A/N: Based on a tweet I saw (from BklynSquint ) and retweeted on twitter and took upon myself to take as a prompt from the universe. Thanks to Jessie for the cover.
Mugs in hand, hot chocolate to guard against the chill, Castle comes to a stop in the doorway of their bedroom and watches as she reads. White lettering on a black background offer up little in the way of light to brighten her face but her expression is intriguing.
His wife's amused by something.
She looks equally shocked and delighted, knees up to her chest, huddled to stay warm as she reads, eyes darting back and forth for every line.
He's loathe to disturb her, but, oh well. "Are you reading porn?"
Kate doesn't bat an eyelid as she slides the device low, till it nudges the tip of her nose, telling him she knew he was there all along. She casts him a long appraising look before speaking as if weighing up her options.
"If I says yes, how fast do you lose those pants?" She winks and he laughs, setting her mug on the bedside table. Not a fan of his action hero nightwear she's already banned the bandana from the bedroom.
"Too fast to be considered foreplay."
"Damn right," she mumbles, raising whatever holds her attention back up in front of her face.
Castle deposits his own mug and flops onto the bed, grinning when she groans, bouncing on the mattress with every huff and puff he gives, trying to get warm and intent on jostling her for attention in the process.
He's cold and he wants to snuggle.
She still ignores him. Humming and stroking the words on the screen, her eyes lost in the distance.
Worming in close, Castle traces the curve of her elbow with the tip of his still mug warmed fingers and drops his head to her shoulder. "Whatcha reading?"
Angelic eyes and a sweetly tilted head aimed in her direction with a beaming smile do not illicit quite the response he expects.
"Oh my god."
"What? Is there a spider on me again?" Castle scrunches his eyes shut, "Get it off and if you don't kill it this time please lie and say you did because last time -"
"Not that oh my god, this oh my god," she shoves the iPad under his nose, and taps hard on the screen, "Look."
Castle's eyebrows mirror her own as he prepares to be equally shocked by whatever it is, whatever salacious thing she's - oh, it's a list? "Hey that's me." He smiles, his eyes catching sight of the name Castle somewhere in the top ten before he catches sight of the title. "Woah."
"I know," Kate huffs under her breath, shaking her head.
"No, no I don't mean woah that's my name, I mean woah that's my name on a list of baby names."
"Unusual baby names." She clarifies.
"Babies."
"I know."
He gulps and swallows hard, "You were looking at baby names?"
"Yeah." Kate shrugged.
"Yeah?" He clears his throat, tries to rid himself of the squeaky, "Yeah?" Doesn't work. Still sounds like a castrated mouse.
Kate sighs, "No - I don't mean - but well, yeah?"
His eyes drop dramatically, sitting up and angling himself in the bed to stare down at her body hidden beneath the bed covers. "Are you -?"
His hands wave across her abdomen like a wizard over a pot, gestures a little crazy, much like himself.
Her eyes fly wide and she snatches the list back from his hands before he loses grip on the iPad with all his wild gesturing, "No. No, not that, just-"
She's been thinking about it?
Oh, she's been thinking about it.
He grins and he prods, expecting denial that she was in fact scanning the "People Magazine list of unusual baby boy names" with intent and purpose.
"Were you doing research?"
"Yes." She shrugs again and bites on her lip to hold back a laugh when Castle splutters and comes closer.
"Yes?"
"Yes," she states with perhaps a little more defiance than she intends.
"For?" His eyes narrow and he really is trying to not be shocked or over enthusiastic but he was kinda planning on bringing this subject up soon himself.
Kate looks at him in the sweet loving way she does when he's halfway to the insane asylum, the I could shoot you but you're kinda good in bed way, the eh I already married you way.
He grins.
Wife.
"For the future." She states it like he's lost his marbles and possibly the bag they came in.
Castle lets out a breath, "Okay, okay good." That can be enough for now, but "Any plans on how far in the future? Because that's not what I was expecting to be getting for Christmas and if it is I really need to get you something better."
She rolls her eyes and that's gonna heat his blood even when he's seventy and too slow to catch her to do anything about it.
"You're not getting it for christmas."
He snorts as her tongue pops out between her teeth and they both grin, honeymoon phase still very much in effect in the bedroom department.
Her cheeks flush and she eyes him hungrily, "Well you might be getting that for Christmas, but not the other thing."
"The baby thing?"
"Ugh don't call the baby thing a thing." She covers her face to hide only to reappear instantly, "It's not a thing."
"Not a Christmas thing." He hedges.
"No." She's adamant.
"New years?"
"No."
"My birthday?"
"Mmm, no..."
Oh, that sounds more like a question.
"Your birthday?" He waggles his eyebrows, very content to enjoy some alone, married people time with his gorgeous, somewhat crazy in her own delightful way, very recently wed wife.
"Mmmaybe?" She catches his smile and throws it right back, "we could talk about it?"
He lights up and pushes her back so she's flat on the pillows and he's rising over her, intent on swooping in to kiss all over her face, only to change his mind at the last second and dive for the list, leaving her all puckered up with no where to go.
Huffing her hair out of her eyes, Kate shifts up onto her elbows, "Hey?"
"Sorry, sorry," he pats her hand absentmindedly, scanning the list again, "I wanna see what other names made the cut. D'you think I'm on here cos of the book sales?
"Nope." She pulls it out of his hands and laughs when he pouts, hiding the iPad under her pillow.
"What, why?"
"Because you'll already wana name the kid something bizarre or literary or completely spacial and obscure -"
"Ach."
"Cosmo?"
He frowns.
"You don't need help fueling your imagination with the weird ones."
"I like the weird ones." His pout fades out into a devilish grin.
Kate eyeballs her husband, all gleeful, wide blue eyes, bright smile and fanboy pajamas, envisioning a couple of teenie versions of him tugging on her pant legs when she comes home from work
"Yeah," she laughs, pushing him back so she can climb into his lap for a smacking kiss, "I like the weird ones too."