I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who left a review. They were so over whelming and made me feel like for the first time that maybe I do have some talent when it comes to writing. I am so glad that everyone is enjoying this story and series. I love writing it for you guys and hope that you guys still stick around for more to come. THank you again to my Beta! Enjoy!
The scene that Beckett walked in on when she finally found the room that Daniel was in made her heart fill with such emotions that she was surprised it didn't burst out of her chest. In that moment, with Daniel grinning with Alexis's stethoscope in his ears and the chest piece pressed to her son's forehead, who was hooting with laughter, something happened. Beckett felt a wave of love and the need to do what it takes to make sure the boy stayed right here - where he was loved and happy. Her gaze shifted to her husband in the corner, watching the scene and found that same emotions going through her were going through him.
Noticing her, Daniel grinned, "Look Leu-ten-ant Castle. Lexi let me play with her seth…seth…" He cocked his head to the side to look at the smiling red head for help.
Alexis ruffled his shaggy blonde hair, "Stethoscope."
"Yeah, a seth-a-scope," Daniel spoke pleased with himself.
Beckett squeezed her daughter to the point she knocked the wind out of her. "Yeah, she's a good doctor and even a better mother."
Daniel blinked as something crossed his face, "You're a mommy, Lex?"
"Yep," Alexis carefully fished out her phone and showed off her son with pride. That distraught woman who thought that she wasn't cut out to be a mother was long gone. "His name is Kaden Beckett Dunn."
Beckett was amazed. It seemed that even with one eye swollen shut and his face covered witha multitude of different shades of purple that it did not affect his happiness. "Any news yet?"
Castle shook his head, "So far they did some blood work. They're waiting for x-rays before they redress his wounds," He pushed away from the wall, "Think you can keep him busy Nate, while I talk to Mom?"
A grin flashed across his face, "I'm not the one that gets into trouble. That's you Dad."
"Smart ass," Castle grumbled slipping out into the hall with his wife. Once the door was cracked open, he asked, "Did you get him?"
Beckett shook her head, "Though half of his department wanted to tear me and Espo apart. His captain wasn't too shocked by the charges. Apparently he's got a bit of a temper."
"When will he be arraigned?"
"Monday. He'll spend the weekend in holding," Beckett crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall with a tired sigh, "He'll most likely get bail, though it will be high."
He brushed his finger tips over her cheek to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "You look tired."
She cupped his hand with her own and leaned into his gentle touch, "Just a bit. Gates got Child Services involved."
Castle's brow furrowed just a bit, "What did you say to her?"
"Told her that he wasn't going anywhere," She simply stated, "I just want to keep him safe and I just don't know if he should be with someone else."
"I get it. I know we've only known this boy for less than a week but I look at him and all I want to do is just make sure that no harm comes to him. I want to make him happy." Castle glanced through the crack of the door to see his son doing whatever he could to keep Daniel smiling, despite the boy's current condition. The emotion he was feeling was love. Plain and simple. He loved Daniel just as fierce as he did Nate and Brianna. He wanted to make the boy his son and was willing to do anything possible to make sure that happened. "I want to make him ours, Kate. I look forward and I can't see life without him."
Beckett wasn't surprised that his line of thinking was right in line with hers. "We're really going to do this?Two seven-year-olds under one roof?"
"When have our lives ever been easy?" Castle asked with his signature charming smile, "I mean we haven't screwed up too bad as parents."
"Nate turned out well, considering he's got you for a father?" Beckett smirked. "I could only work with what I had after all. But this is a big responsibility, taking in a child that had such a hard life."
"We always wanted more children if we were able," He hated the flash of pain that briefly crossed her face and he scrambled to keep pushing forward, "Adoption was something we talked about. So why not Daniel? He needs a place where he will be safe and loved. The kids already are treating him like a brother."
A smile was starting to creep over her face, "What if they don't like us for him?"
"Then we will fight it until we have nothing left," Castle brought her hands to his lips, "Together."
"Together."
He caught her face and gave her a noisy kiss, "I love you," He grinned, "I'll meet you back at the loft, okay?"
"Don't get into too much trouble."
He tossed her his signature smile over his shoulder as he started down the hall, "You know me."
Nate was the one who had the stethoscope in his ears and checking Daniel's heart beat when Beckett slipped back into the room. Alexis glanced around her, "Where'd Dad go?"
"Had to go take care of some things," Was all Beckett said.
