I recently noticed that my timeline was wrong. In this story Rick and Kate had to meet in October 1998, not 1999, since Johanna would be dead already. Just wanted you to know so you won't wonder why in this chapter it's suddenly 1999 again.

O-o-o-o-o

March 1999

Rick inhaled nervously before he knocked on the door to the Beckett's apartment. Today he was going to officially meet her parents and he was incredibly nervous about it. He wanted them to like him. He loved Kate so much. They were going to have a baby together soon. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if her parents wouldn't like him.

Kyra's mother had hated him and it had been terrible. Every time he had to have a meal with them she let him feel her hatred full force. She had always made him feel like he didn't deserve Kyra.

Of course he'd met Kate's mother a few times when he picked her up at home for a date. He'd even exchanged a sentence or two with her father. They'd seemed to like him but that had always just been short exchanges. They could start to hate him once they got to know him better.

He hoped he was going to make a good impression. He had picked out his outfit with care. He didn't want to appear too casual or to formal. He had tried several outfits before he'd finally set with a dark blue jeans and a light blue button down.

Kate had told him not to be nervous before she'd left his loft this morning. She had said that she was sure that her parents were going to like him, that he had nothing to worry.

But still…

When the door started to open he took another deep breath. Then he was greeted by a smiling Johanna Beckett.

„Hello Rick, please come on in" she said and stepped to the side to make room for him. „I hope you brought me signed copies of all your books"

Ricks eyes widened. He hadn't brought anything. Well, aside from the bottle of wine he was holding in his left hand. Should he have brought anything? Books? Kate hadn't mentioned anything. Why hadn't she told him that her mother wanted signed copies of his books? He could have brought them and increase his chances of Johanna liking him.

„MOM!" Kate called embarrassed and glared at her mother. „We already talked about this" she hissed angrily when she passed by her mother to approach Rick.

She hugged him, lifted to her toes, whispered a quiet „hey" before she gave him a quick kiss.

„Sorry" she added with another glare to her mother.

„What's the matter, Katie?" Johanna asked. „I'm sure Rick wouldn't mind gifting his girlfriends mother copies of his books, would you?"

„Of course not. I can bring them by tomorrow or …" Rick started but Kate interrupted him.

„No, you won't. My mother can go to the bookstore and buy them like every other person" Kate insisted. Rick looked between the two of them. This seemed to a topic they had already talked about. Johanna seemed to be a fan of his books. Kate had never told him that. Sure, he'd known that Johanna had at least read some of his work since they'd come to his book-signing. But she seemed to be very eager for him to bring her his books. Hm…

„How about we don't discuss this now?" A new voice asked and Rick immediately looked to the other end of the room where Kate's father stood.

Jim walked over to join them beside the door.

„Good evening Mr Beckett. It's nice to meet you" Rick said formally, holding out his hand for the older man to shake. Jim was about to take it when Johanna interrupted them.

„Oh please, Rick, you are the father of our grandchild. I'm Johanna and this is Jim. Cut the formalities"

„Of course, Johanna" he immediately said but to Jim he said „Again: it's very nice to meet you, sir" with an uncertain expression on his face. Jim's gaze was unreadably neutral and he couldn't tell if he was okay with his wife's offer to use first names or not.

The corners of Jim's lips turned up when he finally took Rick's hand, shaking it.

„Nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you. And my wife is right. You can call me Jim" the older man told him.

„Let's eat, shall we?" Johanna asked while she headed the way to the kitchen, motioning for the others to follow her. „Katie, did you set the table?"

„Yes mom" Kate rolled her eyes.

Once they were all seated at the kitchen table with Johanna's infamous lasagna on their plates Rick was finally able to relax a little. Kate's parents seemed to like him, especially her mother. She was a huge fan of his books too, of which she made (to her daughter's embarrassment) no secret. Even Jim who was a lot quieter than his wife seemed to at least tolerate him. He wasn't openly affectionate and Rick had trouble reading him. But Jim had complimented him on his choice of wine, which he counted as success.

Johanna and Rick talked about his books and the life as a famous mystery novelist for some time before the conversation switched to the baby.

„So Rick, you probably didn't envision yourself to have a baby this soon in your life. Early twenties isn't really when young man want to become a father. You really think you are up to raising a child?"

Jim's gaze while asking the question was slightly intimidating and Rick gulped. Kate groaned out in embarrassment. Why did her parents have to be like that? Couldn't they just be nice?

„Of course, sir…sorry, Jim." Rick replied. „I know it's not the conventional way and it certainly wasn't planned but I'm looking forward to being a father. I'm very excited. I'll have someone come to the loft next week to turn one of the guest rooms into a nursery."

„Really?" Kate asked surprised. She hadn't known that until now. They didn't even knew the gender yet. They were probably going to find out next Monday when she had an appointment at her doctor's office though.

Rick smiled at her a little sheepishly. „I wanted it to be a surprise. Sorry."

Jim nodded. „That's great son, I hope you know that caring for a baby isn't always easy. It can be challenging too. I suppose you are not going to leave my daughter to do it alone?"

It didn't really sound like a question, more like a threat. But Rick didn't mind. Jim was just watching out for his daughter and since he had no intention of leaving Kate he had nothing to fear. Kate on the other hand glared at her dad. If looks could kill…

„Dad! Stop it. You don't have to answer that, Rick" She told him embarrassed. He shook his head and took her hand under the table.

