a/n: it appears after the last update, some were a bit confused (which is totally fair!) so i wanted to remind readers that this story is working with two timelines. the main story is the chapters that are simply numbered chronologically (ie "chapter 1", "chapter 5", "chapter 12", etc.) and the second timeline is the chapters titled "after, pt...". The "after" chapters correspond to the prologue (ie after, pt 1), which chronologically occurs after the main story (hence why they're called "after"). i totally understand that is not straightforward at all but i hope this explanation clears up any confusion. hopefully as this story progresses and the two timelines get closer together, it'll make more and more sense.

anyway here's wonderwall...

the night everything starts going downhill

(tw: blood)

Kate knew it would be risky taking a trip to the Hamptons in April. Even at the end of the month, this time of year New York could be sweltering hot or hit with a snow storm. Luckily, the first few days at the house had been beautiful. It was 70 degrees and sunny, which made for very pleasant pool weather. Of course, the ocean was way too cold to spend much time at the beach, but the family walks along the shore at sunset were pretty perfect.

"Hey, Kate, wanna know the first thing Ruby said to me when we got here?" Rick asks, suddenly remembering that he thought his wife would find it hilarious.

"What was it? What'd you say?" Kate asks Ruby as the family of three walks just far enough from the shoreline that the water wouldn't splash them as they trekked across the sand.

"You remember?" Rick asks.

"I asked if you guys were rich or something," Ruby laughs.

Kate turns to Rick and bursts out laughing before shaking her head at Ruby with a huge smile.

"What? It was a joke!" Ruby exclaims.

"I said the exact same thing the first time he brought me here," Kate chuckles.

"You guys didn't buy this house together?" Ruby asks.

"No, no, he's had this house for a long time, before I even knew him," Kate says.

"Not that long," Rick defends. "I bought it maybe 12 years ago, maybe."

"When Alexis was my age?" Ruby asks.

"Okay, fine, maybe it was a while ago," Rick concedes. "But it's changed a lot over the years, even since Kate and I have been together."

"Changed like how?" Ruby asks.

"Well, after we got married we got the landscaping in the backyard done to extend the porch further done the hill," Rick explains.

"And the garden," Kate adds.

"And the bathroom in your room was renovated last year," Rick finishes. "I have some pictures of what this place has looked like over the years, I'll show you."

"What's your favorite thing about the house?" Ruby asks.

"It reminds me of one of the best days of my life," Kate replies instantly. "It's where I married him."

"Aww," Rick chuffs with a huge grin. "That's what I was gonna say."

"You guys are so sappy it's gross," Ruby jokes.

"How are you two feeling? Should we do another loop or head back to the house?" Rick asks as they arrive at the fork that either takes them back home or toward the public beach entrance.

"Hmm, I could do another loop," Kate says. "Baby is being surprisingly nice to me these past few days."

"They like the fresh air," Rick says. "How about you, Rubes?"

"I'm actually getting a little warn out," Ruby admits. "Could we head back?"

"Of course we can," Kate smiles.

"When do you find out if it's a boy or girl?" Ruby asks as they turn up the path and start the slow climb.

"Oh, we haven't really talked about that yet," Kate responds, caught a bit off guard. "I think they can usually tell around 4 months? So not for a little while, but I guess I'm not sure if I want to find out."

"You want it to be a surprise?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah, maybe," Kate shrugs. "What do you think, babe?"

Rick contorts his face as he contemplates. "I love the idea of it being a surprise, but I also see myself bribing the doctor to tell me."

"Sure and then once you know, you won't stop reminding everyone that you know and Kate doesn't," Ruby says with an eye roll. Kate cracks up as Rick is momentarily too stunned to speak.

"Can't say she doesn't know you," Kate laughs as she gives Rick's shoulder a little punch.

"You guys are mean," Rick pouts. "But that's absolutely true. Or we could have one of those parties and find out together."

"A gender reveal party?" Ruby asks.

"I'm pretty sure those have caused a few too many natural disasters for me to want to do that," Kate laughs.

"Yeah, and they're pretty tacky and problematic," Ruby says.

"Okay, no gender reveal party," Rick agrees. "TBD if we'll find out the sex or just wait until they're born."

"Fine, then what about names?" Ruby asks. "Have you thought about that?"

