A/N: must be a writing weekend - three chapters of Seeing Double added so far and now this! Fill for a tumblr prompt which I saw on castlefanficprompts, I'll post the prompt at the end to avoid too many spoilers.
Rolling away from Castle in bed, Kate glanced at the clock and saw it was almost three am. She groaned quietly to herself at being awake at such a stupid hour, especially given the activities her and Castle had got up to before bed. She smiled at the memory, even now he still managed to suprise her.
They'd been married for 6 weeks now and it was everything she could have hoped for. Their wedding day had been perfect and the honeymoon had been incredible, they'd both been sad to leave and come back to reality. But she had her job here and although Castle could write from anywhere, she knew he missed Alexis. Kate had missed her too, they'd not always seen eye to eye where Castle was concerned, but the two of them had had a talk the day before the wedding and they were much closer now, which Beckett liked. Having a teenaged stepdaughter wasn't something she ever imagined happening but she wouldn't change it for the world.
Kate looked over at her husband, seeing he was still fast asleep, hair ruffled in that way that made him so adorbale. She stared at him for a few seconds, before climbing quietly out of bed and padding to the door, thinking hot chocolate might help her sleep. With one last look at her sleeping husband, she smiled and walked through the office and out into the lounge, heading for the kitchen. She was surprised to see the light on and Alexis sat with her back to her, hunched over what looked like a bowl.
"Couldn't sleep either, hey?" Kate asked heading into the kitchen, grateful she had slipped her underwear and an oversized t-shirt of Castle's on before going to sleep. Alexis jumped at Kate's voice, having not heard her come through to the kitchen. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you- hey, what's up?" Kate asked, noticing the ice cream and Alexis' red, puffy eyes.
"Nothing, I'm fine," Alexis said, going back to her ice cream. She hadn't expected to get caught.
"Alexis honey, I know I'm not your dad but I can still tell that something's up," Kate said, "you're sitting out here at three in the morning with a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream and you've been crying. You wanna talk about it?"
"No. Yes. Oh god, I don't know!" Alexis cried.
"Okay, well while you decide would you mind if I joined you?"
"Be my guest," Alexis sniffled, taking another spoonful of ice cream.
Kate dug the chocolate fudge brownie ice cream out of the freezer and scooped some into a bowl, sitting down opposite Alexis.
"Sweetie," Kate began, "I know I'm not your mom but you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
"Even if I don't wanna tell dad?"
"Especially if you don't want to tell your dad. What are stepmothers for, hey?"
"Are we asking generically or actually? Because in Gina's case it would be to push me out of the way whenever possible and pretend I didn't exist. And if you read the fairytales then they're there to be evil and make you clean the floor with a toothbrush and things."
"Okay. Should have guessed you'd have an answer for that just like your father would!" Kate laughed. "But no, what I meant is that I'm here if you don't wanna talk to your dad, or your grams."
"And you won't tell them?"
"Of course I won't," Kate frowned, unsure of where this was going. "But if it's something illegal then you probably shouldn't tell me.."
"It's nothing illegal," Alexis reassured. "Can I let you in on a secret?"
"Sure," Kate said, spooning chocolate ice cream into her mouth. It was missing something.. Glancing around the kitchen, she realised what it was she was after - olives.
"Uh, Kate? What are you doing?" Alexis asked, as Kate grabbed the olives from the fridge and sprinkled them into her ice cream.
"Not sure, just felt right," Kate said, seemingly confused at her own actions. Eating another spoonful, she moaned around it, the taste exactly what she was after.
"Right, well this uh, problem of mine..the first thing I thought was that I wanted my mom. So I uh, picked up the phone to call her and found myself staring at your number instead. And then it hit me - I didn't want my mother, I wanted you."
Beckett almost cried. Goddammit, why was she so emotional? "Alexis..honey you know you can call me anytime! I'll always be here for you, no matter the time, okay?"
"Yeah, I know..I just, it felt weird when I thought I wanted my mom but then I kinda figured that you're more of a mom to me than Meredith is and I think that's why I didn't call you, because I'd never really felt that before...god, is that even okay with you? I mean I know you love my dad and everything-"
"Alexis, stop," Kate interrupted. "Yes, I love your dad and part of loving your dad is you. I've always known that and it's absolutely fine with me, I love you too, you know, not just your dad."