"All right." Alexis took back her stethoscope and tossed it around her neck. "I'm going to do a few tests, Daniel. I'm going to check your vision and then we're going to get you into x-ray."
"X-ray?" Daniel asked.
"It's a machine that will scan your bones to see if you have broken any," Alexis carefully cradled the boy's wrist that was wrapped in an ace bandage. "Like your wrist. If it is, you're going to need something more than this bandage to help it heal properly."
"You'll have to get a cast," Nate explained pointing to his own wrist, "I had one before and it's cool because Germ-y helped me decorate it. He's a good artist."
"Does it hurt?" Daniel softly asked his friend as if he didn't want the two women to hear his fear.
Nate shook his head, "Nah. Just itches every now and again."
"I'll let Nate go back with you, how about that?" Alexis suggested collecting the correct instruments to check Daniel's vision. In her opinion, he had broken his cheekbone due to the amount of swelling of his cheek and eye. "Now this might hurt because the skin is very tender. I'll try to be as quick as possible."
Daniel glanced nervously at Beckett wanting her comfort. Only he was too scared to actually say the words in case Nate would be upset by seeking her out. Beckett crossed the room and sat on the other side of him as if she read his mind. The corner of his mouth lifted in gratitude.
Since she sat on the side of his injured hand, Beckett started to gently rub the boy's small back. Nate took his hand and started to chat mindlessly while Alexis approached him. Beckett felt him tense when Alexis gently poked at the swollen skin. Prying open his eye was a near impossible task. After a few failed attempts, Beckett watched Alexis switch to the other eye. Daniel blinked and moved his good eye on command. She hoped that the seven-year-old didn't suffer too much damage to his sight. Two years later and she still struggled with the blurred vision in day to day life. It would be better if she wore her glasses like she's supposed to. No matter how much her husband liked them, Beckett couldn't stand the constant pressure on her face.
"That's good." Alexis set the tool aside, "When the swelling goes down, we will check your other eye."
After everything was said and done, Daniel had three bruised ribs, a broken cheek bone and wrist. Alexis was able to put a hard splint on his wrist and told them that in a day or two they would replace it with a hard cast. She also explained that he was going to be sore for a few weeks because most of his bones on his one side had been bruised.
With the help of Beckett, Daniel slipped his shirt over his head to cover the ace bandage that was wrapped around his midsection. "Thank you, Dr. Dunn."
Alexis slipped her hand into her coat pocket, "Call me Alexis, Lex, or Lexis." She softly corrected handing him a sucker. "Any friend of my brother's, is a friend of mine."
"You two wait here for a moment so I can talk to Alexis," Beckett instructed.
Alexis smiled at her stepmother and spoke before the lieutenant could say a word, "You're going to take him in, aren't you?"
Beckett arched a brow, "How'd you know?"
"Jedi mind tricks, remember?" Alexis laughed, "I can see how you and Dad are with him just after a day. The fact that Nate is attached and protective of him shows that he loves him like a brother. He needs a family to love him, and what better one than ours?"
"You're okay with it?"
"Of course. You both have enough love and attention for all of us. Just tell me that the bastard is behind bars?"
Beckett shook her head, "Won't know until Monday. I don't know how arraignment will go."
"How can they let him out after what he did to his son?" Anger flooded the red head's voice. "Half of his bones are bruised for Christ sakes. The bastard nearly beat him to death."
"We will see what Monday brings," Beckett gently kisses Alexis's cheek, "Go home and spend the day with your son."
"Thank you for your help last night."
"Anytime."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Beckett could tell by the time they made it back to the loft that Daniel was struggling to stay awake. Nate had to wrap his arm around his friend's waist to keep him upright. She shuffled her takeout food into one arm so she could fish out her keys from her pocket. "How about we take a nap before eating? I don't know about you two, but I'm tired."
"A nap sounds good," Daniel whispered.
"Can we build a pillow fort and watch movies tonight?" Nate wondered.
"As long as your invite your sister to join you," Beckett pushed open the door and found Brianna snuggled on the couch with Castle. Her attention was on the book that Castle was reading out loud. "Hey."
Brianna shifted her gaze their way, "Lex fix Danny?"
"She sure did, but he's really tired so the boys are going to take a nap." Beckett let it silently be known that Brianna would be joining them as well. That way she could catch an hour or two of sleep herself.
"Daddy tell 'prise," Brianna encouraged hoping off the couch.
