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Chapter Twenty-Five
It still took a moment to adjust, waking up in the strange room. She yawned, stretching out between the crisp sheets on the new mattress that made it that much harder to get out of bed in the morning. Her alarm chirped at her a second time and she shut it off before it could wake Castle. It was day three in their home and the first Sunday, which meant she couldn't sleep in.
She pulled up the security feeds on her phone, a compulsive habit now whenever she went to bed or woke up, but it was a small comfort that put her mind at ease. That the townhouse was already equipped with a state-of-the-art security system had been the deciding factor for them. Although the house had an entrance at street level, it was gated off to keep the door and steps from public access. Security cameras monitoring the doors and sides of the house also didn't hurt and the app on their phones not only showed the video feed, but alerted them and logged whenever a door or window was opened. It certainly felt safe to them - and that said something, being as paranoid as they were.
Easing slowly out of bed, she tiptoed over the thick rug and then the cold hardwood floors, out into the hallway. She tucked her arms tightly around her midsection and almost went running back to the bedroom for slippers. Nice as this home was, it was hard to keep warm in February. Matthew's bedroom was up a flight of stairs, a multi-themed room with all his favorite things; a clash of legos and comics and tanks.
She slowed when she reached his bed, tamped down on her excitement for just a moment.
He was sleeping in his own bed, in his own room, but for the past two nights, he'd tried to stay in their room. Two nights of tears and pleading from him had almost worn them down completely. Hypocritical though it was, she didn't want to feed into Matthew's fear. While she couldn't sleep without checking a thousand times that the house was locked, she wanted more for Matthew; Peace of mind that he really was safe, not because he in their presence, but because he slept alone in his room and still woke up safe and sound each morning.
A good idea in theory, but a harder plan to execute. And with only two nights under their belt, it felt like the adjustments to this new house would never end.
She sat on the edge of his bed, pulling back the covers just a bit. No camouflage print like the first time they'd furnished a room for him.
Oh, that was strange to think about, how far they'd come from shopping for a child they'd never met and every choice felt like an agonizing decision to buying their son's bedding without a second thought. It was an Avengers comforter that Castle had thrown in the cart with complete certainty. Matthew loved it.
"Hey, sleepy bug."
He woke slowly with her gentle prodding, her fingers pushing the hair out of his face and her lips brushing kisses to his cheek and murmuring that it was time to get up.
He rubbed one eye and gave her a sleepy smile. Precious boy.
Then he seemed to remember he was mad at her for banishing him to his own room again and he turned into his pillow, but she wasn't deterred. No, it was Sunday and she would drag him out of this mood, one way or another.
"I need your help with something." She rubbed his back.
And for all his intentions of punishing her, he wasn't a stubborn child. His curiosity won out. "Help with what?" He rolled around again.
"It's Sunday. I need my best sous chef to help me with brunch."
"We don't have the chef hats." He grumbled.
"We don't need them." She offered up a smile.
He sighed, his internal struggle playing out across his features. "Can I crack all of the eggs?"
"All of them." She nodded, a smile blooming on her face when Matthew couldn't get out of the covers fast enough.
They crept down two flights of stairs. The three walls of the kitchen were lined with high-reaching, cream colored cabinets and marble countertops and in the middle of the room was a wooden island. In the recently unpacked kitchen, it took Kate three tries to find the right cabinet and grab all the necessary tools. Kate lifted Matthew onto the kitchen island and set a bowl next to him for the eggs.
He pulled his feet up, sitting cross-legged in his fleece pajamas. "This is my favorite part." He beamed, smashing an egg on the rim of the bowl and underestimating his force. She turned a blind-eye when the five-year-old frantically scooped at the crushed eggshell and runny goop spilling over the side of the bowl. She would be fishing pieces of shell out of the bowl when he wasn't looking, but for now, she gathered pancake fixings and left Matthew to crack the rest of the eggs.
She brought her ingredients to the island and stood across from him, getting a bowl of her own for pancake batter. Matthew looked up from where he was whisking the eggs and giggled.
This was a simple pleasure she had sorely missed and her heart ached at the joy in Matthew's eyes, knowing she wasn't alone in the sentiment.
Cooking brunch with her son felt like home.
"What do you want on your pancakes?"
"Um…" Matthew played with the egg batter, lifting the whisk and watching the slime drip from it. "Strawberries."
