Note: Thanks to everyone for your reviews, you guys are awesome! I couldn't ask for better readers!
I don't own Castle.
Chapter 14.
"What a trip!" Rick dropped their bags just inside of the front door, following Kate and Alexis inside. "Thanks for planning everything, Pumpkin." He moved forward to squeeze his daughter.
"No problem, Dad. I'm so glad you guys had a good time. I'm sorry you were sick though, Kate."
"It's okay. I still had fun," Kate reassured her.
"Good. I'll see you guys in a bit. I'm going to go unpack." Alexis turned her attention to her phone and made her way upstairs. Rick and Kate laughed when she almost ran into the wall because her attention was so focused on her texting.
"Think she's texting that Nate guy?" Rick questioned, looking thoughtfully at Kate.
"Maybe. I'm just glad to see she's not upset about Pi anymore."
"Me too. At least this guy goes to Columbia. I'd be willing to bet he's not a fruitarian either."
"You mean you don't want a son-in-law who only eats fruit?" Kate teased.
"Whoah, who said anything about a son-in-law. Don't rush her!"
Kate laughed again, pleased to know she could always push his buttons and went to grab her suitcase to take it into their room.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking my bag to go unpack…"
"You don't need to be carrying anything heavy. I'll get it."
"Rick. I appreciate it, but I'm pregnant not weak. I can handle carrying one suitcase. It's not even that heavy."
"Can you please just let me spoil you a little?" he pleaded, giving her his puppy dog eyes. "I'll give you a surprise…"
"What kind of a surprise?" Kate asked, giving in and handing him her suitcase.
"You'll have to wait and see!" Rick grabbed his suitcase in his other hand and led the way to their room. He placed Kate's suitcase on the floor and his on the bed so he could unzip it.
"How long do I need to wait?"
"Three…two…one…" he began, pulling a bag out of his suitcase and holding it behind his back.
Kate tried to peer around him to see what it was but he turned in order to maintain the element of surprise.
"Are you sure you want to see it?" he asked.
Her look said she was, but she moved forward, tickling him, for once giving him a taste of his own medicine.
Rick doubled over in laughter, squirming to get out of Kate's reach. "Uncle! Uncle!" he screamed, sounding like a little girl, which caused Kate to laugh harder. "You win! I'll show you!"
That made her stop. Kate backed up, giving him space to catch his breath. He was bending over, hands on his knees, breathing heavily when she leaped forward and grabbed the bag out of his hands.
Rick watched carefully as Kate opened the bag, eyes growing wide as she pulled out the tiny white onesie. It read Someone who loves me very much went to Vegas and got me this onesie! Kate's eyes filled with tears and she turned to face her fiancé who quickly crossed the room and pulled her to him.
"It's perfect. When did you do this?" she said as she pulled back slightly to look at him.
"Oh, you know," he shrugged. "I have my ways."
"I love you. Thank you so much. This is perfect for the little one. I should probably call and schedule an appointment, just to make sure everything is okay."
"I love you too. You're welcome. I thought it would be a cute reminder for us of when we found out. Go for it. Just let me know when it is so I can come with you."
"You don't have to - "
"I want to. I want to be there every step of the way. Every appointment, every craving, every tear, every smile, every feeling that takes over," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Deal," Kate winked, and walked over to grab her phone to schedule her appointment.
While he was waiting, Rick busied himself unpacking their suitcases, separating the clothes that needed to be washed and those he could put away. It didn't take long for Kate to come back, nudging him to get his attention.
"We have an appointment at 3 today. I guess they had a last minute cancellation." Kate sat on the bed and closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Rick sat beside her, worried.
Kate slowly opened her eyes and turned slightly to look at him, pulling her leg up onto the bed and holding it to her chest. "I'm just nervous, I guess."
Rick reached out and grabbed her hand, and traced small circles with his thumb over her palm. "Which part are you nervous about?"
"All of it," she confessed, looking down at her knees. "Rick. I know you're going to be a great Dad. You already are. But me? I'm worried I'm going to let you down. I don't know how to raise a kid - "
Rick quickly interrupted her. "Kate, don't you see? You are already a parent. Who does Alexis go to when she has trouble with guys? You. Who is more like a mother to her than her own mother? You. Who did she call Mom recently? You. All that matters is how much you love this kid – everything else we will figure out, together."
Kate leaned forward, resting her forehead on his. "Thanks, that means a lot. But I'm still nervous for everything else. Telling Alexis, telling the guys, giving birth…" she trailed off.
"Babe, it's completely normal to be nervous. I promise you," he said as he kissed her forehead softly.
She just sat there a moment, taking a deep breath, before she looked up into his deep blue eyes that were sparkling at her. It was all the reassurance she needed. "We're going to be great at this, aren't we?"
"Oh for sure! Granted, I'm sure between the two of us, we will manage to mess this kid up plenty," he teased, happy to see her smile.
"With you as a father, I'm going to have my hands full with two kids," she teased back.
Their laughter was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in," Rick called.
Alexis poked her head around the door just as Kate hid the onesie behind her back. "I'm going to go meet Nate and his friends. I'll be back later."
"Okay," Rick said. "If you're not back too late, we can take you over to see the new place?"
