CLEANING LADY

Chapter 9

Epilogue

It was a year later

Kate was sitting there proofing what Castle had written. She loved his books and got to be the first to read them. She thought she had the greatest job ever!

Rick sat down next to her. "So, how did I do?"

"The female could use a little something, but overall it's good. I liked it."

Rick hadn't expected that, and it hurt because he thought it was great. "A little something. Like what?"

"She comes off as being just a little cold. And for a love interest, that's not good."

He was silent for almost a minute while he thought about it. "Duly noted. I'll rewrite the character." Rick changed subjects. "How's the baby?"

Kate laid a hand on her ever-expanding belly. "He's been active today. I'm pretty sure he thinks my bladder is his personal punching bag. But I love him. A lot like I love you." Kate leaned across to kiss him.

"How do you know it's a him? We agreed to be surprised."

"I can tell," she said stubbornly. "He's my baby, so I can tell."

"I thought it was OUR baby?"

"Well, OUR baby is a boy," Kate insisted. "We still need something for the nursery."

"We do? What else do we need?" Rick thought they already had everything.

"I'll know it when I see it." She smiled at him. "Which means we get to go into town."

He caved. "Okay, let's go."

"Great. Help me up." Kate raised both hands and let Castle help her get to her feet.

~oo0oo~

"So, anything?" Rick asked as she wandered the store.

"Not yet." Kate played with something and touched that. Then he heard her say, "I think I found it!"

"A monkey?"

"Yeah, it's a little like Monkey Bunky. I like it." She clutched it to her chest and felt tears begin to well up. "Stupid hormones."

~oo0oo~

Kate placed the monkey in the crib where it belonged. "There, all done." She leaned up against Castle. "Thank you." She reached up to kiss him.

"You're welcome, but I didn't do anything." The nursery was all her doing.

"I don't mean the room; I mean for everything. You didn't have to take me back. I deserted you. I should never have done that. But I couldn't see any other way."

"You were worth it, Kate. You were always worth it." Rick kissed her.

Happy, Kate smiled as she looked around the nursery. "I think we're ready."

~oo0oo~

Kate was out front waiting for the car to come to a stop. The driver pulled up, and Alexis got out. "Kate!" She was happy to see her and hugged her as best she could. "When are you due?"

"It could be any minute now. I'm so ready not to be pregnant any longer. Being this pregnant is such a pain."

"Something to look forward to," Alexis said dryly.

"Sorry. …The beginning is remarkable. To know there is life inside you. Then the first day when the baby moves. It's all so remarkable. But your feet begin to hurt. Your breasts become tender, and your back aches something fierce. Just to get up now, I need Castle's help. But it's almost over.

"Come on inside. Your father is busy writing. He said something about inspiration." Kate didn't know what that inspiration was, but he said he had it, so she shrugged and went with it.

"That sounds like Dad." Kate put an arm around Alexis, and they went into the house.

"What can I get you?" Kate asked. "You're almost 18 now."

Alexis shook her head. "Not for another eleven months. I'll take a Coke, though."

"That's close enough, and I'll get you to drink wine yet. Mark my words." Kate got a glass and ice from the door. Then she opened the fridge and took out a can, poured into the glass, and handed it to her.

"Come on outside. It's still nice out." With Alexis close by, Kate went to the door that led outside onto the grass and the pair of chairs out there with a table between them.

Kate sat down. She would need help getting up, but sitting wasn't much of a problem. "I sit out here a lot. I can't get over the view."

"It is nice. It's one of the reasons Dad bought this place." Alexis looked over at her. "Do you miss your job?"

"A little. It gave me something to do. At first, staying out here was a bit boring. Castle notwithstanding." She placed a hand on her belly. "Then I got further along in my pregnancy, and it didn't really matter.

"Castle has been great throughout everything. Almost too much. He hovers over me, asking if there's anything I need."

Alexis chuckled. "That sounds like Dad. He loves you, and he means well."

