When Kate came back in the living room, she found Rick laughing with a blond woman over the kitchen counter. Needless to say that her first impression of the new detective was not a good one.
"Kate! This is Detective Lea Keller. She'll be replacing you at the 12th." Rick introduced them. "Lea, this is Kate Beckett."
"Hello." Lea said, shaking Kate's hand over the counter. "Nobody told me why I was replacing you, I hope it's not something serious.
"Oh no, don't worry." Kate smiled. "But if you don't mind, I'll keep the explanation for later, I really don't want to keep repeating myself."
"Yeah, about that. I'm sorry I am this early but to be honest, I was so scared of getting lost on the way over here that I left home early to be sure not to be late and give a very bad first impression of myself." Lea laughed nervously.
"Don't worry, Javier is always late." Kate said.
"Oh yeah, that's the rule by the way. Detectives This and That on the job, first names outside. Would you like something to drink?" Rick asked.
Just as Kate was going to ask Lea more questions about herself, Alexis entered the loft.
"Salut tout le monde!" she exclaimed.
"Salut Alexis, tu as passé une bonne journée?" Kate asked.
The two of them continued their conversation, Alexis not having noticed Lea yet.
"Yes, you hear correctly. It's not English. Let me explain." Rick said. "Alexis, my daughter, is going to France for a year after the summer so she and Kate decided to only speak in French to each other. I suspect they're just trying to kill me because they both know how curious I am and how frustrated I get when I don't understand what they are talking about."
"Don't worry Honey, you'll have learned basic French by the end of the summer." Kate said, kissing him quickly, just to be sure Lea understood he was not on the market anymore.
"It's awesome!" Lea exclaimed, really surprised if the look on her face was any indication. "I never could get my head around languages at school. My boyfriend has some distant relatives in Germany and the few times they came here, I could not understand a single world."
Oh, she has a boyfriend, good. Suddenly, Kate felt nicer to her now that she had a piece of information.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
The dinner went very well. Once everyone had arrived, Javier and Lanie half an hour late, they settled around the dining table, wanting to know what Castle had cooked this time. He was getting quite a reputation as a cook among the team. Wine and conversation flowed. The team learned a lot more about Lea. She was born in New York twenty-eight years before. She had moved to Chicago with her family when she was five. She had two brothers and a sister. She moved back to New York when she studied at NYU and never left again. She had decided to join the force after a kid on her street in Chicago went missing and was later found dead. The most shocking in her whole story was that she had never heard of Richard Castle's books. That had the whole table burst in laughter, except the author. By the time they got to the dessert, Kate had almost forgotten why they were all gathered at the loft. Jenny, who was now five-month pregnant, was still curious though.
"Ok, I know everyone is wondering but apparently a bunch of detectives and an ME are not brave enough to ask so I'll do it. Why are we all here tonight? And more importantly, why was my Kevin whining that Kate was being replaced. No offense Lea."
"None taken, I was wondering the same thing actually."
In a matter of seconds, the atmosphere changed drastically for Kate. It went from enjoying a nice evening with friends to being questioned by three cops, an ME and a pregnant high school teacher.
"I … well, I'm not going to work with you for a while. But I'll come back, just … later."
"Are you pregnant?" Lanie asked.
"What? No! Why? Do I look like I'm pregnant?" Kate asked quickly, the last question addressed to Rick with wide panicky eyes.
"No, you look perfect Kate, as always. You don't look pregnant at all. The look would suit you perfectly though." Rick answered, kissing her reassuringly.
"So Kate, can you tell us why you're not working with us anymore?" Javier asked.
"Well … Montgomery asked me if I wanted to take his place when he retires so I'm taking the 'Captain Program'" She simply answered, afraid of what their reactions would be.
She definitely did not expect that! Everyone was congratulating her, moving across the table to hug and kiss her. Javier was the strongest of them all, he lifted her off her chair.
"Hey man! Can you put y girl back on the floor please?" Rick called.
Kate was really smiling when she was back on her feet. She had expected some congratulations but she had not anticipated her friends' reaction. They were apparently really happy for her.
"Well, since we are delivering good news tonight, Jenny and I have something to announce." Ryan said once the agitation had calmed down.
"Kate, Javier, we have news for you. You are going to have … a god-daughter !" Jenny announced.
"In less time than it takes to say it, she was off her feet and in Javier's arms.
"Do you have to carry everyone when you're happy Javi? Come on, put my wife down. And I'm not letting you babysit if you spend your time spinning my child around." Ryan threatened, making everyone laugh.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Kate and Rick were preparing coffee for their friends who had decided not to wait for them to start the video game tournament. Rick brought the tray in the livim room to them and Kate finished putting the dishes in the washer.
"Kate?"
"Hey Jenny!" Kate said, turning to her. "Do you need anything?"
"Would you have some camomile infusion? The baby is kicking like crazy tonight and it usually calms her down." Jenny smiled. "I think she's excited." she laughed.
"Sure, take a chair. I'm sure we have some somewhere. I know Martha sometimes takes some before going to bed." Kate answered, starting to search the kitchen cabinets.
When she finally found the infusion box, she turned around to find Jenny rubbing her stomach, her eyes closed.
"Jenny, are you alright?" Kate asked quietly.
"Yes, I'm fine. I really likes when she kicks. It makes it more real, you know?" she smiled. "Do you want to feel her?"
"Are you … Can I? I mean, I bet you're tired of everyone wanting to touch you and ..."
"Come here Kate." Jenny said, using her teacher voice.
She took her hand and placed it where she knew her daughter was.
"Wow! I can feel her. It must be really wonderful to feel it from the inside." Kate whispered, really impressed.
"Kate, are you ok?"
"Yes, why?"
"You're crying." Jenny said.
"What? Really?" Kate asked, touching her cheeks where she found some tears. "Oh, I guess I am." she laughed nervously. "It's just … can I ask you a really personal question?"
"Sure."
"Did you and Kevin have problem making your daughter? I mean ..."
"I know what you mean Kate, but no, we didn't have any particular problem. But you have to let Nature do the work." Jenny answered, smiling.
"It's just that … well, if I tell you this, you have to swear not to tell anyone because no one knows about it."
"I swear Kate. Now, come on. Just get it off your chest."
"Well, Rick and I … we're trying to get pregnant. I went to the doctor today, just to make sure everything was ok, you know. And they asked me to go back on Monday. They really drew a lot of blood and told me they needed to do some more tests. And I know my parents had trouble having me and ..."
"And you freaked out." Jenny finished.
"Well … yes, completely. I really don't want to disappoint Rick." Kate whispered.
"Kate, come on, look at him." Jenny said, pointing at the living room. "You could never disappoint this man. He's head over heels in love with you. He would do anything for you."
"I know. I'm just really worried something is wrong with me."
"Nothing is wrong with you Kate. I'm sure they just want some blood tests to be sure to give you the best care and vitamins." Jenny said soothingly.
"That's what Rick said." Kate smiled, looking at him doing a sort of victory dance in front of Esposito.
"Then it's that it's true! Come on, don't think too much about it now. Wait for Monday. Once you have all the information, you can start from there. Call me after your appointment if you want. We could go for a drink or something."
"I'd like that very much." Kate said, hugging her. "We should definitely get together and talk more often."
"Hey, everything's alright in here?" Rick asked, coming to them.
"Yeah, everything is fine." Kate said, kissing him quickly. "Come on Jenny, I'm going to kick your ass at Mario Kart!" she added, walking to the living room.
"You don't know who you're talking to Missy, I' the queen of Mario Kart, and you're going down!"