Chapter 29 - Ultrasound

Castle had faith that like most of their mornings in Montreal, Kate would sleep in late. He wrote on a post it note where he was and stuck it to her iPhone on the bedside table. She would call him if she woke earlier. He knew she would tell him off later for sticking it on her perfectly clean screen but he also knew the phone was the first thing she would reach for. She would tease him later, that he should have simply sent her a text, that a note was old school. He would only smile in amusement in response to her comments. Later he would observe her secretly insert the note in her journal in amongst her writing as she had done all the others. He liked to give fuel to the sentimental side of Kate.

He left the TV running in the hope she would think he was in the lounge. To keep her warm and hopefully drowsy, Rick had stoked up the fire so the whole apartment was warmest possible. Everything was done to avoid a panic in the event she woke to find herself alone for the first time in a month or so. Once he had also turned the key from outside the apartment and checked the handle, he was sure she was securely locked inside the apartment.

Outside, he found the early morning was rather crisp compared to what it would be like in New York, although he had seen on the news that New York had also copped a beating with the weather this winter. It was icy cold. There had been snowfall overnight and it was definitely colder than yesterday. He'd heard it was going to be a pleasant minus one degree Celsius. But the weather was fair enough for the planes to land and take off, transport to run on schedule and for people to go about their business. The weather forecast for the next week, pretty much indicated that Christmas day was going to be dismal.

The first store he walked to was the grocery store where he picked up milk and a few other items they needed. Kate was going crazy drinking milk lately. He would return later in the day to collect more when he had Kate with him to help carry back groceries. Groceries in hand, he moved on to a store that was selling Christmas stock. He bought every matching item he could find to decorate the apartment. In under forty five minutes, he managed to find everything on his list.

With carefully chosen steps he made his way successfully along the sidewalk back to the apartment without inadvertently slipping on his ass on the ice and snow as he carried the fresh Christmas tree and bags. It was during this time he considered it might have been a good idea to have brought Kate along rather than to have let her sleep in. There were about two blocks that made up the distance between the stores and the apartment building which, in better weather, would be an easy walk. However, faced with the elements of the bitter winter, the patches of ice and snow on the concrete path and with the natural slope of the ground, it became a challenging exercise to balance. It was additionally made difficult carrying a modestly sized, but surprisingly heavy and awkward Christmas tree. All he needed was for Kate to phone him right now. He decided at this point in time he would ignore it. She had to start getting accustomed to being alone sooner or later.

Only another five or so minutes at the most and he would be back at the apartment to be there whenever she did wake. Luck was on his side as by the time he arrived back at the apartment it was starting to snow. At the steps, he shook the snow off himself and the tree, stepped inside the security door and locked it shut behind him. The warmth of the building was very welcome. He found the key to the apartment and unlocked the door. All was quiet inside with the exception of the TV that provided background noise. He dropped the tree by the front door, the last of the snow falling on to the floor from the branches. He hastily pulled off his gloves, coat and beanie and hung them at the coat stand already feeling hot. The open fire definitely kept the apartment warm, which was also what Kate wanted lately. He seriously hoped her dislike of being cold would diminish soon. Meanwhile he had to tolerate it. He stripped himself of clothing down to a shirt and rolled up the sleeves.

The buzzer sounded before Rick had even picked up the bags to continue to the kitchen. He glanced to the time. She was early. He hit the intercom button. "Yes?"

"Richard?"

"It's unlocked." He replied and released the security door. He opened the door to the apartment and leaned out, peering down the hallway to see his mother walking up the corridor pulling a wheeled suitcase. She was such a classy dame with her bright clothing, dressed up to the nines as always. She was forever on stage. He smiled to her once she was closer. "Mother." He greeted warmly. "I know someone who is going to be very happy to see you." He stated as he stepped to his mother holding out his arms to her. He gave her a big comforting hug.

"I think my son might be too." She responded. "Darling, how are you?"

"Good now. How are you?"

"A little weary, and in desperate need of a cup of coffee."

"You've grown a beard." She said touching his jaw, the light brown whiskers.

