Chapter 3- A New Life
After a long day of paperwork, Kate finally got up the courage to invoke a difficult meeting with Captain Gates on why she should be able to use her vacation time, and allow Ryan and Esposito to join her. Captain Gates may have taken awhile to get used to having Castle around, but Kate made her a promise that she knew she couldn't refuse. She told her that with these meetings in Dallas, Castle would be getting a new book deal; therefore he would be out of her hair to write more than usual. As Kate figured, Gates gave in and allowed Kate and her team the much needed time off.
When Kate told the boys, they were excited to be able to get the time off, but were scared to think about what their girls would say. Kate agreed to ask the girls for them. She might work in a man's world, but she still knew how to speak girl. After convincing the girls to go with them she packed her stuff up early and headed out. The only opening in the next few weeks at her doctor's office was that afternoon.
When she got to the doctor's office, she saw women of all sizes. One woman she saw had to have been nine months along, because she looked like she could pop at any moment. She never really noticed the other pregnant women before. Were they always there when she came for her yearly exams, or did they all of a sudden appear, because she too was pregnant.
"Kate Beckett," a nurse asked pulling Kate pack to the present. She followed her down the hall to an exam room after handing her the necessary urine sample. "Doctor Lyda will be with you shortly."
Kate looked around the room to see babies everywhere. She doesn't remember those posters being there last check up, but maybe they put her in a different room. One that appeals to the patient. Yeah that was it, because those posters put a giddy smile on her face that would not break no matter how hard she tried. She used to want kids when she was little, and loved to babysit the neighbor's kids, but after her mother died she put children on the back burner. Maybe Castle and Alexis changed her for the better. They showed her how happy a family could be and reminded her how happy she was when she was young. The day Castle entered her life changed her for the better, and now she was going to be the mother of that man-child's baby.
A knock on the door reeled her back into reality, and Dr. Lyda entered the room with a warm smile and chart. "Kate, how are you feeling today?" Dr. Lyda asked while pulling up a chair next to her.
"Well, I'm a couple months late so I took a pregnancy test this morning and it came back positive. I know my body will become irregular after working on hard cases and not sleeping or eating right, but it usually works itself back out. I'm still taking my birth control so I didn't think it was possible for me to be pregnant, but I had to make sure-"
"Kate, first and foremost you know that birth control is not always one-hundred percent, but sometimes after taking the same pill for a long time your body can react differently to it. I know that with your line of work it's difficult to have children, but I want you to know that you have options," Dr. Lyda explained to Kate.
"Wait, are you saying that I'm pregnant?" Kate asked as a flood of happiness rushed through her blood.
"Kate, I know this may be difficult for you, but yes you are pregnant. You are ten weeks along. You still have options to choose from."
Kate sat there in shock. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. She was going to have Richard Castle's baby and love every bit of it.
"Kate, what would you like to do?" Dr. Lyda asked wondering where her patient went.
"What? Oh, so do I need to get like vitamins and stuff? I have no idea how any of this works," Kate said fumbling with her fingers to distract her from going to her happy place again and focus on what the doctor needed to tell her.
After the doctor explained some of the symptoms she could get, she gave her a list of vitamins and dos and don'ts. When the doctor explained some of the complications that could occur, Kate's smiled faded somewhat, but nothing could tear that grin off of her face.
When exiting the office building that held her doctor's office she noticed a park across the street and sat down on a bench to watch the children play. She remembered once when Castle told her that he used to take Alexis when she was little. She knew he was a great father, and hoped that their baby would grow up to be as good a person as Alexis. Alexis was a wonderful and smart young lady. She and Kate had gotten very close over the summer when she came back to live with her dad and Kate. They would go shopping on her days off to leave Castle to his writing, and go to some shows on Broadway with Martha. Alexis always treated her well, but she never felt like her mom. She sat there on the bench thinking about all the things that she and her mom did together, and realized that maybe she could do this, because she had already done all those things with Alexis.
After realizing that the sun was setting quickly, she grabbed her bag and headed towards the loft. She was going to be a mom, and a good one at that.
A/N- I know this chapter is short, but I had to put this in somewhere. Hopefully I will get around to posting a chapter a day, but things happen. Hope you like it. Reviews, please.