"Yeah, I'd like that. I'll text later to let you know."
"Have fun Lex," Kate told her, smiling as her stepdaughter's face pinked in slight embarrassment before she turned and headed for the door.
"She likes him," Rick stated.
"Ya think?" Kate poked him, still in a playful mood.
"Ha-ha-ha. So, any predictions, boy or girl?"
The question threw her off. She hadn't really given it much thought. Okay, who was she kidding, whenever she had thought about kids with Rick, she always imagined a little boy running around with his father's eyes. Kate lost herself in a scene of a little boy with messy brown hair, about three years old, with startlingly blue eyes, running towards her, grinning from ear to ear as he showed her a scribbled drawing of their family. It was, in one word, perfection.
"Earth to Kate."
"Oh, sorry," she came out of her little daydream. "I was just thinking."
"About?"
"About a little boy who looks just like his Daddy," she explained, cheeks flushing slightly.
"A little boy," Rick grinned from ear to ear, the same smile she had imagined their little boy to have. "I'd be happy either way. I know our little girl would look just like her Mom."
It was his turn to think about the future. Rick pictured a pretty girl with her mother's hair and eyes of about fourteen, begging them to let her go on a date. He shuddered outwardly and Kate looked puzzled.
"If we have a girl, she's not going to be allowed out of the house until she's at least 30. The boys will be all over her," he said, looking completely serious.
Kate laughed. "You let Alexis date."
"I scared her boyfriends for awhile," he pouted. "But she wore me down. Maybe the next one won't try."
"Right," Kate said, reassuringly. "I'm sure if she's her mother's daughter she will be a perfect angel," she winked at Rick, causing him to frown.
"I don't want to think about that yet," he mumbled.
Kate patted him on his back. "Just think, you have awhile before that will happen. You have time to prepare yourself. Who knows, if we have a boy, it won't be a problem. Hell, you'll probably be encouraging him to go after the ladies, teaching him all of your secrets."
That made him smile. "Yeah, you're right. Who knows, we might not get a girl until the second or third time." He laughed as her face went pale.
"Second or third?"
Rick grinned mischievously. "You never know!"
"Let's just take this one kid at a time."
"Yes, ma'am." Rick leaned in and kissed her, glancing over to find the time. His gaze caught the wedding clock he had unpacked for Kate on her nightstand. Wedding Countdown: 15 Days Until You Are Mrs. Rick Castle! Rick smiled, "I'm glad you like your clock, it's just not helpful when you actually want to know the time."
Kate pulled her phone out of her pocket. "We still have an hour. But don't make fun of my clock. I love to look and see the countdown until I'm your wife."
"Who would have thought? Tough Katherine Beckett is such a romantic!"
She rolled her eyes, and became serious again. "Have you ever thought about names Rick?"
He thought for a moment. "I have, but I'm curious to hear what you think first."
"I like Alexander for a boy, after you," she said shyly. Rick was unbelievably touched.
"That's sweet, Kate. I like that too. What about the middle name?"
"Mark – from Mark Twain. I always figured you would want to have our kids continue the tradition of being named after famous authors."
"Alexander Mark Castle. I love it. What about for a girl?"
"Your turn to go first, Mr. Castle."
Rick sighed in mock defeat. "Okay. I don't know how you'll feel about this."
Kate looked at him silently telling him to continue.
"If it is okay with you, I was thinking we should have Johanna in there somewhere. Either first name or middle name – it doesn't matter to me, but I think it would be nice to have your mother as a part of our daughter."
Kate's eyes filled with tears. She nodded, unable to get the words out. After a few moments she spoke. "You are the sweetest man, you know that?"
It was a testament to how much he loved her and understood how important this moment was that he didn't let that statement inflate his ego. Rick just kissed her. "I love you," he told her as they pulled apart.
"I love you too." She really did, more than she had ever thought possible. And somehow it seemed her love for him still grew every day. "That's still just one name. What about the other?"
"I've always kind of liked the name Margret, from Margret Rey. Alexis and I always loved reading Curious George."
Kate smiled. "This was surprisingly easy for us. I think it just goes to show how similar our minds have gotten to be."
"True. I'm used to you arguing with me!"
"Only when it comes to your crazy stories!"
"If I'm not mistaken, I've heard you tell other people that they need to consider the story," Rick said.
"You caught me," she confessed. "If you've taught me anything, it's that nothing is quite as simple as it may seem. The story is what's important."
"Do you want to know what my favorite story is?"
"Which?"
"Ours," he confessed softly.
"I love that you're so cheesy sometimes," Kate told him, kissing him. "It's my favorite story too. I can't wait to hear how you exaggerate it to our children."
"I would never!" he exclaimed in mock horror. "I just have to tell them the truth, how you were attracted to me from the moment we met. I was just too ruggedly handsome to resist."
"Here we go again!" she laughed, shaking her head. "Come on," she pulled him to his feet. "We had better go before we are late for our appointment."
Rick followed her out the door and to the kitchen where they put on their jackets. Neither spoke, but it was clear. They were both ready and excited to hear the doctor confirm the pregnancy. They were ready for this.
Thanks BurningxRedxCaskett for helping me through my writer's block on this chapter!