Chapter 39 - 24 Weeks
"Kate get up off the couch and get in the shower! You're gonna make us late."
Rick walked towards her, reaching his hands out for her to grab so he could help pull her up. They had planned a dinner for their parents to meet, but Kate had been pretty hesitant, rescheduling the day before, making up some excuse about not feeling well and not having anything to wear.
"Rick, cant we reschedule? I really don't feel good today, and it's so hot outside."
"You already rescheduled yesterday, Kate."
"Well, I still don't have anything to wear, and Castle I'm not in the mood."
He leant forward pulling on her arms until she came to a standing position.
"I don't really care if you're in the mood Kate, you're getting dressed and we are going to dinner with our families. This needs to happen before the baby gets here, and I think the we need to give them time to get to know one another."
She rolled her eyes, letting out a deep breath and then pressed a kiss to his lips and started off towards the bedroom to get ready.
"I'm still not happy about having to put on nice clothes and fix my hair."
XX
Kate held Alexis' hand as they walked into the restaurant, Rick leading the way. They were sat in the corner of the restaurant at a round table. Alexis chose to sit next to Kate instead of her dad, which both Rick and Kate took notice too. Alexis' attachment to Kate was becoming stronger, but neither of them could figure out why, and neither of them wanted to draw attention to it so they just let her be.
Jim and Johanna were the first to arrive and made their way back to the table. Rick stood to great both of them, introducing them to Alexis, who barely made eye contact with them, instead she hid her face in Kate's arm as she stood next to her.
"Kate I need to go to the bathroom." The little girl whispered into her side.
"Okay, lets go."
Kate stood and grabbed the little girls hand. "Bathroom break." She said to Castle before they walked off.
Rick looked to her parents who were starting at the two walking away.
"She's been like that lately, I don't know what's going on?" Rick whispered to Johanna.
"Well it's probably because she knows the baby will be here soon and she doesn't want Kate to forget about her."
"You think?" Rick asked quietly.
"Oh, yes, I remember when my mother was pregnant with my little sister, I was the same way, attached to her hip."
"You're probably right, Kate is the closest thing she has had to a mom, and she probably does feel like she will lose her once the baby comes. You think she'll be okay?"
"Oh yeah, she will be fine, just make sure she gets one on one time with Kate. During the baby's bath time or when you put him down for a nap. Eventually she will get use to sharing the both of you and things will be fine."
"That sounds manageable." Rick laughed.
"So how has Kate been?"
"She is doing great, we're doing great." Rick said with a smile on his face.
"So when is the wedding?"
"I think we decided on next summer, early summer, maybe May. Kate wanted to wait for the baby so that she could wear an amazing dress that I'm sure will break my bank on it's own."
"Well you know we will help with the wedding." Jim chimed in.
"Oh, no, we can afford the wedding, I was joking. She can have whatever dress she wants."
"So is Kate going to be a stay at home mom, or does she plan on going back to school."
"She plans on going back to school." Kate chimed in as she approached her seat, sitting and placing her napkin on her lap.
"Oh, well that's good to hear. You going back in January?"
"Uhhh, no, I plan on taking the whole year off. I will have a newborn at home in January, I'm going to need time to adjust to that before I start school again."
"You know, the longer you wait Katie, the less likely you are to return."
"Mom, I know that school is very important to you and that you want me to get my education, but that is the least of my worries right now. I have a baby coming in a few months, a wedding 6 months after that, I will get back to school after my wedding."
"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to push."
"Well you are pushing. Rick and I have this handled, we have a plan and we are going to be fine."
Rick stepped in, "Kate she is just trying to help."
"Rick don't start…" Kate twisted her head towards him, giving him the look.
"I'm not… I'm sorry, lets change the subject." He reached over placing his hand over hers in her lap and giving her hand a squeeze.
Almost on cue Martha appeared in the distance walking towards their table.
"Hello everyone." She waved as she approached.
"Mother, these are Kate's parent's Jim and Johanna."
"Hello, Martha Rogers. I knew the two of you had to be good looking folks, your daughter is such a stunner." They shook hands and Martha had a seat next to Alexis.
"Martha, stop." Kate shyly protested.
"What darling, it's the truth. I can't wait to see what my grandson looks like."
"I'm sure he will be just as handsome as his daddy." Kate said, running her hand through the back of Rick's hair.