"Not really, no," Kate shrugs. Rick agrees. "But it sounds like you might have some suggestions?"

"I don't know," Ruby shrugs. "But I do think Ruby has a nice ring to it."

"Would be kind of confusing having two people named Ruby in the house, don't you think?" Kate chuckles.

"I mean, if someone says "ew, Ruby pooped on me", I think we'd know they mean the baby," Ruby rolls her eyes.

"Touché," Rick concedes. "But when you're older, I think it would cause some problems."

"Fine...Ruby Jr. then," Ruby says, which elicits more laughter from Kate and Rick. "RJ for short."

"Alright, kiddo, let's, uh, let's keep thinking," Rick chuckles as they approach the gate to backyard patio.

"What do you want to do tonight, Rubes?" Kate asks as they open on of the side doors and turn the alarm off.

"Hmm, do we have any ice cream?" Ruby asks.

"Do we have...?" Rick laughs. "Oh, what a silly question. Of course we have ice cream. I think the better question is what flavors do we have."

"I'll grab the ice cream, babe. Why don't you grab the pictures from the study to show Ruby?" Kate calls out as she opens the freezer.

Kate pulls out two tubs of ice cream, the ice cream scooper, and bowls and spoons while Castle shuffles around the desk in the study to find the Hamptons photo album.

"I grabbed the cribbage board and cards if you felt like playing again tonight," Rick says as he returns to the dining table with his hands full. "And here are all the pictures we've taken here since I bought it. Well, except for the ones we took this week."

"You're gonna add our pictures?" Ruby asks.

"Of course. It's for documenting our family memories here," Rick says as Ruby opens the album to the first page.

"Are you sure it was only 12 years ago that you bought it?" Ruby asks as she looks at the very first picture Castle ever took here, of him standing in front of the sold sign in the front lawn. "You look young in this picture."

"You know...I will...I will take that as a compliment," Rick says as he goes to the kitchen to help Kate distribute the bowls of ice cream.

"And these are from your wedding?" Ruby asks as she reaches the midpoint of the album. "Wait, why do you have two different outfits?"

"Oh, uh, well, we were supposed to get married in May of that year, so that's me getting ready for the ceremony. But before we could get married, Rick got kidnapped and disappeared for two months," Kate explains. "And then these are from our actual wedding in November of that year."

"You got kidnapped?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah, it's complicated, but I basically saved the world by stopping a major terrorist plot and then I was in Los Angeles uncovering a corrupt CIA operation but I didn't know that at first because I had amnesia," Rick explains.

"You guys have lived through some extremely dramatic subplots," Ruby sighs and shakes her head.

"You have no idea," Kate chuckles.

As Ruby finished looking through the photo album and everyone scraped the last of the melted ice cream from their bowls, Rick asks, "so, did you want to play a few more rounds of cribbage?"

"You're not sick of me kicking your butt like I did yesterday?" Ruby asks.

"I'm chalking that up to beginner's luck," Rick shrugs. He pulls out the deck, shuffles it once, cuts thinly from the pile of cards and pushes it toward the twelve-year-old. "Cut for deal."

"I think I'm going to get ready for bed, I have a little bit of a headache," Ruby sighs after a handful of rounds of cribbage. It was Kate who was wiping the floor with her competition tonight, winning 4 of the 6 rounds and skunking Rick and Ruby once each.

"Sore loser," Rick jokes and Ruby rolls her eyes.

"Do you want me to grab you some ibuprofen to help your headache?" Kate asks and Ruby quickly nods. "Alright, I'll bring it to your room while you're getting ready."

Kate softly knocks on Ruby's closed door and the girl calls for her to come in. Kate hands off two orange tablets and Ruby downs them with her other nightly regime of medication.

"Do you have a fever?" Kate asks, holding out her hand and gauge the temperature of Ruby's forehead.

"I don't think so," Ruby shrugs. "It's just my head."

"Okay, is there anything I can get for you before you go to sleep?" Kate says.

"No, I don't think so," Ruby says as she pulls back the covers of her bed and climbs in.

"What about water? Do you have water?" Kate asks.

"I left my bottle in the bathroom," Ruby says. Kate goes to get the water bottle and sets it down on Ruby's nightstand. She bends down to plant a soft kiss on Ruby's forehead. "Night, Rubes. Feel better. Rick and I are in our bedroom if you need anything."

