A.N. Sorry for not updating sooner. I have been overwhelmed with things in my personal life at the moment. With my mum going in and out of hospital with the doctors not knowing what was wrong with her until recently, me having to look after my family while she is, and me having to go into hospital myself to get an abscess drained and then have to catch up on work at Uni. Needless to say I have been a bit stressed and preoccupied. But I haven't forgot about this story. Hopefully the gap between updates won't be so long next time.
It was the spring break from College and It was the night Alexis was coming home for dinner. Castle had been nervously pacing back and forth most of the evening while Kate sat on the couch, reading, trying to hide her growing anxiety about the night. Kate and Castle debated on whether to invite both their parents and Alexis or just his daughter, eventually coming to a decision that it was better to tell everyone in one go rather than have others find out second hand. Castle was nervous enough about telling his beloved daughter about the baby but having to confront Kate's father and tell him that they are together and are already having a baby together, he was fearing for his life. But he was also worrying about what his mother would say. Would she pick it right away? Would she say something before they got the chance to? Would she be happy for them?
"Rick, stop pacing. You're gonna wear a hole in the floor." Kate told him gently, knowing how frazzled he was. Castle let out a sigh before coming to sit next to Kate on the couch, then proceeding to drape her legs over his, pulling her in close to him.
"I don't know who I'm more nervous about. You dad, my mom or Alexis." Castle stated, letting out an involuntary shiver at the though of her father's disapproval of them.
"Rick." Kate said, bringing his attention back to her. Cupping his cheek, she told him, "Everything's gonna be fine." To punctuate the statement, Kate leant in and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, gently cupping his cheek to hold him in place. Castle placed his hand lightly on Kate's only slightly swollen belly, affectionately rubbing his thumb back and fourth along the smooth surface. Leaning down, Castle placed a light kiss on her belly, smiling against it.
"Your mommy's so optimistic." Castle whispered, chuckling into her belly. "When will I be able to feel a kick?" He asked looking up at her questioningly. Kate looked down at him lovingly, smiling as her hands ran though his hair gently.
"I should be able to feel kicks around the next few months but you will be able to feel them around 5 months." Kate told him. "I'm gonna have to get some new clothes soon." Kate sighed. "They're going to start not fitting soon."
"I'll take you shopping and you can put a big dent in my credit card." He smiled, sitting up and pulling her in close to him, placing a kiss on her forehead. Kate sighed into him and tilted her chin up to kiss him, and just as their lips were about to touch, there was a loud knock at the door, making the couple jump, Kate almost falling off his lap.
"Oh god! I'm not ready, Kate! I'm not ready for this!" Castle panicked.
"Pull yourself together Castle!" She scolded, getting off his lap to answer the door. Taking a steadying breath herself, Kate opened the door to reveal the subject of their discussion.
"Hey Dad." Kate smiled, wrapping her arms around him, kissing his cheek.
"Hi Katie. How are you sweetie?" He asked affectionately. Kate pulled away from him and lead him inside, closing the door behind them.
"I'm good dad." She replied, grinning brightly.
"I see that you and Rick finally got your acts together." Jim smiled.
"W-what?" Kate stuttered, completely thrown.
"You were always going on about him and I knew from the moment he started shadowing you that you liked him. It was only a matter of time before you two got together." As if on cue, Rick joined them, coming to stand beside Kate, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Hello Mr Beckett. I'm so glad you could make it." Castle greeted pleasantly, extending his hand for a friendly handshake.
"Thank you for inviting me." He replied, shaking his hand.
"It was my pleasure. So dinner is in the oven, would you like something to drink?" Castle asked, being careful around the touchy subject.
"A glass of water would be great, thank you." Rick nodded, walking off to the kitchen to get Jim's water.
"There's something different about you, Katie." Jim smiled at his daughter. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but something is different about you. I don't think I've seen you smile this much for quite some time." Jim looked over to the kitchen where Rick was searching for a glass for him. "He must make you happy." Kate followed her father's gaze and stared lovingly at Rick.
