May 2016 (season 8) - wishful thinking.

"Castle, would you be quiet!" Beckett's hiss echoes through the break room and her eyes are sending daggers when Castle stumbles on his way back to the table.

"Sorry, sorry." The apology is fast. He sits next to her fast in order not to make a noise anymore and he is shaking his head.

"I swear to god, these new stools are like traps," he mutters. He shifts on his seat, making himself comfortable.

Kate just rolls her eyes.

"You are lucky that the boy has your skill for sleeping."

Castle smiles at that and looks over the table to the couch that is currently occupied by a sleeping baby. The tiny body is stretched out on the big, but uncomfortable looking couch, his tiny mouth open he is sleeping soundly. Every once in a while, his tiny fists shake, making him grimace in his sleep.

"Finally pooped out, eh?" he asks with a sparkle of joy in his eyes.

She sighs and smiles. "Finally. I thought that he was gonna stay up all day. But I guess Esposito and Ryan tired him out."

Castle chuckles at that.

"Now we know what to do when he is throwing tantrums again."

"Give him to Javi and Kevin?"

"Yeah, his uncles seem to be eager to play with him and tire him out," Castle offers. He leans his back against the stool and observes his wife across the table. "We should make a playdate. Introduce little Samuel to wee Seamus. He is already so big, I think they would get along eventually."

Beckett beams a smile at Castle. "I think that is a great idea. I will ask Kevin later to see if Jenny would agree to that."

The silence surrounds them once again as the eyes of both of the parents rest on their sleeping child. Finally Castle breaks the silence.

"You know, he reminds me of you."

Beckett throws a glance at Castle again. "It would be weird if he didn't."

Castle lets loose laughter. Of course. It's Beckett he is talking to, she hasn't lost her touch when it comes to teasing him.

"No, I mean… he is … now...I mean, the way he is sleeping there now. He just reminds me of you when I first discovered you sleeping in here."

"Oh?" Suddenly she is curious.

She leans a bit closer, still unable to let go of the teasing. "Do you mean that one time you ruined my precious, precious sleep with your stupid Espresso machine?"

"It's not stupid!" Castle finds him defending himself. "It still works."

"It was stupid at the time!" Beckett grins. "It was as annoying as you."

"Oh?" he grins back. "So, you found me annoying but you still agreed to marry me."

She doesn't falter a second and gets back at him in a matter of seconds, looking into his eyes, lovingly. "Well, we can't always get what we want."

"But I did," he mumbles, reaching out to take her hand, tugging it softly to his palm and surrounding it with his strong fingers. "I did get what I wanted." Of course, the theatrical pause is necessary. "You."

She doesn't answer him, only blushes slightly – the pink in her cheeks is slowly creeping to her neck.

"But changing the subject again. That wasn't the first time I found you here, sleeping."

She is puzzled now. She distinctly remembers him finding her sleeping just after the book-launch party of the first Nikki Heat novel. It had to be in the second year they worked together? It had to. She finds her voice after a minute of pondering.

"When?"

He tightens his hold around her hand for a second. "It was very shortly after we started working together. I think it was a week or two after the frozen body case. Remember?"

"Yeah," she breathes out, her minds still reeling. "We had a long and dragged out case after that. Took weeks to close. I especially remember all of the whining from you." She rolls her eyes.

"That's the one I am talking about," he nods, chuckling at her eyeroll. "I think you slept most of your days in the precinct back then," he adds softly.

She blushes again and tries to mock him. But the wave of gentleness in her voice takes off the edge. "Yeah, well, somebody had to figure out who the killer was while the lazy ones were sleeping."

"On the count of tiredness?" he asks, his face serious once again.

Not waiting for her to answer, he continues.

"I came back to the precinct because I had forgotten my notebook at your table. And, of course, I wanted to know if you had any breakthroughs on the case or not."

He doesn't say it out loud, but Kate can hear it in his voice. 'I just wanted to see you.'

"I came in the bullpen, but I couldn't find you anywhere. I thought it might be better to go back home, but I wanted to have some water before I headed out. So, I ventured here, to the break room. And there you were, sleeping right there," he points to the couch where their son is now sleeping, "sleeping on your back, just like him. One of your hands was on your stomach, the other was on the side of your head, curled around the paper you were reading before you fell asleep."

She is silently observing him as he speaks with a soft tone in his voice. The same one he uses for her and Samuel when he is telling a them a story, to his family.

