Thought I'd post this little tidbit and see what people thought. I came up with it when I was brainstorming for my NaNoWriMo fic, which is also about Castle. Tell me what you'd think and if you'd like more (or a longer piece). Oh, and I have no say in anything remotely related to official Castle decisions.

It's three in the morning when she calls him. At least, it's three in the morning by her. Because he's in California, on this stupid book tour Paula coerced him into doing. That's why it's only midnight when he hears two of the most terrifying, nerve-wracking, thrilling words Kate has ever said to him: I'm late.

He shoves his fist into his mouth and bites down – hard – to stop himself from crying out with joy, or saying something stupid. So, while his mind whirls around with images of him holding his baby boy, teaching his son how to play baseball, giving him his first Oxford dictionary, he manages to hear the rest of what she says.

"…could be nothing, since we've been careful, but I thought it important to let you know. It's probably nothing, just stress…" She is rationalizing; he can hear it in her voice, in the way each word has just a hint of a sigh behind it. Just stress? They'd been through a solid week and a half of paperwork before he had been practically frog-marched onto a 747 and shipped across the country. A week and a half so boring that Ryan had threatened to shoot Captain Gates so that there'd be a homicide to investigate.

"Have you taken a test yet?" He surprises himself with how calm his voice sounds. Richard Castle, actor extraordinaire. His mother would be so proud.

"No. I hadn't even noticed until now. Thought I'd do a couple of late-night errands, stock up on a few things. You know, while I have the time. Reached for some... lady things and realized that I hadn't needed them in a while." She doesn't say it, but he knows: she misses him, the same way he misses her. They've slept side by side for ten months now, and he feels the absence of her warm presence tonight. And the amazing boredom-breaking sex.

"I'll be on the next flight out. I just have to –"

"Don't be silly, Castle! You're on tour. It's a part of your job." He opens his mouth to object. "Your real job!" She emphasizes the real, and, even though it stings to hear, deep down he knows that she's right. But job be damned, if his girlfriend (partner, roommate, whatever they called each other) thinks something important enough to call about at any hour, his instincts tell him to go.

"I can reschedule. Sometime. Any time. As long as it's not a time when you may or may not be with childe." He hears the sharp intake of her breath at his words.

"Can you not say it like that? It makes me feel so…"

"Motherly, happy, excited?"

"How about nervous, faint, and queasy?" She suggests. For the first time, he hears the edge in her voice. It's hidden very well, but even over the phone, she's as familiar to him as one of his own manuscripts. He checks his watch 12:15. If he hangs up right now and hauls ass, he might just be able to catch a flight to the city. Might.

"Listen Kate, babe. I love you very, very much. See you soon!" As she utters cries of indignity he taps 'end call' and looks around his room. It's a mess: clothes scattered everywhere, after he'd been too lazy and too forlorn to pick them up, suitcase lying asunder beneath a pile of collared shirts. He makes a mental note to text Paula and hurries to get his wallet and keys. She would kill him, but he could deal with that later. Right now it's his job to get home as quickly as he can.