Chapter 45- 34 Weeks
They made their way into Alexis' school, Kate sliding her fingers between his as they made their way to her classroom.
"Hey, it's gonna be fine you know that, right? These things happen all the time." Kate assured him, but she could tell that it was weighing on him.
She didn't know if it was that Alexis got into an altercation at school, or if it was more about what was going on with Alexis that would make her shove another child. They walked into her classroom to see the little girl sitting at a round table by the window, her head laid down on the desk over her arms. She perched up when she saw them, sitting up straight and looking her dad in the eye before quickly turning her head towards the window.
They took a seat next to her at the table, neither of them saying anything but waiting for Alexis to say something first.
"I'm sorry dad, it won't happen again."
"Alexis, not now. We will wait on your teacher."
A few minutes passed by and a tall thin brunette woman walked into the classroom.
"Ahh, you must be Mr. Castle," She said as she approached the table, both Rick and Kate stood to great her.
"Yeah that's me, and this is my fiancé Kate." He said as he shook her hand, the woman moving to shake Kates next.
"Nice to meet you all, I'm sorry it's under these circumstances but this is just a minor mishap."
"So what exactly happened?" Rick asked, looking down at Alexis and then back up at her teacher.
"It seems that a few of Alexis' classmates have been bullying and teasing her lately, which only got brought to my attention today after the incident. I did ask a few other classmates and they all told me the same story."
"What would they be teasing her about?" Kate asked, curious as to why anyone would pick on Alexis.
"You, actually. Kate, was it?"
"Yes, it's Kate and why would they be teasing her about me?"
"Well I assume that some of these children have parents that read gossip magazines."
"And then they tell their children that it's okay to bully a child over something they know nothing about?"
"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that in my experience children often follow their parents lead. I would assume that this parent asked their child about Alexis, and the two of you."
Rick slowly nodded his head, trying to understand what was going on. Kate looked to Alexis, making eye contact with her.
"Lex, what are they saying?"
"I don't want to say." The little girl replied in a whisper.
"Lex, if you don't tell me then we cant do anything about this."
"Kate… I…"
"Alexis Harper, tell me now." Kate urged her.
"Well, they, I mean she said that you're a bimbo, just like my dads other girlfriends. Except I told them my dad didn't have other girlfriends, just you, and that you were my mom, but they told me that you weren't my mom, that you didn't even care about me or my dad, just my dads money, so then I shoved her."
"Lex, why didn't you tell us something was going on at school baby, so we could have dealt with it?"
"Because I didn't want you to get mad at me Kate, I didn't want you to think that I don't love you because of the things they said about you."
Kate stood up from her seat and made her way over to Alexis, bending down so that she was on her level.
"Lex, you know I love you to the moon and back right, and you know that what other people say about me and your dad isn't true, we have told you that. You have to ignore everyone else. What happens in our house is our business, right?"
"Right." Alexis nodded.
"Then why did you let what she said get to you, why would you shove her hunny?"
"Because I want you to be my mom too, and she just made me so mad when she said you didn't care about me and that you didn't love me or my dad."
"But you know that isn't true, you know how much you and your dad mean to me."
"Then why can't you be my mom?" The little girl asked, choking back trying to hold it together.
"Lex, we have talked about this." Rick butted in from the seat next to her.
"I know we have dad, but it's just not fair. Carter will get to call her mom, and I want to call her mom too."
"Lex, I told you that Kate and I would figure something out, you have to let the adults worry about those things, there isn't anything you can do about it right now."
"Fine, I don't want to call you dad anymore then, I'll just call you Rick." The little girl said as she stood up and stormed out of the room.
Rick looked over at the teacher as she sat quietly observing their conversation.
"I don't know what has gotten in to her, she has always been so good, so easy, and I just feel like she is falling apart inside and I don't know what to do about it." Rick admitted.
"Listen, Mr. Castle, children don't have the same sense of understanding that we do. I think Alexis is dealing with a lot right now. The pressure of having to create room in her life for a new sibling and a new parent, and it probably doesn't help that other children are teasing her about her dads personal life."
"I just don't know what to do, should I pull her from Marlowe, maybe she would do better at a new school where no one knows who she is."
"I'm sorry to break it to you Mr. Castle, but eventually people are going to figure out who she is."
"So what do I do?"
