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Month 2

"Hey again, squirt," he starts.

He has been talking to Kate's not-yet-visible bump a lot.

More accurately, he has whispered a lot to himself at night, when he failed to sleep again while his wife was out. By now, it has also become a habit.

The words flow almost automatically. Once he is sure that Kate is asleep, they fall from his lips. He discusses everything he wants to, often relieved when he notices how talking to his future child is almost therapeutic and aids him with feeling more rested when the excitement is bubbling again.

It's been over a month since she made the announcement that changed their lives. By a fairly accurate estimate, she's two months pregnant now.

And still, only the two of them know. Castle insisted that they wait for a little while longer for reasons even he couldn't put into words. Kate, knowing that she might be treated like she is made of porcelain once the precinct got word, happily agreed.

It is their little happy secret that they eagerly discuss almost every time they are alone.

"To our own surprise, no one has actually suspected us yet. But if she continues to be surrounded by some of the best detectives, it's only a matter of time before they find out. Or they already have and are nice to let us decide when we want to announce it."

He smirks. That would be like them, but even then, he knows, it is only a question of when their curiosity becomes too much and overwhelms their sense of tact.

Much like with their relationship, he expects, where they had been granted secrecy and privacy at first.

Until the cat was officially out of the bag, they were no longer safe from the teasing and unsolicited advice from both the team and his family.

"From what I've heard, you're growing. But honestly, that's no surprise. Considering all the weird stuff Kate has been eating recently though, it will also be no surprise if you have grown a tail. It's honestly kind of gross. And that's coming from me," he giggles.

"I'm the weird eater of the family," he informs his child. "But maybe you get that from me and make your mom want all these things."

Your mom.

When he first spoke to his child, he refrained from calling her that, the sound and still a little foreign to him. But as the days passed, it started to become more natural.

Kate Beckett, mother of their future child.

Now, it doesn't just sound natural, it sounds like one of the best things he has ever heard.

Kate Beckett, the smartest, most beautiful, strongest woman he has ever known. And he is lucky enough to have her standing by his side.

Warmth spreads through him.

By now, he is referring to her as mom so frequently, he has to watch it when they are around people. One slip of his tongue, and, with his luck, not only their family or friends from the precinct will know, but every person who pays attention to page six.

Rick shakes his head and returns to discussing his wife's newly found eating habits.

"She's been eating salt and vinegar chips a lot. She used to hate those and wrinkle her nose every time she saw me eat them. And now we can't get groceries without getting a bag. Although I still eat like… half. She is still trying to be healthy sometimes. Not that all the takeout we got before that was always particularly healthy.

"Speaking of takeout, she now gets the spicier options too. And this one time, she actually ate pickles. Pickles. They taste good, but isn't that such a cliché?" he sighs dramatically. "And let me tell you, squirt, Kate Beckett is not the woman that follows stereotypes."

He actually laughed at her when he caught her sitting at the breakfast bar with a jar in front of her.

She tried to give him a glare, but the attempt fell flat. She was unable to stop a grin from spreading across her face as well.

He has made sure that there is always a jar in his fridge since that day.

"I feel like we need to have a serious chat. I never thought I'd have a serious chat with you so early on, but it's something important, okay?

"You, dear squirt, have been a little mean," he scolds. "Thanks to you, Kate has been throwing up a lot, and she feels nauseous sometimes. You are currently using her body to grow, so could you be the nice tenant I know you want to be and bother her a little less?"

He readjust his position on the bed slightly, careful not to disturb Kate.

"She can be a bit cranky when she is feeling extra bad. It would truly be in her – and my – best interest if you could let her relax a little more."

And everyone else's. She has been giving people at the precinct a tough time. Not because she was intentionally being mean, but because she ran out of patience quicker and wanted everything finished as quickly as possible so that she could return home and rest. And throw up some more.

That part has perhaps been the hardest to hide from her colleagues. Kate often remarks that she couldn't understand why it was called morning sickness if it could happen at any point during the day.

Leaving in the middle of a meeting in a rush, hardly managing to excuse herself, is not a subtle way of disappearing. Yet, it happened twice already.

