Here is the final installment of Happy Birthday, Kate? It is more of an epilogue to the story, rather than a full-length chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I've enjoyed writing it.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Rick—now fully recovered from the car accident—is asleep in a chair, and Kate is sitting in her hospital bed, cradling her sleeping daughter, when there is a soft knock on the door. "Are you decent, Chica?"
"Come on in, Espo."
Lanie enters the room first, followed by Esposito.
"Hey, Girl, how're you feeling?" Lanie leans down to hug Kate, being careful of the sleeping baby.
"Better now that she's here." Labor had been rough on Kate—all 25 hours of it.
"I'd imagine so. Does she have a name yet?"
"Not for sure. We've got it narrowed down to a couple, but we haven't decided yet. You want to hold her?"
"Of course! Let me see that sweet baby."
Esposito watches as Kate passes the baby to Lanie, and Lanie moves to an empty chair to cuddle with the baby.
"Writer Boy gave out on you?"
"Yeah, I slept for a couple of hours while he bonded with her, and, now, it's his turn to rest. You can wake him up if you want. I know he'll want to see you guys while you're here."
"Javi, you want a turn?"
"Yeah, of course. You can wake him up. I don't want him plotting revenge against me."
Esposito takes the baby from his wife of seven weeks. "Hey, there, Little Chica. Come see Uncle Javi."
Lanie makes her way around Kate's bed to stand beside Rick. "How should I do this, Kate?"
"Here, I've got it." Kate reaches for her cup of water that is beside her bed. Lanie watches as Kate grabs a piece of ice and expertly throws it right down the front of Rick's shirt. It is quickly followed by a second one. Shortly thereafter, Rick starts to wiggle in his chair.
"Rick, Babe. Wake up. Lanie and Espo are here."
Rick's eyes flutter open, and he rubs his hand across his chilly chest. "Did you throw ice down my shirt again?"
"Again?!" Lanie questions.
"Yes, again." He gives Lanie a look, and she can't help but notice how it resembles the look Kate sometimes gives him.
"Whatever. Kate tells me you two haven't named my niece yet."
"Yeah, we want to make sure we pick the right one. She's going to have to live with it the rest of her life. Well…unless she changes it at some point like I did. But we don't want to give her a name that she'll hate that'll make her want to change her name."
Castle's cell phone starts ringing, so he stops rambling. He just passes the phone to Kate when he sees that it is Ryan. "Hey, Ryan."
"Hey, Beckett. Congratulations!"
"Thanks."
"So…Jack is sick, so I'm not going to get to come by the hospital to see you guys. I don't want to risk getting any of you sick."
"I appreciate that, Ryan. Thanks. I'll let you know when we get discharged and settled back at the loft. Maybe Little Man will be feeling better by then and you guys can come over."
"Yeah, definitely. Just let me know."
"No problem. Bye."
"Bye."
Esposito and Lanie stay at the hospital for a little while longer but leave with the promise of either returning to the hospital or visiting the loft tomorrow, depending—obviously—on whether Kate and the baby get discharged.
Alexis, Martha, and Jim Beckett had all been at the hospital when the baby was born but had since left to get some rest.
"Rick, we need to decide on her name. I'm tired of calling her "The Baby" and "Baby Girl."
"I agree. Let me find that piece of paper." Rick searches his pockets and pulls out a crumpled up piece of paper with various names written all over it. All but three had been crossed off. "Okay. We've got Charlotte, Olivia, and Emily."
"Cross of Emily. She doesn't look like an Emily."
"That leaves Charlotte and Olivia."
Kate stares at her daughter. "What do you think?"
"I think they're both wonderful names."
"But?"
"But…I'd still like to name her after your mother. Johanna Castle."
"Babe, I can't do that. I'm afraid it would be too hard on my dad, you know, calling someone else Johanna. I want him to be there for his granddaughter."
Rick can see in her eyes that it would be hard on her, too—she just doesn't want to say it. "Oh. I understand, and I want him to be around, too. I wasn't thinking about it from that perspective."
Kate doesn't say anything for a few seconds, and Castle begins to worry that he's upset her. Then she says softly, "What about Josephine? For her middle name? Then, it's similar without being the same name."
"I love it." Rick looks at his wife cradling their daughter and seems to fall even deeper in love. "So, Charlotte Josephine Castle or Olivia Josephine Castle?"
"I think I like Charlotte. We can call her Charlie."
"I think that's perfect. Charlotte Josephine Castle, it is."
Castle approaches Kate's bed and leans down to press a kiss to her lips.
"You know, Castle, for the longest time I never imagined myself actually being a mother."
"Really?" He looks surprised. "I've always imagined you'd make a great mother. What changed your mind?"
"You." Kate looked her husband in the eyes. "At some point I realized that I had never seen myself as a mother, not because I didn't want children, but because I hadn't met anyone I wanted as my child's father. Then, I met you, and—sooner than I'd ever have admitted it—I began to dream of starting a family. In the dreams, it was always me, a kid or two, and…you. You were always there."
"And I always will be. I love you, Kate."
"I love you, too, Rick. Always."