A/N- I decided that it was time for a bit of angst. So, this is what I came up with...

Everything was soon back to normal for the new family. Alexis wanted to sleep with them for a few days afterwards, but for the most part, she was back to a normal, happy little girl.

At seven months pregnant, Kate was finding a lot of things harder to do. She had gone from wearing her heels to wearing flats. She tried to stay at her desk, but there were times when going out into the field was inevitable.

Castle was at home on the day that could have changed things for everyone. He had a chapter due at the end of the week and it had been pretty quiet around the station lately. They had gotten a call about the location of their suspect in the latest case. She had been so bored lately that Ryan and Esposito decided to include her on the arrest of a suspect. It was supposed to be routine and she was covering the back of his apartment building. However, when she spotted the suspect heading down the fire escape, her police training kicked in. She started running after him.

She had tackled him and almost had him in handcuffs. That's when the arrest went terribly wrong. The man started kicking at everyone and everything. Kate's center of balance had been off lately and he managed to knock her to the ground. She fell and hit her head. She felt all the air leave her lungs and she saw stars for a brief moment. She heard Ryan ask, "You okay Beckett?"

She could only nod and then managed to whisper, "I'm fine."

However, when Esposito helped her up, she felt a sharp pain ripple through her stomach. She hissed in pain and this made both men turn around and look at her. Before she could say anything else, she crumbled to the ground and the blackness surrounded her.

Espo immediately called for an ambulance and then called Castle. He wasn't looking forward to making that call. He heard Castle answer with a cheery, "Hi sweetheart. I know you miss me, but..."

Esposito interrupted him and said, "Castle. It's Esposito."

Castle asked, "What happened?"

"There's been an incident. She's been hurt. They are taking her to Presbyterian hospital."

"What?! Why was she out in the field? She was supposed to stay at her desk and..."

"We needed her to watch for us and..."

"I'm leaving now."

Ryan took their suspect back to the station while Espo rode in the ambulance with Kate. He prayed that everything would be okay with her and the baby. It took them nearly twenty minutes, but they finally arrived at the hospital.

Castle had beat them there and was nervously pacing the floor. When Esposito walked in, he pounced, "What happened?"

Esposito shook his head and told him, "It was a routine arrest. She had been so bored lately. She wasn't supposed to get hurt. She had him in cuffs, but he started kicking and knocked her off balance. She fell and hit her head. The paramedics suspect she might have a concussion, but she grabbed her stomach before she blacked out."

"What?! Is the baby okay?"

"I'm not sure."

Castle went off in search of a nurse and announced, "My wife was brought in here a few minutes ago. She's pregnant and..."

The woman smiled sympathetically at him and said, "The doctors are with her now. They will be out as soon as possible."

All Castle could do was nod and go sit in the waiting room. Praying that his wife and daughter would be okay. After less than an hour, the doctor finally called out, "Mister Castle?"

Castle was up and over to him in less than two seconds. He called out, "That's me!"

The doctor smiled and told him, "Your wife is fine and asking for you."

"The baby?"

The doctor nodded, "The baby is just fine. Although we are going to keep her overnight for monitoring. She took a nasty fall and we want to make sure that everything is okay with the baby."

Castle let out a deep breath and nodded. Then he asked, "Can I see her?"

"I'll take you to her."

Castle followed the doctor and soon, he was walking into her room. She turned when she saw him and smiled. Her hand was resting on her stomach and it was obvious that she had been crying. He sat down beside her and asked, "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged and whispered, "Scared."

He kissed her hand and then said, "That's normal."

She shook her head and whispered, "I shouldn't have gone with them. I was just so bored Castle. I hate doing paperwork and..."

"Shhh...What's done is done."

"I put her in danger...What kind of mother am I?"

Castle smiled, "You are a wonderful mother Kate. You shouldn't have been out in the field, but what's done is done and you are both fine. That's all that matters. I think this just proves that you shouldn't go out in the field anymore. At least until after she's born."

Kate shook her head, "I can't promise you that. It's who I am. It's what I do."

Castle sighed, "Well, you need to start thinking about the fact that your seven months pregnant and you can't do everything you normally do."

"You think I'm not aware of that Castle? It's none of your business anyway."

"What do you mean it's none of my business? I love and worry about both of you. If anything was to happen to either of you..."

"Well, we aren't your concern. I'm fine and she's..."

"She's what?"

"She's not yours."

Castle did a double take and then asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that she's mine. I make all the decisions. Not you. Me. If I want to go out into the field then I will."

Castle just looked at her and wondered what had made this conversation go so terribly wrong. So, he asked, "What happened to all those words you spoke. Telling me that it didn't matter to you or not that she wasn't mine. That all that matter was that I love her. Was that all a lie?"

Kate turned away from him and closed her eyes. Then she whispered, "Maybe love just isn't enough after all."

"Fine. You know what? You're right. You're always right Kate. You always make all the decisions Kate. Just like you always have. Once again, you hold all of the cards in this relationship. If you decide to include me again, call me. I won't come back until then... I need to pick up Alexis from school. My daughter needs me..."

With that he walked out of the room and stormed off. Kate wanted to call out for him. She wasn't sure how the conversation had gone so horribly wrong. He had only been trying to protect her, but she had taken it the wrong way and lashed out at him. She put her hand on her stomach and felt her daughter kicking again. She turned onto her side and cried tears of anguish. Why did she always end up hurting him? The one man in her life that loved her no matter what and she had to find a way to push him away at every turn. She wondered if this time was the time that would push him away forever.

After picking Alexis up from school, he started cooking dinner. Alexis asked innocently enough, "When is mommy coming home?"

