Hi – really painful to say this but this is the last chapter of this story, it has been amazing to hear your thoughts and I have loved writing it, I hope you enjoy this extra long last chapter
Chapter 20
Two months passed and in that time, lots happened. In secret Rick and Kate continued to apply for legal adoption, they didn't want Livie to get excited and for it not to happen, they were both desperate for everything to work out, they kept Alexis in the loop because she already knew and she was just as eager for the adoption to work out as they were, she already considered Livie her sister, she wanted nothing more than for it to work out.
Kate smiled as she looked at the pictures on her desk, one of her family, Rick, Alexis and Livie all grinning at the camera, eyes sparking cheekily. The next showed a whole group of people all laughing at the camera. Their united team, their Alliance. They had been keeping in touch with NCIS and the Jeffersonion team; she mostly kept in contact with Ziva and Booth whilst Rick liked to keep in contact with Tony, McGee and Brennan. Gates had been quite impressed with her, how she had managed to get herself steady contacts in the two other agencies and they all called in favours from each other, she heard from them regularly, she and Ziva emailed each other a lot, and Booth emailed too from time to time.
She looked at the last picture smiling, it showed the three girls, Livie, April and Tali all sitting on Skye bareback, Alexis was standing next to the horse with Libby and AJ, they were all including AJ grinning at the camera, even Skye was cooperating and looking at the camera, ears pricked and forward.
The girls Skyped each other every Friday evening, for at least 45 minutes, Kate was glad they were all remaining such good friends. She had heard that Aiden was now one year old and chatting away to everyone and constantly annoying his parents as he ran around, he kept them on their toes Ziva said. Tali was fine too, she had fallen back into her usual routine, running in the morning and sparring or just exercising in the evening, her friend Amir was with her most of the time now, Ziva said they were getting a lot closer and Tony was beginning to get more protective. She had started horse riding too Ziva said, she loved it.
April was still with her boyfriend Seth and had gotten back into her routine too, she worked with Brennan in the lab at the weekends when there was no case and when there was one, she would take care of Libby who had just last week turned five years old and was proudly stating to everyone that she was now a big girl like her sister April. Booth said she was just like April, intelligent and hot headed.
The girls were best friends with each other and were talking about seeing each other in the holidays, Livie and Alexis had asked if Tali and April could come to New York and stay with them and their parents seemed to be fine with that though Libby wanted to come to. The girls may only talk once a week, but they texted each other daily, Livie's phone was constantly chiming, saying that she had a new message but that might also be from Alex.
Once Livie had returned to New York she had spoken to Alex and found out where he lived, they had become very close and quite regularly they went round to each other's houses, the main thing they did though was ride. Alex had moved his horse Red to Livie's yard, he said he had been meaning to move for months but Kate had a feeling it was a sudden move, the two of them went out riding regularly. Red was a large stocky horse, bright bay with a blaze down his face, he was very strong but loved Skye, when they went out he was constantly nipping playfully at her Livie said and nibbling her mane, Skye seemed to be playing hard to get because she squealed every time he did that but did it herself to him.
Alex and Livie went riding every other evening, sometimes schooling the horses – something Red needed a lot of – and sometimes hacking and charging through the woods, they were riding now Kate knew, and Livie said she wanted to see Lanie so she would catch the bus to the precinct once she was done, she smiled, they should be done soon she thought, but it gave her a little longer to work on her case, she looked at Rick who was reading his way through the most recent stack of forms he had been sent to fill in for the adoption process "lawyers can never make things simple can they" he grumbled, she smiled at him "come on Rick, after all these years of following me around you have only just realised that" he gave her a mock glare, she smiled "you do your paperwork now Mr Castle and I will do mine" she said and looked back down at her own work with the smile remaining on her face.
XOXO
Livie laughed as she bent low over Skye's neck and galloped through the woods along the recently built cross country course, she could hear the thunder of hooves from behind her as Red and Alex tore after them, she steadied Skye as they approached the next fence and held her until they were at the correct distance from the jump before urging her forward over the jump, she heard Red take off and land behind her and giggling she urged Skye to go faster.
She turned her head to see them not far behind her "keep up slowcoach" she shouted laughing at him before turning back to face the front, it wasn't long before Red came charging up so that they raced side by side leaping over the jumps "you know maybe we should do some team cross country" Alex shouted as their horses leapt and landed at the same time, Livie laughed again.
They charged out of the forest across the drive and skidded to a stop in the middle of the yard "seriously" the yard owner Carrie shouted with a smile on her face as she peered out of a stable to see what the commotion was about "get some brakes you two" they both laughed and headed into the school to cool their horses off walking around side by side "that was so much fun" Alex said "totally" Livie said grinning as she patted Skye's neck, Red swung his head towards Skye making her squeal and nip back at him "Skye" Livie chided as they stopped in the middle "manners please" Skye swung her head round and lipped at her boot playfully, Livie smiled and slid off loosening her girth and pulling the reins over her head as she and Alex led their horses to their stables which were side by side much to their delight.
Livie took off Skye's tack before she fetched a bucket and a sponge filling the bucket with water and using it and the sponge to bath her sweaty horse, soaking her sweaty patches before giving it to Alex to bathe Red with, then she stood and hugged Skye's nose, the mare stood their happy to be fussed, she grinned as she looked into her liquid brown eyes "you are one spoiled horse" she told her "you love to be fussed and pampered and that is exactly what you get isn't it" Skye looked at her before lowering her head to her pocket making Livie laugh "yeah you know what you want right" she said producing an apple and giving it to the intelligent horse before she took her tack back and fetched her grooming kit and brushing the horse over before she threw the rugs on and buckled them up, then she refilled her water and prepared her feed. Once Skye was bedded down for the night she gave her one last hug before she slipped out and carefully bolted the stable door.
