Thank you for all of the continuing support and enthusiasm for this story. This is a very significant chapter for Alexis and Javier; accordingly, it's rated a firm T, I would say. If they are not your cup of tea, however, feel free to stop reading after "'I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye.'" You won't be missing anything important to Kate and Rick if you do skip it.
With the primary election in April, Kate, as she herself put it, dove into the deep end with her campaign, starting to get her message out via email and her meet-and-greet with the press, which took place in late February. She worked very hard on her core content—her talking points and her goals, why she was running for City Council, and what she hoped to accomplish—and she had no shortage of support from Rick on through the rest of their family and friends. Ryan helped Kate build a simple website, and traffic to the site began to steadily increase after the meet-and-greet. A lot of people sat up and took notice when Kate Beckett spoke, and they recognized her passion and drive to make New York City even greater and even safer. Although she hadn't had a campaign slogan or tagline when she began, the Ledger and the New York Times both seized upon a particular quote of Kate's: "I have lived in New York City all my life, and I have served New York City for most of my adult life. To me it is the greatest city in the world, and I seek now to serve the city in a different capacity and do my part to make it greater and safer than it already is."
Which is how "KATE BECKETT: FOR A GREATER, SAFER NEW YORK CITY" became Kate's campaign slogan.
There was no hiding her pregnancy from the press, though, but the City Hall beat reporters who were also covering the upcoming primaries didn't make Kate's pregnancy the main focus of their stories, articles, and op-ed pieces, much to both her and Rick's relief. The one thing Kate hadn't wanted, and the one thing Rick had feared he wouldn't be able to give her no matter how hard he tried or how good his intentions were, was for their baby news to be splashed all over Page Six, and the parents-to-be were thrilled that they managed to pull that off. Page Six ran a blurb on the pregnancy with a few-years-old photo of Kate and Rick together, but only after Kate's pregnancy was alluded to in several articles about her City Council campaign.
In addition to the official launch of Kate's campaign for City Council, she and Rick made their final decisions on nursery furniture and ordered it to be delivered to the loft. They chose a crib, dresser, and changing table in white wood, to go with the white-and-pink alphabet block toy box. When Kate mentioned needing a rocking chair, Rick casually said that it was being taken care of, which prompted Kate to ask, "Taken care of by whom?"
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you," Rick admitted.
To Kate, that was an answer in itself. "My dad," she said.
"Well, since you guessed, yes," Rick replied.
Kate nodded. "He's up to something," she said. "I wonder what it is?"
"Because he's giving us a rocking chair, he's up to something?" Rick asked.
"Because he's giving us a rocking chair and he told you but not me, and you weren't sure you were supposed to tell me, yes, that means my dad is up to something," Kate replied. "The question is, what, exactly is he up to?"
But a phone call to Jim Beckett proved fruitless, not because he didn't answer the call, but because he wouldn't answer his daughter's repeated question. "You'll know soon, Katie," is all her dad would say, and Kate found it annoying.
"You do remember how much I hated it when you and Mom would do that to me in the weeks leading up to my birthday and Christmas when I was growing up, don't you?" Kate asked.
"Of course I remember," Jim said. "Your turn will come, Katie. Sooner than you think. And if my granddaughter is anything like her mother and her grandmother, which I'm hoping she is, she'll hate it just as much as you did, and just as much as your mom did. Where do you think you got it from?"
"You really want to withhold information like this from your pregnant daughter?" Kate asked.
"Ah, you forget: I lived through pregnant Johanna Beckett. I can handle whatever you throw at me and then some...literally, if need be," Jim said with a smile in his voice.
"You are way too amused by this," Kate grumbled.
"It's so rare to be able to surprise you, Katie," Jim said earnestly. "Just let me have this one surprise, okay?"
"Do I have a choice?" Kate asked.
Jim laughed warmly. "No, you don't," he said. "I think you're gonna love it, though. At least, I'm hoping you're gonna love it."
"You don't fight fair," Kate said.
"You want fair, you can find it in the dictionary between 'fabulous' and 'flattery,'" Jim replied, quoting one of Johanna's favorite admonishments to teenage Kate when she complained something or one of her parents was not fair.