"Night, Kate, love you," Ruby murmurs as she closes her eyes.

"Love you, too," Kate whispers as she flicks off the light switch and gently closes the bedroom door.

"So, Mrs. Castle, how are you feeling tonight?" Rick asks as he grabs Kate's hips and softly jerks them toward his. Her mouth glides to his like a magnet and she moans softly as her hand finds his cheek.

"Mmm, I'm actually feeling surprisingly good," Kate says between kisses. She swings her leg over his hip to straddle him as she leans down to kiss him again. "Baby likes the Hamptons."

"Hm, well, the Hamptons have always looked good on you," Rick growls as he suavely unbuttons Kate's pajama top. "But now it looks even better."

Kate arches her back and bends down to keep kissing him as her hips revs against his pajama pants. Heat builds as their physical desire grows. Just as Kate is reaching to pull down the waist band of Rick's pants, there's a knock on the bedroom door and a labored plea.

"Kate?" Ruby yells. In quick succession, Kate rolls off of Rick's lap, flawlessly buttons up her top, and jets for the door.

"Ruby? What's wrong?" she asks through anxious breaths.

"I don't feel good," Ruby groans. "My head is pounding, I'm sweating and freezing, and I'm dizzy."

"Okay, let's, uh, let's get in bed," Kate says, feeling Ruby's clammy skin for sign of fever. "Rick, can you grab Ruby some more water and a compress for her head?" Kate guides Ruby into the bed and the girl reflexively folds her body into the crook of Kate's arm and chest. Kate gently rubs circles into Ruby's back and plants kisses on her head.

Rick returns with his hands full, gently placing the cold rag on Ruby's head and setting a glass of cloudy water on the nightstand. "Liquid IV, in case you're dehydrated", he whispers.

"Thanks," Kate mouths.

"What can I do?" Rick asks, concern written in his tone and his face.

"Ruby, do you...do you want to go to the ER? They can help you with your headache," Kate asks softly.

"No," Ruby croaks. "I just want to lay here, in the dark. The compress feels good."

"Okay," Kate nods. She looks up at Rick, who gets the message. He flicks the light switch and leaves Kate and Ruby alone in the dark.

Kate continues to trace calming circles on Ruby's back, and she feels it as the young girl paces her breathing with her rhythm.

"Kate," Ruby moans after a few minutes.

"Mhmm?" Kate whispers.

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick," Ruby says, which prompts Kate to reach for the small garbage bin sitting by her bedside nightstand.

"Okay, can you, do you think you can get to the bathroom?" Kate asks, helping Ruby sit up. Ruby nods as she grabs onto the garbage with one hand and Kate's hand with the other. Kate flips on the soft lamp light to guide them toward the bathroom, but a few steps before the entryway, Ruby freezes. She takes the trashcan with both hands and retches, her whole body shaking as she heaved.

Except what came out wasn't vomit, it was blood.

When Ruby realizes the color and texture of the discharge, she panics, her eyes growing twice the size as she looks up at Kate.

"Okay, okay," Kate says, trying to stay calm. She guides Ruby the rest of the way to the bathroom and sits her down on the toilet. "Rick!"

Ruby continues to spit up blood as Rick comes running at the sound of his wife's strained yell.

"Oh, god," he says at the sight of his youngest daughter.

"Call 911," Kate tells him as she attempts to comfort Ruby as she continues to retch into the garbage bin.

"Emergency services out here aren't...it's faster if we just drive," Rick explains, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

The blood drains from Kate's face as she watches Ruby grow paler and paler, more and more blood splattering into the small garbage bin.

"Okay, uh, I'll grab the keys and start the car, you carry her out and get her next to me in the back seat," Kate plans. "Are you okay to drive? You...you have to be okay to drive."

"I can drive," Rick says with as much confidence as he could muster. Kate quickly slides on slippers, grabs a sweater and a towel, stuffs Rick's wallet in her pocket, and swoops up the car keys.

"Ruby," Rick says softly. "I'm going to carry you, okay?"

Ruby acknowledges with a slight head nod. Kate climbs into the backseat of the car as Rick gently slides Ruby next to her. The girl is sobbing as she's still violently ill, spraying blood with each heave. As she tries to catch her breath, she leans back into Kate and cries.

"What's happening to me?"