Alex was just coming out of Red's stable and he grinned at her "ready to go" he asked and she nodded, they called their goodbyes to Carrie before they headed down the track to the nearest bus stop. As they sat on the bus Livie leaned against Alex and he put his arm around her holding her all the way back into town, then they hopped off and walked the rest of the way to the end of his road "where are you going" Alex asked "precinct" she said pointing "not far, maybe a 10 minute walk" "I'll walk with you" he said immediately "not safe in new York city at this hour" she gave him a look "I know that more than anybody and don't worry I will be fine" "I will feel more comfortable walking you" he said gazing at her with his big blue eyes, she looked at him "fine" she said with a smile and linked arms with him and headed to the precinct talking about their horses and their next ride.
When she arrived they stepped in and paused "well thanks" Livie said kissing him on the cheek "see you soon yeah" he looked like he wanted to say something but she waited and he didn't so she waved and headed into the elevator. The doors were just about to close when he suddenly stopped them, she looked at him confused as he slipped in and they closed "Alex what are you…" she was cut off as he caught hold of her and pressed his lips to hers, she froze shocked before very slowly she began to kiss him back feeling his hands at her cheeks and she carefully placed hers at his neck when they pulled apart she stared at him in shock "I just thought it was time we tried a kiss on the lips" he said softly staring at her.
She stared at him before she pulled him back down pressing her lips back to his, feeling his hands slip down to her hips as he held her. Neither of them heard the elevator arrive at its destination.
XO
Kate looked at her watch and then back at Rick, "Livie will be here soon so you might want to put that away" she said, "won't complain" he said putting the forms back in the file with a relieved sigh, she smiled and rolled her eyes "yo Beckett Livie not back yet" Esposito called "not yet, soon though" Kate called "she texted to say she was on her way" they both nodded at her.
At that moment there was a ding and they all looked up as the elevator doors slid open and they all stared in shock at what they saw inside. Livie was standing there in Alex's arms her lips pressed against his her hands at his neck. Most of the bullpen went silent at the sight of them and most people glanced at Kate who stared at her daughter in surprise, wow how things have changed she thought "déjà vu" she muttered to Rick, that was how she and him had been found out, kissing in the elevator. She looked over at Rick and found him staring in shock at Livie, uncertainty in his eyes, she looked at Ryan and Esposito and saw then standing there arms folded eyeing Alex. Kate winced; she wouldn't want to be him at this moment.
That was when the two teenagers suddenly realised they were being watched and they broke to see everyone staring at them, Livie went cherry red and stepped uncertainly away from Alex out of the elevator, she spoke to him still blushing and he grinned at her, then he looked over her shoulder where he spotted Ryan and Esposito looking at him threateningly, the message was clear 'we have our eye on you', he eyed them, and Livie looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at the sight of them then she said something and kissed him on the cheek before he stepped back allowing the doors to close.
Livie turned and walked back to the bullpen a small spring in her step "hi" she said "hi" everyone said looking at her, she eyed them all before turning to look at Ryan and Esposito "guys no need to give him the death glare ok he didn't do anything wrong" they both looked at her "you would tell us if he did though right" Esposito said "so we can get him" she rolled her eyes "yes you two will be the first to know", Kate smiled those two really were the two prefect uncles she had always wanted Livie to have.
Livie looked at Rick "ur dad you ok" she asked, Rick looked at her startled "huh oh yeah I'm good" he said and Livie nodded "I'm going to say hi to Lanie" she said and headed off in the direction of the coroner's office "um I'll go too" Kate said not wanting to be left with the men discussing how Livie was too young in their opinion to be dating, she jogged to catch up and followed her down the stairs.
"so" Livie said looking at her "so what" Kate asked innocently "Ryan and Esposito are being protective uncles, Rick is being a typical father thinking it is too soon, what are you going to say to me" Livie asked with a smile on her face, Kate looked at her "nothing" she said naively "except make sure your heart doesn't rule over your head and make sure you make your own choices not him making your decisions for you" Livie nodded "thanks mom" she said hugging her "I will make sure" Kate smiled and hugged her before releasing her to walk towards Lanie's office "seriously though in the elevator" she said "hey Ryan and Esposito told me that you kissed in the elevator, that was how they found out" "they told you that" Kate asked grinning "yeah they tell me a lot of things" "I don't want to know" Kate said with a smile.
"did you like it" she asked "yeah" Livie said "it was cool, real cool", "what was cool" Lanie asked appearing in the doorway to her office "hey Lanie" Livie chirped hugging her "hey girl, what as cool" she asked again "her first kiss" Kate said with a grin "mom" Livie complained as Lanie squealed "oh really oh my gosh, details girl" she cried excitedly, Livie rolled her eyes "ok so we went riding as usual but today I said I would catch the bus back cus mom and Rick were working so we both caught the bus back and he decided to walk me to the precinct" "aw" Lanie went grinning "and when we got there" Livie continued "I kissed him on the cheek and then went in the elevator, he slipped in and caught hold of me and kissed me on the lips"
Livie smiled and raised her hand to her lips brushing her finger across them smiling, "it was sudden and I was shocked but I liked it, a lot, so when he pulled away I kissed him back" "oh so romantic" Lanie said with a smile, and Kate rolled her eyes at her friend "then the doors to the elevator opened and everyone saw them" she said and Livie blushed as Lanie burst out laughing "shut up" she mumbled "I swear the lift journey is usually longer" both Kate and Lanie asked "if you don't stop teasing me I am going to go up to the bullpen" Livie threatened, Kate laughed "now that they have gotten over the original shock you don't think that their teasing is going to be even worse" Live sighed theatrically "fair point" she said. At that moment her phone rang and she lifted it "ur be right back" she said and sprinted from the room, before the door closed they heard her say "hi again Alex"
Kate smiled after her before looking at Lanie who was watching her "what" she asked "and you are ok with how things are going for her" Lanie asked "with how fast things are going", Kate looked at her best friend "she is a sensible girl Lanie" she said "and she seems happy, which I am happy with", Lanie studied her before moving forward "have you given her the talk" she asked, Kate froze "what talk" she asked "don't play silly with me girl, you know exactly which talk I mean" Lanie said eying her.
