A/N: Although I'm transferring all of my stories to archive of our own, I will keep them updated here as well, it just hasn't been as reliable. My AO3 username is the same
It's not supposed to be like this. She's not supposed to do this alone. His family isn't supposed to find out because she has to question them about his disappearance. She wishes just one thing in her life would go right.
When she finally arrived back to the loft, Martha and Alexis had already started preparing lunch. "Katherine" Martha started, making her way over to Kate, pulling her in for a tight hug. "We've been worried about you." Kate watched as Alexis nodded her head in agreement and immediately felt her face flush. She needed to make this right, she needed to get this over with.
"Martha, Alexis. We need to talk. There's been an update about Rick." She led the pair over to the couch, before pulling out the evidence folder from her bag, making sure the ultrasound pictures were still hidden. She let them flip through the photos of Castle, all of them timestamped after he had gone missing.
"So he's alive. He's not being held captive by god knows who." Martha finally got out, trying to point out the good. Alexis quickly cut her off. "Wait. Are you saying dad was ran off the road by an SUV and after that he paid to have it crushed?" Kate simply nodded her head, already feeling the tears start to flood her eyes. "That's ridiculous. Why on earth would he do such a thing?" Martha questioned, knowing this behavior wasn't something her son would do. Kate took a deep breath and prayed that she could get through this without breaking down. "Was he going through anything that I didn't know about? Pressure that he was under that he kept to himself." She watched as Alexis' eyes widened before the girl addressed her grandmother. "Of course not, right Gram?" Kate could hear the desperation in the young girls voice. "No. No, no, no. I would have noticed." Martha assured her. Kate looked down at her hands as she took in a deep breath. "And what about the wedding? Did he have any misgivings?" She felt the tears start to cloud her vision as she waited for Martha or Alexis to respond. "Misgivings? Katherine, that was the farthest thing from his mind, he couldn't wait to be married to you." Martha assured her. "You don't think he would just walk away, do you?" Alexis questioned, hurt coating her words as she began to wonder if her father could really just walk out on them. Kate finally let the tears fall, before she shakily began to open up to the two women who had become such an important part of her life the last few years. "I need to tell you guys something." Kate wiped the tears from her cheeks, avoiding meeting their eyes as she reached back into her bag. She pulled out the four pictures from earlier that morning and barely held back a sob when she heard Martha gasp. "Oh, Katherine." Martha moved quickly, pulling Kate in for a hug that caused her to finally break down into her almost mother-in-law's arms. Once she finally gained her composure, she handed the ultrasound pictures to Alexis and looked down at her hands, fidgeting with the ring on her finger. "I found out the morning of the wedding. I was going to tell him that night, before we left for our honeymoon. I'm already fifteen weeks and Rick notices everything. Do you think he knew?" Kate let another wave of fresh tears fall from her eyes and was surprised when Alexis spoke up. "Kate. My dad always said that being a father was the greatest part of his life and I know he always wanted more kids. He wouldn't have ran off because of this. He loves you and I know he would love this baby. This isn't him, Kate. Something else is going on."
"I know it isn't him. But how do we explain that when all of the evidence points to him leaving willingly?" Kate needed one of Rick's crazy theories right about now, something that could offer any kind of explanation. She watched as Alexis quickly vacated her spot on the couch, heading to the front door, muttering something about needing fresh air. Kate's face visibility paled and she tried to push the negative thoughts out of her head. Martha picked up the ultrasound picture that Alexis had placed back on the table. She studied the photo for a few minutes before grabbing Kate's hand. "Katherine, my son spent years pining over you. He was infatuated and in love with you from the moment he started working by your side. Every Nikki Heat novel he has written has, in some way, been a declaration of his love for you. I know my son and I know that leaving his family, his children, is something he would not do unless his hand was forced. And don't you mind Alexis, she isn't angry. She thought she lost him and when you didn't come back that first night, she thought she lost you too." Kate forced herself to hold back all of the emotions that threatened to boil over. "I wouldn't do that to her, I couldn't. I'm not going to run from this, from you two. I just needed space. I needed to figure out how to tell you all this in a way that didn't end with me losing it before I could even get it out." Kate offered the older woman a weak smile before freeing her hand so she could wipe her eyes again. "I don't know how I'm going to do this alone. It wasn't supposed to be like this." Kate dropped her head. "Katherine." Martha scolded. "You're not doing this alone. Alexis and I will make sure of that. That's my grandchild and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you get through this. This should be something to celebrate, dear. Now tell me, is it a boy or a girl?" Martha quickly changed the subject and watched as relief washed over Kate's face. "I'm not sure, I wanted to find out with you and Alexis." Kate reached for her bag again, hearing the front door open and close as Alexis walked back into the loft. She held up the envelope once she managed to find it. "They wrote it down for me and put it in here. I figured we could open it together."