Thanksgiving ... hehe, ya, I know I'm probably 3 weeks late with that chapter but well, here you go. It's some fluff in it and also a little angst. Have fun reading!

xoxo,

OneWriterGirlOfficial


One Night Stand

Chapter Forty Eight - "Thanksgiving"


November 22nd, 2012
Kate stood in their kitchen and checked on the turkey that was cooking in the oven. She kept massaging her bump to ease the pain she felt from time to time. She looked at her watch. He'd already been gone for forty minutes. Didn't he only want to go and buy something at a near supermarket? She rolled her eyes and went to get a glass of water. She filled the glass and took a sip. She was leaning against the countertop when she felt a sharp pain and let the glass drop to the floor.


Rick entered the loft when he heard something shatter on the ground. He dropped the bags and ran into the kitchen where he saw his girlfriend leaning against the countertop. "Kate! Are you alright?"

She looked at him and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, yeah. Sorry for the glass."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I just felt a little pain and dropped the glass." She looked to the ground. "I'm just going to clean this up."

"No. Go and sit down. Let me clean this up."

"Rick ... "

"Go. And. Sit. Down."

She threw her hands up in the air and went to sit down on a stool.

Rick cleaned up the shattered glass and the water and then went to have a closer look at his girlfriend. He knew her 'I'm fine'. He knew there was probably more to it. She had been a bit off all day long. He sat down on the stool next to her and took her hand. "You're a bit off today. Are you not feeling well?" he asked concerned.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I don't know. I'm just feeling a little under the weather."

He nodded slowly. "Is that all? I'm worried about you."

"I'm good, Castle."

He took a deep breath. "Promise me you'll tell me if you're not feeling well, yeah?"

"Okay."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Go and lay down for a bit. I'll make you a tea and take care of dinner."

"But we wanted to do that together ... "

"I know, and we still can. I promise I'll wake you up so you can help me with the turkey and salad later, okay?"

She bit her lip. "It's our first Thanksgiving together."

He smiled. "I know. But you're eight months pregnant and we don't want to risk anything, 'k?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now go and lay down. I'll check on you in a few."

She cupped his cheek in her hand and caressed it gently. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

She leaned forward and kissed him softly.

He deepened their kiss a little bit and softly stroke her bump before letting her go. He watched her as she walked into their bedroom. He took a deep breath and went to pick up the bags he had dropped earlier. He picked everything up and brought it into the kitchen. Before taking further care of their food he prepared a tea for Kate. He stared at the empty tea cup with a concerned look on his face. He still was sure that there was more to it than Kate told him. She wasn't alright, but why wouldn't she tell him what was wrong?


Ten minutes later he entered their bedroom with a fresh cup of tea and sat down on the bed next to Kate.

She smiled at him and took his hand in hers.

He smiled down at her and placed her tea on her nightstand. "You look tired, my love."

She bit her lip. "I am a bit tired."

He wanted to stand up again, but Kate held onto his hand.

"Can you lay down with me for a few?"

"Sure. Scoot over a bit."

She scooted over and made some space for him to lay down.

Rick slowly laid down next to his girlfriend and gently wrapped an arm around her. He felt Kate snuggling into his side and felt her relax. "Sleep a bit."

"Mmhh," she mumbled and began to massage her bump again. The pain came back. She felt the pain slowly becoming stronger and gasped.

Alarmed Rick sat up. "Kate?!"

"I ... I don't know, Rick. I ... I think they're hiccuping."

"You never gasped from pain when they were hiccuping."

"I don't know either, Rick! I don't know where the pain comes from. The only thing that felt like this, if not quite that strong, was when they were hiccuping."

He nodded. "Does it get better?"

"Yeah. It doesn't last long. Lay down again, please."

He laid down again and put his hand over her bump.


Five minutes later Kate had slept in and Rick got up again. He walked back into the kitchen after throwing another look at her. He left the bedroom door ajar, just in case, he thought.

Once in the kitchen he began to unpack the bags. It was now nearly 3pm, their family was supposed to arrive at 6pm to 7pm. He still had three hours of work to do and still had to shower and shave. He took a deep breath. "Let's start this game again," he said to himself quietly and grabbed the potatoes.


At 5pm Rick went to wake Kate up again. He slowly entered the bedroom and walked over to their bed, where Kate was sleeping peacefully. She looked so peaceful, Rick didn't really want to wake her up. He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. He pulled at the covers Kate had wrapped herself up in. "Kate, it's time to wake up," he said and waited for her to move but nothing happened. "Kate, my love, come on, wake up." Still nothing. "Kate?" He gently kissed her.

