sound of people talking, voices coming and fading away, though they were too far for her to make out any words. A door closed somewhere.

It took her another minute to find her eyelids, but when she did, she didn't open them, not yet. Her limbs felt a bit heavy, her muscles were numb. She noticed she wasn't lying flat on her back, but half sitting, half reclining on a mattress. Then, came the feel of rough sheets around her. The smell of… hospital? Why was she in a hospital?

It all rushed back into her mind, her head filling with overwhelming memories of pain and dreadful fear. Her baby! She blinked her eyes open to a white ceiling and a pale creamy wall. The room was dimly lit, the curtains half-drawn.

"Hey," he whispered softly and she turned her face toward his voice. When their gazes met, he smiled.

"Hey," she murmured, her voice a bit husky and her throat dry. His smile widened. Her eyes travelled a few inches down, and her heart started beating hard inside her chest. There…, in his arms, wrapped in a white soft blanket was… He was holding…

"There's someone here that wants to meet you," he said, his voice a soft whisper. Rising from the chair, he took a step closer, 'till his hip touched the bed, and he gently placed the sleeping baby in her arms.

She couldn't believe her eyes. He was so, so beautiful… And he was hers. She leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his forehead. Closing her eyes, she breathed him in and a smile spread on her face. A couple of tears spilled from her closed eyelids and ran down her cheeks.

"Hey… love," she whispered, her voice breaking with emotion as she looked at his small round face. The baby stirred at the sound of her voice but didn't wake. She kissed him again and took one of his small hands in hers, looking at his tiny pink wrinkled fingers.

Castle sat on the edge of the bed beside her waist and she shifted her gaze to him. "Is he-" she started asking.

"He's perfect," he answered before she could phrase the question. "A bit tiny, but he's tough and strong…, just like his mom." She grinned, and then he added, "We were lucky." A shadow crossed his face for a split second, his jaw slightly quivered and his eyes got lost in some recent memory he was probably going to live with for the rest of his life. "We got to the hospital very quickly," he continued, looking at her again, "and they got him out before anything serious could happen to him." Castle lightly brushed his hand over the baby's head, covered with feathery light brown hair, and the corners of his mouth twitched up again. He let out a sigh of relief. "His heart is fine and his lungs work perfectly."

Their eyes drifted back to the newborn, attracted and mesmerized by the little creature that was theirs. He made little noises with every breath he took, and his lips moved and puckered as if he was sucking on something.

Castle reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He rested the palm of his hand against her neck, his thumb brushing over the dark rim under her eye. "How are you feeling?" he murmured.

"I'm OK," she said looking up at him briefly, not being able to part her eyes from the baby in her arms, an invisible pull tugging her to him. "I'm perfect," she grinned sweetly.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead. She then tilted up her head and he kissed her twice on the mouth. Pulling back, he fixed his gaze on her face as she stared at their son. Not two hours ago he'd had the scare of his life. He'd been completely terrified. When he'd seen her buckle over, when he saw her eyes filled with pain, and especially when he'd seen her bleeding… For just a second, the thought he might lose them both had crossed his mind. It had been the longest hour he had ever experienced in his entire life, from the minute she screamed his name and had bent over her stomach, to the moment the doctors pulled the baby out of her and he let out a cry, letting the world know he was alive and breathing.

Her soft voice brought him back. "He has your nose," she chuckled once.

"He has your eyes," he murmured.

Her gaze flicked up to his. "Really?" she said, admiration written all over her face.

"Really... Gorgeous green hazel eyes," he smiled at her astonished look. "I guess his name kind of suits him well then," he chuckled.

"Yes," she whispered. She paused for a moment and then she asked, "What time is it?"

He checked his watch. "It's almost eleven… Why?"

"When can we go home?"

He shook his head and laughed under his breath. Of course she wanted to leave.

"You are going to stay here for, at least, another two days," he said and she frowned and pouted her lips, disappointed. "The doctor said if everything is okay, you'll be discharged Wednesday morning." He placed his hand on her cheek again and she leaned into it and sighed. "If you're good, I'll try to push it to tomorrow evening." She mouthed a silent 'Thank you'.