Smiling, Castle crossed the living room and bent down to whisper to his son. His heart soared when a huge smile broke out across Nate's face. They hadn't really had the chance to ask what Nate thought about Daniel staying here on a permanent basis. The look on the seven-year-old's face told both parents everything they needed to know. Castle was not surprised how accepting Nate would be. He had been attached to Daniel's hip and is very protective.
Nate stepped back to look up at his father for one more confirmation and gently squeezed Daniel's arm. He was careful not to grip thepart of the arm that was bruised. "There is a surprise for you upstairs."
Daniel's small brow furrowed, "For me?" Even as he asked the question, Nate was dragging him carefully towards the stairs.
Grinning himself, Castle wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder and followed the two boys and their daughter. He heard a gasp just as they hit the top stair. Daniel was frozen in the threshold of Nate's bedroom. The writer touched Daniel's shoulder, "Daniel?"
Inside the room where there had been just one bed, desk, and dresser this morning, was now completely different. There was another twin bed across from Nate's with the same Met's bed sheets. The shelves above the new bed were empty, as its original contents shifted to joining Nate's other stuff over his bed. Resting against the new bed was a stuffed griffin with an extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed.
Daniel looked at Nate, who stood near his bed smiling, then shifted his confused gaze to the two adults. "I don't understand."
"Well if you're going to stay here with us then you're going to need a bed of your own." Castle explained as Brianna nudged Daniel into the room. "You can't be sharing with Nate the whole time, now can you?"
Hesitant, Daniel touched the new bed, "This is mine?"
"Yep," Castle moved to the closet and opened it up, "I got you some clothes."
Brianna made a noise.
"We got you some clothes," The writer corrected, "When you're up to it, we'll take you out to get more. Nathan has informed me I have horrible fashion sense."
Nate managed a 'that's so true' nod to his friend before his father could turn around and catch him in action. Brianna brought a hand to her mouth to muffle her giggle.
"Why…" Daniel swallowed the sob bubbling in his throat, "Why did you do this?"
"Well," Beckett slid her hand into Castle's, "We want you to stay with us. All of us." She informed him and her children moved to their side to show him that they were. "And if possible we want to make it permanently. That is if you want."
Daniel shuffled over to Nate and spoke in a low voice, "You want me to stay too?"
"Of course, Danny. We'll be brothers."
"Now I have two!" Brianna announced proud of herself for being able to count.
"We have to make sure the court says he can stay," Castle gently reminded his children.
Daniel sat in the middle of the room, pulled his knees to his chest and wept.
Panicked, Beckett glanced at Castle. Had they made a mistake in what Daniel wanted? Should they have waited before approaching this subject? When he gave them a hopeless shrug, she knelt beside the crying boy, "Danny," She gently rubbed the boy's back as Nate joined them. "We're sorry. We didn't mean to upset you. If you don't want to-"
"No!" Daniel's head snapped up from its resting place on his knees, "I want to stay."
Becket wiped the tears from his discolored face, "Why are you so upset?"
"I'm not upset," He sniffled, "it's just no one…" He hiccupped, "…No one, besides my Mommy, ever wanted me before. You-you actually want me."
Beckett gathered him as close as possible, "Of course, we want you and we will fight to keep you."
After Daniel cried himself to sleep, Rick and Kate shut the bedroom door once Nate laid down himself. Brianna had insisted sleeping with them and they didn't argue. Beckett closed the door on a heavy sigh. Her heart was aching for Daniel. She knew that his life had been bad, but to not be wanted or loved in his short life, that was too much. "We have to keep him here," Tears were in her eyes when she looked at Castle, "Rick…"
He kissed her wrinkled brow, "I know that's why I called my lawyer."
"On a Saturday."
"I pay him enough to disturb one of his weekends," He led her back downstairs, "I just figured it wouldn't hurt to get a head start on this. Our biggest issue right now is if somehow Jack gets off."
The thought made Beckett's eyes flare with anger, "I don't care what I have to do, that man is not getting near Daniel ever again."
He soothed a stray of lock of hair from her face, "Neither will I. If we're going to do this, we're going to have to throw every effort we have. There will be visits from social services. Our parenting will be put under a microscope before the court."
None would be found. They were good parents. Weren't they? Their children were their lives. Their children's happiness always came before their own. Hell, they already proved that they were willing to give up their lives for them. How could the courts look at that and say they weren't good enough parents to take in another? Daniel deserved to be in a happy and loving home. If he went into the system the chances of him finding a good family right away wasn't good. Especially with his age and background. Her racing thoughts hit a wall of realization. The courts would drag up the miscarriages. They would bring up the fact that after the first one she had just packed up and left for a few weeks. Guilt for her actions still haunted her to this day.
