Set after New Mountains to Climb. Enjoy!
I'll Help you Study
It was like they had superpowers. The moment she sat back down at her desk, her hand skimming over her notes, one of them would start screaming. Not quiet grizzling that she could ignore, but full out red-in-their-faces screaming. She'd taken to separating them during nap time just so that one wouldn't wake the other, but sometimes it didn't work in her favor, both of her children seeming to work together to ensure that she would never pass her law classes.
They called her a "nontraditional student," someone older who was going back to school. And if that didn't earn her enough looks on campus and in her classes, she was always exhausted, barely staying awake enough to really pay attention. The day she'd asked the same question as the person before her, and was ridiculed by some young kids, was the day she almost dropped out and reapplied for the NYPD. The day her sitter flaked while Castle was in a big meeting was almost unbearable, sitting in the back with two fussy infants, straining to hear her professor and ignoring the annoyed looks of the students around her. Castle snuck in partway through, taking the twins off her hands, and she spent the rest of the class hiding her red face behind a sheet of her hair, hunched over while taking notes. She knew going back to school would be difficult. She knew that studying with babies who needed her would be just as difficult. But lately she'd been thinking that she may have bit off more than she could chew.
The offender this time was Elizabeth, whose wails came from their bedroom, where she rested in the bassinette. Her cries only intensified as she heard her mother approaching, her eyes squeezed shut and her fists in angry balls up near her head. "Sweet girl, what's wrong?" Kate crooned, lifting the red-faced infant to her chest and rocking back and forth. "You just finished eating, love, what could possibly be wrong?" Of course, she didn't answer, only calmed as the movement of her mother continued. Kate took a moment to check her daughter's diaper, finding it dry and free of anything stinky, and moved her hand to rub soothing circles into her daughter's back. She pressed a kiss to the peach fuzz that covered her tiny head, inhaling the soothing smell of baby powder and shampoo. Elizabeth was the clingy one of the two. She liked to be held constantly, and hated waking from her naps out of someone's arms. Oliver, her brother, enjoyed his swing, and staring up in the mirror at his own face. He also loved the ceiling fan, and would stare at it for minutes at a time, his father's quizzical expression etched into his soft features. "How in the world does Daddy get any writing done between the two of you?" Elizabeth turned her head, her eyes blinking open and shut as her cries quieted to a grizzle, the occasional hiccup making her jump against Kate's chest. Kate whispered to her, her mouth pressed to the side of the baby's head. "If you stay like this you can come help me make flashcards. Just promise not to wake your brother." A quick glance at the clock told her he would be awake soon anyway, no matter how much noise they made, so she made no extra effort to tiptoe over to her desk, resuming her work with her daughter curled on her chest.
It only lasted about ten minutes, his demanding grunts coming from the other side of the bookcases, slowly growing in volume the longer Kate waited to go to him. She finished her thought, writing it on the lined side, and made her way into the living room. "Hey Buddy, nice of you to join the party!" Unlike his sister, he quieted as he heard his mother approach, his head snapping in her direction, big hazel eyes under long lashes locked on her face. Kate plopped her daughter down next to him in the playpen, letting her grizzle for a moment at the lack of contact before she realized where she was. Once she saw her brother looking at her, she broke into a grin, squealing with delight as she reached out to touch his face. Kate pulled up a chair, ready to watch the two of them interact, one of her all-time favorite pastimes. "I guess I'm not getting much studying done tonight, huh?"
Oliver let out a grunt and a long coo, answering her question with an adorable smile that made her heart skip a beat.
Kate reached a hand in to check her son's diaper, not surprised to find it squishy after his long nap. "Come here, stinky boy." Elizabeth wailed as her brother was taken away, her face turning a new shade of crimson and tears wetting her cheeks. "Calm down, sweet girl, he'll be right back in to play, I promise." She pulled a blanket off the couch, laying it and her son on the floor, and grabbed a diaper and some wipes from their secret stash in the coffee table drawer. He didn't put up a fight, cooing at his mother while she worked, and once he was put back in that playpen, Elizabeth's cries quieted almost as quickly as they began. "Drama queen, just like your Grams." At the mention of Martha, her daughter squealed, kicking her legs and reaching out for her brother again. "That's not a bad thing you know. You could be an actress, like Grams, if that's what you wanted. Or you can be a doctor, or a lawyer, even a police officer, just as long as you're happy. I want you both to be happy."