"Honestly, there are a few options that we could try. First, I really think that she should start seeing someone, a child psychologist maybe. Also, I don't know how open you are with her, but maybe when you're in the papers for something you should just be open with her about it, let her know what people are talking about and tell her the real story so that she can differentiate what's gossip and what's true."
"So you think we should keep her here, that everything will work itself out?"
"Yeah, I mean we have talked to the parents of the other child and basically given her a warning, the same warning we are going to give Alexis. This is a zero tolerance school for bullying or fighting. Since the girls are so young and we believe that this can resolve itself after today we want to give it a chance to do so. If there is another incident with this child, where she bullies or teases Alexis at all she will be expelled, and if Alexis happens to retaliate at all she will also be expelled."
"Well, I can promise that Alexis will never shove another child." Rick said.
"Good. Look I think the two of you seem like great parents to Alexis and I know that she is going through a lot emotionally right now. Maybe you should take her out of school for a few days and just spend a little time with her."
"You know, I actually think that's a perfect idea. I think I might take her to Los Angeles to see her mother."
"That sounds like a good idea Mr. Castle." She said as she stood up.
Rick and Kate both stood up as well, shaking her hand and telling her that they would get this issue resolves as quickly as possible.
Xx
The entire car ride home Alexis was quiet. She sat between Rick and Kate in the back of the town car, facing straight ahead, not making any effort to speak to or even look at either of them.
Kate couldn't hold back her own tears, just knowing how much Alexis had to be hurting inside from everything that was going on. Her mind was racing about how she could fix this for her, how she could make her life a little easier until she could properly deal with all the changes occurring in her life.
As they got back to the loft, Alexis headed up the stairs silently and they both just let her be.
"Rick, we have to do something for her, she is miserable and I cant deal with seeing her like this." Kate said, tears rolling down her face. "I just feel like this is my fault, she shouldn't have to deal with any of this right now."
Rick walked over and pulled her into a hug.
"Listen, babe, I think we should take her to LA, let her see her mom, and also it will give us a chance to talk to Meredith about everything."
"I don't know, I mean I'm 6 weeks away from giving birth, I don't even know that my doctors would allow me to fly right now."
"Well, we can always ask, if not, then I'll go with Alexis, and you can stay here for a few days. I know it's not ideal, but I have to do something for her."
"I know, I know, I mean my doctors think I'll go full term so I don't see why it would be an issue at all."
"Okay, good." He pulled back, pressing a kiss to her lips before releasing her.
"I think you should still call Meredith, let her know the plan. I'll call my doctor in the morning, see what he thinks about me flying right now."
"Okay, sounds good."
Rick walked off into his office to call Meredith. She picked up on the second ring.
"Hey Ricky, how are things in Manhattan?"
"They are not going so well actually Meredith. I was thinking about bringing Lex down to Los Angeles to see you, also I need to talk to you about a few things, and it would be best if it were in person."
"Of course, I would love to see you. When are you coming?"
"Meredith, I'm not coming to see you, I'm bringing Alexis to see you."
"That's what I meant, I would love to see the both of you."
"We will be flying out tomorrow actually. Staying a few days."
"Sounds perfect, look I gotta run I have company that just arrived. Text me tomorrow and let me know the plan, okay?"
The phone clicked, She had just hung up on him.
He made his way back into the kitchen where Kate was cooking dinner.
"Something smells good."
"I'm making spaghetti, hopefully it will cheer her up, plus the other little one is craving it." She said as she ran her hand over her stomach.
Rick walked up behind her and ran his arms around her waist, locking them over her bump.
"I talked to Meredith."
"And.."
"I don't know, I told her we were coming and she acting more excited to see me then Alexis, which pissed me off of course, but I know that I have to take her, I have to talk to her in person about everything that is going on. Maybe she will be okay with allowing you to adopt her, I mean she doesn't really seem to care much about her anyway."
"Rick.. I don't know. I mean I trust you of course, you know her, I don't, but I just don't want you all to fight in front of Alexis."
"I promise we wont even talk about those things in front of her, plus you'll be there."
"What if I cant go."
"Well then I'll take care of it, I'll be careful don't worry."
"You better tell that hussy to keep her hand off. You're all mine you know." She said as she leaned back to kiss him.
"Oh I am fully aware." He said as he grabbed her left hand, placing a kiss over her ring finger.
I decided to go ahead and update tonight so that everyone could wake up with a surprise in his or her inbox.
Next Chapter we will get a lot of Meredith, so buckle up.
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