Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm for this story.
This chapter covers early February-April 1, 2020, and all of the places, and three childrens' TV shows, one of which doesn't even premiere until this summer (2018) mentioned in this chapter are real.
Going from a household with one mostly well-behaved, albeit precocious, almost-3-year-old child to a household with one mostly well-behaved, albeit precocious, almost 3-year-old child and newborn twin boys who were nowhere near ready for any kind of quote-unquote "normal" schedule was a seismic shift for Kate and Rick.
They were both grateful for Kate's maternity leave, and the flexibility of Rick's work allowing him to take an extended break as well; supplemental bottle feedings; and what Lanie had always referred to as "that shared brain thing," because their "shared brain thing" had transferred from murder theory to parenthood, to the point that they didn't often need to complete sentences that, especially in the wee small hours of the morning, they were too tired to complete anyway, while tending to Reece and Jake's most basic needs.
"Babe, can you-"
"Yeah, I'll burp Reece while you feed Jake. Easy there, Jellybean, it's your turn."
"Okay, Reece, good boy. Go to Daddy and give him a nice big burp, okay?"
A side effect of the late-night exhaustion was that Kate and Rick would also sometimes revert to referring to each other as 'Beckett' and 'Castle,' even though that was something they rarely did anymore, and not when they were more alert.
"Beckett, where's-"
"Changing table, middle drawer."
"Thanks. I know, I know it's gross, I don't like it either, but I'll have you cleaned up just as fast as I can, Peanut, okay?"
"Castle, did you-"
"In the kitchen. There you go, Reece. I'll go and get a bottle and feed Jake if you want to try and get Reece calmed down."
"Deal," Kate replied, handing the shrieking Jake off to Rick and accepting the wailing Reece from Rick in return.
Nights were Mommy and Daddy's domain, but Grandpa Jim was on hand every single day, from 7 AM until Lily went to sleep at 7:30 PM, and he was a godsend, allowing Kate and Rick to spend time with Lily, helping to take care of both Reece and Jake, and bonding with all three children, Katie and Rick in ways that would never have happened otherwise. Grandpa Jim was unfazed by diapers and spit-up, could give a bottle and burp a baby like a pro, and was always up for anything Lily wanted to do, whether it was read the same Dr. Seuss book ten times, play tea party or Princess (complete with crown and a bright pink feather boa inherited from Martha), draw and color pictures, or watch the latest Disney Junior and Nick Jr fare, although Lily's TV time was severely restricted, but Puppy Dog Pals, Vampirina, and Butterbean's Cafe were Lily's favorites and among the handful of age-appropriate shows she was allowed to watch.
Gram and Pops spent a good deal of time there as well. Jim handled the everyday day-to-day for the most part, but Martha, with an increasingly confident-around-the-babies Earl accompanying her, usually spent at least a few hours at the loft every day, and did plenty of her own bonding with Lily, Reece, and Jake, and with Katherine and Richard as well.
One morning when Reece and Jake were five weeks old, after a particularly harrowing night in which only Lily slept peacefully (another thing Kate and Rick were both grateful for: Lily's ability to sleep through whatever ruckus one or both of her brothers created past midnight), with all three grandparents on hand to tend to all three children, Jim and Martha sent the almost-asleep-on-their-feet Kate and Rick back to bed. Lily giggled, thinking it was funny that Mommy and Daddy were being sent to take a nap.
Before following Kate to their bedroom, Rick surprised Martha by giving her a big hug. "I haven't told you this anywhere close to often enough," he said tiredly, "but you raising me by yourself...Mother, I don't know how you did it. You're an incredible mother. I know I didn't make it easy sometimes."
Martha hugged Richard back and then drew back, looking at the exhaustion on his face, in his eyes, and she framed his face in her hands. "Children make the parents," she replied. "I turned out to be an incredible mother because you, Richard, have been and are an incredible son. Now go get some sleep before you fall down at my feet, darling."
