Disclaimers: If only.

A/N #1: I won't be putting summaries on every chapter unless there's something that readers need to be aware of.

A/N #2: I want to thank my reviewers for the kind words. For the one who said I was writing OOC, all I have to say is none of us know how Kate Beckett would be with a child. I know that as a childless person, being around babies makes me uncomfortable and I have nieces and nephews.

A/N #3: I had to make a 'For Lovers Only' reference in this story, but mainly because I'm a huge John Lennon fan.

Chapter 2: Adjusting

May

Hearing her newborn daughter's cries over the baby monitor was a more effective means of waking up than an alarm clock ever was. Even if Kate didn't hear the cries, her breasts definitely did. The moment the tinny cries came over the box by her side of the bed, her milk began to let down, soaking the shirt that she was wearing. "Is that normal?" Castle asked, noticing his wife's soaking wet chest when she crawled out of bed.

"According to the baby books, yes. It never happened to Meredith?"

"She never breast fed, so I guess not."

"I have to go feed Ari," she grabbed a dry shirt before dashing from the room. By the time she reached the nursery, her small daughter was in full voice. "Hey, it's okay," Kate crooned, walking over and scooping the small bundle up in her arms before walking over to the changing table. "Are we hungry?" Kate pulled the tabs from the diaper and quickly removed it. "I see the problem already. Wet and hungry is never a good combination, is it?"

Downstairs, Castle smiled as he listened to Kate talking to the baby through the monitor. They had both done it and they'd both been busted by the other. He still thought that it was unbelievably cute.

Upstairs in the nursery, Kate put a dry diaper on Ari before changing her own shirt and settling into the rocking chair. Pulling the front of her shirt down, Ari latched onto her nipple in seconds flat. She had to keep a nursing pad pressed to her other breast as the baby nursed. She'd read about this in all of the baby books, but it was embarrassing to actually have it happen. Since her daughter's birth, she felt as if her body was metamorphosing in a hundred different ways. She smiled, watching the tiny miracle at her breast.

She looked toward the doorway and smiled at the sight of Castle standing there watching her. "I thought that I'd come up and check on my girls," he walked over and knelt down by the rocker, stroking his daughter's downy cheek with his finger.

"She was hungry and wet. She wasn't happy about it."

"Do you blame her?"

Kate switched breasts as Ariel grunted in protest. "Hey, you emptied that one. Take it easy," she told her small daughter. "Give me a few more minutes and then she's all yours."

"So, does it feel weird?" He asked.

"Right now, it all feels a little strange, Castle. Until I actually did it, I never would've believed that I could squeeze a person out of my body," she rolled her eyes as Castle burst out laughing. "So, yes, breastfeeding is just one more strange thing that I'm getting used to. Here," she held the baby out, "she's all yours."

Kate got out of the rocker before Castle took her place, throwing a burp rag over his shoulder and gently rubbing the baby's back. Ariel seemed tinier than ever against Castle's huge chest. After getting a couple of good burps from his daughter, Castle took her over to the changing table, where he swaddled her like a human burrito. "I think we've got this whole feeding and burping thing down," he smiled at Kate.

"Well, we're partners. Teamwork is how we roll," she kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to go get dressed."

"Well, young lady, let's go downstairs and make mommy breakfast," Castle told his daughter, who for the moment seemed relatively happy.

When Kate came into the living room moments later, Ariel was asleep in her bassinet and Castle was in the kitchen making breakfast. "Why is it that you can get her to go to sleep in 30 seconds and it takes me an hour?" She complained.

"Because I'm relaxed," he told her, handing her a glass of apple juice. She still refused to drink orange juice.

"I'm telling you that Burke is going to have to offer me a family discount," she sipped her juice.

"Kate, you're a first time mom. You're expected to be a little tense."

"Castle, she's been home for four days. I know by now that I'm not going to break her. I miss my coffee," she grumbled.

"Kate, Dr. Caldwell didn't say that you had to completely give up coffee, just moderate your intake."

"Castle, have you ever known me to drink coffee in moderation? I gave it up for seven months while I was pregnant. I can give it up for a little while longer. I'll just pretend that I'm practicing a really long term form of Lent."

"Well, I have meetings at Black Pawn in the morning. Do you want to come with me?"

"Castle, I have to learn to take care of her. I'm pretty sure I can handle things for a couple of hours."

Kate ran her hands through her unruly hair as she watched Castle cook breakfast. She then glanced toward the bassinet where her small daughter was sleeping. What was it about that six pound bundle in that bassinet that made her feel like a rookie straight out of the police academy? "When Alexis was born, Meredith hired a baby nurse for a few weeks," Castle remembered as Kate turned her attention back to him. "I didn't agree to it, but I knew that Meredith had just had a c-section, so she needed recovery time. Only, the baby nurse did all of the work. By the time the baby nurse left at the end of the third week, Meredith felt good enough to return to work. Which left me alone with Alexis. Kate, you have no idea how lucky we are."

"How so?"

