More than Expected

Part 57

July 7, 2014
4:30 AM
      The alarm rang incessantly until they opened their eyes. Today's the day. Rick leaves for deployment in a few hours. They spent last night cocooned in bed with Royce in between them watching TV until they all fell asleep. But sleep made time go by quicker. Now, they have two hours to get ready and get to the base where he will board onto a bus that will take them to get on a MAC flight to the location of his mission. "Good morning." He whispers. There's nothing good about this morning. She thinks.
     "Morning." She murmurs back. They both slowly rise from the bed as not to rouse their sleeping nine month old before Rick goes to take a shower while Kate makes them a light breakfast knowing that neither of them feel like eating too much. He emerges from their room in a pair of sweatpants and with damp hair before accepting the bowl of oatmeal. His arm wraps around her waist and he pulls her to him for a kiss. "I love you." He whispers. She smiles sadly, "I love you too." They sit side-by-side in silence eating breakfast.
      After breakfast, Rick insists on doing the dishes while she disappears into their room where she washes her face and brushes her teeth before doing her hair and makeup. Royce wakes up halfway through her doing her mascara, "I got him." Her fiancée announces and she lets him since today will be the last time he gets to do Royce's morning routine with him for 9 months until he comes home to which Royce will have a completely different morning routine. She finishes applying her makeup and then slips into a nice blouse and a pair of jeans.
      She slips on her sandals and goes into the living room where Royce is fast asleep in his father's arms. "I'll get him dressed while you change." Kate offers and Rick nods. Before she can move towards Royce's nursery, he envelopes them both in his arms. "I love you guys so much. You're my whole world." He whispers and she nods. She can't speak at the risk a sob will escape her lips. He releases them from his embrace and vacates to the bedroom where he puts on his uniform while Kate dresses Royce in a dinosaur onesie with a pair of khaki shorts.
      She makes sure to grab his diaper bag on the way out of the nursery and meets Rick in the living room. It's a sight that kills her but makes her smile at the same time. She loves seeing him in his uniform. She thinks it makes him look even sexier. But she hates the reasoning behind him wearing the uniform. "Ready to go?" He asks. No. "Yeah." She nods in contradiction to her thoughts. He takes her hand in his as he grabs the keys and turns the kitchen light off as they make their way to the car.
      She gets Royce settled into his car seat and breathes a sigh of relief when she's able to do so while keeping him peaceful and asleep. She climbs into the passenger seat next to Rick and accepts his hand when he offers it before he starts the car and drives them to the base. They sit in silence, listening to the radio as she stares out the window looking at the farmland and he keeps his eyes focused on the road. When they pull up to the front gate of the base, she feels the pit settle in her stomach.
      He pulls into a parking lot where there are about 25 other soldiers in uniform. They climb out of the car and she grabs Royce from the back. "Castle!" They hear. She sees Rick smile as he greets his friend, "Kate, this is Damien Westlake. Damien, this is my fiancé, Kate Beckett." Rick introduces them. Kate smiles and shakes his hand, "And whose this little dude?" He asks, "This is our son, Royce." Kate says, "Rick, Kate, this is my wife, Victoria." Damien introduces them, "Vicki." She offers her nickname. "You ready for this man?" Damien asks.
     "As ready as I can be." He answers. "Five minutes til boarding!" One of the officers in charge announces. Damien and Vicki disappear to say their last goodbyes while Rick turns to Kate and Royce. "It'll go by quick." He assures her and she nods as the tears begin to form. "Baby." He whispers as he pulls her in for a hug and kisses her forehead, gently swaying for side-to-side. She feels his tears sink into her hair as they pull away, "Let me see my boy." Rick whispers as he takes the half awake baby from Kate's arms.
     Rick presses a kiss to his chunky cheek, "Take care of Mom, okay?" He jokes with the baby. It makes Kate laugh and he's glad he got to see her smile one last time before he leaves. She steps closer to him once more, "You come back to us, you hear?" She warns and he nods with a smile, "Yes ma'am." He leans down and presses his lips to hers, "I love you." He whispers, "I love you. Always." "Always." He hands the baby back and grabs his back before following the other group of soldiers to form a line and board the bus.
     Before he walks up the steps of the bus, he looks back at his fiancé and son one last time and winks at her making her blush as the tears stream down her cheeks. She watches the bus pull away with three honks before she loads Royce back into the car and takes a minute to let her sobs out before wiping her tears enough to see the road as she drives back home to the empty apartment that will only contain her and Royce until April.
Part 57!