She woke up in a cold sweat to voices talking excitedly in the kitchen. She laid there for a moment staring at the ceiling listening to Rick's muffled voice coming from her phone. She stretched momentarily and looked towards the alarm clock taking note that she had slept for another four hours. She felt more rested than she had in days. Kate wanted to call it a fluke, but she knew it was because she allowed herself to finally listen to his voice again. She sighed as she searched through the sheets attempting to find her phone, shutting off the audiobook once she found it. The laughter now coming from the kitchen pulled her out of bed and brought a small smile to her face.
"Kate, darling! Good morning." Martha greeted her happily, extending her arms for a hug. Kate stepped into the now familiar embrace, soaking in the comfort it had provided since the beginning of their relationship. In the years since Kate had known her, she had slowly let Martha start to become a mother figure to her. The loss of her own mother still occasionally felt fresh and she knew she would never get over it but having someone she knew she could count on meant everything to her. "Good Morning, Martha." Kate finally answered back, slowly withdrawing from the woman's warm embrace. She turned to Alexis and placed a swift kiss on the girls cheek. "Morning, Lex. Have you decided where we're going today?" Kate questioned, moving towards the fridge to grab a bottle of water. She took a sip as the girl in front of her start animatedly starting talking about all of the baby stores she wanted to go to that day. "I figured we could turn the spare room upstairs into the guest room and turn the guest room into the nursery, that way he can be closer to you?" Alexis stated almost as a question. Kate just nodded her head and gave the girl a small smile. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, Kate. I would understand if you just wanted to rest here today." Alexis reassured the detective. It wasn't often that Kate would initiate physical contact with anyone other than Rick, but in that moment the only thing she wanted to do was pull her almost step daughter into her arms. When she didn't hesitate to do so she was met with a quizzical look from both redheads. She gave Alexis one more tight squeeze and before she ended the embrace completely the words she struggled to construct finally spilled from her mouth. "He is so lucky to have you, we both are. I want to do this."
"Are you hungry?" Alexis questioned. They had been shopping for nearly two hours now and had managed to purchase most of the major necessities that would be needed for their new family member. Kate was thankful Alexis was there organizing everything from planning deliveries to final payments. If Kate was honest, she would admit she was struggling. Every purchase reminded her that she should be doing this with Rick. She should have picked out a crib with him. They should be arguing about nursery room ideas and which car seat was safest. "Kate?" Alexis' voice pulled her out of her own head as the girl once again asked if she was hungry at the same time her stomach let out a grumble. Both girls laughed and made their way to the town car that was waiting for them.
Alexis picked a small diner that was close to the loft and conveniently next door to a children's clothing boutique that she insisted they stop in while they waited for a table. Once seated, the two ate in relative silence, the younger girl lost in obvious thought as she used her fork to push the salad she ordered along her plate. "Is everything okay?" Kate asked, worry overtaking her features when tears began to pool in the blue eyes before her. "I know I'm not a kid anymore and I'm going to sound like the biggest baby…" Alexis' voice trembled as she spoke, avoiding eye contact. "I wish you were my mom. I know that's stupid because I have a mom but she's Meredith and she hasn't called once since dad went missing and I know I shouldn't have expected anything else out of her but she's supposed to be my mom. I see how you act anytime me or grams bring up the baby and I know that you would do anything for him. I wish I had a mom like that. And I'm scared, Kate. I'm scared that I'm going to wake up one day and you'll be gone too." Alexis wiped away her tears as embarrassment flushed her cheeks. "Alexis, look at me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm in this. I love you and me wanting to be a part of your life has never been conditional on my relationship with your father. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a daughter and I wish you were mine so you never had to question that." Kate choked on her words, pausing to reach and give the girl's hand a tight squeeze. "I'm here and we're going to get through this. I'll make sure of it."
A/N: I don't plan on abandoning any of my stories, life has just been crazy busy. I'm sorry updates are taking forever, I promise im trying to be better about it. Thank you all for all of your support!