"For the first time in my life, I saw you sleeping," he confesses. "You looked so peaceful. Nothing was bothering you. The concerned look you always had wasn't there anymore. You were at peace, with the smooth lines of your face you looked like a sleeping angel. Only with the tiny bit of drool trail you left on the pillow."

"I don't drool, Castle," she states teasingly. A slight grin crossing her lips.

"You do," he looks into her eyes, smiling. "And its adorable."

She clears her throat, straightening her features again.

"But, you didn't wake me," she states softly.

"No."

"No?"

"I couldn't bring myself to do it. You needed sleep. I knew that. So, I took the blanket from the edge of the couch and laid it over you. In return, you only mumbled something and turned yourself onto your side and continued sleeping. I couldn't leave. You were so mesmerizing, so beautiful… I .. just stayed here and watched you sleeping."

"Staring at me while I slept," she shakes her head, smiling. "Creepy."

"Esposito thought the same," he chuckles.

Kate's mouth hangs open. "What? Esposito? When?"

Unable to suppress his grin, he answers. "He found me staring at you in here. He kicked me out."

Beckett chuckles at that, "Nice, Espo. I can always count on him." She shakes her head in thought for a second. "So, basically you came in here to watch me sleeping? You must have been really bored."

"Heh," he shakes his head. "I was before I came here. But after Espo kicked out, I went straight to home that day and just wrote and wrote and wrote. You inspired me that night. I just saw Nikki Heat in a different light then and... I just had to write it down."

"Please tell me it wasn't the sex scene?" she pleads, laughing.

"No," he smiles. She sighs, relieved. But he continues, "I wrote the sex scene the day after that."

"Castle," she hisses.

"What?" he laughs. "I found you hot, alright. I thought you knew that."

"I knew that," she mumbles, her voice low. "I knew that."

"So. That's the story of the first time I saw you in here. And now there is Samuel, carrying on the old Beckett tradition and sleeping on the break room couch when he is tired of the long day at work."

"He's adorable," she mumbles again.

"Yeah, he is. Especially when he is sleeping."

Beckett nods, her eyes lingering on her son. "He truly is. Thank you, Castle. For sharing that story." She really means that. She tightens her fingers around his thumb to make him understand she is sincere.

He is observing her, his eyes wide and happy. He leans in closer to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. She does the same, closing her eyes and trusting him fully. Just when their lips are about to meet, a needy whine emerges from the couch.

The moment is broken. She presses her eyes shut for a moment and opens them to see Castle grinning back to her. She can't do anything but smile back.

"I'll get him," he says softly. He stands up, but doesn't walk away. Instead, his hand comes up to caress her face and his thumb lifts her face upwards. His lips meet hers in a soft kiss, making her sigh softly. As suddenly as his lips were there, they are gone. She opens her eyes to see Castle on the side of the couch, greeting their now awake son.

"Hey there, fella. Did you have a good sleep?" he coos. Samuel only lets out another whine and cringes his tiny face.

"Thought so," he smirks. "Let's take momma home, what do you think?"

This time Samuel is silent then, observing his father, his lips forming a perfect O.

"Good idea, right?" his daddy agrees.

Castle turns to Beckett, "Let's get his things and get out of here?"

Beckett nods, quickly rising from her chair and starts to shove some of the Samuel's things that were left on the table by Esposito and Ryan back to the bag. At the same time, Castle picks up his son into his arms and walks to the baby carrier that is already waiting for them on the counter.

Placing him there and strapping him tightly, he casually asks, "Everything went well with Gates?"

Beckett shoves the last things into the bag and nods. "Yes. We had a nice talk with her. I will get my old position back as soon as my maternity leave ends."

"Oh, great!" he cheers, lifting the carrier. Castle, with Samuel in his carrier in one hand, reaches for Beckett's hand with his other. "Let's go. You can tell me all about it in the car."

She smiles, walking next to him towards the elevator.

"Yes, Let's go."

Fin

Thank you, my dear readers. For reading this story, for sticking with me until I finished this one. I know, I am a real pain in the mik'tah when it comes to updating fast. I am so sorry you had to wait. But now, here it is. The last chapter of my fluffy fic. I hope you enjoyed it!

I wouldn't have done it with my group of cheerleaders/beta-readers – Sheyna and my crazy germans. Thank you!

Please leave a review too, I always love to hear from you!