Thank you all for your continued enthusiasm and support for this story. And Happy New Year, everybody!
It started out innocently enough—a little scratch in his throat, a couple of sneezes he punctuated with "Pardon me," and a few coughs.
His protestations that "I don't get sick-not sick enough to go to bed" were all for naught, because by the middle of September, Earl had fallen victim to a nasty early flu bug making its way around the city. His voice was all but gone, he could not stop sneezing or coughing, and he had the worst pain in the middle of his forehead.
And so it was that Earl had no choice but to let his understudy go on for him for a few days.
He had the air conditioning off in his apartment when the front door buzzer rang. Wrapping the blanket more tightly around him, he trudged to the front door and opened it to reveal Martha standing there with an overnight bag in one hand and two large bags from the pharmacy down the street in her other hand. He blinked. "Don't you have a show tonight?" he rasped.
"I have an understudy too," she reminded him. "Darling, you look dreadful."
"At least I look the way I feel," Earl mused as Martha swept into his apartment.
She deposited the pharmacy bags on the coffee table and disappeared into the bedroom with the overnight bag, returning a moment later without it. Earl was still standing in his entryway, in a pair of blue-and-white-striped pajama bottoms and an old gray crewneck t-shirt. He had a frayed but nevertheless still warm sky blue blanket wrapped around himself to ward off the chills that were wracking his frame.
Martha braced a palm against his forehead. "Feverish," she declared. "Do you have a thermometer?"
"For people or for meat?" Earl asked.
Martha gave an eye roll worthy of Kate Beckett. "I thought as much," she said. She dug into one of the bags from the pharmacy, removing a new digital thermometer in its packaging, and after tearing the packaging open, she read the instructions, dashed into the bathroom to quickly wash the thermometer, then returned to the living room with the thermometer extended toward Earl. "Open up," she said.
"Is this really necess-" He was cut off by a coughing spell. When he recovered himself, Martha shoved the thermometer into his mouth, under his tongue.
"Yes, it's necessary," Martha replied. She steered him over to the couch, gently pushing on his shoulders until he was sitting down. "The air conditioning is off. Do you have chills? Don't talk, just nod or shake your head."
Glassy-eyed, Earl bobbed his head once. "I figured that was the reason for the blanket," Martha replied. The thermometer beeped and Martha removed it from Earl's mouth. "101.3," she announced. "I'd say I got here just in time." She went to the kitchen, rinsed off the thermometer, and returned it to its protective plastic case. Then she pulled out her phone and called the deli down the street, arranging for a delivery of chicken soup for Earl and a corned beef sandwich on rye bread for herself.
Returning to the pharmacy bags once more, she removed a steam vaporizer still in the box, a bag of cough drops, a bottle of DayQuil, a bottle of NyQuil, and a large jug of a fruit-punch-flavored sports drink. Earl sat slumped on the couch, watching Martha. The last items she removed from the bag were a small spiral-bound notepad and a package of black Bic ballpoint pens. She sat down on the couch next to Earl and handed him the pad and pens. "Save your voice," she said. "I have soup on the way from the deli down the street. After you've eaten, you're taking some cold medicine. And before you eat, you need something to drink. We can't have to getting dehydrated."
She was up again then, pouring the fruit-punch-flavored sports drink over some ice cubes in a glass in his kitchen. She returned to the couch with the drink and handed it to him. While she had been getting his drink, he had opened the pens and written something on the pad, which he handed to her to read while he drank from the glass.
"You're my ministering angel."
"I don't know if the fever is making you delirious or what," Martha began.
Earl plucked the notepad from her hand and scribbled something below the first sentence.
"I'm serious. Never had anyone to take care of me when I was sick before. Good thing I never get sick."
"Yes, I would say it is," Martha said. "Does your throat hurt?"
Earl shook his head no.
"Earache?" Martha asked next.
Again, Earl shook his head no.
"Well, that's good at least. Chills, I presume, between the lack of air conditioning and the blanket?" Martha asked.
Earl dipped his chin in a nod.
"Drink this," she said, picking up the glass of fruit-punch-flavored sports drink over a handful of ice cubes that she had set on a copy of TIME magazine on the coffee table and handed it to Earl.
"You're bossy," he rasped.
Martha grinned unrepentantly. "And you love it," she retorted.
Earl nodded once more before taking a long drink from the glass. He leaned back against the couch with a sigh.
The food arrived a short time later, and Earl managed to eat most of the soup. After polishing off her sandwich, Martha went and got the DayQuil for him. "Try this. It should help," she told him.
After dutifully taking his DayQuil, Earl looked at Martha with a wry smile. "No nurse's costume?" he rasped.
"I'm saving that for when you're well and can truly appreciate it," Martha replied without missing a beat.
Earl laughed before dissolving into another coughing fit.
"And that, my love, is why you are now going to refrain from talking," Martha said, putting special emphasis on the last three words. "I know, it's difficult, damned near impossible, for either one of us to shut up, but sometimes, we simply must, for our own good."