"Rick ... " she mumbled.

"Come on, you said you wanted to help me with dinner."

Hearing this she woke immediately. "Is it too late?!"

"No. We still have an hour."

"Phew. Okay, thanks for waking me up."

"Always, my love. Always."

She leaned up to press a soft kiss to his lips before she kicked him out of their bed. "Let me get up, Castle."

He shook his head smiling and helped her up. When she was standing in front of him he claimed her lips with his own again and wrapped his arms around her.

She moaned softly into the kiss and gasped for air after. She smiled and stroke his cheek gently. "Let's finish dinner, my handsome knight on a white horse."

"As you wish, my lady," he replied and grabbed her hand.

She chuckled and they walked into the kitchen together.

Kate began to wash the salad while Rick searched for a big bowl and everything he needed for the dressing. She cut the salad and put it into the bowl Rick had given to her, while he finished the dressing.

"Wanna try it?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

He grabbed a tea spoon and fed her some of the dressing for her to try.

"Mmhh," she moaned, "this is great."

He smiled and poured the dressing over the salad. He put a spoon and a fork into the salad and put it aside.

"What's next?"

"The turkey. I hope it tastes good."

"Can I try some of it?"

"Yes, I want you to taste some of it beforehand."

She smiled and watched as he opened the oven to take out the turkey.

He set it down on the cooking plate and the smell of the turkey filled the whole room. He grabbed a fork and a knife and cut a little piece from the turkey for Kate to try.

She let him feed her with the piece of turkey and moaned at its taste. "Oh my! This is heaven!"

"I'm glad it tastes good."

She smiled and pulled him in for a lingering kiss.

He let the spoon fall to the floor and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ewww, seriously? You want to christen the kitchen? Now?"

The couple broke apart embarrassed.

"A-Alexis? Pumpkin?"

"Hi dad, hi mom. I thought you're already pregnant? Do you have to christen the kitchen on Thanksgiving? With the turkey on the cooking plates?"

"I ... we ... we ... um ... " Kate stumbled.

Alexis broke into laughter. "Okay, okay, I don't even wanna hear it."

"Alexis, Pumpkin, we wouldn't ... "

"Save it, dad. Of course you two wouldn't do that, eh?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Really dad? You want me to believe that? I'm 19, not 4."

"We ... "

"Mmhh." Alexis came closer to look at the turkey. "Looks good."

"Tastes good, too," Kate said, still a little embarrassed.

"It better does. I take it you two cooked together?"

"Mostly, yeah," Kate replied.

"Mostly?"

"I may have taken a long nap in the afternoon."

Alexis chuckled. "That's fine. You gotta take care of the twins."

Kate smiled. "How is college life at the moment?"

"Good, good. There are a couple more tests and exams before Christmas and then I'll be free until January 10th."

"Sounds good. Have you got anything planned yet? Something that you want to do over the holidays?"

"Nope. You two? I guess it will include the babies mostly."

Kate smiled. "Probably, yeah."

"We wanted to go over to the Hamptons on Saturday and then we will stay there and enjoy the last couple of days. When the twins are born we want to stay there until after Christmas maybe," Rick explained.

"Sounds good."

"And we want you there with us. Only if you want to, that is."

Alexis eyes lit up. "Are you sure? I mean, they're gonna be so tiny and I don't want to do anything wrong ... "

"Nonsense Sweetie. You'll be great! And you're way closer to their age than we are."

The young student chuckled. "Okay. So will we be celebrating Christmas at the Hampton's house then?"

"Yes," the couple said in union.

"We still do it!" Rick grinned.

Kate turned to him and have him a quick peck on the cheek. "I know."

"You two are so sweet together. I bet people wanna throw up when they see you two lovebirds."

"Who cares," Kate mumbled, her mind only focussing on the man in front of her.

"Hello? Earth to Kate? Mom?" No reaction. "Mom!" Nope, still nothing. "Beckett!" Ah! Reaction!

Kate turned to young woman.

"Please, I'm already seeing a therapist, don't make it worse," she laughed.

Kate hugged the young student. "I love you, Sweetie."

Alexis smiled and hugged Kate back. "I love you, too, mom."

Rick watched his two women and smiled. That was his family. Everything he needed. Everything he would ever need. Ever.


