"Slow down, slow down!" Rick laughed as their four-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter ran towards the office they both knew too well.
"Mom!" they both shouted and the brunette looked up from the papers she had been eyeing.
"Kids! What are you doing here?" she asked as she turned her chair in order to open her arms and hug them.
"We came to see you mom! Look, look, daddy took us to the water park today!" Jim said, holding his arm out to show the bracelet one gets in order to visit the water park.
Kate laughed, their son was as overly excited about places like that as his father.
"Did you guys have fun?" she asked and was immediately thrown into the story of their day.
Kate felt Rick's gaze on them, knowing just how much he enjoyed watching her with their kids. They had her full attention and she was listening to them as if they were her whole world, because in a way they were. It had taken only a year before Rick had proposed to her after they finally got her demons arrested, another year for them to marry and it didn't take long after their honeymoon before they decided to adopt. Kate had found Olive one day through her work, the small girl had lost her parents in an accident and Rick had seen how destroyed Kate was with the similarities to her own experience and suggested they adopt the girl. Rick had been supportive the second Kate had settled on working with kids who went through the tragedy of loosing their parents or guardians one way or another. Olive had been scared when Kate announced her pregnancy, and after some convincing she'd confessed to Kate she was afraid they would forget about her once their, as she put it, 'real' baby came along. That's when Kate had told Olive about how she herself had lost her parents, had told the girl she knew exactly what it was like not having her parents around. Kate had made sure to tell the girl how she would never try to replace Olive's biological parents but that there was no way her nor Rick would ever forget about her, because she was their daughter. Maybe not biological but real nonetheless.
"Kate do you got those... oh," Kate's co-worker, Denise, stopped in the doorway as she took in the sight of the whole Castle clan in Kate's office.
"Hi Denise, sorry, the kids wanted to say hi and I figured since Kate's shift's over in ten minutes it wouldn't mind," Rick immediately excused and the kids said 'sorry' as adorably as they could.
Kate chuckled while Denise just hummed, never really been a fan of Rick's small tricks, but smiled at the kids since, after all, kids where her profession. Denise had disliked Rick since the time she caught them making out in Kate's office, immediately assuming it had been Rick's idea when Kate really wasn't so sure about that.
"Anyway, Kate, you got those papers I asked you about earlier?" Denise asked, not saying any names because of the confidentiality.
"Yup, right here," Kate said, letting go of her kids' hands for a few seconds in order to pull out the file with the said papers and hand it to her co-worker.
Denise took the papers and said goodbye as she walked out of the office after giving Rick her another glare.
"What does she have against me?" Rick asked as soon as the door was closed behind the woman.
Kate laughed at her husband, "I don't know, maybe you shouldn't distract me as often as you do."
"Yeah, you're quite silly too dad," Olive agreed which only made Kate laugh even harder.
Rick grunted at his daughter's comment.
"Just for that, no ice cream when we get home," he told them with a fake irritation and Kate bit her lower lip.
"Noooo," Jim yelled out. "Oli take back! Want ice cream!" he ordered his bigger sister.
"Don't worry Jim, mom's gonna give us ice cream," she said quite confident and Kate let go of a laugh as she shook her head.
"If dad says no ice cream, no ice cream it is," she said while standing up.
Their kids immediately complained, hugging her legs tight as she walked around her desk. Since she couldn't really go far due to their hugging Rick took the last steps between them. His hand landed on her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. The kids' complaints immediately turned to 'ew's as they took in the sight of their parents kissing. Their lips pulled apart as they chuckled at their children's behavior.
"Come on, let's go home," Kate announced and the three children, Rick included in that category, cheered.
Snuggled down with their kids between them as he read a nighttime story Kate couldn't stop smiling. She was way too happy about her life, there was nothing she would like to change. She was married to her best friend, had a girl who she loved like her own and a son who was a mix of herself and the man she loved. Her life had looked petty dark for a while, but when she met Rick it had been like a glimpse of light was starting to appear.
"Goodnight monkeys," Rick whispered, kissing their kids' heads as he started to, with practiced care, gentle out of the double bed they all shared in the big toy room when they told stories.
Both Kate and Rick had made sure the two monkeys would get a room each, knowing that's what they would want in the future, but thanks to Rick's wealth and the extra income of Kate's they had made the guest room into a big toy room where the kids could choose to play in together without ever feeling like they intruded in each other's spaces. Plus the big bed they'd gotten could fit all four of them easily when they were reading stories, and it didn't matter if the kids fell asleep because in a way they were already in bed and at a good place, no need for them to be woken and walked into their own rooms.
Kate kissed the tops of the kids' heads too before easing out of the bed to join Rick, he'd waited for her before they both turned down the lights and gently closed the door behind them.
"That trip to the water park really must've worn them out," Kate whispered in a chuckle as they walked down the stairs and set towards their bedroom.
His smile went bigger as he joined her chuckle, "Yeah, we were there for a good couple of hours before they started going on and on about how they demanded you to join us."
She felt her heart swell at the mention of their love for her. To her disappointment, and to their kids', she had caught a big case involving kids who had just lost their everything when two buses crashed into each other, which had meant Kate had had to work over to make sure very kid who had a close relative or a family friend could live there and those who didn't needed into foster care. It was a process she didn't like any more than the kids, which was also why her co-worker often let her do the talking with the kids. Through her own experience with foster homes and social workers she knew how to speak to them without scaring them more than they already were, knew how it felt and therefore could show more sympathy than most of her co-workers. Today had been the day when everything was finally at place, when she could actually end her shift when it should to go home and enjoy a full evening with her family.
