Chapter 15
They had been holed up in the Inn for almost three days before they had received any contact from anyone. The ringing of the burner phone woke both of them up, Kate reaching for it immediately. Grabbing it from the bedside table and looking to see if she recognized the number.
It was blocked. Who would be calling from a block number at… She looked towards the clock on the bedside table, 4 am. Who would be calling from a blocked number at 4 am.
"Who is it?" he asked, rolling over closer to her body to see if he could see the number on the phone.
"It's blocked, Rick."
"So, answer it, or do you want me to?"
"What if it's them? What if it is the person that's after you."
"How would they get our burner number?'
"There are a lot of ways. They could have my dad's burner phone, or Burkes."
"Here, give it to me, I'll answer."
"No." She jerked her hand away. "If it is them, I don't want them to hear your voice, I don't want them to know that you are with me for sure."
"Okay, so answer it Kate."
"Okay." She nodded, pressing her finger into the key and pulling it up to her ear.
"Hello." She did her best to sound alert.
It felt like the longest pause, but then the mans voice came across the line.
"The problem has been eliminated, you are clear to return home."
She knew the voice immediately, it was Hunt, or whatever his real name was, it was Ricks father.
"Okay, who was it? Who was behind all of this?"
She had barely got her questions out before she heard the phone click on the other line. She pulled the phone from her ear and threw it to the middle of the bed.
'Who was it? What did they say?" Rick was suddenly at full alert, and by the look on Kates face, rightfully so.
"It was your dad. He said we could go home, that the threat was eliminated, and then he just hung up on me."
"He hung up on you?"
"Yeah, sounds pretty typical of him." Kate rolled her eyes and threw the bedding from her body. She ran her hand over her stomach as she placed her feet on the ground.
"How do we even know that was him?"
"Oh that was definitely him Rick." She said, standing up from the bed and turning on the bedside lamp.
"How do you know?" he continued to press her for answers.
"Because I've met the man, I know his voice, I'd know it anywhere."
"So, what? We just go home now? With no answers?"
Kate had already begun throwing all of her belongings back into her duffle bag as he made his way around the bed, grabbing her hand and stilling her.
"Kate, can you take a breath and talk to me."
"I don't know Rick. I don't have the answers. He just told me that it was safe for us to return home. Its four o'clock in the morning, but I want to go ahead and leave. I'd like to be back to New York by this evening. I want my bed, and my things, and my family. Rick, it's over."
"It can't just be over." He pulled her over to the bed, urging her to sit next to him pulling her into his side and wrapping her in his arms. "I don't have the answers."
"Well, he didn't give me any answers, he hung up."
"That's not fair, I need answers."
"Look," She pulled away from him, "Rick, I know you need answers, hell, I need answers, but right now…" She stood up and pulled her bag from the ground, "I want to take a break from this, take some time for us to settle back into our life before this baby comes."
"So, that's it. We are just going to pack up, go home and pretend that this is just normal."
"It's not normal, not at all. But we can't spend any more time dwelling. The answers will come, in time, I hope. But Rick, this pregnancy is really my only priority right now, that and getting my family prepared for the changed that are coming." She ran her hand nervously across her abdomen.
"Is the baby okay, are you okay?"
He was becoming increasingly worried about her. She had been so strong over the last week, for him. He needed to be there for her more, and he knew that. He knew that she had gone through so much over the last 6 months, what she needed, what she deserved was a break.
"The baby is fine, I'm fine, but I still worry that if I don't take care of myself that something will happen. Look, I've tried to keep my stress under control, I know it's bad for the baby and the last thing I want is for my baby to be affected by my stress."
"Okay, well lets go then. I'll get everything packed up. You go take a shower and get cleaned up and I'll do the rest."
He was sweet, and she appreciated that he had caught on to her anxiousness to return home, and that he was just going to follow her lead. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up in front of her, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
"Lets shower together, and then we will pack, and get out of here."
He placed his hands on her hips and nodded, pushing her towards the bathroom.
