Back and Forth (A Castle Fanfiction)

Before the Storm

A.N: Just- to all of my readers, you guys are amazing and I love you so much. (/^▽^)/

Oh, and ah... After this chapter, please don't hate me...

Love You!! ( ˘ ³˘)❤
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The next morning, as Kate and Rick laid peacefully in their beds, Alexis rose from hers and quietly crept downstairs toward their door. Once she was in their room, she instantly put speed in her step and leaped into their bed, landing promptly on Rick's legs. "Mommy! Daddy!"

Having been crushed just below his kneecaps, the writer woke immediately with a snap upward. "Oh, Lex." Kate, having woken sharply as well, swiftly moved her hands beneath the child's arms and pulled her off her father's legs. Alexis continued to giggle hysterically.

Kate then, in frustration, told the child, "Alexis, you can't do that. See? You hurt daddy."

The laughter stopped and the child looked at her father. Her eyes then became apologetic and she sincerely told her father, "I sorry, daddy."

"It's okay, pumpkin. You just- have to be more careful," Rick replied, fighting pain. "Now, what did you want?"

"To see you," the girl said with a bit of guilt. Her father let out a small noise telling of heartwarming sentiments as he pulled his daughter into his arms and she began to smile again. With one hand on her stomach and the other on Alexis' back, Kate beamed with adoration at the sight before her. This was her whole world sitting before her, these two and the little one she was carrying inside. They were more than she could have ever asked for. She finally felt like that other shoe was never going to drop. She had no idea how wrong she was.

As the three of them all gathered around the breakfast table about an hour later, Kate helped Alexis into her booster seat and then took care of getting her a sippy cup full of juice and a bowl of cereal with a banana. She then quickly chewed through the fruit and two strips of bacon Rick had whipped up for her as a means to a "well rounded" breakfast. While she ate, after thanking him for the food with a kiss, she verified, "So Cavin's coming over today at three, right?"

"Yep. And then my mother is coming by tonight at six to talk about the conditions of moving in and when and where."

Alexis perked up. "Gram coming?"

"Yeah, sweetheart," Kate replied with a smile. Alexis' grin grew exponentially. Kate then instructed, "Eat your food, okay?" The girl nodded and picked up her spoon. "Alright, well, before Martha gets here, I think maybe it would be nice to clean out the guest room. You could just get rid of those cardboard boxes. Most of them are empty, and everything that isn't just an empty box can be tossed. And-," her voice voice cut out as her face bent in withstandible but sharp, worrisome pain. Her eyes immediately looked toward her stomach. A couple of rushed, short breaths later, the pain disappeared, but her hand continued to rest over her stomach.

Rick, in slight panic, asked in a jolt, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kate answered, "just- I don't know. The baby must have just kicked harder than usual I guess."

"You sure," Rick questioned.

Kate breathed, "Yeah. It- it was too short of a pain to be anything else."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Rick, I'm sure," Kate smirked.

"Alright," the writer said, pulling his hand that was resting on her lower thigh up to her stomach, his other hand on her shoulder as he told his unborn son, "Don't do that, buddy. You scared me."

After a short while longer in the loft and a set of goodbye hugs and kisses, Kate started off toward her campus with a smile and complete serenity. While she was working, Rick entertained Alexis until noon when it was finally nap time. Then, he pulled out his laptop and opened a file entitled "The Storm". It was a checklist of things he could do next with Derrek Storm. At the top of his list was New Girl followed by three bullet points. Cop?, then Lawyer?, and finally Journalist?. There were several other things beneath those points as options, but he was really only on the page for one reason. After considering a lawyer for a while as a good romantic interest for Derrek, he started looking into local lawyers and stumbled across an article about Johanna Beckett.

At first, he simply read the article because it was one written in tribute to the work she did, and he thought by knowing what kind of person she was, he could potentially help Kate reach that next step in healing. Then he got intrigued, and he kept reading. He read more and more about her as a person, more and more about her cases, digging into her background, learning more and more about her and subsequently realizing things he had never realized about her daughter, his fiancé.

After reading about how selflessly she fought for the little guy and for justice in general, Rick finally clicked on the police report regarding her death. Everything that was public record was brutal. Her murder was heinous. It was only then that he realized why Kate was so haunted by this, though she rarely spoke of it. He didn't see it much, that pain beneath the surface. It was mostly hidden behind strong eyes repressing what pain she held onto. But no matter how strong she pretended to be, her nightmares, which came about three or four times every month always gave her away. As did that picture by the bed every time she looked at it. And her career choice. It was all evidence pointing to the pain she felt, even if she never took note of it being there.

When two o'clock rolled around, Alexis wandered downstairs and stole her father for another hour until Cavin and his foster mom arrived. She left after speaking with the writer about payment (which was $0.00) and how Cavin was getting back home (Rick would bring him home). When Cavin and Rick finally got started, Rick was surprised to see how much the kid had learned in a few months. He was on top of this, nearly reading to his age level. It was amazing. The kid was... Amazing.

Just as Rick was about to wrap up his session, his phone rang. It was Kate. He was going to let it go to voicemail and call her back as soon as he was finished with Cavin, but the boy saw her name on the caller I.D and instantly swiped the phone, announcing, "Kate! Kate! This session was awesome! I learned so many tricks!"

"Cavin, I need you to put Rick on," Kate said with strain in her voice. The child's amusement immediately disappeared and he handed the phone to Rick.

When the writer got the phone, he asked what was wrong and she immediately told him through a loaf of pain, "Something's- something's not right. I- I think- I think the baby's coming."

"What?! No. Where- where are you?"

"I'm on my way to the hospital, but-," a burst of sudden pain stole her word away. He could hear sirens. People were talking in the background. The line went dead and suddenly his heart stopped as his world was tossed into mayhem.