THREE

"You going to be okay?" Castle asked in a hushed tone as they stepped off the main street and into the alleyway where their NYPD colleagues had already gathered.

"I'm fine." She hissed in return, a little bit perturbed. Okay, so two days earlier she had vomited nearly instantly at the sight of a body that had internal organs spilling out thanks to an unfortunate run-in with the front grill of an MTA bus—but who wouldn't have been nauseated at the sight of that? She could tell Ryan too seemed a little queasy. Fortunately, that event had quickly been ruled a suicide so the gruesome photos did not have to remain on her murder board for more than a few hours. Oddly, the sight of the photos didn't bother her, just the real, gruesome thing, but Kate was convinced that event was a one-off one as a result of the fact that she had very recently eaten.

All in all, the first two months of her pregnancy had gone well. She had very little morning sickness and only actually become physically ill from it a few times. The doctor assured her that despite her recent bullet trauma, her body was healthy enough to carry a child to term though she did have to suffer through an internal ultrasound to confirm that fact. However, the comforting knowledge that their baby was healthy and growing was worth her temporary discomfort.

As it had only been a few weeks since she found out, she was still getting used to the idea—as was her partner. To his credit, Castle was being as wonderful and supportive as she could have imagined—even more than she imagined at times. He continually checked on her, made sure she had everything she wanted and needed. If she showed even the slightest interest something he was practically sprinting out the door to the closest bodega in minutes. As much as this annoyed her slightly at times, she did appreciate him being the life partner she always hoped he would be and their relationship was definitely moving in the right direction—so long as he didn't treat her like the ticking time bomb that could vomit at any moment's notice.

"Oh, there you are; body's over there beside the dumpster." Esposito informed her—thumbing in the direction he referenced.

Kate nodded and stepped delicately through the ally so as not to trample on anything that might be evidence, though it was more than likely just trash. Catching sight of the body, Kate was pleased to see the man she estimated to be in his late twenties had only a gash to the head, which was not even remotely gruesome compared to all that she had seen. She practically had a smile on her face as Lanie began her speech about the victim's state when a slight breeze blew through the alley, assailing Kate's nostrils with the grotesque rotten garbage smell from the dumpster; her stomach lurched.

Immediately covering her mouth with her hand, she shut her eyes and sucked in a deep breath through her lips. She was going to be fine. She was not going to throw up. She was absolutely, positively, most definitely going to be—"Shit!" She cursed as she felt the bile rise in her throat. She pitched herself forward, hand landing against the side of the offending dumpster, and vomited just a few inches from Castle's shoes. She let out a string of curses internally as the crime scene momentarily fell into silence. Castle surreptitiously pressed a tissue into her palm and she brought it to her lips, thankful she'd been able to get out of the range of the body so she didn't damage their scene with her weak stomach.

"I'm sorry; I'm so sorry." She mumbled out behind the tissue, spitting into it in hopes of ridding her mouth of the taste. After the previous incident, she'd had the bright idea to keep a pack of gum with her just in case, but she'd left in in the cruiser. Just as she was about to request Castle retrieve it for her, he placed a hand gently on her back and said, "I saw a coffee shop across the street; I'll go get you a peppermint tea."

She thanked him genuinely before turning back to her team and apologizing once more. Concern across her face, Lanie tilted her head to the side and stood, stepping around the body to come closer to her friend. "That's the second time this week. Are you sick or something, honey?"

"Wha—no." Kate rebutted immediately. "No, no I'm fine. I just…I'm fine."

Lanie patted her arm. "You know you can be honest with me, right?"

"I'm fine Lanie. I'm—" The scent of garbage hit her nose again and she felt her stomach lurch. Pressing the tissue tightly over her mouth she held her breath for two seconds then pressed it out through her nose. "I'm fine." When she opened her eyes again, she saw Lanie had twisted her lips to the side and was looking at her knowingly. "What?"

"Girl you're pregnant aren't you?"

"Lanie!" She gasped with horror as her cheeks flushed. They hadn't even told their parents yet; it was far too soon to be telling her coworkers!

Lanie crossed her arms over her clipboard and pulled it tight to her chest. "What? I'm a doctor, I can tell these things. Besides. Other than the flu or food poisoning it's just about the only reason you would throw up at the sight of a body. You didn't get food poisoning twice this week, did you Kate?"

"It's not the body it's the smell of the dumpster."

Lanie hummed under her breath. "Further proving my theory because pregnancy can cause hypersensitivity to smells."

Too nauseated to argue, Kate dropped her hands to her sides and rounded her shoulders. "Look I'm not supposed to-"

The ME squealed and pulled her friend into a bone-crushing hug. "Oh my god girl! You are pregnant!"

"Whoa what? Beckett's pregnant?!"

Kate grimaced at the sound of Esposito's voice while Lanie shrank away cringing. "Oops…sorry."

"Lanie!" She groaned while both boys circled around in front of her, confusion etched onto their faces.

"You're pregnant?" Ryan questioned.

God, what a mess. She sighed and skirted her fingertips over her forehead. "Look, guys, I'm only nine weeks—I shouldn't be telling anyone but I also cannot guarantee I won't throw up at a scene again. Bad smells tend to…set me off." She admitted reluctantly.

Ryan considered this. "Is that why you yelled at me when I was eating egg salad."

Her stomach lurched again at the memory of the event. "Yes, but guys please-"

"No worries, Beckett; secrets safe with us." Espo promised.

"So who's the father? Is it Josh?"

Kate shot her friend a look. "Lanie I haven't been with Josh in over six months."

She nodded. "Right. So who is it then?"

