Disclaimer: No Castle ownership has been transferred to me so ...
How can it possibly be that I'm only two thirds through this pregnancy and I'm this uncomfortable?
Although Kate had gotten used to the fact that nothing seemed to fit her anymore, she was still annoyed with the amount of discomfort she was in. She had already given up on high heels most of the time, although when she knew she wouldn't be walking much, she still put them on. She, like most women, liked to feel sexy when she could. Even if she felt like a sexy beached whale.
"Babe? When will Alexis be here with Hayley?" Kate yelled from the bedroom. She was trying to put on a dress, that she swore fit her last week, with no luck. Letting out a disgruntled sigh, she went back to her closet to try and find something else to wear.
Rick stuck his head through the door, "what did you say?"
Kate was holding up a dress and a shirt, trying to decide what would be better for the night. She turned around putting each item of clothing in front of her as to ask his opinion while repeating her other question. "When will they be here?"
"In about twenty minutes," he said as he pointed at the shirt, adding, "that one, and wear the black pants with the thing."
"Thanks, babe," Kate said as Rick went back to the kitchen.
"He is way too good at that," she muttered to herself when he was out of earshot. "All right Jack, you better not have grown so much that I don't fit into these clothes either." She said as she placed her hand on her bump, before getting dressed.
Ten minutes later, Kate was dressed and had fixed her hair and make-up. She walked towards Rick and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Thank you, somehow you always manage to keep me calm and more importantly, pick clothes that fit."
Kate could feel his laughter more than hear it, and she loosened her hold on him. Rick turned around and put his hands on her waist, before kissing her. "You're welcome," his gaze had nothing but love shining at her.
They were startled out of their moment by a knock at the door, with a quick peck Kate took his hand and led him to the front door.
"Ready?" Kate asked as she took a deep breath.
"Ready." He said as he opened the door.
"Hey," Alexis had rarely sounded this nervous, as she stood there holding hands with her girlfriend. "This is Hayley," she said gesturing the girl next to her. "Hayley these are my parents, Rick and Kate."
She just introduced us as her parents, that's new. Wait I'm her parent? I am, right? Sort of at least. A step-mother is a parent. Unless she's evil, then she's a … cartoon villain. What? Where's my head at? What is going on? Am I really crying over this? Damn these hormones. There is nothing to cry about! I am her parent! It would have been obvious to anyone that Kate was emotional, although there is no telling if people would guess correctly as to why. Odds were, they would misinterpret the situation.
"Hi Hayley, it's nice to finally meet you," Rick said nudging his daughter a little, before shaking Hayley's hand. He then looked at Kate and the shock on his face was almost comical.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Was all he asked, as he started to slowly stroke up and down her back, trying to calm her.
"I'm sorry," Kate said as she wiped furiously at her face, trying to quell the tears. "Turns out, hormones suck." She laughed a little, but it sounded off. "It really is nice to meet you, I'm sorry about the waterworks."
Alexis looked at Hayley, who looked oddly calm, before walking over to Kate and giving her a hug and whispering into Kate's ear. "Are you all right? If this is too much for you, we can leave." Kate just shook her head.
"No honey, it's not too much," Kate said in the same whisper. "My hormones just went a little haywire when you introduced us as your parents." Kate chuckled at the admission. "It's just because, you've never referred to me as a parent, and it was new and a shock. I'm proud to be your parent by the way. I just can't really do emotions like a normal person." She pulled out of the hug, still holding Alexis by her shoulders. "Yesterday, I found myself wiping away tears at a toilet paper commercial, the one with the puppy." Kate was full on laughing now and Alexis laughed with her.
"Laughing, laughing is good," Rick looked between the two, "does this mean that my girls are good?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Kate said, before turning back towards Hayley. "I'm sorry about this, I blame this guy." Kate said as she pointed her thumb at Rick. "He knocked me up, and now I can't handle any strong emotion without tears. Those were happy tears by the way."
"Good to know," Rick said, "I always get blamed for the hormones, but I personally blame this guy." Rick joked, stroking lightly over Kates bump. "Are you, all of you, ready to eat?" He asked looking around the group.
"Yeah, sure," Hayley said, smiling.
"So, where are you from?" Kate asked as they sat down, "I mean because of your accent."
"I'm from a small town just outside of London," she replied.
"What was it like growing up there?" Rick asked.
"Boring, nothing much to do," Hayley answered, "so I up and left, two years ago, came here. Don't regret that decision at all," she looked at Alexis, who blushed.
"You're too sweet," Alexis whispered as she pecked Hayley on the cheek.
"All right, dig in you guys." Rick said moving the serving spoons so they were directed at the two girls.
"This looks great, Mr. Castle," Hayley said.
"Thank you." Rick had pulled out all the stops for this dinner, happy to have an excuse to make something extra nice.
"I'm lucky that my husband loves to cook," Kate said, grabbing Ricks hand under the table. "I can hold my own. I just don't like nearly as much as he does."
They continued eating and it was soon time for desert.
"Who wants coffee?" Rick asked as he stood up.