Kate winced "I don't want to give her the talk" she said "she is only 14" "14 with a boyfriend who she just kissed" Lanie pointed out, Kate opened her mouth to respond "I don't know what to say" she said. Lanie moved forward and took her hand "tell her what your mom told you" she said softly, Kate sighed and then nodded.
Livie reappeared just then with a smile on her face, she looked from Lanie to her mom "what did I miss" she asked "nothing" they both said and Lanie moved over to hug her, "come on kiddo we should head home now" Kate said Livie nodded and said her goodbyes to Lanie. "bye" the coroner called as they left "good luck Kate" Kate rolled her eyes and threw her a backwards wave as they exited and clambered back to the bullpen where they found Rick waiting for them "let's go" he said hurriedly "Gates just gave me the death glare" Kate smiled and grabbed her stuff "bye boys" she called "by Kate, bye Livie" they called as they slipped back into the elevator.
Kate was quiet on the drive home thinking, Lanie might be right she realised, Livie was getting close with her boyfriend, and she was happy for her but should she give her more advice than don't let your head be ruled by your heart? She looked at Livie sitting in the back seat, her own mom had given her the talk when she was 16, it had been great advice and all but she hadn't followed it, she had been rather brash as a teenager, eager to experience things. And that had ended her up as a mom, aged 18, don't get her wrong, she adored Livie and loved her with all her heart, it was just, being a mom so young hadn't made things easy for her, keeping a child happy and paying the bills had been hard at 21, and struggles were not what she wanted for Livie who had already been through so much.
They arrived back at the loft and Rick dropped them off, he was going to go have a poker tournament with his writing buddies, he gave them each a kiss before driving off with a wave and they entered the apartment together "Lexie" Livie called, there was no response, just a note on the counter saying she was with a friend studying for her finals.
Kate looked at Livie as she sat down on the sofa and took a deep breath, it was now or never she realised, she moved over and sat down opposite Livie who looked up at her questioningly "you know I love you right" Kate started, Livie nodded "yeah of course" she said, "and that I will always love you and support you no matter what choices you make or whatever might happen" Livie nodded again and the smallest frown was sneaking onto her forehead, Kate thought quickly "I just want to make sure that you know what you want out of life and that you won't throw it away over a boy by doing something silly or…" she fumbled for words and Livie's eyes widened "oh god mom are you giving me the talk"
"no" Kate said "I mean yes urgh I don't know" Livie leapt up "nuh uh mom nope no way, we are not having the talk just cus I kissed a guy" Kate gave her a look "believe me honey I want to be doing this about as much as you want to be hearing this, but it has to be done right" Livie shook her head "no it doesn't" she said "I think I know it and trust me I am going to be safe for a very long time", Kate groaned and caught hold of her arm "Livs just hear me out I think I feel just as embarrassed as you right now" "no I really don't think you do" Livie said, part of her looked like she wanted to laugh, the other part was struggling to remain serious and composed, "ah I don't know what to say, Lanie is the one who encouraged me to do this", Livie carefully tugged herself free "um maybe you should have done it when you felt ready mom" she said.
They both looked at each other, not knowing what to do or say, so Livie took the only visible option and bolted up the stairs. Kate groaned and lay across the chair, her phone dinged signalling a text, from Lanie:
'How'd it go?'
She groaned again before replying 'wonderful, thanks, that wasn't even remotely awkward", the reply came back instantly 'Sarcasm?' she rolled her eyes 'Ya think?' she responded, then she closed her phone and headed up the stairs to Livie's room. Slowly she tapped on the door "ur Livs, can I come in sweetie" "yeah" Livie said quietly and she slowly pushed the door open, Livie was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling, slowly Kate moved in and sat on the edge of the bed looking at her , then Livie slowly turned her head to face her "sorry I shouldn't have run" she said "I just didn't know what to do" Kate smiled and rubbed Livie's leg reassuringly "it's ok, I didn't know what to do either, I wasn't expecting to have to do that for a good few years" Livie smiled "I think we both know that things don't always go the way we planned" she said and Kate smiled holding out her arms for Livie to crawl into and she snuggled up next to her mom.
"promise me you will be careful" Kate whispered "I promise" Livie mumbled "you know me mom, and I don't feel ready yet anyway" "don't let him make you feel ready" Kate said "you and only you know when you are ready ok" Livie nodded and looked up at her "quit panicking mom" she said, Kate sighed "I know it is just my mom gave me the same talk when I had my first boyfriend, and I didn't really listen to her and well" she rubbed Livie's arm "I became a mom sooner than intended" Livie smiled at her weakly "at least it is over and done with now" she said "phew" Kate said with a grin and they both smiled.
"shall we go watch a movie" Kate suggested, Livie nodded eagerly and they both leapt up and headed down the stairs together and put on a romance movie, when Alexis returned she joined them and the three of them lay across the sofa giggling at each other and the next movie that they put on, ordering a pizza not wanting to cook. When Rick returned they were still lying there "oo what we watching" he asked coming over to kiss them, he pulled a face at the title making them all laugh "if you don't want to join us go write" Kate said prodding him with her toe "earn back some of that money that you lost tonight" she grinned playfully "I actually earned 200 bucks" he said "ooo" the three girls chorused and he pulled another face "well I can see I am clearly not wanted so I will go write before Gina falls on my throat again for not writing fast enough" they both grinned and he headed into his office.
