Hello, I am glad people seemed to like the fluffy parts of the story. There will be more, but there will also be difficult times, and they are coming up within the next few chapters. This story was outlined before I began it, so I do know where I'm taking things. :)

SPOILER: You know, I expected the finale, but I didn't expect the finale. Props to the writers for staying true to the characters and giving them a relationship to explore in season 5! :)

The moment he stepped in the door she was in his arms, with his face cradled in her palms, she planted a firm kiss to his lips and smiled brightly at him.

"I missed you too." He spoke, pleasantly surprised by the eagerness with which his wife greeted him. He decided that no matter how much he hated leaving, if Kate Beckett would greet him like that each time, he'd do it more often. She reached her hands up to pull gently on his ears, bringing his head back to her lips and opening her mouth to his kisses.

"I'm just glad you're home." She spoke.

She meant it, despite having had a wonderful week with Christopher, she missed having Rick with her, especially at night when she went to sleep. She'd grown so accustomed to the warmth of his body against hers, to the secure feeling she felt when she'd wake to find his palm spread flat across her stomach. She was eager to have him in her arms again.

Martha entered the room and spotted her son at the door. "Richard! You're home! How lovely." She spoke as she embraced her son and kissed his cheek.

"How was your trip?" She inquired.

"It was good, lots of face time and got to meet several of my dedicated readers," he spoke, glancing to Kate with a teasing expression, as he knew she was a dedicated reader. She smiled knowingly back at him and squeezed his hand, which was clasped in her own.

He turned back to his mother to continue, "Seeing fans was good, but I'm happy to be home. I've missed my family." He spoke tenderly as he reached his hand over and stroked Kate's stomach, before adding another thought.

"And I can't believe how much you've grown in one week!" His grin was wide as he rubbed her abdomen. She huffed and answered him sarcastically,

"Just what every woman wants to hear from her man after separation." She rolled her eyes at him and continued, "Wow, Kate. You got BIG while I was gone." He laughed, knowing that she wasn't serious.

"No Kate, you didn't get big while I was gone. The baby got big while I was gone. Further, my Jedi powers are telling me that tomorrow we're going to know what we're having." He motioned while pointing to his temple, indicating his special mental powers

She reached over and animatedly tapped the same spot on his head, "well use your Jedi mind trick to tell our child to stop giving me heartburn!" With that he took her into his arms again and kissed her softly. Martha, who was preparing for a night on the town, soon made her exit as Castle and Beckett made their way down the hall to check on Christopher.

It was shortly after 8pm and well past the child's bedtime, so when Rick stepped up to the crib he simply smiled as he beheld his son's sleeping form. "I've missed you." He whispered to the boy, kissing his fingers and placing them lightly on the boy's brow.

"How was he?" He turned to Kate and asked.

"He was wonderful, although late in the week he developed an ear infection. I got him to the pediatrician though and he's been doing fine since." Rick simply looked at his wife for a moment, her hair was pulled back loosely with tendrils framing her face. She was dressed in a night gown that he'd never seen before, one that looked to be designed specifically for maternity purposes.

It was light purple, with lace across the chest and across the bottom, which fell to her calves. There she was, carrying one child and caring for another, being a mother, and she looked beautiful. Before thinking about it he opened his mouth and words slipped out.

"You look like some sort of goddess of fertility." She could hear the longing in his voice and see the desire in his eyes. She smirked at him knowingly, stepped into his space, and slowly ran her fingers down his chest.

"A goddess, huh?" She spoke with a sultry lilt. He simply swallowed and nodded, "uh huh."

She ran her fingers down his arm and laced their fingers together, turning from him and pulling him along with her to their bedroom. There would be more talk of Christopher later, for now she was content to let the sleeping boy rest while she satisfied her appetite for her husband.

They shut and locked their bedroom door, mostly out of habit. As he moved to the bathroom to freshen up and strip down to his boxers, she turned the bed down for them, removed her panties from underneath her gown, and got in. When he stepped back into the room he found her waiting for him at the head of the bed.

He moved quickly, eager to touch her. A week was a long time and the changes in her body were amazing. He wanted to explore every inch, to caress every curve and to scatter kisses across her increasingly prominent baby bump.

She was eager for his touch as well, her hormones driving her crazy and her week without him adding to the urgency she felt within. As he leaned onto the bed, the mattress dipped and she slid slightly closer to where he was. He uncovered her and turned the sheets far enough back that they wouldn't be in the way of his quest to touch every inch of her body.

