~~~I'm really, really sorry I haven't updated this in forever. Things got a little confusing this summer, I got caught up in other shows, and I've been taking a screenwriting course, which has been sucking up my creativity. I'm hoping to do more with this story, but I'd love to get your guy's reactions as to whether or not it should continue on. I hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think! And thanks for being so patient :) -Alyssa~~~
It is time.
The baby is due in four days. Everyone is on high alert, watching her, making sure she doesn't burst into labor alone. Her midsection has grown large, making her frame seem smaller and unable to bear the weight much longer. She was put on bed rest a few weeks ago, but has attempted to get out of the house as often as she can, making up countless excuses, and getting away with it because the pregnant her can be a little more scary than the normal her.
She's lying on the couch, reading a magazine that is perched against her stomach. His mother sits on the chair nearby watching something on television, and he and his daughter are in the kitchen, talking about her time away at school.
Suddenly, she sits up, the urge to pee arriving for the umpteenth time that day. They all watch as she rises off the couch and waddles to the bathroom, concern on their faces that she can't see behind her. He sighs. "Every time she moves I think it's gonna happen. This is torture."
His mother shifts her gaze to him. "Don't worry darling, everything will be alright. It happens when it happens, and we go from there."
"Gram's right Dad," his daughter chimes in. "Just, take a breath, relax. Enjoy the silence before the ravage noise of a crying baby keeps you up all night."
He smiles at her. "Well, if it's anything like you, I won't have to worry about that too much."
She scoffs at him as she walks towards the stairs. "Please father, I can never be repeated. I am much too unique."
He laughs at her comment, and returns to the pen and abandoned crossword puzzle on the counter. But before he can begin, his wife walks back into the room, a look of sheer horror on her face. He drops the pen and rushes quickly to her side. "Kate," he pleads, "Kate what's wrong?"
"I-I…"she stammers, "I think my water just broke."
The room stills for a moment, as everyone is silent, taking in the news.
"Ar-are you sure?" he replies.
"Well," she answers, "I sure as hell wasn't peeing."
They all pause for another moment.
Then he knows it's starting.
"All right people, it's go time!"
They arrive at the hospital rather quickly. He ignored every driving law he possibly could while still being safe on the roads to get her here in one piece. His family moves ahead fast, clearing the way so he can hold onto her while she slowly makes her way inside.
"Can someone help us?" he shouts out. "My wife is in labor!"
A nurse appears with a wheelchair and orders her into it, which she takes with a sigh of relief, glad to sit after the long walk from the emergency room bay. As they wheel her down the hall, something clicks in her head. "Castle-" she turns to her husband. "Castle, hand me my phone."
"Honey, you are in labor, there's no reason you-"
"I need to call my dad," she interrupts.
He nods and hands her the phone. She dials and listens to the ringing, hoping he'll pick up. When the call goes to voicemail, she grunts in disappointment. "Hey dad," she starts. "So, I really hope you get this message soon, because I'm going into labor and I won't get to call you again. Yeah. I'm at the hospital, about to have this baby. Call Martha when you get this. I'll probably be busy. Love you!"
He takes the phone from her, and she grips his wrist tight as she continues to look straight ahead while being pushed by the nurse. He smiles slightly, takes the phone with his other hand, and shifts his wrist to intertwine their fingers as they move.
She's taken to a room, a private suite from the look of it, and another nurse arrives to help her onto the bed. His daughter had told the nurses all the medical information they needed on the way to the room, which she memorized ages ago, so they could get the right doctor and the right set-up for her. The nurse informs them that the doctor will be arriving shortly to see how far along she is, and make sure she is doing alright, then leaves the family to be.
"Now that everyone is settled," his mother says, "I think it's time to make a few more calls. Your friends should know you're here." She turns to her granddaughter. "Alexis, darling, I could use your help."
"Sure, Gram," she replies, and smiles at her father and his wife as they leave the room.
Silence falls, and her hard breathing is all that can be heard.
Worry lines start to form on her face. "Something is wrong."
"Kate, nothing is wrong. It's going to be fine," he reassures her, rubbing his hand across her forehead.
"No…I-I haven't had any contractions yet," she becomes anxious. "If I'm going into labor, shouldn't I have had them by now? What's wrong? I-"
"Kate." She continues to thrash around in panic. "Kate, look at me."
She looks up at him, her eyes wide.
"You are fine. The baby is fine. You shouldn't worry. The doctor will be in soon, and she'll tell us everything, alright? But there is nothing wrong. I promise." He moves to kiss her forehead.
She smiles, gripping his hand tighter with reassurance, and takes a breath. "Okay. Yes. You're right. I'm just being-"
She pauses. Her face scrunches up with confusion, and then turns into a smile.
"What is it? Kate?"
"It's a contraction. I'm having a contraction!" Suddenly her smile fades, and is replaced with a face slightly more pained. "I'm having a contraction."
She puts a hand to her stomach and sits up a little bit, squeezing his hand tighter, hoping for the pain to pass as quickly as possible. He smooths her hair as he holds her, murmuring "it's okay, it's okay" over and over as she combats the occurrence.
It passes, and she lies back down, breathing loudly. "And it only gets worse?" she looks over at him, hoping his experience can give her answers in this field.
