Hello all! I warn in advance that life and work are busy, so I will try to update at least once a week. If I can do more, I will. I hope you enjoy, as this story is going to be packed with twists and turns for sure!
This story is a sequel to the story "Changes." You will definitely want to head over and read that first.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the major characters in this story, with the exception of Lucy. She's all mine.
A drop in the ocean
A change in the weather.
I was praying that you and me might end up together.
It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert.
But I'm holding you closer than most.
'Cause you are my heaven.
- A Drop in the Ocean, Ron Pope
Lucy Castle, as her name had been legally changed to, was a thriving girl of nearly 7 years old. When she smiled, her missing teeth clearly showing, the room lit up; and with the holidays approaching soon, the girl was doing a lot of smiling lately.
In the cold December afternoons, when she wasn't taking her ballet lessons or singing lessons, and once her homework was done, she and Rick would work on various arts and crafts together. The first order of business was a multi-colored paper chain, so that Lucy could remove a link each day and count down the precious days until Christmas.
After that, they worked on making presents for everyone in the family. They found a material that resembled cement, and it enabled Lucy to cast her hand prints into it. They decorated the still wet material in glittery jewels and set it to dry. Once it was finished drying, she would paint it and they would attach a hook to the back so that Kate could hang it wherever she wanted to.
Alexis was getting a hand-made picture frame, and Martha a painted and glazed vase that Lucy made on the pottery wheel in her art class at school. All that was left was Rick, who was unaware that Lucy and Kate had been working together on painting a coffee mug for him.
She painted a picture of their family on the sides of the coffee cup, making Rick's head enormous and his legs little sticks. It was adorable, and Kate was going to get a kick out of telling him that even their daughter thought he had a big head. Any time she could get her hands on some of that wonderful, lose the ego ammunition, she took it.
The family spent the summer growing accustomed to their lives together, as newlyweds and as a new family. There was a great sense of security in knowing that Lucy wasn't just a foster child, or someone they had temporary custody of. She was legally their daughter, for better or worse, and they were in it for the long haul.
With the fall came Lucy's entry into the first grade. Her progress was remarkable, and with regular therapy she continued to improve. There were still bumps in the road, nightmares, moments where the girl would become withdrawn and Rick or Kate would find her in the closet.
Instead of forcing her out of the small sanctuary, her therapist recommended that they transform the space into as comfortable a place as possible for Lucy to escape to. It was to serve as a place where she could go to feel safe, but also where her new parents could join her and help her express her emotions and fears.
The ultimate goal was that as Lucy learned to express herself, and felt safe doing so, the closet would become less and less of a necessity. So, they added a nightlight, soft blankets, and a small lamp that projected stars and planets onto the walls and the ceiling of the small space.
On occasion, Rick wondered if something similar wouldn't be good for Kate, who still had her own problems with emotional availability from time to time. He never made the suggestion though, as he figured he would like to live to see Lucy turn 7 in a few months.
Despite the annoyance or conflict between them from time to time, things between Rick and Kate were strong as ever. She prided herself in her developing ability to keep quiet during their evening activities, even when he drove her out of her mind. It became somewhat of a joke between them, both trying their best to make the other one lose control in the throes of passion, only to state authoritatively that there were children in the house when it happened.
Limbs were bit to stifle, pillows screamed into, showers on full blast and radios turned up, and they were happy with their success in toning it down without actually having to tone it down. Castle increased his involvement consulting on cases once Lucy returned to school in the fall, and their theory-building sessions were often the foreplay to their love-making sessions.
Both partners found it somewhat amusing and unexpected that they were married now, yet flirted with one another more than they did before they were a couple. Kate never imagined that the words, "I love it when you talk theory to me," would ever enter her bedroom activities. However, the not-so-subtle glances and the heated looks they shared when solving cases often provided the fuel to drive them insane with tension though the long days.
Kate would purposely walk closer than necessary, brush past him slowly and press against him in all the right places, and would always be sure to feign innocence when she would do so. Given his talents, Rick would use his arsenal of the spoken and written word, leaving suggestive undertones to their conversations and always making sure that she was the only one to comprehend his subtexts, no matter who else was around.
The result of their behavior was that on most nights they could barely wait for Lucy to go to bed before they made it to the privacy of their own room, and ripped each other's clothes off. They always used care, Kate making sure to take her pill like clockwork. Having more children was something that both were open to, just not anytime soon.
This had a large part in explaining why Kate nearly passed out with shock one cold, January morning when, much to her surprise and trepidation, two clear blue lines showed up on the pregnancy test she held in her shaking hand.