Girls Night
by RGoodfellow64
Chapter 21, May 2018
Alternate Title: Why oh why did I eat that pie?
Lanie sat at 'their' booth in the Old Haunt, taking small sips from her glass of wine while waiting for Kate to arrive. Every time the door opened, her eyes lifted from her glass to the doorway to see if it was Kate, and finally, 20 minutes late, there she was.
Despite all that she'd been through, Kate still looked years younger than she actually was, and as Lanie watched her attempt to slide her pregnant self into the booth, she couldn't help but think that Kate still carried the glow that shone from her face when she and Castle first got together.
When Kate was finally settled, the waitress came up to take her order and with a smile asked, "Hey Mrs. Boss, is it another shot night tonight?"
Kate looked up and grinned, "Yep, club soda, and keep 'em coming!"
With a laugh the waitress started to turn away when a strange look came over Kate's face as she placed her hand on her belly, "Uh, wait a minute Mony," Kate said, "Better make that ginger ale."
The waitress turned back to Kate and asked, "Fimmister's acting up?" At Kate's nod she said, "You got it boss, ginger ale coming up. I'll also bring your popcorn," before turning around and heading back to the bar.
Lanie shook her head, "Why does everybody call the baby 'Fimmister?'"
Kate sighed, "It's some sort of weird Rogers family tradition I think, anyway that's what Castle and Martha call him."
Lanie smirked, "Castle? Which one? I mean, there's Alexis Castle, Richard Castle, Kate Castle, and now Fimmister Castle. You're gonna have to be clearer than that.
Kate just rolled her eyes as the waitress, Mony, returned with a large glass of ginger ale and a two bowls of popcorn. Lanie looked up and asked, "Two?"
Mony nodded and replied, "One is high test, butter and salt which is for you Dr. Parish, the plain is for the pregnant boss who can't stand butter this week."
Lanie grinned, "Oh yeah, it seems almost every week there is something new that Kate can't stand to be near. Wasn't it coffee last month?"
Kate reached for some popcorn and said, "Don't remind me. The whole precinct smelled of coffee and that stupid machine Castle gave us has a fan!" As Lanie chuckled Kate growled, "Don't laugh! I had to work from home for a whole week!" Then in an aside mumbled, "Even with their guilty looks I still don't know what Rick and the boys got into."
Before Lanie could respond Mony said, "The lobster, shrimp and crab will be out in a few minutes," and then turned to help the two new officers who had just entered the bar.
Kate gave Lanie a questioning look and Lanie replied, "Remember, shellfish in the last trimester helps brain development." Lanie then looked pointedly at Kate's stomach and added, "Anything for my soon to be born nephew."
Kate shrugged and replied, "Yeah, well Auntie Lanie is also going to be his Godmother, think you can handle all that?"
"Really?" Lanie squealed. Kate smiled and nodded her head as Lanie said, "Oh Fimmister, we're going to have so much FUN!"
Before Kate could reply, Mony came back with the shellfish, both as boiled pieces and breaded as poppers. Before she could reach for one Kate put her hand on her stomach and said, "Hold your horses and quit kicking, I'm trying to get you something to eat," then she grabbed two pieces of lobster and put them in her mouth.
Lanie giggled and asked, "So really, what names have you come up with? I'm pretty sure Fimmister isn't on the list."
Kate shook her head, "No, it isn't." She suddenly smiled fondly and said, "You should have seen the look of horror on Alexis' face when she found out SHE was named Fimmister until she was born."
Lanie grabbed a couple of poppers and replied, "I'm pretty sure that's one family tradition that she won't be following. So again, any idea what his name will be?"
"I can guarantee that Cosmo is out. There is no way any child of mine going to be subjected to that! We have several we're thinking about and figure when he's born we'll just know which one is his."
Lanie tilted her head, "Makes sense, especially if one doesn't just stand out right now." Before she could say anything else Kate's phone rang with a distinctive ring tone of the song 'I'm too sexy' by Right Said Fred, "Hold on Lanie," but before Kate could continue Lanie burst out laughing, "I'm too sexy for my shirt? It's gotta be your other half."
Kate rolled her eyes as she pressed the call button, "What did I tell you about changing my ring tones," she said instead of hello. There was a brief pause and Kate said, "I'm fine, Lanie's fine, Fimmister's fine and so is Mony and everyone here." There was another pause and Lanie could see several emotions fly across Kate's face as she listened to whatever Rick was saying, finally Kate broke in and said, "Wait a minute, you and Kevin have been working on that thing for over 6 hours? Put him on the phone…now Castle!" After a brief wait she said, "Kevin, I thought you were an expert at putting that together since you did it for your baby last year. Uh huh…yeah…uh huh, so let me make sure I understand this, you're not the expert, you and your father in law spent hours on it, just like you and Rick and finally Jenny and her mom came home and put it together, right?" Lanie could just barely hear what Ryan said but then Kate took a deep breath, slowly counted to ten and then yelled into the phone, "Then call Jenny and have her put the damn thing together!" then ended the call.
