Meeting Friends

Castle walked outside to make a phone call. The CPS needed to be made aware of the conditions in this house. He wanted to take Jordon out of here today. Mrs. Rossi agreed to come out now and take a look. He called the judge he played poker with and the judge agreed to sign a temporary custody order for him awarding Beckett custody until things could be arranged a little more legally, providing that was what she wanted. He told Judge Carmichael that he would call back within the hour.

Beckett watched as Castle left the house before turning her attention back to Jordon. "Who's my dad?"

Beckett looked at the small child and decided to follow Castle's example of always telling Alexis the truth. "I don't know." She couldn't tell an eight year old about the night of her conception.

Jordon had been exposed to a lot during the last four years in foster homes. Her manners were bad and she saw no reason to improve them. "You got lots of special friends, do you?" Jordon's manner was disrespectful and full of implication.

"What are special friends, Jordon?" Castle asked sitting back down and crossing his legs. He gently took Beckett's cold hand and squeezed, but his eyes never left Jordon's.

"You know. Those kind that do things to ladies and gives them things." Jordon's voice sounded strained.

"I can promise you that Kate has never had special friends. When you get older I am sure she will tell you everything she knows about your father." Castle leaned forward, putting his forehead against Jordon's. "In the meantime, how about you stop slicing at her with that sharp tongue of yours."

Jordon's gaze became mutinous. "No." She appraised Castle. "What are you going to do about that, Mr. Writer Man? I am bad all the way to the bone. " She nodded her head at Mrs. Turner. "That's what she says when she locks me in the basement."

Adult heads turned towards the other adult in the room. "She'll punish me later for opening the door."

Beckett leaned forward towards her child. "Don't bet on it." She hooked her thumb towards Castle. "I'll lay odds that he'll have you sprung within the hour." She looked at the doubting face of her daughter. "That is if you want to leave here and come home with me?"

The little girl's eyes swung back and forth between the two people on the sofa. "Couldn't be any worse than this, right?"

It took a little longer than an hour but they were soon out the door with Mrs. Rossi blessing after talking to Judge Carmichael. Mrs. Turner was not a happy person by the time little Jordon left. Jordon had told all of Mrs. Turner's secrets and was now being investigated for neglect and abuse.

Jordon sat between the two adults. "So, what are you going to do with me?"

Kate looked at her young daughter. "Well, we need to get a bigger apartment. I have only got a one bedroom with a small study." Beckett sighed. She hadn't thought any further ahead than getting Jordon out of that awful place.

Castle grinned. "You both are coming home with me. I have plenty of space."

Beckett's phone rang. It was playing 'Jailhouse Rock.' She threw an evil look at Castle. He had messed with her phone – again. "Beckett." She listened for a few moments then said "I … we'll be right there."

"Where we going?" An inquisitive little girl asked.

Castle looked at the child. "The precinct for now."

Castle could tell that Beckett was on a mission. She was going to get over the hard part of her being a mother by telling her team. She had a hold of Jordon's hand, leading her to her desk. Castle followed a little behind the mother and daughter team.

He sat in his usual chair and waited for Beckett to work out her plan. He had seen her do it a hundred times over the past years. "Castle. I need to talk to the Captain. Will you watch Jordon?"

Jordon frowned and crossed her arms. "I don't ne.."

"Yes. You. Do." Beckett told her before Jordon could complete the sentence. "Be a grown up, Castle. Not partner in crime." Beckett marched off to speak to the Captain.

Jordon sat in her mother's chair and began spinning it, until she noticed a couple of men watching her. "What? You haven't got something better to do than watch a kid?"

Castle glanced over his shoulder at Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito. They approached Beckett's desk. "So, you got another kid, Castle? Or did Alexis shrink?" Esposito said looking at Jordon. "No way. She's your kid, Castle, right?"

Jordon approached the two men. Her hands were on her hips, her browed furrowed and her young voice tight. "He says he's not my dad. Did you bang my mom? She said she …" She glared at all the men.

Castle clapped a hand over the little girl's mouth. "Sharp tongue, remember? Be nice." He removed his hand and gave her a stern look.

Ryan looked from the little girl to Castle and then at Beckett in the Captain's office. He knelt down to get a closer look at the small child. "A little Beckett."

"I am Jordon Rebecca Ferguson. Not a little Beckett." She leaned forward, nose to nose with Ryan. "Got it?"

He pulled back and stood up. "How? When?" He directed his stare at Castle. "You guys knew each other before?" Ryan knew this had to be Beckett's kid. The attitude was his boss's times ten.

Castle had already searched his memory of any drunken escapades at a fraternity nine years ago when he heard Kate's story. He was no angel, but he really didn't think Jordon could be his. He had just married Gina then and, despite what everyone may think, he had been faithful to his wife. "No, you were here when I met her."

"Really?" A wealth of doubt existed in that word. Esposito looked at his boss who was rapidly tapping her way over to them in her high heeled boots with the Captain following.

"Trust me. This is one tarred brush with which I cannot be painted, so put the feathers away." Castle tossed back at both the men.

Jordon watched the interplay between Beckett's team and pinned a look at Castle. "You think you're too good to be my dad?" Under the tough exterior, Castle saw the hurt and fear.

"I would have loved to have been your father." He looked at child and could see the weariness in her face. Too many changes, too fast for a child this young. Trust was something that was built over time and through living. This little one trusted no one. "I don't know who my father is either." He offered.

"Huh." Jordon took his words as he had meant them. "No dad and my … Kate don't want either of us really."

Castle took Jordon by the arms and pulled her closer. "Your mom is just as terrified as you are and you both handle it the same way." He pushed her bangs back and gently kissed her forehead. "You both fight tooth and nail and let nothing get in your way to arrive at a place where you can write your own story. Don't be scared, Jordon, I'll be here for the both of you. Friends?"

She pulled slight away from him. "I'm not scared. I can take care of myself." She turned away from him but walked to his side and leaned her small shoulder against his big one. "But I guess we can be friends."

Kate watched the interchange between her best friend male friend and a child that she didn't know, but for her sins, was her daughter. "Everything alright?" She questioned. Both heads nodded at her. They may not be father and daughter, but the resemblance between them was astounding.

"Captain Montgomery, this is my daughter, Jordon." She looked at Jordon. "Jordon, this is my boss, Captain Montgomery."

Jordon sized up the older black man. Keeping her arms folded, she pushed harder against Castle's shoulder. He nudged her. Reluctantly, she held out her hand. "Jordon Ferguson. Sir."

Montgomery took the small hand in his and shook it with all the deference he would have given the mayor. "Pleasure to meet you, Jordon."

She stepped back and leaned against Castle once more. As Beckett introduced her daughter to her team officially, he had an opportunity to watch them. The child was Beckett in personality, but her looks seemed to be Castle. Jordon's eyes, both in color and shape, were his as well as the smile that flashed across her face was one he had seen many times over the years. The thing that surprised him, however, was how very tiny she was compared to her mother. She looked smaller than his six year old son.

"Are you going to leave now?" Montgomery asked. "I'll push through the FMLV."

Beckett nodded and saw Castle's confusion. "Family Leave. For birth, adoption or family emergencies. I guess this is all of them." She laughed at the expressions of shock on Esposito and Ryan's faces. "So, for the next six weeks, you're it boys."

She touched the sleepy head of her daughter who was now sitting on Castle's lap dozing. Her head lay against his chest and his arms were wrapped loosely around her body. Her hands were fisted in his shirt, holding him tight. She knew how warm and comfortable he was. Yeah, they were a lot alike. "I'm going to get to know my daughter."