Authors Note: The story was originally going to end where 'the boys' and Lanie find out about Rick and Kate but I got this idea in my head to continue it and I just couldn't resist. I have gotten the last two chapters from my beta and I will be polishing them up later today and will be posting them soon. I am also working on two other stories, one from Ryan's POV and the other from Esposito's. Hopefully, they will be finished soon. I do have a question on how I should post them. Should I post them chapter by chapter or all at once (Which will take longer to post)? Also, should I do both stories at the same time or one then the other? Let me know what you think in the review. Thanks!

Chapter 10

One month into Rick and Kate's relationship, Rick's POV

I walked into the bullpen the day before Thanksgiving to see everyone else standing at the murder board. I came up behind them and handed Kate her usual morning coffee.

"Morning, Castle," she said with a smile. Even though she didn't usually call me Rick at work, she at least said Castle with far less irritation than she used to.

"What time did you get here?" I asked.

"About an hour ago. There is just something about this case that is bugging me. I made a couple of calls so hopefully we should hear something soon."

"Ah! What is with that tie, Esposito?" I exclaimed as he turned in my direction.

"Lanie gave it to me," he mumbled.

"What was that?" I asked loudly with a slight smirk.

"Lanie gave it to me, for our anniversary. She knew that we laughed at Ryan's tie so she thought she would get me back." He looked behind me and chuckled. I turned around and jumped when I spotted Ryan's new tie, obviously from his wife.

"You are both whipped," I laughed.

"Just wait, bro. Just you wait," said Esposito.

"Yeah, Beckett said something earlier about some sort of surprise for you," mentioned Ryan.

"Once again, I am thankful that I don't usually wear ties," I grinned. Until I saw the look on Kate's face. I swallowed. "You know, I'll love any tie you give me, or anything else."

"So, boss, you get him a tie?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe," she said. "He'll just have to wait until tonight."

"Why? You know I hate waiting. Tell me what it is," I tried to charm her.

"Oh, trust me, Castle. I think you would prefer to open this gift in private."

"Sounds scary, bro," chipped in Esposito.

"Nah, I don't think it's scary, at least. You might, but I don't," Kate said, suddenly sounding serious. I looked at her closely trying to read her but unable to.

"For that, I won't tell you anything about the gift I have for you," I said jokingly.

Kate smiled at me as her phone rang. "Beckett. Great, we'll be there in a few." She hung up the phone. "That's the break we were looking for. Let's roll."

We all grabbed our things and headed out. I managed to steal a quick kiss from Kate in the elevator and whispered a proper good morning to her. Kate was not a publicly affectionate person so we usually kept our hands to ourselves. I had more trouble following that unspoken rule than she did, of course, especially on mornings when she had spent the night at her apartment instead of my loft.

Our team got to the fourth floor walk-up and waited until the backup was at the back of the building before we went up. I gave Kate my 'please be careful' look and she knocked on the door and announced herself. It all went to hell from there. The suspect in the double murder didn't even bother to open the door; he just blasted it with a shotgun. Kate ducked to the other side of the now Swiss cheese door. She looked to be fine much to my relief. We just sat there for a moment when some more cops came in and pushed me back so I couldn't see.

Finally, the all clear was yelled out and I went to find Kate. My knees went weak when I saw the blood on her arm. It wasn't much but she still shouldn't be bleeding. She saw me coming toward her and stopped me from saying anything.

"Yes, it's my blood. I got a splinter from the door. I'll be fine." She placed her hand on my arm. "I promise."

I swallowed, nodded then let her finish her job. Once the now deceased suspect was taken away, I insisted that Kate go to the hospital. She balked at the idea until she went to take off her vest and noticed that it too, was full of splinters. She seemed more upset about that than the splinter that actually drew blood. I drove her car and since she let me, I knew that she was more upset than she let on. Once we were at the ER and the doctor came in, I went back to the waiting room to let Alexis know. I sent her an email explaining that Kate was fine but we were at the ER. About twenty minutes later, my phone rang.

"Hi, pumpkin."

"Is Kate okay?" she asked.

"She will be fine. She is back with the doctor right now. The suspect shot the door she was behind with a shotgun and she got splinters all over her. Most of them on her vest but a couple of them actually drew blood. I'm overprotective so I insisted she come here just to be safe."

"You're sweet, Dad. Do you mind if I spend the night over at Kelly's house? I'll be back first thing in the morning in time to got to the Beckett's for tomorrow."

"That's fine. Will we see you when we get home?"