"Great, now I feel like I'm 17 again and you and Mom are lecturing on me on my grunge rocker wannabe boyfriend," Kate said.
"You have that to look forward to, too," Jim said cheerfully.
"So I'm not even getting a hint?" Kate asked, refusing to even go down that road one second before she had to.
"I don't think so, no," Jim mused. "But you'll have the actual rocking chair soon."
"How soon?" Kate pressed.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Jim teased, pulling out another chestnut Kate hadn't heard in forever, only this one was part of Jim's repertoire.
After Kate ended the call, she said, "My dad is enjoying this way too much."
"Is there such a thing?" Rick asked, looking up from the webpage of sleepers he'd been perusing while Kate was on the phone with Jim trying to get information on the rocking chair.
Kate sat down beside Rick, setting her phone on the coffee table. "No," she said. "Not after everything that's happened." She gestured toward the screen of his tablet. "Find anything good?"
"Did I ever!" Rick exclaimed. He handed Kate the tablet, and she looked at the onesie whose design was that of a Laser Tag vest. Then she looked at her husband's excited, hopeful expression and said, "Add it to the cart."
"I'm getting newborn to 3 months and 6 to 9 months both," Rick replied as he touched the screen.
Kate draped her arm around his shoulders. "That doesn't surprise me at all," she replied.
After Valentine's Day, Alexis and Javier began discussing taking their relationship to the next level...as in, consummating their relationship.
"This is a big step," Javier said.
"Very big," Alexis agreed, "but I think we're ready." She hesitated. "Unless you don't want to."
"I want to," Javier said, reaching across the table for her hands. "But it has to be absolutely right for you, Alexis. For both of us."
Alexis saw the look in Javier's eyes, a look that mingled shyness, love, and determination all at the same time. "It will be," she said firmly. "I'll be with you."
"Everything is going to be absolutely perfect," Javier vowed. "I need a little time. I need to take care of a few things."
"That works out well, since there are a few things I need to take care of too," Alexis said. She paused then. "So are we picking a date off the calendar?"
Javier thought for a moment. "Not a specific date, but a weekend. How about a long weekend? I have some vacation time on the books. I'll let Captain Karpowski know and I'll take a Friday and a Monday, and we'll go away somewhere, just the two of us. How would that be?" he suggested.
"That would be wonderful," Alexis replied.
So Alexis and Javier each attended to their respective business in preparing to go away together for the weekend. Alexis, deciding that reinforcements were necessary, broke the news to Rick at Sunday brunch by casually mentioning that she wouldn't be at Sunday brunch in another two weeks because she and Javier were going away for the weekend. Other than Rick's fingers tightening around the handle of his fork, he took the news well in front of Alexis. "Where are you going?" Rick asked.
"We're going to an inn a little ways outside the city," Alexis replied. "I still have to get the name of the place, actually, since Javier is making the reservations. But you'll know where I am the whole time if you need me to come home for any reason, Dad."
It wasn't knowing where Alexis was that concerned Rick; it was having a pretty good idea of what she would be doing at least part of the time she was there that he was having some trouble with. "Pi," Kate muttered so only Rick could hear. That made him visibly relax. Alexis had actually moved in with Pi, and none of them had much cared for him, including, ultimately, Alexis. The biggest part of Rick's difficulty, which he hadn't yet voiced to anyone but which Kate strongly suspected, knowing him as well as she did, was that he liked Esposito, and had for years. Rick had never pictured Esposito as the man Rick's oldest daughter ended up with, but that was exactly what was happening.
Alexis watched Rick anxiously, but aside from the telltale tightening of his hand around his fork, she didn't notice anything else that betrayed outright disapproval or an impending freakout. He really was adjusting, she thought, and that made her feel better. Alexis understood why her relationship with Javier was so difficult for her father—because Javier was The One. But her dad was doing better than she had originally expected him to do. Alexis knew that her dad knew what a weekend with Javier was really going to mean.
Indeed, the day before she and Javier were going to leave on their long weekend, Rick took Alexis aside and said, "You're going to be safe this weekend." He said it as a statement of fact, not a question.