Kate was already asleep in their bed. Rick collapsed beside her, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Earl was seated on the couch, giving Reece a bottle, while Martha sat beside him with Jake in her arms, talking to him as he stared up at her intently. Jim and Lily were seated on the floor at the coffee table, coloring pictures together.
"You have a good appetite, Reece," Earl said as Reece happily devoured his bottle. "You know, I never thought this would happen to me. Having a family, I mean. Being a grandpa...or, rather, a 'Pops.' But I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Of course, at this stage it's fairly easy, although I think your mom and dad would disagree with me on that. But you and your brother and your sisters...There's something amazing about watching you guys grow and become your own people. Now, I'm not the guy to go to if you wanna learn anything about sports. But I'll come to all your games and give all the obnoxious parents a run for their money cheering for you. I'll probably embarrass you, but you'll learn to live with that. You and your brother and sisters are surrounded by love, and sometimes we're going to embarrass you, but as someone who desperately wanted to be embarrassed by his family when he was younger and never was because they just didn't care enough to come and watch me do what I was doing in the drama club and in the orchestra, when you get to be my age and you look back, you're gonna be glad that your parents and your grandparents and all your aunts and uncles were there embarrassing the heck out of you, because we're only gonna do that because we love you so much and we're so proud of you. Whatever you and Jake and Lily are interested in, I'll be there for it, and I'll read up on it beforehand if I don't know anything about it. Like golf, for instance. I don't know a thing about golf, but if you want to play golf, I'll be out there following the crowd like I'm on a Grateful Dead tour and watching every time you hit the ball.
"There's a whole big world out there, and Reece, you and Jake and Lily and Alexis...You're all going to have that world by the tail someday, each in your own ways. And I'm a lucky guy, because I'm gonna get to watch the four of you get the world by the tail, each in your own ways." Reece had finished his bottle by now, but was mesmerized by the sound of Earl's voice, the way Earl spoke to him. Earl set the empty bottle aside, put Reece up over his shoulder, and gently rubbed and patted his back until he elicited a hearty burp from the small boy. "Atta boy!" he encouraged Reece before carefully bringing him down from his shoulder.
Martha had put Jake in his swing, where he was dozing while the swing gently glided back and forth at its lowest setting, and Lily and Jim had long since retreated to Lily's bedroom upstairs so as not to disturb the babies. Earl's concentration on Reece and his conversation with the tiny boy had so engrossed him that he hadn't noticed Lily and Jim's departure, or Martha getting Jake to sleep in his swing. She had seen and heard Earl talking to Reece as he gave him his bottle, and while Jake, even at five weeks of age, was the one who always seemed to be studying and observing everything and everyone, Reece seemed to be listening intently to every word Earl was saying.
"You're a wonderful 'Pops,'" Martha said, looking at Earl softly.
Earl looked up from Reece's tiny face to Martha's beautiful one beside him. "I wouldn't have ever known how this feels if it wasn't for you. I was alone for a really long time, and I got used to it. As used to it as anyone can get, anyway. And then I met you, and everything I thought I'd missed out on, everything I thought I would never know or experience...You brought it all into my life, Martha. You saved me from becoming a lonely old man." Just then, Reece began to squirm and fuss in Earl's arms, and Earl felt the telltale warmth on Reece's diapered and onesie-clad backside. "I think he's wet," Earl said, looking slightly panicked, because unlike Martha and Jim Beckett, he had not mastered diapers at all.
Martha smiled. "Well, we can't have that," she said, taking the fussy Reece from Earl. "Let's go get you changed, darling, and then maybe Pops and I can sing you a little lullaby, hmm?"
After Martha changed Reece, they returned to the living room, where Earl had kept watch over the sleeping Jake. Martha then began softly singing "On the Street Where You Live." Earl joined her, and their singing did indeed lull Reece to sleep.
When Reece was asleep in his swing, Martha put her arms around Earl. "I love you," she told him. "And I love that you love our family the way you do."
Earl smiled as he put his arms around Martha and pulled her closer. "I love you too," he replied. "And thank you for bringing not only yourself but this incredible family into my life." They kissed then, stealing a moment before the boys awoke, before Richard and Katherine awoke, before Lily and Jim emerged from Lily's bedroom, before all the chaos and joy of their family swept them up again.