"Yes. I want to see Kate before I go. And you too Dad," she said as an afterthought.

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"I need to get back to class. Tell Kate I said hi. Love you Daddy."

"I love you, too," I said.

**x**

"So, you gonna live?" I joked as Kate came out after a few games of my newest phone app.

"Yes, nothing was serious but he went ahead and gave me a tetanus shot just to be safe. Do you mind driving me back to the precinct?"

"Are you sure? It's the day before Thanksgiving, don't you just want to go home?"

"No, the doctor just said to not stand in front of any doors that are about to get shot but I'm good to go. Besides, I have a stack of paper work to deal with. I want to get it done before tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am perfectly fine to go work my desk. The doctor told me to not bump my arms, one is bandaged and I got the shot in the other one. Other than that, I am in perfect health," she smiled.

"Okay, to the precinct it is. Oh, I spoke with Alexis earlier and she wants to see you before she leaves for her friend's house for the night."

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth," I said and once I saw her eyebrow rise, I continued. "I said the guy shot the door, you caught some splinters and me being the overprotective guy I am, I insisted you go to the ER."

We made it back to the 12th and Kate went right to work. I pretended to play on my phone but I kept watching her. This was the first time that she got hurt since we got together and I have to say, I didn't much care for how it felt watching her get hurt and not being able to protect her. I knew that she could protect herself but part of me still felt like it was my job. Before I knew it, Kate started packing up her things.

We walked out together, and then she said that she would meet me over at the loft after she swung by her place to get her bag and my gift. And I had forgotten all about that tie. I headed home, and picked up dinner along the way.

"Dad, where's Kate?" Alexis asked as I walked into the loft with dinner.

"She had to stop by at her place, she'll be over in a few," I told her as I handed her some of the bags I carried.

"So she's really okay?" she asked as I set the rest of the food down and went to get plates.

"Yes, pumpkin, she's fine. She got a few little splinters on her arm and one big one that drew blood. I pretty much panicked and made her go to the ER. Are you eating with us?"

"No, Kelly's mom is cooking her famous Indian dishes tonight." Alexis turned to the door as it opened to reveal Kate.

"Kate, are you okay?" Kate nodded. "Can I give you a hug or will that hurt you?" Alexis asked. Kate reached out and gave my daughter a hug, making sure to not let Alexis touch her arms.

"I'm fine, really. Your dad is just overprotective," Kate said as she pulled back.

"Yes, he is. But he is so good at it," Alexis smiled. "I just wanted to check on you before I take off to my friend's house. I'll be back tomorrow morning before its time to go to your dad's for Thanksgiving dinner." She picked up her bag that was by the door.

"Have a good night, pumpkin," I called out from the kitchen.

"I will, love you guys," Alexis said before she slipped out the door. I walked up behind Kate and slipped my arms around her and dropped some kisses on her neck. I wondered if Kate noticed that she was included in Alexis's farewell.

"Your daughter is so sweet," she said softly. I kissed her once more and knew that any doubts that I had about Kate and Alexis getting along were long gone.

"Dinner's ready, if you're hungry," I commented.

We enjoyed a nice dinner and talked about all of us going to her Dad's the next day for dinner. I met Jim Beckett a couple of times now but I was a little nervous about how him meeting the rest of my family would go. Dinner was soon finished and when I returned to the table there was a box at my place, the dreaded tie box.

"So, how scary is this?" I asked jokingly.

"I don't think it's scary," she said seriously and with meaning again. "I think you will like it. I hope so at least." She suddenly sounded unsure, nervous even.

"It's from you, I'm sure I will love it," I said truthfully as I pulled off the lid of the tie box.

"It seems I'm not quite as good at math as I thought," she said a little nervously. I looked into the box and saw a little stick instead of a scary tie. A little stick with two pink lines on it.

"Do two lines mean what I think it means?" I asked in as neutral of a voice as I could manage as she nodded. "You're pregnant." I said more as a statement than a question. She nodded again. "You said you don't think the gift is scary. Are you okay with this, Kate?" I asked a bit nervously still trying to hide my smile.

"Yes," she nodded, this time with a smile. "I'm okay with this."

"Good," I said relieved as I wrapped her in my arms and smiled. I was surprised that she was okay and not freaked out by the baby. Especially since we weren't married and had just started dating a month ago. No wonder she looked so serious when I was joking with the guys at the precinct about the scary gift.

"I love you, Kate Beckett," I said with one hand on her belly before I dropped to my knees and lightly kissed the child growing there. "I love you too, little one."

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