412. Chapter 412

After The Good, the Bad and the Baby

Episode 6.10

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: It would be easier to not own Castle if I had the right background music. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate sat in their bathroom, not quite believing what she was seeing. She shook her head slowly, then stood, and pulled up her sleep shorts. "Castle, can you come in here?"

"What happened? Did you fall in?" He replied jokingly.

"Just get in here."

Castle quickly stuck his head in the bathroom. "What? Is there a problem?"

"Not a problem, just something you need to see." She held out the three plastic sticks.

"Are those…?" He reached for them and took them from her hand. "They're…positive. They're positive?"

She nodded. "I'm pregnant."

"But we just started trying."

"I'm pregnant." She repeated.

"We're pregnant. I'm with you one hundred percent."

She put her arms around him and hugged him. "There was a time that I thought that I'd never have this. I'd never have a husband, never have a real home and family and never have a child." Kate began to cry. "Thank you."

"Thank you." Castle whispered in her ear. "But, you know that we need to see a pediatrician ASAP. These things can give false positives."

…...

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle?" The nurse said. "Doctor Blanding would like to see you."

Rick and Kate went into the doctor's cluttered office.

"Rick! Kate! How are you?"

"That's what we're here to find out." Rick replied.

"In that case, I can put you mind at ease. You're going to have a baby."

Rick and Kate smiled at each other. "A baby." Kate said.

"Now, Kate, I have a lot of things to tell you. First, let's talk about your diet…."

….

"I don't know, babe. Do we want them to tell us the sex of the baby when they look at the sonogram?"

"I hate surprises. Let's find out. It'll be easier to plan things. And, did I mention I hate surprises?"

"I think we should wait until the child is born."

"Why?"

"Because if we know, you'll go overboard. Either getting ready for the girliest girl or the arrival of a little Richard Castle."

"And that's the fun part."

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle?" The nurse broke in. "We do need to tell you something."

"What?" They said in unison, instantly afraid.

"You're having twins."

…...

"Twins, bro? Espo asked. "Do you know the sex?"

Kate nodded. "One of each. We were discussing whether to find out the sex when they said it was twins. We decided after that to limit the number of surprises in this pregnancy."

"A boy and a girl." Castle said, looking off into the distance.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Castle hasn't really recovered. He's imagining another little Alexis and another little Rick."

"Another Mr. Castle?" Gates said from her office door. "Please. Spare us."

Ryan smiled. "I'm sure little Miss Castle will be a hell raiser and Little Ricky will be a studious lad. That's what happened with my cousin Declan and his wife Deidre. Declan was always a hell raiser and…"

Castle suddenly snapped out of it. "What? A hell raising little Castle girl? Ryan! What are you saying?"

Kate glared at Ryan. "Did you have to?"

…

"Here's your coffee, gorgeous." Rick said, putting the cup down on Kate's desk. "A grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar…What's wrong?"

Kate didn't respond, she just sat there and cried.

"What's wrong, Kate? Tell me?"

"What's wrong?" She blubbered. "Look at me! I'm huge. I tried to get something out of the lower desk drawer and I couldn't get to it. My stomach was in the way. I'm as big as a house."

Rick pulled her to him and held her, telling her that she was beautiful and glowing.

Ryan and Esposito suddenly found that they needed to check something elsewhere. "Was Jenny ever like that, bro?" Espo asked as they made their escape.

"You have no idea what those hormones will do to a woman. No idea at all. Just be glad that Beckett is going on a crying jag. You have no idea what she'll be like if she gets mad at us."

"Why would she get mad at us?"

"Mainly because we're not pregnant."

"That's not something that I consider to be my fault." Espo said, quite reasonably.

"Yeah. Just keep telling yourself that when Beckett chews your ass off."

…

"We're pregnant, my ass, Castle!" Kate screamed at him from flat on her back with her feet in the stirrups. "I'm pregnant and you have no fucking idea what this is like!"

Castle held her hand and whispered softly to her, hoping to calm her down.

"We are never doing this again. Never. Do you understand me? If you ever try to touch me again, I'll..."

"Here he comes." Said a nurse.

"Push!" Castle yelled. "Breathe!"

Kate pushed and breathed.

"And….that's one. And now the other."

The two babies were taken away briefly, then placed with the new mother.

"They're beautiful." Kate said.

"All three of you are."

She turned to him. "I'm sorry about all of the things I said."

"Oh, that's nothing. You should have heard Meredith."

"She screamed at you when Alexis was born?"

"No. She was unconscious. She insisted on it. She screamed at me for nine months before that."

…..

Rick and Kate stood in the center of the bullpen. Rick cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to Alexander Rodgers Castle on my beautiful wife's right, and Johanna Martha Castle on her left."

"Not Cosmo?" Ryan asked, smiling.

"Cosmo was a close second, but I decided that keeping Kate from killing me was the greater priority."

"Good call." Ryan said.

"So when will you be coming back to work?" Espo asked.

"In a couple of weeks, but I'm taking the Captain's exam the next time it's given and I'll be looking for something less stressful than homicide." Kate turned and smiled at Rick. "Rick had to raise Alexis all by himself, and while she turned out absolutely perfectly, I'm not going to make him do that again."

"And since I can work at home, we can both help each other raise the kids."

"Will Nikki Heat be getting pregnant?" Someone asked.

"You'll have to buy the books to find out. You'll get no spoilers here."

Everyone laughed.

…

"Damn!"

Castle heard Kate curse from the bathroom and wondered what happened. "What?" He called to her.

"I still weigh eight pounds more than I did before I was pregnant." Kate said while looking at her silhouette in the mirror. "It's been six months, and I've been exercising and watching what I eat. I'll just have to try harder."

Although he knew he was making a mistake, he had to say something. "Kate, you're every bit as gorgeous as you've ever been. And you've always been a little too thin."

"Are you trying to say you like me fat?" She asked coldly.

"Not fat. Besides, with all of that exercise, it's all muscle. You're not fat, you're muscular. Remember, strong is the new skinny."

"You think I'm fat." Kate cried.

…

"Ready for the first day of your last year at the NYPD, Captain Castle?" Rick asked.

"Before I met you, I dreaded retiring. I thought my whole life would be over. That I'd have nothing and no one. Now I can't wait to retire and be with my family." Before she could say more, her phone rang. "Castle."

She grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from the kitchen island. "At eight o'clock?" She shook her head. "I'll have it done by then."

She hung up and turned to Rick. "The commissioner needs my monthly reports by eight. The mayor has a press conference at ten. Sorry, lover, but I don't have time for breakfast."

"Does this mean Daddy makes breakfast?" Toddler Alexander said from the top of the stairs, his little sister was behind him holding a teddy bear.

Kate looked at Alexander and then at Rick. "Yes, but no chocolate ice cream pancakes."

All three grumped, but as soon as Kate left, Rick turned to the children. "But, Mommy didn't say anything about vanilla ice cream pancakes."

The children screamed happily. Even the teddy bear seemed pleased.

….

Rick checked the alarm clock as he groped for his phone in the dark. "Alex? What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine. It's a lovely day here in Bahrain. Sunny and warm. The ship just got in."

Rick felt Kate grabbing his arm and could see the alarm in her eyes. "You called us at 3:24 AM to give us a weather report from the Gulf?"

"No. I just wanted to say, "Hi Grandpa and Grandma."

"What? Grandpa and Grandma. You mean…"

"Judy's going to call you later from San Diego, but I thought you'd like to know."

After they had hung up, Rick and Kate hugged.

"They're pregnant."