She smiled proudly at her picky eater. It was strawberries on pancakes, but it was a start. "You got it."
Kate had always prided herself on being able to juggle the preparation of a meal, timing the different foods to be done at roughly the same time so nothing got cold. It was a skill her mother had trained into her, but how her mother had made it look effortless while letting her 'help' as a child, Kate would never know. With Matthew in tow, her attention was always pulled from the task at hand.
"I want to do the scrambling part." He pushed a stool right up next to her at the stove and was at her side faster than she could blink.
"We're not ready for the eggs just yet." She flipped a pancake and tugged his hand away from one of the stove top igniters.
"I want to do that!" He reached for the spatula in her hand.
She sighed out her frustration while holding the spatula just out of his reach. Hadn't she felt just as eager at that age? When she spoke, her tone was quiet but firm. "Slow, baby. If you're gonna be my sous chef, you have to be careful."
Somehow, they finished without any casualties and Kate carried the tray up the steps behind a still eager Matthew. Oh, Castle was in for a rough wake-up from the looks of it.
And she was right. Matthew scrambled onto the bed and shook Castle awake almost violently. He jolted, eyes wide with panic, heart thumping, no doubt and Kate gave him a sweet smile to smooth over the abrupt wake-up. "We made brunch."
Despite the unpleasant way he woke, Castle sat up without too much grumbling, pulling Matthew in close for a moment.
"Rotten kid." He kissed the boy's head before releasing him. "Good morning."
"Coffee." Kate passed him the steaming mug first and he thanked her profusely, settling back against the headboard with it and sighing, long and deep.
They divvied up plates and lounged on the bed with their brunch, soaking in the quiet laziness of a Sunday morning. There was still so much to be done with the house; Matthew's playroom was a jumble of unorganized toys thrown haphazardly about before shelves could be installed and Alexis hadn't had the time to officially move in to her bedroom on the top floor and make it her own. Their own master bedroom looked dull with the bare walls and unopened boxes stacked in the corners. It felt like all they did was unpack yet so much of the house still remained unfinished.
But they wouldn't worry about that just yet.
Not when there was breakfast in bed and Matthew brightening up the room.
Castle froze suddenly mid-chew.
"Are you ok?" Kate asked. "Bite your tongue?"
He frowned and pulled something out of his mouth. "Eggshell."
"Oops."
Matthew burst into a fit of giggles, unable to stop even after the initial humor wore off.
"Those are Matthew's specialty eggs, didn't you know?" Kate teased, shaking her head at Castle over the slap-happy child between them and it wasn't that funny, but their son's laughter was infectious, igniting joy in both of them until they were laughing, too.
They would be ok as long as they kept finding reasons to laugh.
She was fidgeting with an earring that wouldn't go in when she heard Matthew's feet scuffling quietly across the floor of the bedroom. In the corner of her eye, she caught him moving into the walk-through closet that gave them access to the master bathroom.
"Wow…" Matthew suddenly gasped and she turned away from the mirror to see what marvelous thing had instilled such awe in his voice and found those brown eyes fixed on her, instead. "You look so beautiful, Mommy."
She melted at his words, at the way he beheld her, and she had to glance back at the mirror for a moment, blinking away the start of tears and managing to get the earring in. "Thank you, my handsome boy."
She turned back and he straightened at her compliment, chest puffed up and showing off his new silk tie. Dressed to the nines and beaming with excitement, he'd never looked more precious to her. "Daddy dresses you well. You look so sharp." She went to straighten his tie affectionately, but he batted her hand away with sudden nervousness and she had to bite her lip to keep from giggling at his serious little face. Must be a male pride thing. Maybe Castle helped him with it and he didn't want Mommy 'fixing' his work so Kate's fingers diverted to his hair instead, which was the only part of him that looked a little rumpled.
"Let's comb this down, huh?" She worked the stubborn strands with her fingers and then gave up, dragging Matthew to Castle's sink to wet his hair with a comb.
"We look good, Mommy." Pride filled his voice as he stood there, watching Kate in the mirror.
Her heart sung. This was happening. Today.
After almost eight months, they'd finally reached the end of their adoption process and the start of another journey altogether. In that time, she had fallen so hard in love with her son.
"There." She smiled tightly against the urge to cry; she only just finished with her make-up ten minutes ago and she was determined not to ruin it so early in the day. "All done, handsome."
