Chapter 27 – 14 Weeks
"Castle, none of these dresses look good on me. I just look like a blob."
"Kate, come out of the dressing room. I want to see it on you."
She opened the curtain and stepped out. The floor length Navy blue dress was to die for. It haltered around her neck, and hugged her stomach in a tastefully tight way. Kate was still getting use to her growing form, she knew that the growth was all worth it and to be honest the only place she had grown at all was her belly. She still felt uncomfortable in anything other than one of Castle's loose fitting shirts and gym shorts.
Rick stood from the lounge chair and circled around her taking in every angle of the dress.
"Baby, you look… beautiful."
She smiled, and a blush formed across her cheeks.
"You really think so? You wouldn't lie right, you know I'll be mortified if all the magazines call me a beached whale."
"Kate you act like you're belly is huge, you are barely even showing, I mean seriously, I cant even tell your pregnant from the back."
"Well I feel huge."
"Well that's probably because you a human stuffed in your torso."
"A wittle baby." She teased.
He wrapped his arms around her waist as she looked herself up and down in the full length mirror.
"You really think this is the one?"
"Oh I know it is, and it's going to go so well with my blue eyes."
"Your blue eyes, since when am I dressing to set your eyes off?"
"Well you are my best accessory." He placed a kiss on her shoulder.
"God you're so hot when you say cheesy things." She reached back, grabbing his belt and pulling him closer to her backside.
"Kate, are you trying to seduce me?"
"Castle, we are in public, and now that I'm getting bigger, we can't really do it just anywhere."
"I know, I know, I was only teasing."
She turned around in his arms, hooking her own back behind his neck. Their bodies didn't exactly fit together in the same way anymore. The evidence of the life they created was pushing into Castles stomach as Kate stood on her tiptoes to catch his lips in a sweet kiss. He unlocked his hands where they lay on the small of her back and ran them both around her torso and placed them on her swollen stomach.
"You are literally getting bigger and bigger every day and it is the sexiest thing ever."
She put her hands over his and pulled them from her stomach.
"It makes me uncomfortable when you touch my belly in public. I don't want attention drawn to it."
"Well get use to it because tonight my hands will be all over this bump." He teased, leaning in and stealing another kiss from her.
"Cant you tell I'm thrilled." She shot back sarcastically, "Honestly Rick, after tonight I think I will be a lot more comfortable with all of it. I just feel like we have been hiding it for so long already and once we get it out in the open, all the pressure will be gone."
"Well just a warning, some people are going to be extremely excited for us, but there are still going to be those people who say mean things. I just want you to ignore them, okay. Can you promise me that?"
"I'll try, I can promise to try."
XX
Kate sat in the back of the town car as close to Rick as possible, and he could sense that her nerves were getting the best of her. Her palms were sweaty and he could almost hear her mind running.
"Kate, we don't have to do this."
She turned her head towards him, forcing a smile. She was trying to be supportive of how he wanted to handle things. After all, he was the one with all the media experience. She was a small time model, and had never made the tabloids.
"Rick, im okay, I promise."
"You'd tell me if you didn't want to do this, right?"
She met his eyes again, a genuine smile making its way across her face.
"I might be a little nervous, but I'm not backing out."
He smiled and leaned in, placing a tender kiss on her lips.
"Don't worry I'm not sending you out there alone, we are doing this together and I wont leave your side tonight, I promise."
"I'm beginning to feel like I'm not the only one that's scared shitless."
"I'm not scared, more anxious."
"Well we're here…" Kate looked past Castle and out the window, there were hundreds of photographers and entertainment reporters lined up alone the red carpet. The butterflies took over her stomach, she felt like she was about to throw up at the sight of so many people. So many people that she was about to invite into her little world.
"You ready?" he asked, as he placed a kiss on her shoulder.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Castle knocked on the window, signaling that they were ready to exit.
Castle made his was out first, turning back to grab her hand and as she stood she put on a huge smile. Even if she was nervous, she was not going to show the world that side. She was going to be strong and confident, she had nothing to be ashamed of.
As they made their way down the red carpet, no one took notice to the swollen belly that Kate was sporting. They almost made it all the way down the photoline before anyone took notice. Kate saw a photographer whisper to another one by his side and then point to her belly. She gave them both a smile and a nod, gripping Castles hand tighter as she leaned into him.
As they made their way to the interview line Kate began to have second guesses.
"Maybe I should just let you do the interviews, I don't have to be a part of that right, I mean they don't even know me, they wont want to talk to me.
"Kate…. You're coming with me, we have already made it this far, if you don't want to answer a question they ask, just deflect."
"Okay, Okay, I can do that."
They made their way to the first reporter, Castle leading the way but dragging Kate along by the hand. As they made their way to the tall blonde woman, her eyes grew at the sight of Kates belly, a smile stretching across her face.
"Ricky, I didn't know you were having another baby."
He smiled back towards Kate, gripping her hand tight.
"Yes I am. This is my girlfriend Kate."
The woman extended her hand to shake Kates.
"Nice to meet you Kate, do you mind if we ask a few questions? If at any time you don't want to answer just ask us to move on and we will, we can edit the interview."
Kate nodded towards the interviewer and then towards Castle.
"So Kate, how did you and Rick meet?"
"We met at a charity luncheon that we both attended."
"Was it love at first sight?"
Kate laughed at that, smirking towards Caste, and nodding towards the interviewer, a blush forming on her cheeks.
"I think it was for me, and I hope it was something special for her as well." Castle interrupted, saving her.
The interviewer directed her questions back to Castle, noticing Kates discomfort.
"Do you mind me asking when the baby is due, and how have you been able to hide this?"
"Well we still have quite a while left in the pregnancy, I wont give a due date, but we are still quite a ways away. We don't really go to many event, we have our own little life and that keeps the media away from us pretty well."
"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"
"We do not know yet, like I told you, we still have quite a bit of time before the baby comes."
"Okay, Okay, I wont hassle you with anymore baby questions."
"You're fine, we expected baby questions, everyone gets excited over babies, right?"
The lady nodded, then proceeded to ask him about his latest book, and when to expect the next one.
As they made it through the rest of the interviews, Kate became a little more comfortable with speaking to the reporters. Their questions hadn't been as harsh as she expected, and everyone seemed genuinely excited for the two of them.
As Castle led her away from the last reporter, Kate immediately made eye contact with a livid Gina. The thin, blonde publisher was fuming and Kate knew that the hardest part of the whole evening was about to occur.
She stalked towards them, grabbing Ricks arm and pulling them both to the side.
"What is going on here."
"Gina, calm down."
"CALM DOWN, ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY, RICK?"
Rick sushed her, and that only seemed the infuriate her more.
"Do not sush me, Richard Castle. You show up tonight with this bimbo on your arm, pregnant, and you don't even tell me, how do I not know that your whore of a girlfriend is pregnant!"
The tears started to well up in Kates eyes, she was mortified. Everyone around them was staring at her, looking her up and down. Her chest started to tighten and her vision started to blur. She started to panic, looking around for a way out, somewhere to go, somewhere to hide. She grabbed Rick's hand and squeezed it, trying to signal that something was wrong, but he was focused on Gina. She could tell he was yelling, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She felt like she was in a bubble, a shrinking bubble, and then she passed out.
Rick felt her weight falling to the ground, and immediately turned his attention to her. Dropping to his knees to prop her head up onto his lap, and checking her pulse.
"Someone call 911"