Disclaimers: Do I what? Hold on until I stop laughing.

Summary: Castle prepares for his book tour and Martha takes the time to entertain her younger granddaughter.

A/N #1: I love Martha Rodgers, but I don't utilize her as much in my stories as I'd like to. That's okay. She's going to get her shot in this chapter.

A/N #2: I received a review for Chapter 4 that said Ariel's weight isn't what it should be for her two-month vaccination/checkup. I went on the Internet and it had the weight gain in terms of ounces by week, so my math might be a little off. As I've said, I have no children of my own. So, I apologize for inaccuracies.

A/N #3: 'The Sound of Music' is one of my favorite musicals.

A/N #4: There will be an M-rated version of this chapter.

Chapter 7: Longing

Late August

"I don't want to leave," Rick pouted as his lips ghosted over Kate.

"Castle, we'll be fine," Kate told him for what had to have been the hundredth time. "I don't want you to go either. I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too," his eyes misted over. "You'll send me pictures of Ariel every day?"

"I'll send you pictures and video. Plus, we'll talk to you on Skype every day."

"Okay, but you're coming with me on the next tour. You and the baby."

"So, tell me a story, Castle," she settled back into his arms. "Tell me my favorite story."

Castle smiled as he wrapped his arms around Kate as she settled herself against him. "I was so angry with you. I really thought that I was never going to see you again. I wasn't about to stand by and watch you die. I ignored the phone call from the precinct, which was probably a mistake. I ignored your phone call to me . . . what were you going to tell me, anyway?"

"You know what? I don't even remember. I think I was calling to tell you that I was on my way to the loft to see you, but I can't remember. Go on with the story."

"Right after you tried to call me, I was getting ready to play Guitar Hero—"

"Really, Castle?"

"Hey, who's telling this story? You or me?"

"Sorry. By all means, please continue."

"So, I was getting ready to play Guitar Hero when someone knocked on my door. When I went to open it, you were standing there, looking like a drowned rat. So, I swept you into my arms and carried—"

"Uh, Romeo," she craned her head around to look at him, "I want to hear the true version, not the version the way you wished it had happened."

"I was still pissed—"

"That's better."

"But, when I asked you what you wanted and you just said that one word, something in my heart just melted."

"I sat on that swing in the pouring rain, and it was like everything made sense. I was so stupid for so long." She turned so that she could straddle his legs as he wrapped his arms around her. "We've had some crazy sex since then in some crazy places, but I'll never forget that first time," she smiled shyly as she bit her lip.

"Why? Did you like being slammed against my front door?" He grinned.

"No, I remember being busted by your mother the next morning," she reminded him as he groaned. "I can't believe you tried to hide me in your closet! But I also liked the being slammed against your front door part. That was very caveman of you, Castle."

"We can do a reenactment when I get home," he kissed her.

"I look forward to it," she melted into his kiss as his hands wandered under her nightshirt.

September 8

"I'm going to miss the two of you so much," Castle's eyes were sad as he held onto Kate and the baby as they stood outside of the security checkpoint at JFK. "Ariel, come here and give daddy a kiss." He took the baby, smothering her baby faces with kisses as the baby cooed and laughed in delight. "If you need anything, call or text me. If you can't reach me, call Gina or Paula. I'll see you in six weeks," he reluctantly handed Ariel back to Kate before fiercely embracing the two of them again.

"You'd better go or you're going to miss your flight," she pulled away and kissed him, feeling the glare of the people behind them. "You'd better go. We're beginning to piss people off."

"I love you and I'll see you soon," he began walking away, smiling as Kate held up Ari's hand and waved it at her daddy.

"Say 'I love you,' daddy,'" Kate smiled at the baby, as tears leaked from her eyes. "Be careful, Rick," she called out. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he called back.

Jerry and the town car were waiting for her at the curb as she got in and buckled the baby into her car seat. Ari cooed and giggled, playing with her hands and feet as the car headed back for the loft. She was blissfully unaware of her mother's misery. Kate pulled out her cell phone and dialed Lanie's number. "Hey, girl," Lanie's familiar voice came over the line.

"Hi. I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight and have dinner at Casa Castle. Rick's left on a six-week book tour and I need cheering up."

"I'd love to. What time?"

"Seven?" Kate suggested.

"I'll be there."

"Hey, chunky monkey," Kate turned toward her daughter. "Auntie Lanie is coming over tonight. Do you think that you can be a good girl so that mommy can have some girl time?" Kate laughed as Ari cooed out a response.