"When's your next day off? Maybe we should go there then?" Rick asked and Kate smiled with excitement.
That childish excitement bubbling inside her was proof of how much he'd changed her, how much their kids had changed her, she was finally able to see the light and find magic in the things they did together.
"Well, I'm off Friday, and then if they don't feel like they need me I'm free this weekend," she answered and his grin grew big.
"Let's go then," he said and she grabbed his hand before he could walk into their adjoined bathroom. "What?" he asked as she turned him to her.
She bit her lower lip to try and keep her smile down, knowing there was one more thing she needed to tell him before the night was over. She pulled him with her to sit down at the edge of the bed, she didn't hesitate before she straddled his legs and kept her eyes locked with his. He was looking at her with wonder, his blue eyes darkening a little bit. This was a natural position for them, a position they had not reserved for strictly sexual activities but also for when they just wanted to be close and talk. She had her hands behind his neck while his landed above her bum in order to keep her close, a hug they both loved.
"You know I love you, right?" Kate asked and she could see both confusing and a small glimpse of fear in his blues.
"Of course, and I love you too, more than anything," he immediately reassured.
"I know, and I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me, for everything you've given me," she said while smiling the whole time. "Damn Rick you even found and bought the cabin me and my parents always went to in the summers," she felt her eyes water. "But there's something that's gonna change, again, and I need you to not wake the kids, so please keep it down."
She could see he was really confused and that fear was still there, just like she'd expected it to. She knew it was kind of cruel, prolonging this, but he had done the same thing to her when he proposed to her. He had made it sound as if he was breaking up with her, saying something like 'we both deserve better', before he went down on one knee and showed her the ring.
"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, hating to see that fear even though she knew there was nothing for him to be scared of, and she couldn't torture him anymore.
"What?" his eyes went wide as the words processed in his mind. "You're... you're pregnant?!" the realization hit him hard and he jumped up with her legs still wrapped around him as he started spinning her around with a laugh.
She giggled as she tried hushing him, still not wanting the kids to wake up after the eventful day they'd had. His lips landed on hers, silencing her hushing and evoked a moan instead. When their lips parted she bit her lip again, her smile an open mouthed grin.
"Fuck, you scared me Kate," he sighed out his curse and she giggled.
"Told you I would get back at you for that proposal."
He chuckled shaking his head, letting their noses touch in the process. "You're evil," he said and she smirked.
"Not more evil than you," she fired back and his lips pouted in order to peck her lips.
"But you're serious? You're really pregnant?" he asked, sitting back down on the bed with her straddling him.
"Mhmm, I've felt pretty funny the last couple weeks, first I thought I was catching a cold or something but it hit me two days ago that I've felt this before when I was pregnant with Jim. I bought three tests today during my lunch and all showed positive," Kate told him.
"We're gonna need a bigger loft, or maybe we should buy a house," Rick suggested.
"No, Rick, we got enough room, we got the toy room..." Kate started to object but Rick shook his head.
"No, we can't just turn down the toy room, the kids love that room, and that won't change to the baby in your belly," he said, his hand sneaking between them in order to touch her belly.
"But this is our home Rick, this is where we met, where we found love," she loved their loft, loved their story in there.
Sure, home was wherever her family was, but she still wanted to stay in their loft, it was filled with history.
"Okay, then maybe we could extend it," he suggested and Kate gave him a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean? How?"
"Well, the loft beside ours is for sale, the Winstons are moving out, maybe we could buy it and make a door in the wall, adjoin the two lofts," he shrugged his shoulders and she bit her inside cheek.
"Is that even possible? Would we be allowed?" she asked and he nodded.
"I think so, of course we need to talk to Mr. Lawry, to make sure he's okay with us tempering with his building, but he's a friend or ours."
She thought about it, did they really need a bigger loft? What would they do to the rest of the other loft? What the hell would they do with two kitchens? Two living rooms?
"I have a few ideas," Rick interrupted her thoughts, making her realize she'd muttered them aloud.
She narrowed her eyes, she was actually pretty sure she could imagine a few of those. He had been talking about turning Jim's room into a gaming room before Jim was born. He had suggested a ball-room as well, as in a room filled with those balls you can find at an inside playground.
"I'm sure you do," she said, brow still raised.
"Come on, we can at least look into it," he pecked her lips, pecked her cheeks, her nose.
"Fine!" she giggled and his lips landed on her neck with a smirk.
She gasped when he sucked at her pulse, his lips traveling to her collarbone to kiss her there before pulling away.
"We're having a baby," he whispered with pure joy in his eyes.
"Yeah, we are," she said, beaming at him and leaning forward to kiss his lips.
He suckled on her lower lip, gently biting it to leave it to tingle in a way only he could evoke. Her hands landed on his chest and she carefully pushed in order to follow him down into the mattress. She could feel the love through his every touch, his every kiss, and she knew he could feel the same from her. Making love to him had only intensified for each time they found themselves tangled in the sheets.
This was exactly where she wanted to be. With him. In their loft. Their family only growing with the love they felt for each other. She could've never imagined her life would take the turn it did at sixteen. But in a way she might never had met him if it hadn't. Of course she would never forgive the monsters for what they did, would always miss her parents, but her life had turned out pretty great anyway. And her life with him and their family had only just begun.
The End
A/N:
Thank you all so much for reading this story, thank you all for bearing with the sometimes long times between updates, and thank you for all the reviews! Next I will probably focus on the One Shot prompts again, but I might also start on a new fanfiction which I won't post until it's long enough. Merry Christmas again, love to you all (no matter if you celebrate or not).
xxxx