Hi there!

Prompt by Mariah Laber: Rick and Kate reminisce on Alexis' birthday.

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Enjoy!

"Sixteen, can you believe it?" Rick walked up to where Kate was standing and leaned towards her.

She kept her eyes on Alexis as she snaked an arm around Castle's waist. "Seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital."

They watched Alexis as she interacted with her friends at her "don't go over the top, oh but we're definitely going over the top" sweet sixteen party at the loft. Castle went as far as to rent a DJ and a palm reader; he just couldn't do anything small.

"I know. It's crazy."

"I think we're doing alright so far, don't you think?" Kate looked up at him finally, a small smile on her face.

"I mean with parents like us there's no way we could screw her up."

Kate laughed and smacked him on the chest.

"No, I agree. She's amazing. We're doing an alright job." He kissed Kate on the top of her head and squeezed her to his side.

Kate huffed out a breath, a combination of happiness and sadness that her little girl was growing up. She remembered the day she found out she was pregnant with Alexis as if it had happened a week ago.

She was late, like really late. She hadn't thought anything of it at first. She had been awfully stressed at work, and she wasn't eating as much as she should have been. But when you're so late that you notice you're late, something's up.

"Just breathe, Kate, it could be anything. You've had a hard week." She paced the bathroom, her hands pressed to her forehead as she comforted herself in the silence. Castle was away for the day for his books, leaving her alone to freak out.

She knew they both wanted to have a baby, they had talked about it plenty. But what she didn't know if they were ready for it just yet.

"Why is this taking so long?" She peeked at the timer on her phone, the two minute waiting period far too long for her liking. She didn't dare look at the test, though. That was sitting out of view waiting for its big reveal.

The timer on her phone finally went off, and all she could do was stand statue still, staring at herself in the mirror. This small, little stick was going to either change her life, or do absolutely nothing at all. Two completely different ends of the spectrum with every emotion making a presence in between.

"You can do this." She took a deep breath and peeked at the lines. "Oh my God."

Two lines. There were two lines on the stick. Two lines meant pregnant. She was pregnant.

Kate gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She was going to have a baby. There was a little, tiny, person growing inside of her that was half Castle and half herself. They were going to raise a person to be good and know right from wrong. They would experience firsts; first smile, first word, first birthday, first day of school. They would go through the first significant other, the first car, the first kiss, and the first heartbreak. They were going to send a person on a life journey and help them on their way, and to Kate, that was the most incredible yet frightening thing that could ever happen.

The most amazing part about all of this was that she already loved the little person inside of her unconditionally.

"I'm going to have a baby." She leaned against the wall, a huge smile spread wide across her face. She lifted the palm of her hand to her forehead and gently placed the other on her stomach.

She was sitting on the couch when Rick came through the door that night. Immediately, she jumped up and made her way to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Hey." He smiled down at her. "Happy to see me?"

"I'm always happy to see you." She pecked him quickly on the lips, buying herself some time to stop her hands from shaking so badly.

He saw right through her, though. "Everything alright?"

"Of course!" She bit her lip and went into her script, trying not to speak too fast. "I was just playing scrabble and I used all my letters. Pretty sure I beat your score from the other day." She pursed her lips and glanced over her shoulder at the board laying on the table.

"Impossible." He locked his attention on it and broke out of Kate's hold, striding over to see if she had actually, for the first time, beat him. But when he looked at the board and how the letters where arranged, he knew that she had actually beat him.

'WE ARE HAVING A BABY' The board read.

He turned to face her, his mouth hanging open in shocked joy. "You're?"

Kate nodded, a giggle escaping her lips.

"We're having a baby?" He questioned again, and when she nodded a second time, he threw his arms around her waist, scooped her up, and spun her in a circle, laughing the entire time.

When Castle put her back on the ground, she spoke. "I took the test today. We're pregnant." She covered her mouth with her hands.

Castle did the same, pure shock coursing through him. "This is the best news I've heard all day. I love you." He pulled her to him again, kissing her hard and falling into the couch with Kate in his arms.

"I love you too."

"Castle?" Kate sat up in bed. It was dead silent around her, a rarity in the city. It's like her surroundings knew something was different. "Castle?" She repeated again.

This time he rolled over, groaning in response.

"Rick?" She raised her voice, turning on the lamp beside her.

At the urgency in her voice, he sat up and faced her. "What's wrong?"

"I think my water just broke." Any ounce of calmness that was keeping her sane left at that moment of admittance. All at once, everything became real; she was about to be a mother.

"Are you having contractions yet?" He got up and changed his clothes as he spoke.

"No." She shook her head, but kept the rest of her body still. This was definitely the calm before the storm.

He slipped a shirt over his head. "When did your water break?"

Kate looked at the clock next to her, biting the inside of her mouth. "Maybe three minutes ago."

"Are all of your things ready?" Rick ran a quick hand through his hair.

She nodded and then swung her legs slowly over the side of the bed. "In the bag in the front closet."

He came around to her side of the bed and cupped her cheek. "Then it looks like we're ready to have a baby."

An hour later Kate lay in delivery, a perfect little girl in her arms. Her delivery had been quick, thank goodness, and Castle was so supportive the entire time.

Kate traced the little girl's nose, smiling down at what they had just brought into the world. "Hi, Miss Alexis. I'm so happy to finally meet you."

Rick watched from her side, marveling at his wife and his first child. They were brilliant, simply brilliant. It didn't matter how good he was at writing, nothing he could ever write could describe how he felt at this moment.

Kate caught him watching her and smiled. "Do you want to hold her, dad?" She smiled at that, prompting him to hold Alexis.

He reached out and scooped the little bundle out of Kate's arms and into his own. He really couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was perfect. "Hey sweet girl, I love you." The baby in his arms squished up her nose and Kate giggled, so in love with every little thing.

"What are you thinking about?" Castle nudged Kate's arm, bringing her back to reality.

She glanced at Alexis again, their gorgeous, brilliant, independent daughter gallivanting through her party, completely on cloud nine. "How amazing she is. How amazing we all are together." Kate stopped, looked up at Castle, and smiled.

"You know, we are pretty amazing, huh?" He smirked at her, holding himself in mock importance.

Kate hit him on the arm before kissing him on the cheek and feeling one on the top of her head in response. Yeah, they were pretty amazing.

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