"Yes. Come inside. I was just about to make one. Did you detour like I told you to do?" He took her suitcase and gently propelled her inside the apartment.

"Yes, Dear. Added almost two hours to my two day trip already. The number of flights you had me take. My lord, Richard. I felt like a fugitive."

"Well, sorry Mother, but in some ways you are a fugitive. I hope no one followed you?"

"No, Dear. They would have given up by the time I flew in to Ottawa, after Chicago."

"Good. But you didn't fly to Ottawa, or Chicago."

"I was joking. However it felt like I did. You look different with beard." She commented and held him still a moment so she would inspect him. "It's nice." She let him go.

"Bit patchy." He rubbed his whiskers. "And a bit itchy at the moment, but makes me look different so I'm not recognised up here." He smiled to his mother. "Kate's mixed about it."

"Is Kate expecting me? Where is she?"

"No she's not, and she is still in bed asleep. I was on her all day to keep moving like you said to be. Usually, I have to wait up till her brain finally drops her body wherever she happens to be at the time then I take her to bed, but last night we retired normally and she slept all night as far as I'm aware."

"The poor girl. She's not coping is she?" Martha stated and pulled off her gloves. Richard then helped her out of her coat.

Rick shook his head, "She pretends she's doing ok, but no, she's not really. However, yesterday was a big step forward. She braves up every day. In saying that, she has a lot of things to deal with, including being pregnant. We have an excellent psychiatrist she see's nearly every day but she hasn't remembered yet."

"She's seeing a psychiatrist every day?"

"Week days she is. Her name is Anna."

"What made her want me here?"

"I don't know. A few days ago, she was all crazy and upset because she didn't have her mother and she's pregnant. She's been reading her mother's journals so that may have impacted on her. She begged me to take her home one day that she wanted to be home. I refused of course, to take her. She typically threatened to go home alone. Thankfully, she's still too scared to venture out on her own. Instead, we did some serious negotiating and she agreed that if I were to get you up here, she would stop circling the problems and make a bigger effort to talk to Anna. The thing is, Mother, she thinks I'm still organising your trip up here." He excited said taking hold of her upper arms. "This way, we can surprise her. She thinks you're coming after Christmas." He grinned excitedly because he had successfully pulled off yet another surprise on one of his girls.

Martha grunted. "You and surprises."

"What?" He replied. "Has given her something to look forward to and is making her talk in therapy." Rick crossed his arms in defiance. "You don't know how stubborn she gets."

Martha rolled her eyes at Rick, "I will make coffee. Go wake her up, Richard. She's doesn't sleep at night because you're letting her sleep during the day instead of wearing her down throughout the day."

"Is that really my only error?" He inquired in defence, thinking about the hours he had let Kate sleep throughout the day because she was so exhausted all the time. Yesterday he had kept her going most of the day and she had slept well during the night. He had to admit there had been occasions he had joined her to nap during the afternoon and then stayed up writing at night. He wasn't writing Nikki Heat but he was writing.

"Darling, you have a daughter for goodness sake. Even you knew to wear her down during the day so she would sleep at night."

"Mmm, but she was a kid." Rick scratched his head. He had to admit he was letting Kate sleep as long as she wished during the day and then she was wandering the apartment most of the night. "I try to write most nights anyway…"

"And sleep in late, I know you do, Richard and she is falling into your lifestyle habits, but that's not good for her right now." She wiped her hands on a tea towel after washing her hands. "Has she left the apartment since you got here?"

"Yes, daily, weren't you listening? There's visits to the psychiatrist, trips to grocery store which is at the mall. The only thing I cannot get her to keep is an appointment with a doctor for the pregnancy."

"Ok. We'll fix that. She needs to have an ultrasound. That will make it all very real for her."

"Like it did for me with Alexis?" Rick offered.

"Yes."

"I will go and wake her up." Richard disappeared as Martha started a search for everything in the kitchen to make the coffee. It wasn't yet lunch time. Martha hoped she would have Kate organised before sundown. It seemed her son was giving in to Kate too much. She found the coffee and was searching for mugs when she heard Richard playfully luring Kate from the hall way confirming her suspicions he was permitting her to remain stagnant, that he needed to make her more independent.

