For the Love of a Child
Chapter One: Civil Ceremony
Summary: Kirsten and Cameron come together to protect a child that is left orphaned after Kirsten sees into the memories for the little girl's parents.
Disclaimer: I don't own Stitchers.
Kirsten was shaking as she climbed out of the fish tank and stumbled into Cameron's arms as Camille wrapped a blanket around the shoulders of her best friend. Kirsten stared intently into Cameron's eyes, willing him to understand what she needed them to do.
"I'm not a mind reader Stretch, you need to talk to me." Cameron muttered as he rubbed the blonde's arms.
"They have a 3 month old daughter. We need to go get her." Kirsten said as tears filled her eyes. Residual emotion.
"We can't." Cameron said softly.
"We have to Cameron." Kirsten insisted. "We have to." She repeated to herself.
"Kirsten, we aren't that baby girl's next of kin. CPS wouldn't let us take her." Cameron argued.
Kirsten looked around the lab before taking Cameron's hand in hers and leading him towards the locker room.
"I'm not saying just take her, I'm saying we need to adopt her. I have been in the memories of both the husband and the wife. Neither of them had any siblings, and both sets of their parents are deceased. And, neither of them had any close friends that they named as godparents. That baby girl has no one." Kirsten explained.
"As much as I would love to adopt a baby girl with you Buttercup, we will need to be married first. CPS won't let a couple who is just dating adopt a baby together." Cameron replied with a sigh.
"I know that it's not how you were wanting to go about doing this, but we can go to City Hall. Camille and Linus can be our witnesses." Kirsten said with a shrug.
"And the apartment? It's not exactly baby proofed. Neither is yours and Camille's place." Cameron said, purposely not commenting on Kirsten's willingness to get married.
"We can do it. We can get married today, and then baby proof the house over the weekend." Kirsten said.
"The house?" Cameron asked.
"We'll talk to Camille and Linus. Maybe they'll be willing to switch places with us if we offer to let them be godparents." Kirsten suggested.
"You're set on this, aren't you Stretch?" Cameron asked.
"I am." Kirsten replied.
"And you're 100% sure that this isn't just residual emotion. You are 100% sure that you want to get married and get ready for a adopting a baby?" He questioned.
"100% sure." Kirsten said with a nod.
"Okay… but we talk to Camille and Linus together after the debrief." Cameron said with a sigh. "Hurry up with getting changed." He added as he placed a light kiss on her lips before turning and walking away.
Kirsten changed faster than she ever had before in her life. She and Cameron needed to get a move on everything as soon as possible, or else they would lose out on adopting their baby girl. 'Would we need to keep the same name for her?' Kirsten thought to herself. 'Helena Camille Goodkin has a nice ring to it.' Her thoughts added, putting a smile on her face.
"Come again?" Camille asked. "Why did I just hear you say my name with your boyfriend's last name?" She added.
"I was just thinking of names for when Cam and I have kids. I guess I must have said the last part out loud. What do you think of the name combination Helena Camille Goodkin?" Kirsten said quickly, hoping she didn't give anything away.
"I like it… then again, I will like any little girl who has my name as a namesake." Camille said with a shrug. "Anyway… Maggie said that she got everything Fisher needed from what you told us, so once you're ready, we can head out to dinner with the boys." She added.
"Cam and I actually need to talk to you and Linus about some stuff." Kirsten said.
"Does it have anything to do with the case?" Camille asked.
"Yes and no." Kirsten replied as she grabbed her bag from her locker.
"Okay then…" Camille said with a shrug.
As the girls walked out of the locker room, Kirsten glanced over at Cameron and gave him one of her rare smiles. This was going to work. They were going to be a family. Cameron, her and their baby girl Helena. Upon reaching the guys, who were waiting on the elevator, Kirsten slid her arm through Cameron's and leaned into his side.
"Helena Camille Goodkin… if we're able to legally change her name once we adopt her." Kirsten whispered as the elevator arrived and the two couples stepped inside.
"I like the sound of that almost as much as I like the sound of Mrs. Kirsten Elise Goodkin." Cameron whispered back as he placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Okay love birds, spill. What do you need to talk to us about?" Camille asked.
"We need you two to be our witnesses for a civil ceremony at City Hall this afternoon." Cameron announced as the four stepped onto the elevator.
"Come again?" Linus asked.
"Cameron and I are getting married today so that we can adopt the baby girl who was orphaned because of this case." Kirsten elaborated.
"And we will need you guys to help us baby proof the house… that is… if you two would be okay with moving into my apartment so that Kirsten and I could have the house to bring the baby home to." Cameron added.
"What's in it for us? Other than the amazing apartment?" Camille asked before Linus could agree to it.
"Being named god parents?" Kirsten offered as a question.
"Done deal. We'll help you two get everything ready." Linus said after a quick (and silent) conversation with Camille.
"When do we head out to city hall?" Camille asked as the elevator doors opened with a ding.
"Right now." Kirsten said as she pulled Cameron by his hand out of the restaurant that was above the lab and to the parking lot where his car waited.
"I'm going to have to get a new car, aren't I?" Cameron asked.
"Probably." Kirsten said shooting him an apologetic look.
"You can have my Edge, and I'll take your comfortable." Camille offered.
"So, just trade everything pretty much?" Cameron questioned.
"Yeah, I mean anything to keep our goddaughter safe, right?" Camille said with a smile. "Linus and I will meet you at City Hall." She added as she pulled her boyfriend towards her car.
"Shall we Cupcake?" Cameron asked as he opened the door for Kirsten.
"Yeah." Kirsten said simply as she got in quickly.
