A Few Moments in a Day
Something Stupid…but it's All Right
"Nooooo!" Castle groaned dramatically as his opponent barely escaped in his game.
After their spat over his gaming about a year before, Kate decided there were enough sterling qualities to appreciate in Richard Castle to stop her from complaining about his video games. Besides that, he had married her six months ago, so there was no question as to where she stood in his life now. And patience, it's said, is a virtue. If this game ran too long, she would insist on his attention, though.
This morning she brought a book and sat at the end of the sofa with him to read while he played. "This the kid in India again?" she asked before she settled in with her book.
Castle just nodded without losing his intense look as he furiously worked the controls.
Kate watched for a few minutes, looking back and forth between the screen and her husband. Finally she simply smiled at her man-child, who was totally immersed in his game, and then she immersed herself in her book, hearing from the other end of the sofa the sounds of success and failure and surprise and efforts to save himself as she read. Eventually, there was a victorious whoop, and she knew the game had ended to his satisfaction. As he put the controls down on the coffee table, he talked briefly to the young man he was playing against and arranged a rematch.
"Goodnight, Patel," Kate called before Castle disconnected.
"He said to wish you a good night, too," Castle said with a smile. "Even though it's morning here."
"I take it you won this one."
"Yeah," he answered with a grin. "How could you tell?"
"Lucky guess."
He leaned in and gave her a thorough kiss.
"Victory kiss?" she teased.
"So far this has been a good day off," he said, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back.
Grabbing the opening he provided, she hesitantly said, "About the day off…"
Something in the tone of Kate's voice told him there was a problem. "What about the day off? Is something wrong?" He sat up again, immediately alert to what she would say.
"Yes…and no… Some of it is really good…at least I think so."
"Let's start with the bad part and save the good part for last."
"I've done something stupid again. It felt like there was a good reason for it at the time, but I was wrong."
"Just tell me Beckett. You know how fast my imagination can think up the worst things."
She reached down between her leg and the end of the sofa cushion and picked up something that was mostly hidden in her hand. "This is from after you were asleep Thursday night." She held her hand out to offer it to him, he opened his palm under it, and she dropped the small object in his hand.
He looked down and found a plastic, pen-sized stick…a pregnancy test. "Is this what I think it is?"
She nodded, a look in her eyes of excitement tempered with concern.
"And it's positive, right?"
She nodded again and smiled just before he grabbed her in a tight hug, then pulled back and kissed her again.
"So you're happy about it?" she asked.
"Happy!?" he said enthusiastically, "I'm…" He stopped suddenly and looked at the test stick again as if he had just realized what she said. "Wait. After I was asleep on Thursday night? Kate, this is Monday. Why didn't you tell me?"
"That's the stupid part. I didn't want us to get all excited if it turned out to be a false positive, so on Friday I made an appointment with my doctor…to be sure first. I should have gone back and shook you awake and told you right then."
"Yes, you should. You weren't afraid I wouldn't be happy about this were you? Because I'm way past happy about it."
"No. I was sure you'd be happy, but I didn't want to get your hopes up and then disappoint you. I'm sorry. And I didn't intentionally wait until you were asleep. It's just…I haven't had any morning sickness, no obvious symptoms to tell me. The middle of the night was when it dawned on me how late I was. We've had so many cases lately I hadn't been paying attention."
"And you already had a test kit here?"
"Well, it was always a possibility, so yeah. Nothing but abstinence is a hundred per cent foolproof, and we haven't exactly subscribed to that method. I should have…"
"Should have won't make any difference now," he answered gently, putting his finger on her lips to stop her. "And you told me this time before I found out on my own. When is this appointment?"
"This afternoon at two. That's why I took the day off. Will you go with me?"
"We'll find out this afternoon?" he answered, his voice a few steps higher in pitch. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away."
"You're not mad?"
"I wish you'd come back and told me that night, but I would probably have driven you crazy trying to wait until this afternoon without telling anybody. I'm way too excited to be mad." He hugged her again and pulled her into his lap, placing his hand gently on her abdomen. "Our baby is probably growing in here," he said softly, sounding awed. "I can't wait to know for sure."
"It's already eleven forty-five. We won't have to wait too long."
"We'll know in just over two hours!" He sounded like a kid in a candy store.
"Well…probably more like three by the time we sit in the waiting room for a while."
"But when we come home, we'll already know."
"Yeah." She gave him the smile she keeps in reserve just for him and added, "So, we should probably shower and get dressed for a doctor visit."
When she moved from his lap to stand, he immediately followed, pulling her into another hug before he took her hand and led her to the shower. They took their time, and enjoyed helping each other bathe, Castle paying special attention to the area their baby would be in.