"I was asleep." She whined.

"You can sleep later. You have to see this." He encouraged and led her to the living area. Martha was leaning against the kitchen counter when she saw her son bring Kate from the bedroom. She was in her PJ's and looked very drowsy. Rick had hold of her by her upper arms. His demeanour was almost the same as he was with Alexis. There was a good seven years between them, which sometimes caused Castle to unknowingly be condescending and treat Kate more like a girl. It was perhaps that aspect of their relationship that gave him the ability to make Kate listen to him, to influence her to behave differently to how she naturally would in given situations they faced together. Martha also noted he was the only person who could praise Kate with a "good girl" or give her a playful smack on the ass without being physically knocked to his own ass by Kate. On the flipside she had perfect control of Rick, which no other woman had ever had over him.

Kate saw the Christmas tree lying by the front hall and smiled "You bought a Christmas tree." She said.

"Yes, I did. And we'll dress it up today, but look." Rick pointed to his mother, and immediately Kate followed his direction and grinned.

"Richard said you wanted to see me." Martha greeted and held out her arms.

"Martha!" Kate hurried to the kitchen and hugged Martha. "When did you get here?"

"Two minutes ago." She held Kate firmly. "Let me see you!"

Kate stood back quite proud of how far she had progressed in the three or so weeks since they had left New York. "I've been eating like a horse."

"That she has." Rick added and stood with the women.

Kate lifted her top to show Martha her virtually flat stomach. "Still nothing." She rubbed her hand over her belly, letting it relax, and followed it up with a smirk to Martha and Castle.

"That's normal, but you have gained the weight you lost. You're looking a lot better."

"Feeling better. Just tired all the time." She dropped her top. "It's been sucking the energy out of me."

"It's only starting, Dear. Look what Richard has done to me."

"Hey! Mother!" Castle chipped in.

"Yes Darling. You know just how much energy you have taken from me."

Kate grinned, holding back a laugh at their comments. She still found it odd how much they enjoyed constantly niggling at each other.

"Have you gone for your ultrasound yet for the ten weeks? I'm dying to see the ultrasound photos of him or her. Where are they?" Martha asked Kate and pretended to search for them, perhaps stuck to the fridge door.

Rick crossed his arms over his chest trying to conceal his amusement over how his mother was about to manipulate Kate to do what she needed to. Her acting didn't go unnoticed either. He'd told his mother a number of times now that he couldn't get Kate to keep an appointment with a doctor.

"What picture?" Kate inquired glancing at Rick who shrugged his shoulders. He wished he had thought of this as a form of bribery.

"The ultrasound pictures they give you to bring home. You don't know about that?"

"Well…No. Yes. I'd forgotten. But I know about them." Kate replied then looked to her boyfriend fidgeting with discomfort as she was fully aware he had been trying to coerce to visit a doctor for a week or so. See a doctor. She told herself. She bit the bullet because she wanted to see the ultrasound imaging, and looked to Castle. "We need to make an appointment to see a doctor. I want an ultrasound picture." She stated adamantly. She chose to ignore his 'I told you so' expression he threw right back at her. She switched her attention to Martha. "Will they be colour or black and white?"

"Black and white, at a guess." Martha replied glancing to her son. "Well, you might be able to get three-D. Who knows?"

Once again Rick shrugged his shoulders when Kate looked to him as he didn't know the answer. He glanced to his Mother and immediately said, "I will phone the clinic now," catching his mother's unspoken communication. He sauntered off to find the phone, looking over his shoulder to his mother's eyes.

Martha focussed on Kate. "You will love getting this done."