"Of course I am," Alexis replied. "We both are." She paused, considering, then continued, "We've talked about this, Dad. We're not taking this lightly at all. That's one reason we've waited as long as we have."
Rick nodded. "Good. I'm glad you've talked about...things." For a man as good with words as Richard Castle prided himself on being, this was one time that finding the right words was difficult, because this was about Alexis and Esposito, and there were just certain things a father didn't want to think about regarding his daughter.
"We have," Alexis assured her father. "We talk about everything."
"At least that's not a skill you had to acquire," Rick said.
"We had the best teachers," Alexis told him. "You and Kate."
"What did your dad and I teach you?" Kate asked, having just entered the loft from spending some time at her campaign office. She hung up her coat, then walked over to the couch and greeted Rick with a kiss and Alexis with a hug.
"The importance of talking about everything in a relationship, among other things," Alexis said.
"It was an acquired skill for your dad and me," Kate said.
"He just said something along those same lines," Alexis said. She hugged Kate. "Thank you. For everything. And I do mean everything." Then she bent over, pushing her hair behind her ears, to address the baby. "Be good, little sister."
After Alexis had gone upstairs to finish packing for the weekend and to call Javier, Kate sank down on the couch next to Rick, kicking off her boots and plopping her feet in Rick's lap. Without a word, he began to massage her right foot. She sighed happily. "Thanks, babe," she said. "So how are you doing?"
"I'm okay," Rick replied.
"Really?" Kate asked.
"Really," Rick said. "She's almost 24. She's all grown up. And they love each other. And, as you keep pointing out, he's not Pi."
"Javi is a big improvement over Pi," Kate said.
"Yeah, he is," Rick agreed with a sigh. Now he leaned over, Kate's foot still in his hands, and addressed the baby. "Don't grow up too fast, Sweetpea, okay? I feel like I blinked a couple of times and Alexis grew up. Could you go a little slower, do you think? Who am I kidding? You're half Beckett and half Castle. You're gonna have the world by the tail by the time you start preschool." He looked up at Kate. "And this time, I don't have to do it by myself."
"Never again," Kate said, sealing the promise with a kiss.
The one thing beyond everyone's control was the weather, so Javier and Alexis's plans for a romantic weekend away at an inn (bed and breakfast, actually) a little ways upstate went up in smoke...or, more accurately, their plans were covered in snow. Winter Storm Stella slammed the Northeast, and although ultimately only seven inches of snow fell on the city, a state of emergency was still declared in New York City, because the snow changed over to sleet, and the combination of high winds and sleety, icy conditions caused no less an authority than the Mayor himself to close all the schools and insist that all citizens stay off the streets and sidewalks, as the salt trucks and snow plows were out in full force. As for the inn, considering Alexis and Javier didn't even make it out of the city, the fact that Binghamton, New York, where the inn was located, got over 20 inches of snow meant that they weren't going anywhere for the weekend.
They hadn't gone far from Javier's apartment when they fishtailed and almost ended up on the sidewalk. "We're going to have to turn back," Javier said tightly.
"Yeah," Alexis, who was white-knuckling the door handle, replied.
They were silent on the drive back to Javier's apartment. He had just parked the car when Alexis's phone rang. She pulled it out of her parka pocket and saw her dad's face on the screen. She answered, "We're not going anywhere, Dad. The weather's too bad. We were barely on the road before we turned back. We just got back to Javier's, and the way it's coming down, we'll be spending our weekend right here." When Javier realized Alexis was talking to Castle, he got out of the car and into the snow and sleet and wind, partly to give her privacy to talk to her father and partly to silently rail at the weather for ruining the plans he had made for the weekend to be absolutely perfect for Alexis, and for both of them. He hadn't really made any contingency plans, although, as he got their bags out of the trunk of his car, he was grateful for one fact, at least, one of the only things that made being stuck at his place for the whole long weekend a good thing.
Alexis emerged from the car then, her phone still pressed to her ear. "Okay, Dad. I love you. Give my love to Kate and the baby. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." Javier had a light dusting of snow covering him, and he wasn't wearing a hat like Alexis. "Let's get upstairs!" Alexis exclaimed. "It's freezing out here, and we're getting drenched in sleet and snow!"
