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Saturday night was rough at the Hamptons house. It was roughest for Rick and Kate and Reece. Jake slept fitfully, and he slept best when Rick was holding him, his head resting on Rick's chest, right over Rick's heartbeat, but, feeding off of Reece's pain-filled wails, Jake didn't manage much more sleep than his brother or his parents.
Reece didn't want to leave his mother's arms. He didn't like the infant Tylenol or the Amoxicillin, and Jake's greatest displeasure was when Rick laid Jake in his Pack 'n' Play to help Kate get Reece's next dose of medicines down him when it was time.
The driving rain started around 3 AM, with a fantastic thunder and lightning show accompanying it, and the storm lasted over an hour. The only ones who slept through the storm were the Ryan family, and Victoria and Gerald Gates. Lily usually slept through storms at home in the city, but she was unsettled by Reece's illness and his attendant crying, so she awakened not crying, but scared of the storm. Jim, Martha and Earl were already sleeping fitfully because they were also worried about Reece, so when Lily awakened screaming in fear, all three grandparents rushed to her side.
Alexis and Javier were also awakened by the storm, and Reece, already awake, was also scared by the storm and started crying for a reason other than the pain from his ear infection. Jake was actually asleep on his father's chest when a particularly loud crash of thunder startled him awake, and he instantly began crying lustily with fear. Physically exhausted, Rick and Kate were instantly on their feet, walking the room with the boys, trying to calm them down.
Alexis and Javier went to check on Lily first, and saw that she was clinging to Jim, her head buried against his shoulder, while Martha stroked Lily's long brown hair, and Earl hovered behind Martha's shoulder. "Can we help?" Alexis asked.
"I don't like the rain and thunder!" Lily exclaimed, turning her head so that her face was visible, though her cheek still rested on Grandpa Jim's shoulder.
"None of us do, darling," Martha crooned.
"It woke me up and scared me," Lily continued. "And Reece and Jakey are crying too."
"I bet they don't like the rain and thunder either," Earl said.
"Do you want Javier and me to stay here with you, Lily?" Alexis asked.
Lily said, "No. I have Grandpa and Gram and Pops. Mommy and Daddy might need help with Reece and Jakey."
"Okay, then," Alexis said, "but if you change your mind, all you have to do is call, Lily."
"I know," Lily replied.
Alexis and Javier headed for the master suite then, and Alexis knocked, but when there was no answer from within but the sounds of Reece and Jake both crying, and Rick and Kate trying to soothe them, Alexis opened the door a moment later. "Need some help?" she asked over the sounds of the crying as she entered the room.
Javier hovered in the doorway. "It's worth a try," Rick said. He kissed Jake's forehead and said, "How 'bout you go to Alexis for a few minutes, Jake?"
But Jake's wails became louder when he was in Alexis's arms. He only wanted his daddy. Observant even at three months old, he knew that Reece had Mommy's full attention right now, so Jake just wanted Daddy.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Alexis said. "It's all right, Jake. Here, go to Daddy." She handed Jake back to their father, and once he was safely ensconced in Rick's arms once more, his cries began to peter out to whimpers.
"How's Lily?" Rick asked. Kate was pacing with Reece, rubbing his back and talking softly to him.
"Surrounded by all the grandparents," Alexis replied. "The storm scared her, but she'll be all right."
"At least Sarah G and Nick still seem to be asleep," Javier reflected. "I'm not sure about Will."
It turned out that the storm had also awakened Will Masters, and his tears had both of his parents instantly awake to comfort him. Lanie and Alan were able to get Will back to sleep within an hour. The grandparents got Lily back to sleep within thirty minutes, and Martha decided to stay in Lily's room in case she awakened again.
Alexis, thinking ahead, programmed the coffeemaker in the kitchen for the adults before she and Javier returned to bed. "Poor kids," Alexis said as she and Javier headed back to their room. "Reece is sick, the storm scared him and Jake and Lily all three. Mom and Dad are gonna be walking zombies later today."
