Setting: Little Bean verse, about a year and a half after the wedding.

I made your favorite.

She loved standing outside the front door, and listening to the sound of her family from within. The girls loved to team up, and kick his ass playing laser tag. She usually heard Carrie squealing with delight as she ran from him, Alexis barking orders like a drill sergeant. Sometimes she heard a crash as Rick fell, tripping over something in the dark. Despite the bruises that happened to show up after their battles, he never refused them, always willing to have fun with their family.

Sometimes she heard singing. Sometimes they were just singing along with movies or music, having their own little dance parties. Sometimes Martha came over, and the piano would be accompanying them, her shouts urging them to sing "with feeling!"

Kate wondered sometimes what people who walked by thought when they saw her leaning against the doorframe, her ear pressed to the door and a smile on her face. She attracted strange looks, people raising an eyebrow at her, some stopping to see what she would do next. Those times she would pull out her key, letting herself into her apartment and leaving the outsiders behind. Once, a woman told her she was going to call the police if she didn't leave. Kate pulled out her badge, flashing it at the woman. "Go ahead, but you'll be the one that looks ridiculous. That's my family in there." With that she entered the apartment, interrupting Carrie's performance of Part of Your World, her daughter throwing herself at Kate's legs.

Today it wasn't quite as lively. She heard some chatting, muffled voices discussing and laughing, but she couldn't discern anything. She entered at the girls' laughter, their giggling bringing a smile to her face. "What's so funny?" She asked them, both her girls greeting her at the door with a hug.

"Dad's pretending he can speak French, and he keeps saying things with a silly accent." Alexis told her, her blue eyes rolling as she made her way back to the kitchen.

Kate knelt down to kiss her daughter's cheek, the four-year-old vibrating with energy. "Do you want to learn French someday mon petite fève?"

Carrie giggled, snuggling in closer to her mother. "Someday. Not today." The girl pressed a kiss to Kate's cheek before running off to join her sister and father in the kitchen.

There, Rick was pulling dinner out of the oven, the smell hitting her nostrils and making her mouth water. He took off his oven mitts and made his way over to her, his hand falling to her abdomen as his lips met hers. He pulled away, his eyes meeting hers. "How was work? How are you feeling?"

Her smile was soft as she grabbed his hand, still resting on her abdomen. "Fine. To both of those questions, I'm fine." The morning sickness had hit her hard this time around, and she was thankful that now she had someone to support her through it. When she was pregnant with Carrie, it was scary, and she felt all alone. Now she was pregnant with their child, and it was their happy little secret, at least for a couple more weeks. "Dinner smells amazing, though."

His grin stretched across his face as he removed his hand from her stomach, and pulled her to the table. "Good. I made your favorite."

The girls had set the table, they had even tried to fold the napkins like the Chinese restaurant did. They were sitting in their seats, hands folded with their plates in front of them, waiting to start. When Kate saw what was on their plate, she pulled her husband in for another kiss. "Manicotti. Thank you, babe."

"Anytime." A not so subtle clearing of their oldest's throat caused him to turn his head, meeting her eye. "You can start. You don't have to wait for us."

"Thank you, I'm starving!" Came Carrie's desperate reply as she dug in, making the adults giggle.

"How?" Rick teased her, picking up his and her plates. "You've been stealing little bits all night!"

Carrie giggled, her brown eyes mischievous as she shoveled the food into her mouth. "I just am!"

Kate sat in her seat, and flashed her daughter a warning look. "Carrie Jo, please don't talk with your mouth full. It looks gross and makes me feel sick."

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Sorry."

"Are you feeling better today, Mom?" Alexis asked her, studying her face.

Rick dropped her plate in front of her, and Kate picked up her fork, her mouth watering. "Much better, I can't wait to fill my belly!" The girls laughed at that, Kate demonstrating her hunger by taking the largest bite of manicotti she could handle, the girls watching her with wide eyes. She took a few more bites before she realized what she really wanted, her tongue longing for something salty, greasy, and rough to go with the delicious manicotti her husband had slaved over. "You know what would go great with this, babe?" His eyes shone as he looked at her, one eyebrow pulled upward in silent question as he finished the bite he was working on. "Tater tots." She answered, the girls giggling despite her straight face.

Her husband raised his eyebrows, regarding her with curiosity. "Tater tots? I would never have put those two together."

She went back to her plate, her shoulders shrugging. "I don't know, I can't explain it. I just want tater tots. It just kind of came from nowhere."

She heard Rick sigh, his chair scraping the ground as he stood. "At least it's not something weird, like pickles and bacon."

She scrunched her nose at that, a wave of nausea washing over her at just the thought. "Gross! No, just tater tots." She heard the oven beeping, a bag opening, and the squeak of the oven door. He sat back down beside her, his eyes dancing with amusement. She leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

Over the next couple of weeks, she ate tater tots with everything. Chicken noodle soup, pancakes and eggs, even Chinese food. She brought them with her to work and ate them while she translated, earning strange looks from her coworkers. Her Dad even commented on it once when he came over for dinner, but he stopped teasing once he realized why that was all she wanted to eat, his excitement at the revelation out shining Martha's.