He placed his hands on her hips and gently pulled, motioning for her to lay flat on her back. She complied. As she slid down the bed, her gown crept further up her thighs and revealed more skin to him. Soon he was kneeling over her, resting his weight on his thighs as he sat just below her hips.

She watched him, never breaking eye contact , as he softly began to caress her skin. First her arms and her collar bone, which prompted him to lean forward and trail kisses across her skin in the wake of his hands. She released a sigh, inhaling his addicting scent and reveling in being touched by him once more.

He slid his hands down the top of her nightgown, causing her to arch her back as he caressed her sensitive breasts. He didn't keep his hands there though, as he was on a mission to remove the piece of material that stood between him and complete access to Kate's body.

He lowered his hands to the bottom of the nightgown and began to push it upwards. When it reached her bottom he looked up at her and caught her eyes. Her expression was peaceful, happy and loving. At his silent urge, she lifted her hips from the bed to allow him to slide the gown further up, revealing her to be completely bare underneath. He paused for a moment, unable to resist kissing the pink flesh at her center, taking a moment to taste her and listen to the appreciative moan that escaped her mouth.

Soon he was back to the task at hand, sliding the gown over her stomach and her breasts. She lifted one last time as he finally removed the garment and tossed it to the floor.

He took her in, amazed at the changes that he could see in just a week's time. Her stomach had grown notably and her breasts were bigger and rounder. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her nipple, before sucking gently as he grazed his teeth across her tissue.

The simple act had her arching off the bed with a loud moan, reacting to the hypersensitivity in her breasts, as well as to the strong emotions that stimulation to that spot caused to course through her body. She needed him, badly. She needed him with her body, but more powerfully with her soul. She needed to be one with him, to get as close to him as humanly possible and then closer.

She was overwhelmed by the emotions that were coursing through her, as he moved his head to her other nipple and repeated the sensation; causing her need to be part of him to grow even stronger. She'd been overwhelmed with physical pleasure in the past, loosing herself to the urges of her body and the sensations he created within it. However, she'd never lost this much control emotionally. She felt the need to surrender herself completely to him, to merge with him, to show him she loved him in every way. She grabbed his hand and began to place kisses on his palm. Her expression conveying her desperation to feel him, she whispered a single word breathlessly "now."

With that he rolled off of her, bringing his body to press against her back. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she lifted and hooked her top leg over his, giving him entrance from his angle. They made love slowly, trying to hold out against their building pleasure for as long as possible. At the feel of him inside of her, as well as the sensation of his palm, which had moved to cup her breast, she nearly cried out. Tears filled her eyes as she longed to feel him deeper within her, to feel him surround her completely.

She knew completely well that a great deal of her reaction was related to hormones, that his touches were triggering her body to release even more of the substances, but she couldn't bring herself to care about the cause of her feelings. She loved him and no chemical reaction within her body could ever explain that away. Soon they were no longer able to hold out, desperate to fall off the edge together, he reached around her he stroked her just where she needed it. Soon they both exploded, their cries mingling as they both fell apart.

Monday morning of Kate's 20th week was a big event. Not only did it mark that she was half way through her pregnancy, but it was also the day she'd been scheduled to have her amniocentesis. It was a test that she was not looking forward to at all. She wasn't comfortable with the thought of a giant needle in her stomach; even after all the cancer treatments.

More importantly, she wasn't comfortable with a needle being so close to the baby. She understood that in order for them to perform the test, they needed a sample of the fluid that the baby was growing in. She still wasn't happy about it at all.

As if reading her thoughts, Rick's hand found hers and their fingers laced together. He softly spoke, "It will be over before you know it and everything will be just fine." She smiled at him, but it didn't go to her eyes, as there was little that he could say to ease her worry. Instead, he tried to re-direct her a bit.

"Just think Kate, when we come home today we'll know if we're going to have a boy or a girl." She did give him a smile at that, as she softly spoke "I can't wait."

He teasingly threatened the baby as they made their way out the door, "Better get your junk out baby, cause we're looking." They both laughed as they entered the elevator together.

When they arrived the doctor requested that more blood be drawn, although they'd just checked her levels two weeks ago. She thought it a little odd, but knew it was customary to continuously monitor, especially in high-risk pregnancies such as her own.

