Chapter 4

A/N: Oh God, it's been what like two months? So sorry this is taking so long, school was winding down and I was crewing for the middle school musical and that took up a lot of time, so it's taking a while to write. Plus I'm having trouble deciding what parts to leave out and which parts to include.

On another note who died during For Better or For Worse? I did! I don't want to wait FOUR MONTHS to find out what happened. Technically now it's 3 months and 19 days, yes I have a countdown going. Anyway, on to the story:

Kate was busy for the next several months as the school year came to a close. She was very happy it ended when it did because she was starting to show. She noticed that she was often more tired than usual and she felt cramped and bloated. All of this made it difficult to focus at times and she had a hard time finding enough energy to study and do her work. This made for a crummy year. She was happy when summer came. That meant that she only had to go to work and sleep.

She was surprised that Anna didn't figure it out. Kate tried to cover up her baby bump but it was pretty difficult. She didn't have enough loose shirts and stretchy pants. She hated the thought of going to get maternity clothes but she knew it was coming. Anna didn't even notice really. Kate was rather proud of the way she was keeping things to herself.

The ultrasound from several months ago was kept in whatever book she was reading at the time and stayed hidden from Anna. She knew not to mess with Kate's stuff, she had the same policy. They weren't even really friends and their stuff was private. So as long as Kate kept out of her stuff, Anna would keep out of Kate's.

The year ended and she and Anna said goodbye. She packed up her stuff and happily bid farewell to the dimly lit, overly small dorm room. She had made arrangements to stay with Lanie until she found an apartment of her own or until the school year started again and she was housed in a dorm that was made for student parents. The latter is what would probably happen. She wanted to save her money to pay for everything the twins would require, starting with the hospital bills. Those alone would probably account for 2-3 months' rent of an average apartment and Lanie agreed her money was best spent taking care of the twins, as long as Kate didn't mind sleeping on the couch.

Kate still kept a running list of 'To do's' that she had to get done before the twins were born, most of which were more last minute type of things, but now that the school year was over she was able to get one of them done. Regardless of where she stayed over the summer she would definitely be registering for a student parent dorm room for the next year. So now was the time to go and register.

She walked, which she could thankfully still do a good bit of, to the main office building for the university and went for the housing department. They kept a stack of dorm applications on the outside of their door, stuck behind half of a file folder taped to the door. The application was to be filled out, signed by a parent if you weren't over 18, and mailed back to the university housing department. Kate took one and looked it over, making sure the type of housing was just a box you had to check and not something you had to take up with someone official. Thankfully there was a list of choices and you could write your preference down in one of the lines on the form. Kate tucked the form into her canvas bag and walked back to Lanie's.

She quickly filled out the form and mailed it to the housing department, one thing off of her To Do list. It gave her a sense of accomplishment and calmness to check something off of that list. It meant that she had greater control over the situation. The more she could do to prepare, the more she knew she would be more at ease with having twins.

The concept of having twins had scared her to death at first, but she was starting to accept it and try and prepare as much as possible for it. She knew it would be extremely difficult but she also knew that her mother was right in saying that "life never gave you anything you can't handle." It made her a lot more comfortable when the doctor used the phrase after the ultrasound. She liked Dr. Collins, especially because she was a single mother with twins. She felt like she could relate to her because they had something in common.

When she returned to the apartment from mailing the housing form Kate went to the fridge. Now four months pregnant she had begun to eat a lot more and had a lot of weird cravings. Never before had she enjoyed hot sauce or any form of Mexican food but Lanie had begun to complain because they were having it most nights of the week. Kate had conceded to only having it at lunch so Lanie wouldn't have to suffer through it. Another thing she had begun to crave was omelets, omelets with anything in them from vegetables to chocolate and marshmallows. She usually got up before Lanie and made her breakfast so as not to receive disgusted glances from Lanie, she got enough of that at lunch when she made her turkey and ketchup sandwiches. Okay so her cravings were pretty weird but come on, she was pregnant and if she wanted a s'morelet for breakfast and a turkey and ketchup sandwich for lunch she should be able to make it and eat it without getting weird looks from her friend.

All in all Lanie had been amazing about letting her live there and helping her with all of the weird pregnancy stuff including but not limited to: heartburn, congestion, swollen ankles, increased appetite, and lower abdomen aches. Second trimester was not treating Kate well and Lanie was always there with tums and an insanely comfortable couch. Lanie was probably one of the best friends that Kate had had. It wasn't just that she helped her with pregnancy and gave her a place to live, she also helped her get out and do things like dinner and shopping, she was always there to talk, she went on insanely slow and boring walks with Kate, and she tried to get her to date. Of course Kate denied attempts at blind dates saying that no guy would be interested in a girl knocked up with twins.

