"How does he always figure things out? It's not like he has more clues than me. If anything, this time, I had more clues than him. So. How. Did. He. Figure. It. Out?!"
Great, I'm mumbling to myself now while pacing back and forth like a loon in my bathroom she thought to herself. But here I am holding that little white stick which is telling me that my future is forever changed. Well. Our future forever changed. And while this new information is exhilarating, it's also daunting.
A mother. I will soon be a mother.
She let go of her breath with a whispered "Wow" and a smile came to her face.
We've talked about this. Many times. But always in theory. And we definitely did not planned this.
Or at least, I had not planned this.
Had Castle planned this? Is that how he knew?
No, surely he wouldn't do this on purpose. That wasn't him. We're partners now, in every way. And we're in this together.
Ok, so he didn't plan it. But then how did he know before me?! It's my body! Ok, calm down. You're a detective. So detect. Figure this mystery out.
I'm not showing yet. I'm not having any weird cravings. I only started having morning sickness a couple of days ago, and yet Castle has been bugging me for nearly a week to take a test. What am I missing?
"Kate?" Castle called out from the bedroom with a slight hesitance to his voice.
"Kate? Is everything ok in there?"
"Kate, honey, you're not responding to me so I'm starting to get worried."
Ok, Kate, it's now or never. Buck up. Open the door. And make your manchild of a husband the happiest man in the world. Kate's internal pep-talk was doing nothing to calm her nerves. But it did seem to be enough to get her feet moving.
Kate finally reached the door separating herself and her husband. She stretched her arm out forward and placed her hand on the knob.
Steady, Kate. Smile. Show him you're ok with this.
Here I go.
"Castle" she said as she broke out in a smile. The tears welling up The hormones are already betraying me "Rick" She tried to start again. "You were right. I'm preg-" Oh no! Run! Toilet! Over there!
"Kate? Honey?!" Castle came running in after her just in time to see Kate hunched over the toilet, emptying her stomach. After quickly scanning his eyes over the scene before him, he came to his senses, and knelt down behind Kate to help her gather her hair away from her face.
"Kate, I'm so sorry. I know this part must suck. But you'll get through this. We'll get through this. And in the end we're going to have a baby" Castle's voice nearly squealed with excitement as he said the word baby. But then the sound of Kate retching again, brought his focus back to the present.
Finally the wave of nausea passed. I just need to lay my head on the cool ceramic of the toilet for a minute. Just keep my eyes closed and let this feeling pass.
"How did you know" Kate finally forced the question out. She still hadn't opened her eyes or lifted her head.
Castle had been stroking her hair trying to soothe her, when he heard her question. His hand instantly stilled.
"Um. Uh." Castle seemed lost for words.
Why is he stuttering? He only does that when he doesn't want to tell me something!
Kate opened one eye first, then the other as she lifted her head to look directly at him. Castle still seemed lost for words. Oh yeah, the wordsmith only loses his words when he's really caught. This should be good. Kate narrowed her eyes at him.
"Well, you see, um…" Castle was looking anywhere but at his wife's face. His hand instinctually reaching up to scratch and rub the back of his neck.
"You know, let's get out of the bathroom. Umm.." He was searching for something to say. Anything! And then his face lit up, it was as if you could visibly see the lightbulb turn on in his head.
"Maybe you want some food? You know, you're eating for two now." And with a clap of his hands, and a quick raise of his eyebrows, he turned on a dime and seemingly sprinted from the room.
Oh no. He's not getting away that easily. A full smirk appeared on Kate's face. He will tell me how he figured this out. Now. And with that thought Kate rose to her feet quickly and walked out after her husband.
Hmmm, not in the bedroom. Kitchen, maybe? He was talking about feeding me. Us. Me? Am I a 'me' anymore, or am I a 'we' now? Huh. Don't get distracted! It's too early to develop pregnancy brain. Whatever that is. I definitely need to buy some books. Temporarily lost in her thoughts, Kate stood frozen in the bedroom, while her mind ran a million miles a minute.
The clatter of pots and pans hitting the floor broke Kate from her daze. Right. My manchild knew about my actual child before me, and he's yet to tell me how! Kate's eyes narrowed once again, as she marched into the Kitchen.
"Oh no you don't! You must've forgotten that I'm immune to your antics, Castle. No amount of distractions you could come up with will get you out of this one. So spill. How did you know? How did you know before I knew?" Kate's voice rose as she spoke.
Castle was now the one frozen. Kate had come storming in the room, with arms swinging in a near violent manner on her sides. Then there was some sort of finger pointing in his direction. And now his wife was in her stance. The one that told him she meant business. Her hands were firmly planted on her hips. Legs, shoulders-width apart. Head protruding slightly forward. And eyebrows arched up to the heavens.
With an audible gulp, Castle mumbled something unrecognizable as a form of the English language. "Itsstidt"
Kate's head bobbed forever even more as if stretching her ears in his general direction would help her understand his nonsense.
"Come again. Rick." Kate over enunciated the ck noise in his name. Which in turn caused Castle to tug on his collar.
"Is it getting hot in here or is it just me. Maybe we should go get some fresh air…" Castle was trying to make an escape, while talking nonsense.
"Castle!" Kate all but shouted from her spot.
"Ok, Itastedit" Castle blurted quickly.
"You what?" Did he just say he TASTED IT? Kate's face contorted for a second, until it settled on one expression. Her jaw hung open, while she tried to process what he had said.
"I tasted it. Last week. When I was…you know…" Castle said with a general wave of his hands motioning up and down in Kate's direction.
"Yeah, I know what we were doing. Go on." Kate quickly said in a much quieter tone.
"Anyway…I'm very…accustomed to what you usually taste like. And well, sometime, about a week ago, your particular…flavor…um…changed." He explained, and upon seeing Kate still slackjawed, he continued "I know from…um…that's not important…I just know, that a woman's flavor" he said raising his eyebrows as if to check if that word was still acceptable "can change as an early sign of pregnancy" Upon completing his thought, he perched his hands so that his fingertips touched each other and were pressed to his lips in an almost prayer like stance. He awaited Kate's response.
Her face twisted as she processed this information. He knows this how? Well, there's Alexis which means he was with Meredith, and…don't complete this thought. She silenced her inner thoughts.
"Um. Let's…Let's not tell people this…that this is how we found out we're pregnant. Deal?" Kate asked, with a flush of embarrassment at the thought of ever relaying these events to their loved ones.
"Can we still tell people I figured it out first?" Castle asked
Always trying to outdetect the detective. Man child.
"Can you think of a plausible story to tell that would be appropriate for my father?" Kate quickly replied.
This time it was Castle's turn to look like a fish out of water, as his jaw hung open. Kate openly stared at him awaiting his answer. As his eyes looked up as if some corner of the ceiling would reveal his answer.
It's like I can see the cogwheels turning.
"I'll get back to you on that"
AN: thus concludes my very first chapter of my very first fanfiction. Please be kind and review. I'm open to constructive criticism so even if you didn't like it, be helpful - not hurtful. Thank You for reading!