Alexis started to reach for her suitcase, but Javier said, "I got it," and they hustled into the lobby of his building. The double blast of light and warmth was a relief to them both, and the snowflakes on both of them immediately began to melt.
Javier unlocked his apartment door, motioning with his head for Alexis to enter ahead of him, and once she was inside, he followed her, setting their suitcases down just inside the door while Alexis turned on lights in the living room and kitchen and shed her parka, hat, and gloves. Javier removed his own gloves, stuffed them in his coat pocket, and hung the coat on the rack beside the front door, which he then locked up. Sighing, he pulled the folded envelope out of his sweater pocket as he sank down on the couch and turned it over and over in his hands.
Alexis emerged from the back of the apartment, carrying a folded bath towel in one hand and an envelope the same size as the one Javier held in his own hands in her other hand. She draped the towel around his shoulders. "I thought you could use this," she said. She passed a hand through his hair, which was still very wet from the melted snow and the sleet that had fallen on him outside.
"Thanks," he said, taking the towel and rubbing his hair dry before patting his face dry and then draping the towel over one shoulder.
"Whatcha got there?" Alexis asked, gesturing to the envelope in his hands.
Wordlessly, he handed the envelope to her. It had been opened already, and Alexis pulled out the papers inside and scanned them. "Blood test results," she said, looking from the papers up to Javier.
"I haven't been with anybody in over a year," he said seriously, "but I had the tests done as an act of faith and honesty to you, Lex. Not that I wouldn't use protection, because I absolutely will. But I just wanted you to know that...well, that I'm...healthy."
Alexis smiled. "You'd better read this now," she said, handing him the envelope she'd been holding.
Javier saw that the envelope had already been opened, and he was amazed when he pulled out a set of papers identical to his. "I had blood tests too," Alexis said. "For the same reason you did, Javier. An act of faith and honesty to you. And I know you would use protection. I am too. I've been on the Pill since I started at Columbia, to help with cramps, which it does. But two forms of birth control are better than one."
Javier looked from the test results to Alexis sitting beside him. "I wanted this weekend to be perfect for you," he said, "for us."
"You had no control over the weather, Javier," Alexis replied. "And being snowed in is romantic."
Javier set the papers on the coffee table in front of him, reached out, gently removed the papers from Alexis's hands, set those on the coffee table, and took her hands in his. "You deserve perfect," he insisted. "You deserve the candles and the flowers and everything I had planned at the inn."
Alexis moved closer, draping her arms over his shoulders. "Okay, we're at your apartment instead of at the inn, but even without the inn, and without candles and flowers, there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be right now, because I'm with you, and I'm very much in love with you."
"I'm very much in love with you too," Javier said, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, "and I want this to be special for you, for both of us, because this is the last first time I'm ever gonna have." He paused, then said, "Promise me you won't ever tell Ryan I said that, because it sounds like such a girly thing to say and he'll give me grief about it, but it's true. That's how I feel."
"Your secret is safe with me," Alexis promised. She gave him a quick kiss, then said, "I have a secret to tell you. This is going to be my last first time too." She smiled at him then, the smile that made his heart beat faster, but then her smile faded to a look of nervousness. "I hope I don't...well...disappoint you, for lack of a better term. I don't have a lot of experience."
Javier framed her face in his hands. "There's no way you could ever disappoint me," he said firmly. Then he confessed, "I'm a little nervous myself. I don't want to disappoint you either."
"That's not even a remote possibility," Alexis replied. She moved closer, and he pulled her onto his lap, and they held tightly to each other and kissed tenderly but with increasing passion. As Javier trailed kisses down the column of Alexis's throat, she pulled him closer as she shifted on his lap, feeling the proof of how much he wanted her, and suggested, "Why don't..." She breathlessly stuttered to a stop when Javier lingered at the pulse point at the base of her throat. "Why don't we move this to the bedroom?" she suggested faintly.
Javier rested his head against her shoulder for several seconds before looking up at her. "Okay," he said softly. Alexis stood up, and Javier swept her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom. He stopped at the foot of the bed, and he and Alexis both looked at the bed. Then they looked at each other, and he said, "I bought this bed two months ago. New sheets too. And comforter, pillows, everything. You're the only woman who is ever going to be in this bed. I just want you to know that."
