Year in Time

Part 6

September 29, 2014 — Two Month Old Check Up
      This was the day she was dreading: Avery's first shots. Their baby girl got some immunizations the day she was born, but Kate was so out of it that she doesn't remember 100% of what happened and Avery's shots were one of the things she didn't have any recollection of. "How long did Alexis cry for after her first shots?" Beckett asks as she folds the blanket and stuffs it in the diaper bag, "Probably five minutes max." Castle answers and Beckett nods as she tries to mentally prepare for the horrible sound.
     "Beckett, she'll be fine. She won't even remember it." "I know, but she's never cried because she was in pain. She's only cried because she was hungry or needed her diaper changed." She argues. "I know that, but wouldn't you rather her first cry of pain be something she doesn't remember?" "I'd rather not hear it at all." She says. "No parent does, but what I can tell you is that over time, it gets easier dealing with that cry. It's never easy to hear, but you'll learn to cope." He promises her. She looks up at him with sad eyes.
     "You're so much better at this than I am." She sighs, "Honey, you're just new. Nobody expected you to be the best homicide detective two months into the job, even though I'm sure you beat a lot of people's record. And parenting is something that no one will ever have figured out to a complete science. It's just not the way the world works." He assures her. She smiles and pulls him down for a kiss, "I love you." She whispers, "I love you too. Come on, let's go get our girl checked out." Castle encourages her.
     After Avery is weighed, where they learn she is now 10 pounds 2 ounces, they're taken to an exam room. "She's a hearty little thing isn't she." Castle jokes as he holds the baby in his arms. "The doctor said that's normal for breastfed babies." Kate defends, "Honey, I know, I'm just joking. She's fine." "Did Alexis gain this much weight so quick?" "No, but she was formula-fed from day one." Castle tells her. "Do you regret not formula feeding her?" She nods pointing to their baby, "No, I love watching you nurse her. It amazes me." He tells her.
    She blushes as someone knocks on the door and Dr. Crane walks in, "Hello. How's my favorite little patient?" He asks enthusiastically. They both smile, "She's growing everyday." Beckett answers, "Well, as much as I know it saddens you two, I find that to be wonderful news. How often is she nursing?" "Every two to three hours for about half an hour." Beckett answers, "Perfect. And tummy time is going good?" "Yep, she's on the cusp of lifting her head." Castle answers this one. "That's wonderful. I can see she's starting to become alert." Dr. Crane observes the baby staring at the lights.
"She might also start expressing slight emotional ques. Has she smiled yet?" "She did a few days ago in her sleep." "Were you talking, Mrs. Castle?" "I was humming." Kate answers as she thinks back to when she was cradling her baby girl and humming The Rainbow Connection to her as she was passed out in her arms before her cheeks twitched and her lips drew up in the sweetest of smiles. "Babies tend to smile to their mother's voice within the first few months of birth. It's the voice they heard most often in the womb."
"Around four months, she'll start reacting to Dad's voice and any other relatives or friends you saw a lot during your pregnancy." He tells them and it makes Beckett smile to hear her baby girl recognizes her voice. "If you'll just set her down on the table, I'll do a quick physical and then we'll go over her vaccine schedule for this visit." Dr. Crane says. That makes Kate tense. After he lays his daughter down, Castle stands next to his wife and lays a comforting hand on her back. They watch the pediatrician inspect their baby girl from head-to-toe.
"She's perfect, you two, you're doing great. Now, she will be receiving six vaccines today: five are shots and one is oral. She'll get the PCV, DTaP, Hib, Polio, and Hepatitis B shots and then the Rotavirus oral vaccine. Her legs might be tender later since that's where the shots will be administered and she may be a little more cranky or tired than usual, but she should be fine by the time you put her down for bed." Dr. Crane says as a nurse walks in with a tray of shots and a droplet.
"Can I stand with her?" Kate asks, "Oh of course!" Dr. Crane encourages with a smile. Beckett hesitantly walks over to her daughter and lays a hand on her belly. She watches Avery's oblivious eyes stare at the lights. She also watches those eyes fill with tears and her face turn red as her cries come out when the first needle pierces her skin. Once all of the vaccines are administered, Beckett picks her daughter up from the table, "Alright, I will see you all again in November for her four month check up. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call."
Beckett sits in the chair and lifts her shirt to offer Avery her breast which the baby takes and quickly soothes her. "See, she's okay." Rick says. Beckett nods as she wipes the tears that fell down her cheeks at her daughter's cries. "Wanna get out of here?" Rick asks and she nods. Once Avery is asleep, they slip her onesie back on her and get her settled into her car seat before they check out and schedule her next appointment. They return to the loft where Beckett settled the baby in her bassinet and Castle gets ready for a meeting.
"You sure you'll be alright?" Castle asks and Beckett nods, "Yeah, I'm just probably going to read and take a nap until she wakes up. We'll see you in a few hours." His wife smiles and presses her lips to his in a sweet kiss. He kisses Avery's cheek as she sleeps in the bassinet before he makes his way to Black Pawn for the meeting about his upcoming book tour. Once he's gone, Beckett grabs Heat Rises and collapses onto their bed as she begins reading the third book of her alter ego's series for the hundredth time.
A few hours later, Beckett is settled on the couch nursing the baby when Castle walks through the door. "Hey. How'd the meeting go?" She asks, "Very productive." He answers, "You got dates?" She wonders and he nods, "October 20th through November 11th." "Three weeks?" She asks and he nods again, "Which leads me to my next question: would you and Avery come with me? We'll be back before her next appointment and you don't go back to work until January. I really don't want to be away from either of you for that long." He explains. Beckett smiles and looks down at the baby feeding at her chest, "We'd love to." He smiles and kisses her. Our first family vacation he whispers against her lips to which she quickly reminds him that for her and Avery it'll be a vacation, for him it'll be work.
Part 6! Let me know what you think please! I really would like for this series to get as much love as my other two stories get!