Xx
They caught the earliest flight back to New York, making it back to the city by mid afternoon. Kate called her doctor to ask if she could come in since she had missed her previous appointment.
The doctor walked in to find Kate sitting on Ricks lap, looking through a magazine together.
"Hey Kate, how are you feelings."
"I feel good." She stood up and made her way to the exam table, "just wanted to check on the baby, we are planning on going to our Hamptons house for a few weeks and I just want to see the baby before we go."
"Okay, so an ultrasound?"
"If you don't mind, I just want to make sure everything is okay."
"Do you have a reason to believe things wouldn't be okay, is something going on?"
"No, just been a really stressful week and the baby has been really calm, not a whole lot of movement during the day. At night on the other hand, I can barely sleep."
"Probably just a different sleeping schedule then you." The doctor laughed, "Which might be a problem once he or she gets here."
"God, I hope not. The last thing I need is a baby that sleeps all day and stays up all night." She laughed.
"Oh you can quickly turn that schedule around. Here, lay back and pull your top up."
Kate looked over at Castle who looked a little nervous, she grabbed his hand, urging him to stand up and come closer.
When the heartbeat came over the monitor his eyes were glued to it. The emotion he felt just at the sound of his unborn childs heart was unbelievable. He squeezed his fiancés hand tighter as he looked down at her, her eyes glued to the screen and a huge smile planted on her face.
"You wanna know the sex Castle?" she asked, as she looked back at him.
"What? I thought you wanted to wait."
"I did, but the more I think about it, the easier it will be for us to decorate and I know it's killing you."
"Killing me?" he raised a brow at her, "Don't blame it on me, I know you want to know."
"Okay, so maybe I do."
"Well I already know, and I'd love to share if you guys want to know."
Kate looked back at Rick and the smile that was plastered across his face was enough to tell her that he was definitely in favor of finding out. She turned back to the doctor and nodded.
"Looks like you two will be having a baby girl Castle."
"Wow…." Castle gasped, a tear breaking down his cheek as he looked down at Kate whose eyes were shedding a lot more tears then his own.
"We're having a girl? Really?" Kate asked and the doctor nodded.
"Time to think of some names I suppose. You two excited?"
"Oh, I couldn't be happier." Castle admitted. "You okay Kate?"
"Yeah, I…. I can't believe I'm going to be a mother to a baby girl. This is just crazy… Amazing, but crazy."
"Well I'm very happy for the two of you. After everything that's happened, I think you all deserve this happiness."
"Thank you Doctor."
"No problem, I'll see you back in three weeks. Just want to keep an eye on you guys, nothing looks alarming, but if anything happens you have my number, just remember to relax Kate."
"That's why we are going away, just to have a little time alone to rest and relax."
"Sounds perfect."
XX
When they made it back to the loft, Alexis rushed the two of them, pulling Kate into a tight hug first. Rick loved that the two of them had gotten so close while he was gone. It was nice to know that they had each other when times got hard for them.
"Alexis, we have some news." Kate told the girl as she led her into the kitchen.
"Oh yeah? Is it about who took dad?"
"No, still nothing about that. Ummm.. Actually we went to the doctor before coming home and we learned that…" Kate looked over at Rick urging him to reveal the good news.
"You are going to have a baby sister." Rick finished.
"Wow, really? That is so exciting, I'm so happy for the two of you."
"Happy for us? She is going to be a part of your family too Lex." Kate squeezed the younger girls hand.
"Yeah, and I'm so excited about that, but really Kate, I'm so happy that you are going to get to experience motherhood. You're going to be an amazing mom to this little girl, you've been so amazing to me."
"That is so sweet Alexis, but I'm gonna need your help more then you know" She laughed.
"Oh, anything you want, you got it."
"Good. Look, I know we just got back but your father and I were thinking about going to the Hamptons for a few weeks, you have any interest in joining us?"
"Oh I wish I could, but I have so much to do. I really need to focus on school."
"Okay, well if you want to come up this weekend, you are more then welcome to. I think we would both love to spend a little time with you. Plus, our family could use some good bonding time."