After they were dressed, Kate suggested, "The office is about eight blocks from here. Want to walk off some of the excess energy? We still have plenty of time if we leave now."
"That might keep me from pacing a hole in the doctor's carpet," he admitted.
"My thoughts exactly," Kate answered with a grin.
He took her hand and all but dragged her out of the apartment. They might arrive a little early and have to wait, but it put them that much closer to knowing.
xxxxx
As they sat side by side in chairs at the doctor's office, Castle was having trouble waiting. As Kate filled out paperwork, he periodically started drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair, and Kate would take his hand to stop him. They chose a corner away from the obvious center of the room and hoped no one would recognize him. Neither of them wanted to share their moment with fans who would tweet their speculations across the cyber world.
They made several attempts at normal conversation, but they all deteriorated into Castle's looking at his watch and asking what was taking so long.
When Katherine Castle was finally called, the nurse looked up as they both stood.
"I'd like my husband with me," Kate stated in her not-to-be-questioned voice.
"Of course, Mrs. Castle," the woman answered and showed them to the exam room. After the normal checks and questions, the nurse left, saying, "Today you can just remove everything from the waist down. There's a sheet on the table to cover yourself. The doctor will be with you shortly."
Kate leaned to take off her sandals and heard a not unexpected male voice asking teasingly, "Shall I help with the rest?"
"When we get home, Castle. We can either celebrate or start actually trying. Right now just unfold that sheet for me."
"Yes, ma'am."
After putting the clothes she removed in the little closet provided, she let Castle wrap the sheet around her in an easy embrace and give her a loving kiss before she got on the exam table to wait impatiently for the doctor.
Dr. Waters came in a few minutes later and introduced herself to Castle, saying that she enjoyed his books. He responded that he hoped they enjoyed her diagnosis, too.
"Well, let's see what we find." She asked questions as she prepared herself and Kate for the exam.
Castle held Kate's hand…and was holding his breath as well…as Dr. Waters began.
"Breathe, Castle. You do want to be around if we have a baby, right?" Kate asked with a smile, holding his hand as tightly as he was holding hers.
"Right," he answered, releasing the breath; and he smiled at her, realizing the doctor was smiling at them, too.
"Well, you're definitely pregnant," the doctor reported. "Everything seems normal, and…"
"When?" Castle interrupted. "When is Kate due?"
The information she gave me and the exam say about seven months from now.
"That would be November," Castle said after some quick math. "We'll have our baby before Christmas," he said, looking at his wife again. He lifted her hand and kissed it, then leaned down to kiss her lips briefly.
"Is this your first, Mr. Castle?" the doctor asked, enjoying his enthusiasm.
"No. My daughter is a freshman at Columbia this year," he admitted.
"And you're this excited about starting all over again?"
"Yes."
"He's a great dad," Kate added. "He'll help me figure it all out."
"I have the feeling this will be a lucky and well-loved child," Dr. Waters answered. "Go ahead and get dressed, Kate. We'll talk in my office. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."
The doctor gave them the standard instructions and reading material and answered the traditional questions…and considering Beckett's job and Castle's general outlook, a few non-traditional questions as well.
"Thank you, Dr. Waters," Castle said as they were leaving. "I'll take good care of her."
"I'm sure you will," she answered, and her next patient met a doctor who came in with a warm smile on her face.
"I'm calling the car service to pick us up. No argument," he insisted.
"I'm too excited to argue," she answered.
They stopped at the desk to make Kate's next appointment, and Castle placed his credit card on the counter for payment. Suddenly he turned his back to the window that overlooked the waiting area. Quietly he asked the woman at the desk, "Does doctor/patient privilege extend to allowing us to leave through a staff entrance?"
"What's wrong?" Kate asked, picking up her appointment card.
"Remember that tabloid reporter…the one who wouldn't leave us alone in the park last month?"
"Yeah."
She's sitting right outside the door. There's no way we could leave without that woman seeing us…and she never gives up."
"Which one is she," the young woman at the desk asked.
"Second chair on your left, next to the wall," Castle told her.
With a brief look of distaste on identifying the person he pointed out, a look which she quickly hid, the woman called a passing nurse. "Tencha," she called quietly, and moved her hand to indicate an introduction. "Mr. and Mrs. Richard Castle. They would like to avoid a tabloid reporter who's sitting in our waiting room. Second chair on the left…blonde. Would you show them to the staff entrance so they don't have to leave in front of her."
Tencha had the same look of distaste before schooling her response to look more professional. "It would be my pleasure," she assured them.
"Thank you…both of you. We'd like to tell our families and friends ourselves rather than have them read it in a tabloid," Kate told them.