"Yeah. He does." Jim looked back at his daughter, scanning her face, seeing so much unashamed love there.
"Good, 'cause if he doesn't treat you right, Katie, you know I'll have to have a serious talk with him." Jim said seriously, making Kate giggle at his protectiveness over her.
"Am I in trouble?" Castle asked, slipping into the conversation easily, Jim's glass in his hand. "Oh, um… Here's your water." Castle offered it to him nervously.
"Thank you Mr Castle." He replied, accepting the glass. There was a very uncomfortable silence that followed and Castle was shifting from foot to foot as he wracked his brain for a conversation topic.
As if by divine providence, the door bell rang, Rick letting out a sigh of relief as he excused himself to go answer it. However on the other side of the door was his mother and Alexis, only adding to his already nervous demeanour.
"Hi baby." He greeted, pulling her in for one of his famous bear hugs.
"Hi Dad." She replied, hugging him back, smiling at him.
"Hello Mother." Castle greeted, pulling her in for an embrace. "Alright, come on in, dinner's almost ready."
The evening continued with pleasant small talk until dinner was ready and served. They mostly ate in silence, each guest suspicious that something was going on.
"Kate and I have something to tell you." Castle almost shouted, making Alexis jump at his sudden outburst. Castle looked to Kate for guidance, who smiled sweetly, taking his hand and turning back to everyone.
"We're having a baby." Kate grinned.
"Congratulations!" Martha cried, walking around to hug her son, then hugging Kate.
"I'm gonna be a grandpa." Jim mumbled, slumping back into his chair with a shocked expression, a smile making its way to his face the more he thought about it.
"A baby?" Alexis parroted. "A baby, really? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Or didn't you think about how this was going to affect me?"
"I thought you'd be happy for us." Castle replied weakly, fearing this reaction from her.
"Nice to know I'm still in the loop, dad." She said, getting up from the table and storming off to Castle's office. Kate, completely overwhelmed by the situation, burst into tears. Castle torn between his two girls, looked from Kate to the door Alexis has slammed and back again.
Castle wrapped his arms around Kate, kissing her hair, whispering sooting words to her, gently rubbing her back.
"I'm so sorry, Kate" Castle whispered, placing another kiss in her hair. "I'll go talk to Alexis. I love you." He told her, kissing her cheek before he got up to deal with Alexis.
Castle nervously knocked on his office door before he slowly opened it, revealing a pacing Alexis.
"You ok sweetie?" Castle asked, slowly walking over to her. Alexis stopped her pacing and turned to her father with an accusatory look before it fell and she ran towards her father, her face buried in his chest as she cried quietly.
"I didn't mean to act like that." Alexis cried. "I was shocked. But that still doesn't excuse the way I behaved. I'm really sorry dad. I guess I just thought that if you had a baby that you'd forget about me. That I wouldn't be your baby anymore."
"Oh, sweetie! No, never! You'll always be my first born, my baby girl. Another child will never change how I feel about you. I love you so much Alexis, always have, always will."
"Can you forgive me for the way I acted?"
"Apology accepted. But I'm not the only one you need to apologise to." He told her, taking her by the shoulders so he could look in her eyes. Alexis nodded in understanding and retrieved a few tissues from Castle's desk to dry her eyes. "Come on." He said gently, putting his hand on her back, leading her back to the kitchen to face everyone.
Alexis slowly walked up to Kate and wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm really sorry Detective Beckett. I didn't mean to upset you." Alexis pulled back to look her in the eyes and spoke softly to Kate, having long since stopped crying when her father had calmed her down and held her like he did when she was a child.
"You're just as much my family as this baby will be." Kate sniffed, her hands absentmindedly drifting over her slightly swollen belly. "I love you like my own child and will always help you with anything you need, you know that." Kate smiled at Alexis, reaching for her hand and and holding it gently in hers. "And we want you to be just as much part of this experience as us." Castle beamed down at his Kate, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You are going to be a big sister after all."
A.N. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are encouraged.