CONQUERED

Chapter 35

No one had school today, yet everyone had homework. Kate was sitting at the dining room table working on hers while Libby was on the floor playing. She had created yet another make-believe world that only she understood, but at least she was having fun and was safe.

The door interrupted her and since Rick was doing laundry she left the table to answer it and found Alexis and Michael on the outside. "Hi! What's up?" She was always glad to see them, but they seemingly always had a reason for coming over.

"Is Dad here? Hi, Libby." Alexis walked over to her and did her best to bend down and greet her properly.

"We have something we'd like you two to see," Michael mentioned.

"Hi, Dad, have you two got some time?" Alexis asked. "We have something we want to show you. It means a train trip, almost to Nassau."

"I…suppose." Rick looked at Kate, waiting for her to say yes or no.

"I'm just doing homework that isn't due for another couple of days." Yes, Kate had time.

"Great! Come with us. Libby can come, she likes train trips." Alexis knew Libby got excited since it was a ride.

O~O~O

"So what are we going to be seeing?" Kate queried as they took the elevator up to the train station.

"We want you to see it first," Alexis answered.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "So we don't get a clue?"

"Alright, Dad, think your place back in Victoria. That's all you get."

They were going from station to station just like Kate and everyone else did to get to Nassau. But when they reached Exumas, they changed trains again and went west toward Andros. That was where they got off and went down to the fifth floor.

Now Rick and Kate knew the fifth floor in their building was the medical area on one side, but they were walking to the opposite side.

They finally stopped at a door. Michael pressed his hand on it. Like always, the door turned green under his hand to allow him entrance and it slid open. He motioned for them to go first.

"Wow!" Rick and Kate managed to say at the same time. Rick let go of Libby and she took off to look. "Who lives here?" This was bigger than the unit Jim had. Like everywhere else it had a wall of glass that led out to a large balcony which had glass railings so you had a view. All they saw was water, so they weren't facing Nassau.

Michael answered his question. "We can, all of us. That's what we want to talk to you about."

"Just listen and think about it. Michael and I happened to like living way out there. We were essentially one big family, and we're starting to miss that. I know everyone is right next door, but it's not the same." Alexis looked at their faces to see if there was any reaction.

"This place has an enormous kitchen, two living rooms, and a dining room with seating for 12. The balcony even has a dining table, so we could eat outside. There are four master bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. Granted none of them are the size we have now, but they are bigger than the other bedrooms.

"The masters are that way," Alexis gestured, "and there are another four bedrooms that way with two Jack and Jill bathrooms," she pointed. "There's enough space for everyone including the boys that aren't born yet. I mean look at that kitchen. It has a 12 foot island with seating on one side. Two sinks, two dishwashers, two ovens, even a wine cooler, and more storage than we could possibly need.

"OH! Each side has its own washer and dryer a lot like Jim's place, but this place doesn't have bunk beds. At least not yet if you want them for the twins. We just want you to think about it," Alexis told them with hope in her eyes.

"Built-in babysitting," Michael added.

Rick and Kate were still just standing there looking at this place. It was even bigger than her dad's place. Like everyone's unit, it had a beachy look to it. Lots of white with pops of color all over save for the one was that was dramatic looking.

"We can't afford it," Kate said with a sigh. She wasn't even working yet and wouldn't be till the twins were a year old or even older, and that was months away maybe even longer away, provided she delivered on time.

"Yes, we can," Alexis insisted.

"We've already talked to the others," Michael told them. "They're willing if you are. Together we can afford it. Our train trip will be a trip back to Exumas and then to Nassau for school. Laura will have the farthest to go, but she said it was just a train trip."

"This is the only one available, and I reserved it hoping you two would say yes." That was why the door had turned green when she had touched it. "We just need to move again. This is the only unit of its kind. Getting to Jim will be more of a challenge, but there's only one of these," Alexis explained.

"You don't have to decide today." Michael knew they were broadsiding those two.

"Go look. The others have already seen everything," Alexis told them and watched her dad and Kate walk away. "What do you think?" she whispered to her husband.

"They say no and we don't do it. It's too big for the rest of us." Michael took her hand and led her out onto the balcony to look at the ocean view. They weren't facing Nassau, so it was all water. And there was a soft breeze since this thing was so big. There were two doors to get in and out of this unit, and two doors to get out onto the balcony in addition to the wall that folded away like all the others.

"What do you think?" Kate asked her husband as they looked this bedroom over and then the bathroom. Both were indeed smaller than what they had now, but it was bigger than what they'd had on Rick's floating platform.

"Soundproofing? You are a screamer, Kate," Rick pointed out. Right now they could close the doors, and Libby was on the other side of their space. If they did this, someone would be right next to them.