Kate agreed with a nod as she made herself a non-caffeine coffee and half listened to Rick's conversation with the clinic he had previously phoned about four times already. She knew she had been a pain in the ass to Rick over going to the see a doctor. They had almost had a massive fight about it, but fears were overriding her sensible form of thinking most of the time lately. She accepted her behaviour recently left a lot to be desired. There were enough problems to face every day and sometimes she needed to prioritise. Visiting a doctor in what seemed to potentially involve a physical examination was not a priority for her at the moment. Her anxiety of being physically handled by a stranger had been the ultimate reason she had refused to keep appointments. However, she really wanted to see the ultrasound which meant she had to face her fears and push herself through it. It might not be all that bad she reminded herself. The reward at the end for going to the doctors was obtaining pictures of her baby. Over the years, she'd seen many images of other women's ultrasounds and now it was her turn to see the first images of their future. Just had to get through seeing the doctor. "They won't do anything else?" Kate suspiciously asked Martha after thinking about it.

"How far do you think you are?"

"Ten weeks give or take."

"Well, the doctors will clarify that for you." Martha glanced from Rick to Kate, seeing in Kate a woman who was in a similar place she had been in when she had been pregnant with Richard. The only difference being Kate had the father with her. Like Martha, being a career woman her entire adult life, Kate was hardly in touch with her maternal side as yet. As far as Martha was aware Kate had not been regularly exposed to friends with babies or children. She knew Kate loved kids and also wanted a dog, but her experiences with both was limited. She once again spoke about what she knew Kate would want and was most interested in, to reinforce it. "And it will be time for your first ultrasound, to ensure everything is ok."

Kate contemplated again what Martha had said. She desperately wanted an ultrasound picture of the baby but there was the physical examination. She was tempted to, and strenuously debated with herself, to tell Rick to hang up, but it was soon too late. He had finished the call and was coming back to her with a cautious smile on his face, but he also seemed excited. She said to Martha, "I really want to see him or her."

Rick stopped at Kate's side and put his hand to the side of her head. He pressed his lips to her temple then said quietly, "You have a doctor's appointment this afternoon after you see Anna. It's at three forty five and after that, we can book in for the ultrasound."

Kate leaned into his affection and wrapped her arms around his body in acceptance of the physical reassurance he provided her so generously. It was only an appointment she reminded herself. She saw Anna nearly every day and she could talk to her about the appointment before she went to it. "The doctor?" She inquired.

"Female doctor. She's new to the clinic and she still has openings for new patients."

Kate nodded, and let go of him as she thought about the ultrasound. "What name are we using?"

"Williams, of course." He replied and took hold of his girlfriend from behind like an over excited Labrador dog. "We get to see him or her." He keenly whispered into her ear.

Kate wrapped her hands over his and leaned into his embrace making a noise of agreement. "Yes we will. This will be good." She smiled to Martha enjoying a really nice feeling inside her, that some part of her body knew before her brain, that the ultrasound was going to be awesome to see.

"Yes, well go get dressed Kate. I would also like to go Christmas shopping." Martha replied.

Kate looked over her shoulder to Rick. "Can we?"

"Of course! Go get ready." He let her go and sent her on her way with a tap on the ass. She had anticipated he would do it as she instinctively hopped forward to avoid it with a playful squeak. He watched Kate hurry to the bedroom then turned to his mother with a seriously devilish expression. "I cannot believe how you did that!" He hissed.

Martha chuckled. "For someone who spends most of his time around women, you still don't have a clue."

"No, no, no… that was a piece of masterminded trickery." He retorted which caused his mother to laugh harder.

"I simply pointed out what she wanted, rather than what she is fearful of." She smiled. "It works with you too."

Rick grunted. "Too simple." He commented, then lost interest and decided it was time to torment his mother a little more. "You will need to tone down the colours Mother so you aren't recognised out there as a New Yorker." He smirked like a smart ass fully aware his comment would raise a response.

"I will tone you down, Richard if you're not careful."

He chuckled. "I missed you too, Mother, and I know she is going to be happy to have you here. I'll sort out the tree." He pointed at the Christmas tree he needed to find a place for.

Monday morning and Christmas eve they had an appointment with the medical imaging clinic.

The smile that spread over Kate's face the first few moments they heard the rapid heartbeat broadened to a grin. She grabbed Rick's hand, glanced to him then gazed at the monitor full of intrigue and curiosity as the technician slid the handset over her womb. The woman was seriously focussed on her task as she searched the monitor and started to narrow down her movement over Kate.