A minute later she said, "Did you call anyone? My dad, Alexis-"

"They're all here," he answered. Her eyes opened wide. "Your father, my mother and Alexis. They went downstairs to the cafeteria. Already called the precinct too to let them know everything was fine. The boys and Lanie will come over later."

"Wow," she sighed. "Who would have told me this morning that-"

"I know," he said. The baby chose that moment to wake. He stretched his arms, pouting his lips, and then he whimpered.

"What's wrong?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"I think he's hungry," he gave her a meaningful look.

"Right," she nodded, understanding. She started to reach back with her free hand, but she had an IV tube stuck into her right arm, and she was holding the baby with the other.

"You want me to call a nurse?" he asked, slightly amused by her hesitance.

"No, I think I can manage… But if you could undo-" she pointed toward the back of her neck.

He stood up, reached behind her and loosened the strings of the hospital gown she was wearing. She shifted the weeping baby and Castle helped her pull her left arm out of the sleeve. Switching the newborn back to her left side, he soon found her breast and took her nipple into his mouth. She gasped and shivered lightly. It was the strangest feeling she had ever experienced.

"Does it hurt?" he whispered.

"Uh… No, not really." She paused and the added," It's just… weird."

"Bad weird or good weird?"

"Good weird. Definitely good weird… And kind of, uh…" She tried to find the appropriate word for it. Pleasant? Comforting? "…relaxing?"

She put her right hand near the baby's mouth and gently pressed down on her breast, near the baby's nose, to give him more room to breathe easily.

Castle draped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "You're a natural," he murmured near her ear, a hint of wonder and admiration in his tone. She rested her head on the crook of his shoulder and kept staring down at the baby.

Warmth spread inside her as she watched the newborn, his lids closed over his eyes, drinking from her breast, and the truth slowly sank into her. She had a son. She was a mother. And what she felt for him, already, went beyond anything she couldn't even have dared to imagine in her wildest dreams. An indescribable swirl of emotions danced inside her heart, coursed through her veins. There were not enough words to express and define what kind of bond she felt between her son and herself. Devotion… Pure, irrational and unconditional love.

The baby had fallen asleep again in her arms. A soft knock broke the silence in the room. The door opened slowly and Alexis poked her head inside.

"She's awake," Kate heard her murmur excited to the others waiting behind her in the hallway. She peeked around the door again and said, "Can we come in?"

"Of course," Kate answered, her voice just above a whisper. Alexis, followed by Martha and her father, stepped into the room. When her gaze met with her father's, a wide smile spread on his face. She grinned back and felt tears pool in her eyes. She blamed the hormones…, mostly. He came to stand next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her an awkward hug, not wanting to crush the baby in her arms. Pulling back, he kept his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She heard Castle snap a couple of pictures with his smartphone.

"I'm so proud of you honey," Jim murmured close to her ear. "Congratulations."

"Thanks dad," she said, kissing his cheek. "You're a granddad!" She smiled, looking into his eyes, gleaming with unshed happy tears.

"My first grandson," he said, gazing down at the sleeping newborn. "He's gorgeous, Katie."

"You want to hold him?"

"Oh no, it's okay, honey. I held him before. He looks so peaceful… You keep him," he told her with a small grin.

"How are you feeling darling?" Martha asked, lightly squeezing her ankle through the hospital sheets.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you." Her eyes met Castle's and he smiled.

Alexis was tucked under his arm and whispering something to him under her breath. When she noticed Kate looking at her, she exclaimed with a big smile, "So?" She was almost bouncing on her feet from the excitement as she let go of her father and wrapped her hands around the railing at the foot of the bed, her big blue eyes fixed on Kate's face. "What's his name?"

"You didn't tell them?" Kate looked surprised at Castle.

"Wanted to wait for you," he shrugged.

"Well, guys…" Three pairs of eyes were gazing expectantly at her. She smiled and said, "Meet Oliver James-Alexander Castle."

- THE END -

Thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed it :)