Trying Again

Part 11

January 26, 2016
It was a rough morning in the Castle household. Royce was at the tail end of a cold that he contracted, most likely, from one of the kids he plays with at the park. The whole time Royce wanted nothing more than to cuddle with his Mama, but Rick and Kate tried to limit his exposure to her since she was already dealing with morning sickness, a cold was the last thing she needed. She hated feeling useless as her son cried for her, she felt like the worst mother in the world despite Rick's reassurance that she was an amazing mother.
Royce had woken up today crying uncontrollably, even being in Kate's arms weren't helping. The only time the toddler stopped crying was to tell his parents 'no' to anything they asked. Did he want breakfast? No. Did he want juice? No. Did he want to play? No. Did he want to cuddle? No. Rick could see his wife getting stressed and he wanted to stop it as quickly as it started, "Why don't you go shower and get ready for your appointment?" Rick asks her. She turns and looks at Royce whose one his knees with his face in the couch cushion as he cries.
"I can't leave him like this, Rick. Is it normal?" Rick shrugs, "We could call our parents and ask. I don't remember any of the parenting books saying anything about this." He tells her. She feels the tears gather in her eyes as she takes a deep breath and then walks over to their son. She sits on the floor next to him and rubs his back, "Bubba, you have to calm down." She whispers. He lifts his head and looks at his mother, "No." He cries and then puts his head back down.
Kate finally has enough. She sighs and sits on the couch before lifting him into her lap. "No, Mama!" He yells and tries to move out of her arms. Kate places a hand on his back, "Royce Alexander, you need to calm down." She says more sternly, and for the first time all morning, the crying stops. Royce lets out a small cough before he looks at his mother with tear filled eyes. His golden irises burn into hers. "What's wrong?" She finally asks him. His tiny hand strokes her curls, a new thing he picked up to soothe himself.
"Missed Mama." He says. His bottom lip quivers in a pout and Kate's heart breaks into two. She hugs him to her chest, "I've missed you too, Bubba. But I'm right here, okay? Now, we have to get ready to go see baby brother or sister." She tells him. He pulls back and looks down at her belly, "Baby?" He asks and she nods, "Baby. Are you hungry, Bubba?" "Yes." He nods. "Okay, Dada is going to make you breakfast while Mama showers. I won't be gone long and I'll come right back." She promises.
Royce nods, "Go to Dada." Kate says as Rick makes his way over. "Give me a kiss." She requests before Rick takes the boy from her lap. Royce leans in and presses his lips to hers in a quick peck before his father lifts him into his arms. "Go shower." Rick assures her. Kate nods and disappears into their bathroom where she takes the quickest shower of her life. When she walks back out to the main area, ready to go for her apartment, she's in shock. You'd never guess their toddler's world was falling apart this morning.
The little boy is sitting in his high chair doing a little dance as he eats his pancakes, eggs, and sausage. "Mama!" Royce says happily. It sounds more like her little boy. She smiles as she leans down to kiss his head, "Hi baby." Kate smiles. "Do you want some?" Her husband asks her. "No, I'm too nauseous. I'm just going to have some toast." She tells him. He grabs the bread and puts it in the toaster before she can even round the counter. She smiles, "I got it. You go get ready. I don't want to be late." She tells him.
An hour later, they're all dressed and walking out the door to go to Kate's ultrasound appointment. Halfway there, Rick notices his wife's pale skin and clammy hands, "Kate?" He asks, "Can you, uh, pull over? I think I'm going to be sick." She begins to gag. Rick immediately pulls off to the shoulder and his wife all but jumps out of the car and hunches over before she empties the contents of her stomach. "Mama?" Royce calls out, "Mama is okay, Buddy." Rick assures as he gets out of the car to help his wife.
He holds her hair out of her face and rubs soothing circles along her back. Once she's done, she turns to look at him, "Can I have my water?" She asks. He nods and turns to grab her bottle and some napkins. "Go sit in the car with Bubba, I'll be okay." She tells him. "He's alright, Kate. Are you?" She nods as she sips the water and wipes her face. "Yeah, let's go." She tells him. "Are you sure? We can be a couple of minutes late, Babe. I don't think Dr. Leeds would mind." He assures her. "I'm okay. Really, I am."
      He helps her back in the car and they continue the drive to her doctor's office. When they get there, she checks in and sits down with her husband and son. "How're you feeling?" Rick asks, "Still nauseous, but I don't think I'll get sick again." She assures him. He places a comforting hand on her knee and they sit in silence until she is called back. Back in the exam room, they wait until Dr. Leeds walks in. "Hello. How're we doing today?" "Nauseous." Kate answers with a laugh. "Morning sickness, huh?" "It set in a few days ago." Kate says.
    "Well, hopefully it goes away by the second trimester. Speaking of, let's get a more definitive idea of how far along you are." Kate lays back on the table and lifts her shirt over her stomach that's become slightly bloated, but still isn't noticeable. Dr. Leeds squirts some gel on her stomach and then spreads it around with the transducer. "Okay, there is your baby. There is the head and you can see the little legs have formed and the arms are getting ready to begin growing." Dr. Leeds points out. Tears fill Kate's eyes as she looks at Rick whose smiling.
    "Look, Royce, it's the baby." Rick tells his son who looks up at the screen and smiles, "Baby!" Royce points. All of the adults smile, "Based on measurements, I'm officially putting you at 10 weeks and 0 days gestation. This will make your due date August 23, 2016." Dr. Leeds tells her. Kate smiles as she continues looking at her baby, "Let's get that heartbeat." The doctor switches the transducer for a doppler and turns the volume up. When the heartbeat fills the room, Kate can't keep her cries in anymore.
     Months and months of trying and tears over negative tests has now turned into pure joy at the sound of their baby's heartbeat. "Everything looks and sounds healthy, Kate. Congratulations you guys. I want to see you back here in two weeks for a quick blood draw to do your first trimester screening. Other than that, keep doing what you're doing." Dr. Leeds smiles after wiping the gel off her patient's stomach and pulling Kate's shirt back down before leaving the room. They get their sonograms after checking out and Kate proudly displays them on the fridge when they get home. Rick steps behind her and wraps his arms around her, resting his hands on her belly, "I love you so much." He whispers in her ear, "I love you too." She turns to kiss him. They both look at the sonogram with smiles. In August, they'll officially be a family of four.
Part 11! Comment please!