Earl sniffled as he scribbled something on the note pad before handing it over to Martha.
"If I'm a good patient, when I'm better, will you be a naughty nurse?"
Martha laughed, that brilliantly throaty chuckle that never failed to make goose bumps form along Earl's spine and up and down his arms. "Absolutely," she promised. "But you have to be completely recovered first."
Earl wrote on the pad again. "Yes ma'am."
Martha good-naturedly 'harrumph'ed at Earl referring to her as 'ma'am,' but she knew he had done it specifically to get a rise out of her, so she was really just taking the bait.
And a few days later, Earl had recovered completely, and Martha dashed out to a nearby costume shop to get a nurse's uniform, complete with cap...not that she wore it for very long.
Their next sonogram confirmed that both Kate and Rick had been correct in their respective intuitions: their twins were boys.
"Two boys," Rick kept saying as they left Dr. Elliott's office and headed home. "Not that I doubted it, but now it's all...official."
"Remembering what you were like as a kid?" Kate teased.
"Yes," Rick replied seriously. "If they're anything like me...oh god, are we in trouble!"
"There's no one else I'd rather be in trouble with than you, Rick," Kate replied, "because together, we always find a way out of trouble. And I know we can do this."
"All the same, I'm going to pray that their Beckett genes are dominant," Rick said.
"You've never had boys before," Kate realized. "That's at the root of this, isn't it?"
Rick lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "Kind of," he admitted. "Between Alexis and Lily, I know everything there is to know about parenting a girl. Boys… That's all new territory for me. It's going to take some getting used to, and I'm gonna screw up."
"Babies are very forgiving," Kate assured him, lacing her fingers through his, "and very sturdy. And I'm already picturing you with our sons, and you're going to be an amazing father to them."
"I suck at sports," Rick reminded her.
"So I'll teach them how to hit a baseball, and how to shoot a basketball, and if they're interested in football, we'll refer them to Mark's stepfather," Kate replied. She paused, then said, "You do know, for all the times that Ryan and Espo have kidded you about your metrosexual tendencies, that they're just busting your chops, and that has no bearing on what kind of dad you'll be to boys. And there's more to life than sports. Our boys might be the next Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada...or they might trip over their own feet with every other step they take."
"I guess it's just really hitting me now that I didn't grow up with my father, and that I don't trust my father," Rick said. "I never want any of our kids to say that about me."
"They won't," Kate assured him. "You are there for every step with Alexis and Lily, and you'll be there for every step with Reece and...um..." Stopping herself, Kate trailed off.
"'Reece'?" Rick asked.
"My dad's middle name," Kate replied. "I was thinking of it for a first name for one of the boys."
"Reece Alexander Castle," Rick mused aloud. "I like it."
"Really?" Kate asked.
"Yeah," Rick replied. "Unless you were thinking 'Reece Rodgers'-"
"No, I was thinking 'Reece Alexander' too. So then we're decided? ''Reece Alexander' is a definite?" Kate asked.
"It is as far as I'm concerned," Rick replied.
"Okay, then," Kate said, smiling. "Have you had any thoughts about a first name for our other son?"
"Actually, I have," Rick replied. He smiled then, a genuine smile.
"Well?" Kate asked. "You know we have to have these kids named before we tell everyone, or Ryan and Espo are gonna be lobbying for namesakes."
"Jacob," Rick said. "Jake."
"Jacob Rodgers Castle," Kate mused. "Jake Castle. Reece and Jake. Alexis, Lily, Reece, and Jake." She looked at Rick, her eyes shining with pure happiness. "Yeah," she said softly, decisively. "Yeah."
Rick leaned in and kissed her then. She returned the kiss with equal ardor. "Alexis is at the loft with Lily," Kate said breathlessly when she finally broke the kiss. "I think we should tell them first, so that they can be in on the announcement to everybody else."
"You sound like you have a plan in mind for telling everyone else," Rick mused as they headed back to the loft.
"I think I have the beginnings of a plan," Kate said. "Alexis and Lily can help us flesh it out." She explained what she had in mind to Rick on the drive back to the loft.
When they walked through the front door, announcing that they were home, Lily jumped up from her tea party and ran to meet them at the door. "Mommy! Daddy!" she exclaimed happily, reaching up for hugs and kisses. Alexis followed after Lily and greeted them each with a hug and a kiss as well.
"Alexis, can you stick around for a little while? We have something to tell you and Lily," Rick said.
"Sure," Alexis agreed amiably. "It's way more fun hanging out with you guys than going over my notes for my Human Rights Law Clinic, and I need a break. So what's up?"
Rick carried Lily over to the couch, and he sat down with her in his lap. Lily adjusted herself when Kate sat down beside Rick so that she was sitting half on her mother's lap and half on her father's lap. Alexis sat down on Rick's other side.