"At least the grandparents are getting Lily calmed down," Javier replied. "It's gotta be hell on Beckett and Castle with Reece sick and in pain, and Jake so scared by the storm. Lily's at least old enough to understand about the storm and to talk."
"And Jake's unsettled by Reece being sick and upset too," Alexis said.
"Are twins genetic?" Javier wondered.
Alexis laughed, punchy from the late hour and interrupted sleep. "I'm thinking no in this case," she replied. "But we're a long way away from that, and if it does happen, we'll adapt."
Finally, the storm stopped a little after 4 AM. Rick was stretched out in bed on his back, sleeping, with Jake asleep on his chest, and Reece was calmer, though still pulling on his ear. He was sweaty, which greatly relieved Kate, because that meant his fever had broken. Since he was so clammy from sweating, Kate carried him into the bathroom, stripped him, and gave him a quick, lukewarm sponge bath, letting Rick and Jake sleep. "I'm so glad your fever broke, Peanut. That's a very good thing," Kate said as she sponged him off and then carefully dried him. When he was dry, and she had gently combed his hair down, she wrapped him up in his bath towel and carried him back into the bedroom, where she got him into a fresh diaper and a clean sleeper.
"That's got to feel better, huh?" she asked as she got into bed with Reece in her arms, net to the sleeping Rick and Jake. Reece yawned then. "I know, baby boy, I'm tired too," Kate said. "Let's see, something to talk to you about...Okay, I'm going to give you your first history lesson on the New York Yankees. I'm too tired to go all the way back to the beginning, but I can tell you that the Yankees did something no other baseball team in history has ever done: they won five World Series in a row. Yes, they really did. It was a really long time ago, though. 1949 to 1953."
Reece looked up at his mother, the pain in his ear having started to ease from the combination of two doses of both the infant Tylenol and the Amoxicillin. It was 4:27 in the morning, and everyone else in the house was asleep except for Kate and Reece. The worst of the storm had died down, and the raindrops that hit the roof and the windows of the house did so now without much force.
"1949 was Casey Stengel's first year as manager of the Yankees," Kate began. "They defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series that year. They defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series every time they played them, except for 1955. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So 1949, Yankees beat the Dodgers. In 1950, they played the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series and defeated them. In 1951, it was the New York Giants, but they were a baseball team then, not the football team. The Giants and the Dodgers both moved from New York to California after the 1957 season. Of course, the Giants cheated to get into the World Series in the first place, and that was wrong, but-"
Kate stopped her hushed narrative when she saw that Reece was asleep. "We'll get to 1952 and '53 some other time, sweet boy," she said. She settled back against the pillows and cradled Reece protectively against her chest, his right cheek and ear resting over her heart. She was asleep in sixty seconds.
When Jim Beckett knocked quietly on the bedroom door a little after 6 AM and got no answer, he cautiously, quietly opened the door just enough to peek around it and see that Katie and Rick were in bed, each with a baby asleep on their chest, wrapped tightly and protectively in their arms. He took in the sight for a long moment before quietly closing the door behind him and leaving the exhausted quartet to sleep for as long as they could.
Sunday was a long day. It rained on and off, and just enough that the beach was out, which upset Lily, Sarah Grace, and Nick, who were looking forward to building sand castles (Lily), swimming in the ocean (Sarah Grace), and jumping over waves (Nick).
Rick and Kate emerged with Reece and Jake at 9 AM, with the equivalent of steamer trunks under their eyes. Jake was a little cranky from lack of sleep, but otherwise he was fine. Reece was still fever-free, and not pawing at his ear as much, but still fussy and clinging to Kate. As Alexis had predicted, Rick and Kate were sleep-deprived zombies fighting to stay on alert for Reece and Jake's needs.
Jim cleared his throat and said, "We've made a few executive decisions about today."
"We?" Kate asked blankly.
"Those of us who got much more sleep last night than you four did," Martha said.
"Martha, Earl, and I will stay here and help you with the boys," Jim said. "Give you and Rick a chance to get some more sleep, hopefully."
