When Kate had closed the door of the office, she turned around only to be faced with a concerned-looking Victoria Gates.

"Kate, is everything ok?" she asked.

"What? Oh yes, everything is fine. Perfect even." Kate answered, smiling. "I just … I wanted to talk to you in private."

"Sure. No problem." Gates said, sitting on the sofa opposing Rick's desk.

Kate started pacing the office, trying to gather her courage and the right words.

"Well?" Gates asked.

"Can I have Monday off? Because I have a doctor's appointment at 1pm and…"

"Of course you can have a day off Kate. But that's not what you wanted to talk to me about is it?" Gates asked gently.

"No. I … I don't know how to …"

"Just get it out Kate. Contrary to what most people seem to think, I'm quite good at listening. And I do have feelings, contrary to popular legend, and right now you're making me nervous."

"Right." Kate said, determination in her voice. "I want to stop working on the field until the baby's born."

"Ok. That's not a problem."

"Really?" Kate asked, more than surprised by the other woman's understanding.

"Of course. I see a lot of myself in you Kate. And I'm glad you're not going to make the same mistakes I made. Take all the time you need. As member of the NYPD you can take up to twelve weeks of paid maternity leave, either before or after the birth of your baby. Plus, I'm sure that with all the hours you did outside of your actual schedule since you've started, you could go on vacation for at least a year." Gates said, laughing lightly.

"Oh, I don't want to stop completely, not at the beginning anyway but just, you know, stay at the precinct, do some interrogation, make phone calls, and pour over financials …"

"That doesn't seem really fun." Gates remarked.

"It's not, but I don't want to put my baby in harm's way." Kate said, looking at her still flat stomach.

Noticing that Gates hadn't said anything and hadn't moved for a few seconds, Kate looked up and saw her Captain as she would never have imagined. Victoria Gates was fighting back tears.

"Are you ok Capt … Victoria?" Kate asked, sitting down next to her on the sofa.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just … one of the mistakes I told you about was keep working until too far in my pregnancy and … I lost my baby girl at 30 weeks."

"Oh … I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said …"

"No Kate, it's ok, really. It's not your fault. I have accepted it but it just … springs back on you sometimes you know? But I'm really glad you're not planning on working until the end. And if you did, I would have certainly ordered you on sick leave."

Their conversation was cut short by the doorbell ringing.

"Well, that would be my sons, we should go back." Gates said, getting up. "I … I trust you to keep what I told you to yourself?"

"Of course! Don't worry about that, I won't tell anyone." Kate assured her.

As she watched her leave the office, Kate saw a new woman. Sure, Captain Gates was a strict and by-the-book police officer, but Victoria Gates was simply a woman, with her faults and her strength. When Kate joined everyone in the living room, Rick rushed to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked her softly so as not to be overheard by the others.

"Yes, why?"

"Well, I don't know what happened in there," he said, nodding towards the office, "but both Gates and you have red eyes."

"Don't worry. I'm perfectly fine." She said, kissing him lovingly before joining Lanie and Jenny who were setting the table for dessert.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

As they were all enjoying the really good chocolate mousse cake Jenny had made from scratch, Kate couldn't help but see Alexis talk with Jackson Gates and laugh. It was nice to see her laugh again after what she had been through two weeks before. As it appeared, the day after Kate and Rick had visited her on campus and met with Max, Alexis had seen him kiss another girl in the library. She had been devastated and came running into Kate's arms, crying her eyes out. When Rick ad heard what happened, he wanted to go and kill the boy and Kate had to threaten to lock him in his office if he didn't calm down. Alexis was heartbroken but she decided to end it with Max. She was outraged when he told her it was "just a kiss". Wasn't that enough? So she told him they were over and came back to cry into Kate's arms. The first days had been really hard for her but she seemed to be better now. Ad seeing how she was laughing tonight made Kate really happy.

Everyone was silent around the table, eating the cake, when suddenly Tyler Gates spoke.

"Alexis, you're hot!" he said.

"Tyler!" both his parents and his brother exclaimed while Alexis was choking on her drink.

"What's wrong with you? Seriously! Do you ever think before you talk?" Jackson asked him, clearly angry.

"It's ok …" Alexis said, trying to stop coughing.

"No it's not ok Alexis." Gates said. "Ty, give me your phone." She asked.

"But Mom …"

"No buts Ty, I warned you! Now, hand your phone over. And when we get home, I'm changing the password on the computer. For two weeks and don't even think about protesting or it's gonna be more." Gates said. "Now, you go sat on the couch and you don't touch anything."

"But the cake …"

"Don't worry, Esposito will eat it for you." Hank said.

"When did I become the guy who eats all the cake?" Javier asked, making everyone laugh.

"Bro, you always eat all the cake." Ryan said.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

When everyone had left, Rick and Kate cleared the tables and put everything away in the kitchen before getting ready for bed. Around three in the morning, they were finally in bed.

"This was a really good party." Rick said, cuddling into Kate and caressing her stomach as he had been doing since he learned about her pregnancy.

"Yeah, it was really nice. I saw you got along great with Hank. He's nice, isn't he?"

"He's great. He used to be in the army you know? And he said I could call him if I needed information for a book." Rick said, excited.

"Yeah. I think he's teaching criminality at NYU now."

"Well, it must run in the Gates' family." He laughed.

"Speaking of family. Alexis seemed to like Jackson a lot." Kate said, a smile on her face.

"What? Really?" Rick asked, clearly surprised.

"You didn't see it?" Kate asked. "It was so obvious! I think even Gates noticed. He kept making her laugh, she blushed several times and they didn't stop talking. I think they would be great together." She mused.

"Together as in …"

"Together as in a couple."

"Wow wow wow, slow down here Kate. They met like four hours ago." Rick said, panic in his voice.

"No, I'm sure they'd be great together." Kate said, teasing him.

"No, she can't date him. He's …" Rick said, searching for the right way to put it.

"Because he's black? Really Rick!" Kate asked, completely shocked.

"No! Of course not. I don't care if he's black or white or green. But he's … he's a Gates!" Rick said as if it were the worst thing in the world.

Kate couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"It's not funny." Rick grumbled, turning his back to her in the bed, which only made her laugh harder.

So ... what did you think of this chapter? I'd really love to have your opinion ^^