Disclaimer: I do not own Castle

Chapter 17

The party was on in full swing, people were dancing and eating and drinking and simply making merry. Kaylee was over excited to see all her favorite people there and Alexis and Avril were doing a brilliant job keeping everyone entertained. Rick however had not let even one chance to guess what his present was go. He tried to stick with Kate wherever she went, continuously trying to conjure up the right guess.

"Is it a new watch?"

"You don't need a new watch!" she stated as she walked towards the kitchen to get some more snacks for everyone. He followed her like a puppy.

"Is it that new Laser gun I've been eyeing?"

"I saw that gun, do you really think I'd get it?"

He stopped and answered to himself in a disappointing tone. "No, no you wouldn't" when he looked back up she was already walking back towards the couch. He ran after her.

"Is it some kind of gadget?"

She placed the bowl of snacks on the couch and turned suddenly with a look of surprise on her face

"Oh My God! Yes!"

"Yes?" he asked excitedly

"No!" she replied instantly with a roll of the eyes and she walked on to find Kaylee.

"Kate!" he whined again. And she smiled wickedly to herself. She spotted her dad playing with Kaylee so she turned back around to face Rick and he almost ran into her.

She poked at his chest "Stop trying to guess so much, when the time's right, I'll tell you."

He looked at her for a moment and then conceded. "You're right." He leaned in and kissed her. "I'm sure whatever you got me is brilliant."

She kissed him some more and spoke at his lips. "Save the last dance for me okay" and then she moved away to join her dad.

And Rick mumbled incoherently "Will you tell me then?" but she didn't hear him. He smiled to himself and then went to check on Ryan and Espo.

They had danced together at the end of the night, and then bid their guests farewell. After everyone had left, Kate and Rick went about clearing up the place while the girls sat together with Kaylee to open up presents. When they're parents rejoined them, they were almost done.

Kate sat by Avril's side and carried Kaylee onto her lap and kissed her on her head. Rick sat on the arm rest of the single seater sofa that Alexis had plopped herself in.

"So we're done unwrapping all of her presents" Alexis stated

"That's great!" Kate exclaimed and then spoke to her little baby "With the amount of toys you got today, looks like we're going to have to get you a toy box that's 10 times bigger than the one you have."

The little girl smiled. Her eyes sparkling as she cuddled a little teddy bear close to her.

"Well, technically, all of the presents haven't been unwrapped yet" Castle spoke.

And Kate didn't need to look up at him. She knew what he was trying to do. She smiled to herself as she played in her baby's hair.

"What are you talking about dad? Alexis and I went crazy unwrapping these gifts" Avril said.

Rick had his eyes on Kate but he spoke to Avril. "Oh but you probably haven't even seen the one I'm talking about."

Kate looked up at him and shook her head incredulously.

He then quickly addressed his youngest and said "I'm sorry baby, but mommy's going to give me a present now okay? Don't feel bad alright."

Kaylee was oblivious. She was too engrossed with texture of her teddy bear's nose.

"What are you two up to?" Alexis asked her mom and dad with laughter in her voice.

"Come on Kate, Why don't you go and get my present down here."

Kate sat still, smiling to herself. And Castle had a sudden realization.

"oh, unless it's something that's inappropriate for the girls to see"

"Oh My God! No!" Avril squealed and covered her eyes.

Kate laughed out loud "No no, it's not that sort of present!" she explained.

And Rick relaxed again, his naughty smile finding its place on his lips again. She caught his gaze and then looking only at him she said "I don't need to go get it Rick. It's in this room."

His face changed. "What! It's been here the entire time?" he began looking around again. "How did I not see it!" he said. He got up from his seat on the sofa arm rest and began to intently look around.

"I wasn't going to give it to you until later tonight, but since you brought it up again…"

"Yea yea... That's alright. But where is it Kate?!"

"It's too much fun watching you search" she laughed and put Kaylee to sit beside her, between herself and Avril.

"Girls! What are you just sitting there for? Help me search!"