"And we're not going to let the rain spoil our day," Alexis said determinedly.
"We're not?" Lily asked.
"No, we're not," Alexis said. "There are plenty of places to go and things to do that don't require being outside, even on a Sunday. We can go to the Children's Museum, go for frozen yogurt-"
"I want frozen yogurt!" Nick interrupted.
"-and there's an indoor carousel we can ride on," Alexis continued. She looked to her parents. "We'll take plenty of pictures, since it'll be Lily's first carousel ride. That is, if you want to do that?" She looked to her sister once more.
"Yes!" Lily exclaimed.
"We're coming too," Lanie said. "Will's never been on a carousel either."
"Wait, so all of you are going out for the afternoon?" Rick asked.
"Yes, Castle," Lanie said. "Except for the grandparents."
"That's right. The three of us are staying here, and taking care of you and the boys," Martha said.
And so it was. Reece got another dose of Amoxicillin after his breakfast, and some more infant Tylenol to keep his fever gone and help with the pain in his ear. After breakfast, Alexis, Javier, Lily, the Ryans, and the Masters' headed out, and while they spent their day exploring the Children's Museum, and playing a round of miniature golf there (in which Sarah Grace scored a hole-in-one), riding the antique carousel multiple times, and stopping off for frozen yogurt on the way home, when Jake and Reece both fell asleep a little after 11 AM, Rick and Kate just managed to make it upstairs to their bed before they crashed, sleeping until almost 4:30 PM.
Jim, Martha, and Earl, with a little assistance from Victoria and Gerald Gates, who had gone to a movie matinee and then come back to the house, took care of Jake and Reece. After an uninterrupted nap and some lunch, Jake was back to his usual self, no longer grumpy, and Martha took charge of Reece, who wanted nothing to do with either Jim or Earl. "Don't take it personally, gentlemen," Martha told the disappointed duo. "I'm certain that Reece is clinging to me because my anatomy is similar to Katherine's."
"If you're going to mention that around your son, Martha, could you please do it when I'm present?" Victoria piped up then from where she and Gerald were watching Jake, playing with him and his talking farm rattle that lit up, made animal sounds, and sang songs. "I have to see the look on his face at that comparison."
"I think Richard's had a tough enough weekend, Victoria, but I'll keep it in mind for a later date," Martha replied. Then she returned her attention to Reece, finally calming him by singing softly to him. He didn't surrender to sleep until after his parents reappeared, looking much more alert.
"How's Reece?" Kate and Rick asked at the same time.
"He seems to be doing better," Martha reported from her seat on the couch with Reece in her arms. "He's asleep, finally. And he definitely loves his Gram's singing. Most of the score of My Fair Lady, for starters. I think we might have another actor in the family, Richard."
"At three months of age?" Rick asked.
"All right, maybe not an actor, but definitely a music lover," Martha said. She quietly addressed Reece in her arms. "The next time it's you and me one on one, kiddo, I'll introduce you to The Beatles."
"I insist on equal time for Fleetwood Mac!" Jim called from across the room.
"Dad, your favorite band is The Eagles," Kate said. "Mom loved Fleetwood Mac."
"Exactly," Jim replied. "Not that either of them are very kid-friendly, but I could probably find a more kid-friendly Fleetwood Mac song than a kid-friendly Eagles song."
"Does no one but me appreciate the genius of CSNY?" Earl piped up then. Off Rick and Kate's confused looks, Earl sighed. "Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young," he explained. "'Teach Your Children'? 'Our House'?"
"I remember them," Jim said. "They were okay, I guess."
"What about The Beach Boys?" Earl asked.
"Everybody knows The Beach Boys," Jim said. "And yes, I like them too. Not as much as The Eagles, but they're still a great band."
"Do you object to my teaching Reece and Jake songs by The Beach Boys?" Earl inquired of Rick and Kate.
"I don't see a reason to, do you, Kate?" Rick asked, looking from Earl to Kate.
"No," Kate said.
"All of our children will have a very well-rounded musical education. A very well-rounded education in general," Rick said.
