Once Lost But Now Found
Chapter 5 – The Delivery
Two weeks before the baby's due date, Jim Beckett had asked Rick to stay with them 24/7 should the baby come in the middle of the night. Rick would be there to take her to the hospital and also participate in the delivery as he had gone to the required courses to be with her in the delivery room during the birth of their child. Rick was again using their guest room during this period of time. What it meant for him was some additional hours spent with Kate as he did not have to make the effort to go back and forth from her home to his loft, thus giving him more time with her.
When the baby finally came it was not in the middle of the night, but during the day, some two days before the expected delivery date. Kate and Rick had just finished lunch, Jim having gone to work that morning after breakfast. Jim had managed to complete rehab successfully and was now working part time at his old firm. Kate had gone to use the bathroom and had been there longer that usual. Just as Rick was beginning to wonder what was happening with her being so long in the bathroom, she called out to him.
"Rick, I think my water just broke!"
Rick tried to stay calm, but he did feel the excitement of the moment. He stilled his nerves and then went thru the actions they had rehearsed for this day. He first saw to it that she changed into the outfit she planned to wear to the hospital. Her bag and toiletries were already packed and in the trunk of the Mercedes that Rick had parked in the parking space to the Beckett townhouse. After Kate was changed, he lead her to the Benz and then drove to the hospital. He made the trip in good time and got her to the hospital under 15 minutes. Then it was only a couple hours of labor for Kate, until she delivered later that night.
"Push Kate", she hears her doctor say, "I can see the baby's head, one more push should do it."
"Oh my God! I am so tired; I do not know if I have one more push to give."
"Come on Kate. You can do it. Just call on your inner strength, like we learned during our delivery courses. Come on Kate push, you can do it. Let's get our child delivered so we know whether the baby is a she or a he", Rick says to her. They had not learned the gender of their child during the ultrasound, wanting to be surprised.
Kate gives a final push and then hears the cries of her child for the first time as the baby takes its first breath of air. The baby is no sooner out when the nurses dispose of the umbilical cord and clean the baby up. Within minutes of the delivery the child is delivered to the arms of the anxious mother.
"Kate and Rick", says their doctor, "say hello to your daughter."
Their daughter is beautiful. Same features as Kate with a fuzz of hair on her head the same color as that of Kate's. She is the image of her mother features with one exception, her eyes are blue, just like her father's. She had inherited the eye color from Rick. Both parents fall in love instantly with their daughter. It is such a life altering event, having a child.
"So, what is the name of your daughter?", asks their baby doctor.
"Alexis Johanna Beckett-Castle", both parents say proudly.
"Alexis Johanna, what a great name, beautiful like her," the doctor says.
As they bond with their child, Kate and Rick are in awe of her. They had created this little human being and the thought of it gave them pause. At that moment they both knew that Alexis was their number one priority, all else would take back seat.
Alexis at Home
After a two day stay at the Maternity Recovery ward, mother and daughter were back at the Beckett Townhouse. Alexis was sleeping in a portable crib in Beckett's room and Rick continued to stay in the guest bedroom, so every day he could look after them. After a week, Rick brought up the subject matter of where they were headed.
"Kate, move in with me, you and Alexis", he proposed to her.
"Rick, that is a big decision. I have never lived with a man before and normally when a couple decides to move in, it is after a period of being romantically involved. We were together one night. I don't know if this would be good for us. I still have goals and have been accepted into the police academy. I still have a whole future to live."
"Yes you have your whole life ahead of you, but now you have others in your life to share it with."
"Rick, I do not want to give up my goals and dreams to be just a mother."
"Who says you have to give up anything? You can have it all. You can still go to the Academy. You can still pursue those goals and dreams, but now you do it with me and Alexis in your life."
"But what does it mean Rick? Do we get married? Is that what you want?"
"If it comes to that and you want it, I will want it. But...", he hesitates to bring it up, "if we find out we are not made for marriage to each other, we continue to raise our daughter, but shared between two families, with stepparents involved."
"Shared custody between two families, a blended family, as like in a divorce?"
"I do not want to label it like that, but it would be somewhat similar. But why consider the negative. Yes there is a chance we might crash and burn, but for all you know we could be awesome together as a married couple. How will we know? Just give us a chance."
"Rick, I do have feelings for you, but is it love? The kind that leads to marriage?"
"I don't know Kate, but we certainly had something that night and the last several months have been the best time in my life so far."
"As with me, the pregnancy was a good time."
"Let's not rush into this too quickly. Let us just give it a try, for our sake and that of our daughter's. Let's make no promises other than we will always be involved parents with our child regardless of what the future holds or who we may wind up with."
"In that case, Richard Castle, yes, I will move in with you, but on the condition of no promises except to the one we make to our daughter jointly."
"Thank you, Kate", Rick says and enters her space to give her a hug and affectionate peck to her cheek. Then they both hold Alexis, and each gives her a kiss.
The weeks after Kate and Alexis moved into the loft were defined with the tedious and trying times of caring for a newborn. They would wake up in the middle of the night to change diapers or feed Alexis. Often when Alexis was hungry for milk, Kate got up to breast feed her. Fortunately, with both not having a regular office job, as Rick could do his writing anytime, anywhere and Kate had quit her waitress job; they often could slept in late if they needed. If the prior night had been marked with loss of sleep while caring for Alexis they would sleep till the baby awoke. If Alexis needed attention early in the morning after a particularly difficult night, the one with the most energy usually took care of Alexis. Unless of course if their daughter needed to be breast fed.
