"The stakes are high.

The water's rough.

But this love is ours."

"Ours" Taylor Swift

The soft taps of keys being pressed on the keyboard ring out through the quiet expanse of the loft, soon followed by a low grunt of frustration. Rick Castle is no stranger to the inexplicably, exasperating world of writer's block, though, this instance has the author unusually tense. Sighing to himself, Castle scrolls through his work one last time before saving it and closing the laptop for the night - finally. He clumsily wipes a hand across his face and through his disheveled hair, while simultaneously leaning back into his chair. The moment his head makes contact with the plush backing a loud yawn escapes, causing his eyes to flutter closed; he wishes nothing more than for sleep to claim him.

A few moments later, a quiet laugh is heard from across the room and it causes Rick's eyes to pop open; he's completely caught off guard by another person's presence in the office. Shaking his head a couple of times, as if to clear the last bit of sleep haze from his mind, he allows his gaze to drift toward the source of the noise. His mouth curves into a bright smile upon spotting his extraordinary wife leaning against the door frame. Her damp hair is pulled back into a loose braid, with a few tendrils framing her perfect face.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," she says after a few moments. The teasing smirk that spreads across her face is soon replaced by a breathtaking smile.

Castle simply rolls his eyes at her comment as he stands from his chair, and striding across the room, his lips seek out hers in a lingering kiss. Smiling up at him, Kate winds her arms tightly around his neck as her hazel eyes meet his. Tilting his head curiously to the side, he takes in her expression. Seeing his unasked question, Beckett answers with a simple shake of her head, before twining their fingers together, and gently guiding him into the living room.

The room is dimly lit; glasses of red wine sit on both sides of the small coffee table next to…

Wait. What?

"Scrabble? Really, Beckett?"

Not what I was expecting, but okay.

His eyes narrow into slits as he turns to face her. The look of confusion on his face seems to be mildly amusing to her - a small chuckle escaping past the detective's lips. She nods in acknowledgment to his question and giving his hand a firm tug, she leads him the rest of the way into the dimly lit room. Taking a seat on the floor, she gestures for him to do the same on the opposite side. The game board is perfectly placed in the center of the table, with a rack of game tiles situated in front of both the detective and the writer.

Castle can't help but feel as though he is missing something, although game night has become something that the pair has grown rather fond of lately. The author sets his suspicions aside as he plops down onto the floor in front of the table, pausing only to take a lengthy sip of the red wine that is closest to him. Beckett smiles at her husband from across the table, her lips contorting into a mischievous grin as she begins to place her tiles three spaces above the starting square.

"E. X. P. E. C. T."

Castle's brow furrows in concentration as he examines his letters in preparation for his turn. Flashing Beckett a competitive grin, he adds onto her finished word with the letters I, N, and G, and she laughs around her wine glass in response.

"Expect-ing."

Narrowing her eyes at his move, Kate swallows her sip of the deep red liquid, before placing the glass back onto the table and moving to draw six tiles out of the game bag. She takes her time to analyze the new letters, looking over them with great care before placing them onto the board. Beckett proceeds the first E of her previous word with the letters B, A, and then B; flashing him a knowing smile upon finishing.

"B. A. B. E."

Rick's heart flips in his chest as he watches her create the latest word. The corners of his eyes crinkling in happiness as his lips turn up, mimicking her smile; it's the name she solely reserves for him. Seeking out her hand from under the table, he gives it a gentle squeeze before returning his attention back to their game. Humming in concentration, he ponders how to retaliate. Reaching into the draw bag with his free hand, Castle removes three tiles to refill his rack. The author's eyes flutter rapidly between the game board and his unused letters as he carefully selects his next word. After a few moments of thinking, he selects his tiles and choosing to utilize the letters L, O, and V, he puts them on the board before the E in expecting, winking at Kate from across the table as he finishes.

"Love."

Smiling at his word choice, she reaches forward, lovingly stroking her thumb across the back of his hand as she begins placing her next word onto the board. She elects to play off the letter P in the word expecting, and her heart beats rapidly inside her chest as she slowly places the letters R, E, G, N, A, N, and T onto the board. Capturing her bottom lip in between her teeth, Kate slowly looks back up at her partner, unable to hold back the smile threatening to light up her entire face.

"P. R. E. G. N. A. N. T."

Castle nods once at seeing his partner's word choice before taking another small sip from his glass, and he hums in approval as his eyes drift down to see what he can play to even the score. His brow furrows in confusion upon seeing that he only has one letter left and he becomes even more confused when he notices that the draw bag is empty as well. He knows for a fact that they have not been playing long enough to have gone through all of the letters. Opening his mouth to say something, he simultaneously lifts his eyes up to meet Kate's, however, the expression of pure love and adoration plastered on his wife's face renders him completely speechless.

What am I missing?

Tilting his head to the side in uncertainty, he glances back at the game board, mentally reviewing the words in his head.

Expect.

Expecting.

Babe.

Love.

Pregnant.

His eyes widen in realization as he gradually meets her gaze once more before turning his attention back to the board, only so that he may place his final letter down. Gradually he places the W above the letter E in the word pregnant, swallowing hard against the myriad of emotions beginning to form in his throat, and giving Kate's hand a hard squeeze, he attempts to find his voice.

"Is this…?"

Flashing her husband a million dollar smile, she nods rapidly in reply to his question. Rising to her knees, she scoots across the carpet toward his side of the table, linking both of their hands together, her hazel eyes flutter up to meet his blue.

"Babe, we're pregnant."

A/N: There is an obvious pregnancy discrepancy written in this chapter. It was written intentionally and I plan to address it in a later chapter.

More to come, I promise!

Thanks to Kylie for beta-ing!

Feedback and reviews are appreciated.

Thanks for reading!