"Follow me," Tencha responded. "This door will by-pass any view from the waiting room. She won't even get a glimpse of you. Is Nikki Heat going to be pregnant in the next book?" she asked with a mischievous grin.
Castle laughed. "Probably not."
"I love your books. Hurry up with the next one, okay?"
"I'll do my best," he promised.
"Thank you," Kate said as they quickly left the office.
"Mother and Alexis will be home for dinner tonight. Let's call your dad to come, too, and tell them all at once. We can pick something up on the way home. I have to tell somebody. Today…soon," he insisted as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too," she answered, looking up to give him her hundred watt smile and wrapping her arm around his waist to get closer. "Italian sound good for dinner?"
"I don't even care about dinner. I just want to tell somebody, and we have to tell family first."
Once they were in the car, Kate called her father, who promised to join them, and Castle ordered the food. After Kate advised Castle that, no, they didn't have time to make a side trip to FAO Schartz before everyone would expect to eat, they had the driver stop at their favorite Italian restaurant to pick up the dinner they ordered; then they went home, excited about sharing their news.
xxxxx
"Thank you, Kate," Castle said softly and kissed her cheek as they set the table.
"Always," she answered, giving him a soft, loving kiss on the lips. "For what, specifically?"
"For explaining why you waited to tell me…for wanting me with you this afternoon…for being as excited about our baby as I am…for loving me…"
"You don't need to thank me for any of those things. They're all a given," she answered and turned to put her arms around his neck.
"But I needed all of them, and you gave them to me because you wanted to. That isn't something I usually had before."
She pressed her lips to his again in a soft, slow kiss, and he returned it with a bit more intensity. When the door opened and Martha came in, they were standing with their foreheads together, and they went for another peck on the lips before parting.
"I see things here are normal," she teased. "How are you, dears?" She put her things down on the coffee table and walked toward where they were standing next to the table. "Something smells good. Anything I can do to help? Looks like the two of you are falling down on the job."
"Everything is in the warming drawer ready to go. We just need to finish setting the table," Kate answered.
"Jim is coming tonight, too, Mother," Rick told her, getting back to his job. "He should be here any minute."
"Good. I think Alexis is enjoying having a grandfather."
"I'm absolutely certain Dad is enjoying having a granddaughter."
There was a knock at the door and Kate went to answer it. "Hi, Dad." She gave him a big hug.
"Hi, Katie. You look happy."
"I am. I took the day off today. Things finally slowed down at work." Before she could close the door, the elevator dinged and she saw Alexis coming their way. "We can put it on the table," she told Castle. Everybody's here."
The family had dinner as if it were just another night, then Castle asked Alexis to help him clear the table. As the others talked and the two of them put things in the dishwasher, Castle smiled.
"You look happy tonight," Alexis said.
"I am," Castle answered with a satisfied smile.
"Any special reason?"
"Yeah." His smile got bigger.
"Do you plan to share?"
Kate and Castle had agreed that Alexis should be the first to know, so he wiggled a finger to tell her to come closer and leaned close to her ear to say softly, "In about seven months, you will no longer be my only child."
Alexis looked confused. "I won't be your only…" Then it obviously dawned on her what he was saying, and she squealed the way she used to when she was younger. Turning to Kate with a huge smile, she called, "Kaaate!" at nearly the same volume level as the smile.
Everyone else in the room turned to see what was going on, and Kate stood and braced herself for the oncoming enthusiastic hug.
"I'm finally going to be a big sister?!" Alexis asked as Kate and Alexis stood with arms around one another.
"Big sister? Katie?" her father responded, standing next to them.
Martha sat with one hand over her heart, looking lovingly at her extended family with her granddaughter.
Castle walked around behind Kate and slipped his arms around her waist, both his hands on her middle, and Alexis stepped back slightly from the enthusiastic hug she had initiated. "My wife and I will be adding another Castle to the family at the end of November," he announced and kissed Kate on the cheek.
"Katie, I'm so happy for both of you…all three of you…all four of you," he said with a big smile.
"I wish I could tell Mom," she answered, reaching to hug him and looking a little teary eyed.
Castle released her to her father and gave them some space.
"Somehow, I think maybe she knows," Jim answered, holding her close. "Let's go with that thought."
"Yeah," Kate answered. "That's good."
By that time, Martha had hugged her son and was reaching for Kate.
Jim put an arm around Alexis' shoulders and asked, "You look happy. You're okay with not being the only one anymore?"
"I've wanted to be a big sister for a long time, but I'd given up."
"You'll always be my first grandchild, you know," he assured her.
"Thanks, Granddad," she answered, leaning her head on his shoulder as they watched Martha with Kate.
Castle stood and watched his family congratulating one another on having another family member to love…and smiled contentedly, certain that he must be the luckiest man in the world.
Best day off ever.