Chapter 19 – The Arrival

"No, no, no!" Rick called out in frustration, lost in the world of the characters on the screen.
He was the epitome of an overgrown twelve-year old boy complete with Superman boxers, adorably ruffled bed-hair and a half-eaten bowl of Cheerios on bed stand next to him. His brow was furrowed in concentration and his tongue on occasion peeked out of the confines of his mouth as his two thumbs worked furiously. Halo was proving to be a formidable challenge for the Master of the Macabre.
Kate sighed and shot a sideways glance at her husband as she continued to page through a magazine; her jaw set in annoyance. It was just past nine on a Saturday morning and he was playing video games, much to her irritation. Kate had been on bed rest for the past week – on doctor's orders – and was by now ready to go into labor at any minute. Obviously, her incorrigible, overprotective, man-child husband insisted that he do everything in their room to where she was confined to for the rest of her pregnancy. This 'everything' also included playing marathon rounds of Halo, Drake's Fortune, Medal of Honor and Resident Evil. Rick claimed that Alice reminded him of Kate – strong, feisty and hot.
His claim was met by a dramatic eye-roll.
"Shouldn't you be writing?" Kate asked, her attention back to the pages of the magazine.
"Mmmm," was his only response, his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth and his brow knitted together. Kate looked at him and failed to suppress a broad grin from overtaking her features; her annoyance dissipating in an instant. He turned to look at her momentarily and caught her expression, his brow furrowing even more.
"What?"
She bit her lower lip and smiled at him, simultaneously raising her nine-month pregnant body up towards him. "Nothing… You're just adorable." He returned a smile before Kate pressed her lips to his in a sweet, lingering kiss. She broke from the kiss and flashed him a sultry grin, her face inches from his. His eyes kept darting from her enticing mouth to her emerald green eyes, the remote control in his hands momentarily forgotten.
After a moment she spoke, amused at how quickly she could distract her husband. "Uh, Honey, I think they're about to kill you."
"Huh?" He turned his hazy eyes to the screen and quickly snapped into action. "Oh crap!" She laughed and moved to get off the bed.
"I'm going to take a shower."
"Mmmm," came his distracted reply. "No, no, no!"
About three minutes later…
The bathroom door swung open, revealing a relatively calm, but in labor Kate.
"Rick."
His attention was still glued to the screen. "Yeah?"
"My water just broke," she replied evenly. Rick snapped his head in her direction and his eyes grew wide. He leapt up and stumbled off the bed, falling over and crashing into the nearby lounge chair.
"Ow! Shit!" He absent-mindedly rubbed his injured shin. "Uh, okay, okay. Nobody panic! Just- just stay calm," he stammered, spinning around like a headless chicken. "Crap, uhmm, where are my pants? Dammit!"

XXX

"You okay?" He glanced at her for the third time in the space of fifteen seconds, his brow furrowed and his eyes wide with concern.
"For the millionth time, yes I am fine," Kate replied through gritted teeth as they hurriedly weaved through mid-morning traffic. "You just concentrate on the road."
"Remember to-"
"I swear, Rick, if you are going to tell me to breathe one more time, there's going to be a murder!" She snapped.
"Okay, okay… Just breathe."
If looks could kill, Richard Castle would be a dead man.

XXX

An few hours later… The waiting room of the Mount Sinai's maternity ward.
The waiting room was cluttered with six impatient and excited figures: one grandfather, one grandmother, one sister, an aunt and two uncles. The only person missing from the group was the Captain who had ordered Ryan and Esposito to keep him updated on Baby Castle.
"I bet you fifty bucks she threatens to kill him," Javier Esposito said to his partner with a broad grin.
"Too late, she already has. I heard her all the way down the hall," Lanie quipped with a smirk of her own.
"Bro, it's Beckett. Of course she's threatened him already," Ryan added with a wide smile.
The smile dropped from Esposito's face and his brow knitted together as he thought of another wager they could make. Apparently waiting for a baby to arrive wasn't the most exciting thing to do. He was bored out of his head. But he wasn't going to miss the arrival of Baby Castle for anything, so he suggested they do what they did best: bet on the Rick and Kate.
"I'm surprised Katie doesn't have her gun with her," Jim Beckett commented and everybody laughed, knowing full well that Kate, if she could, would be carrying her gun.
A wide smile overtook Javier's features as he turned to Lanie. "I bet you twenty he records everything."
"Count me in, bro!" Ryan said, quickly pulling his wallet.
"Yeah, that sounds like something Dad would try," Alexis said with a knowing grin and an eye-roll.
"And I bet you she threatens him with grievous bodily harm before he gets the chance to," Lanie shot back, quirking up an eyebrow.
Martha held out a twenty dollar bill to Lanie and smiled broadly. "I'm with you on that, Darling. Gun or no gun, my son is too scared of his wife to even try that."
After a few moments, everyone turned to Jim. "Well, Mr. B? You in?" Esposito asked, waving the few notes in his hand around.
Jim Beckett considered the offer for a moment, narrowing his eyes. "I bet you fifty he tries and loses a limb in the process."

