Heir of the Castle
"Remind me to never, ever let you have sex with me again."
"Yeah… Right," he laughs, rolling over in the bed to coast his hand over her side. His fingertips dance over her stomach, lightly massaging little circles against the swollen bump. "What's prompted this?"
Her hand captures his, pushing it into her stomach. "There's a hint. And it's all your fault."
"I recall you having a pretty active role in this."
"Shut up," she groans, swinging her legs off the bed. The kicking of the baby signals the end of morning naptime. "It's not happening ever again. Ever." She rolls her neck, loosening the kinks that had worked their way in there during the nap. "Never, ever again. I've forgotten what it's like to not be pregnant."
He shuffles over, wrapping his arms around her, and tugging her back against him. She laces her hands over his, weaving her fingers into the spaces his leave. He places soft kisses along her neck, over the curve of her shoulder. "I love you, Kate," he murmurs.
"Mom! Dad! Harper's crying!"
Harper is being held up under her arms, feet barely touching the ground as Al opens the bedroom door. The eight year old just looks annoyed as the baby continues to whine.
"Can you get her?" Kate asks, nudging Castle in the ribs.
He shifts off the bed, snagging Harper up from her older sister's arms. "Thanks, Al." Harper quiets, barely, when he settles her into his arms. "Hey, Scout. What's with the ruckus so early?"
Kate gets to her feet, stretching her arms up over her head. Al is already gone, running back out into the living room; the girl has been planning this birthday party for weeks. But Kate looks back at Castle, running a finger over Harper's wet cheeks. The man is so good with their kids.
"She's gonna want to be fed," she says, pacing over to him, ducking her head down to press her forehead to his. "Give me ten minutes?"
He tips his head up enough to brush a kiss over her lips. "Take your time. My girl and I will chat for a while."
She showers quickly, knotting her hair into a bun – none of the kids from Al's class will care that it'll be a tangled, curly mess; Castle will like it though – before brushing her teeth. The bedroom is quiet, missing her husband and infant, when she moves to the closet. All of her favorite clothes don't fit anymore, leaving yoga pants and a grey tunic top. As she smoothes the fabric of the shirt down, the baby kicks out against her hand.
"What is with you boys? Quiet down, bud."
Castle has Harper in the high chair, pretending a spoon of baby food is an X-Wing Fighter heading for Harper's mouth. Soggy Cheerios litter the table and the countertop. He looks up when Kate comes into the kitchen, bare feet sticking a little on the tiles. "We're trying real food for breakfast. Well, if you can consider mashed up apricots real food."
"She liking it?" Kate asks as she puts a slice of bread into the toaster.
He shrugs, dipping the spoon back into the jar. "No protests thus far, right, Scout?"
The girl smacks her palms on the little table attached to the high chair. "Out!"
"The kid is going to have no idea what her name is if we keep this up," Kate sighs even as Harper chants the last letters of her nickname, accenting it with a drum on the table. "Can we at least agree on a nickname?"
"Think she's going with my choice," he says with a smirk.
"Doesn't mean you've won."
He doesn't hear her. He's busy nuzzling his nose against Harper's, tickling the girl's sides so her little stocking feet hit against the chair.
Kate's a little jealous. They've always been a pair – Martha said something about peas in a pod last time she visited her latest granddaughter – and she's glad. Really glad that is such a good father. And she does love Harper, just as much as she loves Al, but the baby and Castle bonded pretty quickly. Sometimes she feels left out from their little bubble.
Until one of those Cheerios hits her cheek and she's brought back into the fold.
"No throwing, Harper," she scolds gently, tossing the cereal into the trash.
Castle's coffee smells amazing when she passes the pot; no coffee for almost two years has left her with no real recollection of how it tastes or the rush as the caffeine hits her bloodstream. He's been trying to drink it when she's not around to save her from frowning into her glass of orange juice. Just another few months.
"I'm gonna go check on Al," she tells Castle, a hand on the railing. "Behave, you two."
Some boy band is singing in Al's room. The girl is on her bed, lists written in her sloppy handwriting spread around her. There are outfits strewn across the room, hanging on the closet doors and in the open drawers and some on the end of the bed.
