Hello again! Thank you for the feedback on the last chapter, and welcome to everyone who has joined in on reading this story.

I'm happy there are people enjoying it because I fear this story will be much longer than I expected. I'm planning the next chapters right now, and in chapter eight, Kate will not even be eight weeks pregnant. And originally, chapter ten was supposed to be the end of the first half of the story. Well, I don't think that will work out. But that's what happens when you keep adding details you hadn't planned. So we'll see how long it will turn out. I hope a few of you will stick around!

The second half of this chapter includes smut, so just a quick note for those of you who don't like to read that. Otherwise, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

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They didn't only pick up one more test at the drug store, but three. And after all of these turned out positive, too, Kate didn't doubt the results of the tests anymore. Castle added all three tests to what he called their personal collection to place them in the box he had planned. Kate urged him to throw them away, but he refused, determined to keep every memory of this pregnancy they would get.

Now that she was sure she was without a doubt pregnant, Kate called the office of her gynecologist as soon as they opened the next morning, even before they headed to the precinct. She was a little disappointed when the lady at the other end of the line told her they didn't have a free appointment before the holidays and that it wouldn't make sense for her to come in before the new year, seeing she couldn't be very far along.

So, Kate set the appointment in the first week of the new year, hoping the time would pass fast with the holidays hopefully distracting her. Her fear that she might not be pregnant at all was gone now, but the worry that something might go wrong remained. But being worried while Castle was around wasn't easy. He was so happy and full of joy and optimism that it was contagious and helped calm her nerves a little.

What was also helping was that after a couple more days, Kate noticed that she started to feel a little different. It was nothing big, and probably she wouldn't even have noticed if she hadn't been paying attention to it. However, three days after the test, the first thing she noticed was a feeling of tiredness she just seemed to be unable to shake off. The feeling remained, and for the first time ever in her life, Kate had trouble getting out of bed in the morning and felt relieved when she came home after work and could close her eyes for a while.

It didn't take much longer for a few other things to start to change, but she was happy about every small thing she noticed. One of them was a feeling of tenderness in her breasts that grew stronger with every day, almost to the point where it became a little painful. And right on time for Christmas, she seemed to have lost all appetite, and throughout the day of Christmas Eve was the first day she started to feel a little queasy.

So, she was happy she was able to make it a short day and head home around lunchtime, longing to lie down and maybe sleep for a bit, hoping the dull feeling in her stomach would disappear before the whole family would come over for dinner in the evening.

Castle hadn't come with her to the precinct that day because he was busy preparing the food and setting up the last details of his personal Christmas wonderland, though he had already started days ago. This year, he seemed even more excited than Kate had seen him the year before. And though she wasn't as much of a Christmas enthusiast as he was, she could understand why. Thinking that their next Christmas would probably be celebrated a bit differently made her happy with anticipation.

When she opened the door to the loft and walked inside, she immediately spotted Castle in the kitchen, greeting her with a bright smile.

"Hey, you're back early!" He said while wiping his hands on a towel and walking around the counter to meet her.

Kate set her bag down on the floor and shrugged off her coat, hanging it into the wardrobe next to the door. She returned his smile and let him pull her close to him. When he gently wrapped his arms around her waist, she leaned in to kiss his lips softly, then let herself fall against his shoulder. She felt like she could just fall asleep right there.

Before her lids could grow too heavy, she pulled away and stifled a yawn. "Yeah, I thought I might get the chance to lie down for a bit before the chaos starts."

He nodded understandingly. He had noticed her exhaustion over the past week and still thought of it as his job to make sure she would get all the rest she needed. Looking at her face and stroking her brown curls back behind her ear, a concerned frown settled on his face.

"You look pale. Is everything alright?"

She shrugged her shoulders and once more tried not to yawn. "Yeah. Just tired, and my stomach is acting a little weird today."

"Oh." He replied, and a small smile replaced the frown. "Yeah, that part is about to start soon."

She grumbled in response, not feeling half as thrilled about that perspective as Castle seemed. But still, she was happily willing to accept it, though she didn't look forward to feeling like she did right now for the upcoming weeks.

