Here is chapter 14, enjoy!

They finally managed to get everything ready in time, no thanks to Rick's determination to get Kate out of her clothes. She almost gave up all resistance once, but the impromptu arrival of Alexis while Kate was topless in the kitchen definitely made her keep her clothes on. And following that unwanted scene, Alexis shouted from upstairs every time she was coming down.

The table was set, all the drinks were ready, everyone was dressed, all that was missing was the guests. As always, Lanie and Javier were the first to arrive, always the one ready to party. The others followed closely and by 9, everyone was there. When Jim arrived, he had a huge rectangular-shaped present that he placed against one of the walls.

"Your son didn't come after all?" Rick asked Gates as he was taking her coat and putting it in the closet.

"No. His older brother came home from college for the weekend so he took him to the movies." She explained.

"How old are they, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh no, it's not a secret." Gates laughed.

"Jackson is 23 and Tyler is 12." Hank, Gates' husband, answered.

"Well, that's very nice of him. I don't know a lot of 23-year-old who would sacrifice a Saturday evening to take their brother to the movies." Rick said, leading them to the living room where everybody had gathered.

Rick went to join Kate, putting an arm around her waist as she talked to her father.

"What did you bring dad?" she asked, pointing at the wrapped thing against the wall.

"It's a present, for both of you. Do you want it now?" Jim asked, excited to see their reaction.

"Well, if it's for us yes we want it now." Rick laughed, always the one to be impatient to open a gift.

Jim went to collect his package and handed it to Kate. The room quieted down, waiting to see what Jim had brought for them. Kate placed it on the couch and started to open it, slowly taking off the tape. Everyone could see Rick getting rather impatient at her side.

"Come on Kate, why are you taking so long? Just rip it off."

Everyone laughed and Kate took his advice. However, she stopped when she saw what was inside. She looked at her dad, tears in her eyes.

"Dad! Did you take it? It's … absolutely wonderful!" she said.

She looked at Rick and saw he was as shocked as her. He couldn't take his eyes off it. The other guests were getting impatient, wondering what could have such a strong effect on their friends.

"Jim, it's …. It's perfect. I didn't know you were that good." Rick finally managed to say, turning to his future father-in-law.

"Well, at first I wanted to do it with the 'official' picture of the two of you that I took but when I saw this one, it just clicked you know. It had to be this one." Jim said, smiling softly.

Kate went to kiss her dad and then went into Rick's arms, her movement letting the others see what had been wrapped in the paper. It was a rather big engraved silver frame around a picture of Rick and Kate at the graduation ceremony earlier that afternoon. Rick had reached Kate and had been kissing her. He was bending her backwards, which caused Kate to be keeping her hat on her head with her hand. Both of them had the brightest smiles on their faces. They looked so happy in the picture that Jim had decided to have it printed in big size. When he went looking for a frame to put it in, he found the silver one which had Always engraved at the top. It was perfect for them.

All the guests were gaping at the photograph. No sound could be heard in the entire loft, everyone's eyes were stuck on the picture.

"It's so beautiful!" Gates said, being the first one to get back to her senses.

This reflection, shocking everyone for coming from the Captain, brought life back in the loft. Everyone started talking again and Jim received a lot of congratulations. Rick and Kate didn't move, still looking at the photograph.

"We have to hang it somewhere." Rick finally said, without taking his eyes off it.

"I don't want everyone who comes to the loft to see it though. It seems … too special. What about we hang in your office?"

"That's a good idea. That way I'm sure never to lose inspiration." Rick said, smiling before kissing her softly.

Kate laughed and dried the tears that had rolled down her cheeks. Esposito came to them with glasses of Champaign. Rick took one but Kate didn't, asking for a glass of juice instead.

"Come on Kate, one glass won't kill you. Do it for your man here." he said, pushing the glass in her hand.

"No, I'm fine Javi, really." She said, putting the glass back on the table.

"You know that almost everyone here has already seen you drunk right?" he laughed.

"Well, you … you won't see me drunk for quite some time." Kate said, looking at Rick who was beaming, a hand placed on her stomach nonchalantly.

Everyone seemed quite lost, looking at the two of them. Of course, Lanie knew, but she played the I-don't-know-anything part perfectly.

"Katie? Are you …" Jim started, being the first one to have put two and two together.

"Yeah." She answered, nodding, smiling and crying all at the same time.

Before she had time to realize what was happening, her father had crashed into her and was hugging her very tight.

"What … what's happening?" Esposito asked, still not understanding.

"We're having a baby." Rick said simply, his voice thick with emotion.

He had hardly finished his sentence that Alexis and Martha had flown into his arms.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

After a few minutes dedicated to congratulations and hugs, everyone moved to the dining room where a feast prepared by Castle was waiting. As they reached time for desert, Hank Gates received a phone call. He excused himself and left the table.

"Captain, I …" Kate started, stopping when Gates raised her hand.

"It's Victoria, I'm not working, and you aren't either. And you invited me into your home, so it's Victoria. And that's true for everyone, got it?"

"Yes Victoria" everyone chorused.

"Yes Sir." Esposito said, his words earning him a slap at the back of the head by Lanie.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but I have to go." Hank said, coming back to the table.

"Is everything alright?" Gates asked, suddenly concerned.

"Oh yes, everything's fine. It's just Jackson. He forgot his house keys so they can't get inside the house. I'll go open for them."

"Right. The moment this kid will remember to put his shoes on before going out we'll all be billionaires!" Gates said, laughing.

"You know what, you don't have to leave. Tell them to come over. We'll keep them pieces of the cake. We'll just have to hide them from Javier, that's all." Rick said.

"Really? You don't mind?" Hank asked. He was having a really good time with his wife's team and wasn't really happy to have to leave.

"No, of course we don't mind. Just call them. We'll wait for them to cut the cake." Kate said, smiling.

While Hank went to call his sons back, the other left the table to gather in the living room to chat. Kate walked to Gates and asked her if they could talk privately. She led her into Rick's office. Rick saw them leave the group and enter his office. He knew exactly what was going on and couldn't help but smile. She was really going to do it!

So, what did you think?

Ready for a very ... surprising Kate/Gates talk?