Rick and Kate exchanged a look. At Kate's barely perceptible nod, Rick looked from Lily to Alexis, then let his gaze encompass both of them. "Lily, Alexis...You're going to be big sisters."
The news registered with Alexis first, who let out a shriek of happiness followed by an "Oh my god, that's AMAZING!" before hugging Rick, then squishing Lily and Kate up together in a big bear hug.
"That's not all," Rick said.
"It's not?" Alexis asked, drawing back so that she was no longer squishing Lily, and so that Kate could breathe.
"It's twins," Kate said with a big smile.
Alexis's eyes widened in surprise and she was struck speechless.
"What's 'twins'?" Lily asked.
"Twins means you're getting two baby brothers instead of just one," Rick said.
"Baby brothers?" Lily asked.
"Twin boys?" Alexis asked, her voice an octave higher than usual.
Kate nodded. "Identical," she said.
"Are you ready for that, Mom?" Alexis asked.
"Like I told your dad, I handled him, Ryan, and Esposito for eight years. These guys? Piece of cake," Kate said, resting a palm on her belly.
"I'll be a good daughter and not remind you that you said that when they're both screaming their heads off at the same time this time next year," Alexis said.
"I would appreciate that," Kate said. "Seriously, though, I know it's not always gonna be easy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Would we?"
And Rick, looking more confident than he had since they'd left Dr. Elliott's office, smiled and said, "No, we wouldn't."
Lily, who had been quiet up to now, looked at her parents solemnly. "You're gonna have baby brothers for me?" she asked them.
"That's right, Sweetpea," Rick said. "You're gonna be a big sister."
"Where are my brothers now?" Lily asked.
Rick's expression was like a deer in the headlights, and Alexis bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Kate splayed her hands over her belly and said, "They're in here, Lily, the same place you were before you were born."
Lily's brow knit as she stared at Kate's belly. "How long do they have to stay in there?" she asked.
"Until February," Kate said.
"I'll still be your Sweetpea, right?" Lily asked, looking from Kate to Rick.
"You will always be our Sweetpea," Rick promised.
"But I'll hafta share you and Mommy with my brothers, like Sarah Grace has to share Nick with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jenny," Lily said.
"Well, yes, you will," Kate replied, smoothing a hand through Lily's hair. "But you'll always be our Lily, and we'll always love you all the way to the moon and back."
"So, wait, you told Lily and me first?" Alexis realized then.
"We did," Rick said, meeting Kate's gaze before they both turned their attention back to both girls. "And we would like you to join us in breaking the news to the rest of the family."
"What do you say, Lily? Do you want to help us give everybody a big surprise?" Kate asked Lily.
"Okay," Lily agreed.
"Count me in," Alexis added.
Rick and Kate took turns explaining their ideas to Alexis and Lily. Before Alexis went back to her place that night, they had set the time and place for telling everyone else—Saturday evening at the loft—and they would make the necessary preparations in the ensuing three days.
Alexis left after another round of hugs and kisses for everyone, and congratulations to Rick and Kate.
"Alexis my big sister," Lily said while Rick and Kate were giving her her bath that night.
"That's right," Kate replied.
"And I'm big sister to my brothers, like Alexis," Lily continued.
"You and Alexis will both be big sisters to your brothers, yes," Rick told her.
Before she fell asleep, Lily said, as she always did, "Night-night, Mommy, I love you. Night-night, Daddy, I love you," and gave first her mommy and then her daddy a goodnight hug and kiss.
On this night, she added, "Night-night, my brothers, I love you too," and she gave Kate a hug around the belly, resting her cheek against the small bump that was her brothers.
After Lily was asleep, Kate said, "Lily's going to make a great big sister. But we have to make sure we still have plenty of time for her, and that she doesn't feel left out, especially once Reece and Jake are here." At Rick's smile, Kate asked, "What?"
"You just called our sons 'Reece' and 'Jake,'" he said.
"Those are the names we agreed on," Kate pointed out.
"Yes, yes they are," Rick said. He moved closer, pulling up her shirt to look at the just-noticeably-visible bump on Kate's abdomen and gently covered it with his hand. "Peanut, Jellybean, it's your dad again. Mommy's gonna be the one teaching you about sports, because she's kicka—I mean, she's kickbutt that way, but I'm gonna be here for you too."
"You guys have the best daddy in the whole world," Kate said, resting her hand atop Rick's. She looked at Rick then, cupping the back of his head with her other hand. "I can't wait to see you with our sons. It's going to be different, yes, but you're going to be just as amazing a father to Reece and Jake as you are to Alexis and Lily. I know it."
"I promise I won't teach them to borrow police horses naked," Rick said with a completely straight face.
"I would hope not!" Kate exclaimed.
"This is gonna be so amazing," Rick said.
"It really is," Kate agreed as she let her hand slide from the back of Rick's head to cup his cheek and leaning in to meet his kiss.