He frowns. He leans down and slowly kisses her on the lips. When he pulls back, he looks deep into her eyes. "From what I know, yes." She sighs and leans her head back against the pillow. He moves her chin so she's looking in his eyes once more. "But I am not going anywhere."
She smiles slightly and moves a hand to cup his face. "Yeah, you don't really have a choice on that one."
"Clearly, I don't have a choice."
She wakes up a little weary. It takes her eyes a moment to adjust, but soon she scans the room, her memory slowly fading back into her mind. He's sitting on the chair next to her bed, holding her hand in both of his, his head gently resting on the blanket below. She looks down in confusion. "Castle?" she whispers. No answer. "Rick? Wake up."
He moves slightly, adjusting to the sound of her voice. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and sees her, relief washing over him. "Kate, oh god Kate, you're awake. You're awake." He stands and leans over her, taking her in his arms, gripping her tight.
"Castle, I'm fine." She lightly shoves him off. "But…something happened. I don't remember-"
"Okay Kate, we're gonna need you to push again, alright?" the doctor said. She was practically ripping his arm off squeezing his hand, but she pushed again, always one taking their orders. She screamed in pain, the meds she was given practically ineffective at this point. He kept petting back her hair and bracing himself through her tight grip. Again and again she pushed, and it felt like a painful routine she would never get out of.
"Okay, Kate we just need one more. One more big one, and you'll be through, okay?"
She nodded and looked up at him. "One more?" she asked, panting.
His look changed to the smile he reserves only for her. "One more."
So she gave it all she had, pushed as hard as she could, screaming and gripping his hand through the pain.
She heard a baby cry.
Then she spiraled into darkness.
He sighed, a defeated look overcoming him. "There were…complications. You wouldn't stop bleeding. Oh god Kate, I thought-" he paused. "But you're okay. They fixed it, and you're okay."
She gave him a weary smile.
Abruptly, she looks anxious and sits up with a start.
"Castle, the baby. Where's our baby?"
He gently reaches over to push her back down. "Shhh, Kate it's alright. He's doing great. The doctor says he is in the best of health."
She looks up at him, the anxiety fading to wonder. "He?" she asks timidly. "It's a boy?"
He grins wide, still holding onto her hand. "A bouncing, bubbly, beautiful baby boy."
She laughs outright, squeezing his hand. "We have a son," she says, a smile growing on her face.
"We have a son," he repeats.
"Can we see him?"
He nods. "I'll let the nurse know we're ready." He walks to the door, but stops midway. "Would you mind some other visitors while we wait? I'm sure they want to say hello."
Her grin widens. "That would be fantastic."
When he returns, everyone is there with him. His family, her partners, her best friend; but most importantly, her father. He tells her he got the message and came as soon as he could. They all surround her, faces aglow with joy and happiness, for both her health and the baby's.
"You know," her partner begins, "a baby is a lot of work. I definitely understand letting me stay lead detective, even after you come back, so you can, you know, have more time to-"
"Please let me be lead detective," the Irishman interjects. "I can't take his macho man ego getting any bigger."
They laugh at the inquiry, and continue to chat for a short while. Then, there is a knock on the door.
"Mr. Castle?" a nurse says. "We're ready when you are."
He nods and turns to everybody. "Alright folks, let's give the new momma some space and a little time alone with her son."
They all quickly say their goodbyes, promising to return later to see the new member of their little family. As they leave, she looks over to him. "You're staying though, right?"
He smiles and takes her hand, kissing the back of it. "You couldn't kick me out if you tried."
He turns and looks to the nurse. "Okay. Let's see our son."
The nurse nods and leaves for a moment, returning with a small, plastic bassinette with a little body bundle up inside, pulling it alongside the bed.
She looks into the bundle, searching for her son, but the angle she's at doesn't have a good view. She looks up at the nurse. "Can I hold him?"
The nurse smiles. "Of course." She leans down, scooping up the bundle, hands him to her, and steps back.
Her smile has never been so wide.
He's perfect. His smooth skin, his little eyes that are closed as he sleeps, his tiny little fingers sticking out from under the wrap. Any doubts she had, anything that made her think this whole motherhood ordeal could be a bad idea, flew out the window. This was right. This was how everything should be.
Suddenly, his little nose wrinkles, and his mouth opens wide in a yawn. She laughs out an "aw" and rocks him back and forth, relishing the adorable moment. "Hi, there," she whispers. Then his eyes flutter open, and her jaw slightly drops.
"His eyes," she says, looking up at her husband, and then looking back to her son. "He has your eyes."
He leans forward and looks at his son, smiling. "Of course he does! Castle's gotta have those baby blues. How do you think we get so charming? You're gonna be a charmer, aren't you? Yes you are!" He nudges his son a little with his finger, and his son latches onto it with both his hands, while staring up at her.
"Look at that," he says. "He already knows who his parents are. He's got your brains. Gosh, he's gonna be handsome and smart. We have a ladies man on our hands, Kate."
She laughs, looking up at him once more. "Well, we have lots of time to figure that out, don't we?"
He looks back at her, and smiles as he cups her faces, kissing her tenderly on the lips for a few moments. He pulls back and rests his forehead on hers, looking over to their son.
"Yes," he answers. "We have all the time in the world."