Alexis was on track to graduate with her JD from Columbia Law School in May, and had already filed to take the New York State Bar Exam in July.
She and Javier were also beginning to plan their wedding. If anyone thought it odd that Alexis found wedding planning a stress reliever from the final months of law school, they didn't say so.
Neither Alexis nor Javier believed in long engagements, so they knew they wanted to get married before all the holidays, and Alexis refused to take November away from her parents, so she didn't want a November wedding. She was leaning towards an August wedding, and she and Javier finally settled on August 15 for the big day.
That gave them about five months to pull everything together, which Alexis was confident they could do.
Alexis had been looking around online in her spare time, and a hotel wedding didn't really appeal to her. But Kevin and Jenny had been married in Jenny's home parish; Kate and Rick were married at the Hamptons house; and Lanie and Alan had married at The Glasshouses. All of those were automatically ruled out, because Alexis didn't want to copy anyone. And both of their home churches were already booked solid for summer weddings, which Alexis and Javier confessed to each other that they were relieved about, because neither of them wanted to try and force a church wedding on the other.
"Actually, this works out better, because I'd really like Pete to officiate at our wedding, if you're okay with that," Javier said.
"Pete?" Alexis asked.
"Father Peter Gilliam," Javier replied. "Formerly Major Father Peter Gilliam, U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, Retired. He's the pastor at St. Brendan in Brooklyn now."
"Oh yeah, you told me about him," Alexis remembered. "Yeah, if he can do it, that'd be great."
"I'm sure he'd be willing to handle the pre-wedding counseling too," Javier said.
"Great," Alexis replied. "The biggest thing is going to be finding a place to get married. I really think everything else will pretty much fall in line after that."
"Well, we're thinking in the city, right?" Javier said.
"Yes," Alexis replied.
"Okay. In the city, but not a church because they're all booked, not a hotel because neither one of us likes the idea of a hotel wedding, not the Hamptons 'cause that's not in the city and that's where Castle and Beckett got married, not The Glasshouses because that's where Lanie and Alan got married." He paused. "Q3?"
"Rehearsal dinner," Alexis reminded him.
"Oh, right," Javier said. "I guess I better get on that. That's my responsibility—the rehearsal dinner and the honeymoon. And the tuxes, which we'll all go get fitted for later this summer. Nick's a 'no' on being our ringbearer, by the way."
"That's all right. If he doesn't want to do it, we're not going to force him," Alexis said. She was scrolling down a list of wedding venues, and she stopped at one that caused her to click the link and then exhale once the site loaded.
Javier rounded the kitchen table at his apartment to her side. "Lyndhurst Castle," he read. He skimmed the general information. "Thirty-five minutes outside New York City. That's not bad."
"You don't think it's too corny? A Castle getting married at a castle?" Alexis asked.
"Not if it's what you want," Javier replied, kneeling beside Alexis's chair.
"What do you want? This is your wedding too," she reminded him. "I don't want you to feel like I'm making all the big decisions and steamrolling over you or not taking what you want into consideration."
"I'm getting exactly what I want," Javier assured her. "I get to be your husband, and I get to call you my wife. So we can get married in the middle of Central Park, or parachuting into Madison Square Garden, or at the North Pole. Just as long as at the end of the day, I'm your husband and you're my wife."
"We should look at this place," Alexis said seriously.
"Let's see if we can get in there this weekend," Javier replied, pulling out his phone.
A few minutes later, he and Alexis had an appointment to talk to the wedding coordinator at Lyndhurst Castle that coming Saturday.
"It's starting to come together," Alexis said. "It's very, very early, but it's starting to come together." She smiled.
Javier tucked an errant strand of Alexis's hair behind her ear. "It's going to be perfect," he promised. "It's going to be everything we want."
"That's the goal," Alexis replied.
Javier shook his head. "Huh-uh. That's how it's going to be."
"You sound very serious," Alexis replied.
