Frozen Love (A Castle Fanfiction)

Final Preparations

Time seemed to be standing still in the precinct, or at very least dragging on, longer and longer. It was right about four-thirty, the baby was moving like crazy, and the time seemed to be dragging on and on. Castle was still in the empty conference room on the phone with his mother who'd called about three times a day every day for the past five days. She wasn't in town and she wouldn't be for another day or so, but since Rick and I were expecting a phone call this evening, sometime after midnight for the doctor to call us in and induce, Martha wanted to be sure we weren't being called in early. As my hand lay flatly against the spot on my stomach were Brayden's foot pushed against my skin to the point where it was possible to see his foot, I thought about the fact that in less than twenty-four hours, I would be able to hold him in my arms.

I was done with the paperwork that I needed to finish. I had closed the final case that needed to be closed before I left. I was ready to leave, but I still had a half an hour to wait. Rick walked in with a decaff coffee for him and an un-caffeinated soda for me. Nerves had set in and I'd begun to feel ill about all of this. It was nothing a fizzy soda couldn't cure, but it was obvious to the man who'd come to be an expert on my body language over the last nine months. When he got to me, I took the can from him and he sat. "Are you as ready for this as I am?" Castle asked. Considering how absolutely prepared he was, having already put in the car seat, having charged three cameras and having already bought a baby book, he was much more prepared than I was.

All I was ready for was getting the baby out of me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved being able to know that my son was alive every time he moved and I loved being close to him, but carrying him had taken a toll on my body. Any mother who has carried their child will tell you that by the end of their pregnancy, they were just ready to go into labor. I just wanted the kid out of me, God bless his soul. "I can't wait," I said with a loving smile.

Ryan then rolled up to my desk, kicking at the floor and spinning his chair toward the two of us. "So? How does if feel to know that your days of sleep are behind you?" I looked at him with a condescending smile of irritation, but Rick just laughed sarcastically. It ultimately meant the same thing. "No, seriously though. How does it feel?"

"Remarkable," Castle replied, moving his hand from the table and to the swell of my stomach.

Sito quickly joined us and asked, "Does this mean we won't be your favorite kids anymore?"

"Oh, Espo. Don't worry. This baby could never come between us," Castle taunted, "Just because I'll love him more doesn't mean I love you less." I simply chose to ignore the comments and rolled my eyes at their foolishness. Rick continued to speak, but lost the teasing in his tone, "You boys sure you can handle things around here without the A team?"

Ryan nodded and replied, "I'm pretty sure we can handle things without mommy and daddy looking over our shoulders."

"Alright," Rick mocked, "But don't hesitate to call if you get scared. Remember, they're only killers. They aren't the monsters in your closet or under your bed."

"Okay, question," Esposito asked in all seriousness. I looked up from the computer and toward him for this. "Which one of us is the god-father?"

I couldn't help but playfully ask, "What makes you think it's either of you? We have friends outside of you two, you know."

"Yes, but you both know us. You see us every day," Esposito explained thoroughly. "I mean, we're obviously going to see him more than any of your other friends and we'll be there for every birthday anyway. Besides, who better to take care of a cop's kid than a cop?"

The writer teased, "Anyone. And he'll be a writer's son too, you know. He'll basically be like the purest form of ADHD there is. Her hyper-vigilance and energy and my creativity and rambunctiousness, plus our combined habits of trouble making will all be brewed into our little champ. Neither of you would stand a chance." My nerves grew at this assessment of our son.