Avril almost got up, but then Alexis reasoned "No! The gift is for you Dad! You should search." Avril sat back down and Kate laughed some more. She loved these two.

But then she told them "No No, Alexis, this gift isn't just for your dad, it's for all of you"

"Then it's got to be pretty huge right? Why can't I find it?" Rick grumbled.

But Kate didn't answer him. Because that's when she noticed Alexis was deep in thought. And suddenly the young red-head looked up at her all of a sudden, a look of understanding and cheer coming to her eyes. She bit down on her lip to control her excitement and Kate smiled at her with equal vibrancy.

Alexis knew. She put two and two together. Kate didn't find it necessary to keep his suspense going any longer.

"Rick" she called out.

"Yea, just a second" he was walking towards their book shelf

"Rick listen" she said now, and stood up.

"What?" he said as he turned to look at her from across the room.

She smiled and spoke out loud "I'm pregnant"

A squeal broke out and they saw it was from avril. But she quickly covered her mouth and looked towards her dad. They all did. Kaylee, although she didn't really understand what's going on, she too looked in the direction of her daddy.

Kate held his gaze. His expression was this paralyzed look of confusion.

"You're pregnant?" he asked as he took a step towards her direction. And the two elder girls in the room both turned their heads in the direction of their mom.

"I am" she said softer now, the smile on her face growing bigger. The two young girls looked back in his direction. Their excitement mirroring what should be on both their parent's faces right now.

"wow!" he exclaimed. His look still full of shock "You're really pregnant?!"

"Okay if you two do not use more of your vocabulary soon, I'm walking out" Avril exclaimed!

Kate laughed, still not talking her eyes of her husband

"Castle, why are you standing so far away?" she said with a chuckle.

And that's when he realized how far away he was, and how close he wanted to be, and his legs moved, and then quickly, all at once, his eyes fixed on her, he almost tripped on something and Kate startled for a second, but he caught his balance again and the smile finally showed on his face when he was just a few feet away from her!

"You're pregnant!" he exclaimed right before cradling her face in his hands and kissing her like his life depended on it! He kissed her with all his love for her, showing her just how happy he was. They were going to have another baby! He let his arms wind around her and held her close to kiss her some more. She could feel his joy thumping hard in his chest against her body. He was kissing her with smiling lips.

When he finally pulled away, she softly spoke only to him "I know it's not your favorite play station or some new gadget..."

"No... No... It's none of those. It's better."

She laughed.

"Best Gift Ever" he said to her lips and claimed them again!

The girls wished them too after they had had their moment and Avril even tried to explain to Kaylee that she would be having a new brother or sister soon. But the little baby only understood that it was a happy moment and so she giggled with glee at every word Avril said.

It wasn't until later in the night, when they finally found themselves alone and in need of each other's caresses that Kate finally told him the entire account of the last few days. He kissed her slow and she said

"That day when Dr. Kacey rang me up, she called to inform me that some of the symptoms I was showing the earlier day were also symptoms of the start of pregnancy. So she tested my blood and well, it was positive"

"But Kate… You didn't seem happy that day. I mean, if Dr. Kacey called you up to tell you that you're pregnant, wouldn't you have been happy? I was watching you, because you looked disturbed, upset almost"

She smiled and spoke "Yea, That's because my first instinct was the instinct of worry. I was worried for her cause I was scared that my body hasn't healed enough after what happened last time, and the last thing I wanted was any complications for this new life in me. So I asked Dr. Kacey to connect me to someone who'd be able to answer my questions and well, they assured me, there's nothing to worry about. That I'm healthy, and our baby's going to be healthy too."

Rick looked at her proudly and said with a comforting smile "I don't understand how, for even a second, you can think that there's something in you that would hurt our baby" he leaned in and kissed her, and she melted with him.

As they slowly got under the covers while making love, he pulled away to mumble lazily at her lips "I think we're going to have a boy this time. Definitely."

"Shut up and kiss me Rick"

"Willingly!" he said and obeyed.

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