She smiled again before she shifted in his arms, sliding down his body to stand in his embrace. "Where are our bags?"
Javier groaned. "In the living room," he said. He hung his head for a minute before looking back up at her. "I'm such an idiot."
"You're really not," Alexis replied. She stretched up to give him a quick kiss, then headed to the living room for her suitcase. Javier followed her, and they carried their bags back to his bedroom. "I'll be right back," Alexis said, heading into the bathroom with her suitcase and closing the door softly behind her.
While Alexis was in the bathroom, Javier dug into his own suitcase, removing the box of condoms he had purchased earlier that day. He sank down on the edge of the bed, fumbling to open the box when he heard the bathroom door open. He looked up, and his breath was stolen at the sight of Alexis standing in the bathroom doorway wearing a deep emerald green silk nightgown that stopped midthigh, with a matching robe open over it. He swallowed hard, for his throat was suddenly dry, and when he stood up, he dropped the box of condoms, spilling them all over the floor.
He silently cursed as he dropped to the floor and started picking up the individual condoms and putting them back in the box. It wasn't but a few seconds and Alexis was on the floor with Javier, helping him pick up the condoms. He smiled at her sheepishly. "You look beautiful," he said. She smiled at him shyly, then stood up, so he did too, the once-again-full box of condoms in his hands.
Alexis had brought her suitcase out of the bathroom and left it in the corner, next to the open bathroom door. She went over to it now and rummaged through it, coming up with her iPod, which she plugged into Javier's docking station, and a moment later a slow song filled the air. Alexis returned to Javier's side, took the box of condoms out of his hands, put them on the nightstand, then said, "Dance with me," as she put her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling the warmth of her body under the silk of her robe and nightgown, and they slowly swayed back and forth, looking into each other's eyes as the words of the song reached them.
"I heard it said romance was dead and gone
And I almost believed it was true 'til the moment you came along
I know it's so hard to find romance when the world moves so fast
But when I look at you, I get the feeling these feelings will last
"Let's make our own romance
We've got time, we've got love
That's always been enough
Why don't we take a chance?
Pull me in close and dance
Can you bring me your heart?
Bring on the start
Bring back romance"
Nervousness and awkwardness and shyness faded as they slow danced. Lips met, hands roamed, tongues dueled, and fingers tangled in hair and then began to remove the barriers of clothing. They found their way to the bed, Javier did not fumble as he donned protection, and then he and Alexis found each other. "I love you, Alexis," Javier said.
She pulled him closer. "I love you too, Javier," Alexis replied.
And as the snow and sleet raged outside, Javier and Alexis made love for the first time, tenderly and passionately.
In the afterglow, they lay in each other's arms, wrapped up in the sheets and comforter, and in their love. Alexis peppered kisses along Javier's jawline, and he kissed her temple before shifting to look into her eyes. "That never happened to me before," Alexis said softly.
Javier looked at her. "You mean..." he began.
"Yes," she replied. She looked at him intently then.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm waiting for you to do the guy thing."
"The guy thing?" Javier asked, raising an eyebrow, even as he was inwardly celebrating.
"Yeah, you know, punching the air in triumph or getting a smug smile on your face," Alexis replied. There was a hint of teasing in her words, but Javier knew she was seriously expecting that to be his reaction.
"That would be ungentlemanly," he replied seriously. "And I am a gentleman."
"Yes, you are," she agreed. "A gentleman who is very happy to know that he's the first and only man who-" She was cut off when Javier leaned down and kissed her. She sank into the kiss, and when the need for oxygen forced them to stop kissing, Javier rested his forehead against hers for a moment before pulling back to look into her eyes.
"Yes, I'm very happy," he said earnestly. "But that's only one reason. I felt things I never in my life felt before...because it's you." He tangled his fingers in her hair. "I love you so much."
Alexis's hands wandered under the covers, and she moved even closer. "I love you so much too," she said before moving to kiss him again and cover his body with her own to begin again the ancient and timeless dance of love.
The song is called "Romance" and it's sung by Paul Carrack and Terri Nunn, in case you were wondering.