XXX

Meanwhile…
"Smile sweetheart, you're doing great." Rick held up his iPhone, recording his panting and grunting wife while she all but broke his free hand in a death grip. She turned to look at him, hair plastered to her clammy forehead and her face flushed.
When she spoke, her tone was low and menacing. "Richard Castle, get that thing out of my face."
"But-"
"Castle, I swear if you don't stop recording now, I'm gonna shove that phone so high up your ass you'll cough it up!"
He immediately complied and said a silent goodbye to his hand in her death grip. 'Writing with one hand shouldn't be so bad,' the thought crossed his mind.
Dr. Anna Jones lifted her head over the blue sheet to look up at the dark-haired detective. When she spoke, her voice was firm and reassuring. "Alright Kate, it's now or never… I'm going to need you to push as hard as you can, okay? Just follow my instructions." Kate pursed her lips and only nodded in reply. She tightened her grip on her husband's hand, completely unaware of how he winced in pain. She didn't notice and he didn't care – they were about to meet their daughter. And that was all that mattered.
Ten minutes later…
"Aaaaarrggghhhhhh!"
"You're doing fantastic, Kate! C'mon, I can see her head!"
Rick pressed a kiss against his wife's clammy temple. "Honey, you're doing great." He was by now seated on the bed with her, his body wrapped around hers in an effort to lend both moral and physical support. She was now crushing both his hands in death grips.
"Okay, Kate, stop and take a breath for me. We're almost there," Dr. Jones calmly instructed.
Her face was red and she was panting, perspiration making her skin slick. "Aaaahhhhh!" She threw her head back against his shoulder in pain. After a moment she swung her head around to face her husband, her expression contorting in pain and her voice full of venom.
"I hate you!"
Rick looked at her in surprise, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Hate me? Why?"
"You and your stupid penis got me pregnant you bastard!" If it was any other situation, Rick would have laughed, but given the context and his wife's state of mind he only flashed her a sheepish smile. But then in typical Rick Castle fashion, he shot back:
"I and my stupid penis apologize, Sweetheart." If looks could kill, Richard Castle would be dead. Again.
Dr. Anna Jones couldn't help but smile in amusement at the exchange.
"Alright Kate, only a few more pushes. C'mon, I know you can do it!"
"I'm right here, Katie. I'm right here."
"I hate your penis and your stupid ssspppeeerrmmmm!" She reiterated through clenched teeth. "Gaaawwwwwwdddd!"
'We're never having sex again, are we?' the thought absent-mindedly rushed through his mind, his crushed hands by now numb with pain.
"The head is out, alright c'mon one more push. One more big push. You can do, Kate."
Kate was shaking her head vehemently, tears of pain and exhaustion and emotion streaming down her face. "No, no, I- I can't."
He planted a tender kiss in her hair. "You can and you will," Rick whispered into her ear as she continued to shake her head. "I love you. You can do this. You can do anything."
His soft assurance seemed to elicit one final surge of energy from her and taking a deep breath, Kate put her body through one final, excruciating push to bring their daughter into the world.

