Gift Chapter 1 Suspicions
Kate laid her head on her desk, but looked up as she heard footsteps approaching. Espo set
her usual latte down on her desk and her stomach did a flip-flop. Immediately, she was retching in the trash can.
"Yo! What's up, Kate? " She gave Espo the look that she normally gave Castle when she was annoyed with him. Now, Castle junior was the one being annoying.
"Ok. So this is about you missing Castle. When will he be back? Does he know that you're sick?" Javi questioned.
"It was a 14 day tour, so he should be back sometime tomorrow. And no, he doesn't know I've been feeling bad. I didn't want to worry him while he's out-of-town. Look, you guys are worrying over nothing. I'm fine." Kate answered.
"No. You are NOT fine , but whatever is going on with you, why don't you take the rest of the day off? There's no active murder cases to work on and we all have the next 2 days off . If anything pops that we can't handle , we 'll call you." Javi said. Kate considered this. True, she was very tired and had just puked her guts up in the trash can and if she had caught some virus or something, she didn't want to share it with the entire precinct. Still, it meant going home to the empty loft.
Finally she said," Ok, but only if you promise to call if you need me." she agreed.
"Yeah,"Yeah, Yeah, l" Kevin said. She got up, put on her coat and grabbed her bag. As the elevator doors opened, she heard Ryan say, "Yeah . She's pregnant." She got on the elevator and before the doors closed again ,she said loudly, "Shuttttt Upppp!" When she arrived at the street, her cell phone rang. Lanie.
"Hey, Lanie. What's up?"
"Katherine Houghton Beckett Castle, get your ass down here! We'll talk when you get here."
Twenty minutes later, she pushed through the door to the lab at O.C.M.E. "Ok, Lanie. I'm here. What's so important that I had to get down here? I was on my way home…"
Lanie straightened up from the desk she had been leaning over. "I know. Javi called and said that you're sick. So, what's going on?"
Kate sighed, "It's nothing. I just miss Castle, that's all. It's like I can't sleep without him, so I guess I'm a l ittle tired."
"You're being tired has you puking your brains up in trash cans? Hmmm. That's a new one," Lanie said .
"I'm sure its nothing. I probably caught a virus or something," Kate replied.
"OK, Kate. Let's check it out. What are your symptoms?" Lanie asked.
"OK. Fine! I'm very tired , nauseous at times, and whenever I stand, I get dizzy."
"Uh huh.", Lanie said , reaching for her stethoscope . She took Kate's vital signs and after a few minutes, said, "Your blood pressure is a little elevated, but not enough to be concerned about and that probably is stress related. Everything else seems to be fine. You don't have a temperature, so you're not contagious. There's a pharmacy near the loft, right?"
"Yeah. Just up the block. Why? " Kate asked.
"Because my advice to you is to stop on your way home and buy 3 home pregnancy tests…"
"Lanie! Not you, too.! I am not preg…."
"Girl, please. Three months ago, you and Castle had a fairy tale wedding, a honeymoon in THE most romantic spot on the planet, don' t tell me you two weren't doing it like The Energizer bunnies… ."
Kate's jaw dropped. "Lanie! "
"What? Are you going to deny it?"
Kate dropped her head. "No…. Lanie, I'm not pregnant. I"ve been on the Depo shot since I was 19."
"Kate, that doesn't mean anything. Although, it's rare, there have been a few reports of women getting pregnant in between injections. You 've never had a hysterectomy and I'm pretty sure you two didn't abstain from sex."
"No, Lanie ! It was our honeymoon! It's just that we agreed not to have kids for a year or two. It's too soon."
"Excuse me? Assuming you are pregnant, you wouldn't be the first woman to get that way on her honeymoon and I'm pretty sure you won't be the last.
"Ok. We don' t know for sure I know, Lanie" .