"oh by the way" he said poking his head out "I have to go to another ball in a few weeks, anyone feel like coming" they all looked at each other "sounds interesting" Kate said with a smile "I'm in" he grinned "girls" he asked, Livie and Alexis both looked at each other before looking back at him "we're in too" they said with a grin. And he smiled happily.
XOXO
April grinned as she spotted Tali moving towards her with Amir right behind her, "there" she said "told you they were just running late", Seth rolled his at her "hey man" he said clapping Amir on the shoulder as April hugged Tali. Amir and Seth had hit it off and were now good friends which pleased April and Tali and now the four of them were spending a lot of time together, today they were headed down to the pier where Tali's boat that she and Gibbs had made was moored, they were planning to take it out to an area where Tali knew well and spend the day there, the boys were very eager and by the time they set off they were bouncing with excitement.
Once they arrived at the location the boys sent the anchor down then leapt into the sea with war cries, April and Tali just laughed and watched them laughing and splashing each other. April looked at Tali, she was watching Amir fondly a smile on his face, then she looked at April and saw her looking "what" she asked, April shook her head "for someone who is very observant and notices everything you certainly are overlooking one thing" Tali looked at her "he loves you Tali" April said as they swung their legs dangling them over the side "and you love him" Tali looked up and opened her mouth to protest, April gave her a look so she closed it "I don't know how I feel" she then muttered "yes you do" April said "you just won't admit it to yourself" Tali looked at the boys diving under the water.
"I don't want to lose him as a friend" she mumbled "should things go wrong". April looked at her "I felt the same when I first kissed Seth" she said softly, "and I was uncertain because he was my best friend and he was the only one who had stuck by me after my first incident, but then after we kissed I realised that I wanted to be with him, so much, and somehow I knew that even if things turned out bad between us, he would always be my friend" Tali smiled at her "you two are certainly pretty close" she said and April grinned happily at her.
Seth and Amir suddenly appeared hauling themselves up onto the boat "lovely water for this time of the year" Seth said as April chucked him a towel "yeah I will take your word for it" she said "we only came out for a picnic not a swim, we were going to wait for summer for that" they grinned "man tough" Tali said in a deep voice "man like to show off" they both scowled at her as she grinned sweetly at them.
Throughout the rest of the day April saw Tali looking at Amir, she was clearly thinking, confused and uncertain, she loved Amir so much she couldn't bear to lose him as a friend, yet what if that love blossomed and changed, grew and intensified, what if she missed out on that all because she was afraid to lose him should they crash and burn.
They arrived back at the docks and they could see their parents waiting by their cars chatting away, they all tied up the boat and grabbed their things, Seth grinned and kissed April gently on the lips, "see you soon chick" he said softly "yeah" she said with a smile kissing him back. She turned round to see Amir kiss Tali on the forehead gently and he said something softly to her in Hebrew making her smile as he turned away, then she looked at April and an odd look crossed over her face before it became determined "Amir" she called and ran towards him, he turned and looked at her confused then his eyes widened as she grabbed hold of him and stretched up to kiss him solidly on the lips.
Up by the cars it all went quiet, April grinned as she watched before looking up, Ziva looked shocked but there was a smile on her face as she watched her daughter, as for Tony, his jaw hung slightly open, shocked, the same look her father had had when Seth had first kissed her, shock, worry, uncertainly, protectiveness, Tali was Tony's princess, his little girl, now suddenly she wasn't, she was grown up, kissing a boy.
She looked back at Tali her hands were on Amir's shoulders as she stretched up, he was frozen in surprise then slowly he dropped his stuff and caught hold of her, kissing her back, the love he had been holding inside of him just because she wasn't ready came flooding out, yet he was gentle with her, he knew how vulnerable she could be, how small things could set her off, frighten her back into a protective shell, and he didn't want that to happen. His hands were at her waist but then slowly they moved up to cradle her back holding her gently yet protectively in his arms as they stood there, eyes closed caught in the moment.
Tali pulled apart then and looked up at him as he stared at her "what was that for" he asked looking slightly dazed "to say thank you" she whispered "for everything, for coming back to me, for waiting, for never giving up on me, for being there for me whenever I needed you" he smiled at her "I always will be kita" he said and kissed her again. April beamed at Seth who winked at her, "wouldn't want to be Amir right now" he muttered "your dad didn't have a gun when I first kissed you, Tony does" April bit back a laugh "yeah" she said, Tali suddenly seemed to remember that their parents were watching just then and she pulled apart to look at them, she grinned sheepishly before looking back at Amir
"I don't want to lose what we have" she said desperately "I don't want to lose you as a friend" he cupped her cheek gently "never" he vowed "I promise you Tali, I will wait for you until you are ready, I understand that you don't want to go to fast I mean you are only 13" she smiled "yeah" she said biting her lip "I will wait" he said "do not be afraid of losing me Tali" she smiled and hugged him then and he pulled her close before releasing her "now I suggest you go to your dad before he gets all protective and tell him that it was just a one off" she smiled "thank you Amir" she whispered "you are amazing" he grinned at her and touched her cheek before picking up his stuff and the two of them headed up to where Tony and Ziva were waiting, Tony with his arms crossed, "this might be interesting" April whispered as she and Seth followed.
XOXO
Kate grinned as she descended the stairs with the girls and saw Rick's mouth drop as he saw them "ur whoa" he said "speechless girls, you look amazing" Kate smiled "thanks" she said "you look good too" he grinned and pulled her into his arms making her laugh as he spun her round before he set her down to gaze at her.
