A/N: Happy (belated) New Year to all! Thank you for the wonderful support and reviews I have received for this story. It's great to see that people still enjoy this story.

This chapter will introduce a new story line which I think everyone will be excited about.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: They're not mine and will never be.

Chapter 57 - Resolutions

"Five!"

He bracketed her waist with his hands, spanning his fingers over her rib cage.

"Four!"

Kate smiled at him, running her hands up to his arms, resting them on his biceps.

"Three!"

He pulled her closer, sliding his arms fully around her waist, cradling her in the circle of his arms.

"Two!"

He touched his forehead to hers, a smile dawning over his face.

"One!"

The writer brushed his mouth over the peak of his wife's cheekbone up to her ear and whispered:

"Happy New Year."

She leaned closer, turning her head towards him and nudged her nose against his cheek. She danced her lips to the corner of his mouth, skimming his skin gently like raindrops falling on the ground.

"Happy New Year," she breathed, pressing her mouth to his in a soft kiss. Kate looped her arms around his neck, her body hovering close to his.

He pulled back slightly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, his thumb kissing the corner of eye. He grinned, the smile lifting into his irises, somehow adding to the blue.

"Another year done and dusted."

"Yeah," she sighed happily. "And another few grey hairs added to the mix right-." She lifted a hand to his temple, her fingers running along the soft hairs there. "-here."

His eyes grew wide in panic and his hand darted up to his hair. "W-what?"

She grinned at him, shaking her head in amusement. "Kidding, Castle. Jeez, you're easy."

He was about to retort when Martha suddenly appeared and threw her arms around Kate's shoulders.

"Oh, Happy New Year, darlings!" She smacked a kiss against her daughter-in-law's cheek - smearing it with lipstick - before pecking one against her son's cheek.

"The same to you, Mother," Rick added, the affection rolled out over his features.

"Happy New Year, Martha," Kate replied, her mouth curled into a soft smile, turning her back to Rick to face her mother-in-law.

"Well, may this be a wonderful, stupendous, joyful year that lies ahead." She grinned at them, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"And, of course, may it be filled with another pair of little pink feet." Kate's eyes widened, her mouth falling open in shock. "I would like to be a grandmother to a boy, by the way."

Rick barked out a nervous laugh, wrapping his hands around his wife's upper arms, his chest brushing her back.

"Uh, Mother, easy does it. Don't hold your breath on that." Kate whipped her head to him, a frown suddenly slicing into her forehead.

Martha fluttered her hand around. "Oh, it was worth a try." She smiled at them before spotting someone over her son's shoulder. "There's just the man I'm looking for! I'll see you kids later." With that, she winked at them and sauntered off.

Rick blew out a breath, his mouth curving into a crooked grin. He lifted a hand to Kate's shoulder, dragging it up to her neck so that he could pull her closer and kiss her cheek. She was still wearing a frown, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.

"Do you want a-?" He started to ask, but was interrupted by his wife.

"What did you mean 'don't hold your breath on that'?" She turned sharp eyes to him, her mouth drawn into a tight line.

Rick floundered for a moment, his mouth falling open and his brow creasing. "Uh, I- what? Um, babe, what are you talking about?"

Did he say something wrong?

She turned to him, crossing her arms. She chew on her lip for a moment before lifting her eyes to his; something weighty hidden in the look she was giving him. He started to feel apprehensive about the whole situation and, shit, they were not even a full five minutes into the new year without someone saying something-

"Don't you want to have another baby?" Her voice was barely audible, the words drifting out of her mouth, floating up to him in a vulnerable, soft tone.

The question socked him in the gut and for a moment he couldn't breathe past the squeeze in his chest.

Another baby.

Really?

The vision was swimming around in the vestiges of his minds, so tantalizingly close and tangible and beautiful. He couldn't get air in his lungs, oxygen to his brain or words to his tongue.

Rick stared at her for a moment, his alcohol-fogged mind struggling to keep up with the conversation. She mistook his silence for a negative answer and dropped her eyes away from his, swallowing thickly.

"You don't," she said simply, her throat suddenly feeling tight.

The disappointment so visceral, so vivid that she struggled to inhale and exhale normally. She lifted a hand to her forehead and scraped two fingers along the crease forming there in her skin. Her eyes briefly shuttered as she desperately tried to keep her heart from leaking out, pooling her eyes with the devastation that was building.

It was crushing her.

When Rick saw the absolute desolation tainting her graceful features, he lurched forward and grabbed her shoulders. How could she even think that?

