Castle and The Originals

Chapter 8

Rick finished loading the dishwasher and turned to make sure the rest of the kitchen was clean. He sent Kate to bed an hour earlier. She had been entertaining guests since early this morning when her dad arrived for brunch. Jim stayed well into the afternoon at the insistence of Alexis and Martha. Then the population in the loft swelled even more as the rest of their friends arrived for dinner and poker. It had been a wonderful day of fun and laughter; two things Rick had thought were long gone just a few months back.

The boys seemed excited to hear about Kate's pregnancy but their poker faces left something to be desired and Kate quickly scolded Lanie for spilling the beans. Funny enough his mother's response to the news was the least dramatic of them all. She just patted her son on the cheek and said flatly, "it's about time." Then she hugged her daughter-in-law and wished her luck on birthing one Rodger's baby much less two. Apparently Rico was abnormally large newborn, but Martha had kept that tidbit to herself until there was no going back.

Before leaving the kitchen Rick grabbed the clipping Kate cut from this morning's paper. It had become a game they played. Every time they were mentioned in the news, the article would be clipped and hung on the bulletin board in their study. It would unceremoniously replace the previous article which they immediately trashed. They would take turns commenting on the accuracies and inaccuracies of the printed item and make appropriate or inappropriate remarks about the moral capacity of the article's writer. Occasionally they would draw pictures or throw a couple of sharpened pencils to complete the insult.

However Rick kind of liked today's feature. As he walked into the study he removed the last article which contained a few facts about the attempted murder of his wife, but was mostly a character assassination of the police commissioner and his inability to protect one of New York's finest. He gladly ripped it from the board and replaced it. He read the new headline again; 'Richard Castle to add new character to the Heat series.' It was a picture of him and Kate leaving the OB's office was the ultrasound picture in hand. The article had some of the facts correct. Of course there was no mention of twins, so it was clear the writer did not have an inside informant of any kind. Kate had been a little perturbed at the invasion of privacy but Rick quickly reminded her of their little make-out session on the hood of her car only minutes after said picture was taken. At that they were both impressed that the photog had not stooped so low as to sell that one, if he had even taken it.

Rick had to laugh as he skimmed the article again. The writer had launched into an editorial about the life of celebrity babies with silver spoons, nannies, and trust funds. He ranted about a baby like theirs would be cared for by hired help while its parents traveled, partied, and hob-knobbed with the rich and famous. He speculated about boarding schools and summers abroad. Nowhere was it suggested that Rick would be a stay-at-home dad and would love every minute of it, just like he had with Alexis.

"If they only knew." Rick said with a chuckle as he hung the newsprint and made his way to their bedroom.

Upon entering the room Rick wasn't surprised to see his wife asleep, but was surprised that their daughter was wrapped in her arms sleeping just as soundly. He vaguely remembered seeing Alexis streak through the living room not long after sending Kate to bed, but he thought it was for a good night hug and kiss. He looked to the TV to see that they were more than halfway through Kate's favorite movie and couldn't imagine how they were sleeping through the raucous. He grabbed the remote and clicked it off just seconds before Nathaniel saved Cora from being scalped by some crazed Huron Indian. He physically cringed, he had no idea how Kate could watch that over and over.

He then changed into a pair of pajama pants and stood over the two loves of his life, actually four now. He would feel odd crawling in bed with his daughter; she hadn't slept with him since she was ten and had watched a horror movie for the first time. He thought about carrying her up to her room, but didn't really want to disturb her. He decided he would sleep on the couch in the study, but first had to remove Kate's shoes and socks before covering them with a blanket from the closet. He kissed them both gently on the forehead and padded out of the room.