Kate actually avoided trips to the morgue now. He doesn't know if that's because the smell is more upsetting to her stomach, or because she fears that her best friend will be quick to detect why she's been in such unpredictable moods lately.

Ryan and Esposito haven't questioned their Captain's behavior openly thus far, but with everything that happened with LokSat, they are likely to become suspicious if she acts more closed off and secretive than usual. The care and protectiveness the boys display is actually rather sweet, he thinks. Hardly any of them ever discusses the bond that they have, but the boys try to show that they will always have her back at every opportunity that presents itself.

And - with what they learned through past experiences of working with Beckett - her suddenly acting differently and witholding something from her team could raise concern.

But Castle knows her secret, and so he fully comprehends why she is so irritable sometimes, why she raises her voice one moment and apologizes the next.

"There are other tells as well. Some days, she complains about her boobs being tender. I offered a massage to help with that, but oddly enough, your mom didn't find it so funny," he chuckles to himself. "Maybe this is not appropriate to discuss with your child, but I have a feeling you cannot hear or understand me yet.

"But, if you do, please know that, despite all the less pleasant side effects, we are so excited to meet you. I don't even know how I'm going to contain my excitement over the next several months. I probably won't," he states.

In fact, neither he nor Kate seem to be able to stop smiling these days. His prediction from a month ago came true.

But he thinks that is a wonderful thing. The sight of his wife practically beaming at him is something he will never grow tired of.

She still frowns too, of course, especially when she has had a long day or if their unborn baby has been giving her a hard time again.

He feels bad that she has to go through this, wishes that he could make it stop. But she assures him that it's worth it and that he is already doing everything that he can.

And he is. Castle is by her side whenever he can be, does everything she asks and more.

"I just want this to be the wonderful experience it is for me. And I don't want to have to worry about her passing out at work. I don't want this pregnancy to be a risk for her."

He already worries about her too much. He knows her job can be dangerous, he very willingly puts himself in that danger all the time, but it's so much easier to accept it when he is by her side. When he can see that she is safe, and isn't forced to wait for a text or call to know if she made it back unscathed.

The only consolation he has is that, nowadays, she isn't in the field quite as often, but he very well knows that that doesn't put her out of harm's way entirely, that she still deals with dangerous people on a daily basis, even if she isn't actively chasing them with a gun.

And he isn't, can't always there for that.

Castle falls silent when he notices Kate stirring. He can tell her eyes slowly open in the dim lighting of the bedroom.

She feels him watching her and her gaze meets his in the dark.

"Need to pee," she grumbles.

Kate pushes the covers back and gets up to go to the bathroom. When she returns, she cuddles into his side.

"You should sleep," she murmurs, gently placing a kiss on his cheek.

"I tried… too much on my mind right now," he explains.

"Keep this up, and you will need even more sleep than I do," she laughs.

It's true, he realizes. He has been staying up late a lot. If he wasn't talking to their baby, he was in his office writing, the late hours sparking his creativity as they so often did before.

But because he is trying to relieve her of some stress, he was also constantly at the precinct with the boys, trying to solve case after case, which meant an early start to the day and not getting home until the evening. If there was any time to spare at all, he also quickly dropped by his P.I. office.

Even his own mother had remarked that the circles under his eyes have adapted a new shade of purple.

"I might not go to the precinct tomorrow," he offers.

He probably wouldn't be much help in his sleep deprived state anyway.

She nods in agreement. Kate knows he just wants to support her, but that doesn't mean that she likes seeing him work himself into the ground.

She has tried to persuade him to stay home several times before, but he was persistent. This is the first time he volunteers to stay home, not because his other obligations such as meetings and writing force him to.

"That sounds like a great idea. Maybe we can go out to dinner tomorrow? Just the two of us?" she suggests. "A little reward for us both."

He smiles. "It's a date."

Kate falls asleep shortly afterwards, getting all the rest she can before her alarm rings or their little one decides Kate needs the bathroom again. Castle isn't sure which one will happen first.

"Be good," he shoots a warning in the direction of Kate's stomach.