Castle removed one hand from her back and placed it on her stomach, gently stroking his thumb over the fabric of her blouse right under her belly button. He had done that countless times over the last week, and still, it always brought a smile to both of their faces.

"You know what? You lie down and get some sleep. And I'll wake you up on time so you can get ready, okay?"

She briefly closed her eyes, the idea of getting to spend the afternoon sleeping sounded incredibly tempting. With a sigh, she blinked at him and nodded towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"

He firmly shook his head and stroked his palm over her abdomen. "Absolutely. You have way better things to do. Growing a little human is far more important than mashed potatoes and salad."

Kate briefly wrinkled her nose at the thought of having to face a table full of food in a few hours when all she had managed to get down over the day had been an old chocolate bar she had found in the drawer of her desk. She was grateful she didn't have to go into the kitchen and deal with all the pods and pans.

"Thank you." She mumbled and gave him another small peck on the lips before she slowly freed herself from his hug, not without giving him another smile, and then walked over to the bedroom.

Castle's gaze followed her with a smile, even though he felt a little torn. He didn't like seeing her feeling unwell, especially since she wasn't someone to get sick, and he simply wasn't used to it. But on the other hand, thinking about what the cause of it was made him so unbelievably happy that he still couldn't keep himself from smiling when he returned to the kitchen.

Kate, for her part, barely managed to get out of her work clothes and pull over one of Castle's shirts that was lying on the chair in the corner of the room, where she had asked him not to leave his stuff a hundred times. Now, she was grateful he didn't listen.

She let herself fall to the bed, inhaled his smell that lingered in the fabric of the shirt, and fell asleep only seconds after she had pulled the covers up to her chin. The last coherent thought that crossed her mind was the question of how she should make it through that family dinner. But her mind and body were way too exhausted to deal with that question now, so she allowed sleep to wash it away.

Castle started setting up the table when most of the food was prepared or still slowly cooking when Martha came down the staircase, briefly stopping when she took in the scene of the almost finished dinner and table.

"Oh, Richard, you should've said something. I could have given you a hand." She said, walking down the remaining steps and over to him.

Castle looked up and arched his brow at his mother. "Please, Mother, we both know that would have been a terrible idea. And the chances of any of us ending up in the hospital on Christmas with food poisoning are far slimmer when I take care of dinner alone."

Martha shrugged her shoulders in what looked like a form of agreement. "Well, I could have at least helped setting up the table. Hand me those plates."

She reached out her hands, and Castle placed the plates he was holding in them. Martha started to walk around the table and put the plates down to their spots, when she looked up at the large clock in the living room.

"It's almost 5:30 pm. Isn't Katherine supposed to be here by now?"

Castle nodded as he walked over to the shelf to get the fancy glasses they only used for special occasions. "She is." He said, picking them up and balancing the two stacks of glasses in his hands. "She went to lie down for a bit. I'm going to wake her in a few minutes."

Martha looked at him in surprise. "Oh no, is she getting sick?"

Placing the glasses next to the plates around the table, Castle wordlessly shook his head, knowing that wouldn't be a satisfying answer for his mother.

"Richard." He heard her voice with that typical admonishing tone. "What is going on with the two of you? You've been acting strange for weeks now."

With a sigh, Castle put the last glass down and looked up at his mother on the other side of the table. Her expression was a mixture of confusion, worry, and frustration as she eyed his face thoroughly, looking for any sign of what he was trying to hide from her.

He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it. A smile spread over his lips, and he wiggled his eyebrows once in a tiny movement. To see the expression on his mother's features changing into complete confusion, then surprise, and then excitement was one of the funniest things he had ever seen.

"No. You got to be kidding me." She breathed while she stood frozen, staring at her son. "Richard, are you telling me…?"

"I'm not telling you anything." He said with a grin, but he could already see his mother's eyes starting to shimmer with tears of joy.

She tore herself out of her freeze and walked around the table without looking away from his face. Coming to a stand before him, she gently took his hands into hers and whispered, "Is she…?"

