baby

(do you think it's possible it could be twins and they not know? maybe one keeps hiding?)

don't worry about it

Alexis started to tell him something of her suspicion, that Kate was doing it just to toy with her dad, but she never got the chance. Castle turned around when he heard shouting and screaming. His reflexes kicked in when he saw a gun, and he pulled Alexis to the floor behind the stand of clothes they had been looking at.

"Don't talk, stay quiet," he whispered.

She clung to him, not arguing, as scared as a child again, only she couldn't remember ever being scared when she was a child. It was only recent years, since her dad met Kate, that things seemed to happen.

"It's alright sweetheart, I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know, Dad." She remembered the last time she'd been kidnapped and wished that her grandfather would show up again, or that Kate wasn't pregnant and could be in the field, that someone she knew on the outside was watching out for them, protecting them.

Castle closed his eyes, willing Kate to not watch the news, to not see what was going on. He didn't need her to stress, and he didn't want her here. He wanted her safe at home with his mother.

---

Kate had the television on, but she wasn't really watching. She had a case file Esposito had snuck to her, just for her opinion, but she wasn't really looking at that either. She was feeling the baby, her baby with Castle, move inside her as she listened to her grandmother rehearse for her latest play. Martha came into the living room to check on her daughter-in-law and stopped when she saw the news. Pictures filled the screen and she easily spotted her son and granddaughter on the screen, right near an armed man. She gasped involuntarily, which made her realise that Kate had not seen it yet. Kate shook out of her stupor, sitting up immediately, something that wasn't easy for her.

"Martha? Are you all right?" Her attention was on her mother-in-law, not the television.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I'm going to make some lunch. Can you help?"

"Of course." She thought it a bit strange since no one had been letting her help with anything lately, but she stood up anyway. As she turned to put the case file down, she saw the television. "Oh, my God." She felt dizzy and had to sit down for a moment.

Martha regretted her decision immediately. "Are you alright Kate?"

"Rick. Alexis." She tried automatically dialing their number and, when she didn't get either to pick up, dialed Esposito.

"Esposito."

"Javi, I need help." Her voice trembled, but she was trying to be strong for Martha.

"Kate? What's wrong?"

"Castle and Alexis, they were at the mall...the one that's being robbed."

"What are you talking about?"

"Channel 3. I can't get him on the phone, Javi, I can't reach either of them." She was sounding less and less like a strong, stubborn, take no prisoners cop and more like a frightened wife.

Esposito flicked the tv over to channel three and gasped. He watched for a second and then signaled for Ryan to come over. "I'm going to give the phone Ryan so I can talk to Gates."

"Okay."

Ryan took the phone. "Hello?"

Kate filled Ryan in on what little she knew, thinking of not too long ago when her goddaughter had been born under similar circumstances and pushed the thought aside. The one thing she could control right now was not letting Castle miss his daughter's birth. She would be just fine; she just needed the boys to tell her that she was overreacting, that Castle and Alexis were fine, and she could calm down.

"You're worried about Castle? Why? He can talk his way out of any situation Kate. You know that."

"If the next word out of your mouth is hormones, I'll shoot something, Ryan." She said, only half-joking. "I just have a bad feeling. I guess it's because I can't reach either of them. Castle's been glued to that phone for as long as I've known him and it's only gotten worse these past few months." She had had a slight scare right after they'd found out she was pregnant that made him hypersensitive, not that he wasn't overprotective of 'his girls' anyway.

"I wasn't going to say that. I know what it's like to want to spend all my time with my wife. But he'll be okay, he always is."

"It only takes one time, Ryan." She paused, looking at Martha's worried face. "You're right. Of course they'll be okay." She hoped she sounded convincing.

Ryan knew Kate was scared, he could hear it in her voice. He wanted to comfort her but didn't know how, so when Esposito finally returned from speaking with Gates, he was relieved. "Espo's back. You can talk to him again."

"Thanks, Ryan," she said softly, knowing he really did want to help. She wasn't sure anyone or anything could help except for talking to her family. "Hey, Espo. What did she say?"

"She got us on the case. We're heading down there now. But Kate?"

"Yeah?" She steeled herself to hear bad news.

"Stay home. Let us take care of this. You don't need to be stressing right now."

"I don't think I can." Kate said truthfully.

"You have too. Castle won't want you to be there in danger."

"You're right," she tried to smile.

"Please promise me Kate."

"Just bring them home for us, Javi."

"We will."

She hung up and tried to smile for Martha. "The boys are going there now. They'll bring them home." There was a sadness, a fear, in Kate's eyes that she couldn't cover.

Martha felt scared, but she hid it as she sat with Kate, her arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "They'll be okay. Do you want to go down there?"

Kate nodded. "I do." She wanted it more than she wanted almost anything. "It's killing me not to be able to protect them."

"Alright. Let's go."

Martha stopped the car, and got out quickly to help Kate. There was a crowd already, but they got through to the barricades anyway.

"Lanie? Are they okay?" asked Martha.

(R u still using Kate?)

(Okay, can we share her then?)

If u want her again, tell me.

Kate was shaking. "Is Castle okay Lanie?"