"Yeah." Kate knew she was vocal. Rick was just too damn good to not be vocal. "I did like your place in Victoria. It's just if we want them they're right next door. I guess the main question is are we willing to give up the privacy? When we step out of this room, there will be someone out there," Kate gestured.

"Libby won't have just us again all the time. When the twins are born you will have instant help. When the other two boys are born they will have instant help.

"It'll be a zoo, almost as bad as your dad's place," Rick commented since there were pros and cons to this. That had Kate chuckling. How her dad did it was still a mystery to her. Why he did it she could understand. He had fallen in love with all of those kids while being stuck with them for just over a year.

"We need to ask about soundproofing. Other than that I have no objection," Kate said. "I've gotten used to having a big family, and I've learned to love it. From being an only child to this. But do we want this family this close?"

"You know how I feel about Alexis." Rick was already onboard with the idea.

"Joined at the hip, yes, I know. But she's growing up to be a woman, Rick. She's about to have a family. You need to let her live it," Kate cautioned him.

"I can do that," Rick answered quickly, and then realized he had said that far too quickly.

"RICK!" Kate had caught him and he cringed. "I'm not joking about this. She's a grown woman who's married and pregnant, about to have her own family. You," Kate poked him in the chest, "need to let her live it. You'll always be her dad, but you can't run her life for her." Kate wanted to make sure he knew that.

"I know," Rick responded, but again just a little too quickly. He tried again. "I do, I get it, Kate."

"I will absolutely lower the boom on you if you don't, Richard Edgar Castle. And I'm not kidding. Otherwise we leave things just as they are. She's close enough as it is now."

"What do you think they are talking about?" Michael questioned her just as Libby came running up and joined them to look at the view.

"Did you find your new bedroom?" Alexis watched a smiling Libby nod. "As to what they're talking about? I'm betting it's me. We've both been protective of each other. In Dad's eyes I'm too young to be married, let alone pregnant.

"I don't know for a fact, but I think Kate is on my side which is strange in and of itself. I used to really hate her for what she did to Dad. Yet here I am, trying to talk her and Dad into living as one big group. Maybe even closer than we did back in Victoria. We literally had more space there, just different space," Alexis mentioned as she let Michael pull her into him.

She loved her husband, she did. This idea was going to push her dad to the limit, and she knew it. "Maybe Grams can help control him." She knew she had tried more than once with mixed results.

"If they're not interested, then they're not interested. We stay right where we are and remove the reservation on this place," Michael added.

Rick had been reduced to lying on his back on the bed to see if he liked this bed better than the one they had now. It looked a little different, and yet so far everything was mostly the same with only minor changes here and there.

Kate made Rick get up since she knew what her answer was going to be if they got the information she needed. She noticed that since this place had two doors it also had two Computer Interface panels so she stabbed one.

It responded instantly. "Computer Interface."

"This unit. Is there any soundproofing between the master bedrooms at all?" Kate asked.

"Yes, with the door closed you will not hear anyone in the bedroom next door. To get someone's attention you would need to open the door. The same for the other four bedrooms on the opposite side."

"So a screaming child in one room won't wake the one next door?"

"Correct."

"If there are only single beds in the bedrooms can they be swapped out for bunk beds?" Kate was thinking her twins were going to get bunk beds and listen to her boys argue over who got the upper bunk one day.

"Yes."

"Thanks." Kate stabbed it to get it to shut up. "I guess that answers that. Do we do this?" Kate asked Rick, thinking that was a stupid question.

O~O~O

It took them an entire day to move everything from one apartment to another. They had to pack up everything all over again. But they also had to move all of their food from four different refrigerators and freezers into the ones in the new space. This place, unlike Jim's, had two 26 cubit foot side by side refrigerators. It had two of just about everything in the kitchen, unlike Jim's whose were simply larger.

Then they had to unpack it all yet again, so it was dinner by the time they were all moved in. "You four agreed to this?" Kate had Dean, Laura, Chris, and Martha while Rick was beginning to make dinner.

"We did," Dean confirmed.

"You want to know what convinced us?" Laura asked her. "I can give you two things. First was Victoria. That was an amazing place, but it wasn't just the place itself. It was the idea that we were one big family. Second, the three of us are pregnant. We rather like the idea of having built-in support during and after that time.

"I'm not really sure how four screaming babies that need diaper changes or want to be fed are going to work out, but the idea that we don't have to do this alone helped. Family."

"That's part of what got Rick and I to agree to this. But we want some ground rules here. When someone wants privacy we grant it. No one overrules any of us when it comes to our own children. Help I understand, but if we say no, you don't say yes." Kate had some rules she wanted to be clear about.