He turned and wrapped his arms around her waist. An affectionate little thing, even when he first came to them. And today she needed all the hugs and touches from him, like a pinch reminding her this day was real. She wasn't dreaming.
Kate caught movement in the bedroom. Castle was in there now, working on his tie and then cursing under his breath when the doorbell went off and he wasn't quite ready.
She reached for her phone and saw through the security feed that it was Martha. "Go let your gram inside." She instructed Matthew and then made her way over to Castle. "Having a little trouble there, stud?"
"I know how to tie a tie." He groused. "I tied Matthew's perfectly."
Her fingers brushed his out of the way and he let her do it. "It's ok. It's a big day for us."
"I'm not nervous." He hands bracketed her hips while she worked.
"I know." This was what they wanted, what they had worked towards for several months now, and the end goal was so close. She took a deep breath, pulling the knot just tight enough up to his neckline. "But I've had butterflies in my stomach for three days now. I'm not judging."
She'd barely finished and his arms pulled her tight against his chest and she couldn't help noticing the similarities in her two tender-hearted men. They might not share any DNA, but oh, did they belong together. She slipped her arms around his neck, hugging him back.
"Thank you." The emotion in his voice almost had her undone. Damn. She was going to lose it so early in the day.
"It's just a tie. I know you could've done it." She felt rather than heard his chuckle.
"No, babe." He drew back a little, hands clasping at the small of her back and forehead resting against hers. "Thank you for all of this. For having a heart for adoption. You brought Matthew into our lives and I've never-" He squeezed her a little tighter and it was everything Kate could do to stop the tears from welling up. "I've never been happier."
His words were a testament to all they could go through and still find joy. "Hey, I just got the conversation started. We went through every step of this together." She leaned in close for a moment, reveling in the fact that despite all the obstacles, they'd made it to this day, after all.
The sound of Matthew and Martha's voices floated up the stairs and they heard Alexis tiptoeing down from the third floor so she must be ready as well.
"Come on, we should join everyone." Castle murmured.
"Wait, what do you have underneath your shirt?" She went to pull the collar back, the flicker of color underneath his shirt barely noticeable, but she'd definitely spotted something. He squirmed away from her.
"It's nothing!" He got out of her reach and she shook her head. He and Matthew were up to something, alright.
Matthew Reid Aaldenberg Castle.
They were adding to his name today, not taking anything away. And the same went for his history. Adopting him meant they were not erasing the first five years of his life, but celebrating Matthew formally joining their family from this day onward.
They packed the small courtroom. With the exception of Sheila and their attorney, everyone else filling the seats were family and friends. And it felt incredible to have such show of support and to know this crowd had come to love Matthew almost as much as Kate and Castle did.
The judge was in great spirits, telling them more than once throughout the proceedings that cases like this were the highlight of his week when, unlike most family court cases, a family was being brought together, not torn apart. He breezed through the formalities, making sure they knew this was a lifelong commitment to Matthew and should their marriage ever dissolve, they still had the responsibility to parent Matthew together.
It was brief and almost anticlimactic considering every other anxiety-ridden step along the way, but faster than Kate could blink, the judge was signing the paper and inviting them up to take a photo.
They clustered around the judge's chair, all six of the Castle-Beckett crew, and smiled.
"One more." Castle told Lanie before she put the camera down.
Kate heard Matthew murmur "Now, Daddy?", but he had ducked behind the judge toward Castle and she couldn't see.
"If you want another picture, get back in the frame, Castle and Matthew." Lanie teased and before Kate's curiosity drove her to action, Matthew emerged and Castle stood up straight, the both of them with their front buttons popped open. They held the sides of their shirts apart, both displaying a t-shirt with the Mattie Bat logo in a way akin to the famous Superman pose.
Matthew beamed at Castle, who winked back, and Kate felt that familiar lump rise in her throat. This family was more than she ever dared hope for.
"I'm a superhero." Matthew explained seriously to the judge and when Lanie snapped the next photo, everyone's smiles were genuine, bordering on laughter.
"Another one. Sorry," Kate glanced at the judge. She knew they weren't his only case today. "But if you wouldn't mind, we need one with the whole family."
Their attorney graciously took the camera from Lanie and everyone rushed to squeeze in.
"Ready for this?" The attorney asked.
Kate looked to Matthew.
Ready.
Only the epilogue remains and then that is it, folks. I will do my best to post as soon as possible.
Thoughts?
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