Her blood pressure remained low and she was gaining a healthy amount of weight, which pleased the doctor. As soon as she was changed into a hospital gown a tech that she'd never met laid her on the table and placed the familiar gel across her lower abdomen. Soon they found the baby, and heard the steady heartbeat. The tech, whose name was Laura, looked up to Kate and explained to her how the test would be done.

"Ok Kate, we will have the ultrasound on the whole time so that we can see where your baby is and where the best place to draw fluid from the sac will be." Kate nodded at the words, and the technician continued.

"With the guidance of the machine, it should only take one attempt to collect the sample we need." At this point Castle squeezed Kate's hand, as he asked a question of his own,

"What exactly will you be looking for?"

"Well, the amniotic fluid can tell us all sorts of things. It can tell us whether or not she has trisomy 21, or down syndrome. It will also indicate whether or not she appears to have any neural tube defects. There are many other things that the test searches for, but those are the big ones." Beckett nodded at the woman in understanding while Castle stared at the technician for a moment, shock on his face.

"What is it Rick?" Kate asked, both she and the technician looking at him.

"She." He spoke, turning to Kate and then to address the tech, "you said, she. They are going to take fluid from her, to be sure she is healthy." Kate raised her eyebrows and turned to look at Laura as well.

She spoke softly, "Are you saying that we're having a girl?" A look of panic crossed Laura's face for a moment, as the realization that she'd just identified their baby's gender on the screen struck her.

"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. I saw the note in your chart indicating that you came in two weeks ago to find out the gender of the baby and I just assumed. Please, talk to the doctor. I can't officially tell you that anyhow."

Both parents smiled at her, trying to calm her down. "It's ok Laura," Rick spoke. "We did try to find out last time, but she was holding out on us so we couldn't tell." Kate smiled and added, "you didn't tell us anything we didn't want to know and we'll have the doctor confirm it, I promise." She looked relieved and removed the wand from Kate's stomach.

At that moment the door opened and their doctor entered, holding several medical supplies, including a large sterile needle, in her hand. Before she removed any of the instruments from their packaging she washed her hands and placed her gloves on.

"Hello Kate, Rick." She smiled warmly to both of them. Laura then spoke up, "I thought they were able to see the gender of the baby last time, so when I found her I just assumed…"

The doctor looked at her with an amused expression on her face before speaking, "let's have a look than, shall we?" The room fell silent as more of the gel was placed on her stomach and the heartbeat once again filled the room.

"Ok. We're looking good and we are looking like a she. I agree with Laura, your baby appears to be a girl." She smiled as she watched the parents smile and kiss, obviously overjoyed to learn this news. She also heard him giggle about something, and witnessed her playfully slap him in return. When he noticed the doctor's mild look of confusion, Castle spoke up.

"We had a bet, and I won." He gloated while Kate rolled her eyes, obviously not truly upset. Afterall, with Christopher at home she would soon be a mother to a boy and a girl. She was ecstatic, even if Castle was gloating.

"Ok." The doctor spoke. "Now for the uncomfortable part." She pulled the needle from it's packaging and set it town with the other sterile objects, and with Laura holding the ultrasound transductor in place, she spoke.

"Ok. You're going to feel a slight pinch from the numbing medication first. Then you will feel a lot of pressure. Are you ready?" The doctor asked.

Kate nodded and squeezed her eyes shut as Castle held a firm grip to her hand. She felt the pinch, which wasn't too bad. Soon after she felt the pressure too, which was bad. She didn't like the feeling at all and wanted it to be over quickly.

"Ok. Kate. Take a breath, you're almost done." Then she felt a release of pressure and the doctor finally spoke, "alright. You're done, good job Kate." She nodded, feeling a bit sore and crampy in her stomach. She was allowed to get dressed and told to take it easy. The results would be in within the next 7 to 12 days and she would be called if there were any problems.

Kate nodded and with her husband's support, she slowly left the clinic and they headed home.

Placing thoughts of the tests out of their heads, they simply brain stormed all of the ways they could tell their family and friends what they were having. It was going to be a fun week for them.

A/N: It's a girl! I'm sure many of you figured it would be. As I said before, the next chapters are going to have a bit more angst, as the seas get a bit rougher for the expectant couple. So be prepared for that.

Someone asked about Kate's friends and father's reactions to Christopher. That is going to be featured in the next chapter as well. As they'll have a bit of fun breaking the news that it's a girl to everyone, Christopher will be very much a part of their interactions.