"You going to clean this up before your friends get here?" she asks, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe.
Al looks up, glances around the room, then shrugs. "Maybe."
"That answer's yes, kid. Come on. We've got an hour before people show up," Kate says, picking up one of the dresses from the floor. "I'll help."
"Gotta finish my homework before Maria and Heidi and Becka get here, Mom."
"It's Friday. Your homework can wait until Sunday. Clean now."
Al rolls off the bed, catching some of the papers as they start to fall. "You sound like Dad." When Kate quirks a brow, the girl grins. "Telling me my homework can wait."
Kate smiles, folding one of her daughter's shirts and placing it in the drawers. "Yes, well…" She holds up two skirts. "You wearing either of these?"
"Nope. I want my blue tie-dye leggings," she says, continuing even as Kate wrinkles her nose, "and my blue tutu and the pink shirt."
Al was always one for interesting clothing choices. Kate finds the leggings, tossing them onto the rumbled comforter. The tutu is in the closet along with the pale pink shirt. She takes those out when she hangs up the dresses.
"Mom? Can you braid my hair?"
"Get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast. I'll braid your hair after you eat."
When she goes back downstairs, one hand on the railing, the other on her stomach, Harper is back to crying. Castle looks a little panicky as he smoothes his hand over the infant's fuzz of hair.
"Oh, thank God," he sighs as he turns to her. "She doesn't like apricots."
"Give her over," she says, holding her arms out for the baby.
Harper is heavy but Kate balances the girl in the crook of her arm, gently bouncing her as she walks around the counter. "Hey, pretty girl. Not a fan of apricots, huh?" Kate stops by Castle, pushing up as much as she can onto her toe tips to brush a kiss over his jaw. "Not your fault, Daddy," she says, tracing the fingers of her free hand over his cheekbones. "Wanna make Al waffles for her birthday breakfast?"
"I can handle that. You okay to carry her around?" he asks, touching the smooth curve just to the side of her belly button.
"Gonna sit down anyway. Try and feed her." Before he can move away, she snags his wrist. "I love you, Rick. So much."
"Go feed Scout. I'll take care of birthday waffles."
Kate takes the bottle of water, the pre-measured container of baby formula from the fridge. She mixes them at the counter, watching him as he pulls down the metal mixing bowl and starts making up the waffle batter. With a finger over the opening of the bottle, she shakes it on the way to the couch.
Harper grabs her wrist as Kate tips the bottle toward her. Those warm hazel eyes meet Kate's matching ones as she drinks the formula. She had been so disappointed when Harper's eyes had stayed the mix of brown and green and blue. She was so in love with Castle's bright blue that she had wanted them for their child. Castle, of course, was overjoyed at the hazel, telling her they were twins, she and their second girl.
The baby kicks against Harper and the infant narrows her little eyes.
"Sorry, Boo," Kate says, shifting Harper up and away from her stomach as much as possible. "Few more weeks and I'll be juggling both of you."
"I can help," comes Castle's call from the kitchen.
She turns her head, smiling at him over the distance. "Of course you will. This boy is all yours."
"He's the heir of the castle. Gotta take good care of him." He's pouring the batter into the waffle iron, getting down the plates from the cupboard.
"You're so corny," she says. "Remind me why I love you?"
He's halfway over to the couch when Al thunders down the stairs. The tutu is bouncing as she runs to his side, wrapping her arms around his legs. "Hi, Dad!"
Castle scoops Al up, huffing dramatically as he settles her on his hip. "So heavy. Must be that extra year."
"You're silly," Al says, pushing her hands against his cheek. "We having waffles?"
"Is it your birthday?" asks Kate from the couch. When Al nods, head pressed to Castle's, Kate sighs. "Then, yes. Birthday waffles."
"Yes!"
Castle leans over, kissing Kate briefly. Until she pulls him back down by the neckline of his shirt. She moans as his tongue presses against her lips, somehow managing to keep the bottle of formula in her hand for Harper.
"Stop being gross and make breakfast, Dad."
He grins, taking one last kiss before carrying Al over to the kitchen, groaning about how heavy the girl is.