As both couples drove towards City Hall, each were having different conversations about the day's events. Camille and Linus were still shocked that their best friends were getting married before them, due to Cameron having to die and then come back for him and Kirsten to get together, when they themselves had been together since before the Spanish Flu outbreak in the lab. But they were happy for their friends regardless. Cameron and Kirsten were talking about everything that they would need to do to get ready for Baby Girl Goodkin.
"While you were in either stitch, did you happen to get the baby's name, just in case we can't change her full name?" Cameron asked.
"I think it was Elizabeth Madison? I only got a glimpse of her birth certificate when I was in the wife's memories." Kirsten replied.
"If we aren't able to change her name, Elizabeth Madison Goodkin is just as good as Helena Camille." Cameron said with a smile as he took Kirsten's hand and kissed her knuckles as he pulled up to a stop light.
"I guess you're right. I've just always liked the name Helena." Kirsten admitted.
"If we ever have a baby girl of our own, we can name her Helena. Does that work Sunshine?" Cameron asked as he pushed down on the gas pedal when the light turned green.
"Yeah." Kirsten replied with a small smile.
"We're here." Cameron said a few minutes later as he pulled into the underground garage and got their parking permit for the afternoon.
As Cameron and Kirsten were getting out of the car once they parked, Camille and Linus were pulling into a spot next to them.
"Lover Boy, you should have at least let us get a small bouquet for your bride or something." Camille commented.
"It wasn't Cameron's fault, time is of the essence. The sooner we get married, the sooner we can start the adoption process, and the sooner we can bring our baby girl home." Kirsten said matter-of-factly as Cameron took her hand in his.
"What kind of Maid of Honor argues with the bride on the wedding day?" Cameron asked with a joking tone that got all of them laughing.
"The kind that doesn't see how the bride is okay with wearing jeans and a sweater to her wedding, and one who wonders just where the wedding rings are." Camille shot back through her laughter.
"They're in my pocket." Cameron admitted as his face turned scarlet.
"Dude, really?" Linus asked.
"I want to see the engagement ring." Camille said excitedly.
"As you mentioned earlier, this isn't how I wanted to go about doing this, but Kirsten Elise Clark, will you marry me?" Cameron asked as he pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and pulled a gorgeous diamond ring out of it as he held Kirsten's hand in his.
"Of course." Kirsten replied with a watery smile. She was still getting used to having emotions.
"Good, cause our wedding ceremony starts soon." Cameron said with a smirk before leaning in to kiss her.
"What a way to pull a Gaston move and still get the girl." Camille commented with a smile. "Now let's go get you two married so that you can go adopt your baby girl." She added.
Once they got into the building and were directed on where they needed to go, it wasn't too long of a wait before they were called in. The ceremony itself wasn't nearly as long as it would have been if they weren't on a time crunch, which Kirsten was happy about. When it came time for the vows, however, Kirsten was at a loss for words. Luckily Cameron went first, so Kirsten had something that she could go off of.
"Kirsten, I know that we are an unconventional couple, but that's what makes us work. Because it's only what people see when they look at us, a total nerd and the hottest girl in class, that make us unconventional. But when you put down on paper everything that we each have accomplished, we aren't so different from each other. I can't promise you everything, like the moon, the sun and the stars, but I can promise you my love, my heart, and my soul." Cameron said and they all heard Camille sniffle at the words.
"Cameron, before I met you, I had no idea what love felt like. I was always alone, but I never knew what being alone felt like, either. Because of my accident when I was little, I couldn't feel any kind of emotion. But that all changed when I met you. You helped me feel things that I didn't even know were possible for someone with TD to feel. And I can't thank you or love you enough for everything that you have done for me. I might have loved my parents before the accident, and I might have felt something for Ed before the accident, since he had been such a close friend to my parents, but I don't know if I did or not. So while I can't promise you the moon, sun or stars either, I can promise you that, as far as I can tell, you are the only man that I have loved, and you are the only man that I want to love, for the rest of my life." Kirsten said and she knew that her best friend was in full on tears now.
After that, the ceremony ended quickly. Camille handed Kirsten Cameron's ring (while trying desperately to dry her eyes and failing) and Linus handed Cameron Kirsten's ring. They kissed to consummate their marriage ceremony, and then signed the marriage certificate. As they headed back to the cars, with Linus and Camille trailing behind, Kirsten couldn't describe what she was feeling, seeing her married name on the paper in her hands. Mrs. Kirsten Elise Goodkin. She was married to Cameron. She was married… period.
"How does it feel?" Cameron asked as he scoped her up bridal style, eliciting a squeal of surprise from his new bride, and placed her into the passenger side of the car.
"How does what feel?" Kirsten asked looking up at him.
"To be married?" Cameron added.
"I'll let you know once I've wrapped my head around the concept. How does it feel for you?" She asked.
"Like I am the luckiest guy on the planet to have you as my wife." Cameron replied as he leaned down and pressed his lips to Kirsten's.
"Yo, Romeo. Move it, will you? The Best Man and I would like to get into the car." Camille said as she swatted at Cameron's back to get him to move, at least most of her tears of joy were gone now.
"Hey, so Camille and I were discussing it, and if we are going to be switching houses, then we are going to need to get some packing boxes so that we can make that switch." Linus pointed out.
"Okay, how about this, while Kirsten and I head to the store to get the stuff that we would need to baby proof the house, why don't you two go out to get the boxes, and then head over to the house and get started. Sweetheart, do you have the spare key to the apartment?" Cameron asked.
"Yeah, here you go." Kirsten said as she pulled her keys out and slipped the key to their apartment off of the ring.
"Here. If we aren't back before you need to start bringing things over, use this key to get into the apartment." Cameron said as he handed the key to Camille since she was closer to him.
"Okay. See you two honeymooners later." Camille said with a wink.
"We aren't going on a honeymoon right now!" Kirsten exclaimed.