"Because I am very serious," Javier replied. "You and me, getting married, being husband and wife…This is sacred, Lex."
Alexis felt shivers up and down her spine at Javier's words, at the look in his eyes. She knew he really felt that their marriage would be sacred.
She realized she felt the same way.
"It is," she agreed before he pulled her into an embrace.
Rick's birthday fell on a Wednesday this year. It was a whirlwind of a day, starting bright and early when Kate, Lily, Reece, Jake, and Alexis, who had sneaked into the loft the night before unbeknownst to Rick, surprised him by waking him up at 5 AM (Reece and Jake were still sleeping in Kate and Rick's bedroom in their bassinets), Alexis holding Reece, Kate holding Jake, and Lily jumping up and down on Kate's side of the bed shouting "Happy birthday, Daddy!"
They did gifts at breakfast, where they were joined by Martha, Earl, and Jim. Kate had had pictures taken by a professional photographer of all four kids together and individually, and Jim had coordinated with her and given Rick a pre-booked photo session for family portraits in May.
"They all seem to have inherited the Rodgers and Castle love of the camera," Earl mused as he looked at the photographs.
"I was just glad that Reece and Jake were fresh from their naps and Alexis was there to help keep order," Kate replied honestly. Then she leaned down and said so only Rick could hear her, "And you have another gift coming from me later, babe, but it's definitely a grown-ups only gift."
Rick gave Kate a hopeful, raised-eyebrow look. She bit her bottom lip and gave him a shy smile before turning to take Jake from Martha, and that lip bite and shy smile confirmed Rick's hopes as to what this "grown-ups only" gift was. He and Kate hadn't made love since before Reece and Jake were born, although they had been given the green light by their doctors; Kate was completely healed from the boys' birth, and Rick's vasectomy had been successful. (Rick's nose had also healed completely. Kate still felt badly about accidentally breaking his nose during a contraction while about to give birth to Reece and Jake, but Rick insisted it was a great story to hand down, which they would.)
Earl had a friend who sold vintage movie posters, and after learning from Martha about Rick's love for the movie Forbidden Planet, Earl bought Rick one of the original movie posters and had it framed. "Wow, Earl, I don't know what to say!" Rick exclaimed, surprised that Earl had gone to such lengths for his birthday.
"Well, the credit for the idea goes entirely to your mother," Earl replied. "I just called my friend and had it framed, and I'm glad you like it."
Lily's gift was her handprints in purple poster paint framed with "Lily, 3/2020" written with Kate's help. She was the one who suggested that Alexis, Reece, and Jake do their handprints too, so Kate, with help from Jim, Martha, Earl, and Alexis, had done Reece's handprints in blue, Jake's in green, and Alexis had done her own handprints in red, along with their first names and "3/2020" inscribed at the bottom of the framed pictures. Alexis also gave her father a first edition of the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
"That's what the original was missing," Rick said appreciatively. "Zombies."
Martha's gift was a weekend in the Poconos in mid-September, about a month after Alexis and Javier's wedding. She had booked Richard and Katherine in for a long weekend, Friday morning to Monday afternoon, at The French Manor Inn and Spa in the northern Poconos, and they would have a room with a private balcony, a fireplace, and a Jacuzzi in their room. She had also booked them for a Couples Massage. "Reece and Jacob will be seven months old by then, and you two will absolutely deserve a weekend away to yourselves. Jim and Earl and I will all stay here with Lily, Reece and Jacob while you're away."
"Mother, you are amazing," Rick replied. He gave her a big hug. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Martha said, hugging him back.
"We're coming back for cake and ice cream tonight," Alexis said. She checked her watch. "And if I don't leave right now, I'll be late for class." She made her way around the room in a quick flurry of hugs, kisses, and "See you tonight"s before grabbing her purse and messenger bag and rushing out the door.
"All right," Jim said, clapping his hands together. "Time for everyone to get cleaned up for the day out with the grandparents!"
"Day out?" Rick asked.
"Richard, we have four grandchildren. We know that you and Katherine have...you know," Martha said.
