A/N: I am so sorry you had to wait a bit for this. Fun fact: I just started my semester abroad and they're keeping us on our feet all day, so once bedtime comes around, I just crash. So thank you for your patience. Thanks also (as always) for all your reviews, they mean so much to me. After this, there are two more chapters to come, and 9 is already in the works. Hope you enjoy!

Month 8

Castle sneaks into their bedroom as quietly as he can. Kate turned in early, while he spent the past few hours distracting himself with video games, snacking to avoid writing, and actually writing. He hardly noticed the hours passing, but now his eyes are tired, his fingers cramping, and there's a knot in his shoulders he's sure won't disappear until he goes to get a massage.

The 12th precinct recently dealt with another weird case, one that allowed him to voice all his conspiracy theories and spin the craziest stories. It sparked his imagination, and he just inserted the newest events as an unexpected twist into his newest Nikki Heat. Although his creativity wasn't always appreciated at the station, he knew damn well that at least his readers would value it.

Ryan and Esposito almost lost their patience with him while working the case. Over the past years, they had gotten used to his overactive imagination, but they were only confronted with it in small doses, since Castle had never shadowed them for a longer period of time. The boys hadn't been aware how much more there was to it if they spent the entire day with him, even when canvassing or driving to interview family members or co-workers.

Esposito snapped at him when he was all out of eye rolls. Castle sulked on the entire way back from talking to neighbors, and Ryan tried to break the silence by awkwardly trying to make fun of the situation – which caused both Esposito and Castle to shoot angry glares in his direction. They all stayed quiet for the remainder of the ride back to the precinct.

Beckett immediately sensed the tension between them upon their return and called all of them into her office. The whole scenario looked as though three little boys had been called into the principal's office as Kate eyed them from her desk with a stern look, while the other three pressed their lips together tightly and refused to look at her or each other.

Kate sighed. "Okay, what happened?" No response. She was going to have to get one of them to speak at least. "Castle?" she prompted, hoping that addressing her husband directly would bring him to speak.

It was Esposito who answered instead. "Of course you're gonna ask him," he grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Castle, his voice at least two pitches higher.

Esposito turned to face Castle, looking directly into his eyes and taking one step closer. "You're just gonna make it sound like it is all my fault. And she's your wife, so of course she'll believe you."

Castle didn't step away. "It is your fault. I was just helping."

"Helping?! You were making a bunch of stuff up. I'm trying to solve a murder here, and all you do is tell us fairytales and stories that sound like the script for a really bad mystery film!"

"I actually like to think that there were some reasonable aspects to those stories," he defended himself.

"Dude, CIA cover up? Supernatural intervention? Secret military operation? Been there, done that. Are you hoping that it'll eventually be true if you just bring it up often enough?!"

Castle drew a deep breath, ready to explain – once again – why all those were indeed very likely options, even during past cases, but he was interrupted by Kate before he could even start.

"Guys! Calm down, both of you. Now can anyone," she let her gaze wander across the group, "explain to me what the hell happened?"

Castle and Esposito returned to sulking, and so it was Ryan who spoke up and attempted to explain the situation as well as he good. He actually tried to present both sides fairly, but they were too worked up to see that. Neither of them dared to speak up again though, and so when Ryan finished, an awkward silence fell across the room.

Kate sighed. She knew that dealing with Castle's occasionally insane theories could be frustrating, they had driven her up the wall more times than she could count, but if you filtered through them, they sometimes held helpful suggestions or at least sparked a useful idea in her mind. Of course, she couldn't say that out loud right now, since both parties were bound to be offended. They were already mad at each other, the last thing she needed was for them to be upset with her too.

She absentmindedly stroked her prominent baby bump, looking out the window and trying to figure out what to say next. When she lifted her head to face them again, she saw three sets of eyes focused on her stomach.

"Is everything okay?" Castle asked first.

"Yeah, you seem distracted, and…" Esposito continued.

"Too much stress can't be good for you," Ryan jumped in.

"We shouldn't have bothered you with this," Castle started again.

"It's no big deal, Ryan and I can handle a little crazy."

"Definitely. You don't have to deal with it all by yourself, we're here to help."

"Can I get you anything?"

Kate almost laughed. Interesting, she thought, that a move as simple as placing a hand on her stomach had all three of them double over with concern that they had exposed her to too much stress. It was kind of cute, and probably the fastest she had ever solved a conflict. All the anger was wiped from their faces, nothing but worry that they pushed her too much visible now.

"I'm fine," she assured them, struggling to withhold a chuckle when she saw them all let out a sigh of relief in unison. "Espo, Ryan… go back to work. Work with the information you got from the neighbors, there must be a clue in there somewhere."

"On it, boss," Esposito said, leaving the room with Ryan, all anger from earlier completely forgotten.

Castle hung back, watching her expectedly. "I'm fine, really," she repeated. "Can you do me a favor though?" she asked softly.

He nodded eagerly. "Of course."

"Go home. I know you like this case, and I promise to keep you updated," she rushed to say when she saw him ready to protest. "But Espo needs to calm back down. You can let your imagination run wild and pour it all into your writing. So let the boys do their jobs, and I'll be sure to call you when we need inspiration, okay? Please?" she added, when she realized he still wasn't one hundred percent keen on the idea.