"Kate, no! God, no." He moved his hands down to her biceps, squeezing lightly, and ducked down to catch her eyes. "I mean, yes. Yes. Of course I want another baby with you."

Her gaze snapped up to him, her heart regaining its hopeful, beautiful rhythm. Slowly and steadily, a smile stretched across her face, like the sun rising in the east. The joy was spilling out of her, out of every pore, every cell in her body. All of it - the desire, the maternal need - engulfing her so quickly and without warning. She wanted it, another baby.

Badly.

"Yeah?"

He was breathless with it all and his head was spinning - not just from the glasses of champagne he had just consumed a few minutes before.

"Are you kidding me? Kate, I would have ten more babies with you if that's what you want." He framed her face in between his palms and painted her lips with a smiling kiss.

It was a little ridiculous, though, that they were having a life-changing conversation right in the middle of a New Year's Eve party at the Old Haunt. While his mother and Esposito were belting out classic pop tunes. And now Ryan was joining them.

Fantastic.

Kate let out a single note of amusement, pressing her forehead against his the line of his jaw, the stubble prickly against her skin.

"Okay, okay. Um, maybe we should talk about this at home, yeah?" She flicked her eyes towards the trio busy singing 'I will survive'.

If only they had a video camera nearby. . .

He chuckled into her hair, his lips glancing off her temple, tripping down to her eye bank. "Yeah, sure." He drew back, a leer forming in his expression. "How about we get out of here and start practicing?"

She tracked a hand down his chest, her fingers catching the buttons of his white shirt. The one he looked so very, very sexy in. Kate watched him from underneath her eyelashes, biting her lip. Finally, she dragged her hand down his arm to tangle it with his larger hand, her fingers pushing into the spaces between his larger ones.

"Lead the way, Mr. Castle."

He grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows in excitement. He looked like a little boy about to raid a candy shop.

A tipsy little boy.

She quirked an eyebrow, the mirth dancing in her twinkle of her eyes. "But maybe we should go get our daughter first."

He sobered immediately, the leer and naughtiness vanishing from his face almost immediately.

"Right. Of course." They set up a semi-nursery in Rick's office for all the little ones - Lizzy, Ryan's twins and Esplanie's six-month old baby girl, Michelle. "You think she'll still be asleep amid all of this noise?"

"God, I hope so."

They trekked through the throng of people towards the office door. It was a perilous journey. They had to dodge a few drunk dancers (two detectives from vice, go figure); one nauseated co-worker (Karpowski, go figure) who ran right past them with a hand over her mouth and eyes as big as saucers; and Esplanie who were making out (go figure) right in front of the latch that led down to the office.

Finally, after breaking up the Esplanie make-up sesh, they descended the stairs. The office was dark and surprisingly insulated from the cacophony of noise just above. Claire - one of the Haunt's employees - glanced up at the sudden intrusion and smiled. All of the kids were fast asleep with - oh, so cute - Lizzy and the two Ryan boys sandwiched together on the floor, lying on an inflatable mattress. Their little bodies were dwarfed by blankets and cushions and teddy bears.

Baby Michelle was sound asleep in her carrier next to Claire on the big, leather couch. The Esplanie baby was gorgeous with her soft, coffee-coloured skin and dowdy, curly, dark hair. The baby wriggled in her sleep, stretching her small limbs out before settling back with a sigh, her round little mouth puffing out a squeaky breath.

So cute.

"Hey, guys. They're still out cold. And completely adorable too," the waitress-turned-temporary-baby-sitter whispered, a smile dancing across her mouth.

"Great. Thanks, Claire," Kate said softly, her hand curled around her husband's arm.

The two Castles watched the scene in front of them in silence for a moment. After a while, Rick carefully bent down and scooped up their daughter, palming her head with a large hand and letting her rest against his shoulder; her little body boneless against his chest. Kate stared at the image, arrested by the visions playing in her mind's eye. She saw how her husband cupped the small skull of a newborn baby, lifting the tiny, wriggling body up and against the warmth of his chest while their daughter stood by and watched.

He turned his eyes back to her, the tenderness and affection making his eyes seem bluer, softening his features. Rick offered her a twitch of his lips as if he could see what she was thinking, his mind also drifting to similar pictures and scenarios.

"We owe you," Rick said, turning his attention to Claire. "Don't worry, you'll get a generous tip added to your salary."

The young brunette just shrugged and folded her arms. "Nah, it was a pleasure." She turned her eyes over the sleeping toddlers before looking at the Castles again. "I don't know, but it kinda makes me wanna get a guy and settle down."

