For the umpteenth time that day, Rick stared at the clock in the bottom right corner of his computer screen. When Kate had left for work that morning, he had made a deal with himself to finish the first draft of his next novel. He had made a deal with Black Pawn to finish his novel and then take some time off before doing another book tour, but he had to actually get the book done on time for that to work.

He had just started fiddling around with the font size when his phone rang. Usually it would have been on vibrate, but given the circumstances he had kept the ringer on just in case something happened. When he saw that it was Kate calling, Rick smiled.

"Do you miss me?"

He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Not at all. The boys are finally getting some paperwork done for a change."

"Now where's the fun in that?"

Kate ignored his question. "How's the writing going?"

He abandoned his game of solitaire. "It's fine. Almost finished, in fact."

"You haven't written a thing, have you?"

"I've made some progress," he said.

"Oh? So which font did you eventually pick, Verdana or Tahoma?"

"Baskerville, actually."

Kate laughed.

"So, was there a reason for this phone call or did you just feel the urge to make fun of me?"

"Oh, babe, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I can actually make it up to you! I am going to give you some more time to write."

"Oh?"

"Hang on." Rick could hear her talking to one of the detectives. "You still there?" she asked a minute later.

"Of course."

"I know we said we'd meet for lunch, but I need to pick up some things at the store, so I thought I'd do that during lunch. You don't mind, do you?"

"I don't, but Kate, are you sure you can handle it?" He tried to keep the concern out of his voice, but he knew that was a lost cause.

"I'll be fine! It's not like I'm going to be hauling a piano strapped to my back around the city."

"I know. But you know I worry."

"I know." Her voice betrayed the tender smile gracing her face. "Do you want me to pick up something for you while I'm there?"

"Inspiration?" he said, only partly joking. "No, I'm fine. And I know you can handle it, but if you would like some company anyway, please call me. I really won't mind it at all if you interrupted me while I was working on this brilliant masterpiece that is so close to being finished. So call. Please."

She laughed. "I need to go. A new case just came in. You get back to your writing and I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Inspiration had finally struck and Rick was close to finishing the chapter he had been struggling with for a week. He faintly heard his phone ringing from somewhere beneath a pile of research, but he was so close to the end that he decided to ignore his phone for once and keep writing. He blocked out the noise, his fingers kept moving across the keyboard, and after a minute, his phone fell silent again.

Rick let out a sigh of relief, making a mental note to check for a voicemail message later. Before he could finish his thought, the phone started ringing again, dragging Rick out of the story and back into the real world. He dug his phone up and, as a pile of papers fell to the floor, the phone once again went silent. He saw that he had missed two calls from Kate. He immediately called her back, panic rising with every second it took before she finally answered her phone.

"Kate, is everything okay?"

"Is this Rick?" a man asked.

"Who is this? Let me talk to my wife."

"Sir, this is Robbie, from the grocery store around the corner from the 12th?"

Rick had trouble hearing what was being said. His heartbeat was drumming in his ears, and there was a loud noise on the other side of the line. "Yes, Robbie, hi. Why do you have my wife's phone?"

"Captain Beckett tried calling you yourself, but when you didn't answer she became too upset, I think. Could you come pick her up?"

Rick was already halfway to the door, putting on his coat as he wedged his phone between his ear and shoulder. "What's going on? Is she okay?"

"I think so. Just please hurry. She's scaring the other customers."

He wanted to ask more, but Robbie had already hung up the phone. He didn't wait for the elevator, instead taking the stairs down to the ground floor. He hailed a cab and collapsed in the backseat after giving the driver the address. He was already halfway to the store when he realised he was wearing two different shoes.

"Kate? Kate, where are you?"

Rick had made it to the store in record time after bribing the driver to push his foot down a little harder on the gas paddle, but he had waited long enough to see Kate. He scanned the store and began running up and down the aisles, looking for her. He eventually found her in a far corner of the store, sitting on a chair, crying quietly. He sank to his knees in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"Kate, sweetheart, what's wrong? Is there something with the baby?"

She didn't seem able to talk, but she shook her head. Rick let out a sigh of relief, but was still worried. He needed to find out what had happened that caused his wife to end up crying in the middle of a grocery store. He was about to ask her when they were joined by a twentysomething man wearing an apron with the store's logo on it.

"Rick? I'm Robbie. I'm the one who called you?"

Rick let go of Kate's hands and stood up. He put his arm around Kate's shoulder. "Robbie, thank you. Can you please tell me what happened?" he asked.

Robbie scratched his head. "I don't really know. One minute your wife was talking to one of the other employees and the next she was sitting in the middle of the aisle, sobbing. She was disturbing the other customers, and I couldn't calm her down, so I helped her up and brought her over here. A woman in her condition shouldn't be sitting on the floor, I think. Anyway, she calmed down a bit and tried calling you, but when you didn't pick up, she started sobbing again."

Rick turned to Kate. "I'm sorry I didn't answer. I should have." He leaned down to press a kiss against her hair. "Did you ask your co-worker what they were talking about?"

Robbie nodded. "Apparently your wife was looking for this specific brand of shampoo, but she couldn't find it on the shelves, so she asked Lisa for help. Unfortunately, the manufacturer no longer produces your wife's shampoo. When Lisa told her, well, you can see what happened," he said over Kate's increasingly loud sobs.

"Thanks for your help," Rick said, "but I can take it from here. We'll be out of here in a minute." He gave Robbie a credit card. "Ring up whatever my wife already put in her basket and we'll be on our way."

He waited for Robbie to leave before sinking to his knees again. "Kate, can you walk? We're going to take a cab and go home, okay?"