Rick opened his mouth to say something, but decided it was probably for the best if he just did as she asked. So he clenched his jaw and gave her a curt nod.

He returned to the loft in the early afternoon and – after procrastinating for a while – actually did what she suggested. His characters got to enjoy and discover another conspiracy as he made them work furiously to catch those involved. He was so focused, he hardly noticed Kate return. She called him when dinner was ready, and he gratefully interrupted his writing to rest his eyes which had been glued to his laptop screen for hours now.

He spent some more of his evening with her, enjoyed sitting with her on his couch all cuddled up. But she rose way too soon for his liking and announced that she was wired and just ready to catch up on some much needed sleep.

As much as he loved to go to bed at the same time as her, listen to her murmur something incomprehensible to him as she drifted off, it was still way too early for him, and both his mind and fingers were itching to write some more.

The word document containing his newest novel was way more grateful and receptive of his creative mind than the people he'd pestered with them earlier.

He kissed her goodnight and returned to his office, not noticing the hours passing. It's nearly 3 a.m. when he joins her in their bed. He hasn't talked to a lot of people since he came home, so he has trouble fighting the urge to wake her up and excitedly discuss his new book with her. Or ask her about how the case went so far. Instead, he opts to talk to that one person who has always been a patient listener over the past months. A reliable listener that doesn't interrupt him, lets him sort out his own thoughts, distracts him from the stress of his day, reminds him to count his blessings even when he is in a grumpy mood.

"Hello there. Hope you don't mind me talking to you so late at night again. I promise I won't do that once you're out of there," he chuckles.

"But if your sleep pattern is anything like your mom's, I'm sure you don't even notice me bothering you. Kate is sleeping all the time now, even more than before. She once sat on the couch to read, and I found her there thirty minutes later fast asleep. She falls asleep when we come home from running errands. When she comes home from work. When she comes back from grabbing a water from the fridge. Pretty much all the time." Rick shakes his head in disbelief. Once he made sure that her constant tiredness was just a normal side effect of pregnancy, he stopped worrying that she was overworking herself. After that, he actually found the sight of his wife curled up on the couch at random points in the day quite adorable.

"Your mom doesn't go to work as much as she used to right now. She pulled a few strings, and now she's been able to cut back hours and have someone else step in. It's a relief, really. Knowing that another qualified person is taking care of your job for you. That you're not letting anyone down. And whoever stepped in, they have to be good. Kate wouldn't let them do it otherwise. So that's lucky. I think it's an old colleague of hers, actually. And she'll substitute for your mom when we need to take care of you too."

He smiles. Kate had been really reluctant to have someone else do her job, doubtful that there was currently anyone available with the necessary skills, as well as the compassion and empathy required to be Captain – if only a temporary Captain. Until she shot up one night from a dream, startling Rick, and enthusiastically told him all about an old friend of hers that might fit all the criteria. Despite her own conviction that her friend was entirely capable, she still hesitated, but had to admit that she was currently unable to give her absolute best at all times - which was what the victims, their families, and her own co-workers needed and deserved.

"Took her a long time to reach that point though," he murmured. "She received all the support possible from her surroundings. Ryan and Esposito took care of as much as they could. They were already busy, but once they knew she was pregnant, they took on extra work that would maybe fall more into her job description. I'm really grateful for them, no matter how much we bicker."

Castle sighs as he says it, already knowing that he will make a trip to the precinct tomorrow to apologize to the boys for how things went down today.

"They've always had her back, way before I even knew your mom. I don't think they'll ever know how much I appreciate that. It leaves me a little less worried when I see her go to work alone, because I cannot tag along that day for whatever reason. I know that there will be two great friends waiting for her who will protect her at all costs.

"Ryan is a big softy. Sometimes he gets so excited for us, you'd think he's the parent-to-be. He has two kids, maybe you guys can play together when you're a little older. I'm sure you'll get along great."

Castle smiles at the idea. Kevin and Jenny were so thrilled about Kate's and his baby, they'd already showered them with small gifts, advice, and repeated invitations to bring their daughter over to play if they felt like it.

"Esposito is a bit tougher. He cares a lot; he just doesn't like to show it. He does a pretty good job at hiding it, but one time, I caught him humming a tune that Ryan's daughter had to learn for school… he doesn't know I know, because I fear for what he might do to me if he ever finds out," he giggles quietly. "You'll have him wrapped around your little finger though. He won't be able to resist you. You're gonna have two great uncles to watch out for you.

"And a great aunt. I give Kate all the support I can, and the boys do too, but it's really comforting to know that throughout this journey, she has a friend with medical knowledge. Stops her from googling any symptoms and freaking out over the search results. I can't wait for you to meet her... She works with dead bodies though, so we won't visit her at work. She is gonna have to come to us" he declares.

"I'm growing more impatient by the day by the way," he admits. "I'm so ready to meet you. We all are. I don't know how many times I've said, I lost count at around 34, and that was 2 months ago. First I thought we'd be annoying everyone once the secret was out, and all we seemed to be able to talk about was you. But they cut us a lot of slack. I think it's because they are almost as excited as we are. Alexis gets a little baby sister, Martha another recipient of her life's wisdom, Jim his first grandchild… it almost seems too good to be true.

"But it's real. You're real. And just a few weeks separate us from being to tell you how much we love you face to face."