Kate had yet to tell her dad, she now figured that she would wait until they were born so she didn't have a fight with him about abortion. Of course when they were born there would be opportunity for a fight about adoption but she figured she could win that one with "I'm the one who gave birth to these miracles and I'm keeping them. I did not go through all of that pain to give them away and I'm already too attached." She figured her dad wouldn't have a good comeback for that one.

Back to present day Kate made herself a midmorning snack of cheese and crackers, one of her favorite elevensies meals. She broke her meals and snacks up much the same way the hobbits did in "The Lord of the Rings": First Breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, afternoon tea (which never contained tea per doctor's orders), and dinner. She was eating so much she was surprised that the amount of weight she had gained was not that much.

She ate her cheese and crackers and began to pack a lunch for work. She was still working at the store, and it was a good thing too, she had to pay for this extra food somehow. Plus she would have to pay rent for student housing in the fall, and of course there was the twin infant situation, all of which would require steady income from a job. She considered looking for a better paying job but wasn't sure she would find one that would allow a pregnant woman to work. The manager at the store she was working at now was weary as it was about letting her work there when she was four months pregnant (she had to tell her, she was Kate's boss) but Kate had won her over saying she didn't walk around that much anyway and she was feeling better energized in this second trimester. So she continued to go to work and earn money, which she saved as much as possible.

Work was pretty boring as usual; she sat at the cash register reading until a rare customer came in and bought something. The customer rate was about one every hour and a half. Kate wasn't sure how the store was staying in business but it was, and she was still employed. She was now reading "A Rose for Ever After," Castle's eighth book. She was running out of published books of Castle's to read, which was a problem, she read a lot. Maybe she would take up reading Patterson or Cannell but for some reason she felt like that would be cheating, even though there was no tangible friendship or anything with Castle, from the tabloids he seemed like a really douchy playboy who Kate would never get along with, but still he was a hell of a writer. And reading another writer's book felt like cheating. So maybe when she finished with Castle's books she would just reread them.

When Kate got home from work Lanie was there with Chinese. "Sit down girl! I haven't talked to you in forever," she said waving her over with a chopstick.

"It was last night!" Kate exclaimed taking her seat at Lanie's kitchen table and grabbing a carton of Moo Shu pork.

"Still, how was your day?" Lanie asked.

"Pretty boring, but I did get my application for student housing mailed so I can check that off of my list," Kate said smiling and making a check sign in the air with her chopstick.

"That's good! I think I can help you get something else checked off of your list this weekend," Lanie said avoiding eye contact.

"What?" Kate asked warily.

"I thought maybe we could go maternity shopping," Lanie said and Kate's eyes immediately got wide.

"Lanie no, come on I don't want to go maternity shopping!" Kate exclaimed. "It will be awkward!"

"Kate it will not be awkward. Don't think of it as maternity shopping, think of it as just regular shopping," Lanie tried to reason.

"Am I really big enough to start maternity shopping?" Kate said sitting back and looking down at her stomach, rubbing her hand over it instinctively.

"Well you will be soon, plus you're almost far enough along to need weekly doctor visits and the next ultrasound."

"Why do I need weekly visits?" Kate asked.

"They'll just run some tests to check the baby's health and do some routine stuff to check your health, it's no big deal," Lanie told her waving her hand as if waving off any anxiety Kate was feeling.

"So I'll get to know the gender of the twins in the next couple of weeks?" Kate asked hopefully, momentarily assured that the tests were no big deal.

"Yep, you should probably set up the appointment soon. You should start feeling them kick soon too. What gender do you think they are?" Lanie asked with a girlish excitement.

"I don't know. I don't even know what I want them to be. Probably not both boys, that would be crazy, I could live with two girls, or a girl and a boy," Kate said smiling and rubbing her stomach.

"I hope its two little girls! You could dress them the same and give them names that start with the same letter and—"

"No! I am not going to dress them the same, that would be too cliché," Kate interrupted. "The only way I would dress them the same would be if they were taking a formal picture. I would give them names that start with the same letter though."

"Seriously? You wouldn't even dress them the same for like their first day of school or their birthday?" Lanie asked incredulously.

"No! Are you kidding they would hate it! What if in every picture of their childhood they were dressed in matching dresses or outfits? They would ask if they ever dressed differently like individuals. No way, only occasionally," Kate said with a sense of finality.

"Whatever, anyway, tomorrow you and I are going maternity shopping and I don't want to hear any complaining," Lanie said grabbing her empty cartons and taking them to the trash.

