The Haunting Past (A Castle Fanfiction)

Part Two: Opening the Doors

Kate woke up the next morning to the sounds of Maddie's early whimpers that hadn't yet turned into the screams they would. Had it not been for Maddie's hand tightening around Kate's arm and clawing into her, she wouldn't have been brought out of her deep slumber by these sounds. When she found herself looking into the painfully warping visage of the child in her arms, she didn't take much time before stroking her hair behind her ear and calling her name before she woke. After a few tries, her voice getting a bit louder each time, she got to the point where she woke both her husband and the teenager, Maddie coming back in a much more shocked and sudden way than the writer. Kate whispered softly, "Hey, baby, sh. It's alright. It's alright, you're alright."

The haze lifted around the child as she sleepily looked around the room. As her surrogate mother brought her back to reality with a gentle re-position, she came back to the view of the woman's face and asked, "Did I wake you?"

Kate didn't answer. Instead she asked, "Are you alright, baby?"

"Yeah," Maddie wearily answered. "What time is it?"

Castle rolled over, away from the two women and then back beside his wife. "It's five-fifty. We have to be up soon anyway."

"What time do we have to be in to court?" Maddie softly groaned.

Beckett replied, "Seven thirty. The lawyers want to go over just a few things before the trial starts." Maddie nodded into the detective, took in a breath and then rolled to the side of the bed. Kate and Rick both wordlessly got themselves up and Maddie left without saying anything, moving toward her room to get ready for the hell of the trial.

Once she was out of the room, Rick asked, "Are you alright?"

She shut her eyes and took in a breath, sighing out, "I so badly wish she didn't have to go through this, Castle. I wish she could just have the normal childhood she deserves." Her eyes opened to find him inches away from her, his hand coming up and pushing back a single misplaced hair and resting on her cheek. One of her hands left her swollen belly and came to hold his against her cheek, taking great comfort in the simple feeling of his touch.

When his other hand claimed hers and they rested against the twins, he said, "I know, Kate. I do too." A moment longer she took in the feeling of him before they were interrupted by the feeling of one of the two babies kicking against Rick's hand. He still couldn't get enough of that feeling and the moment it happened, his other hand came to her stomach as well. The delight in his face made Beckett laugh at him with pleasure. It amazed her how often she'd be sitting at her desk doing paperwork and her she'd jump at the feeling of one of them kicking, causing her husband to ask to feel it. Kicks like this against the outside of her stomach didn't annoy her much. It was the kicks she received to the other parts of her body, the painful kicks, that she hated. And with twins, it happened too often.

After a few minutes, she told him they needed to get ready and moved away from her husband. They went their separate ways as she got into the shower and he went out to cook some morning concoction that would probably make her nauseous. He wasn't a bad cook and he'd given up on the crazy food, she just continued to feel extremely nauseous throughout the pregnancy. Still, she ate everything he made for her and took the pills they'd given her to help her heart. As always, they took no risks in eating anything with high cholesterol or anything that was very fatty. Over the last few months the house had become the center of healthy food items that were absolutely delicious. No take out allowed.

Once they were finally ready, Rick in a midnight blue polo, black blazer and black slacks, Kate in a form-fitting white sweater with half sleeves and a conservative swooping neckline, black slacks and flats, they waited patiently on the couch. When Maddie came down in a knee-high black skirt and a pale blue shirt with a black cardigan and flats, she looked so very grown up that it shocked the other two. Her school uniform, while making her look rather business like, was in no way a uniform that made her look over sixteen. This looked as though she were one of the lawyers or something. It was strange for them both. Maddie brought the same feeling to Rick that he'd felt when Alexis had gotten ready for her junior prom and when she started her internship at the M.E's office. She looked so grown up that it was shocking.