Chapter Ten: Into The Mystic
Author's Note: First, I wanted to apologize for the time gap between this chapter and the last one. It has been donkey's years and I am very sorry. I have a nasty case of writer's block, and whenever I do manage to get something out, it sucks and I have to delete it. Things are so bad I have been trying out new shows just to see if I can write something about those. I cannot. Well, nonetheless, this happened and I hope you enjoy it. If you still care. I hope you do. Please review!
Sunrays light the small flower market, at around eight in the morning. It's not hot, quite the contrary in fact, but the sun helps warm the ocean of bodies scattered between peonies and tulips. Colourful flower petals are strewn across the concrete floor, stomped fiercely by leather boots and pointy stilettos. The crowd is at its peak, small stands swamped with men buying bouquets and women examining colours and textures. A woman smiles at Kate, turning around to place a handful of lilac petals back on a sampling box. She smiles back, clutching the small paper bag. She's holding it strongly with dithering fingers, the corners of the tiny brown bag threadbare from touch. She scours the surroundings for Lanie, to no avail. Lanie is tiny, the place is packed, and unless Lanie picks up her phone in a few short minutes, Kate is positively sure she's going to lose it. Therefore, when the small woman places a hand on her shoulder, she experiences both panic and relief at the same time. She's scared. Absolutely petrified. She doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to deal with it, doesn't want to think about it. However, it has happened. It is happening. There's no running away from it, no dodging the bullet, no ignoring the issue. No, it's not the kind of issue that goes away with time. It's the kind of problem that grows, and grows, and grows and grows, until it explodes and you're forced to deal with the situation. Quite literally, in fact, because there is a lot of growth involved. And without a doubt, there is an explosion-like event. Yeah, she's done this before. Nevertheless, the intensity of the current occasion has never been any more obvious. Not when she has proofs on both hands, and doubt in her mind, not when he's so real, she's so real, and they're so real and so very there. She's not alone, and she doesn't want to be. She's not going to push him away, not going to push her friends away, nor she is going to push her family away. This time she's going to do everything right, all things by the book, and she's going to do it the best way she can. The imminence of its esse is looming over her whole existence, and for a second, she feels ready. She's not running away from it, no, she's embracing it – rather awkwardly and quite fearfully – and she's taking control. This is her goddamned second chance and she's not one for letting second chances go away.
"Hey." She says, turning her entire body to face Lanie. Kate's not in heels – miracle of all miracles – and Lanie is almost as tall as Kate in her pumps.
"Hi." Lanie responds, hesitantly. She doesn't like surprises, especially not when they come from a homicide detective. She can feel the fear in Kate's voice, the determination in her eyes, and the discomfort in her body. It scares her really, mostly because she's not used to seeing Kate looking this fragile. She's in flats, which is in itself something to worry about, an oversized cardigan and comfy-looking leggings, and she looks very small. Her hair is down and her face is pale, but she doesn't look half bad. She appears lithe, stealth, collected. Almost like she had full control over her most intimate fears, as if emotion was, in its essence, an emotion. There's strength in fragility, Lanie knows that, so she breathes deeply and waits for Kate to say something.
"I need to tell you something." Kate says, taking her by the arm and leading her into a small booth with rococo-styled wooden chairs. She passes her the baggie, carefully, and waits for her reaction.
"Should I be scared?"
"I don't know." Kate answers, truthfully "I am a little, but it's not a bad kind of scared. Not like getting mugged or anything, more like riding a really large rollercoaster in Coney Island when you're a little kid and your parents…"
"Kate," Lanie said, "you're babbling. Please tell me what's going on."
"I'm pregnant." She blurted, barely managing to form the pair of words.
"What?"
"Pregnant. Knocked up. With child. Enceinte. Gestating. Parous. Gravid. Teeming."
"Slow down, Annie Thesaurus, I understood it the first time." Lanie said "I… what's the situation? Are you… are you happy?" she asked, cautiously. She'd been in this exact situation before, and it was less than pleasant. Things had changed – everything did, in fact – but there was this weird dejavu feeling on the back of her head that kept telling her to proceed with caution.
"I don't know." Kate answered, "It wasn't planned. I… we didn't even talk about it. We just got engaged." She continued "But I love Castle. Moreover, I love being with him. I love our family, and I want to expand it. But I'm… I'm scared. I've been here before."