"I know, but I blew up at him a few times. I didn't mean to. It just... It sort of came out. Then a couple of hours later, I would apologize. I blame the hormones. Something else for you to look forward to when it's your time."

"I'm sure whoever I choose will survive," Alexis said with a smile.

"I'll be glad when I can drink coffee again. I think part of why I blow up is a lack of caffeine," Kate said and laughed.

Suddenly she had an odd look on her face. "Uh-oh."

Alexis stared at her. "Uh-oh, what?"

"My water just broke. I think the baby's coming."

"NOW! Like right now?" That caught Alexis off guard. "I'll go get Dad and get you to the hospital." She jumped up and ran for the house, leaving Kate sitting in a wet spot.

Kate struggled to get up but couldn't do it. She was trapped until help arrived.

~oo0oo~

"RICK!" She squeezed his hand tight, tight enough to break bones, but Rick didn't say anything. Meredith had deprived him of seeing his first child being born. He damn well wouldn't miss this one for anything.

"Push," the doctor urged her.

"I AM PUSHING!" Kate snarled and yelled one final time.

The baby was out. "Congratulations, it's a girl!" the doctor announced, and she held her up so they could see her. Then Rick stepped up and cut the baby's umbilical cord. She handed the baby over to the nurse, who would determine the baby's APGAR score, weigh her, and clean her up. The nurse put a diaper on her and wrapped her in a blanket. Smiling, she gave her to Kate.

"Hi, sweetheart. I'm your mommy. I promise to be the best mommy ever." Kate was in love. She loved Castle, but this was a new kind of love. Kate held her close and had tears in her eyes. She looked up at Rick. "I love you."

Rick leaned down and kissed her. "You're going to be a great mom, Kate. I can tell."

~oo0oo~

Shortly after that, they moved Kate to a private room. First, Rick called Alexis to tell her everything, and then called his mother. His mother said she would take a car service and be there tomorrow.

"Mother will be out tomorrow," Rick said after the call ended. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm just tired. I think I'll sleep a little." Moments later, Kate was asleep. Rick stayed in her room for a while, then left to look at the baby in the nursery. Truthfully, he liked that she was a girl because he knew what to do with a girl. He almost tapped the glass of the nursery window to get the baby's attention, but she was asleep. Then he realized that had he done so, every baby there might have woken up, and the staff would have killed him!

A couple of hours later, a nurse brought the baby in so Kate could feed her. The nurse helped her with what to do, and the baby latched onto Kate's breast. She looked down at her and felt tears starting all over again. Rick was standing right there, as was Alexis. He had driven home to get her.

"She's gorgeous, Kate," Alexis told her. "You make such pretty babies."

Rick took exception to it being all her. "Hey, I had something to do with it."

Alexis amended her statement. "You too, Dad." She turned her attention back to the new mom. "How do you feel, Kate?"

"Amazing, simply amazing." After everything she had been through, that she ended up here was a miracle. Homicide Detective turned Cleaning Lady, turned Mother. Absolutely amazing.

The day before they went home, Kate and Rick filled out the baby's birth certificate. "Name: Elly Johanna Beckett-Castle. Mother: Katherine Houghton Beckett." Kate filled in the rest of her information and gave the form to Castle to finish filling it out. About an hour later, someone stopped and picked it up. They would make sure it got sent to the Health Department.

Kate and Elly were released the following morning.

~oo0oo~

It didn't take long to get into a routine since Elly woke Kate up practically every two hours to feed her.

"Better get used to it, Kate. Your world will revolve around feeding her for months," Rick told her. "Trust me, I know. That and changing diapers."

"Oh, joy. I think I'll let you change the diapers." Kate smiled at him. She knew she would change a few, but most of them would be his job.

"I'll do it gladly," Rick assured her. "Kate, shouldn't we tell your dad that he's a grandfather?"

Kate looked up at him while nursing Elly. "I suppose. I don't know. I can't go into the City. You know that."

"Then I'll go get him and bring him out here. Maybe he'll come. Maybe." Rick was hoping his name alone would get him to come.