But by then, they had discovered the helpful use of a breast pump that would extract milk from Kate to be refrigerated for future use. So when Kate was too tired to feed Alexis in the early mornings, or nights, Rick could grab a bottle of breast milk from the frig and feed his daughter. After time they developed a routine and knew pretty much what to expect. After a particularly trying night, Kate brings up an issue on the caring of Alexis.
"Rick, you know in 6 weeks I report to the Police Academy, and you will have to care for our daughter without my help. The Academy is run like military boot camp. The first 6 to 8 weeks we sleep in the barracks and do not have weekends off until we pass all the basic tests. But even then, weekends off are not guaranteed if we have to do remedial academics or physical conditioning for those weekends. Also, that is the time to work off demerits for infractions incurred during the week. You are going to have our daughter all to yourself for some time."
"I look forward to it Kate and besides your dad has said he would help and my mother has promised similar assistance. We can handle it. Just finish the academy and make us proud."
"I will have too. I need the cop salary to take care of our child."
"Kate, I have made enough from my books that you don't need to work."
"No Rick, I need to pull my own weight. The two of us were involved in making our daughter so it is only fair I share expenses; besides, I don't want to be a kept woman."
"Oh but you are such a gorgeous and affectionate woman I do like keeping you", he teased back.
"Stop with the sweet talk and check our daughter. I hear her crying and she may need a diaper change. So, get to it Daddy!"
Rick gives Kate an affectionate kiss on the lips and goes to check Alexis.
Preparing For The Academy
She was pushing the last couple hundred feet of her two-mile run. Her pregnancy had caused her to gain weight and she needed to slim down for the Police Academy. She was a month out from reporting to the late winter class as a Police Cadet. She had done some internet research on the NYPD Academy and found out that the Physical Training was especially difficult. There were no adjusted tests for females. Male and female alike had to pass the same Physical Readiness Test and the pull ups were particularly tough for females as they did not have the same upper body strength as the male cadets. The cross-country run, sit-ups, even the push-ups she could handle. Then there was the Academy Obstacle course, another tough one for females as it required getting over an 8 foot wall. In order to do so you had to jump up, grab the top of the wall, placing your hands on that top, you then pull up enough to get a leg or arm up on the top to pull/push the rest of your body over that top wall. So, Kate had been concentrating on pull up exercises.
Kate was sure she could ace the academic courses as she had a Criminology Degree from NYU and had taken the same abbreviated courses offered at the academy. Then there was the hazing and military discipline that were required since the Police Academy was run like a military boot camp. So, using the internet, she had searched for info about the Police Academy to learn as much as she could about it.
The arms training was also an area Kate had confidence in. Summers at their family cottage in the Catskills were days of shooting the air rifle and pistol her dad had taught her how to use. She was used to hunting rabbits with the air rifle for ingredients for a tasty rabbit stew. She was a pretty good shot.
But the most troublesome aspect of going to the academy was the family separation. Weekends off were only granted after six to eight weeks depending on how quick her class completed basic requirements. During that time she would have no contact with her daughter and Rick, her baby daddy. She had no family other than her father when she applied for entrance to the academy, but now she had a baby and Rick as her new family. She knew she would miss them terribly, particularly Alexis her cute and beautiful daughter. She would miss their company and particularly her talks with Rick, not to mention his cooking, which was always delicious.
When the day came to go to the academy, her dad had driven her there, as Alexis was being fussy that day and Rick thought it wise to leave them at the loft. Also, at the back of his mind, Rick thought if they went and fellow cadets saw him and Alexis, they might think Kate was married. He did not want to put Kate in a situation that she had to explain their daughter and him to her classmates. But secretly, Rick was hoping one day Kate would not have to explain them or their relationship. The day Kate could simply say 'this is my husband and my daughter'. He wanted that eventually but for now he was not about to put Kate in a situation where she had to explain them.
So they said their goodbyes at the loft and Alexis was being particularly difficult, maybe she had sensed her mom was leaving them for a while! It broke Rick's heart when she saw Kate enter the passenger side of her dad's car and then let out a tearful sob when the car pulled away.
"Don't worry sweet pea", he told his daughter, "we will see mommy in about two months. Till then it is just you and me, kid."
Alexis gave him a look that seemed to say she was wondering where mommy had gone.
Watching the car moving away, thru the rear window, Rick saw Kate turn to face them thru that back window, waving goodbye and blowing kisses at them. His heart sunk again as the full reality hit him that he would not see her for some two months and then for only a weekend initially, and maybe more weekends after.
"Katie", says Jim Beckett, "let the sight of leaving Alexis and Rick motivate you to graduate. The sooner the better."
"I am eligible for weekends off once we pass basic and become designated as a Senior Class. So, I am hoping my class makes it to that status quickly. I am sure the family separation for most of my classmates will be a great motivator to complete our basic training quickly. The quickest time to Senior Class status is five weeks, on the average, six to eight weeks. Hopefully my class does not tie or break the ten-week record for longest time to finish basic. So with luck and hard work, I can be back for a weekend six weeks from now."
"Here", says Jim, handing her a picture of Rick, her, and Alexis that he had taken some time back, "keep this somewhere so when you need some encouragement or a lift in your spirits from all the military style hazing, you can look at this."
She takes the picture and looks at it, holding back tears as she sees the reminder of what she is leaving behind.
"Thanks dad, I'll find a place for this."
They finish the trip to the Police Academy in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts.