"Is she alright, darling?" Martha asked Castle, both standing in the kitchen.

"Yeah, she's just got a bug that's going around." He said heading to the bedroom where she was. He entered silently, sitting beside her on the bed. He pushed a curl behind her ear. Beckett moved her head onto Castle's knee. He smiled at her, running his fingers through her hair. "I'm going to go into the precinct today, see if the boys need help. You just stay here and relax." He got up, kissed her forehead and walked out the door.

"Yo, Castle. Where's Beckett?" Espo asked as he approached.

"She's at home. Feeling a little sick."

"She alright?"

"Yeah. just stressed and upset." He sat on the corner of Espo's desk.

Espo had to ask. "How are you doing, man?"

He folded his hands. "I'm doing alright. Some days are better than others, but I'm trying to go about as normal as possible. Alexis would have wanted that.

"Whenever you need us, we're here for you, Beckett, and Martha." He gave his friend a pat on the back.

"Thanks, Javi." He realized that these were his true friends; not the people that had come to the funeral that he knew from college.

When he got home, she was sitting on the couch watching Temptation Lane. "Hey." Castle said, putting his things away."

"Hey yourself." Beckett said, curled up in the corner of the couch with a big blanket draped around her.

"You need anything? Hungry? Thirsty?"

"Nope, but I could go for a cuddle." He smirked at him.

He grinned, "Blanket's not doing any good?" He raised an eyebrow teasingly.

"Not as good as you."

"I'll be there in a sec." He said as he went to the bedroom, kissing her forehead as he went past.

When he had changed and returned, he sat down and took Kate in his arms. She draped the blanket over both of them, snuggling closer to him.

She always got a warm, tingly feeling when he played with her hair, and it made her feel better when she was sick. She could feel herself drifting to sleep, lulled by his warmth and the beat of his heart. She had dreams about the next few months. They would pick out a crib and toys. They would find out if it was a boy or a girl. They would pick a name. They would tell all their friends. She would go through labor and hold her baby for the first time. She just couldn't wait.