Epilogue. Cockshot.
- Alexis, how do I look? - After pulling up the knot of his tie for probably the hundredth time, Castle turned sideways to the mirror, critically assessing himself.
The dainty blazer fit his handsome shoulders like a fit, but he was still dissatisfied with the flick of his lapels, knocking invisible debris off his lapels. It was impossible to look like a young cucumber when the news was both happy and exciting and shocking at the same time. Judging by the mobile pedometer on his phone, by the morning of THIS very day, he'd already walked more than a hundred yards around the loft, and now, with the accumulated fatigue, Castle was swaying gently from side to side. His hand, covering his yawns, had no time to descend, his eyes felt as if they were dusted with sand, and his eyelashes were sticking together like glue. And neither frequent shots of caffeine, nor a contrast shower, nor a light warm-up of the face and neck had restored Castle to full vigor. As a matter of fact, any knowledgeable man in his position would have understood everything without any extra words...
...And at first light Rick hurried to the nursery. This soft ochre interior, discussing which had been broken "more than a hundred copies", had been insanely pleasing to the eye from the threshold. Now, at the end of the lingering waiting and those emotional arguments left far behind, everything else seemed unimportant at all. True, in the absence of his beloved, Rick had added some extra touches to the already harmonious atmosphere. I wondered if Kate would like the multicolored garlands of balloons under the ceiling. And the posters hanging from them with hilarious inscriptions? And the multitudinous mountain of all kinds of toys? And the many flowers in baskets? Even in the evening he had placed flowerpots all over the loft, and after a while the persistent aromas of the improvised flowerbed began to make me dizzy. BUT THAT'S WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT IT! Expressing joy with more than just words! And happily smiling Castle for the next time leisurely walked around the nursery, proudly tapping his chest with his fist and suppressing the other frequent, prolonged yawns. It seemed that it was time to go to the costume room...
...which turned out to be quite a challenge. With a grudging expression, Rick shuffled through the closet more than once, going through dozens of sweaters, suits, and shirts until he settled on an exquisite pair of "chocolate" colors: as Beckett had once flattered him, "You're the most irresistible dude in these clothes, Castle!"
And Kate wasn't the slightest bit devious. The ties, however, were more difficult, and Castle, nervous as he was, crumpled them up and almost shoved the ball away. Yeah, man, until Mama Kate was on their doorstep, he wouldn't have any peace of mind.
- He was nervous..." Rick grumbled grudgingly. - And now these bloody ties...
- Dad, turn around! Please! - Alexis commanded imperiously. She had been watching her father for so long, she knew all too well. Nine months had passed since she and Kate had returned from Thailand: Dad in excellent spirits, and Beckett with the usual mild sepsis. To which, incidentally, brevity was written: the tests finally confirmed Castle's iron rightness. And from that memorable day it was as if Beckett had been replaced. For the better, of course, in consequence of which Alexis's beloved papa surpassed himself. He was even more zealous in the details, even more caring than he had ever been, even more attentive, if I may say so. Never leaving his wife's side, Castle protected and nurtured Kate.
Despite her feigned mutterings, he would fulfill her every, most improbable and wildest whim, and then run to the stores, consultations, and the station. He did not sleep for days and nights on end, protecting the fragile sleep of his beloved, and obediently endured the aiming "shooting" with tight paper balls or crumpled wet towels (and sometimes with slippers!), not forgetting to comment on his own clumsiness in an amusing way. He persistently "harassed" Beckett by "dragging" him to the movies, the theater, the opera, or walks in the park, despite persistent attempts to resist unreasonably. And he turned his office into a medical library, where he sat for those rare moments of solitude over the relevant literature. And at the same time somehow managed to write. He wrote a lot, fantastically a lot, practically driving himself to the brink, but the happy, wide-mouth smile on Castle's tired face told him that he was proud of and cherished Kate, and she, in turn, cherished him. Like a loved one who knew how to wait and had finally waited.
...Alexis approached her father closely, and he, facing her, obediently spread his arms. In fact, Castle's appearance was perfect, but for his own comfort, the maiden's tenacious fingers quickly eliminated real and imaginary discrepancies in his clothes. Alexis wrapped her arms around Castle's neck, kissed him tenderly on the cheek, and, looking intently into eyes red from lack of sleep, smiled understandingly:
- "So, what's up? Which one of us is going to drive?
- Probably me!
At Martha's squeaky voice, father and daughter turned around almost simultaneously, Miss Rogers standing on the threshold, lightly wagging a finger at her beloved clever boy.
- Oh, Richard! Please save us all a lot of unnecessary worry!
- Is that possible? I may be in crisis (temporarily!) but it hasn't reached the critical levels yet! - Rick tried to smile, but it was awfully pathetic. - You look great, Mom, but can your vision still be controlled by road markings? And what about the extraordinarily ugly road signs - you know about them, too, of course?
- Very funny, Richard! - Martha splashed her hands angrily and almost dropped her purse. - A few more words and nothing in the world will save you! You do not want to upset Catherine, do you?
- Hmm. - Castle's spirits were up in an instant, and he was no stranger to despondency. - Last night, mother, we exchanged a good hundred messages, which resulted in a plan "A". Well, at the very least, I took care of Plan B! - Castle looked triumphantly at his mother and turned to Alexis, who had her arms folded across her chest:
- Uh, why aren't we in the Batmobile yet? And where's my personal smart batkey?
- Dispatch just called: the rented minivan has been in the driveway for ages. Did you forget, Dad? - She gave him an ironic grin.
The brakes squeaked, and with a small bouquet in his hand Castle got out into the street. He deliberately didn't drag the whole "bundle" with him, knowing ahead of time that Beckett would understand him and not judge him. Because she missed him. Because he would be the first. Because he is the best, father and husband. While his loved ones were leisurely climbing the broad stone staircase, Rick dashed toward the front door. In his unrestrained rush, Castle barely managed to maneuver between the oncoming traffic, and the smiling sun shone down on the back of his neck, reflecting a thousand glares on the glass polished facade.
About ten yards from the door, Castle slowed his gallop to look around. Happy families crowded the porch, there was a joyous, enthusiastic murmur, and sighs of reassurance, but for some reason Beckett was not among those present.
"Actually, it's discharge time! I hope I'm not too late!" - Covering his palm, Castle glanced at his watch. Surely his beloved was already somewhere near, and it would be better to take this difficult but pleasant "load" somewhere at the reception desk: well, Kate did not want to be taken from the room, and her wishes are the law.
Rick turned around: his family was already quite close by and smiling encouragingly at him.
"It's time!" - Seeing almost nothing through the reflected light, Castle went into a run right off the bat, but when the automatic flaps rustled, Rick was almost nose-to-nose with Kate. She gave an ouch of surprise, he recoiled, arms outstretched, and didn't even recognize his wife at first. Thinner than a vine, paler than a notebook page, with blistered eyelids, Beckett inevitably evoked compassion for herself: the sleepless nights and the hard, prolonged labor had taken their toll. While her beloved lay under an IV, Castle tirelessly on duty in the corridor, slept in a chair and ate what he could, but his day and night vigil ended with the recovered Kate with a confused smile escorted him out. But it was impossible to resent Beckett, his stern and inimitable Beckett, for Rick had never seen a sweeter and more open smile than that of Kate. She clutched a small beige envelope carefully to her chest.
- Hello, Castle! - Beckett smiled wearily, and offered her cheek for a touching kiss. - It's good to see you, but let's hold off on the calf stuffing, okay? I hope it doesn't go against your wishes.
- What? Tenderness for my baby? Just to wake her up like that? Never in my life! - Rick humbly covered his mouth with his palms, stretching his neck with great curiosity. - Well, how about just looking? I've got a superdiamond eye!
- Yeah, you're not cheating on yourself! Okay, Castle, look. - Kate condescendingly allowed it. - But I should warn you, we are more full of surprises today than ever. Hello, Alexis. Martha!
The women nodded and stood respectfully at a distance, and Castle, breathing a little, carefully opened the flap of the envelope: inside lay a baby. His and Kate's child. A girl. A daughter. A beautiful girl. A fishnet cap, a pink wrinkled face, and a colorful pacifier on a chain, which the baby nonchalantly sucked. When Rick, almost choking on saliva from tenderness, leaned over her, the girl opened her clear, transparent eyes, looking with amazement and mild fright at the big uncle, blocking the sky. And the man naturally soared with delight:
- Oh, class! Great, great, great, great! She's so cute and tiny! I'd forgotten what size babies start out at! And what velvet cheeks she has! And what a great nose! My baby! And her eyebrows are frowning, just like her mother! Come on, Kate. Come on, let me hold her!
- As you remember, Castle, babies are always preceded by some kind of exciting process! And, by the way, there's someone else behind my back! - Kate jokingly jabbed her husband. - After what happened in Thailand, don't you have any conscience at all?
- Oh... it will in time! You bet your ass it will. - Castle kissed Kate on the cheek again and turned his attention to the pair of nurses behind Kate's back: each of them was holding a colorful bundle.
The exclamation Castle made could be interpreted as an intention to embrace the immensity. He unwrapped it so it wouldn't crumple, and then he made sure Kate was holding the child tightly and slid right past her. Gesturing for the sisters to huddle together, Castle opened first one envelope, then the other, barely breathing.
