Rick's POV

"That's Detective Castle to you." Her standard reply calms me down since it felt like she wasn't there earlier, almost like she was completely out of it. We get out of the car and with Kate by my side I feel invincible. I flash my "Castle Smile" at the cameras and every so often I glance at Kate to make sure she's not zoning out again. She cocks an eyebrow at me after the 6th or 7th glance and I smile my "Kate Only Smile" at her. Once we get inside the lights colliding with the colors of dresses with tuxes dance around the ballroom, setting the scene for the event. Kate and I move around the room, talking to everyone from the mayor to some movie stars at the event.

"Rick Castle! That man who's book made me a star even more. And his muse!" Natalie Roads came over to us and I felt Kate tense up slightly at the sight of Nikki Heat's movie portrayal.

"Oh hello Natalie. How are you?" I say as I give Kate a reassuring squeeze.

"Fantastic! My husband," She gestures to her date, "And I just found out we're pregnant."

"What? Wow!" I say almost flabbergasted that she felt the need to tell us.

"You're a mother, right Kate?" She suddenly asks.

"Yes, Rick and I have a four year old daughter Ellie." Kate says calmly.

"How did you regain your shape after being pregnant?" Natalie asks and I now understand why she asked.

"I chase after murderers," Kate says and we all chuckle at her joke, even though she was dead serious. "Now if you'll excuse me." I look over at Kate with questioning eyes. Bathroom, she mouths at me. I continue to talk with other guests until they announce that the dance floor is open. I look around for Kate, wanting to dance with my wife. Sine I haven't seen her since she left for the bathroom, I decide to go looking down hallway after hallway until I see her walking towards a door.

"Why Mrs. Castle, the party's in the opposite direction." She looks over her shoulder and when she sees me, I can see her eyes open really wide. "Kate? Is something wrong? Is there a dead body?"

"No I… um…" I can see her eyes are red, a shade of red that can only come because of one thing.

"Kate, have you been crying?" I ask, suddenly really worried for my wife.

"No, Castle, just go back and enjoy the gala. I think I'm going to go home." She says turning back towards the door.

"No. Hold on. We're not Castle and Beckett, not anymore. We're Kate and Rick." I pull her to a halt and turn her around so I can look into her eyes. "What's wrong?" I ask again.

"Nothing-"

"Damn it Kate! Talk to me!"She jumps slightly at my outburst. "You have been avoiding me all night and zoning out and you're not being you! Please Kate, talk to me." I say and she looks at me.

"I lied." For a moment all I can do is stare at her. "I lied about lying. And I can't keep it from you. I had a miscarriage while you were on your book tour."

"At least tell me it was my baby!" I say this, even though I don't mean it, because I am pissed off that my own wife didn't feel she could tell me about losing our child.

"Of course it was our child. Do you really think I would cheat on you Rick?"

"I don't know Kate. I didn't think that you would lie to me, but you did."

"This is why I was going to leave Rick. I don't want to deal with this here." I want to be angry with her, but I can see the pain in her eyes and I know I can't be angry with her even at this.

"Kate, we can get through this. I just don't get why you didn't tell me."

"You think I wanted to tell you that I lost our child? You think I wanted to tell you that Ellie could have been a big sister but I blew it? No. I couldn't. Not after you came home early for me, how could I?" Her eyes fill with tears even as she tries to blink them away. "I'm sorry," she mumbles as her head turns to look at her heels.

"Kate." Her eyes still don't show themselves even after I say her name. "Kate please look at me." Her face finally turns to look at me. "We can get through this ok?"

"I don't think we can." She says before running out the door with me watching her run away. It takes a moment for me to realize what happened and I start running after her.

"KATE!" I yell as I watch her turn a corner. I chase after her but after a while of running after her; I turn a corner and don't see her on the other side. After searching for her for what felt like hours, I catch a cab and ride silently to our house. I walk in and see Alexis sitting on the couch, which can only mean one thing: Kate didn't come home.