The Haunting Past (A Castle Fanfiction)

Part Eighteen: Breathing Life

A.N: This chapter got a little... graphic. There will be a "▶▶▶" indicating the part at which it gets graphic and it will go until the section break (they're the ☆●☆●☆●☆●☆s) if you don't want to read it. It's really just to show how much the past haunts Kate, so... yeah. It's not absolutely necessary for you to follow the plot.

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Outside of Kate's recovery room in the maternity ward, everyone was standing together, waiting for them to wheel her back. It was as though the longer they had to wait to see her, the longer they would have to worry something had unexpectedly gone wrong and they had to consider the possibility that she wasn't coming back. Now, this wasn't the case, of course. The doctors were just taking extra precautions in cleaning her up and trying to be sure she was wholly ready for transport, but Kate's family had no idea what was going on.

As they stood, awkwardly waiting in silence, Rick finally decided to take a leap of faith and ask Lanie, "So, the boys... are they alright?"

The M.E looked at him and tried to fight her sarcastic instincts, but failed. "Like you would care."

He accepted the blow, feeling he deserved it. "Lane, please," Alexis said, knowing her plea would get the woman to answer the question.

Lanie looked at Alexis and then up at Rick, telling him for his daughter's sake, "The boys are both fine. Neither are awake, but they're both fine." Her bitterness then subsided after a short break of silence and she looked over at the writer. "How's Sophie?"

"Last I checked, Mike's got her at home safe and sound. It actually sounded like she was enjoying herself from his stories," Rick answered. "Do we know what's going to happen to her?"

"You could always adopt a fifth kid into the household," Alexis teased.

Castle answered, "I think Kate would shoot me for suggesting it. New born twins are going to be hard enough."

"Oh, please, Richard," Martha commented, "You have two capable young girls living with you and you can work from home. I think you and Katherine will manage. Your nights might be tough for a little while, but you can always take turns sleeping during the day while the girls babysit."

"Mother, I think you're forgetting how hard it was with one baby. I remember Alexis' first month at home. Meredith and I barely slept for more than three hours every night."

Martha smiled and laughed to herself. "Richard, I remember those months extraordinarily well. I was a single parent. I never got more than two hours of sleep. But I know your kids will be there to make sure you both catch naps here and there and I'm certain you can survive on decaff and their smiles."

"Decaff," Rick questioned.

Martha answered, "Unless you want that caffeine to go to your kids while Kate's breast feeding."

"Wow," Maddie interrupted, "Before this goes somewhere really uncomfortable, let's talk about something else."

Martha and Rick both looked at Maddie. "What? The topic of breast feeding makes you uncomfortable?"

"I'm here for the boys' adorable laughter and spit up. I'm not hear to know what they're spitting up and where it comes from."

Rick laughed and pulled his daughter closer to him, telling her with a grin, "Oh, just wait until your mother takes the boys home. I promise you, you'll witness that all first hand." Maddie made a face that mildly suggested she was disgusted by the thought, but she knew better than to say a word.

Just as he thought about his wife sitting at the kitchen table, feeding one boy as he while he held the other, a new thought occurred to him. This time, it was Alexis sitting at the kitchen table, bottle feeding her brother while Maddie held the other. Kate was no where to be seen as she was only a memory, living on in the image of their sons. He didn't know how he could do any of this without her. She had to be alright. She had to.