"Let's wait until elementary school, at least, before we unleash our music on them, though, babe," Kate said so only Rick could hear her.
"Okay," he agreed.
The conversation was interrupted by the return of everyone else in a big, noisy group, the kids laughing and shouting, chattering nonstop about their day, Will riding on Alan's shoulders, and Javier and Kevin carrying several boxed pizzas. "We brought dinner!" Alexis announced over the cacophony. Reece awoke, flailing his arms and fussing, but he settled down when Kate excused herself to nurse him.
Everyone sat around the kitchen table and as they ate, the kids chattered on about their day—Sarah Grace's hole-in-one at miniature golf, the way Nick had covered his chocolate frozen yogurt with so many rainbow sprinkles that no one could see the frozen yogurt, and how much both girls and Nick had enjoyed their four rides on the antique carousel.
After dinner, everyone adjourned to the living room, where they watched The Incredibles, which only Kevin, Jenny, Sarah Grace, and Nick had seen before.
"I'm seeing future Halloween costumes here," Rick said in Kate's ear at one point. "Although you don't need a costume to be more flexible than Elastigirl." Kate's reply was a coy look.
"This is so much better than all that Princess-needs-a-man-to-save-her stuff," Victoria said.
"They finally started changing that narrative until Beauty and the Beast, in 1991," Jenny replied.
"We should have brought Zootopia," Kevin said. "I'd love to see everyone's reactions to Officer Judy Hoppes."
"Some other time," Kate said. "I know this wasn't the weekend any of us planned-"
"Hey, it happens," Jenny said. "We all understand. We'll definitely all get together with the kids and watch Zootopia some other time."
After the movie, everyone split off into small groups, with the parents getting their kids through baths and bedtime routines, while Alexis and Javier went for a walk on the beach since the rain had finally stopped, and Victoria and Gerald took glasses of wine out by the pool to stargaze.
Reece got fussy again, so Kate and Rick said good night to everyone and took him upstairs. Jake was content with his grandparents, babbling at Grandpa Jim and Gram and Pops when they took turns talking to him.
Upstairs, Rick read to Reece from Goodnight Moon. He'd had his last dose of antibiotics for the day, his fever had not returned, and he fell asleep before Rick reached the end of the book, but he kept reading to the end anyway.
Kate settled Reece in his Pack 'n' Play, and she and Rick stood there watching him sleep for a few minutes. "I'll get Reece an appointment with Dr. Stone first thing Tuesday morning," Kate reflected, "but I'm thinking we got him through this ear infection."
"We did," Rick agreed.
"I'm so glad Reece is feeling better," Kate said. "Seeing your child so sick and in so much pain...it's a hell I didn't know existed until now."
"It doesn't get easier," Rick said. "But you do learn to handle it better. And you did great this time."
"I don't know about that," Kate said.
"I do," Rick replied. "We'll come back for a weekend later this summer. Maybe after Alexis and Esposito's wedding. We'll need time to recover from that. And I did promise Lily we'd build sand castles, and Reece and Jake haven't seen the beach and the ocean for the first time yet."
"Great idea," Kate approved. "And the plans are about to hit fever pitch." She looked at Rick now. "Are you ready?" she asked him.
"Not yet," he replied honestly, "but by the time we get to the wedding, I will be. At least, I'll be as ready as I can be."
Kate put her arms around him, resting her head against his chest, and felt his arms go around her. "I'll make sure Javi knows not to call you 'Dad,'" she promised.
Rick stifled his laugh, so as not to wake Reece. "Yeah, that would be too awkward even for me," he said.
"I think it would be more awkward for him," Kate said. "It's gonna be good, babe."
"It is," he agreed. "Different, but good." He tilted her face up to kiss her, and when he broke the kiss, he said, "Let's go get Jake, say good night to Lily, get Jake to sleep, and then collapse and hopefully sleep for more than a few minutes at a stretch ourselves."
"Yes," Kate said, threading her fingers through his before they headed downstairs to get Jake, and to say good night to Lily.