His grin only grew wider. He nodded, and the next thing he knew was that his mother pulled him into a tight embrace as a little squealing sound escaped her throat.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." She repeated, almost sobbing against his shoulder, then pulled away to look at her son again. "How far along is she?"

With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he answered, "We don't know exactly, but it's still very early. So I dare you, Mother, you don't know anything."

Martha firmly nodded her head and slowly let go of her son again. "Of course, my lips are sealed."

The grin on her face mirrored Castle's. God, it felt good to share his happiness with someone who seemed to be just as thrilled as he was.

"But now it all makes sense!" Martha said. "I wonder why that idea didn't cross my mind earlier."

"Maybe you're getting old, Grandma." He replied, stressing the last word and eliciting an even broader grin from his mother.

"Oh, I don't care." She said with a sigh. "A new baby, that's the most wonderful Christmas news ever!"

She reached up to her face and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Well, it seems like I'm going to have to fix my makeup now. And I'll need a minute to compose myself. You're lucky your mother is an excellent actress. I don't know how someone should pretend they didn't know this wonderful news any other way."

"Well, you better put all your skills into your acting tonight because Kate is going to kill me if she finds out I told you," Castle said with a joking tone, but he knew it was partly true. Maybe it had been wrong. Maybe he should have just come up with another excuse. But oh, he couldn't help it. He wanted to scream it out into the world.

Martha walked back to the staircase with a little chuckle and said, "Oh no, we don't want that. I promise you, no one will know."

She disappeared upstairs, still mumbling to herself in a happy tone, when Castle turned back to the dinner table, giving it one last check. Everything was ready, and if he woke Kate up now, she would still have about an hour to get ready.

He walked over to the bedroom and shook his head with a smirk when he saw she didn't even manage to close the blinds. Walking over to the bed, he found her fast asleep, her hair partly covering her face and her nose nuzzled into the pillow. How he loved to watch her sleep.

Slowly, he crawled into bed beside her and propped himself up on one elbow to keep looking at her for a moment longer. With a gentle touch, he brushed her hair from her face and took in her relaxed features, once more thinking she had to be the most beautiful thing on the planet. Now more than ever.

He hated to have to wake her but knew she would be mad if he didn't do it on time. Edging a little closer, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek, then another one to the corner of her mouth. She stirred slightly but showed no signs of waking up. It made him smile, usually she would wake up from the slightest touch.

"Kate." He whispered her name and snug an arm around her waist, pulling her a little closer. Kissing along her jawline to her lips again, she finally moved in his arms, letting out a murmured sigh and squeezing her eyes shut instead of opening them.

"Come on, sleepyhead, or you'll miss dinner." He mumbled and pulled her closer, this time kissing her lips and receiving a lazy kiss back. Another sigh vibrated against his lips and made him smile.

"I wouldn't mind." She whispered back, and he chuckled softly.

"You've been sleeping for almost five hours. You won't be able to sleep at night."

Stretching her arms and placing them around his neck when she lowered them again, she said, "Oh, I doubt that." And finally, her eyelids fluttered open. "I feel like I could sleep all day, and it wouldn't be enough."

"I'm sure that's going to get better soon." He said, gently running his hand down her side and to her belly.

"I hope so." She sighed in response and kissed him again. Pulling him closer to her, she brushed her nose against his and whispered, "But right now, you could have given me five more minutes. I was having such a nice dream."

"Yeah? What was it about?"

One of her hands left his neck and wandered down his chest, starting to open his belt without any further explanation. He chuckled and pressed his chest against hers, this time brushing his tongue firmly against hers, eliciting the softest moan from her.

"So, that kind of dream." He whispered between two kisses and shifted one of his legs over hers so that it came to lay between them. The way she parted them, inviting him to come closer, was so tempting that it was hard for him to pull away again to look at her.

"Are you sure? We haven't since…" He mumbled, thinking about the past week, her worries and exhaustion, and how he felt a little insecure about what was safe now.

