Trying Again

Part 6

October 2, 2015
Johanna finds her daughter in the kitchen at 4:30 in the morning. She and Jim were staying on an air mattress in Royce's room while Martha stayed at a hotel nearby. Kate is loading the dishwasher while she assumes Rick is still fast asleep in their bed with Royce. "Katie? Everything alright?" Johanna asks. Kate slightly jumps at her mother's voice. "Hey. Uh, yeah, I just couldn't sleep." The brunette says. She's obviously distracted. "What's going on?" Johanna asks. Kate sighs and looks down at her engagement and wedding rings. "He's two today." She says quietly.
A tear escapes her cheek. "Oh, baby." Johanna whispers before rounding the corner to hug her daughter. Kate holds her sob in until her head is buried into her mother's shoulder so that her cry is muffled. Johanna rubs her back, soothing her as best as she can. "I know, it's painful." She says. "He's not a baby anymore." Kate says when she pulls away. "No, he's not. He's a toddler. But this is a fun stage." Johanna tries to cheer her up. Kate smiles and laughs as she thinks about how her son's little personality has developed so much.
"It is. He's his own little person." She agrees. They both hear a door open and soon Rick walks out with Royce in his arms. Her husband is in a pair of sweatpants and his hair is sticking up in differed directions. Royce is in nothing but a diaper and his curls are a tangled mess. "Mama." Royce says tiredly as he rubs his eyes. Kate steps forward and takes her son from her husband, "Hi Bubba. Happy birthday." She whispers and kisses his cheek. Rick wraps an arm around her waist, "Why are you up?" He asks her. She shrugs.
"Couldn't sleep. I just kept looking at him." Kate tells him. "I'll leave you two. Get some more sleep." Johanna says as she kisses her grandson's forehead and then goes back to the nursery to join her husband. "What's really going on?" Rick asks when they're alone. "He's not a baby anymore. I got my period this morning." She tells him. He sighs, "Kate, it's gonna happen." He assures her, "Everyone keeps saying that and then it doesn't happen. Maybe there's something wrong." She says it for the first time out loud. "Do you want to go see the doctor?"
She shakes her head, "They wouldn't even run tests until we're trying for at least a year." She says defeatedly. "So, what do you want to do?" He asks. She rests her head on his shoulder as she looks out at Royce whose fast asleep. "I just want a baby." She says. She sounds so sad when she says it that it makes his heart physically ache. "We're gonna have one. Look at me." He nudges her and she does, "I don't know why it's taking so long this time or when the next little one will come along, but I know we will have another one." He assures her.
She smiles, "Did your spidey senses tell you that?" She teases. He chuckles and leans down to kiss her, "No. I vowed to do whatever I can to make you happy, so if another baby will make you happy, then we won't stop until we have another baby." He promises and it brings tears to her eyes. "Damn you, Richard Castle." She laughs. He kisses her cheek and then takes her hand in his, "Come on, let's go snuggle with the birthday boy for a little longer." He insists.
They cuddle up in bed and quickly fall asleep for a few more hours. It's 9:00 when Royce wakes them up. He pats her face gently, "Good morning, Bubba. Happy birthday." She says once again. "Mama, up!" He says and she laughs. Their son then turns to his father and does the same, "Dada, up!" He insists. Rick's eyes open and he stretches. He grabs Royce and lifts the boy above him like an airplane making Royce laugh, "Happy birthday, Little Man." Rick says before lowering his son onto his chest and kissing his head full of curls.
"Food?" He asks. "You want breakfast?" Kate asks her son who nods, "Dada, the birthday boy wants some birthday pancakes." Kate says before batting her eyes. Rick smiles and kisses her forehead and then Royce's cheek, "Alright, birthday boy, let's go put breakfast together." Rick says. He stands and puts Royce on his shoulders. In the kitchen, she hears them greet her parents. Kate takes a few minutes to stretch as she thinks about two years ago when she was in the hospital still in labor with her baby boy. He didn't enter this world until 1:01 in the afternoon.
After a few moments, she slips out of bed to join her family in the kitchen where she sees Martha has arrived. Royce is running around the living room playing with Jim. "Hey, let's go change your diaper please." Kate calls her son over. Royce runs over and lifts his hand for his mother to grasp. In the nursery, Kate changes her son's diaper and slips on a sweatsuit set so he's at least wearing something. When they go back out to the kitchen, she finds that her husband is finishing up breakfast. She walks to him while Royce runs off to play.
"Here." Rick says as he passes her a cup of coffee. "Thank you. Need help?" She smiles. He shakes his head, "Nope, I'm nearly done." He says. Their plan for the day was to eat breakfast and then take Royce to the children's museum in town before getting dinner at an Italian bistro they loved. Then they would come home and open gifts and have cake before putting the birthday boy to bed. Rick slides two pancakes onto a Mickey Mouse plate for his son before handing it to Kate who adds some fruit for Royce.
"Here Bubba." Kate announces and holds the plate up for her son to see. Royce races over to his high chair which Kate sets him up in and then puts the plate in front of him. She and Rick settle at the table with their parents to also enjoy breakfast. Once they're done, Kate begins cleaning up while Rick gets Royce dressed and ready for the day. Once everyone is ready, they head to the children's museum. They all smile as they watch the boy run around in amazement at the different set ups. "Mama! Cow!" He yells and points towards the plastic animal.
"I see, Bubba. What sound does a cow make?" She asks, "Mooo!" He yells making the adults laugh. They spend hours going through the different set ups: a farm, a resturant, a grocery store, a school, a courtroom, and more. By the time they're ready to go to dinner, the little boy is exhausted. He sleeps the whole car ride to the resturant and then stays asleep against his father's chest as the adults eat. Kate makes sure to get him a kid's spaghetti to go knowing he'll be hungry when they get home.
When they're home, Royce is awake and eats his spaghetti before they do gifts. Jim and Johanna got him a ball pit with a little slide while Martha got him a tricycle. Rick and Kate decided to get him some new clothes and books knowing their parents were getting him toys. "Alright, time for cake." Rick says as he pulls the circular cake from the fridge with art from their son's favorite show: Blue's Clues. He sets it on the table and Kate places a '2' candle in the center. "Okay, Bubba, we have to be careful cause it's hot." Kate reminds him.
Royce nods and Rick lights the candle. "Ready? One, two, three." Once Kate is down counting down they all begin to sing, "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Royce. Happy birthday to you." They sing. Royce takes a deep breath and blows out the candle before Rick and Kate kiss both of his cheeks. They all enjoy cake and then Kate bathes her son and gets him settled into bed. She feels Rick sneak in behind her as she watches him sleep in his crib, "Two years ago we were two teenagers in a hospital room with a newborn." She says.
He nods as he kisses her shoulder, "And now we're a married couple with a toddler and trying for baby number two." He says. She smiles, "Mom and Dad said they would take care of him for the night since we haven't gotten much sleep with him in our bed." Kate explains and Rick nods, "It will be nice to cuddle." Her husband states and she nods in agreement. "Hopefully this time next year Royce will have a little brother or sister to celebrate his birthday with." Kate says. Rick kisses her temple, "Let's go to bed."
Part 6! Royce is 2! Stay tuned, there are some exciting things coming up.