The Children's Corner

Chapter 57

Rick and Julia finish affixing a "Congratulations, Sergeant Kate" banner to the wall just as the doorbell buzzes. A bouncing Lily admits Alexis, Dana, and a fidgety Marcus. "Come on," she urges her nephew-to-be. Julia and I made sergeant's badge cookies. We couldn't get them the same color as Mama's new badge, but they taste really good. We have cocoa too. And we can have as many marshmallows as we want."

Marcus follows the exuberant girl to the refreshment table while Rick admits Roy and Evelyn Montgomery. "I'm really pleased you could come! Your support means a lot to Kate."'

Evelyn looks around. "Where is Kate?"

"Changing. Reese did a thing on her. You know how babies can be. But she should be out in a minute. Goodies and soft drinks are on the table. The bar is in the corner, out of reach of little fingers. And a bottle of 50-year-old single-malt is waiting for someone to appreciate it. " The buzzer sounds again. "I'm on door duty. Help yourselves to whatever you like."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Montgomery returns.

Alexis knocks on the door of the master bedroom. "Kate, can I help you with anything?"

Kate gestures at the outfits tossed on the bed. "I lost a cup size when I stopped nursing. The wistful look your father tried to hide was bad enough, but now most of my favorite clothes need taking in. Martha said she knew a costume mistress who could do it really fast. And it was supposed to be done by today. But The Lion King had to make some emergency replacements, and it was all hands on deck."

"Let me look," Alexis offers. "It's not the same thing, but I used to help Dad when he was clueless – which was a lot."

"Yeah, I remember him puzzling on how to match a tie with a shirt when you were out of town. And I'll take all the help I can get. But how about you? How are things going with Marcus?"

"OK, I guess. But I feel like he's still walking on eggs around us like if he says a wrong word or doesn't make his bed right, we'll send him back. Dana and I keep telling him how much we want him with us, but I think he's afraid to believe it."

Kate nods. "I get that. When I was on patrol, I dealt with a lot of kids in the system or who had just aged out. They put up some pretty thick walls. But I know someone you might want to talk to. One of our property officers and his wife adopted two boys out of foster care. They're both in college now, and as far as I know, doing pretty well. You want me to arrange a meeting for you and Dana?"

"Are you kidding? I'd love it!" Alexis tugs a jumpsuit from the back of Kate's closet. "And I love this. I remember you wore it when you first moved in with Dad and Gram and me. Dad couldn't take his eyes off you. Of course, he couldn't anyway. But this looked terrific on you. And jumpsuits like this are back. I read that women are raiding the thrift stores for them."

"I put it away because it wouldn't work with feeding Lily," Kate recalls. "And it really wouldn't have worked with the twins. So I guess it makes sense to put it on now. Thanks, Alexis."

"No, thank you for helping us get some advice about Marcus. But I think the guest of honor better get out to her party."

Kate sticks a leg in the garment. "Right. Tell your dad I'll be ready in a minute."

Slowly settling down in bed after the party, Rick draws Kate close. "So, are you ready for your first day at work as Sergeant Beckett?"

"Not really. Montgomery arranged a slot for me at the 12th, but I'm not sure how that will work. The bullpen is already under his supervision. I guess I'll be a buffer of sorts, but I'm not sure how independent I'll be. He doesn't lean much on robbery downstairs, but the detectives down there answer to a lieutenant. And I hear he rides them pretty hard about paperwork. That's not what I want to do in the bullpen. I wanted to talk to Montgomery about it tonight. But he was busy telling stories to Dana about trailing his son to school outings and summer camp. I could see where you and the captain had a meeting of the minds."

"We're both members of the Protective Fathers Club."

"More like the Over-Protective Fathers Club. But that beats how some kids like Marcus have been treated. He's lucky to have Alexis and Dana."

"They're lucky to have him," Rick declares. "Marcus is a great kid, and Lily already loves him to death. I'm getting pretty fond of him myself."

"Yeah," Kate agrees. "Me too."

"You did what?" Jack inquires as Azra grins.

"I arranged for a chunk of the funds we clawed back from the Russians to be transferred to an account designated for city services. And a portion of that was specifically allocated for use at the N.Y.P.D.'s 12th Precinct. It's not like we could show up at Kate's party. But there's no reason I couldn't help her start off on the right foot, especially since you and I both had a hand in recovering those funds."

Jack stares at his wife. "You're amazing!"

"If you're just finding that out, old man, you're slowing down."

Jack winks. "Maybe, but I've still got a few moves left."

Montgomery clears his throat in front of the gathered occupants of the bullpen. "As of today, Detective Beckett is your sergeant. And we all know she deserves the position." Montgomery waits for the applause rumbling through the room to die down before he continues. "But the people in this city have not been getting everything they deserved. Since the first round of budget restrictions went into effect, we've shoved cases with no new evidence after three days in the cold pile. But, as of now, that stops.

"When required, Sergeant Beckett will be serving as your supervisor in the field. However, I've brought most of you along well enough not to require much supervision. And none of us like someone looking over their shoulder. So, Sergeant Beckett will also be in charge of developing new evidence. That means unless you're discussing a polar vortex, I don't want to hear anything about a cold case. Every victim deserves justice, and I expect you all to work with Sergeant Beckett to see that they get it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" echoes from the walls.

"Then get your asses back to work," Montgomery orders.

"That's amazing!" Rick exclaims at Kate's breathless call. "This is what you've always wanted, to go after justice no matter what."

"It is," Kate agrees. "But the one thing I can't figure out is where the money is coming from. So I asked Montgomery how he'll be fitting the expanded investigations into the budget. He said all the cuts after the ransomware attack and even some from before that were suddenly canceled. And 1PP practically handed him a check. He doesn't know why, and neither does anyone he asked, but he's not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"Hmm," Rick considers, "I wonder if the head of that horse ended up in someone's bed. But whatever came down, Sergeant Kick-Ass-Kate will usher in a new era of crime-solving. And I couldn't be prouder."

Finis

A/N A few years back, I wrote two Moment in Time series. They involved taking each episode of Castle and changing it in some way. Sometimes that altered the outcome, but not enough to get out of sync with canon. Sometimes it just provided a different voice or point of view. But after Castle went off the air, I never added Season 8 to the set. Instead, I wrote "Life Goes On" and "Life Goes On 2", comprising a complete Castle future history. Then I worked on a bunch of other stories and alternate universes. Well, in a way, Castle is back on the air again. It's on Lifetime and streaming on Hulu. So maybe it's time to finish the series. I'll be starting with "XY" and going from there. And I suspect you may find my versions more satisfying because I'm not going to worry about syncing up with canon this time. There won't be any more canon. So join me for "Life Goes On 3." Love, Sally