"Okay, cool..cause er, you wouldn't be the first to use me to get to my dad but I know you're not like that..god, I don't think I've ever seen anyone look at my dad like you do, not even my mo- not even Meredith."
"It's okay to still call her mom, you know."
"Yeah I know..I just feel like she's more of a crazy auntie who drops by every now and then. She might be my mother but as far as I'm concerned you're my mom."
Kate almost cried again. Dammit, what was up with her? "Okay, so um..you wanna tell me what's up?"
"I think I'm pregnant," Alexis blurted out and Kate's eyes widened in shock. "Oh god, please don't tell my dad.."
"Hey, I'm not going to tell him, okay? I'm just a little shocked, that's all..you've always been so responsible and mature for your age, I guess I just never thought you were just a 20 year old girl in there!"
"I know, I know, and I know you probably think the same as my dad that I'm all innocent and still his little girl but-"
"Alexis, I was your age once, you know. I am under no illusions that you are innocent or naïve about things such as sex. I am fully aware of your dad's views on the matter, but did he really think you moved in with Pi and had separate bedrooms?"
"You know, I actually think that's what he thinks," Alexis chuckled. "But I'm not going to tell him otherwise, especially not with the way things were between us when I moved in with Pi."
"So uh..oh god, I don't want you to take this the wrong way but um, if you are pregnant, is it uh.."
"No," Alexis said and Kate was shocked at how sure she sounded. "It's not Pi's. We uh..well let's just say things weren't very satisfactory in that department," Alexis admitted, blushing slightly.
"Sweetie, wanting good sex is nothing to be ashamed of," Kate laughed. "And I won't go into details because I'm sure you don't need them-"
"About my parents having sex? No, thank you. Aren't you like too old for that now anyway?" Alexis teased.
"Well, your dad might be.." Kate laughed, joining in on the teasing when he wasn't here to defend himself. And she hadn't missed the way Alexis had said 'my parents' either. "But no, Pi and I didn't really match in that respect..he was very selfish if you get what I mean."
"Oh god, yeah I get what you mean! It's one of the things I love about your dad-" she broke off at Alexis' scrunched up nose. "Right, too much information, sorry. So um, if you are pregnant, who's is it?"
"I uh, may have um, had a one night stand a few weeks back..at a party when I was drunk.."
"Honestly Alexis, if you knew half the things I got up to when I was your age you certainly wouldn't be worried about telling me you had a one night stand. And you're in college - it's perfectly normal and as long as it was consensual then I don't see the problem. Well, apart from the obvious one we're faced with.."
"Oh god, yeah it was consensual, I wasn't that drunk. Sorry, I sometimes forget that you're a cop and you see these things from a different point of view!"
"No, I guess I just worry about you sometimes..I know what it's like being a young girl in this city!"
"Can I ask you a kind of personal question?" Alexis asked shyly.
"You can ask me anything, Alexis, anything you want."
"Erm..have you ever been in a situation like..this?"
"Where I thought I could be pregnant?" Alexis nodded. "Yeah, I have. A few times actually and it's not something I'm terribly proud of. I'm not saying it's your fault or anything, but I'm assuming you're on some kind of birth control?" Alexis nodded again. "And I know sometimes it's possible to forget to take it, god knows I have when I was caught up with work..not that I had a reason to be taking it most of the time..but anyway, when I had these scares it was a result of my own reckless behaviour. After my mom died I was a mess and I had three in the year after she died but I had one before she died too."
"Did you tell her?"
"Yeah..I practically told her everything so it would have been weird not to. I never told my dad though, he was a bit like Castle is with you, still is actually.."
"And what did she do?" Alexis asked, it wasn't often Kate opened up about her mother.
"She took me to the chemist and we got a test and she sat there with me whilst we waited for the result. And the three times after she died that I did that I was on my own and that's why I'm going to do this with you, waiting there knowing my mom was there whatever the outcome was a hell of a lot more comforting than being a twenty year old girl with no one to talk to."
"Oh god, no I didn't expect you to do that or anything..I just..I wanted to tell you, cause I er, can't really tell my dad.."
