A short one 😊.
Kate was at her desk, doing paperwork. This had been her usual for the past couple months. And as it was his own routine these days, Castle was at his chair next to her desk, writing something on his laptop and … well… watching her from time to time. Well, okay… Mainly just watching her.
"Oh!" she gasped, all of a sudden, her hands going to her belly in shock. "What?!" said Castle, worried something was wrong.
She didn't move or speak for a few moments; just frozen, holding her belly, and that was making him more worried by the second. "What is it? What's wrong?" asked Castle, clearly alarmed.
That made her look at him and her eyes told him that there was nothing wrong. In fact, things were most certainly pretty good.
"Here" she said, holding one of his hands and putting it on the lower right side of her bump. "Can you feel it?" she asked.
He only had to wait for a couple of moments before his eyes jumped to her face, with absolute awe in them. "It's moving!" said Castle. "Oh, hi baby, hi! Hello!" he kept repeating as he gently caressed her belly.
She had felt her baby move before but they were mostly flutters, soft and subtle. However, this time it felt stronger and the movement was more like a kick than a soft, sliding feeling.
It felt so different, so good. But it also suddenly hit her again, not that she wasn't aware before, that she was growing a tiny human inside of her. And that tiny human would not always quietly sit in her belly; he or she would soon, in less than 4 months, be here.
His hand moved to rest on top of hers and he gently squeezed them, as if he was telling her that he understood the extraordinary, life changing thing that was happening to her, that he understood that she got confused or scared at times and that he was there for her. Not even just for her, for her baby too. Part of her didn't dare believe that last part though. Because… How could he? This was such a big thing and such a huge responsibility. He had a life and a daughter that he had to think about. And it would be one thing if they were together before, but now? He was a good man, she even believed he had feelings for her and he would be a supportive friend. But anything more? Why would he do more? How could he do more? How could she ask him that?
She couldn't.
Suddenly she was getting anxious and didn't really know what to do. He sensed something was wrong with her but she didn't give him enough time to ask. She suddenly stood up and gathered her light coat and purse, saying she had an errand to run and left the precinct before he could ask her anything.
She didn't really have an errand to run. She just couldn't deal with all her conflicting emotions and thoughts and she just got out, wanting to get some air and maybe walk a little bit.
After walking for about an hour, her feelings were still all over the place. She realized that she needed to talk to someone and started walking towards the MEs office, hoping her friend could spare a few minutes to talk.
Let's see what happens :).