"His WHAT?" came Gina's sharp response.

"Wife," said Steve, echoing his answer earlier.

The two lawyers for Black Pawn immediately started whispering furiously while Gina stared at Rick in disbelief.

"You're married?"

Rick kept quiet when Steve tapped his shoe again. Grateful for once to be quiet, as he wasn't sure how to answer that direct question. He wasn't married, though he hoped to be soon. If Kate didn't murder him first. He mused at the odds of his simply disappearing, a la Jimmy Hoffa. If anyone could hide a body as well as the mafia, it was Kate Beckett and friends.

"He's married. His wife is very ill. We can provide a doctor's statement confirming the veracity of that statement. Thus Rick has not violated his contract. On the contrary, his representative called you, informed you of the reason he needed to cancel the tour and unfortunately the situation has not improved. I'd say he met the full terms of the contract, wouldn't you?" Steve sat back, waiting for an answer.

Gina simply continued to glare at Rick. She opened her mouth a few times to speak but no sounds were forthcoming.

When no one else from Black Pawn seemed to have anything to say, Steve stood, pushing up on Rick's elbow in a silent gesture for him to do the same. Paula and Leslie quickly mirrored their actions.

"It seems there is nothing further to be discussed. That being the case, I expect no further false accusations to be levied against my client. Thank you for your time gentleman, Ms. Cowell."

Rick started to turn and leave when Gina's voice finally sounded. "Who?"

Steve nodded slightly at him.

"Kate."

"Kate? The detective?" she asked. "Nikki Heat?"

"Yes."

Gina glanced at Paula, confused. "I didn't hear you were even engaged."

"I proposed last May. We wanted it kept quiet."

Paula spoke then, "That's true. They wanted everything kept out of the press. Kate is a very private person and Ricky's lost interest in appearing on page 6."

"I was never that interested. You both said it would be good for sales, but it was never me."

Paula smiled. "I know, Ricky. You were a good sport about it though." Turning back to Gina she added, "They value their privacy, so I've not said anything about it. But it's been obvious to me that he's head over heels in love with her and vice versa, though I've not been around the detective that often."

Gina simply stood there, looking shell-shocked as they made their way to the door. Rick almost felt sorry for her…almost. She'd made this bed on her own and was going to have to lie in it for a while.

Sam Acton came around the table just as Rick was about to leave the room.

"Mr. Castle, please accept my deepest apologies on behalf of Black Pawn. We regret any inconvenience this meeting has caused you or your wife and I offer our sincerest hopes that she fully recovers soon."

The man sounded contrite, though Rick knew he was simply doing damage control for the company. However, he decided to act like a man about it, instead of being childlike and snarky as he was tempted to do.

"Thank you, Mr. Acton. It would be a shame for something like this to cause a rift in the relationship I've had with Black Pawn. That said, it's clear there are going to have to be some changes made in how I'm handled."

Acton nodded, fully in agreement. "You can rest assured I'll personally see to it. Thank you for coming to the meeting." He held out his hand and Rick shook it with only a brief hesitation. Perhaps he'd be able to stay at Black Pawn after all.

Rick parked the car and then sat still and silent for a few minutes after turning off the engine. There were many ways to do this incorrectly, most of which ended up with him cut into small chunks and fed to the fish in the Hudson.

Writer's imagination aside, he knew that Kate might feel forced into marrying him, which was the last this he wanted. Though they'd been engaged for some time now, they'd never actually discussed when the wanted to marry. There had been so much going on in their lives: the long book tour, Kate's new job with the mandatory training regimen stretching out. Then she'd be on probationary status for an unknown amount of time with the likelihood of transfer to a major city after she completed that period. It had been enough to see her wearing her engagement ring and to know they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. A date and planning for the wedding could wait until things slowed down.

Yet, now waiting wasn't an option if his lawyer were to be trusted. Rick had spoken to Leslie briefly before deciding what to do. She had indicated that while he certainly had the means to pay the advance back, most of the money was tied up in various investments. Some could be easily liquidated. Some not. He could have come up with the money, but it would have been a real pain in the ass.

No, the best option seemed to be marrying Kate. He wanted to marry her. She wanted to marry him. What did it matter that it was much sooner than either had expected? Surely she wouldn't care. He didn't. He would have been happy to marry her tomorrow with a justice of the peace before he'd gone to the meeting; he felt the same way now. And it seemed that wish was about to be tested. He knew she didn't want a big, public spectacle. Perhaps a very small (very), intimate (very) ceremony would be right up her alley. Even as the thought flitted through his mind, he knew he was kidding himself. No living woman that he'd ever met would be jumping at the chance to get married with a feeding tube affixed to her face and a severe case of nausea while pregnant with twins. He was a dead man.

