Disclaimer: The only part of Castle that I own is the TV on which I watch the show.

Beckett has never approached the sofa this way before. She doesn't sit down on it. Doesn't perch tentatively on it. Doesn't hurl herself at it or sidle onto it or leap onto it, doesn't stagger or lurch. No, this evening the Empress of Energy does something she has never done before. She collapses. Folds up as if she were a marionette whose strings had just been cut. "Remind me," she asks Castle as her head rolls back. "Have I ever been this tired before? In the seven years that you've known me?"

"Funny," he says, sprawled next to her. "I think I was about to ask you the same two questions. Except I was too tired to frame them."

"I've chased people down alleys, jumped over cars, rolled down fire escapes, thrown myself out of windows, nearly been blown up, frozen, deep fried, and drowned. I've been drugged, choked, kidnapped, spat at, shot at, stabbed—but nothing like this. I really thought I was going to die. Die while at a desk—okay, table. Who'd have thought?"

"Would have made a hell of an obituary, Beckett. And at least we'd have gone together to the great beyond," Castle says, lacing his fingers through hers.

"Seventeen hours in that interrogation room. God."

"You sure? Felt like seventeen days to me."

"I thought he'd never shut up. Never knew that anyone could say that much without saying anything, you know? I was really worried that I'd crack before he did."

"Nah. Everyone cracks before you. You are unbelievably tenacious. In your previous life you must have been a terrier."

"You used to be a dog, Mom? Does that mean I might be a puppy?"

"Thanks. I bet you were a lab. Loyal, shaggy."

"Dad was a dog, too?"

"And drooly?"

"Only when you sleep."

"Or when I see you naked. Speaking of which, I have an idea."

"Castle, I'm sorry, I don't think I have the strength for that just now." She looks exhaustedly at him, but scoots over and rests her head on his shoulder.

Castle gasps theatrically. "Why, Beckett! You hussy! I meant, why don't we take a bath?"

"A phenomenal suggestion. Thank you. That I could do."

He heaves himself off the sofa. "Stay here. I'll go get everything ready."

"Okay," she smiles dozily at him.

"Beckett?"

She's shaking. Oh, someone's shaking her. She jolts upright. "Castle?"

"Sorry, sorry," he says, standing in front of her in nothing but his boxers. "You fell asleep. Our bath is ready if you want to do that, or would you rather just go to bed?"

She stretches and gets to her feet. "Bath, definitely bath." She's taking her clothes off on the way, and by the time she reaches the bathroom she's down to her underwear. At the edge of the tub, she strips that off and stops to inhale the delicious fragrance of freesia. When she steps into the water, she groans. "Perfect, this is perfect. Castle? Where are you?"

Here he comes, carrying a little basket.

"What's all that?"

"Bathtime accessories. Rubber duckies. Since there will be a baby around here pretty soon, I thought I'd get out the ducks. Scoot forward, please." He takes one duck, sets the basket on the floor and gets in the tub. Once he has settled in behind Beckett, he reaches around her and launches the duck so that it's floating near her knees.

"Castle?" She can't quite stifle her snort. "Is that a Gene Simmons KISS celebriduck?"

"Yes. I got it after we were in L.A. looking for Royce's killer. It was a consolation prize when you wouldn't sleep with me."

She turns around and gapes at him. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope."

She's still staring. "Well, better that than getting a rubber doll of me."

"Oh," he says, smiling a little too wickedly for her liking. "But I did get a duck of you."

"Mom is a duck? I thought you said she used to be a dog?"

"What!"

"A duck. Of you."

"A celebriduck of me?"

"These are very staccato questions, Beckett, but yes, I got a custom-made celebriduck of you."

With a certain amount of difficulty, she turns around so that she is facing him. "And how is it that I've never seen this treasured—you do treasure it, I assume—if perverse item?"

"I hid it."

She's narrowing her eyes. "May I ask if you ever, uh, bathed with this duck?"

Another wicked smile. "Oh, you bet I did."

"And is this duck on the premises now?"

"Of course, right in the basket."

She levels him with a look and extends her hand, palm upward. "Gimme. Now."

He meets her gaze and holds it while he drapes his arm over the tub and grabs the duck out of the basket. "Here you go."

She coughs loudly. "Jesus, Castle! It's wearing my bathing suit. The exact same one I wore in the pool out there. Do not show this to the baby."

"Why not? Dad! Save that duck for me."

"This duck is not an it. This duck is a she. I happened to have snapped a photo of you in that suit, so that the celebriduck craftspeople could duplicate it."

She smacks her hand in the water so that it splashes all over his face. "The stuff of wet dreams, huh?"

He chuckles and pulls her right onto his lap. "Very true. But they didn't hold a candle to the real thing."

"Mom, does the water feel hotter to you all of a sudden?"

"I like taking baths with you Castle, with or without a duck."

"What part do you like best?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Was that Groucho Marx you just did? It was terrible."

He reaches into the basket again and comes up with a Groucho celebriduck. "How about this, then? Better?"

"I can't believe there are three rubber ducks in here with us."

"You didn't answer my question, Beckett."

"Which question?"

"What part of taking a bath with me do you like best?"

She's working hard to maintain a serious expression. "Let's see. Uh, since we're acting like five-year-olds, I guess I'll say what part I like best is your boy parts."

"You just wriggled, Beckett."

"I did."

"Well, what part I like best is your girl parts."

"There are boy parts and girl parts? They're different? Are you ever going to tell me what kind I have?"

"Castle?"

"What?"

She wriggles again and kisses him. "I want to act like grown-ups now. You know, with grown-up parts."

TBC

A/N I can't say it too often: thank you, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.