"Arr… it's in a good place." The woman said. She didn't have a French-Canadian accent at all.

"You're Australian." Castle stated.

The woman nodded in the affirmative with a smile. "Yes I married a Canadian and let him talk me into living here."

"Cool. Nice accent."

"We should go there one day." He said to Kate with a smile.

"Sure." Kate replied, not at all interested in his conversation. She was too busy trying to figure out the shapes and shadows appearing and waving around on the screen. She studied the ultrasound screen initially not able to recognise a thing, but then gradually as the image started to form with less movement, the shadows and shapes began to make sense to her and the outline the foetus was there. Sometimes it was all a blur and other times clear and easy to see.

"Wow!" She repeated exclaimed under her breath. "Do you see that?" She asked Rick never taking her eyes off the screen.

"I do." Richard replied, calmer than Kate. His fingers were periodically crushed during her waves of excitement. "Keep still." He reminded her as he could see the technician was about to start taking measurements. Kate stayed dead still but glanced down to her belly where the woman slid the handset a little backwards then slanted forwards until she obtained the clearest image.

"Do you see Martha?" Kate asked. She had insisted Martha join them to see the first ultrasound scan, as she had never seen one done.

"I see, Darling."

"You sure are bloody excited." The technician remarked.

"I know. Ridiculously so." Kate replied, and glanced to Rick amused by the girl's accent.

"Is this your first pregnancy?"

Kate nodded. "Sorry, I moved. I forgot. Yes. My first."

"How far along do you think you are?"

"About eleven weeks, we think."

"I think you may be spot on with that. Usually it's a week or so out but you are eleven maybe twelve weeks into gestation." She muttered then began to concentrate as she made further measurements and captures still images.

"Is it ok?" Rick asked.

"I can't say much as I have to write up a report for your doctor, but yes, you can be rest assured. It's totally within all normal ranges." She glanced to Rick, thinking he looked familiar but the name Williams wasn't ringing any bells. She didn't recognise the woman at all. She glanced to her notes. Jaime Williams. Nothing there. But she was certain she'd seen the father prior to today.

The sonographer continued her examination clicking between points of reference and taking measurements without talking. Because the patient was slender and the foetus was in an excellent, the images were clear. She hovered over a spot and pushed the screen around further so the patient could have a view. Kate watched on as the ultrasonographer pointed to various places on the screen.

"Ignore that, it's you, the ultrasound just sends back sound waves of what it bounces off. If you look carefully between here," she clicked the mouse at one point creating a dot, "and here," another click of the mouse at a second point, "you can see the baby. Black is fluid."

Rick stood and leaned over Kate to get a better look at the screen, a grin spreading over his face. He really wanted to know what sex it was but it was too early. He also needed to discuss with Kate whether they wanted to find out before he asked the question. He clearly saw the shape of their baby. "Can you see it?" He asked Kate excitedly, his hand briefly going to the side of her head.

"I see it." Kate smiled and looked to the ultrasonographer. "He gets excited easily." She explained but she felt more excited. She desperately wanted to jump up and down on the spot but had to keep still so the technician didn't lose the image. Kate had hardly taken her eyes off the monitor. She could see the heart fluttering, the tiny frame of a human moving a little.

What she had gone through to keep it alive, the decisions she had made against her own instincts to preserve its life. It was all worth it to see it inside her. She couldn't feel it yet but seeing it move was quite spectacular.

"How cool is that Mother?"

"It's very exciting." Martha replied watching from the end of the bed.

The sonographer made a few more stills before she finished up. "Ok, there are tissues there to clean up. That's it. Call your doctor after Christmas to set up an appointment and good luck." She smiled to Kate and reached to the machine for the printouts and the USB stick. She passed them to Kate.

"Thank you!" She excitedly inspected each of the stills of the baby

"You're welcome. You have a little bit of video there as well on the USB stick." The technician said packed up. "Good luck with him or her and have a merry and very cold Christmas. Not like home. It's hot there." She said. They all wished her the same along with their thanks as she left the room so they could prepare to leave. She switched the lights back on as she pulled the door to.