She arched her brow at him with a little smirk. "Are you telling me you want to live in abstinence for the next nine months?"

He scrunched his nose a little but then returned her smirk, leaning in to kiss her again instead of answering. Letting his hand wander under her shirt and caressing the soft skin of her side, he sighed, "But I don't know if we have time for this now."

She pulled him closer and arched her back into his touch, slowly trying to pull him on top of her, but he refused to give in to her touch. "Since when do you need much time?" She teased with a smile against his lips.

Her hand slid under the waistband of his boxers, stroking him in slow movements, feeling him hardening under her touch.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He whispered back, his voice throaty and suppressing a moan. Knowing he wouldn't be able to resist and didn't want to either, he mirrored the movement of her hand and let it slide between her legs.

Finding the fabric of her slip already soaked, he grinned, thinking her dream might have given them a little head start. He pushed the damp fabric aside and caressed his fingertips over her core, moaning into her mouth when he realized how much he had missed to feel her heat under his touch.

She parted her legs a little further, grinding her hips against his hand, desperate to increase the friction. It seemed like she had missed it just as much as him when her touch on him grew firmer, causing a groan to rumble in his throat.

With a little pressure, he slid his fingers up to her clit and then back down to her entrance, slowly pushing two of them inside, the whimpering moan that came from her making him hesitate.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice heavy with lust, but his concern for her and the little life she was carrying was still stronger.

"Yes." She moaned and rubbed her core to his hand, begging him to touch her again. "Go on."

That was calming enough for him. He let his fingers glide down again and pushed them into her, a little firmer and deeper. The pleasured groan he received in response made blood rush through his ears and down to his groin, her hand still wrapped around him.

His fingers picked up a steady pace while he let his thumb search for her clit, circling it with firm pressure. The anticipation of getting to feel her again became almost unbearable.

He rubbed his thumb over her clit, knowing it would make her come. She groaned loudly into his mouth and pressed her thighs together, locking his hand between them as her high washed over her, and he felt the spasms of her pleasure around his fingers.

Letting her recover for a moment, he waited until her muscles relaxed again, then removed his hand but took her panties with it. Pushing himself up from the bed, he shoved his pants and boxers to his knees, no time to get rid of them completely, his desire to feel her was too strong.

He let himself sink down between her thighs and felt her against him. Sliding himself up and down a few times, he murmured, "Tell me to stop when it doesn't feel good."

She nodded, her eyes closed at the sensation between her legs, and pulled him down to her, kissing him desperately. With a slow movement, he let himself glide into her, their groans mixing and muffled by each other's lips.

He pulled out just the slightest bit, then plunged back into her, soon finding a rhythm that made both of them come close to falling apart very fast. He didn't mind if she would be right about him not needing much time today. She was fading just as fast as him, and he wouldn't want their guests to hear their sounds coming from the bedroom as soon as they walked in.

He picked up his pace, pulled out a little further, and put a little more pressure in his thrusts, feeling the tension in his groin building, only moments away from bursting.

Her throaty voice groaning his name against his lips as she tensed around him was the last bit he needed to fall over the edge. He pushed deep into her and groaned his release into the pillow beside her head as it crashed down on him.

He felt her breathing heavily underneath him and knew he would have to move soon, but she felt too damn good. Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to her temple and whispered, "God, I hope you won't be too tired tonight; I want to do that again as soon as everybody's gone."

Her chuckle vibrated against his chest, and with a little resistance, he rolled off of her to give her space to breathe. She turned her head to look at him and kissed him softly.

"First, I'll have to survive that dinner." She said as the queasy feeling returning to her stomach just at the thought of food.

Castle glanced over to the clock on her nightstand. "Now that you mention it, we should hurry up."

With a sigh, she ran her hand over her face, bracing herself for the next couple of hours. Then, she threw back the covers to get out of bed and under the shower. She pulled the shirt over her head and turned back to Castle with a smirk.

"I can't promise you later tonight, but if you want to, you can join me now."

She didn't have to ask twice. Within a second, he had shoved his pants over his ankles and was on his feet, following her into the bathroom.