At half past six Martha and Jim joined them, which meant they could start dinner. After the greetings and after Jim and Martha had questioned Kate about their unborn grandchildren and had felt the babies kick, they sat down at the table. Rick and Jim brought the food to the table and they started filling their plates. First Kate, then Alexis, Martha, Jim and finally Rick. Rick also opened a wonderful bottle of Kate's favorite red wine and filled a glass for everybody. Well, except for Kate, she only got half a glass for dinner.

"So, who wants to start and say what they're thankful for?" Martha asked.

"Can I?" Alexis replied. She received a nod from her father and smiled. "I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful that you two finally got your act together, it took you a damn long time! I never expected to become a sister so fast, but I'm grateful for it. I'm happy that I'll be a big sister to the twins and children that may follow after." She winked. "I'm grateful that everybody is happy. I'm grateful for my friends and for college, I'm grateful that I have the world's best dad, a great mom," she looked at Kate, "and I'm grateful for my grandparents. I wish I could have met Johanna, but I'm sure she's watching us all the time." She smiled at her family and saw the tears in Kate's, Jim's and her father's eyes. She knew they were either proud or happy tears, or both.

Jim was next. "I'm grateful that my daughter has finally given in to her feelings and that she has found a great man. I'm surprised that I'll be a grandfather in less than a couple of weeks but I'm also very, very, very happy about it. I'm grateful that I have been able to resist the alcohol for seven years now and that today is the first time I'll be drinking wine again. I know how much it had damaged and I'm glad I was able to get away from the alcohol. But mostly I'm grateful for this family, every single member of it, and I'm glad that we can welcome the twins soon. I, too, wish that Johanna could have met all of you and believe that she is watching all of us. I bet she's laughing her ass off about us right now, because that's what she would do if she was here with us. She would love all of you and she'd be immensely grateful for all of you." Jim smiled at his family and gently squeezed his daughter's hand.

Now it was Martha's turn. "Well, what can I say? I'm grateful for our family, I'm glad Kate and Jim and soon the twins, too, are a part of this family. I'm utterly grateful that you two got your act together. I was quite surprised to find out that you knocked her up right away, but let's face it, it's the best thing that could have happened. If she weren't pregnant we probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. I'm grateful for my acting school and I'm grateful for my son's career as a writer."

Rick cleared his throat and looked at Kate with a smile. "I'm greatful that I've found the love of my life and that I've finally been able to catch her. That night wasn't planned, it wasn't planned that if knock you up, but I did and I think my mother is right, it is the best that could have happened to us. Because of the babies we finally declared or feelings, became a couple and now we're sitting here together. We would have never talked about it again if it hadn't been for the babies and I'm utterly grateful for them. You can't imagine how much I love these babies, or you, Kate. It hit me like wrecking ball and I hope it will always stay like this." His eyes came to rest on his daughter. "I'm also so utterly grateful for you, Pumpkin. You are the world's best daughter and the babies will have to work hard to become like you, at least I hope they'll be a bit like you. I hope that they will look up to you. I'm sure they will. You're the adult in this family and I'm really thankful for that." He looked at Kate again, who was half crying. "Your turn, honey."

She smiled and looked deeply into his sea blue eyes that sparkled with love. She cleared her throat. "I'm grateful for you, Rick. You've been with me for such a long time and I know I've been acting stupid most of the time. I never imagined I could be happy about it, but I'm happy that you knocked me up. Yes, it wasn't planned at all, but it is the best thing that could have happened to us. I, too, am utterly grateful for the twins and I can't wait to become a mom." Her eyes wandered to Alexis. "And I'm utterly grateful for you. Your dad is right, you are the adult in this family and I'm thankful that I'm a part if that family now. I'm glad you accepted me at your father's side and as a kind of a stepmother. But I'd like to be more like a friend to you, than a mother. You don't need a mother. You're way more grown up than your father or me. I, too, hope that our babies will become a little like you, because you are a great young woman, an excellent student. You're smart, respectful and friendly. Any parents wish for children like you. My mother would have loved you. My mother would have loved this family. If she were still here Rick and I might have been together sooner, but let's face the truth, if she were still here we probably would have never met. I'm glad I met all of you. Mom is watching all of us and she looks out for us." Her eyes met Rick's again. "You're the love of my life, too, but you know that. Just like I know that I'm the one for you."

Rick smiled and stroke her hand gently.

"Oh for god's sake, just kiss her, dad," Alexis laughed and watched as her father leaned down to kiss Kate softly.