Her dress was simple, black and strapless, sweetheart neckline clinging to her body down to her waist where it loosened slightly into a flowing skirt, it had a low back and the material was soft and comfortable. He grinned at her "you, my beautiful look gorgeous" she smiled and kissed him gently, then he turned to look at Livie and Alexis standing grinning at them, "and of course I can't forget about my two beautiful girls can I"
Livie and Alexis did look amazing, Alexis had a beautiful gold dress, with a loose skirt and spaghetti straps, the back was below her shoulder blades with a lower plunging front, it was very beautiful and suited her completely. Livie was wearing a beautiful white one, made of thin filmy layers that floated around her, rounded neckline and beads down her front, she grinned happily, her light brown curls framing her face.
Rick grinned at them, "we all ready my beautiful ladies" they all nodded and they headed for the door smiling and down to where the car was waiting to take them to their second party.
XOXO
This one had less press here, it was more secluded but it had just as many important people including heads of many agencies including the FBI, and the mayor who swept over to greet Rick eagerly and he kindly said hello to Alexis and Livie before taking Rick and Kate over to a group of people. Livie and Alexis drifted over to the bar and sat down watching at the dance floor slowly filled with people.
"I like this party" Livie said to Alexis "more teenager friendly, more teenagers here too" Alexis smiled and nodded looking around at the couples dancing around, they both grinned as they saw Rick drag Kate onto the dance floor and pull her into his arms, they began to dance and Kate rested her head affectionately on his shoulder as they moved through the other dancers, effortlessly, fluidly.
"well this is a real sense of déjà vu" came a voice from behind and they both whirled round to see a girl with auburn brown hair standing there wearing a turquoise blue lacy dress that clung to her figure, it came to her thigh with long lacy sleeves and her hair this time was down, and the smile on her face was even bigger.
"April" Livie squealed and flung her arms around her friend, laughing April hugged her tightly back before opening her arm to Alexis and hugging her as she too joined in the scrum "you're here" Livie gasped still hugging her friend "yep" April said with a grin "and I found us a surprise too"
"Can I join in" came another voice and both Alexis and Livie squealed "Tali" and flung their arms around the youngest, dressed in a beautiful navy blue dress, she laughed and hugged them back and the four of them stayed in their embrace for a rather long time.
Then Livie pulled apart looking over to see Booth tugging Brennan onto the dance floor much to the surprise of her mom and Rick who laughed in delight hugging them. "what are you doing here" she asked Tali who grinned "I'm on the job" she said teasingly before laughing, "nah just kidding my mom and dad are here" she pointed to where they stood grinning at them from the other side of the room, both dressed up "they are sort of working, they volunteered to be a security detail tonight for the NCIS director Leon Vance" she pointed to a dark skinned man talking in the corner "he is really nice and told them I could come and see my friends and that they should enjoy the party too though they can't tell everyone at home that" they all laughed and saw April's parents and Livie's mom and Rick spot them and make their way over to greet them.
XO
Kate laughed as she hugged Brennan "you're here" she exclaimed "in New York", Brennan grinned and nodded before releasing her to greet Rick as Kate hugged Booth "hey" he said gently "How are you" she smiled "good actually, really happy to see you" he grinned back "is April with you" she asked, Booth nodded and pointed to the bar "looks like she already located Livie and Alexis" he said, they all looked over and saw the three of them hugging, then they noticed another girl with them.
"Is that…" Rick trailed off "no it can't be can it" Booth asked squinting "it is Tali" Kate said and looked around, it didn't take her long to spot Tony and Ziva standing to the side grinning at them, "it is because there are two of the other DiNozzos" she said and they all grinned and headed over "hey you're here too" Rick said joyfully pulling Tony into a man hug "yeah" Tony said with a laugh "though we are sort of working, security detail for Director Vance but no one else knows he is here and McGee is here too" they spotted the youngest agent and waved at him, he grinned and smiled back "he is here as the author of Deep Six but I think between the three of us we can keep an eye on Vance" Tony said "and he can take care of himself believe me" they all grinned before they moved towards the bar where their daughters were chatting and the four of them leapt up to hug the adults happily, exchanging recent news until dinner was called.
They managed to get a table to themselves and they all laughed and talked happily, Livie got rather embarrassed when her friends heard about her first kiss which made them both shriek in surprise and delight. It was great to have their team back together; it felt amazing to see their friends and family again.
"so how long are you all in New York for" Rick asked "not long" Booth said leaning back in his chair "probably just a couple of days, we have to get back to Libby and work" "same" Tony said "we trust Gibbs with AJ completely but we don't want to put him off babysitting forever" they all laughed "can we all go out tomorrow" Livie asked her eyes shining "it is our turn to show you the sights of New York City again" Alexis nodded eagerly, April and Tali looked at their parents "fine by me" Tony said with a grin "let's all go" Rick suggested "make a whole day of it" everyone grinned "I like the sound of that" Booth said "yeah" said their daughters together "sorted then" Rick said "we have two cars to squeeze into" everyone grinned.
The music started up again "come on Zee" Tony said excitedly and grabbed her, pulling her up and onto the dance floor making her laugh and he whirled her around making the skirts of her light blue dress swirl out around her before he pulled her into his arms and she hugged him tightly, content in his arms, Tali grinned and looked at her friends as their parents headed out as well to the dance floor "so Livie" she said with a grin "tell us about Alex" she went cherry red and scowled at her "not kissing and telling anymore" she said "but I feel happy with him" she looked at Tali "how's Amir" she asked "you realised how perfect he is for you yet"
April laughed "yes she has" she said excitedly "she kissed him" "ooo" Livie said "do tell since you have all heard about mine" Tali scowled before smiling "One off" she said just a tester and a thank you to him for always being there for me, but we both agreed to remain friends until I am older and we are both ready" "friends with benefits" Livie asked cheekily and laughed as Tali glared daggers at her. They sat and laughed well into the night before the party ended. Tony and Ziva went to Vance who had allowed them to stay in New York for a few extra days and he relieved them of their duties saying they could have a few more days here before heading back to work, they said goodbye to McGee before he and Vance headed to the airport.
