A/N- at end

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of its dialogue, but all mistakes are mine.

Medical Attention

Castle's S1 AU Based on a tumblr prompt from anon: Castle's a doctor, a friend of Lanie's. AU Caskett meeting at Lanie's birthday. *Castle Winter Hiatus 2014 Ficathon Entry*

Epilogue

"Are you sure about this, Wife?" Rick asked, feathering kisses along Kate's clavicle.

"I should be asking you that, Husband…" She giggled before turning on her side and propping herself up with her elbow.

"First of all, that's Dr. Husband…"

"Oh God."

"No, not God. Dr. Husband…" She couldn't contain her laughter as her eyes rolled back at his bad joke. "Anyway…if I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have suggested it." His voice grew serious as he brushed the hair from her face. Kate leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"This is a big step. Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you. You've given me and Alexis this amazing growing family," he said, running his knuckles against her still flat abdomen.

"I love you," she murmured, feeling her heart speed up and flush her skin.

"I love you, too."

"I'm glad we're waiting to tell everyone. I just really didn't want our news to outshine today. Today…"

"Needs to stand on its own."

"Exactly."

The instinct, when they found out about their expanding family a couple days ago, to tell Liam and Alexis right away was strong. Hell, she wanted to tell almost anyone they encountered since finding out, but they wanted today to be special. So they had decided it was for the best to wait until next week to share the pregnancy news.

Kate rolled over and reached for her cell phone from the nightstand as her alarm started to blare. "Let's go get the kids. You get mine and I'll get yours?"

"That's the last time you get to say that," he reminded her with a whisper.

"I know," she said, beaming back at him.

Signing the last document, Rick slid the page back to their attorney and squeezed Kate's hand. Their lawyer shook both of their hands and walked the documents to the judge to finish with the formalities; formalities were all that was left to the process.

Following the wedding, they had decided that it only made sense for Rick to officially adopt Liam. Kate had a dangerous job and she wanted to ensure that everything was in place to protect her son if something were to ever happen. Also, they'd be father and son in every sense of the word, not just because they were married. Liam's dream of being a family had really come true. From that point on, they had initiated the process of Rick legally adopting Liam and today the journey was finally complete.

Judge Harrison had been a personal friend of Rick's for years now, so it was even more fitting that it was his final signature on the adoption petition. He moved from behind his bench to congratulate the family before dismissing them from the court.

It was official.

It was real.

"Liam Rodgers," Kate said, smiling.

"It has a nice ring to it," he agreed, pulling the boy into his arms.

"Alexis, now we all have the same last name," Liam said, giving his sister a high five.

"Exactly. Now we all have the same name," she assured him, giving Kate a half hug from her side.

Alexis had a mom in Meredith no matter how flighty she could be; she still cared about her daughter. Even though they'd never have a mother daughter bond, Kate and Alexis had formed a nice relationship as friends and confidants. It was special in their own way and since the wedding they had become even closer.

"Yep, the Rodgers family."

"And Grams too," Liam added.

"If only we could get her to move out of the loft," he joked, as Kate glared at him.

"Be nice," she stated, reaching for his free hand as they headed out of the courthouse together.

Their life was nearly perfect together and with the new miracle growing in Kate, things were beyond amazing. They were blessed in every way imaginable.

Walking through the door at their loft, they were all greeted by a small gathering of their family and friends. Everyone stood there with smiles on their faces, rushing to the door to congratulate the entire Rodgers family.

Love and joy were felt through every inch of the space.

"Daddy?" Liam whispered once their guests moved further into the room toward the food and drinks.

"Yeah, Buddy?"

"Why is everyone here? Do I get presents?" he asked as his eyes shined with excitement.

"Everyone is here because they wanted to show you how much they love you. But no, you don't get presents. It's not your birthday…" Kate explained but she noticed Rick shifting at her side.

"Well…"

"Rick, what did you do?"

"I got my son a present," he defended.

"You mean our son."

"He is ours, isn't he?" His grin stretched across his face and the joy in his expression was heard in every syllable he spoke.

"Yes, he's ours all right," Kate answered with a smile. "So…what did you do?"

"Well, maybe the timing isn't perfect but I planned it before… you know…" he whispered, glancing down at her stomach.

"Rick…" Her tone warning, like she already knew she wouldn't like what was about to happen.

"Liam, I'll be right back…"

The party goers started to notice the family discussed in the foyer and they turned to see the commotion as Rick rushed toward their room to bring out the gift.

"Rick…" Her eyes widened at the sight of the surprise. She was going to kill him.

"Daddy! You got me a puppy!" he screamed as Rick placed the tiny fuzzy animal into his arms.

"Oh my god! Dad, we got a dog!" Alexis squealed, rushing toward Liam and the dog.

"Rick! You got the kids a dog!"

"Mommy! I always wanted a puppy!"

"Kate, he always wanted a puppy," he responded with the same puppy dog look that Liam typically used.

"Can we call him Chewbarka! Or Chewy for short?" Liam suggested, laughing as the dog licked his face.

"When did I lose control of my life?" Kate asked, rolling her eyes.

"The day I introduced you to Rick," Lanie called over to her.

"So I can blame you for this?"

"Or you could thank me…" she shot back.

"I think we should thank her," Rick whispered against her temple, wrapping his arms around her waist. The hug was part apology for the animal surprise, but mostly it was happiness from the day. He could rarely keep his hands away from her as it was.

"We could, but it might go to her head." She leaned closer into Rick's body to pull him into a quick kiss as she heard her friend scoffing in the background.

Lanie was right though. She could've never imagined that simply putting on some lipstick and meeting at a bar for her friend's birthday would've changed her life forever.

Yet it had.

All because she fell in love with the doctor.

The End.

A couple thank yous and then an announcement

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU FOR READING AND EMBRACING IT AND BEING SO SUPPORTIVE OF IT! Honestly I'm blown away by the reviews and tweets and messages. I never thought I'd write a story that people would actually want to read. So thank you for being so kind!

To my wonderful beta Jo- you honestly are such a great friend and my story would be a huge disaster without you. Thanks for your constant help!

To Joanna who has been such a great friend throughout all my writing and for encouraging me to write in the first place!

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**And the announcement...So I kind of fell in love with writing this story and this family so as I finished writing MA I decided that I'm not leaving this universe behind. This will now be a series. There will be at least one multi-chapter sequel. 'Family Practice' will be in the works soon as well as a couple various one-shots that will cover various stages that were skipped either pre-MA, between chapters or post-MA. Not sure how many nor can I promise more than one additional multi-chapter, but I hope it'll be as fun for the readers as it'll be to write. I'll mention MA in the title so you it's in the series.**

Sorry for the massive note! Until next time!