As soon as they were called, Alexis woke up and they ran to the doctors.

"Are you Katherine Castle's family?"

"Do you really think we'll come running to you if we weren't?" Rick asked, getting annoyed.

"Oh, yeah … that makes sense"

"So, how is she?" Alexis asked.

"She's gonna be okay, but she'll need rest and medication for a while"

"How long?"

"Over a year"

"A YEAR ? but you just said that she was fine!"

"She is but … listen, it's better if I let her talk to you"

"Why? What is wrong?" Rick asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time

"Just go and see her sir" the doctor answered "she's in room 206. I'm sorry miss but you can go in just yet, your father will come and get you after … the talk"

While Alexis was sitting back on her chair wondering what 'the talk' could be about, Rick almost ran the Kate's room. When he got there, he stopped. He was scared of what he could find on the other side of the door. The last time he had seen his wife, she was bleeding heavily and her foot was broken. He opened the door slowly and took a peek inside. Here she was, in the hospital bed. She seemed asleep but had a huge smile on her face. That was weird. He got closer to her and took her hand, the one that was not bandaged that is. Her eyes opened immediately at the contact.

"Rick"

"How are you feeling? Are you alright? Does it hurt? What happened? Do you want me to call someone? Are you sure you're ok? Do you want some water? How do you …"

"RICK !"

"What?"

"Shut up ! and kiss me. NOW !"

"Uh … ok" he answered, not really understanding what was going on but always happy to oblige. He had intended to give her a quick peck on the lips so as not to hurt her, but he found himself literally pulled to the bed when she put her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss.

"Not that I'm complaining … far from it … but what is all that about?" Rick asked when they finally broke apart, desperately in need of oxygen

"Rick, I need to tell you something" she said, a really large grin plastered on her face

"Shoot"

"That's something I'm not going to do for a while …" she said to herself

"What? Really Kate I need to know, are you alright? You scared the hell out of me and I really need you to be ok? I can't live without you and I just won't …"

"I'm pregnant" she interrupted him when she saw the tears forming in his eyes.

"What?" he asked, pulling away from her bed

"You … you don't want another baby with me?" she asked, now being the one with tears in her eyes

"What?" he repeated "No … I mean yes! Of course I want another baby with you! Even a million other baby if you want ! I was just … surprised. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't know" she answered, taking his hand and putting it on her stomach "they found out before the surgery. They took some blood from me when I was in the ambulance and they got the result just before I went to surgery. They had to tell me, or rather the surgery team, because they couldn't use their usual sleeping gas or something like that. It would have been bad for the baby"

"The baby … we're gonna have another baby ! " Rick repeated, apparently understanding for the first time that he was going to be a father again. "But how are YOU?"

"I'm fine, really" Kate answered, caressing his hand which was still on her stomach "my left foot is broken so they'll put a cast on it. But other than that I'm fine, really great actually" putting both of her hands on his.

"But I … I mean I'm more than happy that you're ok but … when I found you, you were trapped under the bed ! I mean how can you be fine with a king size bed crashing your right side!"

"Apparently, you saved me … again!"

"What? I really don't understand a word you're saying Kate. Are you sure you're not drugged or anything?"

"You know all the books that you keep under your side of the bed? Well apparently there were so many of them that they took most of the weight of the bed instead of me. You saved me!"

"Well, I'm glad my untidiness can be of any help" Rick said, leaning over to kiss her one more time. "I really thought I'd lost you" he whispered against her lips

"I'm sorry. But I'm fine now, I swear" she said, kissing him once more.

"Can I go get Alexis now?" he asked suddenly

"She's here?"

"Yes … and she was yelling at the nurse not so long ago"

"What? Why?"

"She wanted to know you were ok. She told the nurse she needed to see her mother …"

"Really?" Kate asked, tear rolling down her cheeks "go get her, now!"

For the next few hours, Alexis, Rick and Kate talked, laughed and watched TV. Suddenly Rick, who still had Kate's hand in his, felt her tense.

"Where is Lizzi?" Kate asked. "Where is she" she asked louder to Rick, eyes full with fear.

"Don't worry, Lanie took her when we were waiting. I texted her a few minutes ago, she's going to drop her here."

As planned, about half an hour later, Lanie was there with Lizzi, who was stolen by Kate as soon as she was within arm reach. Later in the afternoon, Ryan and Esposito arrived.

"Hey boss, how are you doing?" Ryan asked

"I've known better" Kate answered "but it's gonna be ok". When she saw the looks between Lanie, Esposito and Ryan, she had to ask.

"What happened to me?"

"Well" Ryan started "it seems like someone placed some explosives in your house. It went out at 10:30 this morning. You were not supposed to be there. Castle was. He was the target. Apparently their "plan" was not perfect. The bombs blew up just when you were getting your phone."

"How do you know all of that? And who tried to kill me and got Kate instead?"

"Tom Demming, Will Saunderson and Josh Davidson." Esposito answered "we overheard them fighting over it on our back from the cafeteria. They are really stupid. They were yelling to each other about how Kate was not supposed to be there and how Castle was the one who had to die because of what he did to them. Before you ask, they consider that you stole Kate from them. And now I'm sure you're wondering why they didn't try something before … well, Will had just got sent to New York three weeks ago, Josh came back from a trip in Africa where he stayed for two years and Tom … well he just follow them because he couldn't find anything else to get to you."

"The Captain is clear on his orders: he doesn't want to see any of you until Kate is cleared by her doctor and even then she has at least three months of desk duty" Ryan added

"Well, I won't be going back before a while anyway" Kate said taking Rick's hand and asking his agreement silently. When he nodded, she continued "because I'm pregnant and because of that I can't take the strongest medicine for my foot so it's going to be longer than normal. The doctor said I would need rest and medication for at least a year. And then there will be the baby …" she continued, unconsciously putting her and Rick's hands on her belly.

In the evening, when everyone was gone but the Castle family, Kate asked the big question

"Where are we going to live?"

"I got that covered" Rick said, really happy with himself "I talked to the doctors and they told me that, if I hired a nurse, we could go to the Hamptons until the loft is fixed. And … I also talked to your dad's doctors and since he's doing much better, he can be transferred to the hospital there and come live with us when he is discharged."

"That sounds perfect to me" Kate answered, kissing him lovingly.

FIN