"It's not the same."
"I know." Kate smiled, sadly "Rationally, I know. But it's going to take a while until my emotions catch up."
"I think that's more than reasonable."
"And Lanie, I wanted to thank you." Kate said, taking a few steps towards the chairs "Thanks for being there for me the first time, thanks for making me come to my senses and make me accept my feelings for Castle, thanks for being who you are for Alexis and Gabriel… thank you."
Tears marked both their faces, a wide mixture of happiness, grief and sorrow. The word bittersweet came to mind, with the obvious truth being that they carried a lot more baggage than most friendships could hold.
"Will you help me with something?" Kate asked.
"Sure."
"I want to tell Castle, I want to tell him tonight."
"Any ideas on how?"
"I did arrange for us to meet at a flower market, did I not?"
[…]
Rick gets home at around seven. He's tired and cranky and feeling a little bit guilty for being happy with a Gabriel-free night, who was probably having the time of his life with his grandmother. The night was gloomy and dreadfully cold, and he longed to get out of his humid clothes and take a long hot shower. When he opens the door, the apartment is icy and dark, and he wonders where Kate is. He finds that the only light on is their bedroom's, and goes inside to look for her. She's not there, but he spots a note on the bed, and it reads:
Welcome home, kitten. We're playing a game. – KB
With a small purple flower attached to it – a wisteria, he later learns – and he cannot hold back a chuckle. He turns the note around and reads the words Beta Alfa Tango Hotel Romeo Oscar Oscar Mike. He heads for the master bathroom, and there, on the sink, he finds another flower, an edelweiss – Alexis' favourite – and a second note, with the words Delta Romeo Echo Sierra Sierra Echo Romeo. He smiles at the use of the phonetic alphabet, and the overall childish notion of the game. He heads back to the bedroom, towards the dresser, and there he finds the third flower and note. The flower is a rose – a white one – and the note reads Delta Romeo Alfa Whiskey Echo Romeo. He opens the two top drawers, and the left one holds the fourth pair of clues. The flower is another edelweiss and the note reads Kilo India Tango Charlie Hotel Echo November. He walks to the kitchen, and on the counter lies a peony. It's small, and it's attached to the note with a paper clip. He puts the fifth flower alongside the other four in his jacket pocket, using the paper clip to put all the notes together. The fifth note reads Golf Alfa Beta Romeo India Echo Lima Sierra – Romeo Oscar Oscar Mike, and he goes up the stairs and into Gabriel's room. The flower and note are taped on the door, it's another rose, and the note just reads India November. He walks inside, and on the opposite wall, there's a third edelweiss and the seventh note, which reads Beta Alfa Tango Mike Alfa November – Romeo Uniform Golf. He kneels on the floor and lifts the small Batman rug, which reveals a Gerbera and a note with Beta Echo Delta on it. He finds the ninth note on Gabriel's bed, under a daffodil (which, like the wisteria, he later learns it's called a narcissus). The note reads Hotel Alfa Lima Lima Whiskey Alfa Yankee. He steps out of the room and closes the door behind him, eyeing the tenth note on the hallway floor. The flower is a rather large ambrosia, and the note reads Golf Uniform Echo Sierra Tango – Romeo Oscar Oscar Mike. The next note is taped to the guest room door, and is accompanied by another daffodil. It reads India November and when he walks into the room, he sees Kate. She's wearing a flowy purple dress and has her up in a messy ponytail, her feet bare. She's holding a tulip and what he assumes is the last note. He leans forward to give her a kiss, but she turns her head and gives him the tulip and note.
"Finish the game first."
"Put the initials together." He reads aloud, and takes the flowers out of his pocket. "First one is… I don't know that flower. Which one is that?"
"Wisteria."
"Okay, so W" he says, putting the wisteria to the side "E. R. E. Were?"
"There's an apostrophe."
"So we are." He continues "P. R. E. G." he doesn't finish the sentence. He really doesn't have to. She has a wide smile on her face and he's smart enough to know the ending without having to actually connect the final four letters, so he just looks at her, mouth agape.
"What?"
"We're pregnant?" He asks, clutching the flowers and notes.
"We are."
Author's Note: Ah, I hope you liked it. I know it was a tad far-fetched, but I feel like Kate could totally pull that off. Please do let me know what you think!