The four girls have commandeered the living room. Castle had insisted on helping them set up, building a fort from chairs and blankets and pillows until there's a maze around furniture. But as soon as the last blanket had been tossed into place, Al had pushed him from the living room and shut him into the study along with Kate and Harper.
"I can't believe she did that," he complains, perching on the edge of his desk.
Kate is sitting on the leather couch, Harper wobbling on her feet as she stands on Kate's knees. "Yeah, well, she did say it was a party for her friends only." She tips her head forward, touching her nose to Harper's and making the baby squeal, bouncing up and down. "We'll have our family party tomorrow after the girls leave."
"But what can we do until then?" He's already back up, pacing the length of the room with his hands jammed in his pockets. "It's not even like we can spend the entire time in bed because, let's be honest, those four will be loud enough to drown out any -"
"Rick."
He laughs as the blush creeps up to her cheeks. "Kidding. Mostly."
"Pick a movie and we'll watch it in the bedroom," she says, grabbing Harper around her waist and lifting the girl up into the air. "Right, Scout?"
"See? Told you my nickname was the best."
She's settled into the bed, pillows propped up on the headboard, when he comes in with a few DVDs in hand. Harper is on her stomach in the middle of the bed, little fists holding onto the comforter. The girl has been trying to crawl and the soft surfaces seem to be her favorite. Castle flops onto the bed next to her, rubbing his thumb over Harper's chubby cheeks.
"You gonna be one of those kids who runs before they walk?" he asks the girl, handing the DVDs to Kate as she reaches for them. "Because I honestly do not think I could handle that." He turns. "What was Al like? She walk before running?"
"Completely normal progression from crawling to walking to running," Kate reassures him, looking at the choices for movie night. He sighs gratefully. "Of course, once she started running, she never really stopped."
"Shoot."
"Seriously, Rick? Legally Blonde followed by The Thomas Crown Affair? What type of line-up is this?" She tosses the DVDs onto the bed beside her. Her fingers clench onto the pillow as a ripple of pain shudders through her. She waits, expecting it to leave – getting to the end of the pregnancy means plenty of false contractions – but it lingers. It takes a second for her to loosen her grip on the pillows and move it to massage over her stomach which only serves to increase the sharp pain. "Rick…"
"Listen, we can change the movies if you don't want blonde lawyer followed by bored millionaire stealing art. You feeling romantic comedy or action?"
"Action," she grinds out. "I need you in action."
"Thought you said no to the whole making you scream my name all night but…" he rolls onto his side, tucking Harper against his chest so she doesn't fall off. The rest of the sentence dies on his tongue when he sees her face. "Kate? You okay?"
Her head is bowed over, focusing on breathing. "No. Don't know what's happening."
He's off the bed in an instant, hitching Harper up into his arms as he fumbles in his pocket for his phone. "Just… I'll call 9-1-1. You just…"
She can hear him talking to the operator as he walks around the bed. But her eyes are closed as she tries to figure out what's going on with the baby. Everything was fine at the last check-up. She hasn't done anything wrong in the last few days, nothing that would cause… whatever this is.
The bed dips when he sits. "Ambulance is on the way. So is my mother. She can watch Al and her friends. No need to disturb their party." His fingertips trace over her hairline, drawing her eyes up to his. "You okay to walk? At least to the lobby?"
Kate swings her feet off the bed, nodding. "I think so. When's Martha going to get here?"
"Just a minute or two. She was downtown for a small theatre opening," he says, slipping an arm under hers. "She'll take Harper too."
She lets her head fall onto his shoulder, breathing shakily. "Good. Just stay here until then."
They hear the door open, hear Martha's greeting to the girls gathered in the living room.
Castle squeezes her knee. "I'll fill her in. Back in…"
"Oh, Kate, darling," says Martha, closing the door behind her as she sidles into the bedroom. "How're you doing?"
She manages a smile, forced and tight. "Okay."
"Give me the little one," she says, taking Harper from Castle. "Now go bring her to the hospital. Figure out what's going on with my future grandson."