"I'll take a decaf, babe." Kate said with a wink. Before looking at the girls, "you should have some, Rick makes great coffee."
"I'm not a big fan of coffee, but you might want some," Hayley said, looking at Alexis. "You haven't had any since this morning."
"Yeah, dad, I'd love some." Alexis called after her father.
"Wait, you don't like coffee?" Kate said shocked, "not only are you a barista, but even stranger, you're dating a Castle. We are all pretty addicted to our coffee."
"Oh, believe me I know all about the Castle Caffeine Cravings," Hayley said with a laugh, "I'm pretty sure my brewing skills got me the first date. I'm just more of a tea girl myself."
"Right, it's the English in you," Rick chimed in as he put a cup in front of Alexis and then another in front of Kate, before shaking his head a little and swapping them. "Would you like a tea based beverage? I have a collection, I bought a lot of different teas when Kate was struggling with morning sickness."
"Yeah, sadly I was sensitive to the smell of coffee." Kate said ruefully, "but that's hardly on topic."
"I would love some black tea if you have it," Hayley said.
"Coming right up." Rick rushed to the kitchen and came back with a tray, with not only a little teapot, but a matching cup, saucer, tiny milk pitcher, sugar bowl and even a little honey pot.
"I wasn't sure how you take it, so I just brought all the options." Rick said with a smile.
"You wouldn't happen to have some lemon?" Hayley asked.
"Agh, of course it was the only thing I forgot," Rick said, causing Kate to giggle at his mishap.
"So, how long have you been a barista?" Kate said, trying to see if Hayley would talk about her plans for the future, without asking.
"I've been a barista full time for a year," Hayley said, "I used to do it part time while I was taking courses at uni, but living expenses got to be a little more than my income, so I'm now taking courses online while working."
"That's very mature of you, to prioritize like that," Kate said, before taking a big bite of her cobbler.
"Thanks, Mrs. Castle, it's hard work," Hayley smiled, "but I only have another year and then I'm done."
"Please, call me Kate," Kate said with a laugh. "Mrs. Castle sounds so formal." Besides the fact that my name isn't really Castle, yet. "What are you studying?"
"Well, Kate," Hayley said pointedly. "I'm a double major, I'm getting my Bachelor's degree in Criminology and Anthropology."
"Wow, that's a lot of work," Rick said, sounding very impressed.
"Yeah, it takes a fair bit of time. This one," she pointed at Alexis, "seems to think it takes too much of my time, she gets a little jealous of the amount of time I spend with my books." She now fully looked at Alexis and smiled, humor in her eyes.
"Well, how could I not?" Alexis countered. "I kind of like spending time with you." Alexis smiled and put her hand in Hayley's on the table.
"I kind of like spending time with you too," Hayley said, smiling at the sight of Alexis blushing a little. "But if I don't graduate now, it means more time with the books and less time with you."
"What did your family think about you moving here?" Rick asked.
"Oh, I, uhm," Hayley stumbled, the first time that night where she didn't seem at all prepared for the question. Alexis moved her hand from Hayley's and ran it up and down her girlfriends back. "Sorry, I don't mean to mumble. It's just, I don't have any family. My parents were killed, that's when I came here." Hayley finished looking at her hands in her lap.
"I'm so sorry," was all Kate said, knowing what losing just her mother did to her, although she kind of lost her father at the same time, but she still got him back later on.
"It's fine," Hayley said with a shrug, still looking at her hands. She suddenly looked up, smiled sadly and said, "I guess it's just something you learn to live with, you know?"
"I do, well to an extent," Kate said as Rick put a hand on her thigh, squeezing it gently. "I don't know if Alexis told you, but my mother was killed when I was nineteen."
"Yeah, she did, sorry," Hayley said.
"Yeah, sorry Kate. I didn't really think it through, maybe you didn't want me to share that." Alexis looked uneasy.
"It's fine, I'd rather you tell her, than she read about it in the tabloids," Kate joked, "I assume you googled us."
"Yeah, that's the only reason I knew you were pregnant," Hayley joked back.
Kate laughed at that, before realizing it could be true. "Wait, that was in the tabloids?" Kate asked, suddenly serious.
"Yeah, it was one of the cover stories on a few of the magazines," Alexis said, sounding surprised at the fact that Kate didn't know. "There was even a pap picture of you shopping, when you bought that really cute outfit for Jack, the one with the bowtie." Alexis had her phone out. "Here it is."
Maternal Heat
Author Richard Castle and new wife, Katherine Beckett (inspiration for character Nikki Heat) are expecting their first child together.
As everyone knows, they had a surprise wedding earlier this summer, at their engagement party.
During a recent outing Katherine was glowing, and a source close to the newlyweds confirms the news saying:
"They are so excited, they had been trying for a while now and finally it worked out for them."
The source wants to remain anonymous, but said that little baby Castle was due late this year. Richard is already father to daughter Alexis Castle, 20 (inset with her father).
"Wow," was all Kate could muster, before laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
"Yeah," Alexis was laughing too. "You're also on an online list of Who's due next and are apparently joining a celebrity moms club."