"Ugh," Kate groaned and threw her head back. She smiled at Lanie's eye roll and went back to eating. Lanie went to the bathroom, presumably to take a bath. They spent the rest of the evening quietly, reading and watching cheesy game shows.

The next day she was officially five months pregnant and, in the eyes of Lanie, eligible to shop for maternity clothes. They went to the nearest department store and went straight for the maternity section. The selection was surprisingly good. The dresses weren't all that different from regular ones, just with added fabric around the stomach and the tops and pants were pretty normal as well. They even had lingerie, not that Kate was going to buy any.

"Hey Kate," Lanie said from behind drawing out her name.

"What?" Kate said turning around. "Oh, no! No Lanie!" Kate exclaimed when she saw what Lanie was holding. It was a set of lingerie with black lace. "I'm not even seeing anyone right now, why should I waste money on that?"

"I know I'm just messing with you. You know that's your fault by the way. You could be seeing someone if you would just let me set you up or go out on your own," Lanie said with a laugh.

"Lanie we've been through this," Kate started.

"I know I know, no one will stick around when you have newborns and stuff but come on, don't you want something even if it's temporary?"

"I'm perfectly fine being on my own, living with my best friend," Kate said walking to a different rack and leaving Lanie to put the lingerie back on the rack.

Kate had an armful of clothing and went with Lanie to the try on rooms. When she came out in front of the mirror a woman approached smiling.

"How far along are you?" She asked cheerily.

"5 months as of today," Kate said smiling back.

"May I feel? Does it kick?" She asked moving closer.

"Um, no they don't yet but my friend the nurse says they will soon," Kate said pointing to Lanie and putting an almost protective hand on her stomach. She felt something almost like a cricket running across her stomach and froze. She thought maybe it was food digesting until she felt it again. "Wait Lanie I think they're kicking! Oh my god come feel!"

Lanie came and put a hand where Kate instructed and immediately smiled up at her saying "That's amazing! Wow!"

"May I?" The woman asked.

"Sure," Kate said.

The woman put her hand on Kate's stomach and smiled. She thanked Kate saying she looked great and wishing her good luck on the rest of her pregnancy and walked away. After she was gone Kate turned to Lanie "Why would someone's, a complete stranger might I add, immediate reaction to me saying I'm 5 months pregnant be 'can I feel your stomach?'"

"Relax and get used to it, it will happen more often now that you're showing," Lanie said with a laugh.

Kate rolled her eyes and went back into the try on room to try on other stuff. All of it fit but Kate still didn't like the way she looked much. "I wish there was maternity stuff that slimmed you, I still look fat."

"Well if you think you're fat now just wait until you're nine months and ready to have them any day."

"You're not helping," Kate said with a glare. Lanie just laughed.

They ended up getting two dresses for formal occasions, 5 tops that she could rotate through, and 3 pairs of pants, two formal and one pair of casual jeans. It was sparse but it was all that she could afford, and all she really needed because she didn't plan on being pregnant again anytime soon. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that you were going to give birth to two human beings but she would not be having careless sex with anyone else for a long time. She probably wouldn't have sex with anyone unless it was serious; she didn't want to risk giving the twins a brother or sister without a father. She knew that they would already be missing out not having a father around and she didn't want them to be ruined by having multiple potential father figures around without any of them staying. She had already decided not to bring her romantic interests around the twins until she knew it was serious. Of course she was probably overthinking it but hey, she was the queen of overthinking things.

They paid and went home, stopping to get a midmorning snack for Kate on the way of course. When they got home Kate put away her clothes and sat on the couch with her hands on her stomach, enjoying feeling the babies kick. She smiled to herself and relaxed. Lanie had a few meetings for counseling on the classes she should take so she left right after they got back. Kate spent the afternoon sitting on the couch absentmindedly watching some cop show where the partners were too stubborn to admit their feelings and were shamelessly flirting while the other characters made jokes about them and their relationship without them really understanding. She didn't really follow the story line because she was too overjoyed feeling her twins kick. This made her happier than she could've imagined it making her feel. It got her excited. For the first time she wasn't overwhelmed at all, she was overjoyed.

A/N: So I'm a big nerd and I had to include the stuff about Hobbit meals from the Lord of the Rings. Also the inspiration for the scene with the woman wanting to feel Kate's stomach came from one in Charmed which was one of my favorite shows for a while. As for the cop show it's a little bit based on Caskett's relationship from the first 4 seasons. Hope you enjoy it, sorry for the long wait again. It's summer so I should be able to write more.