Frozen Love (A Castle Fanfiction)

In the Black

Two days after having my first round of morning sickness and getting over the initial disbelief that I had some how succeeded in getting pregnant after the first try... again, Rick had begun the habit of driving me to work in the morning, coming by to drop off a light lunch to make sure I was attempting to eat at very least, and picking me up when I called. We had finally brought that cop's murder to a close and I was working the skeletons of a new case. Rick showed up at the planned six o'clock, Brayden in his car seat to stop by for a visit, and me at my desk swearing I would wrap this all up shortly. Before I knew it, Brayden was crawling around the precinct with his father and no one cared because everyone had gone home.

As the wind began to pick up outside the building, Castle reminded me periodically, "We really need to get going soon, Kate. We can't get snowed in."

To this I always said, "Yeah, I know, babe. I'm going as fast as I can." I wasn't. He knew that. I didn't really want to go back to the loft because ever since Alexis and Martha found out I was pregnant, they constantly asked me how I was feeling and treated me like a fragile glass sculpt. Given the circumstances of my prior pregnancy, I couldn't quite blame them, but I was sure I was better now. It had been years since the shooting. I was fine.

By the time I was finished and hit save, it was nearly eight thirty. "You ready," Castle asked from the floor on all fours in front of our son.

"You're going to hurt your back doing that," I told him, standing from my seat, pulling on my coat.

Rick answered over his shoulder in a babying voice as he stared into our son's eyes, "No I'm not. No, daddy will be fine. Right bumblebee? Daddy's going to be just-." He stopped as the lights around him flickered and went out. The moment we were in the dark, he told me, "Power went out."

"I know," I stated with my eyes closed as though I could slip into oblivion that way.

He sighed, "I told you we should have left."

"Not helping," I gruffly spat back.

While he moved to sit on his feet he told me, "I wasn't trying to help. If I was trying to help, I'd tell you to grab your cellphone and turn on the flashlight."

Again I sighed and did as he passively suggested. As I did that, he picked Brayden up and pulled himself off the floor. "Is B alright," I asked, knowing the kid preferred light over darkness.

Castle answered, "No tears, whimpers, or sniffles, so I think we're fine for now." When Brayden was finally fully adjusted to his daddy's side, Rick continued, "Check your weather app. How bad is the storm."

I began scrolling and found, "There's about two inches of snow on the ground so far and apparently it's coming down heavy. The roads are awful and it looks like they're advising everyone stay where they are until further notice."

"Great," Castle mumbled. "Well, do we want to go out in the storm or stay here. It's up to you."

For a moment, I thought about risking it, but the moment I considered getting in the car and taking the risk I wanted to take, I was instantly back in that car with Castle, nine months pregnant myself, Castle's skull gushing blood and my baby's future put on the line. That was not a mistake I would make twice. "Better weather it out. I mean, I can feed Brayden and you've eaten and I'll just steal someone's lunch and owe them some cash. And you've got him diaper bag, don't you."

"Yeah," Rick answered, nodding his head toward the chair beside my desk occupied only by the bag and a now emptied coffee mug from home (which he had filled with tea in order to sooth my stomach and keep away suspicion from Gates and the boys when he brought it with him at lunch).

I nodded. "Are his jammies in there?"

His brow cocked. "It's a diaper bag, not an overnight bag. There are diapers; a couple of onsies, one warmer, one lighter; a bottle that he emptied at lunch; a pacifier, one of each kind; his blankets, blue and green; and his stuffed bear, a couple rattles, and a book."

"So, we'll change him into the warmer onsie, feed him, change his diaper, play a bit, read him his story, and he can sleep on your chest or something," I stated quite innocently.

He then questioned, "Should you really be sleeping here given current circumstances?"

My eyes fell, as did my smile. "I'm pregnant, I'm not recovering from some major surgery or suffering seizures. I think I'll be fine."

"Well, you know, when B falls asleep, we could... not sleep," he said with a grin.

I laughed a bit to myself. "Yeah, right. You can not sleep on your own, buddy. I'm in my first trimester and I worked all day. I'm exhausted."

His smile fell a bit, and he handed over our son to me. I changed Brayden while Rick slunk off to the fridge and found Ryan's turkey sandwich he'd left for the next day. By the time he got back, I was tickling B's tummy while he writhed around on my desk and threw out fits of laughter. When Castle caught my eye, I said, "He doesn't seem to be hungry. He preferred grabbing my hair and pulling it."

"Maybe you should go back to that adorable short red hair look you worked when I met you," he told me, "It might solve the problem."

"But then you would be in a house full of gingers. Don't you want some diversity?"

He shrugged, "Brayden's not a ginger."

"So a house full of fiery red-headed women, one of which is pregnant, and a pair of brunettes with zero power again us. That sounds like a brilliant plan."

Rick pointed out, "Hey, I think Brayden has power over us all."

My smile then returned to B. "Is that right? Do you have powers over us all?" The boy giggled and squirmed. "Do you? Do you have powers over us? Yes you do, huh? Yeah." He laughed more and I went in to lay gentle kisses along his neck, making him squirm more and laugh harder. When I pulled away he continued to laugh for a moment until the ceiling caught his attention.

After this, Rick and I moved to the floor with B, letting him crawl around between us and around us, helping him stand clumsily when he came up beside us, holding our breath a bit every time he fell and still somehow managing to reassure him he was alright at the same time. Eventually he got a bit tired and ended up in my lap, playing with the bear Rick had dug out of the diaper bag. As the hours kept on, Castle and I eventually ended up in the break room on the couch. Somehow I was left with Brayden on my chest, feet strewn across the surface of the couch as my head laid against Rick's chest. Both he and I had our hands around Brayden, and in the comfort of the silence, this place suddenly felt no different than home.

Once B was asleep, it only took an hour-ish for fatigue to finally give me an ultimatum and I passed out too. After that, Rick never went to sleep. According to him, there was no need for sleep when he was already living his most precious dream. He stayed up, watching B and me sleep, making sure I didn't roll over or let go of Brayden while he scrolled his phone and lightly listened to a couple of the family videos on his phone. Of course, this is all he ever told me about that night, but for all I know he flew to Vegas and back.Still, when I woke up the next morning to the sound of the elevator opening in the bullpen, Rick was still holding me in his arms in the same pose I'd drifted asleep in, and Brayden was securely snoozing on my chest.

Gates had been the first one in and promptly informed Rick and me that the streets were clear. She told me to be in by nine, and allowed us to scurry off. To be completely honest, though, even taking Gates into account, that was one of the best nights of my life.