***CCC***

"Kate, I can't believe how big this girl has gotten!" Lanie exclaimed, attempting to bounce Ari on her knee. Only Ari kept glancing at her mother and fussing.

"I'm sorry, Lanie. She's so used to just being around family," Kate apologized as she took the baby from her friend. "I have to take her to the doctor next week and I swear if it's a repeat of her two-month checkup, I'm going to kill the son of a bitch."

"Do you want me to go with you to cover up evidence of the crime?" Lanie gave her friend a knowing look.

"No, Martha's already volunteered. But, thanks. So, what's new with you and Esposito?"

"Do you remember that holding pattern that you and Castle were in for so long?" Lanie asked as Kate nodded, bouncing Ari on her knee. "That's now me and Javi. I want to get married, Kate. I want to have babies. I don't know what in the hell he's waiting on."

"Maybe you two need the small locked room."

"With or without the tiger?"

"Preferably without, but if it takes a tiger—" Kate smiled at her friend. "I'm going to get her ready for bed. Come with me upstairs."

Lanie followed Kate as she went upstairs to the nursery, where she changed Ari into her pajamas before settling into the rocker with her to nurse her before bed. "So, when are you going to come back to work?"

"Well, Capt. Gates said under FMLA guidelines, I don't have to come back until May. She's got me on leave until December. I love being home with her, Lanie. I thought that it would be boring, but she changes every day. But, I'll probably come back around the first of December."

"I see you doing that," Lanie nodded at her friend nursing the baby, "and I still can't believe it."

"Me, neither," Kate smiled down at the baby. "I never thought that I could feel this kind of love. I mean, I love Castle very much, but this feels so . . . different. I look at her and I think that Castle and I created something that's half of each of us. Although usually she's much more Castle than Beckett."

"She looks just like him," Lanie pointed out.

"After I put her down, I'll show you the baby pictures of Rick that Martha showed me. She looks so much like him that it's scary."

"Speaking of babies, Ryan's convinced that they're having a boy this time. He said Jenny has had the most monstrous morning sickness. He said she wasn't that sick with Colleen."

"That would be great. To have one of each," Kate smiled.

"You're thinking about having another one, aren't you?"

"I told Castle that I want to wait until after she's a year old. I don't want to be one of those women chasing after four toddlers."

"Well, you'll already have two if you count Writer-Man," Lanie said as Kate laughed.

***CCC***

"How're my girls?" Castle asked on Skype the next afternoon from London.

"We're fine."

"She got bigger overnight," he complained.

"Yeah, Castle. She'll be heading off to college before you get back. How's London?"

"Rainy, humid. It's London. I hate it here already. I wish that I was there with you and my girls."

"Talk to daddy, Ari," Kate urged the baby, who seemed fascinated but confused by the image on the computer screen.

"She's probably trying to figure out how in the hell I got zapped into a computer screen," he laughed. "Do you need anything?"

"Just you."

"You're so sappy, Mrs. Castle. You must be married to a writer."

"So they tell me," she teased.

"Hi, Ariel," Castle said to his daughter, who smiled when she heard her name called. "Daddy misses you."

"She misses daddy, too. She misses his stories."

"I should've recorded some for her. I'll see what I can do about that," he told her. "I love you, Kate. I really miss you."

"I really miss you, too. I love you."

***CCC***

"'High on hill sits a lonely goatherd,'" Kate walked into the loft to hear Martha singing. She'd left Ariel with her grandmother so that she could get some grocery shopping done on this rainy day.

When Kate walked in, she bit her lip at the sight of Martha dancing around the living room with Ariel, who was delighting in the experience if the enchanted look on her small face was any indication. The soundtrack of 'The Sound of Music' was playing in the background.

Martha continued dancing around the room with the baby until she spotted Kate. "Hi, kiddo. I didn't hear you come in."

"I know," Kate's lip hurt from biting down on it to keep from laughing. "Are you having a good time?"

"Well, she was having her tummy time, but then she started getting fussy. I tried 'South Pacific,' and 'Oklahoma!' but she liked 'The Sound of Music' the best."

"Let me put the groceries away and then I'll take her off of your hands."

"So, where is Richard right now?"

"Dublin. He was saying there's some pub that he wanted to check out while he's there. He's looking for inspiration for his next Nikki Heat book. I don't know what he hopes to find in an Irish pub."

"I think he just wants an excuse to drink a Guinness or two."

"Could be," Kate agreed. "Don't forget Ari's appointment tomorrow."

"I haven't. Richard would kill me if I didn't offer you moral support in his absence."

"Did you take Rick with you when you had to travel?"

"I did when he was small. Then, I went the nanny route and finally I sent him away to school. He got thrown out of so many private schools that I'm surprised that he learned anything."

"I know. He told me," Kate remembered an early case they'd worked involving private school kids.

"I remember that Meredith thought about hiring a nanny for Alexis, but Richard wouldn't hear of it."

"How old was Alexis when Meredith left them? Rick doesn't talk about it much. I just get bits and pieces, but I can always see how much her leaving hurt him."

"It wasn't so much her leaving that hurt him, but her screwing around on him. Alexis was a little over a year old when he caught her with the producer and she filed for divorce shortly after that."

"Meredith filed for divorce?"

"Yes. It had been Richard's idea to marry when she got pregnant. I think Meredith always felt stifled by being married. His catching her with another man just gave her a convenient excuse."

"I don't see how any woman in her right mind would want to treat him like his first two wives did," Kate smiled as she watched her mother-in-law with her daughter. "You raised such a good man, Martha. I was stupid to take so long to see it."

"Well, you're a smart woman now. You might want to take her. I think she has a surprise diaper and gram doesn't do surprise diapers."

"Come on, chunky monkey," Kate took the baby from her grandmother and got a whiff of her. "Oh yeah, you definitely don't smell like roses."

Kate took the baby upstairs and quickly cleaned her up before bringing her back downstairs and placing her down on her busy blanket in the middle of the floor. "May I ask you a question? Why do you call her 'chunky monkey?'"

"When I was nine months pregnant, I was craving Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream. Apparently, so was Ari. She was kicking me like crazy the whole time that I was eating it. So, that's why I call her chunky monkey."

***CCC***

The next morning, Kate was watching Dr. Fleming carefully as he checked Ari out from head to toe. "How often is she nursing?" He asked as he made a notation on her chart.

"About every four and a half to six hours. It varies. Why?"

"Her weight gain is a little off. It's nothing to worry about, but I want you to introduce rice cereal into her diet."

"How can her weight gain be off? She eats like her father."

"Mrs. Castle, it's not substantial enough to be concerned about. Just start her on rice cereal along with your breast milk in the mornings."

"Kate, she's fine," Martha assured her when she saw how upset the young mother was becoming.

This time Kate didn't cry when the doctor administered the shots, although Ari screamed again. But Kate quickly put her to her breast to soothe her and the crying soon stopped. "How can that man do a job that requires him to stick children with sharp objects?" Kate asked when the doctor left the room.

"Well, you have a job that sometimes requires you to shoot people," Martha pointed out.

"But, the people I go after sometimes deserve to be shot."

"Come on, this occasion calls for ice cream sundaes," Martha told her daughter-in-law, who gave her a small smile.

"Because ice cream makes everything better."

"Yes, it does. Especially in the Castle universe."

When Castle got on Skype later that afternoon, he was surprised to just find Kate. "Where's Ariel?"

"She had shots today, so she's very sleepy. She sends her love," she seemed sad.

"Kate, are you okay? What happened at the doctor?"

"Castle, he said that Ari's weight gain isn't what it should be. What if something's wrong?"

"Did he seem worried?"

"No. He said it wasn't alarming enough to be concerned. He told me to start her on rice cereal. Martha and I are going to go shopping tomorrow. Castle, I've never fed a baby with a spoon in my life."

"Kate, they eat just like adults do, just on a messier scale. Alexis was about that age when I started her on cereal. It's nothing to be alarmed about. You know, Ariel is long. Maybe the weight gain doesn't seem as huge because she's so long."

"Maybe. Castle, I miss you. Alexis will be here this weekend, but it's not the same."

"Kate, you're doing fine. She's going to like the cereal. Just make sure it's not too warm."

"He told me to mix it with my breast milk. How was your Irish pub?" She changed the subject.

"Great," he grinned. "Just the sort of place Jameson Rook would frequent. I'm off to Paris tomorrow. I'll send you some fancy French underwear."

"Okay, Castle," she rolled her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he grinned. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

As she signed off, she couldn't help but worry about Ari. Maybe Castle was right. Ari was a long baby. After all, when you have tall parents, you're not exactly going to be short. She worried too much. She always had. She just wished that it was October already so that Castle would be home and he could tell her that everything was okay.

A/N #5: I don't know why Castle hasn't discussed either of his divorces with Kate. I'm hoping Season 6 will explore this issue. But I will explore it myself in upcoming chapters.

A/N #6: The next chapter will deal with every parent's worst nightmare. A trip to the ER.