Lanie looked at Kate, a smile on her face and then she burst out into laughter. Catching her breath she said, "I thought I told you that Jenny is the expert at putting baby furniture together."
Kate grabbed another piece of lobster and said, "It's from IKEA, Lanie, step by step pictures, how hard can it be?
Lanie shook her head, "He's your husband Kate, but you may remember he deals with words, not pictures."
Kate shook her head and then stared at the popcorn and shellfish before stating, "I wish I had another piece of blueberry pie." At Lanie's questioning look she added, "Alexis made the most delicious blueberry pie that she brought into the precinct for me. It smelled so good that I had to have a slice. Then it tasted so good I had to have another." Kate stopped speaking as a blissful smile came on her face.
"Uh, Kate, you remember what your doctor said, no sweets and especially keep away from pie and cake. Just exactly how much did you have?"
Suddenly Kate's smile disappeared and she looked down at the table and mumbled. "Speak up, Kate; just how much did you eat?"
Kate mumbled again and Lanie said, "No! You didn't! You ate the whole thing?"
Kate looked up and said, "Of course not! I only had half," before a shocked look came on her face and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Half?" Lanie asked while Kate said at the same time, "Don't tell the doctor!" Before Lanie could say anything else Kate added, "The baby isn't due for at least another week, I've got time to work it off."
Lanie shook her head and didn't respond; she knew better as Kate, who in so many other ways in her life was different from the norm, for some reason hit every trope and cliché of pregnancy there is…not simply wild hormonal swings, but super extra large wild hormonal swings. Not just exotic cravings, her's went to spectacular extremes that frightened the most seasoned officers in the NYPD, and add into all that a roller coaster appetite that changed minute by minute that just thinking about these past eight and a half months made her tired. So she turned the conversation back to plans for the baby and how the family was reacting to the upcoming changes in their lives when after about an hour suddenly Kate's eyes opened wide.
"Kate?" Lanie asked.
"Umm"
"Kate?" she asked again as she watched her friend squirm in her seat before a look of fear came on her face.
"What is it sweetie? What's wrong?"
"I think my water broke!" Kate whispered with a sense of urgency.
Lanie reached into her purse for her phone, "Oh boy, we better head to the hospital and I'll call Castle and the doctor."
Kate frantically shook her head, "No. You don't understand Lanie, he can't be born yet. It's too early."
Lanie shook her head, "Kate, it sounds like he's coming, on his time, not yours."
Kate sat back in her seat, "Oh no, if he comes today the doctor will know about the pie, I'm keeping my legs closed and this kid's going to have to wait."
Lanie smiled and pressed the call button on her phone while sliding out of the booth, "Castle? Yeah, it's me, and yeah, Kate is fine, we're heading to the hospital now. Yep, you're son decided to arrive early. Calm down! I'll call the doctor and we'll meet you soon." Without waiting for Castle to answer, Lanie disconnected the call and reached out to Kate, "Come on Kate, it's time to go."
Kate looked at her stomach and said, "No, no, no, you can't do this to me! I'm your mother! Listen to me! If you come out today you're grounded till you're forty!"
Lanie waved Mony over and after explaining what was happening the two of them managed to get Kate out of booth and headed towards the door, other officers in the bar wishing her well as she passed their booths and their stools at the bar.
As Lanie helped her through the door into the street, Mony could hear Kate say, "I really wish Alexis never made that pie.
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AUTHORS NOTE: Um, hi? Yeah, I know, almost 50 months since the last chapter. When I wrote chapter 20, all the really great feelings of Rick and Kate being together were being bombarded by writing that was pulling them apart, so much so that any feelings to write simply left along with my muse. Add the horrible ending of season 6 and the totally forgettable season 7, that after watching the two part beginning for season 8 I actually stopped watching the show. To me, the wheels had fallen off. My only contact to Castle and Castle FF was through the heroic efforts of several writers, KiwiOCD down in Australia (do toilets really flush the opposite way from here?), Shutterbug5269 (whose toilet I assume flushes like mine), Swordwriter and uscbdad, who held up the banner when I dropped it. Thanks guys, your stories rock big time. And not to forget the website Possibility for Joy, where all things Castle and cast are monitored and enjoyed, which makes sense as it fits with the title of the site!
At any rate, this concludes Girls Night, after taking a tad over 4 years to update I don't believe I have anything else to say in this story. Perhaps my muse might stay around for a while to lead somewhere else, we'll see. Thanks to all who have read and commented, you and your words are appreciated.