Title: Trouble Comes in Threes
Author: NickyM96
Rating: K+
Summary: Beckett faces a test she didn't study for and one she's not sure she wants to pass
Spoilers: Nothing big. You should be fine so long as you've seen Episode 5x17 – Scared To Death
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own entertainment purpose and will return them for the next user when done.
Chapter 1
Kate Beckett walks down the long, dark corridor leading to the morgue. Her steps are light and lively and a smile graces her face, all signs that she's not there for official police business. She is curious, however, to know why her friend, and medical examiner, Lanie Parish called her.
"I'm here," she calls out when she enters the morgue. "What's up?"
"Castle with you?" Lanie asks.
"No. He didn't come with me to the precinct today," Beckett explains. "He had some writing to do, but he's picking me up later. Why?"
Beckett's curiosity gets the better of her when she sees a nervous looking Jenny Ryan across the room.
"Seriously, what's going on here?" Beckett asks, looking back and forth between the two women.
"Jenny has an experiment she needs our help on," Lanie says, an amused smirk on her face. "Why don't you explain it, Jenny."
"Okay, so you know how Kevin and I are trying for a baby," she starts, pausing when both Lanie and Beckett roll their eyes. "What?"
"Yeah, we know," Beckett laughs. "Ryan can't really keep a secret."
"Anyway," Jenny says, raising her voice to speak over the giggles. "These stupid home pregnancy tests are driving me crazy. I keep reading about false positives and false negatives. How do I know if it's too early? Or if the test is any good or accurate or reliable or …"
"Okay, we get the picture," Beckett interrupts her. "But, Lanie is the doctor. I don't really have a lot of experience with home pregnancy tests. So what am I here for?"
"You're here to be a part of the experiment." Jenny steps aside to reveal the table behind her filled with rows of home pregnancy tests. "I went to the store and bought some of the more popular tests. I bought one of each test for each of us."
"Why would I take a home pregnancy test? I'm not pregnant," Beckett says slowly, as if explaining to a small child.
"Of course," Jenny giggles nervously. "That's why I want to you take the same tests I take. That way, I'll have a basis for which ones are more accurate."
Beckett gives Lanie a confused look and opens her mouth to speak, only to be cut off.
"Jenny, why don't you start first. There's a restroom through those doors," Lanie directs her. Once the woman is out of ear shot, she turns back to Beckett. "Let's just humor her. They've been trying for this baby for so long and she just needs something to do. I figured it would be harmless enough to just go with her on this."
"So we're just going to sit here all afternoon taking pregnancy test after pregnancy test until she gets the results she wants?"
"Why not?" Lanie shrugs. "Besides, I think these tests are going to give her the results she's looking for."
"And you know this …. how?"
"I just have a sense about these things," Lanie teases before getting a look from Beckett.
"Okay, it's like you said. I'm a doctor. So I ran a blood test on her. Came back positive," Lanie smiles.
"Aww," Beckett coos, a huge smile growing on her face. "They're having a baby!"
"Shhhh! I told her the blood tests would take a few more hours than they really did. She's so excited about this big home pregnancy test experiment, I didn't want to burst her bubble. And us being the good friends that we are, we're going along with it. So stop with all the faces and go pee on the sticks."
"You're ridiculous," Beckett laughs, but takes her own batch of tests into the restroom.
"We'll see who's laughing after this, Detective," Lanie mutters to herself. She has a feeling her friend will be getting a surprise of her own.
Beckett watches Jenny pace nervously around the lab and wonders why Lanie just won't put the woman out her misery.
"Lanie," Beckett whispers. "Can't we just tell her. She's starting to drive me crazy."
"Relax, good things come to those who wait. We want to make sure all the tests have time to be done."
Beckett looks around at the three separate tables holding the three separate batches of tests, one belonging to Jenny, one for Beckett and one for Lanie. Each table is covered with a cloth to keep the results a secret.
Finally the bell rings on the timer and Jenny runs across the room to her table.
"What did we agree on?" Lanie calls out to her, stopping her from lifting the cloth. "I'll reveal the results."
Lanie slowly walks to the tables, trying to draw out the suspense.
"I'll start with Test 1 for all of us. This was the cheap one you bought three for a dollar from the vendor on the corner. No surprise that they're all negative," Lanie says, pulling revealing all three test indicators.
"Oh," Jenny sighs dejectedly.
"Don't worry," Beckett tries to soothe her. "Did you really expect that one to work?"
"Next text … all positive," Lanie reveals, a furrow in her brow at the results. "Hmm, these tests probably aren't very accurate, either."
"But, that's one positive for me. I'll take it, even if it is just a false positive." Jenny leaps up to take the indicator.
"What about the other tests?" Beckett asks when Lanie remains quiet, still staring at the rest of the hidden results.
"This doesn't make any sense," she mutters, more to herself than to the other two women in the room.
"What doesn't make any sense?" Jenny asks, worry creeping into her voice. "They're negative, aren't they? I'm not pregnant."
"No," Lanie says, causing Jenny to slump in her seat.
"No," Lanie corrects herself quickly. "I meant no they're not negative. They're positive. Jenny, I have 6 tests here saying you're pregnant. Congratulations, Sweetie."
"Really?" Jenny screeches, tears flowing down her face. "They're all positive? I'm pregnant?"
Jenny runs to the tables and pulls all the covers off, eager to see the proof for herself. She gathers up all her tests when she stops suddenly.
"Huh, they're all positive."
"That's what Lanie says," Beckett smiles, thinking the woman is just so flustered she can hardly think straight.
"No, they're all positive. All of them. Even yours and Lanie's," Jenny explains. "Oh no. Don't tell me they're all defective."
A cold pit suddenly fills Beckett's gut. How could they all be positive?
'They have to be defective,' Beckett thinks to herself, not wanting to voice that opinion out loud and risk disappointing Jenny. She looks to Lanie, who's looking just as perplexed as she is.
"Let me check your blood test," Lanie manages to say, still staring in shock at the table full of positive pregnancy tests. "Those results should be ready by now."
'How can they all be positive?' Beckett repeats to herself. It's the only thought in her head. She can't seem to wrap her mind around what appears to be happening.
"So I really am pregnant," Jenny sighs after getting the blood test results. She hugs Lanie tightly. "Thank you so much for this. I'm going to go tell Kevin right now."
She practically skips out the room leaving two shell shocked women in her wake.
"Lanie ..."
"Let's just do a blood test before we assume anything," Lanie interrupts her. "No need borrowing trouble."
She moves to prepare all the tools needed to draw blood.
"You knew, didn't you?" Beckett asks her. "That's what this silly experiment was all about."
"There's been something different with you the past few days, so yes. I suspected with you," Lanie confesses. "But not me. There has to be a mistake."
"I doubt there's a mistake," she sighs in resignation, cringing when the syringe enters her arm. "All of Jenny's tests were positive and she's pregnant. All of ours were positive too, Lanie."
They endure the long wait in silence, only breaking that silence when the proof can no longer be denied. Lanie hands Beckett her test results and watches the blood drain from the woman's face when she reads them.
"So, what are you going to do?" Lanie curiously asks her control freak of a friend. Getting side swiped by this kind of news can't be easy for her.
"What am I going to do?" Beckett asks angrily. "I'm going to kill Castle."