Jim and Martha shared a look and watched the couple kiss.

Together they ate their meals.


Kate drew her breath when she felt another sharp pain. "I'll be right back," she mumbled and left the table. She walked into their bedroom and closed the door. She rested against the wall and massaged her bump while taking deep breaths. This is not what I think it is, right? I'm not in labour, she thought. She groaned. She had to pee. She quickly made her way into their bathroom and peed. All air left her lungs when she saw the warm, red blood run down her left leg. She gasped and nearly collapsed. "Rick!" She breathed heavily. "Rick!" She hissed at the pain. "Rick!" She slowly slid down the wall to the ground. "Rick ... " she breathed.

The door to the bathroom opened and Rick stood in the doorframe. "Kate? Are you alright?" She didn't answer him. He walked into the bathroom. "Kate?"

"I'm bleeding," she whispered with fear in her voice.

"Kate what ... ?"

"I'm bleeding. There is blood running down my leg. It hurts."

Rick gasped in shock. "We have to get you into hospital!"

Kate cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she began to sob. "I'm so sorry."

"No, no, no. You'll be fine, Kate." He ran back into the living room. "Mother!"

Martha looked at her son confused. "Richard?"

"Go and get the car. We have to bring Kate into hospital."

"Oh, did her waters break? Is she in labour? Already?"

"I don't think so, no. She's bleeding."

Alexis fisted the tablecloth in shock. "Dad ... is she ... is she going to be alright?"

Rick shrugged. "I don't know."


An hour later ...

"You and your babies are alright, Miss Beckett. You had Braxton Hicks Contractions. They are like real contractions and can cause discomfort. Sometimes it can rip the cervix or even dilate your cervix a little bit. It can also cause a little bleeding like you had. We have checked you through and I can assure you that you and your babies are perfectly fine. I'd like for you to stay the night, just to make sure since you're pregnant with twins."

Kate sighed in relief. "Oh thank god. I don't know what I would have done if something had been wrong with them." She stroke her bump softly. "You scared mommy pretty much, do you know that?" She felt a swift kick. She looked at the doctor again. "Do I really have to stay the night? I'd rather go home and rest."

The doctor nodded. "I'd recommend it to you to stay but of course you can go home. Am I right that she'll stay with you, Mr. Castle?"

"Or course, yes. We are living together."

"Okay. I'll get you your discharge paper, Miss Beckett. I'll be right back."

Once the doctor was out of the room Rick pressed a kiss to Kate's lips. "I'm so glad they're alright."

"Me too. I was so scared."

"I know, I was scared, too."

She yawned. "I just want to go home now."

The doctor came back with her discharge papers and she signed them. "Miss Beckett? I'd recommend for you to go and see your OBGYN tomorrow."

Kate nodded. "I'll do that, yeah."

"May I ask whom your OBGYN is?"

"Dr. Addison Montgomery."

"Thank you. I'll send your papers to her."

"Okay."

"Take care, Miss Beckett. Mr. Castle."

Rick helped Kate to climb down from the bed. He wrapped his arm around her and took their jackets in the other hand. "Bye," he told the doctor and left the room with Kate. They walked down to the waiting room, where their family was waiting.

Alexis saw them first. "Mom!" She ran towards the young Detective and hugged her. "Are you okay?" she whispered into her ear.

"We're fine, yes," she whispered back.

"Thank god. I was so scared."

"Katie bug, are you okay?" Jim asked.

"We're fine, yeah. It were Braxton Hicks Contractions that probably caused my cervix to be dilated a bit which caused the blooding," she said in her Detective voice.

"Oh thank god!" Martha said and hugged the young woman, too.

Jim smiled. "I'm glad you're all okay. You scared me, Katie bug."

Kate bit her lip. "I'm sorry I ruined Thanksgiving ... "

Alexis gasped. "What? No! You haven't ruined our Thanksgiving, mom."

"Yes I did. We should be sitting at home now, watching a movie or playing a game but we're at a hospital and I scared all of you," she said, her voice cracking and tears falling down her cheeks.

Alexis hugged her again. "But that doesn't mean you ruined Thanksgiving. It didn't go as planned, yes, but that doesn't matter."


The next chapters, well, guess what! The babies have to be born one day, right? :D
Can't wait to read your reviews! I may could post the next chapter earlier...you know, you can always bribe me with reviews and begging ^^

xoxo,

OneWriterGirlOfficial

*Update on Tuesday*