"Yeah, of course. If I have time this weekend I'll bring all my school work up and spend time with you all."
"Okay, sounds perfect."
Xx
The drive to the Hamptons flew by. Rick drove and Kate slept most of the way there. He could barely stay focused on the road, he just wanted to watch her sleep. She was so peaceful when she slept. It was about the only time he got to see her at peace these days, but maybe that would all change now that they didn't seem to be in any danger. He knew even before the danger had represented itself to them that she was always worried about something else happening. He figured that is why she was so adamant about not telling anyone he was alive yet, but even that was out now. This trip to the Hamptons would hopefully provide them with some much-needed peace. No more stress about someone being after the two of them, and not having to stress about hiding from the press. They would have all the privacy they needed in the comfort of their own home. Maybe it was time to talk to her about getting married. He really wanted to get married before the baby came but he also knew that she probably didn't imagine her wedding day as one where she was very visibly pregnant.
When they arrived at the house, Castle hauled their bags in before coming to wake her up. He ran his palm across her cheek as he gently spoke to her.
"Kate, babe, we're here."
"Wow, already."
"Yep, here I'll help you out and we can go relax in the bath before bed if you want."
"Yeah, that sounds amazing babe."
He ushered her up the stairs and started the bath before helping her undress and step in. He slid in behind her and started massaging her shoulders while she ran the soap over her body.
"So, a baby girl, any name suggestions?" She asked, looking back at him as he continued to massage her back.
"I don't know, I always assumed we would name our first born after your mother if it was a girl."
"Really? That's sweet Rick, but I don't know that I want her to have my mother name, not as a first name anyway, maybe a middle name."
"Okay, so we will put it in the middle name category. What about you? Any names you like?"
"I don't know, I haven't put a lot of thought into it. Also, it's got to be perfect, I want it to flow nicely, and be strong."
"Well we will just have to think about it then, wont we. We have a few months, we have time to think of a few choices, and then when we see her, we can choose. So it fits perfect."
"Okay," She nodded, "I agree, I want it to fit her perfectly."
"Okay, so how about the nursery. What theme or colors are you thinking?"
"Well, I kind of thought a unisex room would be a good idea, so that when we have another baby we can just use the same stuff, because the next one might be a boy."
"Oh… the next one. Already thinking about making another one are we Beckett?"
"Well, I mean we aren't getting any younger Mr. Castle." She laughed, leaning her body back into his and grabbing his hands from her shoulders, placing them down on her stomach.
"Well, you're right, I am getting older, so we wont be able to wait too long if we want more."
"I think that once we have this little girl, maybe when she turns one, we can start trying again, I mean it didn't take us long to conceive her, maybe we got lucky, but I don't want to wait too long, just in case we have trouble conceiving next time."
"Okay, whatever you want babe. I mean I'd be happy to knock you up as many times as you want."
"We are very lucky aren't we. We might have had a few bumps in the road, but in all reality, we have everything we need to have a big happy family. We have a mommy and daddy who love each other, and a big, nice home, and plenty of money to send 10 kids to college."
"Whoa, ten kids? That's a lot of kids, we might have to move out here full time if we are going to house ten kids."
"We aren't having ten. I want at least two, maybe three."
"Maybe three?"
"Depending on how the first two go, and if we are lucky enough to have a third, I wont complain."
"You seem concerned about us conceiving, you already know you're fertile, and my swimmers did a good job with the directions I gave."
"Yeah, well… I'm always worried about the next thing that might go wrong. I mean sure we have each other and we love one another, but… things go wrong every day, and with our track record, something bad is bound to happen again."
"Don't talk like that… It's over, whatever it is. Its over."
"I hope so Rick, I really cant take anything else happening to you or to us."
"Well don't think it in to existence. Right now lets focus on this baby, and then we will worry about the next. I need to spend time on trying to recover my memory and getting better, stronger for us. Things will be fine, we just have to give it time."
Hunt will be making an appearance soon, and Rick will get some answers.
Reviews are always nice, sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter, this story has given me a lot of trouble!