WORTH WORKING FOR
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

MID-APRIL

"Kate, you ready?"

She mutters a curse when Rick's voice rings through her apartment, and she quickly swipes mascara on her lashes, examines her face for any necessary touch-ups. Satisfied, she grabs her lip gloss to bring along.

Stepping into her room to get her clutch and shoes, she looks up when she hears footsteps approach, flushes at the hungry look in Rick's eye as he stares at her. "Do I look okay?" she asks, turning around so he can see the whole knee-length, sleeveless dress. "It's not too casual, is it?"

"Fuck no," Rick almost growls, taking a large step towards her, his intent obvious.

She giggles and ducks out of his reach. "Later. We gotta go."

She's never been to a Broadway premiere - or any red carpet event, save for an undercover sting at a charity auction a few years ago - so she has no idea what to expect. But when their rented town car pulls up in front of the theater and she sees the long carpet dotted with photographers, the butterflies in her stomach go from a dull flutter to a loud roar.

Rick gets out first, and she hears the onslaught of cameras going off as he's recognized. She slides towards the door, smoothing her palms over her dress, and she looks up at him, at his outstretched hand and encouraging nod.

"Stay close?" she asks as she curls her fingers around his.

He gives her a crooked grin. "Trust me, the way you look? I'm not letting you out of my sight."

She blinks at the sudden onslaught of camera flashes, but she holds firmly onto Rick's hand, lets him guide her onto the carpet. He lets go of her hand for a brief moment, but then his arm is around her waist, keeping her close, as promised.

Premieres are usually pretty small, he'd explained on their way over, and this is actually the first one that his mom's been a part of. But two Hollywood stars are making their Broadway debut with this play, so the theater went all-out, and Rick snagged invitations for them.

Out of habit, Kate's palm rests on her belly as Rick leads her down the carpet, barely pausing as their picture is taken over and over again.

She mostly tunes everyone out, focusing on Rick, on his warm palm on her back, his calm, comforting presence. He barely even has to do anything; just being with him calms her racing heart.

She didn't expect there to be much interest in Rick - and especially her - at a Broadway play premiere, so when a reporter calls Rick's name and he moves over to her, Kate can only follow, unwilling to be too far apart.

"When's the new book coming out, Rick?" the reporter - a local channel's entertainment reporter, she recognizes - asks.

Rick drops his hand from Kate's back, but she feels his fingers brush the back of her hand before curling around her palm. "It's still a work in progress, but I'm shooting for release within the next year. Hopefully sooner." He touches Kate's belly with his free hand. "A lot's going to depend on this one."

The reporter smiles at Rick's gesture and glances at Kate for the briefest moment. "Of course. Is it true you'll be debuting a new character, one who's based on Detective Beckett?" she asks.

Rick squeezes her hand, and Kate lifts her gaze to his, finds his own gaze on her, his eyes soft and warm, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Yes," he says, looking back at the reporter. "Kate has been gracious enough to let me in her life, and I hope to do her justice with this new character."

"And you two are dating now, in addition to being expectant parents?"

"Yes," Rick repeats. He shifts his grip on Kate's hand so their fingers tangle, and he gently tugs. "If you'll excuse us, we don't want to miss the play. Thank you."

Once they're inside the theater, he pulls Kate to the side, finds a quiet corner. He leans against the wall and laces his fingers at her back when she steps in front of him.

"You holding up okay?" he asks quietly, widening his stance so she can step between his feet.

She sighs and rests her hands on his waist. "Yeah. I didn't realize it was going to be an actual premiere, though," she jokes. "My dad'll be sad he missed it."

Rick chuckles and bends down to brush a quick kiss across her lips, and they both glance up when the house lights flicker. "Come on, we should get to our seats."

"Rick?" she whispers several nights later, his arm around her waist, her back nestled comfortably against his front. A thought's been nagging at her for the past few weeks, ever since she gave him the key to her place on his birthday.

Rick's arm is heavy on her skin, his breaths slow and deep, and for a minute, she thinks he's already fast asleep. But he stirs, and his arm tightens briefly before he slides his hand over the swell of her belly. "Hmm?" he grunts, pressing his lips to her bare shoulder.

The words are on the tip of her tongue - what if I move in - but she can't seem to get them out. It isn't a suggestion that should be made on a whim, or late at night when they're both half-asleep.

She'll talk to him tomorrow.

"Nothing," she says quietly, covering his hand with hers. "It can wait."

Rick grunts in response, and she feels him relax as he falls asleep, follows him just a few minutes later.

"My mother wanted me to ask you," Rick says the next morning, "if you'd mind if she throws your shower."

Kate pauses with her coffee halfway to her mouth. "My shower?" she echoes.

"Yeah, your baby shower. She doesn't want to step on any toes, but I wasn't sure if Lanie or anyone else is already planning something."

"Um." Kate blinks. She hasn't even thought about a shower, and nobody's mentioned it until now. She doesn't have a registry - she and Rick have just been getting what they need - so it hasn't crossed her mind until now.

"Do you think Lanie would mind if I gave Mother her number? Do you have any weekend shifts?"

"No, no more weekends. That should be fine." She pauses when she has a slightly terrifying thought. "Your mother and Lanie, planning a party? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Rick smirks and covers her hand with his, squeezes briefly before turning to the stove. "Don't worry. I'll protect you. We can have it here, and I can make myself scarce, then afterwards we can figure out what should go to your place and what should stay here."

She taps her fingers on the side of her mug and takes a deep breath. "Or," she says, finally ready to vocalize what she's been thinking about, what she almost brought up last night, "we could leave it all here."

He turns to look at her, his expression unreadable. "You mean-"

"I was just thinking," she continues, cutting him off before he can preemptively shut her down, "it might be easier for us to be in the same place after he's born, at least for a while. A few days, weeks, whatever. We can totally be at my place, but if you have the shower here anyway, plus the nursery here is way more put-together than mine-"

She's so caught up in what she's saying that she barely notices him move around the counter, but then his hands are cupping her jaw and his mouth is on hers. Her eyes flutter closed at the soft caress of his lips, and she lets out a quiet moan as she leans into the kiss.

"So, you like that suggestion?" she asks when he pulls away.

He chuckles and traces her cheek with his thumb, then tucks her hair behind her ear. "I love that suggestion. I was actually thinking the same thing, but I didn't want to bring it up too soon."

She frowns. "Look, Rick, I know I've taken our entire relationship slow. You don't know how incredibly grateful I am for your patience, your willingness to go at my pace. And-" She hesitates, trying to find the words to something she wasn't even planning on saying.

Having a serious, relationship-based conversation without hashing it out in therapy first? Dr. Burke would be proud.

Rick's hand covers hers on the counter, giving her strength she needs to continue.

"I'm sorry," she finally whispers. "It's probably felt like pulling teeth all this time with me holding so much back. You've been an open book, and I haven't, and I know it hasn't been fair to you."

"Hey." Rick slides onto the stool next to her. "None of that. You've been through so much, even just the past year, that I can't even imagine. You've been healing. I would never-" He squeezes her hand. "Never dream of rushing you, or walking away because you need time to work on yourself."

He brings a hand up to swipe across her cheek, and she realizes that he's wiping away tears.

"I've always wanted whatever you're willing to give me. But, God, Kate, the change I've seen in you?" His eyes soften. "You're extraordinary. I know I've said that before, but I feel truly honored just to know you."

Kate sniffles, his words hitting in ways she can't describe. She knows the work she's been putting in has been productive, Dr. Burke has said so himself. She knows she's a different person - at the very least, a more complete version of herself - and that she's shown a lot of progress in a very short amount of time.

But it's one thing to hear it from her therapist. It's another thing entirely to hear it from the man who she was so determined, for so long, to push away.

"This was not how this conversation was supposed to go," she jokes, her voice thick with emotion.

Rick offers a small smile. "Too bad," he teases. "I started to fall for you the night we met, could barely stop thinking about you, even when I thought I'd never see you again. I walked by your building I don't know how many times, just hoping for a glimpse of you. Almost came inside and knocked on your door, but I knew I wouldn't be welcome, so I forced myself to keep that boundary. So the day you showed up at the bar, told me that we were having a kid together?"

He pauses, his eyes shining with tears. "Best day of my life."

All Kate can do in response is lean forward and capture his mouth with hers.

She'll be late to work, but it's worth it.

For him, for them? It's worth everything.

EARLY MAY

"Oh my God," Kate gasps a couple weeks later, collapsing on the couch and leaning her head back. "That was exhausting."

Rick chuckles from the kitchen, and she hears the dishwasher start moments before he drops down next to her. "I think I underestimated the combined powers of Lanie and my mother," he jokes, putting his feet on the coffee table.

Kate snorts. "Add in Maddie, Jenny, and Karpowski, and it's a miracle nothing's broken."

"Oh, they weren't that bad."

"That's only 'cause we didn't have alcohol. This would've been a very different party with tequila." She sighs and leans her head back. "Thank you."

There's a hum from her side, and she looks over to see Rick gazing at her, an unreadable look in his eye. "What?"

He shrugs. "Nothing. You know, you're not as much of a loner as you think."

She lifts her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rick holds his hands out. "Not bad. Just that you do so much on your own, but there are a lot of people who care about you. Who love you," he adds, reaching for her hand. "Hell, even Gates came today."

She laces her fingers through his. "Yeah."

He's right, she knows. She's spent so much time and energy over the years forging her path, pushing people aside on her rise in the ranks of the NYPD.

After her mom died, she basically refused to do a lot of things that could distract her from her quest for justice. She's always turned down more invitations than she's accepted, to the point where she expected her friends to stop asking.

They never did.

She's truly lucky to have the friends that she does: friends that are much more like family.

She squeezes Rick's hand and leans towards him. Taking the hint, he meets her in the middle, his free hand lifting to cradle her jaw as their mouths meet.

"I love you," she whispers when they part, a small smile tugging at her lips. "And thank you."

"For what?"

"For just-" She pauses and looks around the living room, at the baby decorations still on the wall, the pile of presents in the corner. "It would've been so easy for you to walk away when I told you I was pregnant, but you didn't. You've been in this with me, jumped right in with both feet. I never imagined finding someone like you."

Rick shrugs. "Well, that was a no-brainer. I fell head-over-heels pretty much the moment I saw you naked." He laughs when Kate smacks his chest, and he grabs her hand, brushes a kiss across her knuckles. "Okay, fine, that was my dick falling for you. Or, saluting," he teases, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kate just rolls her eyes.

"But in all seriousness, you fascinated me, and as soon as you refused to divulge any personal information, despite taking me to your apartment? I knew there was a story there, a mystery, and I wanted to solve it." His thumb rubs circles on the back of her hand, and he kisses her knuckles again. "I'm honored that you've chosen to trust me with your secrets, with your story."

Her tears are flowing freely now, and she mutters a curse as she wipes her cheeks. "Damn hormones," she murmurs, earning a low chuckle from Rick.

Not just hormones, she tells herself later, as Rick snores softly at her side, and as she lies awake thanks to her son's new gymnastics routine.

Hormones play a part, yes - she's certainly never been this much of a crier - but she's truly overwhelmed with how her life has changed in just a little over seven months. Hell, she was shot less than a year ago. But returning to work, starting regular sessions with Dr. Burke, meeting Rick…

She never thought she'd be so thankful for a broken condom.

A/N: As always, I appreciate the patience with this fic!