The rest of them headed slowly out and Rick gave them their address "come there tomorrow for breakfast" he said with a grin "sweet" April said also grinning "see you tomorrow" still grinning the grins that hadn't left their faces since they had first seen each other, they all headed outside and then Tony and Booth went and hailed a cab whilst the girls said their goodbyes before they headed to their hotel and Kate, Rick, Alexis and Livie all clambered into their hire car and headed home.
After the girls had stumbled up the stairs to bed Kate crawled into bed next to her husband resting her head on his chest as he played with her hair gently "you know" he said quietly "the lawyers said we would get the verdict on whether I get to legally adopt Livie tomorrow" she looked up at him before she kissed him gently "no matter what happens tomorrow" she said softly "you will always be Livie's father, by blood or not, it doesn't matter" he smiled at her gently "I still hope things work out" he said and she sighed and rested her head back on his chest "me too" she mumbled "I think it might help her moved on from the incident in the summer" they both flinched at the memories before hugging each other tightly.
As they slowly settled Rick felt Kate drift off to sleep in his arms, but he lay awake thinking , he wanted this to work out so bad, he was overjoyed that Kate had offered him legal adoption of her daughter, who he knew she loved so much and trusted very few people with her, and he was one of them. It didn't surprise him how protective she was, after everything she had been through, she wanted to protect her daughter desperately, and things hadn't been at all easy for either of them recently, he wanted to help them move on, for Livie to feel safe again, in her family. He sighed and closed his eyes, tomorrow he would worry about it, after spending a day with their friends, but he knew that even if he wasn't allowed to adopt Livie, he wouldn't stop loving her, he was her father no matter what happened, and that was all that mattered.
XOXO
Rick looked up as the doorbell rang and Livie came cannoning down the stairs and sprinted towards it pulling it open "hi" she chimed stepping back to let them all in and Rick grinned at them "breakfast is nearly ready" he said "make yourselves at home, Kate will be back shortly, she was just running some errands" they all nodded and slipped in, April and Tali followed Livie up the stairs giggling amongst themselves as she gave them the tour.
When Kate arrived she was holding a large envelope "I believe this is yours" she said as she kissed him "I didn't open it" she whispered, he looked at it before setting it on the side "I'll open it later" he said looking slightly nervous, she nodded and smiled at him before greeting their friends happily.
They all ate breakfast, Rick's pancake tossing skills had improved though a few were still dropped making the girls laugh "hey don't be mean to the chef" Rick said playfully grabbing Livie and pulling her into the kitchen and sprinkling flour in her hair "dad" she laughed "don't" she grabbed her own handful tossing it in his face, he released her and stood there covered in flour, slowly he opened his eyes to look at her and gave her a well known look "uh oh" she said and everyone laughed as she leapt out of reach ducking behind Kate who was helping with the cooking, as he grabbed the bag of flour and approached, Kate gave him a look "throw that at me and you will not be able to sit for a month" she threatened "she threw flour in my face" he whined "yes I know but I am ending this before it becomes world war three" she said "he started it" Livie said peering out from behind her "I'm finishing it" Kate said grinning at her daughter "now go get the flour out of your hair"
Livie grinned as she headed for the stairs "I will best you at laser tag later" she said "bring it" he said playfully making her grin as she headed up the stairs, Kate looked back at Rick to see him looking at the envelope, eying it uncertainly before he turned back to his job of fixing breakfast.
Once they were done, the girls had pretty much planned where to go so with a grin they headed off to their first destination, Times Square.
XOXO
By lunch time they were all exhausted but had had a wonderful day wondering around New York, they had gone to Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Grand Central station and many other places, now they were sitting in Central Park eating a picnic that Rick had prepared. "you know I wish you guys could stay longer" Rick said as he leaned back allowing Kate to lean against him "yeah we do too" Tony said "but if we stay away too long AJ might grow up to fast and be ready to graduate, I swear he is growing up way too fast since he started walking" "and Libby might be ready to have a boyfriend" April said grinning "huh we'll see about that" Booth muttered making them all laugh.
They spent most of the afternoon lounging around in Central Park before heading off shopping and picking up some souvenirs before they headed back to the loft for a while to have a few drinks before they headed home, the adults laughed and joked with each other and the girls giggled amongst themselves until it was late and Booth and Tony instructed their families to go back to their hotel for the night, sadly the girls said their goodbyes to one another and they all went down stairs to hail two cabs and wave goodbye as they pulled away. Then the Castles headed up the stairs and Livie and Alexis headed over to the TV and flicked through the channels until they found a movie and settled down to watch it.
Rick looked at Kate and moved over to the counter to pick up the manila envelope, then he headed for his office and slowly Kate followed closing the door behind her, before she did she looked at Livie sitting on the sofa next to Alexis, her daughter looked at her and smiled and she weakly smiled back before she closed the door and turned to face Rick.
He was leaning against his desk staring at the envelope in his hands uncertainly; slowly she crossed the room and sat on the edge of the desk next to him, slowly she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, he looked at her before catching hold of her hand briefly and holding it as he took a deep steadying breath and with slightly shaking hands he opened the envelope, Kate buried her head into his shoulder closing her eyes as she waited, she listened to him pull out the sheets of paper inside the envelope.
