A/N: Thank you for the reviews and follows. I'm honored that you all are enjoying this story. I still have no idea how many chapters it will be. We still have quite a ways to go. My goal is to get a new chapter out to you every day, but with the holidays coming up, I'm going to be working overtime (6 days a week) until after Christmas or New Year's, so I'll get the new chapters out to you as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter 9

Kate wakes up the next morning and realizes that she left her phone downstairs on her nightstand. She wasn't planning on spending the night up in Alexis' room. She carefully gets off the bed, making sure she doesn't wake up Alexis. Kate quietly leaves Alexis' room and heads downstairs. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs she sees Martha in the kitchen. "Good morning, Martha."

Martha looks up from making her coffee. "Good morning, darling." She goes back to making her coffee, but quickly looks up again to Kate. "Darling, did you just come from upstairs?"

Kate yawns while nodding. "Yeah. I stayed in Alexis' room last night." She walks into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. "After you and I talked last night I went up to check on her. When I got to her room, she was crying. I sat on the bed to see if she wanted to talk about it, but she wasn't ready just yet. All she wanted me to do was stay there with her."

Martha nods and takes a sip of her coffee. "Do you see what we mean, now, dear? She needed a mother, someone to be there for her through this trauma. And there you were. You're going through it too, but you went to check on her, regardless of how you were feeling yourself. You put her first." Martha gives Kate a smile. "You are a wonderful mother. Now, I would say stepmother, but you're better than that. You're more than that."

Kate takes a sip of her coffee and lets the taste linger on her tongue. "I guess I do see what you all see now. I suppose I never really took the time to think about what I was doing, I just do it."

"Aha, that, my dear is a mother's intuition. A maternal instinct."

Kate chuckles. "Ok, Martha. I get it now." She takes another sip of her coffee. "Martha, do you remember what time visiting hours start at the hospital?"

Martha shakes her head. "No, sorry darling. It might be 8am, but don't quote me on that."

Kate looks at the time on the stove and it reads 7am. "It's 7 o'clock? Wow, Martha, you're up early."

"Yeah, I was too anxious to sleep properly. So, I came down here to make some coffee. I needed a little distraction."

Kate nods as she sips her coffee. "Right. Well, I'm going to take my coffee and get myself ready for the day. Alexis is actually still sleeping, so I'm going to leave her alone."

"Very well, dear. I'll see you later."

"See you later, Martha." Kate walks toward her bedroom to get herself ready for the day. With her coffee in hand, she walks over to her nightstand to check her phone. When she looks at it she sees she has a missed call from a number she doesn't recognize. There is also a voicemail left by the same number. She checks the message that was left. It was the hospital letting Kate know that Castle was awake and that she could see him starting at 8am. She lets out a sigh of relief. Her husband is alive and he's ok.

Kate checks the time. 7:05am. That'll give her plenty of time to take a shower and get dressed before leaving for the hospital. She goes to the closet to pick out her outfit for the day. She chooses something professional, in case she decides to go into the precinct later in the day. After choosing her attire, she finishes her coffee and heads to the bathroom for a shower. She is finished with her shower by 7:30am.

Once Kate has showered and gotten dressed she walks out of her bedroom to head upstairs to check on Alexis. When she gets to Alexis' room, Alexis is still asleep. She really doesn't want to wake up the sleeping teenager, but she just wants to ask Alexis if she wants to go with her to the hospital, which Kate already knows the answer to, but wants to ask anyway.

Kate slowly walks across the room and sits down on the edge of the bed. She runs her fingers through Alexis' hair. Kate speaks in a whisper. "Alexis? Sweetie?" Alexis stirs and opens one eye looking up at Kate. "Hey, bud. I'm so sorry to wake you, but the hospital called. They left me a message saying that your dad is awake and that we can see him at 8. Did you want to go with me? You can go back to sleep if you want."

Alexis slowly sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. She quietly answers, "no, I'll go with you. I can sleep later."

Kate nods and kisses Alexis' temple. "Ok, we can leave whenever you're ready. I just need to dry my hair."

"Ok." Alexis pauses. "Do I smell coffee?"

"Yeah. Martha made some earlier. I already had my cup."

Alexis starts to move to remove her covers and Kate stands up. Once Kate stands up Alexis climbs out of bed. "Coffee actually sounds good. I think I'll get dressed and then make myself a cup."

"Ok, bud. I'll be downstairs whenever you're ready."

Kate starts to walk out the bedroom door when Alexis catches her attention. "Hey, Kate?" Kate turns around without saying a word. "Was I dreaming, or did I call you 'mom' last night?"

Kate smiles and lets out a little chuckle. "You probably could have been dreaming, but that would mean you were talking in your sleep. But, I'm pretty sure you said, 'love you, mom', right before you fell asleep."

"Oh, ok. Well, I'm sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable." Alexis seemed a little shy and embarrassed that she called Kate 'mom'.

Kate's smile drops. Now she thinks that Alexis didn't mean it. "You don't have to be sorry. It took me a little by surprise, but I didn't mind it at all." Kate lets out a smile sigh. "Did you mean it?"

Alexis is taken aback. Kate thinks that she didn't mean it? Of course, she meant it, even in her sleepy state. Kate has been the best mom to her in her entire life. "Of course, I meant it. If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have said it. No matter how emotional the day, we had, was."

Kate's smile returns. "Good. I'm glad you meant it. Because, with all honesty, I enjoyed hearing it. It sounded nice." Alexis returns the smile, but says nothing. "Well, I'll let you get ready to go, so we can visit your dad."

Alexis gives Kate a shy smile. "Ok. Thanks…mom."

Kate returns a smile. "Any time, bud."

After Kate closes the door behind her, to let Alexis change, she goes to Martha's room to see if she would want to go with them to the hospital. Kate knocks on Martha's door, but there is no answer. She opens the door slightly to peak in, but Martha isn't in her room. Kate closes the door and heads downstairs. The rest of the loft is quiet. Martha must not be home. She must have left while Kate was in the shower. So, Kate heads towards her bedroom to dry her hair and to finish getting ready.

After Kate had finished drying her hair and applied a little bit of makeup, she grabs her purse and walks out into the living room. She sees Alexis in the kitchen pouring coffee into a travel mug, so she could take it with them. "Hey, bud. You just about ready to go?"

Alexis is screwing on the top to the travel mug. "Yeah. I'm just taking my coffee to go." Alexis just walked past the stairs when she asks, "is gram coming with us?"

"I was going to ask her if she wanted to come, but she isn't in her room. She must not be home."

"Oh, ok. Well, we can always leave her a message and tell her where we'll be. Although, I'm sure she already knows where we would want to be."

"I'm sure she'll find us. She's a big girl. She knows how to take care of herself." Kate puts an arm over Alexis' shoulders. "Now, let's go see your dad."

The two of them head for the front door. When they reach the door to the loft, Alexis opens it while Kate grabs her keys from the dish by the door. When they're in the hallway, Kate closes the door behind her and locks it. Side by side the two of them walk down the hall toward the elevators. They both can't wait to see Castle awake.

To Be Continued

Note: I apologize if this chapter was a little short. The next chapter will be a little longer. It'll be back in Castle's hospital room. I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Reviews are always welcome.