"Thank you," Kate sighs as Martha gives her cheek a quick kiss. "The girls. They have pizza and juice so they should be okay. Bedtime is…"
"Not important right now, Kate. Go with Richard."
Castle hooks an arm under Kate's, helping her to her feet. He does remember to grab the keys, his wallet on the way past the front door. It's slow going to the elevator and she slumps down against his side on the ride to the lobby.
"Rick, I don't know…"
"They'll figure it out," he says, smoothing his thumb over her waist. "The doctors will figure whatever this is out."
Too much strain on her body. Nothing that she really could have done differently, they say. Just the fact that she got pregnant not a month after giving birth to Harper and not allowing her body to fully heal – she jokes that it wasn't really her fault; Castle can't exactly keep his hands off of her – means she was already starting weaker than she had been with Al and Harper. Bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy.
"I'm gonna drive you up the wall," she tells him from the hospital bed.
He has his head cushioned on his arms, running his fingers up and down her thigh as he looks at her. "As long as you're safe I can take the annoyance."
She reaches down, twisting his hair between her fingertips. Her eyes are drooping, partially the drugs they gave her to relax her muscles but also a fair dose of fatigue. "See if you're still saying that after a day of me complaining."
"Good thing it was just false labor," Castle jokes, kissing the inside of her wrist. "Not sure how Al would have felt about sharing her birthday with her little brother."
Kate laughs, opening her eyes to look down at him. "Want to go home? Make sure the apartment is still intact?"
"I can't carry you," he says seriously.
"I can walk."
"Barely."
She snorts. "Get a wheelchair. Wanna see my babies."
"Al's not a baby anymore," he reminds her, already getting up to call for a nurse.
"Oh, she'll always be a baby to me. And Rick?" she says, stopping him in the doorway. "Love you."
"See if you say that after I make you smorelettes for dinner every night," he teases before ducking into the hallway.
She's barely through the front door when Al flings herself at Kate. "Mom! You're back!"
"Gram take good care of you and the other girls?" asks Kate, smoothing a hand over Al's hair. She's exhausted but she knows Al had to have worried while they were gone.
"Yeah. Becka, Maria, and Heidi are sleeping but I wanted to see you," Al says, following them into the living room.
The three other girls are sacked out on the floor, cuddled up in blankets and pillows. Martha is on the couch with a sleeping Harper in her arms. The older woman gets up, careful not to jostle the baby on her way over to the trio.
"I'm glad you're okay," Martha says, passing Harper over to Castle. "I'll be by tomorrow if you need some help."
Kate lets Martha wrap her up in a hug. "Stay in the guest room," Kate insists. "There's no need for you to get a taxi back to your place."
"Come on, Mother," Castle says, tugging on Martha's sleeve. "Help me put Harper down." He does step close to Kate, letting his wife nuzzle her nose to Harper's cheek, placing a kiss on her face. "I'll be back in five minutes," he whispers to her.
While Castle and Martha go upstairs, Kate nudges Al back toward the living room. "Go to sleep with your friends, kid."
"Wanna make sure my brother's okay," Al says. Kate can hear the concern weaving through the sleepiness in Al's voice.
"He's gonna be fine. Sleep." Kate settles Al into her sleeping bag on the edge of the living room rug, kissing her hair. "Love you, Al."
Al sighs, snuggling into the pillow. "Love you, too, Mom. Tell Dad?"
"Of course."
The bedroom is dark but she knows her way around the furniture. She has to move the DVDs from the bedspread to the side table before she switches the tunic shirt for one of the huge t-shirts she bought while pregnant with Harper. She's in bed, sheets pulled up to her chin, when Castle comes in.
"You still doing okay?" he asks as he changes for bed.
She nods. "I'm fine. Just glad to know what we need to do to make sure he's okay." When he slides under the sheets behind her, Kate shimmies back against him. "But Rick?" He hums and she can feel the vibration through her back. "Don't make me smorelettes ever again."
"How about a peanut butter and bacon sandwich?"
She falls asleep with a smile on her face, laughter dying on her lips.
Bed rest will suck. But making sure that their first boy is healthy and safe will be worth the month spent laying in bed or on the couch.
It'll always be worth it.