Evidently, her male partners took her ten second silence during which she was determining how to respond as an indication that something was wrong in her relationship with the mystery man, because Esposito jumped in aggressively with, "Does he know? Is he bailing? Cause we'll-"

"Guys—no. Calm down. Everything is fine. I just wasn't planning on telling everyone so I'm…ill prepared."

Lanie gently shooed the boys away saying, "Makes perfect sense. We'll absolutely drop it. Now as I was saying, our vic-"

"They didn't have plain peppermint, just mint herbal, but I made sure it's decaf for…oh, oops, sorry Lanie; didn't mean to interrupt." Castle laughed nervously when he returned with the take-away cup of tea. Kate thanked him quietly and popped the lid off the cup so it would cool more quickly. Just as she was about to turn back to Lanie and pay very close attention to the information she was saying about their victim, the ME let out a bark of laughter so loud Kate jumped.

"Oh my god!" Lanie continued. "That's great!"

The writer's brow wrinkled as he looked at her. "Did the body tell a joke?"

"Oh no. No, no; I just realized something."

"What?" The three men asked simultaneously.

Smirk on her face, she turned toward Esposito and Ryan. "And you call yourselves detectives?"

Ryan looked at Esposito. "What is she talking about?"

"I'm not going to say if you missed it."

"Well now we're all curious," Castle said. "I can't believe I missed something –or did you say it before I came back with the tea?"

Lanie raised one index finger. "Ah! The tea—Exhibit A!"

"Lanie," Kate warned, but the ME was too excited to be deterred. Turning towards the detectives she said, "Castle made sure Kate's tea was decaf."

"Okay?"

"Decaf."

"So? Maybe she's cutting back on…oh right pregnant women." Esposito concluded, clearly annoyed he also had not picked up on the clue.

A squeak escaped Castle's mouth as he gaped as his partner. "Yo—you told them? I thought we weren't telling people yet?!"

Lanie stabbed a finger in their direction. "See there—that's what I figured out! It's about damn time guys."

Castle gazed at each of the people surrounding him, his brow thoroughly wrinkled. "I feel like a lot happened when I went to get that tea…"

Kate let out a laugh and reached out to squeeze his arm. "The cat kind of jumped out of the bag…" Though she would have preferred to keep their secret until they were ready to share it, it was just as well that they knew. It certainly would be less exhausting to have conversations around them as they would no longer have to worry about accidentally mentioning something.

Clearing her throat, she addressed the group, "Okay, you got us. Castle and I are having a baby but please keep it to yourselves and let's not make a big deal about it, because I haven't told Gates yet just in case this…complicates things with our partnership."

Ryan grinned at her. "Don't worry, Beckett—we won't tell and we'll cover for you in the field. Gotta keep Castle Junior safe."

"Actually I've never been a fan of juniors. If he's a boy, I'd like to name him Cosmo."

They had yet to broach the subject of names as they were waiting to find out the gender, so Kate had never heard any of Castle's suggestions before. If that was his top choice, she was going to become very concerned very quickly. "I hope you're kidding."

He smiled. "Not at all; it's what I was going to name Alexis."

She shook her head. "We're not naming him Cosmo—if it's a him."

"For what it's worth I agree with Beckett," Ryan stage-whispered to his friend.

"Me too," Espo added.

"Wha…fine." Castle grumbled and Kate patted his arm.

"Well anyway—congratulations, even though we're not supposed to know. And maybe you should get out of this alley before it makes you sick again." Lanie suggested.

"Yeah we got this, Beckett—and congrats from me as well."

"Me too," Ryan said.

Kate nodded to each of them. "Thank you. This was, ah, quite a surprise but we're getting more accustomed to the idea."

Castle snuck his arm around her shoulders and said, "She means: we're very excited." They then turned to walk out of the alley as Kate sipped on her tea. It wasn't until they were back at her vehicle when Castle asked tentatively, "You are, right? Excited."

She let out a breathy laugh. Though the fear of being a good mother was still very strong within her, excitement was beginning to be her main emotion related to the baby, especially the further along they god. "Yeah, Castle. It's still sinking in but after the doctor's appointment and getting the books I am. It's kind of more like an excited terror but excited is still in there."

The writer waved his hand flippantly. "Terror? Please. Remember I've done this before. And you're going to be an amazing mom. What…hey what."

"Nothing." She squeaked out as a tear escaped her eye. In the span of one minute she'd gone from borderline nauseated to being overwhelmed with emotions for the amazing man before her. "I think it's the hormones."

He nodded and slipped his hand into the breast pocket of his blazer. "Well that's why I bought a one hundred pack of these online," he said, handing over the plastic packet of travel tissues to her. "Hopefully you can do the same with baby wipes."

"Oh my god I love you!" She gushed out, taking the tissues from him. It was only as she was dabbing beneath her eyes that she took note of the rather shell-shocked appearance on his face and realized that was the first time she'd actually said those three little words to him aloud. Stepping forward she smiled and closed her hand around his forearm. "I mean. I do—I do love you, Castle; sorry it took me so long to say it."

He shook his head and smiled, looking a little misty-eyed himself. "Don't worry about it—and I love you too, Kate." He walked over to open her car door for her but then paused and said, "So, um, not to push but—can we tell our parents and Alexis now?"

She nodded. "Only seems fair. You think they'll be excited?" The trio of relatives was aware of their budding relationship, but nothing further had been said, even if Kate had spent more nights at the loft than not over the prior few weeks.

"Are you kidding? They're going to love it. I mean, we're going to shock them, but that's fun, right?"

She nodded. "Very fun." As she slipped into the car the smile on her face grew wider with the knowledge that with the family she was building with Castle the word "fun" was definitely going to become an every-day part of her vocabulary—and she couldn't wait.

A/N: thank you all so much for reading this quick little ficlet

up next is The Other Side of Broken - which will be 14 chaps