"I learn new things about myself every time I see my name in print." Kate said, a hint of laughter in her annoyance.
"Yeah, same. For instance, I had no idea that we were trying," Rick said, laughing. "But I kind of want to know what celebrity mothers you're going to be hanging out with."
"Same, they might have some parenting tips," Kate said.
"Well, as much fun as reading gossip with you is, I think it's time for us to get going. Hayley has to work tomorrow and I need to get ready for school." Alexis said as she stood up and started putting desert plates in the sink.
"Oh, honey, just leave it. Your dad will clean this up later." Kate said as she put a hand over Alexis' shoulder.
"This was nice," Alexis said as she walked to the door with Kate by her side and Hayley two steps in front of them.
"Yeah, this was great Mr. and Mrs. Castle," Hayley said as she turned around to face them. "I had a great time."
"It was our pleasure," Kate said, "we should do this again sometime."
"That would be nice," Alexis said as she looked at her girlfriend, who just winked.
Rick walked towards them and added, "but I do recommend we keep the grandparents away for at least the next couple of times. Because I assume they will have some strange questions and topics."
"Bye girls, drive safe," Kate said leaning into Rick.
"We will, bye," Alexis said as she stepped into the elevator, giving her parents a little wave before the doors closed.
"I like her," Kate exclaimed when they walked back towards the dining room to clean up.
"I do too," Rick said as he started loading the dishwasher.
"Awful what happened to her family though," Kate mused.
"Well, it means that you are kind of kindred spirits. Having this tragic thing in common." Rick said as he looked at Kate and smiled at her.
"Yes," Kate didn't want to talk about it any further so she changed the subject. "They are a really cute couple. When Hayley reminded Alexis about the coffee, it's almost like our thing."
"I know, right. I love it," Rick sighed.
"But considering the fact that Jack was turned into tabloid news, don't you think we should warn them?" Kate asked seriously. "It could be rough on a new relationship to be scrutinized like that. I was really upset when they started writing about us, even before we started dating. They would try and pin you as a cheater and make up so much about our relationship. I was made to look like a gold digging muse, and you were a playboy cheater." Kate was ranting and she knew it, the damn tabloids just pissed her off. "Who are they to talk about my pregnancy? It's so strange to be in this position, I've never even done anything to warrant celebrity other than marrying you."
"I know, but on that note, marrying me comes with a few … I don't want to say obligations, but yeah, assumptions about you." Rick sounded like he wanted something.
"What's going on? What do you need?" Kate knew his tells all too well.
"They want us to do Good Morning America, I've been trying to find a way to ask you this for a few days. No time like the present right?" Ricks attempted humor did nothing to ease her nerves.
"Why do I have to be there? This is your work," Kate asked, nerves clearly bleeding into her voice.
"Everyone knows that you are the inspiration for Nikki Heat, and it was all over the tabloids that we got married, plus the whole Jack thing." Rick was trying, so hard.
"So they want to discuss us, rather than the book?" Kate asked, incredulous.
"They want to discuss us, and the book. Our relationship will sell, people love to know how life treats celebrities, and that includes you." He said with a sigh. "I could do this without you, but I like spending time with you, as the girls would say, so I would much rather do this with you than without you." Rick walked over and kissed her lightly, before resting his forehead on hers. "Please?"
"Damn you and your sweet-talking ways," Kate said in mock offence. "Do we just go there and talk about the book?"
"Well, there will be questions about us," Rick said, "but we can veto some questions. They will provide a list of topics they want to discuss, and we can just tell them what we are comfortable with. This is mostly to sell the book, but they will want to talk about a few things more to do with our personal lives."
"So they will want to use the fact that I'm there to talk about scenes like page 105 in Heat Wave?" Kate asked, even though she knew the answer.
"They will most likely joke about it a little, it was pretty much played out when it came out. The joke will mostly just be because of you being pregnant." Rick said honestly.
"Fine, but you have to run interference if I get nervous and I will laugh at their attempted humor about our sex life, but will not be talking about it at all. Neither will you for that matter, that is so not something to talk about on live TV." Kate said sternly.
"That goes without saying," Rick seemed pleased.
"Alright, I better get ready for bed before I change my mind," Kate said as she yawned.
"All right, let me just finish up here and then I'll join you," Rick said, pecking her cheek.
As Kate walked out of the bathroom, Rick had just finished in the kitchen and was on his way over. Kate got in to bed and tried to get comfortable, but even with the pregnancy pillow she still wasn't.
"Babe, are you almost ready for bed?" Kate called towards the bathroom. Rick walked out just then, wearing only his boxers and a t-shirt.
"Yeah, ready."
"Good, because I can't get comfortable without you," Kate grunted.
"I love you too," Rick laughed, settling in bed with Kate using him as a pillow, "night."
"Night," Kate mumbled, already half asleep.
A/N: So this was the meeting of Hayley. Hope you enjoyed it.
Since you were so patient with me I made it extra-long. About double the length of a normal chapter.
If you have any questions or ideas you want me to add, please feel free to leave a review or pm me, and I'll see what I can do.