For a minute there was silence, then he let out a choking strangled gasp that mixed with a sob, alarmed she lifted her head to look at him but then he had spun round and was pulling her into his arms hugging her tightly, she hugged him before pulling away her eyes searching his face trying to find the verdict, instead he handed her the documents and she looked at them before she gasped and let out a cry throwing her arms around him and he hugged her tightly a small laugh escaping from him, then he grinned at her and took her out into the living room where both the girls were looking at them oddly wondering what the commotion was about.
Kate moved over to the sofa and caught hold of her daughter hugging her tightly, confused Livie hugged her back "um mom" she said "what's going on", Kate pulled back to smile at her before she moved to sit next to Rick in front of Livie on the coffee table, Livie looked between them confused, Rick looked at Kate and she reached out to take her daughters hand.
"ok" she said gently "Rick and I, we did something, something concerning you, but we didn't want to tell you in case it went wrong" she saw Alexis' eyes widen as she continued "but we got the results and the choice is still yours ok, no pressure honey, if you don't want it we will change it back ok, it is completely up to you ok" Livie looked at them, she looked uncertain, Kate looked at Rick and nudged him gently, he looked at Livie before he handed her a piece of stiff paper, she took it and stared at it before looking up at them totally confused "your birth certificate" Kate said gently "a new one" Livie looked back down at the piece of paper and at the name written on the line.
Olivia Johanna Beckett Castle
Livie continued to stare at it for a long while and they all watched her waiting for her reaction, Kate bit her lip, she didn't know how Livie would respond and this waiting was beginning to worry her.
Livie looked up then and her eyes were wet with tears, she stared at Kate before she looked at Rick and then suddenly she hurled herself at him nearly sending him flying as she caught him by surprise. He caught her as she hugged him fiercely and he hugged her tightly back, her head was buried into his shoulder and she lifted it away slightly so they could hear her mumble "does this make you really my dad now", Kate saw the smile on Rick's face widen "yeah kiddo, I am" he said kissing the top of her head, Kate blinked back tears as Livie mumbled "you always were my dad, this just makes it legal" she looked at her mom grinning "I'm a Castle too now", Kate grinned "yeah, we are all Castle's now".
Livie held out one arm still hugging Rick and Kate leaned in before beckoning to Alexis "family hug" she said and grinning Alexis moved forwards and they all hugged each other, clinging to one another tightly, all of them had tears of delight sliding down their cheeks, eventually Kate pulled apart hugging Alexis looking at Rick still clinging to Livie tightly as she rested her head over his heart, she looked so content, happy, as part of their family.
They stayed like that for a while before Kate said gently "anyone feel like bed because tomorrow we have to go tell the team, Lanie is going to flip with delight" they all laughed and nodded and both daughters said goodnight to their parents hugging them fiercely before they headed up to their bedrooms hugging each other in delight.
Kate then looked at Rick before she launched herself at him kissing him passionately as he held her before he lifted her up and still locked in their embrace he carried her into the bedroom and they both fell onto the bed still kissing as they tugged each other's clothes off tossing them aside, she pulled away to smile at him and he gazed up at her "you have no idea how happy you have made me recently Kate" he whispered "letting me follow you around, annoy you to hell, and then letting me help you daughter and then becoming my wife and now this, asking me to legally adopt your daughter, I know how much she means to you and I am honoured that you trust me enough to be her father" Kate smiled and kissed him gently again "I trust you Rick" she whispered "because of everything you have done for me, rescuing me and Livie twice, taking us into your family and showing me that it was safe to feel, I love you so much and I never want to lose you or have Livie lose you" "neither of you shall" he said honestly "though don't let me lose you, don't go being reckless in the face of danger" she grinned at him "when do I ever do that Mr Castle, I think you are talking about yourself" he growled playfully at her before kissing her neck and she smiled as she felt his hands slide down her body to her waist and she kissed him back, her body moving with his, as they made love, passionate yet frantic, and amazing.
XOXO
When Kate woke the next morning she was lying on her side covered with the sheets, she could hear the sounds of clattering in the kitchen and the sounds of Alexis and Livie giggling, she could also feel Rick tracing his fingers along her side and she grinned happily but kept her eyes closed "morning" Rick murmured kissing her shoulder, she mumbled in response and he chuckled before pulling her close against his bare chest, "time to wake up" he said "No" she mumbled playfully "yes" he growled teasingly tickling her in the side making her giggle and roll over.
At that moment they heard the phone ring and they heard Livie answer it "hello" she chimed "hi Lanie" she said and there was a pause before "no they are still in bed" she giggled "I'll go see" "uh oh" Rick muttered, then there was a tap on the door "mom dad wake up" Livie called "we are awake" Kate called "one sec Livs" she leapt up and tossed Rick his robe before grabbing her own and heading to the door, Livie stood there and looked her up and down standing there in the robe before holding out the phone "Lanie for you" she said innocently, Kate rolled her eyes at her daughter and took the phone "hey Lanie" she said with a smile "hey girl how was the party no one answered their phones yesterday" Kate smiled as she headed back to the bed and cuddled back up in Rick's arms "the party was great, yeah we um were out with friends all day, they could only stay for a day so we wanted to spend as much time as possible with them before they head back to DC tonight"
"Brennan, Booth and April were there" Lanie said in surprise "yep" Kate said with a smile "and Tony, Ziva and Tali" she quickly explained before she asked "hey is Javi with you" "yeah" Lanie said "why". Kate looked at Rick "do you two and Ryan want to come over" "yeah sounds awesome, but we have to go in to work so it will only be for an hour or so, why is something up", Kate grinned "tell you when you get here", Lanie sighed "alright, we'll call Ryan, he will probably be glad since Jenny is visiting her folks," "ok, see you in an hour or so yeah" "yeah" Lanie said "see ya" and she hung up.