Rick nodded and smiled, his eyes dancing with mirth, his heart thumping a tender beat against his chest.

"Yeah, you do that," Rick said quietly, his eyes drifting to Kate. She offered him a soft, gentle smile; her eyes brimming with adoration and love. "Believe me, it's worth it."

So worth it.

"So, what are your New Year's resolutions this year, Detective?" Rick wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, nuzzling his nose in behind her ear, his lips ghosting over the back of her neck, riding over the hard peaks of the vertebrae there.

Kate stiffened for a moment, surprised by his presence, before relaxing into his solid warmth. She wrapped her hands around his arms, spanning her fingers over his wrists.

She sighed, tipping her head upward to watch the fireworks going off in the distance over the Brooklyn Bridge. The display illuminated the night, a variety of different colours sparkling against the black canvass of the sky. It was a few minutes before midnight and they were standing outside his loft on the rooftop just watching the display. It was the dawn of a new year and a new beginning.

They were starting this one together.

"I don't really have any resolutions," she murmured with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Okay, what about dreams, wishes?" She could feel his grin spreading out against her skin. "Fantasies?" He whispered into her ear, his voice low and infused with intimacy.

Kate turned in his embrace, looping her arms around his neck. She quirked her lips, giving him a mischievous little smirk.

"Well, I have a lot of fantasies."

Rick quirked an interested eyebrow, his lips still pulled into a grin. "Dirty ones?"

She breathed out a laugh. "Those ones too, yeah."

His grin widened, his baby blues sparkling underneath the city lights. "Looking forward to exploring those." His devilish grin faded slowly, his gaze growing more sober. "Seriously though, what are your dreams for this year?"

Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the term 'dreams' because he was so sincere, so earnest. She turned back to look out at the city, only a couple of minutes before midnight and the start of a new year.

She let her mind drift for a moment, thinking about what she wanted for the new year. She never really did new year resolutions and never really set out dreams or wishes or goals.

But, maybe it was time to change that.

Finally, she turned her body, her shoulder pressed against his chest. She looked up at him, light dancing and flicking over her dark eyes, dousing her features in shadows.

It was only a few seconds before midnight now.

She shrugged and lifted a hand to the collar of his jacket, her fingers fiddling with the smooth material.

"I guess my biggest wish is to kiss the same guy on New Year's Eve next year."

Slowly, languidly a smile broke open over his mouth; affection taking root and spreading to the rest of his features. He pulled her closer, his arms enclosing her smaller body to his larger one.

"That's a good wish," he murmured, his eyes flicking down to her mouth, softly pressing his forehead against hers.

She offered him a upturn of her mouth, her lower lip kept hostage in between her teeth. "It is," Kate hummed, her lips lingering close to his, waiting for their eventual reunion.

Finally, as the clock turned midnight and the city celebrated, Rick and Kate sealed the dawn of a new year with a kiss.

"So, we're gonna do it?" He questioned as she crawled into bed.

Kate frowned at him, too tired to follow the thread of the conversation. It was past 2am. He was the night owl, she decidedly was not.

"Do what?" She asked on a exhale, flicking off the light on her side of the bed.

There was a beat of silence before Rick sighed and shifted his body to face her.

"Have a baby this year," he murmured, his eyes watching her carefully. She could see the restrained hope buried there, the subdued joy whirling around in his blue irises.

Finally, Kate scooted closer to her husband and lifted a hand to brush the bangs from his forehead. She stroked a few fingers over the crease there, tripping over the scar before dragging her fingers down and along his eyebrows.

He looked like a little boy.

She returned her eyes to his, saw him watching her intently, waiting for an answer. She offered him tilt of her lips and moved in to kiss him softly, delicately, beautifully. Her tongue swept over his lower lip, tasting like a promise, a vow.

A dream.

"Yes," she breathed, wrapping herself into his warmth. "A million times yes."

[][][]

No words or language,

It doesn't deserve such treatment,

And all my stumbling phrases,

Never amounted to anything worth this feeling,

All this heaven,

Never could describe such a feeling as I'm having,

Words were never so useful,

So I was screaming out a language

That I never knew existed before.

A/N: I hope that was enjoyable. I'm looking forward to adding to this little family, but of course all in good time. I'm playing around with a few ideas (including the crazy stalker lady) that I want to implement before that eventuality.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome.

Lyrics at the end: Florence + The Machine's "All this and heaven too".

Apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I don't have a beta.