Once Carrie understood that yes, there was a baby in Kate's tummy, her hands didn't leave it for the rest of the night, the young girl desperate to feel it. They'd tried to tell her it was too soon, but she didn't care. "So, the baby makes you want to eat so many tater tots?"

Kate laughed, her fingers threading through the girl's curls. "Yep. The baby loves tater tots. And since the baby eats whatever I eat, I eat tater tots to make it happy!"

The girl's eyebrows knit together as she looked up at her mom. "Did I like tater tots when I was in your belly?"

"Nope." Kate lowered her head to whisper in her daughter's ear. "You liked bananas and apples. And sometimes cheesecake."

"Apples are my favorite!"

Rick dropped a bowl of tater tots in Kate's lap, and a bowl of popcorn on the table in between Carrie and Alexis. Kate met his eyes as he sat, switching to the DVD player. "Thanks, babe!"

"Anytime." He wiggled his eyebrows at her playfully. "Just watch how many of those you eat, or else that baby is going to turn into one."

She felt Carrie's fingers grasp her shirt tighter, her head snuggling even more into Kate's chest. "Yeah, that would be interesting." She teased back, rubbing her daughter's back.

Alexis stuck her hand into the bowl of popcorn, eating each piece individually with her tongue. "Daddy, what did Mommy like to eat when I was in her belly?" She asked him in between pieces, not wanting to be left out.

"Swedish fish. It's why your hair is so red."

She rolled her eyes, something Kate both loved and hated that the young girl had picked up from her. "Really, Dad?"

He held his hands up in defeat, a smile playing on his features. "Okay Pumpkin, you got me. That's not why your hair is red. But she did eat a lot of Swedish fish." His eyes travelled to Kate. "But I learned from Meredith. She sent me on a 3AM run for the candy once and it was not easy to find a store that was open and had them in stock. That's why I now keep three bags of tater tots in the freezer at all times."

"I wouldn't make you go get them for me!" Kate protested, Alexis giggling in the chair next to her. "I would wait until the morning and get them myself."

"You say that now." His grin was smug as he hit play, silencing the rest of the conversation and focusing his attention on Peter Pan.

Carrie fell asleep on Kate during the movie, her head sliding from Kate's chest to her stomach, soft snores resonating in the room. Rick carried her to her bedroom, citing heavy lifting guidelines to her. Kate followed them, helping him tuck her in and placing a soft kiss to her temple.

The next day was one of the lively ones outside the apartment. She could hear Madonna music playing. More specifically, Material Girl was blaring from his stereo system. She could hear the girls singing along at the tops of their lungs, and she wondered just how many times they had listened to that song today. Her suspicions were confirmed when the same song started playing again. She opened the door, finding the girls dressed in old outfits of Martha's, with multiple feather boas and chunky jewelry around their necks and wrists. "It looks like Grams visited today!" She observed, kneeling down to meet their embraces.

"Grams brought us costumes!" Carrie enthused, showing off her sequined jacket.

Kate laughed, pressing a kiss to the young girl's curls. "That's great, Bean! It fits you perfectly!" Carrie smiled at that and ran off after her sister, the two girls dancing in the living room to the music.

Kate found her husband in the kitchen, pouring the last of the apple juice into Carrie's cup. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you give me a ton of shit for listening to Madonna way back before we were a thing?"

"They won't let me turn it off." He whispered, trying not to alert them, "help me! I'm slowly losing my mind!"

She laughed, releasing him and taking Carrie's cup from his hand. "You are the boss, you can say 'no' to a couple of children." She set the cup down at Carrie's spot.

His arm snaked around her, and he directed her attention to their daughters, having a dance off in the middle of the living room. "Look at how adorable they are, though! I'm powerless to deny them whatever will make them happy!" He rubbed his palm over her abdomen, the bump just starting to pop out. "I hope that there is a little boy in there. I'm a little outnumbered and could use the support."

She quirked her eyebrow upward as she met his eye, the laughter she was trying to hide coming out in her voice. "What makes you think you'll be any less powerless with this one? When he looks up at you and asks you for the world, are you going to be able to deny him? Or her?"

"No. But maybe he'll be on my side."

"Not until he's old enough to talk for himself. And until that happens, those girls are going to talk for him." She kissed his cheek. "So he will be coerced to their side."

"Don't ruin my fantasy with your logic." He pouted, his eyes locked on their daughters.

"You love it." She squeezed his hand at her side before moving away to address her daughters. "Okay girls, turn off the music and take off anything with feathers please. It's time to eat." They groaned but complied, Alexis pausing the stereo while Carrie put her boas on the couch. Kate turned back towards the table, giggling as her husband mouthed thank you in her direction. She sat down at her spot, waiting for him to bring the plates over. "What did you cook us?"

"I made your favorite." He answered from the stovetop, his back still facing her. "And other things, of course."

"Tater tots?"

He turned to her, his smile wide at her ridiculous question. "Tater tots."

"Even for us?" Carrie asked from her seat.

When he walked over with the four plates balanced in his hands, placing them down in front of the people they were intended for, it confirmed her question, healthy portions of tater tots on everyone's plate. "Even for you." He grinned at Kate, his eyes dancing. Her heart skipped a beat when he looked at her like that. "Enjoy."