„It's not a problem, Kate" Rick said to her before he turned to Jim again. „I know that it's not going to be always easy. But I don't mind. I really care for Kate. And I know I'm just going to fall in love with our baby the first time I see it. There's no way I'm going to leave just because something isn't easy. I like a good challenge."

Just when Jim was about to go on with his interrogation, Johanna cut in.

„That's enough for now, Jim. I think we can trust him."

„Thanks mom" Kate sighed in relief. Rick just shrugged. He could have handled more questions. He loved Kate, he loved their baby and he was not going to leave.

„So, did the two of you chose a name yet?" Johanna asked.

„We don't even know the gender yet, mom" Kate reminded her.

„Actually I already made a list with names I like for girls and boys. I just hadn't the time to show it to you yet" Rick told his girlfriend.

„Really?" Kate asked. „Oh my god, why are you so much better prepared than I am?"

Rick just shrugged. „Like I said, I'm very excited about the baby and I just had to do something with that excitement. So I looked up names."

The conversation continued and when Rick said goodbye hours later Johanna hugged him and Jim shook his hand with a friendly smile on his face. They liked him. Rick grinned all the way home. He'd found the love of his life. Her parents liked him. And they were going to have a baby together.

O-o-o-o-o

„Are you okay?" Rick asked. They were back at his loft after their appointment at her doctor's office. They had made an ultrasound. The baby was healthy and growing constantly. As far as Rick was concerned everything was perfect. But Kate had been quiet ever since they left the office.

„Yeah sure" she replied distractedly.

„You are not" Rick stated and took her hand in his and squeezed it. „What's wrong? You are not upset that we are going to have a boy, are you?" he tried to joke but she didn't catch his joking tone.

„Of course not" she said offended. „A boy is great."

She fell silent again and looked down at her belly but she seemed to be far away.

„But…?" Rick prompted gently.

„Nothing" Kate sighed. She seemed to collect her thoughts so Rick sat silent beside her and waited her out. Ready to listen to whatever worried her whenever she was ready to talk about it.

„It's just that I've never even thought about if we are going to have a boy or a girl. Knowing what we are having just makes it more real somehow and I'm just nervous I guess. I don't know" she shrugged and looked down at the floor.

„Hey" Rick said softly and pulled her into his arms. She hugged him back, her face buried against his chest. „It's perfectly fine to be nervous, Kate"

„I don't know anything about babies, Rick" she said and he could hear the tears in her voice. „What if I'm a terrible mother? I'm so scarred that I'm going to screw up."

„Oh Kate" he kissed the top of her head. „You are not going to be a terrible mother. You are going to be great. I'm more worried that I'm not going to know what to do with a boy. To be honest, I wished for a girl. I've never known my dad. I don't know what a dad has to teach his son. I've always been surrounded by girls or women. But I love our baby-boy and I'm going to do my best. And I know that you love him too and that's enough, Kate. Everything else will sort itself out. And if we are having trouble with changing diapers or run out of ideas how to make him stop crying or something we can always ask our parents for advice."

Kate looked up at him in surprise. „You are nervous too?"

„Of course I am" he said like it was obvious. „I'm going to be a father. That's the most scary thing in the world. But I'm very excited too. I can't wait"

„I didn't know. You always seem so confident" Kate said.

„That's because even while I'm nervous I know that we are going to be great" he told her and then leaned down to place a kiss on her lips.

She kissed him back. Her worries forgotten for now.

„What did you say about a list with names?" Kate asked when they pulled apart.

„You want to choose a name?" Rick inquired. „Like right now?"

„Sure, why not? Choosing a name is going to make it more real. I want it to be more real."

„Okay" Rick grinned. „Just wait. I bring the list I made." He hurried towards his bedroom and came out a few seconds later with a sheet of paper in his hands.

He gave it to Kate.

„Of course you can suggest names as well. I just thought you could have a look at my list, see if you find a name that you like too" Rick said while she studied the list.

„Did you really choose a name for each letter in the alphabet?" Kate asked incredulously.

„Isn't that how you do it?" Rick said.

„I don't think so" Kate shook her head, laughing at his silliness. Then she looked down at the paper again to get a closer look at the names. Rick watched her.

„Is there a name you might want to consider?" he asked after about half a minute.

„I'm not through yet" Kate replied. She'd just finished reading the names for girls. „I like Josephine though."

„Not that fitting for a boy" Rick thought out loud, grinning.

„Yeah, I know that" Kate glared at him but with an amused glint in her eyes. „And if you would shut up I could read the rest of the list."

„Shutting up now" Rick said and demonstratively pretended to zip his lips shut. Kate rolled her eyes, trying to hide her amusement. Then she read the list again.

Girl:

Alexis

Bellatrix

Cecily

Delicia

Eileen

Fiona

Grace

Hannah

Isabella

Josephine (Josie)

Kasandra

Lucy

Marleen

Nora

Olivia

Primrose

Quintessa

Rebecca

Selena

Tara

Una

Valkyrie

Weena

Xaviera

Yasmeen

Zoey

Boy:

Aldrin

Benjamin

Cosmo

Dweezil

Elias

Felix

Gideon

Hector

Isaac

Jamiel

Kaleb

Lionel

Merlyn

Noam

Oliver

Phineas

Quentin

Reece

Sherlock

Theodore

Ulysses

Vincent

William

Xeno

Yoshua

Zion

„There are some very exotic names in that list" Kate stated when she was finished. „How did you even come up with all of them?"

He shrugged. „I bought a book. If you there is no name you like I can give it to you and you make a list of names that you like"

„Not necessary, I really like…"