~oo0oo~

"Time for me to go and get your dad. Wish me luck." Rick bent down to kiss her.

He was almost to the door when Kate called out, "LUCK!"

She didn't know what her dad would think. She wasn't married. She'd had a baby. She had abandoned him just as she had abandoned everyone else in her life, like Lanie.

That one event changed everything in her life.

~oo0oo~

Kate was busy nursing her daughter when she heard the front door open. Her heartbeat increased to a new level. Had Castle brought her dad, or hadn't he? What was she going to tell him if he came?

"She's probably this way," she heard Castle tell someone. Then she saw him. Her dad was here. She began to cry, and he hadn't even reached her.

"Katie," Jim called out. He knew he was going to see his daughter, knew she'd had a baby. Thanks to Castle, he knew a lot of things. He wouldn't have come if it hadn't been Castle himself. He was his wife's favorite author, and the man was involved with his daughter.

He stood there watching his daughter feeding a baby, and she was crying while looking at him. He chose to sit down across from her.

"Hi, Dad," Kate managed to get out while still crying.

"Castle told me a lot, Katie. I can't believe you got yourself in such a mess."

Her tears kept coming. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do."

"Oh, Katie…" Jim wanted to tell her she could have come to him. That together, they would have thought of something. Except he knew how independent his daughter was. It was her way or the highway.

Then Jim stated the obvious. "I see you had a baby."

"I did; she's Castle's. Her name is Elly Johanna Beckett-Castle. I didn't want to get married while pregnant, and I didn't want Castle to marry me because I was pregnant. He had done that already," Kate told him as she calmed down a little.

Jim got up to get a closer look as she fed her baby. "She's beautiful." He sat back down. "Now you know what it takes to have a baby."

"Yes." Kate chuckled. "I get no sleep, and my nipples take a beating, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I love her like nobody's business."

"That's what we went through with you. We loved you like nobody's business. Your mother loved you, Katie. And even after you put us through hell, she never stopped loving you."

Hearing him say that, Kate began crying again. "I'll get your bag." Rick retreated to the car, leaving them to talk.

She sniffed. "How long are you staying?"

"Castle talked me into staying for a week. So you have me that long."

"That's good, Dad. Thank you for coming."

"Thank Castle. He talked me into it. But I'm glad he did. He told me a lot more than I thought was possible."

"Yeah, it's been a journey," Kate admitted.

"Do you plan on getting married?"

"YES!" Rick called out as he took Jim's bag up to his room.

"Yes, we plan to get married. I can hardly wait to marry him. I want it so badly." Elly had stopped nursing and was almost asleep, but Kate lifted her to burp her. She got one loud burp, then held the baby close.

"Would you like to hold her?" As soon as she asked, her dad reached over, carefully taking her and holding her. He knew how to handle a baby.

"She really is beautiful, Katie." Jim held her until it was time to give her back to her mother for another feeding.

~oo0oo~

Jim was sitting outside when Alexis, who was up for the weekend, showed up. "Hi, Jim. I'm Alexis, and he's my dad." She pointed to Rick who was on his way back inside. Then, she held her hand out to him, and Jim shook it.

"It's beautiful here. If I didn't have to go home, I could learn to like it here," Jim remarked as she sat with him.

"Do you have to go back?"

"Unfortunately yes. I have work there that I can't leave. I work for a corporation and that's where the corporate office is located."

"Your loss. Enjoy it while you can. Hey, have you been into town yet?"

"No, I haven't. Is there something special about it?"

"Is there something special about it? Come on and see for yourself. You're driving since I can't yet. I'll worm the keys out of Dad, and we can go." Alexis stood up. "Come on, chop-chop," and she got him moving.

~oo0oo~

"You were right," Jim told Alexis as they entered the house. Alexis shushed him and pointed at the sight of Kate, Rick, and baby Elly. They were all fast asleep.

"They look like the perfect family," Jim murmured.

"Almost perfect," Alexis said. "Dad has to propose first."

"Details, details." Jim knew a family when he saw one.