"Mommy and Daddy have what, Gram?" Lily piped up.
Jim and Earl both tried to hide their smirks as Martha scrambled to answer Lily. "Mommy and Daddy have very important things to do today, Lily," Martha said. "Grown-up things."
"Oh," Lily said. "We're going to the zoo and the playground," she told her parents then. "And you'll have to do boring old grown-up things, and on your birthday, Daddy."
"Well, that's what being a grown-up means, Sweetpea," Rick said with a straight face. "You go have fun with Gram and Grandpa Jim and Pops and your brothers, though."
After Lily had gone to the potty, and Reece and Jake had fresh diapers, and everyone had jackets and all of the kids were wearing their New York Yankees caps from Grandpa Jim, and Earl, the self-designated "pack mule," was loaded down with diaper bags filled with goldfish crackers and juice boxes for Lily, diapers, wipes, bottles, small toys, and changes of clothes for Reece and Jake, and the boys had been loaded into their double stroller with Jim driving, the children and grandparents were finally ready to depart. After hugs and kisses from Rick and Kate, the kids and grandparents left, with Martha promising to text when they were ready to return home, although the plan was to keep the kids out for at least three hours.
And then Rick and Kate were alone.
"So," Rick said, putting his arms around Kate's waist, "this 'grown-up' birthday present you have for me..."
Kate was seriously earnest as her arms went around his neck. "Our old record was two months. It's been almost three months, no amnesia, no zombie alarms, no Martha, as much as I adore her, getting tangled up in your sexy nerdy zombie alarms, just you and me," she said as her hands slid down his arms and she began heading towards their bedroom.
He beamed back at her, stopping her just over the threshold of their room, turning her around to face him, and then pulling her in for a sizzling kiss.
Within seconds, they were pulling each other's clothes off and then falling onto their bed, all tangled up in each other. They made love twice, the first time fast, and the second time slowly, with lingering kisses and caresses and softly spoken words of love.
In the afterglow, they lay wrapped up in each other's arms, sharing long, slow kisses. When the need for oxygen forced them to stop kissing, Rick framed Kate's face in his hands. "You are the living embodiment of every birthday wish I ever made. Every wish I ever made on a star. Every prayer I ever prayed during all the lonely years of my life. Let me find someone to love. Someone to take care of and grow old with. Someone to make a home and a family and a life with. Someone who will know the real me, and love me for being that person, nerdy tendencies, goofball moments, and all. I started wishing for you when I was 14, Kate. And praying for you. I always had Mother, and then Alexis. And there were times I wondered if I was greedy to want more. I guess I wasn't, because we found each other. I'm grateful for that, for you and for our family, every day."
Kate blinked away tears. "I love you," she said, raining kisses all over his face. "I love you so much, Rick. All the different sides of you. The father you are. All the things I lost when my mom died that you've given back to me. Knowing that I can count on you, in a world where I spent a long time not really counting on anybody but me. Making this home and this family and this life with you...If I had known when I felt so alone all those years that I'd find you, and you would fill my heart to overflowing with all the love and laughter and joy and peace that you give me every day..." She kissed him deeply before resting her forehead against his. "Happy birthday, my love."
Rick just breathed Kate in for a long moment before kissing her again. Their makeout session was interrupted by Rick's phone buzzing with a text from Martha. "I think grown-up time is almost over," Kate said.
Rick, one arm still holding Kate against his chest, snagged his phone off the bedside table. "Yeah, Mother says they're on their way back," he said. Replacing the phone after tapping out a two-letter answer to Martha ("OK"), he looked at Kate, lying on his chest, and said, "Think we have time for a shower before they get home?"
"Not for the kind of shower you're thinking of," Kate replied.
"I know," he said. "Maybe we can do that later."
"Well, you are the birthday boy," she said with a smile. Tossing the covers off, she rolled off of him, and he followed her into the bathroom. "Cleaning up now," she reminded him as she turned on the shower. "Recreational shower later."
He smiled. "Okay," he agreed before they stepped into the shower and under the hot spray.