Sighing again, he gathered what remained of his courage and prepared to face the music. As he trudged into the building and onto the elevator he wondered how long it would take her to reach an incandescently furious level and if he had time to include Espo and Ryan on the wagering. Though perhaps the better wager would be if he survived the coming encounter.

"Have you tried to drink anything today?" Lanie asked.

"No. I wasn't feeling well earlier and I didn't want to puke while Gates was here," Kate told her.

"You want to try something now? I know Gates gave you your medicines earlier. It's probably a good time to try," Lanie said.

Kate considered it, before shaking her head. She was getting anxious as Rick wasn't home yet. That not only worried her, wondering what was happening, but also made the odds of increasing nausea much higher. Her anxiety definitely affected her control over her stomach.

They were sitting in the living room; Kate had been there all afternoon, visiting with Gates first and now Lanie. She was truthfully getting pretty fatigued, but without Rick or her Dad there to help her to the bedroom she was stuck. Lanie was quite strong for her size, but Kate didn't want to chance a fall.

Lanie had arrived forty five minutes earlier, and Gates had left shortly after. Kate had enjoyed talking to her more than she'd imagined she would. She had shared with Lanie some of what they had talked about. The older woman had some interesting stories about balancing a career and a family, and some surprisingly hilarious stories about her husband's misadventures with their children when they were babies.

Kate doubted that she'd have similar stories about Rick; he was the baby expert out of the two of them, having raised Alexis essentially single-handedly. Nevertheless, it had been great to talk to someone who'd done what she was going to attempt. Someone whose career had still flourished and who had the support of a wonderful family behind her. Kate could see now how that support would make one stronger, not hold you back.

Not that everything had been perfect—Gates had made that clear. There would be challenges, and twins were a lot to deal with without the stress of a job in law enforcement. She was lucky in that Rick's success allowed her to decide when she would be ready to go back to work and she would also have the ability to decide what that job would look like. His earnings gave her the luxury of choice, and she wouldn't forget that. It was a position that few other pregnant women could enjoy.

She was also grateful for the consulting work that Gates was offering. She'd been feeling better the last few days, which meant that her mind was free to focus on issues unrelated to her stomach and keeping it under tight rein. Boredom had set in quickly. She'd spent some time pouring over the baby books and learning what she could from them. She'd spent some time looking at the websites for cribs and nursery designs. That still left a lot of time unoccupied. She continued to need a lot of sleep, so naps were a welcome respite. But she'd started to feel restless, which scared her. When she was restless she got snappy. And the person she would take it out on would be Rick. He was convenient and she knew he'd take whatever she dished out. Not a good reason to be short with him, but he was stuck with her forever so she knew he'd put up with it with good grace.

Now she had something to occupy her restless mind; something that she enjoyed doing and something that she was good at doing. She felt silly having been waiting in dread for the afternoon in Gates' company. It had been a wonderful conversation and she hoped to continue this new intimacy that they'd established.

As the clock neared six, she felt her anxiety ratcheting even higher. Was he ok? Maybe there'd been an accident? Or he'd murdered Gina and was even now being booked into jail? She knew she was being ridiculous, but her raging hormones made keeping her imagination in check very difficult. 'This must be how Rick lives his life,' she reflected. Though without the emotional extremes that she experienced.

Just as she was about to ask Lanie to help her start calling hospitals looking for him, the object of her anxiety walked in. Kate knew immediately there was something wrong, though he tried valiantly to hide it. She started to say something but was cut off when he looked meaningfully from her to Lanie. Hmm. Something he didn't want to discuss in front of the medical examiner. Well, whatever it was would wait. But she would drag it out of him as soon as the door closed behind Dr. Parrish. Because with the look on his face, she wasn't going to like it. At all.

Apparently, anger is also not a good combination with residual anxiety in controlling one's nausea. Though, to be fair, there was also quite a bit of fatigue playing a role, and fatigue always made her control tenuous. However, she was happy to assign the blame of the anger as the primary contributor. She didn't know what she should be angry about, exactly, but dammit she was angry! He was probably going to tell her he had to leave for a multi-week book tour or something equally ridiculous. She was sure, as well, that it was Gina's fault, but Rick had probably caved. Gina knew just how to push his buttons. He'd married her, after all.

"Kate, are you ok?" Lanie asked.

Kate had closed her eyes and had her head back on the pillows. Without opening her eyes, she simply shook her head no.

"Do you want me to carry you back to the bedroom?" came Rick's concerned voice.