"It's Kate and she's not coming home tonight. She's in the hospital."

"Is she okay daddy?"

"She will be."

Then Castle started slamming the pots and pans onto the counter. Alexis wanted to ask where she was, but it was obvious to her that he father was in a bad mood. So, she walked over to him and hugged his leg.

Castle stopped what he was doing and sat on the floor. He gathered Alexis in his arms and hugged her tightly. Wondering if he'd made a mistake of marrying Kate too soon. Alexis was in love with her and it would kill him if she lost another woman that she'd come to think of as her mother. Kate was obviously have second doubts about him raising her baby. To be honest, he should have seen it coming. His track record with women was not that great. He just regretted that his choice this time would possibly hurt his little girl. That was why he tried to prevent his daughter from meeting his women friends.

Kate had been different. She had loved his little girl and that had made him fall even more in love with her and in turn, the baby she carried. It didn't matter to him whether the little baby had any of his traits. All he wanted was to love her and be loved in return.

Castle decided that cooking dinner wasn't going to happen. So, he asked his daughter, "How about pizza for dinner?"

Alexis could tell how upset her father was, so she tried to put on a happy face for him, "Sure daddy. Can we have pineapple on it?"

Castle made a funny face and it made Alexis giggle. Then he smiled and said, "Pineapple is not a topping for pizza my darling daughter."

"It's really good daddy."

"Who got you pineapple pizza anyway?"

"Mo-uh Kate of course."

"Of course. How about if we get our pizza and then we will go see Kate?"

Alexis looked hopeful, but cautious. She finally nodded and said, "Okay. I'm going to draw her a picture."

Castle smiled and he ordered the pizza. He needed to try and make things right with her. So, they would go visit her tonight. Whether she wanted them there or not.

Meanwhile Kate was laying in her bed at the hospital looking at her cell phone. She was willing it to ring. To notify her that she had a text from Castle. Anything. She finally sighed and sent him a message: I'm sorry, I was wrong.

When her phone still stayed quiet, she wondered if she had ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her. Had her daughter lost another father because of her selfish actions? She closed her eyes and she knew that she had to fix this. She had been upset because of the events of the day. Nothing Castle had done had upset her. Not really. She had been an emotional wreck and him telling her what to do, well it had made her revert back to her old habits.

She heard someone come into the room much later and thought it was another nurse or doctor, so she didn't bother to open her eyes. At least not until she felt a tiny pair of arms hug her stomach softly. She knew immediately it was Alexis and tears filled her eyes and she bent down to kiss her on the head, "Hey sweetpea. How was school today?"

Alexis smiled, "I had fun. We played outside all day because it's so nice out and..."

Kate caught her husband's gaze and held it until he looked away. She could tell that he was still hurt by her words earlier. He had every right to be. What she had said to him was unforgivable. She wanted to go back and take the words away.

Finally Castle looked away and said, "Alexis drew a picture for you."

Kate smiled, "You did?"

Alexis smiled, "I did Ka-mommy.." Then Alexis looked at her father and asked, "Is it okay?"

Castle nodded and Alexis hugged her tightly. Before they could say anything else, Lanie and Esposito came into the room. Castle stepped aside to let them talk to her. He told Alexis, "Lets go for a walk pumpkin."

Alexis didn't question her father, she simply took his hand and they walked out of the room. Kate sighed and Lanie asked, "Is everything okay? When we came in you could have cut the tension with a knife."

Kate shook her head, "He was upset earlier. He said that I shouldn't have been out with the guys. He said that I can't do everything I normally do. I don't like people telling me what to do and I lashed out at him. He said that I have to think of the baby. I told him that it isn't any of his business. That it's my body and my baby..."

"You didn't?"

Kate nodded and wiped the tears off of her cheek, "I did. I hurt him badly Lanie. You should have seen the look on his face. I hurt him."

"You know he was right don't you?"

Kate smiled, "I do. I just don't like anyone telling me that I'm wrong. I didn't mean to say that she wasn't his baby. She is in every single way that counts. I need to make this right."

Lanie nodded, "You do. You know the only reason he said that was because he loves you."

"I know and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I regretted it immediately, but it was too late."

They talked for a few more minutes and then, they left and Kate had another visitor. Captain Roy Montgomery showed up in her room. He had flowers and asked, "Where's Castle?"

Kate smiled, "He took Alexis out so I could visit with Lanie."

He laughed and then took out a bunch of papers from his coat pocket. He handed them to Kate and said, "Those are your maternity papers."

"I'm not ready to..."

Montgomery held up a hand and said, "I know you aren't, but after today I don't want to risk it happening again. You have two choices. Either you go on maternity leave or full desk duty. Having you out in the field is dangerous to you and your daughter. If anything happened to either one of you I would never forgive myself for not stopping you sooner."

"But Sir, I..."

"No but Sir. These are official orders."

She gave him a look and asked, "Did Castle put you up to this?"

Montgomery looked offended and said, "Do you really have to ask that? He doesn't own me. No, this is all my own doing. When I heard about what happened, my heart sank. After everything you've been through with this baby, to lose her because of something that could be prevented, no, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

Kate nodded, "I need to talk it over with Castle."

"Of course. You are off until Monday."

"But.."

Montgomery gave her a look that didn't ask for argument. She finally nodded and said, "Yes Sir."

They visited for a bit and then Castle returned. He shook the other mans hand and then turned to Kate, "I need to get her home. She's tired."

He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. Leaving Kate wondering if they were beyond hope this time. If she'd finally succeeded in driving him away for good...