"We will handle it," Beckett said after some time. "We can face everything they throw at us because we're strong."
"Come on, you need to get some sleep."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Okay, one more," Castle took the last pillow from the couch and placed it on top to complete the roof. Inside three sleeping bags were set up for the children to watch a movie. "I think that does it."
Beckett came into the living room with a bowl of popcorn, "What movie are you guys going to watch?" Her gaze cut to Nate before he could even make a sound, "Not Monty Python."
"Oh, come on!" Nate whined, "It's my favorite movie and I want to share it with Danny."
"One child obsessed with that movie is enough," Castle glared at his wife, since it was her fault that their son found a way almost every day to slip in a reference of the movie. "Plus,Bree isn't old enough for that movie."
Nate folded his arms over his chest with a pout, "No princess movies."
"Wall-E?" Brianna suggested climbing into the fort to pick her spot.
"Okay."
Castle glanced at Daniel who was clutching his stuffed griffin looking a little lost. It was clear that he was still adjusting from the news of the day. "So what are you going to name him?"
"Name what?" Daniel asked.
The writer pointed to the stuffed animal, "You have to give him a name."
Daniel brought the griffin up to stare at it, "I do?"
"Yep," Nate confirmed, "I had a stuff dragon and his name was Drake. I gave him to Kaden."
Brianna waved her bunny, "His name is Red."
"I don't know what to name him," Daniel confessed looking to his friend, "Will you help me?"
Nate grinned, "Of course."
After two movies and three bowls of popcorn the children called it a night. Nate, Daniel, and the newly christened Arthur crawled up the stairs like zombies. Castle started down the hall after putting Brianna to bed, he stopped just outside the boys' bedroom when he heard hushed voices coming from inside.
"Nate?"
"Yeah, Danny?" The boy's voice sounded like he was on the edge of sleep.
There was some rustling before Daniel spoke again, "Do you really want me here?"
"Of course."
"You don't mind me sharing your mom and dad?"
"You don't share love, they have equal amount for all of us."
"But I'm not their son."
"Yes you are."
"Not really."
"Danny you don't have to be blood to be family. You're apart of mine now."
There was a long pause before Daniel spoke again, "Nate?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Wanting to be my brother."
"Never thank a person for loving you, it's the family motto."
Smiling, the writer continued down the hall after they bade each other goodnight. They are definitely doing something right when it came to raising Nate. He just hoped that they do the same with Brianna.
"What are you smiling about?"
Castle hit the last stair and just stopped to stare at his wife. Her hairs was tossed in a messy bun, her face scrubbed of makeup, and wore one of his shirts with a pair of old sweats. She never looked more beautiful. "About how great your son is."
"Don't you mean 'our' son?" Beckett asked shutting off the main light in the kitchen. "He's got more of you in him than me, especially that big heart."
He turned off the living room light, "He's got your compassion and drive to help those who can't help themselves." Castle was grateful for that.
"He's been through a lot in his life. It makes him see things differently than a normal seven-year-old. Now…" Beckett met him in front of the office door and hooked her arms around his neck. "Have I told you what a great man and father you are?"
He pouted a little, "Not husband?"
"That's just a given."
"Well then," He pulled her close, "It's nice of you to acknowledge that I'm not a total screw up."
"I mean it Rick," Beckett ran the tips of her fingers over the corner of his upturned mouth. "I don't want to think what my life would be like without you."
He rested his brow against hers, "And you will never have to because I'm not going anywhere."
It pained her that she couldn't promise the same thing. Every day she ran the risk of not coming home. Her job, no matter what role she took, always had that danger attached. They had talked about if that happened around the time she was recovering from her tangle with Grey. A conversation she had to force her husband to have since thinking about it made it too real. Becket made Castle promise that day to do two things. Always be there for their children and try to find happiness, even if that meant with someone else.
Knowing where her thoughts were drifting towards, Castle held her so tight he stole the breath out of her lungs. The urge, as it did every now and again, to ask her to lay down her badge bubbled in his throat. Of course it never formed into words. If he asked, truly asked her to give it up, she would. In the end, a part ofher would end up resenting him and Castle couldn't live with that. There were going to be no regrets when it came to their relationship.
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