XXX

Fifteen minutes later...
Rick Castle was walking on air, utterly and wholly smitten. Completely, punch-drunk, head-over-heels in love with the tiny, pink (or rather reddish) bundle that came screaming into the world. It was love at first sight for them both. And he was sure that it would be the case for everyone who laid eyes on Elizabeth Johanna Castle.
He was grinning like an idiot as he turned the corner, blissfully unaware of anything outside the bubble that had enveloped him. He was a puddle of happy mush. If someone asked him to sign over his fortune right at that moment, he would. He would even hug it out with the world's worst dictator, he was so happy.
"Who's got two thumbs and a new baby girl?" He greeted with a large smile as he approached the small group in the waiting area. "This guy!" He pointed his thumbs to himself and laughed, his cobalt blue eyes shining brightly. The close family of loved ones leapt up and burst out into enthusiastic 'congratulations' and joyous 'we're so happy's', tight hugs and teary kisses.
For the following twenty minutes the proud father went on to gush about his healthy, 7.4 pound daughter while everyone listened intently. He swore high and low that she was the most beautiful baby in the hospital and very possibly the whole of New York. Or better yet the East Coast. Kate, by the end of his (colourful) version of events, was made out to be a combination of Rambo, Superwoman and G. I. Jane. He did, however, leave out the parts where she threatened to make him cough up his phone, where she cursed him and his male anatomy and also where she had weeped in pain and exhaustion. This whole experienced only confirmed what he already knew: she was extraordinary, he was happy and they were a family.
And that was all he needed.
"Bro, did you get to record it?" Esposito asked.
Rick's mouth quirked up into a sardonic grin. "I have a clip of about two minutes... before I was advised that my physical wellbeing would be compromised if I continued."
Consequently, and rather reluctantly, the pot was split evenly between the gamblers.

XXX

The next day...
Kate's eyes fluttered open lethargically as she felt the sensation of fingers gently weaving through her hair. She blinked a few times and glanced around before her emerald greens settled onto the familiar pair of cobalt blues watching her.
His features were engulfed by a bright smile. "Hey," Rick greeted softly, continuing to rhythmically comb through her hair.
She smiled faintly and tilted her head. "Hi." Her voice was still raspy due to sleep. "You watching me sleep again?"
He chuckled lightly and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah and I'm not apologizing for it." He bent down to kiss her gently, his lips lingering for a moment before breaking away.
"Still creepy," she commented, her eyes drooping once again. Suddenly remembering the small bundle that she had in her arms not to long ago, Kate's eyes shot open and she jerked upright. "Where's-" She turned her body to the other side as her eyes frantically searched for the little human being.
"She's right here, Honey," Rick said gently, moving out of her line of vision to reveal the tiny, sleeping and occasionally wriggling form of their daughter.
Kate sighed and relaxed before sitting up. "Give her to me," she said, smiling gently and holding out her arms. Her husband complied and carefully lifted the infant out of the cot, pressing a soft kiss on her head before handing Lizzy over to her mother. He went on to sit on the bed next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her.
A wide, all-consuming and completely mesmerized smile overtook Kate's features as she took the baby in her arms. "Hey there, Honey. Hey there Mama's big girl... Did you miss me, huh?" The small form wriggled and stretched, her tiny eyes blinking a few times and her little mouth opening and closing a few times before she settled into her mother's arms. Kate watched her daughter with rapt attention, a small smile fastened to her lips. "I love you." She briefly tilted her head up towards Rick before turning her attention back to Lizzy. "Me and Daddy love a lot, baby girl," she continued to coo.
They sat in content silence as they studied their beautifully crafted daughter carefully. Rick rested his chin on Kate's shoulder and braced the arm that was around her, next to her on the bed.
"She has your mouth," he commented.
Kate smiled and nodded. "She has your nose."
"Really? You think so?"
"Mmm-hmm."
Rick pressed a kiss against his wife's cheek. "She's perfect." His voice cracked slightly and his eyes became moist. Kate turned her head towards him and smiled tenderly before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
"Yes, she is."
"We make beautiful babies, don't we Mrs. Castle?"
The small smile that graced her lips now blossomed into a wide grin. "We sure do, Mr. Castle."
Silence descended once more as they sat quielty for a while, watching her sleep. Suddenly the sanguine smile on his face faded as his brow knitted together.
"Hey Kate?"
"Mmmm?"
His expression turned dead serious. "You don't really hate my penis, do you?"

X-X-X-X

You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like bird, dizzy in my head
Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night

You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile