'Mumum!'

The sound of RJ calling for her had Beckett out of bed instantaneously. It wasn't his usual happy self, he was in distress and her heart was pounding in her chest. When she reached the nursery, she turned on the soft-glowing floor lamp and felt her gut tighten up when she saw RJ sitting up in his crib, rubbing at his throat and lips trembling.

'Mumum, hurt.'

'Where does it hurt?'

'Head. Tote.'

'Your head and throat? Did you bump?' Beckett lowered the rail of the crib, felt her son's head all over; there was no signs of a goose egg but he was definitely sweating. She found the glass thermometer and knelt so she was at eye level with RJ. 'Stick out your tongue like this.'

Beckett demonstrated and popped the wand in his mouth when he mimicked her actions. The moment she saw the red gauge climb to one-oh-one Fahrenheit, she knew it was time to call the doctor. 'Okay, my little prince, we'll get you fixed up. Mommy will be right back.'

'Bedda?'

'Yes, we'll make sure it's all better.'

Beckett moved briskly back into the bedroom, yanked the covers off of her husband; he started to curl into the foetal position in reflex. 'Get up,' she ordered him.

'Uncool, blanket thief. It can't possibly be seven am already.'

'RJ's sick, we need to take him to the emergency room.'

At this, all selfish pretense was gone and Castle was on his feet, pulling on his clothes. 'What is it?'

'I'm not sure, he's got a fever of one-oh-one, and he says his head and his throat hurt.'

'Okay. I'll get the car warmed, you get his bag and his coat.'

The ER at Saint Vincent's was surprisingly uncrowded despite the fact that it was past midnight on a Friday. Then again, Saint Vincent's was renowned for its efficiency in weeding out emergent cases versus after-hours doctor's visits thanks to the Fast Track clinic. The triage nurse called them up and Beckett sat with RJ, who'd begun to cry a little in the car, on her lap while she murmured he was a great little boy.

'Name?'

'Richard James Castle,' Beckett told him, handing over his little insurance card.

'And what is the issue this evening?'

'He woke up saying his head hurt, and his throat, and I checked his temperature at home, it was about one-oh-one Fahrenheit. That was about forty minutes ago?'

'Alright let's have a look. Any allergies?' the nurse asked as she gently but efficiently took RJ's vitals and noted them into his chart.

'No.'

'Okay. We'll get you in to see the doctor right away because this young man's temperature is at one-oh-three.'

She ushered them into an exam room, and when they laid him down on the gurney, RJ continued to sniffle pitifully.

'Mumum, hurt.'

'I know you hurt, baby, but the doctor's going to make it better.'

The door opened and a young female physician came in the room, followed by Andrea Hennessey. 'Evening, everyone, I'm Doctor Prentiss. You brought in your son, Richard James with a fever, headache and sore throat?'

'Yes. We call him RJ,' Beckett added.

'Very well, RJ, can you sit up for me.'

'No.' RJ pouted fiercely. 'Hurt.'

'Hey, RJ, remember me?' Andrea stepped forward, crouched so the boy could see her and she saw the light of knowledge flash in his eyes.

'Annie.'

'Close enough. I know it hurts but this nice lady is the doctor and she wants to find out what's making you hurt. Can you sit up for me?'

With some assistance from Castle, they got RJ sitting up, and his daddy sat behind him, making sure he stayed upright as she helped him take off his little night-shirt. 'There we are,' Beckett crooned as she held her son's little hand. 'Mommy and Daddy are right here.'

'Okay, RJ can you lift up your arms like this?' Prentiss lifted her arms like a bird about to take flight. 'Atta boy,' she cheered him, and stuck the digital thermometer in his armpit. She read the output, made a note on RJ's chart. 'Okay, this might be a little cold.'

Prentiss listened to RJ's chest with her stethoscope, then check under his jaw. 'Okay now stick out your tongue for me.'

'Wude.'

'Not for the doctor, it's not rude, son,' Castle chuckled.

RJ complied, and Prentiss clucked her tongue in sympathy. 'You, little dude, have one nasty case of strep throat. I'm going to order an IV course of antibiotics and get him admitted for the night. You're more than welcome to stay with him. Andrea, let's get penicillin five and because he's under one, we'll also add in a half-dose of Amoxicillin. Have them delivered up to his room in pediatrics. And I'm going to order a therapeutic dermal lavage as well.'

'You got it. What room?'

'Peds three-one-four.'

Once up in his hospital room, RJ felt much better when he was changed into his pint-sized hospital gown, which may have been the most depressing thing Castle had ever seen. He'd taken a moment to text Alexis and Shane and Martha, who would let everyone else know that RJ was staying the night in the hospital, before heading upstairs. When he walked in, he saw Andrea there with a bucket and was rubbing RJ back and shoulders down with a sponge soaked in a pungent fluid. RJ had a lidded cup in his hands and was sucking up a drink through a straw. Attached to his wrist her his little IV bags of medicine.

'That feel better, little man?' Andrea asked sweetly, and RJ nodded.

'Bedda. Tassy,' he added, poking the lid of his cup. 'Doo.'

'He means cool,' Beckett told her friend and she nodded.

'Well, a chilled-alcohol bath may stink, but since it has a lower freezing point than water, it's a little more effective. And a nice icy glass of apple juice gives him some vitamins, some sugar in the blood and most of all, it's great on the throat.'

'Tote bedda.'

'That's good baby. Try not to talk,' Castle told his boy. 'It'll work faster that way.'

'I think I'm done for the moment. We've given him his meds and cooled his skin, so we'll let him rest and keep an eye on him.'

As Andrea stripped off her gloves, Beckett caught the sparkle of a ring on the nurse's left hand and she squinted at it. 'Andrea? Is that what I think it is on your hand?'

'Oh you mean this gorgeous engagement ring?' Andrea held up her hand to show off the platinum band with a trio of channel set diamonds, wiggled her fingers excitedly.

'Hey, look at that! Congrats, girl,' Castle said, giving her a hug. 'When? How'd he do it?'

'The nineteenth, it was our one-year anniversary, and we were just at home, and talking about wrecking diving, and joking about hidden treasure, and before I knew it, he was on one knee and asking me to marry him.'

'That's so romantic,' Beckett sighed, pressing a hand to her heart.

'And he choose this style so that when we're diving or working, I don't have to take my ring off, since most engagement rings would puncture our medical gloves. He said...' Andrea trailed off as she got a little choked up, remembering the moment. 'He said one diamond was for me, one was for him and one was for the life we'd make together.'

'Well, now that we've adopted you, brace yourself. There's nothing we love more than planning weddings for people we love.'

R&R&Enjoy.