"Meredith gave birth to a redhead with the temper to match," Castle remembered as Kate smiled. "It felt like the nurse had no sooner walked out of that door over there than Alexis began to scream. Loudly. For three hours. I felt like a complete failure as a father. I tried rocking her, bouncing her, singing to her, feeding her, changing her. All of the stuff the nurse had instructed me to do. Because, unlike the Deep-Fried Twinkie, I at least paid attention. I called the woman for help. I think that I was even crying. She came over, pulled out a blanket and turned my screaming daughter into a Taco Bell Burrito. It was like someone had turned off a switch. The crying stopped instantly."

"I have noticed that Ariel does like the whole burrito thing."

"All I'm saying is that I got the hang of it and so will you. I mean, it wasn't always a picnic with Alexis, but at least I no longer felt like I couldn't do it. Besides, with any luck, maybe she'll sleep the whole time I'm gone."

***CCC***

"Besides, with any luck, maybe she'll sleep the whole time I'm gone."

Kate knew she wouldn't be that lucky. She'd done the whole swaddling her like a burrito thing, but Ariel was still crying at the top of her lungs. "Ari, shhh," Kate crooned to the screaming, reddening infant in her arms. "We can do this. I can do this. How about some music?"

Kate put her iPod into the docking station and scrolled through her music choices. Since falling in love and marrying Castle, she'd downloaded a lot of love songs. Because, after all, when you were in love, all of the songs make sense. She didn't want to play anything too loud or too jarring. After several hit and miss selections, she hit on one that actually made Ari stop crying. "Really? Wow, your daddy will be impressed with your tastes in music."

Love is real , real is love
Love is feeling , feeling love
Love iswantingto be loved

Love is touch, touch is love
Love isreaching, reaching love
Love is asking to be loved

Love is you
You and me
Love isknowing
we can be

Love is free, free is love
Love is living, living love
Love is needed to be loved

Kate put the song on a loop to keep Ariel calm while she walked over to the sofa and sat down. "How about if I tell you a story?" Kate stretched her legs out and placed the still calm, swaddled newborn on them. "Once upon a time there was this woman named Kate, who sometime in the future you will refer to as 'mom,' 'mommy,' or when you're really irritated, 'moooother.' Anyway, this woman named Kate met this writer named Rick, who you know better as 'daddy.' Rick was slightly annoying. Kate even referred to him as a 'nine-year-old on a sugar rush.' Anyway, Kate and Rick fell in love. And because they loved each other so much, they decided that they wanted to expand that love, which is where you come into the picture."

Kate had heard Rick through the baby monitor more times than she could count talking to Ariel as she was doing now. She'd thought that it sounded silly, but as she sat here talking, it didn't feel silly, at all. It just felt natural, even thought she knew that Ari couldn't understand a word that she was saying. The baby seemed to enjoy the sound of her voice and Kate could feel herself relaxing as she continued to talk.

"Daddy will be the one home with you most of the time because he works from home. Mommy will be the one with the gun who scares all of your boyfriends away. Although daddy's pretty good at scaring boyfriends away, too. Just ask your big sister."

Kate smiled as Ariel's eyes became heavier and heavier. She finally fell sound asleep as Kate carefully lifted her into her arms and took her over to the bassinet and placed her in it, covering her with a blanket. She decided to leave the iPod on just in case.

She was nursing the baby when Castle walked in almost two hours later. He smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter. This was a picture of domestic bliss that he'd missed with Meredith. "I see that you survived," he walked over and kissed Kate before placing a soft kiss on the top of Ariel's head.

"Piece of cake. I make murder suspects cry in interrogation. Did you really think that I couldn't take care of my own baby for a few hours?"

"Music to nurse by?" Castle asked, walking over and turning off the iPod.

"Okay, so she had a screaming fit," Kate admitted. "But, she's a Lennon fan."

"I knew that the kid had good taste," he grinned.

That night, Kate handed Ari over to Castle after she'd finished nursing her. She couldn't help the huge grin that came over her face watching him gently rubbing his daughter's tiny back. "Have I ever told you how sexy fatherhood looks on you?"

"Tell me that the next time our daughter spits up all over me and you run from the room screaming because I stink," he made reference to an earlier incident involving their daughter spewing like a volcano.

"Yeah, the spitting up is taking a little getting used to," she made a face.

"Hey, at least being breastfed, she doesn't do it as often as Alexis did. There were times when I expected her head to start spinning around."

"Are you ever upset because you had to do it alone?"

"Sometimes," he stopped rubbing Ari's back to look at his wife. "Meredith missed out on so many things, Kate. When you have a baby, there are so many little milestones. I was the first one to see every one of them. Which was great, but sad, at the same time. This time, I have someone to share those milestones with. While I hope to see some of them first, I want you to experience them, too."

"I'm so happy that we're doing this together, Castle."

"Me, too. Now, I'm going to go put Sleeping Beauty to bed. I'll be right back."

Kate was drifting off to sleep when she heard Castle's voice through the baby monitor. 'Busted again,' she thought to herself.

"I love you, baby girl," she heard him tell Ariel. "Get your rest so that you can grow up to be as beautiful and extraordinary as your mommy."

As she fell asleep, Kate knew that she was going to be okay as a mom. She was just going to have to make all of the adjustments along the way.

A/N #4: I want to thank everybody who has given me ideas. I'll be utilizing a lot of them for this story starting with the next chapter.

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