Kate laid there a moment to have a look through the printouts of shades forming a human being. Rick stroked her head to bring her back to reality, "C'mon. Let's go home."

She passed him the photos and he passed them on to his mother to hold. Kate sat up and with a handful of tissues, wiped herself clean of the lubricant that was spread over her abdomen. She then stood and did her jeans up. She held her top up to Rick and Martha, grinning. "Wouldn't know that," she pointed to the photos, "was in there, looking at my stomach. I would really like to look pregnant." She dropped her top and tidied her clothing.

Martha assessed Kate's physical state. It would still be awhile before she would be changing. "It will happen, but you've definitely changed since you left the city. You will really notice it in the next few weeks."

"I can't wait!" She exclaimed.

"Well, there have been a couple of changes." Rick remarked looking to Kate's chest. She narrowed her eyes at him in response, then smiled.

"Yeah, you like that."

"Biologically made to, Honey."

"Don't honey me." She whined at him, pretending to be annoyed. Kate picked up her hand bag and took back the photos and USB stick. She slid the photos safely into her diary on clean pages. "I can't wait to get home to watch the video. I would like to send a copy of the pictures to my Dad, to show him but I can't." She said as she followed Rick out of the examination room. He stayed quiet amused by her level of excitement but was concerned because she couldn't send an image to her father. He glanced to his mother as he opened the door for her to walk out ahead.

"Why don't you take a photo from your phone and send it to Ryan and ask him to show it to your Dad." Rick suggested. Kate instantly squeezed his hand, dragged him down the hall to a chair she sat on. Castle and Martha stood nearby her as she found her phone and brought out the pictures. She laid the best one on her diary and with the phone, snapped a picture of it. Within a minute she'd sent it to Ryan on the third iPhone with a note, Say hello to your future godchild. Please show my Dad and the girls. She pocketed the phone in her jeans, took Rick's hand and walked between him and Martha to the elevators.

"Can you send it to me?" Rick asked Kate in the elevator.

She pulled out her phone. "Bump it?"

"Sure." They stood close together, playing with their phones then watched both screens waiting for the software to do its job.

"You two are as bad as each other with your phones and pictures." Martha said, immediately gaining their attention with questionable expressions.

Rick smiled mischievously then looked to Kate. "She has no idea, does she?" He said to Kate who squeaked in excitement.

"None, whatsoever." She replied smiling mischievously thinking about the enormous number of photos they took and passed to each other on a daily basis.

"I will send it to Alexis. She will be beside herself."

"Of course." Kate agreed. "Make it from both of us?"

"All of us." He corrected. He sent it to Alexis and wrote his text message. No one else would be able to see the pictures until Kate was permitted to resume her normal life in the USA.

Outside, the weather had turned for the worse. It was going to snow again. Christmas was forecasted to be dreadful weather. Martha, who had planned to stay in Montreal with them for Christmas was getting the impression her return to New York to re-open her school in the new year could be delayed.

"My God, Richard, what made you bring Kate to this place?"

Rick laughed. "The weather, Mother. It's the perfect place to hide out. And Kathy's apartment was vacant for the winter.

"True."

"It's also a fact that fewer crimes take place in this city in the winter."

Kate laughed. "All the nitwits are home drinking mum's soup."

Rick glanced to his girlfriend in disbelief, a smile of pride spreading over his face. It was the first real and spontaneous joke she had made in a month. She was buried in a coat, scarf, beanie and boots he'd bought her the day before. The boots were guaranteed to keep her feet warm and dry in the snow.

"Beckett! You made a wisecrack." He commented. She hit his upper arm in response. His grin broadened as he was proud as hell she'd done it. "Beckett's back!" He exclaimed.

"Castle." She warned.

"What?!"

"Stop it."

Martha chuckled with Rick and said. "Thank goodness you two are bickering again. All of us were worried."

"We don't bicker." Kate replied.

"Of course you don't, Dear. Keep thinking that." Martha said and received a look from Rick.

"We're going Christmas shopping." Rick suddenly said.

"I thought we were going home?" Kate said.

"Not now."