When Beckett arrived home a couple of hours later, she wasn't surprised to see her husband home with their children already. She dropped her purse and keys on the table just inside the door and toed off her boots as she called out to them.

'Hey guys, I'm home.'

'Hey, is everything okay with Andrea?' Alexis asked as she helped RJ put his toys away. 'Did she and Daniel break up?'

'No, nothing like that. Andrea's sisters pulled a really nasty stunt and she was upset with them, wanting to cancel the wedding to elope at New Years with her fiance.'

'That's not how you get back at them. You have a fabulous wedding and you don't invite them,' Castle said as he drained spaghetti into a colander.

Beckett nodded her agreement. 'That's what we told her, Meredeth and Lanie and Jenny and I, and we spent a couple of hours helping her expand on ideas she had with Daniel for the ceremony.'

'Mumum, see?' RJ pointed to his basket of toys that he'd picked up after playing. 'Nee.'

'They are neat, good job, buddy.' Alexis high-fived her little brother. 'Let's go wash up for dinner.'

'Nee hans.'

'That's right we need our hands neat and clean for dinner.'

She helped RJ to his feet and they went for the downstairs bathroom, while Beckett went over to the kitchen; the aroma of fresh tomatoes and garlic and melted cheese was like heaven. 'What are we having tonight, chef?'

'It's a regular Italian feast in here. Spaghetti with spicy red sauce, turkey meatballs, Caesar salad and fresh cheesy garlic bread.'

'That gushing you hear is the waterfalls juicing up in my mouth.'

'Wine?' Castle held up the bottle that had just finished breathing, poured a glass at her nod. 'Does it feel funny?'

'Does what feel funny?'

'Going back to work on Monday.'

'A little, but then, I know that once I'm back in the routine, it'll feel amazing. I know I'll have to shuffle priorities now that we've got a little one, but-'

'Hey, hey.' Castle covered her hand, held it tightly. 'Don't skimp on your job because you're a mom now. RJ is going to be so proud of you, that his mommy is out catching baddies. Or dashin' them as Tessi says. It's not going to be easy but we are a team and we make it work.'

Beckett gave him a soft, sincere smile. There weren't many of these moments given Castle's joking nature so when they cropped up, she knew he really meant it. 'I have a sudden urge to hold my son.'

'Mumum, nee!'

RJ and Alexis returned from their hands washing and Beckett scooped him up into her arms to give him a noisy kiss. 'Oh, my little prince, I'm gonna miss you when I'm at work on Monday.'

'Dash baddies?' RJ had learned this phrase from Tessi, the little fountain of chatter with the new babies. 'Like Pito?'

'Yes, exactly, just like Esposito. It means I'll have to go away sometimes, but Daddy's going to be here all the time with you.'

The little boy nodded. 'Mumum dash baddies. Yea Mumum,' he clapped his hands. 'Goo' shob.'

With such simple words from her precious little guy, nearly all of Beckett's worries about returning to work were allayed. She gave him another noisy kiss, then plunked him into his highchair. 'You hungry?'

'Mee-bas!'

'That's right, RJ we're having meatballs.' Alexis grinned at her little brother. It was so much fun to be home and to see him healthy after he'd gotten his throat infection. 'Can you say spaghetti?'

'Pah-detty.'

'That's pretty close. Try again, spa-ghetti.'

'Pah-detty.'

'Soup's on,' Castle annonced, bringing the pot of pasta to the table, along with the other accompaniments and saw RJ looking around, confused. 'What is it, RJ?'

'No' soup, Daddy. Pah-detty mee-bas.'

Beckett chuckled; their son was at the age where he took everything literally but she knew spending his days with his daddy and big sister would soon fix that. 'It's a saying, sweetie. Would you like to try some?'

Later, when RJ was tucked into bed and Alexis was out with Shane and his friends, Castle and Beckett were enjoying a second glass of wine by the fireplace, enjoying the homeyness of the night. They weren't going to get very many easy nights like this once she was back on the job, they knew, so tonight, they were making the most of it.

'The baby's tucked in, the young woman's off with her boyfriend, and Mom and Dad have the house essentially to themselves.' Beckett tilted her head, nipped at her husband's jawline lightly. 'Whatever shall we do with all that privacy?'

'Oh I think we'll think of something,' he murmured back. His blood began to move around happily and he set aside their wine so they wouldn't upset their glasses; Castle shifted so his wife was beneath him, her angles fitting against his body like puzzle pieces. He'd just heard her first sweet sigh when his phone buzzed. 'Hold that thought, Kate.'

Castle picked up his phone and sighed in relief. 'Alexis, just texting that she's spending the night at Shane's and they'll be here for breakfast tomorrow.'

'You know what this means?' Beckett said with a playful glint in her eye, walking her fingers up his chest.

'We'll need another pound of bacon?'

'Not just that, but it means tonight, we don't have to go upstairs to do this.'

Grabbing two fistfuls of cotton, Beckett ripped open Castle's shirt and sent the buttons flying and lightly scratched her fingernails down his chest as the ruined shirt landed behind her on the coffee table. 'I've been wanting this all day,' she said in a low voice. 'Mama needs her sugar.'

'Oh, oh okay,' he chuckled as she yanked him down and gave him a hot, mind-melting kiss. 'Mmf, you are in the mood for it, aren't you?'

'Gimme,' was all she said.

Castle had heard enough and hauled her up so they were sitting on the couch again, with Beckett straddling his lap. His hands streaked under her sweater and ripped at the clasp of her bra. Both sweater and lingerie hit the floor behind the couch and he savaged her mouth as he cupped her breasts and squeezed them. His touch was a little on the rough side but from her excited and delighted gasps, he knew his girl was into it.

Beckett's heart galloped against her ribs and she rocked her hips hard against Castle's as her skin heated. She wanted him inside her, not making love, not even having sex, just the basic instinctual and animal need to mate. Slithering backwards, she stood up in front of him and shimmied out of her jeans and her panties so she was naked but for the glint of her wedding rings in the firelight. Beckett recognized the look on his face and touched her finger tips to the back of her neck, then traced them down over her breasts, lightly grazing her nipples, down the curves of her post-baby body to the tops of her thighs.

'Rich,' she murmured, 'I love you.'

Castle watched her come back to him, straddle him again, only she kept her body inches above his so that she could tug at his belt buckle, and he had room to arch his hips up to shove off his pants and boxers; his brain went into overdrive when she lowered herself onto him, so he filled her. He watched her eyes go wide and dark and her hips began to move against his.

'Kate, I love you,' he murmured back to her and let his senses take over.

R&R&Enjoy.