Oliver cooed back, his eyes fixated on a point above his head. It was this point that Elizabeth decided she wanted to talk to him, grunting out syllables and making extra noise, smacking his shoulder to try and get his attention. Oliver was more interested in his daydream, ignoring her noise. That lasted until one of her jerkier blows landed on the side of his head, making him yell back at her. Kate watched in fascination as they yelled gibberish back and forth at each other, each trying their hardest to be the loudest. Her hand covered her mouth to keep from laughing, and she imagined telling her entire class that she didn't finish the reading because her three-month-old twins were having their first fight. At the point when their yells went from mildly annoyed to the beginnings of distress, she intervened, talking over them until she had their attention. "Hey, stop fighting! You have nothing to fight over yet. No one has more milk, neither of you had the longer nap, and I'm still not telling you who was born first, so quit it."
Blank eyes blinked back at her, her son's expression going from curious to elation, and soon they were babbling together like old friends.
After twenty minutes of babbling and squeals of joy, Castle came home, dropping a briefcase on the table before making his way over to them. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before plopping down on the floor, peering at their children through the blue mesh. "What did I miss?"
"Not much," she laughed, "just me trying to study for my class while these two refused to nap. I changed diapers and fed them both. And they had their first fight."
"They were fighting?" She could hear his smile in his question, his face moving closer to watch them. "Was it juicy?"
She laughed. "Well, Oliver wouldn't listen to Elizabeth's story, so she beat him up, and he yelled back at her."
He turned his head then, nudging her with his shoulder, a mischievous grin stretching over his face. "She is your daughter."
Her mouth fell open in fake disbelief. "I don't beat you up when you don't listen!"
"You don't. You threaten to shoot me."
Her eyes narrowed, and she bit the inside of her cheek as she looked him up and down. "Not anymore, I don't. I need a new threat."
He laughed, turning his attention back to their children, watching them hold on to each other. "Did you get much studying done?"
"Do you get much writing done when you're here, alone with them?"
His answering snort made her giggle, and as he rested his head on her knees, she ran her hands through his hair. "Those chapters always turn out terrible. There's nothing worse than getting them sent back to me with just the heading, 'try again.'"
"Ouch!" She clutched at her chest as she teased him, and watched his shoulders heave as he laughed. As they settled, she stretched her hands above her head, cracking her back, and pushing his head away from her knees. "Actually, if you have an eye on them, I might go back to my flashcards."
His hand tightened around her ankle, rendering her motionless. "Or you could do that later."
She raised her eyebrows, even though he wasn't turned around to see her. "Later? I don't want to study later, I want to study now."
His grip tightened as she tried to get free. "I'll help you study. Later. For now, let's watch them."
She sighed, taking her seat again. "Castle, whenever you want to help me study, we never get to the actual studying. I have a midterm coming up!"
"So we'll ask Lanie to watch them tomorrow, and we'll go to the library." He turned to face her again, his eyebrows raising comically. "It's a study date."
She wanted to do more now. She wanted to argue about it. But she did retain more when someone helped her. And at the library they were less likely to get distracted. Plus, Lanie had been begging for a chance to babysit from the moment the twins were born. So she settled back into her seat, watching as their children held on to each other for dear life, letting out content sighs as they fell back asleep. Her husband's head found its way back to her lap, and she soothed him with her fingers in his hair, her other hand massaging his neck. She'd done enough learning for today, and instead basked in this quiet moment with her family. "It's a study date."
April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, which, as you may know, means a lot to me personally. I have a video, www DOT youtube DOT com SLASH watch?v=5fz8t8mrDe4 where I talk about how I want to change the world, by getting us survivors to start talking about how we are survivors and proud. By getting us to stop hiding in the shadows, because we are not the ones who should feel ashamed. If we don't come forward and raise our voices, we won't ever change anything. That, and if I had seen a video like mine, I may have come forward sooner, and would have been out of a dangerous situation faster, and I hope that this will actually save someone. That, and I made a facebook page, facebook DOT com SLASH ordinaryisextraordinary. Here, I have an album of survivor photos and I post articles and inspirational quotes. It would mean so much to me if you all could share this information, like the page or something, just to help get the word out. Because in my mind, this can save lives.