Double Up

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Nate and Jo were watching the exchange between their mommy and daddy and Jo seemed a little on edge. Like she was about to cry.

Kate just stood there. Not knowing what to do next. She shifted her weight and then looked at her kids. Nate looked like he was beginning to feel really bad and Jo was staring at her daddy in fear.

"Kate, I'll put them to sleep" Castle spoke firmly after a moment of silence.

She looked at him for a minute. Then she turned and strode on out of the room. Her entire self, raging with anger and hurt. Castle had just spoken to her as if she was doing something wrong by correcting her son.

She couldn't believe the way he was talking to her. She didn't deserve any of this. She went into her bedroom and paced the floor. Her fists tightening. Her eyes getting moist.

Nathans comment about her never being at home had hit her hard. But she was not going to break down. This was just one of those tough days that they just had to talk through.

She tied her hair up into a messy bun, walked into the bathroom, changed and freshened up. She set her alarm for work tomorrow and then cleared up the papers of the case file she had been reading earlier.

She heard the sound of the bedroom door being pushed open. Castle had probably come in. she heard his footsteps going toward the bathroom. He brushed and then came and sat on his side of the bed. She walked up to him and faced him. He took off his shirt, threw it onto the chair beside the bed and he was looking down at his phone.

"What was that about?"

"What was what?"

"You know what I'm talking about Rick"

"No I don't, Look, I'm tired okay. I had a rough day."

"So that's it? After everything that happened today, you're just going to sleep over it"

"We'll talk tomorrow okay. I'm just dead tired." He pulled the covers and got in under them.

"I'm tired too Rick."

"Then sleep Kate."

He was being arrogant and she hated it.

"Fine" she said and walked around to her side of the bed, she got under the covers and lay down, facing away from him.

"Kate… we'll talk tomorrow"

"I said Fine"

Fine was never a good sign. Rick didn't like it when they fought. But his head was hurting. He was tired from the stress of the day, and he really didn't want to start explaining the day right now, because it would only lead to another argument between them. He turned to face her, but she was looking away.

He put his hand on her arm, but she shoved it away

"Don't touch me…" she said.

The choke in her voice was enough to tell him she was in tears. He began to feel horrible now. He hadn't intended on hurting her this much. He just didn't want to talk about their arguments of the day just yet.

"Kate, I'm sorry…"

"Are the kids asleep? She asked. The sobs in her voice still very evident.

"Yea"

and that was it. She said nothing else.

Castle stared up at the ceiling. His head was throbbing with pain and he didn't even know why. An hour had passed now and he wasn't getting any sleep. He sat up and wondered whether Kate was asleep.

He got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He opened up the cabinet above the wash basin and looked at the pills there. He needed aspirin and they seemed to be out of it. In the process of searching he dropped a few things from the cabinet and that created a loud sound. He heard a voice then

"castle, is that you?"

It was her cop instincts that surfaced at times like these.

"It's me, don't worry"

"What are you searching for?" she asked from the bed.

"Aspirin"

"it's here" he went in and saw her sitting at the edge of the bed on her side, looking through her bedside drawer and then she took out a bottle of pills. He came and sat on his side of the bed, she handed him the pill and poured him a glass of water.

And when she handed him the glass, she asked

"What's wrong?" she seemed so worried that he was awake in the middle of the night searching for medication.

"I've been getting a severe headache ever since I left the meeting this evening."

"Lie down"

he did as she said and closed his eyes. And suddenly he felt her fingers on his forehead. Gently massaging his head. He exhaled deeply at the feel of her fingers pressing just the right spots on his head.

"You must be having a head-cold" she said

"Hmmm" he hummed. When she felt his breathing slow down, and his body relaxing a little, she guessed that the pills had begun to do their job. She ran her hand through his hair, and softly whispered

"Goodnight Rick" she then leaned in and kissed his forehead gently. He was fast asleep to even know.

She turned back around to her original position and closed her eyes, she may be angry with him and highly upset, hurt that he wasn't talking properly to her and in no mood to talk to him. But that would never make her care any less for his health.

He's her husband and they care for each other. She made a vow to be with him in sickness and in health and she was going to keep that promise.

Two hours later. Kate was still wide awake. She sat up and looked at Rick. His lips slightly parted his soft breathing. The way his chest rose and fell with every breath. She got out of bed and went out to the kid's room. They seemed to be fast asleep too.

She hadn't gotten to say goodnight to them and right now, maybe kissing them goodnight and knowing that they were sleeping peacefully would help her calm her racing thoughts down.