Kate nodded, and she began to get up, leaning heavily on Rick's shoulders. He rubbed circles on her back as they made their way to the front of the store to pick up their groceries. When Rick had put his credit card away and thanked Robbie again for his help, he guided Kate outside. The cab he had taken to the store was still waiting for them, its driver more than happy to earn a big tip for reading his newspaper while Rick was inside.

Rick made sure Kate was settled in and then got in on the other side. He gave the driver instructions to take them back to the loft and leaned back against the seat so he could hug Kate close. She was no longer crying, but her breathing was still quite erratic. He leaned his head against hers, whispering little words of comfort to calm her down. Kate rested her hands on her stomach, and Rick covered one of her hands with his own, hoping to soothe her further but secretly also hoping to feel a kick from his daughter.

By the time the cab dropped them off, Kate had recovered enough that she could get out by herself while Rick paid the driver. They were silent the entire way up to the loft. Rick helped Kate take off her coat and shoes, and after taking off his own coat and shoes, he guided her towards the couch. He made sure she was comfortable and then sat down next to her, waiting for her to talk. He didn't have to wait long.

"I hate these stupid hormone swings," she whispered.

"I know."

"I feel like a pregnant lady in a sitcom, crying over the dumbest things."

"Kate, this wasn't just a pregnancy thing, was it?"

She shook her head.

"Do you want to tell me?"

"They've stopped making my shampoo."

"The one that smells like cherries?"

"Yes."

She didn't say anything else, but Rick waited for her to continue. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but then Kate began talking again.

"I used to steal my mom's shampoo, so eventually she just bought us each our own bottle. When I went away to college, despite being on the opposite side of the country, I always felt so close to her when I smelled those cherries. And then after she died… God, Rick, whenever I'd smell that shampoo, it would be like a part of her was still with me, you know?"

By the end of her explanation, Kate had managed to turn around so she was facing Rick, sitting sideways on the couch.

"And now they've stopped making that shampoo," Rick said.

Kate's eyes filled with tears again, but she managed to hold them in. Rick softly caressed her cheek as he pressed a kiss against her forehead.

"Maybe you should go rest for a bit," he said after a while.

Kate got up from the couch. "I should go back to work."

"I texted Esposito from the cab, they know not to expect you back there today," Rick said as he got up as well.

"You didn't tell him what I did, right?"

He slowly guided Kate towards their bedroom. "Of course not. I told him you weren't feeling well. If something comes up at the precinct, he and Ryan will take care of it."

Kate let herself be helped into bed. "Are you coming to bed too?"

Rick pressed another kiss against her forehead. "Not now. You should sleep. I'll be in my office."

She hummed in reply, her eyes already closed.

He waited until he was sure she was asleep and then went into their bathroom. He knew there was an almost-empty bottle of Kate's shampoo still sitting on their sink, and he would need it if he wanted to cheer her up again.

When Kate woke up, the first thing she noticed was how thirsty she was. She walked into the kitchen, expecting to see her husband, but it seemed the loft was empty. She shrugged away the disappointment she felt. She had wanted to spend some time with him now that she didn't have to go back into work that day. Kate knew, given his deadline, that Rick wouldn't have left for just anything, but she wished she had been included in his plans. It would be bad enough once the baby got here. She would be stuck at home while another captain took over her precinct.

She was just about to pour herself another glass of water when her husband opened the front door. He took his time hanging up his coat and taking off his shoes, all the while unaware that Kate was glaring at him from the kitchen. She watched as he picked up a shopping bag that he had put down to take off his coat, and she felt herself getting angry. She was sure that she had bought everything they needed before she had had her little meltdown in the store.

"I woke up and you were gone. Where did you go?"

Rick had been on his way to his office when she spoke. He stopped in the middle of the living room and turned around. "I had to run an errand." He walked over to her. "I left you a note."

"I didn't find it."

He pointed towards her belly.

Kate looked down. "Oh," she said as she peeled the post-it note from her shirt.

Rick smiled and kissed her cheek. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"You could have woken me up, you know."

"Why?" He frowned.

"Because maybe I would have liked to go on this errand with you?"

"Ah. Well, it was a surprise, so I wouldn't have let you come with me anyway," he teased.

"A surprise? Rick, what did you do?" Kate tried to sneak a peek into the bag he was still carrying, but Rick hid it behind his back.

"Now, Kate," he said as he began walking backwards, "you don't want to spoil your surprise, do you?"

She followed him into the living room. "You know damn well I don't like surprises. What did you get me?"

Rick sat down on the couch and put the bag on the floor. He patted the cushion next to him. Curiosity won out over frustration and Kate sat down next to him, suppressing the urge to try grabbing the bag.

"I know how much your cherry shampoo means to you, so after you fell asleep I took a picture of the bottle you still have in our bathroom and I tweeted it."

"Why? Did you ask the company to send you all their leftover stock?" Kate asked.

"I know you're mocking me, but that is actually a good idea. I may still do that," Rick replied. "Maybe they're still selling your shampoo in Europe."

When he didn't say anything else, Kate poked him in his side. "So, what did you do with the picture?"

"I asked my followers if they had seen any bottles left in stores, and I got a ton of replies."

"And?" Kate began to squirm, excitement making it harder not to make a grab for the bag.

"And, after I got through all the 'OMG I love you!' replies, I found some stores who still had a few bottles left." Rick picked up the bag and handed it to Kate. "One store actually sold out before I could get there. I think you're not the only one who likes that shampoo."

"You found my shampoo!" Kate started crying again as she emptied the bag and put the bottles in a neat row on the coffee table.

"Are those good tears?" Rick asked tentatively.

She nodded and then smiled at him as he wiped her tears away. She slid closer and rewarded him with a kiss.

"No more tears?"

Kate laughed. "No more tears."