"Alexis, we're in this together now, okay? And having been in your situation, I can promise you it'll be better having someone with you, okay?"
"Well um..if you're sure.."
"Of course I am. Now, how late are you?"
"Um, about three weeks.." Alexis admitted. "And it's been like 7 since that party so um..yeah.."
"Okay, well it's probably just a false alarm, you've been under a lot of pressure with college exams and stuff so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
"And if it is?" Alexis asked quietly. "If I am pregnant?"
"Well then you have options. And I can promise you that whatever happens I'm going to be here and tour dad will be too."
"Oh god..he's going to be so disappointed!"
"Sweetie, he could never be disappointed in you, okay? You're beautiful and intelligent and I know he's incredibly proud of you."
"But I'm in college, I can't have a baby!"
"Well why don't we wait and see the result of this test first, no point in worrying when you don't need to, hey?"
"Okay," Alexis agreed, "um..thank you. For everything..I was wondering how I was going to tell you but I guess it just came out and uh, yeah I really appreciate it."
"Not a problem, kid, you're stuck with me now so you better get used to it," Kate smiled at her, "now, think you can some sleep? Your dad's got a meeting with Paula and Gina tomorrow morning, so we can go to the pharmacy then if you like?"
"Er, yeah, I guess.."
"The sooner we do this, the sooner you can know. It'll be fine, I promise."
"Okay," Alexis mumbled, throwing herself into Kate's arms.
Kate wrapped her arms around Alexis, hugging her tightly, before watching her head up the stairs to bed. Kate knew how Alexis felt about telling Castle, it was probably fairly similar to the way she had felt when she was in the same situation all those years ago. Both of them were daddy's girls at heart, but she knew no matter the result of the test, Castle would stand by Alexis.
Kate pretended she was still asleep when Castle left early the next morning, it was a Saturday so she didn't need to be at the precinct and she couldn't face lying to Castle if he happened to ask if anything was wrong.
Once she heard the front door click shut, she climbed out of bed and into the shower, emerging half an hour later ready for the day. She found Alexis in the kitchen once again, sans ice cream this time.
"Morning sweetie," she greeted, "you want breakfast?"
"No, I'm too nervous to eat," Alexis said, a nervous laugh escaping too.
"Okay, well you wanna go then?"
"Uh..yeah.."
"Hey, everything is going to fine, I promise. And you know me, I don't make promises I can't keep." Kate told her, the two of them heading out of the door.
They returned an hour later, four pregnancy tests in the bag.
"Why did you get four?" Alexis asked in a panic.
"Because I'm doing two with you. If you want, that is..I just thought you might feel a little more comfortable.."
"Yeah..that would help actually."
"Okay, so take these up to your bathroom, follow the instructions on the box and come back down. We have to leave them for a few minutes before they tell us anything."
Alexis did as Kate said, disappearing up the stairs as Kate went into the bathroom too, taking the tests with her. She was worried about what Alexis' would say..she had tried reassuring her that it was probably just a false alarm but there was a chance it wouldn't be and Castle was about to become a grandfather. Well. After what Alexis had said last night, she could be about to become a grandmother. God, she was too young for this.
Emerging a couple of minutes later, she saw Alexis pacing the living room, tests placed on the coffee table. She put her two at the other end and sat down on the couch, checking the time on her watch.
The next 2 minutes passed like they were counting two hours. Finally, it was time to look and they picked up their tests at the same time.
"Oh thank god," Alexis said, breathing a sigh of relief and Kate looked up to see a huge grin on the girls face. "They're negative," she announced. "What's up? Shouldn't you be telling me to be more careful next time or something?"
Kate flipped her tests round so that Alexis could see them. "Mine are positive - I'm pregnant."
Prompt:
"Kate wakes up in the middle of the night to find the kitchen's light turned up. Alexis is there eating a huge bowl of ice cream and it looks like she was crying. Turns out that Alexis thinks she is pregnant but is afraid to take the test. Beckett talks to her and tells her about her past and convinces her to take the test and the consequences." Cliche plot twist... Kate also takes a pregnancy test, to be reassuring and all that, but hers IS positive
A/N: so this was just a little fluffy one-shot and I hope enjoyed it! Reviews are more than welcome, they make me very happy!