"I'm hoping he looks more like his mommy." Rick whispered into her ear as he peppered a few kisses over her cheek and jaw.
Over the course of dinner Martha and Johanna got to know each other pretty well, the two hit it off quite nicely and carried on conversation amongst themselves for most of the dinner. It was still a little awkward between Jim and Rick, of course Rick tried to make small talk about anything, but Jim didn't really bite. He was pretty quiet throughout the dinner, except for the conversations he held with Kate.
When they made it home Alexis was already asleep so they put her up in her room while they cuddled up on the couch together.
"I think we should look into some more names. I mean we know it's a boy now, and I know we have a nickname but I'd really like for him to have an official name."
"I'm completely open to ideas for names. Throw a few out."
Kate took a deep breath, her fingers unconsciously running figure eights over Castles palm.
"You mentioned the name Carter the other day and I really like it. It flows well too, Carter Castle."
"Carter Castle, I like the sound of it."
"Carter Houghton Castle." Kate said out loud, looking over at Rick to see how he felt about it.
"After his mommy." A smile spread across his face.
"After my mom, it's her maiden name."
"Did we just choose a name for our son?"
"Yeah, I think we did."
"How was it that easy. I seriously thought this would take months and that we would decide last minute."
"I don't know, I just like it. Carter Houghton Castle, it sounds so….. perfect for our little boy."
"I agree babe." He leaned in kissing her cheek and then tilting his head back to graze his teeth over her ear.
"Not right now Rick. I'm not in the mood."
"Since when are you not in the mood?" He questioned, pulling his head back and giving her a surprised look.
"I'm just not in the mood." She shot back a little aggressively.
"Whoa, babe. If you're not in the mood that's fine I was just teasing. You'd tell me if I did something wrong, right?"
"Yeah, it has nothing to do with you. I just don't feel very sexy and the last thing I want is to have to be naked in front of you."
"Hey," he reached over grabbing her hand and pulling it close to him. "You know I love your body, every part of it."
"I know, but right now I don't really love my body. Every part of me is swollen and gross and…" the tears started to gather in her eyes.
He grabbed her head and pulled it into his chest.
"Baby, please don't cry. Every pregnant woman has insecurities; your body is going through a lot right now. It's expanding and making room for our bug to grow. It's normal for you to be a little uncomfortable but I promise it will all be worth it in the end."
She nodded her head into his chest. "I'm still not having sex with you."
Rick let out a laugh, "It's not about sex, Kate. If you don't want to have sex the rest of the way I'd understand. It's your body, you get to decide."
"You're not going to go somewhere else for it right?" She looked up at him. At first he thought she was joking but then he saw the pain in her eyes.
He pulled her body in close to his and she wound herself around him.
"I'm in love with you, you know that right? I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children, but most of all I want you to be my best friend, my partner in crime. The person I go to for everything, and I want you to feel the same way about me. We don't need insecurities with each other, we love each other, right?"
"Right." She nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"So if you don't want to have sex, we don't have to have sex, and you don't have to feel guilty about it."
"I'm not saying I don't want to do it anymore before I have the baby, I just don't feel very sexy today and the thought of being naked in front of you right now terrifies me."
"Terrifies you? Kate I've seen you naked a thousand times."
"I know, but I'm huge, look at me." She traced her hand down over her stomach.
"You know there is a baby in there right? Once he comes out your body is going to be back to normal. Not immediately, but it will get there."
"I know, it's just really hard for me to get use to being so big and immobile. I mean who would want to have sex with me anyway, all I do is lay there." She rolled her eyes.
"I don't really care what you do as long as I get to see your face and feel your body when I make you cum."
"Rick…" She shoved at his chest.
"I'm serious. I don't care about me getting off, I just want to pleasure you, make sure you're having your needs met." He ran his hand down between her thighs, pressing his palm to her center.
"Rick, please stop before I cant tell you to stop anymore."
"Just let me put my mouth on you." he leaned in capturing her lips in between his own, drawing a moan from her.
"Bedroom." She managed to say between kisses.
So, I haven't really been motivated to write much. I plan on writing as much as possible in the next few weeks. It kind of just depends on the feedback and reviews I get though. I know a lot of people read these stories and don't review. People say they don't know what to say and that's understandable, but your reviews are what keeps the writer excited about writing for you. When you're excited about our story it makes us excited to write. You can leave the tiniest review just saying your feelings about the chapter or where the story is going.
Until next time.