She nodded her head. She was exhausted and she knew she needed to rest. It had been an eventful day. She wanted to know what was worrying Rick, but in her current state she wouldn't really be able to listen. She felt him carefully gather her up in his strong arms. A feeling a safety and security drove some of the nausea away. Soon he was placing her gently down in the bed. She felt his hand feathering her hair away from her face and she cracked her eyes open to the dim light of the bedroom.

"Umm, thanks babe."

"Let me go get the rest of the equipment and see Lanie out, then I'll come lay down with you."

"Ok."

She was soon drifting in and out of a light slumber, but when she felt the mattress dip and the reassuring presence of his bulk behind her she fully relaxed. His arm pulled her carefully into his body and she fell into a deep and restful sleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was alone. She could hear the faint sound of voices from the living room.

"Rick?" she called out into the empty space of the bedroom. It didn't take long before the door cracked open and her fiancé was in the room with her.

"Hey there. Feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks. What time is it?"

"Around ten. You slept a little over 3 and a half hours."

"Who're you talking to?"

"Alexis, mother and your dad. We had a late dinner and were just talking about the day."

She tried to sit up a bit and when she struggled he gently helped her up.

"Did you tell them about your meeting at Black Pawn?" she felt hurt, assuming he had. She knew he hadn't had a great meeting and had hoped they'd discuss it together first. She knew he read the hurt in her voice by the way he looked at her. He sat down carefully next to her, on the edge of her bed.

"No," he said softly. "They told me about their days. I told them I wanted to talk to you first before I told them anything about the meeting."

"Was it bad?"

He took her hands in his.

"Oh God, what is it? Is she trying to make you go on an international book tour for weeks and weeks?"

"No Kate, nothing like that." He still looked so serious. She knew something was wrong.

"What was the meeting about?"

"They accused me of being in breach of contract."

"I thought you had a clause that allowed you to leave a tour if you or a family member were ill?"

"I do. Myself or an immediate family member."

"And didn't you tell me you spoke to Paula when we were still in the hospital? I thought she took care of all this."

"I thought so too. But it turns out that Gina figured out that neither mother nor Alexis were sick, and I'm healthy. So she thought I'd violated my contract."

"So you told her it was me? Did you tell her why?"

He looked more nervous. What on earth was going on with him?

"We did tell her you were sick, but not why. They don't need to know why. Steve, my attorney, is going to have Dr. Lobato write something generic saying that you're sick and under a doctor's care. That should resolve the issue, for the most part."

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by 'the most part'?"

He looked away, then back to her. "Do you know when I first brought you to the hospital, you were so sick. I was terrified; no one knew what was wrong with you. They wanted to put in the central line, as you were so dehydrated that they couldn't get an IV into your veins. But the central line was a procedure, where they had to make an incision just to find your vein."

"Ok. What does that have to do with anything, Rick?"

"Well, they have to have consent to do a procedure. But you weren't conscious."

"Yeah, so they asked you. I know I had a central line."

"No, Kate. They couldn't ask me. They ended up doing it as an emergency. They said with two physicians consent they could override the need for consent."

"Why couldn't they ask you? I thought you were at my side the whole time?"

"I was. But I was just your fiancé. I have no standing, legally, to consent for you."

She was silent for a minute, absorbing this news.

He continued on after her silence, adding more to the story.

"They couldn't tell me any information, even when they found out the results of labs and tests. We had to wait until Javi found your dad and he gave them permission to share all information with me."

"God, Rick. I had no idea. That must have been frustrating for you. Sitting there and they couldn't talk to you."

"Kate, those were the worst hours of my life. They wouldn't tell me anything. I was terrified. What if you died? Or had brain damage? What if you never woke up and I couldn't tell you how much I loved you? I don't ever want to go through anything like that again."

She reached for him, seeing tears threatening to spill from his eyes, and they hugged tightly. "I'm so sorry, Rick. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

He wiped his tears away and answered with a voice roughened with too much emotion. "I hope neither of us ever is faced with that kind of situation. But we don't know what the future holds for us Kate. Anything can happen; we have no control over fate. Just know that I love you so much." He hugged her tightly again.

"I love you too, babe," she whispered.

He was still holding her tight, her eyes closed just soaking in his strength, when his next words reached her ears.

"I never want to be left out of your life like that again. That's why I had to tell Black Pawn that you're my wife. We have to get married as soon as possible."

She felt so safe and warm by his embrace, and was hardly listening to the words, so it took a few seconds before she understood what he was saying. Her eyes flew wide open.

"Wait. You told them what?!"

Thank you all so much for the continuing interest and all of your comments.