"Deal. That goes for you too, Dad," Alexis called out.

"I'm the adult here, remember," Rick fired back.

"Only when you are forced to be, Dad. Only when you are forced to be," Alexis shot back and Kate burst out laughing. No one heard Rick growling about that comment over Kate's laughter.

"And we all get direct access to all of Rick's DVD collection." Dean was resolute. "Though how he got all of it here is still a mystery." The collection was an amazing number of DVDs.

"Magic, sir, magic," Rick replied. Rick automatically stretched his fingers since he could remember the pain from carrying all that yet again today. Which made it twice now.

O~O~O

Kate entered what was now their new apartment and saw everyone was home already. "Sorry I'm late. I actually started going to the old place. I made it to Long Island before I figured out what I was doing." Kate walked over to Rick and Libby to kiss both of them and then headed to their bedroom.

When she came back out she looked around, but didn't see Chris or Martha. How had she missed them? "Where are Chris and Martha?"

"Jim called. Said he had a doctor appointment for two of the kids followed by a dentist trip for a different one, so they're babysitting. Pray for them," Laura answered which had Kate laughing. She didn't understand how her dad was holding up.

Kate entered their huge kitchen to see if she needed help with anything. "I see you're back to cooking again."

"This kitchen is so big it needs its own zip code. Not that we have zip codes anymore." Laura laughed at herself.

"Seriously, woman! Do you need help with anything?" Kate questioned her.

Laura nodded. "Thanks, Kate. You can check the oven. I put a homemade pie in it, and I don't yet trust these ovens." So Kate went and looked her pie over, checked the timer, and left it where it was.

Since Laura appeared to have everything under control, she moved to sit with her husband and her daughter. Then suddenly Kate felt it and grabbed Libby's hand and placed it on her belly so she could feel one or both of the twins kicking or punching her.

"That's your baby brother." Kate had never had to tell anyone about the birds and the bees before. But she was pregnant, getting bigger, and Libby had questions.

Libby might not truly understand just how a baby could be in her belly, but there was no denying that her mommy was getting bigger.

"Does it hurt?" Libby asked.

"No, it just feels funny. I'm not used to having a baby inside me doing whatever he or both of them are doing." Now she had Rick's and Libby's hands as they both felt a little of what Kate was feeling.

"She asked me that question, too," Alexis told her as she laid her hand on her belly to try and get her son to calm down. "Now I need to pee. Someone has decided my bladder is fun." Alexis got up and hurried to the closest bathroom.

"I know that feeling." Kate could feel for her.

"I hear that," Laura added.

Kate looked at Michael and Dean. "So how's school, you two?"

"Getting more complicated. Finally finding out what powers the trains, and I'm still not sure I understand it. They don't use fuel, not either gas or hydrogen. It's this cylinder that is full of colors. Something about a vacuum is all I understand at the moment.

"Would you believe the entire train runs on compressed air? It rides on compressed air and gets pushed using compressed air. But I don't understand the power source yet," Michael explained. It was easy for Kate see to his his frustration.

"So what are you up to?" Kate asked Dean.

"Boats, actually. They have these shuttles that Laura uses to get to work, but they have plans for a different boat. I've never seen one like it, let alone what it's made of. They literally have this machine that weaves it, is the best I can describe it. Think a spider's web, only layer after layer after layer.

"There are no propellers, and it's not a jet boat exactly. It looks like it draws water in from the front and ejects it out each side at the rear. Bow and aft, sorry.

"They have a working test example on a table. Would you believe it is totally quiet. Doesn't make a sound. I'm beginning to learn all about it. Can't wait to get into the guts of this thing." Dean couldn't hide that he was truly excited to find out.

"Mother came home with lines she has to memorize. So everyone needs to get ready to watch her repeat her lines over and over again, using different voices all the time while trying to find her character. Also get ready to read all the other lines so she can say hers. Trust me, I know what I'm saying here," Rick warned them.

"That's Grams alright." Alexis was back and heard just enough of her dad said. "She will suck us all in based on how many people have lines when she does."

"We'll live." Kate was actually interested in seeing that. Then she grabbed Libby's hand again because this time she was betting both of them were kicking her. That or fighting each other already.

"What are we going to do with four babies?" Kate questioned since she was sure she was going to be overwhelmed with her two, let alone two more.

"Change a lot of diapers and get ready for aching nipples," Laura answered her. Then an alarm went off and Laura took her pie out. "Not bad." It wasn't burnt.

"Dinner in five. If someone would set the table, please," Laura called out and saw her husband and Michael getting what they needed.

"My feet are already aching," Kate complained knowing that Rick would fix that later. He had promised and so far he was keeping his promise.