- They're both here! Pretty girls! - with indescribable pleasure in his voice, Rick even danced on the spot from the wild, positive emotions. - Ah, me! We're so bad! There's a reason I insisted it was all about...
Castle didn't finish, because Martha's unceremonious hand snuck under his elbow, and his mother's admonishing tone seemed like a thunderbolt:
- "You can't just grasp the immensity, Richard! You'd better help Catherine. She's the one who's got the worst of it.
- I'd argue with that, Mother. I'm a man. I'm a father. I can do anything! - Castle tried to playfully rebel, but Alexis, firmly sidestepping her grandmother, exchanged short nods with her sister and moved one baby girl to herself, chiding her with pleasure:
- The fact that you have two hands, Daddy, and not three, doesn't detract from your parenting skills one bit! I guess that's not what you were counting on after all!
- It doesn't matter what I was counting on! I'm triple glad! - With a sad sigh of regret, Castle gave way to Martha. - Well, it's just the way nature arranged it!
With a trembling hand Castle took the discharge from the doctor who approached them and went back to his wife. Mother and daughter followed him. Rick "exchanged" the baby for the papers and the bouquet, laid his daughter gently on the bend of his elbow, and studied her face for a few seconds, satisfyingly guessing familiar features in it. He smiled, moving his lips silently, and made tricky faces. When Kate, after a polite silence, cautiously took him under the arm, Rick turned to her in a voice husky with excitement, without turning his head:
- Well, now I'm four times superdad! I hope no one will mind?...
...-Well, here we are home! - Castle whispered, quietly closing the front door behind him. - And we're all together now!
- You can put that word in the frame, Castle! - Beckett smiled wearily: her eyes burned with a bright, happy fire, and her attention was fixed on her daughter's doll face. - And I'd like to think it's not the last frame on the common wall of life together!
- I promise! - Castle gently intercepted the child, and while Beckett changed his shoes for slippers, headed for the nursery, which now had all the attention of the happy family. Especially since much had been provided there in advance, such as: individual lockers with color preferences in clothing, three changing tables arranged in a triangle, and just a miracle of intellectual creativity - the most modern system "video babysitting", monitors from which except that in the toilet was not.
And the Kasls with rapture sank into the long-awaited troubles, of which everyone who has lived through such a moment has an idea. And time flowed in its incessant course, evening approached imperceptibly, but Castle's peace of mind did not increase one bit. He still rushed from one crib to the other and couldn't get his eyes on his girls: two of them, full and contented, were peacefully snoozing in their cribs, and Kate was finishing feeding the third. However, the baby was a character: she stubbornly did not want to let go of her mother's breast, and the order of exhausted Kate just began to pass out with the baby in her arms. And he was immediately carefully, deftly intercepted by Castle. He sat down on the couch next to Beckett, giving her his powerful shoulder, and he carefully whispered:
- Hello, little one! It's your daddy! He's here and he can hear you, but your mom needs so much rest! Trust me when I tell you she deserves it!
Rick looked sympathetically at Kate, and immediately felt someone's breath on his cheek.
- I'll take Alice, and you take care of your wife, Dad," Alexis said, and she came over to him, quietly.
- I'll take Alice, and you take care of your wife. Thank you. - Rick just shook his head wearily. He released his arms and gave Alexis a long hard look before he set her down on the cradle and gently lowered her head onto the small pillow, draped her legs over it, and draped the fluffy blanket over her shoulders. He carefully straightened the tangled strands of hair, kissed her forehead lightly, listening to her restless breathing. No one said it would be easy for them, but did hardship ever scare them?
"I love you, Kate!"
Trying not to inadvertently fiddle with anything, Rick straightened cautiously.
- Well, how's our little darling?
- Falling asleep," Alexis answered in a whisper, rocking the bassinet gently. Is something wrong?
Castle stood beside his daughter, shoulder to shoulder, and his sigh was deep and heavy.
- I didn't expect such a heaping hit. Now we'll have to rebuild the house in the Hamptons, because tearing down the walls won't solve the redevelopment. And Beckett, you can't keep the house for long, and I don't have enough arms to hold all the kids at once. I don't want to burden you. I'd have to hire a bunch of nurses...
- We're a family, and I've always wanted sisters... And you, Daddy, have surpassed my wildest expectations. Wow. After a long "silence," such a resounding breakthrough.
Castle grinned inimitably, turning his eyes to the sky.
- I think it was the very stones that left that unique astral trace on me. And I still don't know why Kate doubts that.
With a hum, which must have meant laughter, Alexis carefully adjusted the cream blanket.
- She just knows you, by heart. Especially since it's pretty clear as it is.
- Clear? It's not clear! Obviously, I missed something after all!
- Don't worry, Dad. The most important thing is that you didn't miss the main thing.