Kate turned to Rick only to have his lips come down on hers "hey" she mumbled past them "time to get up" "no" he mumbled and she rolled her eyes "fine" she said "stay in bed and get teased by the boys", he gave a mock sigh before he hauled himself out of bed and they both dressed before heading out to the kitchen where they both stopped in surprise as they found breakfast already made "bout time" Livie said "it's getting cold" Kate looked at her "wow what's the occasion" she asked "Alexis and I have decided that this day henceforth is family day" Livie said with a grin "yes" Alexis said grinning as she carried a plate of bacon over to the table "the first day where we all became Castle's" Livie grinned "yeah" she said "I like the sound of another celebration day" Rick said heading over to the table to eat, Kate grinned and followed him over.
They had just finished when the doorbell went and Alexis ran to open it "hi guys" she greeted letting the team in "hey Lex" Esposito said "Mmm something smells good" "help yourself to leftovers" Kate said leaning back "Alexis and Livie made it all" "hey mini Beckett" Esposito said with a smile, she grinned at them "you can't call me that anymore" she said with a small pout, they all looked at her questioningly, then Lanie's eyes widened and she squealed "um did we miss something" Ryan asked, Livie looked at Kate and Rick who nodded, she leapt up and went and picked up the documents on the table before heading over to stand next to Rick.
"from now on you have to call me Mini Castle" she said with a grin handing them the documents, both of the boys stared at the birth certificate before looking up, from Livie, to Rick to Kate in confusion, smiling Rick handed them the other form and their eyes widened "dude" Ryan said staring "you got legal adoption of Livie" Rick grinned nodding "and a new birth certificate" he said proudly, they both looked at Livie who was grinning "I'm Livie Castle now" she said, both the boys stared at her before they whooped "hey that's awesome" Ryan exclaimed as Lanie launched herself at Kate hugging her best friend tightly "I can't believe it worked" she gasped, "me neither" Kate said grinning as Ryan and Esposito hugged Livie and congratulated Rick who was beaming proudly at Livie who's eyes were shining with delight.
They stayed for an hour talking excitedly until regretfully the team had to leave "you coming in again tomorrow" Ryan asked Kate and she nodded as she hugged "think Gates might be a bit pissed off if I miss anymore days, I have missed a lot recently" he grinned and hugged her "see you tomorrow Kate" he said and she smiled before releasing him and hugging her other friends watching as they headed out of the door then she turned to find Alexis and Livie clearing up from breakfast and she saw Rick disappearing into his study, she followed him and found him carefully placing the certificate of legal adoption in a frame, he smiled at her and set it on top of the chest of drawers behind him, then he looked at her "what do you think" he asked, she smiled and moved forward to kiss him "I think" she mumbled "that you are a wonderful man and the most amazing father, and that Livie and I are lucky to have you" he smiled "and I feel the same about having you" she grinned at him happily kissing him again until they heard the doorbell "who's that" he murmured "the Booths and the DiNozzos" she said "well I know the girls were coming round I don't know about the others".
They exited the study to find them all standing talking to Livie "has she told you our news" Kate asked moving over to hug them all "yeah" April said "that's awesome" "indeed it is" Ziva said hugging her, Livie was still smiling the same smile that she had been smiling since she had received the news "let's go to the roof" she said "the sun is out but let's not go anywhere" "sensible" Booth said "our flight is this afternoon".
So they headed up and talked for a while before Livie mused "if Alexis and I hadn't witnessed that shooting do you think we would all be here today" they all thought, "I guess not" April said "I mean we might have talked because we met at the party and Tali and I might have met but our team wouldn't have formed" they all pondered that, how one little thing could have changed all, if Alexis and Livie had been in a different area they would never have met NCIS, if the killings hadn't been linked they would have never met the Jeffersonion team, one instant could really change everything.
"and if we didn't have the same pasts" April said looking at Livie and Tali sitting on either side of her "we wouldn't have such a strong friendship" "the unity between our teams wouldn't be as strong" Kate added they all nodded "so we are like this now because of what happened to us in the past" April said, she smiled "and for that I am glad of what happened to me" "me two" Tali said "me three" Livie said grinning "it helped us form our alliance" everyone looked at the three of them "we may be young but our alliance is strong, and it will be strong forever" April said the three of them grinned and moved over to the edge of the building "we will look after each other always right" Tali said "best friends" "yeah" April said before she suddenly shouted out over the edge.
"Cus no one tries to break our friendship"
The other two laughed and then the three of them raised their united hands in the air, their parents smiled at them as all three of them shouted into the wind
"And god help anyone who messes with our Alliance"
Everyone laughed and Kate looked around at their children as they let out howls of unity and then at the rest of their team who were all smiling at their children, they had an alliance too, but theirs was thanks to three very special girls, three girls who had their own little lifelong Adolescent Alliance.
The End
Well really painful to say but that is it, the end of An Adolescent Alliance, I am really missing writing it already.
Thanks to my consistant reviewers:
Phnxgrl
Bobby-John09
Dinomus
And to all those others who reviewed from time to time – each and every one of them was appreciated.
A big thank you also goes out to the real Livie, who helped me write this, supported me when I was stuck and gave me ideas, helping me discover the characters that we created, thank you, without you this story would not be possible
Thank you again, please for the last time REVIEW, I would love to hear your final thoughts
PLEASE READ THE EPILOGUE TO THIS STORY: THE NEXT CHAPTER OF OUR LIVES, OUT NOW
Thanks
Mysticgirl