Adam knew the doctors were going to be coming in at odd hours to poke and pro him to check and make sure his face hadn't frozen up or something after the surgery, but when he saw the petite blondie with the killer backside shove a wheelchair in his room, he sat up and groggily croaked, 'Can I help you?'

'You're Adam Brennan, right?'

'Yes, can I help you?'

'I'm Jennifer Ryan, Detective Ryan's wife,' she explained and Adam felt the click in his brain. 'I'm here to take you up to the Maternity wing. Beckett wants to see you.'

'Okay.' He looked down at himself, winced at the stingy cotton hospital gown and paper underwear. 'I don't suppose you have any real clothes so I don't accidently flash my junk while riding in that thing?

Honey-Milk produced a spare set of generic green scrubs. 'I'll wait while you change.'

When he was ready to go, he sat down in the chair, and Honey-Milk hooked his IV bag to the pole on the chair. 'Heard you were quite the hero this morning with Kate and Javi and Kevin.'

'I don't know about that, letting myself get abducted by a man now facing almost two dozen criminal charges, and his flunky broke my face.'

'They put it back together again,' Honey-Milk reassured him; she hit the elevator button. 'When is your birthday?'

'My what?'

'Birthday, the day you were born.'

'Oh, May twenty-fifth.'

'Perfect, you'll get to come to Hamptons and we get to make it a birthday party. Oh that's a day before Devon's. You'll meet him soon enough, maybe when we have that case celebration party next week.'

Adam craned his neck to look at the woman as they got off at the Maternity floor and she pushed him down the hallways. 'I thought I was the one on drugs.'

'Funny man. Do you recall hearing Kate and Richard say we've adopted you?'

'Yeah, but-'

'That means you are part of our family now. You will be expected to attend family dinners, the concerts of our children at school, christenings, soccer games, birthday parties, card games. You have no idea but you have just inherited a huge amount of people in your life.'

Honey-Milk turned into Andrea's room and grinned. 'Starting with this one.'

Curious, Adam saw a curvy redhead holding a little wrapped bundle while a blond man the size of a sequoia cuddled up beside her, and Beckett in a chair beside the bed.

'Is this him?' the redhead asked.

'Yes, this is him.'

'I'm him who?' Adam asked, setting the locks on the wheelchair.

'Adam, these are my friends Andrea and Daniel Brick,' Beckett explained. 'They were my first case back after I went on maternity leave with RJ, and they got engaged the same day your father was killed. It was also the day they made their first daughter, Nessa. It's after midnight which means today is now January ninth, the day my mother died and the little one was born at twelve-oh-seven.'

'Kate told us what you did with her this week, the time and effort you put into this case, and since we named our new little daughter after her mother, we wanted your name to be in there as well. So we wanted you to meet Hedwig Brennan Brick,' Andrea said proudly.

Adam pressed his lips together as they trembled. These people had never met him, had no idea who he was and because Kate Beckett thought so highly of him and everything they'd worked on together to bring justice for their slain parents, this lovely young couple was naming their child after him.

'I don't know what to say,' he told them in a tremulous voice.

'Would you like to hold her?' Andrea offered, softening like a toasted marshmellow when she saw his hesitancy. 'Better get used to it, Adam, Kate says we've adopted you, and I can tell you that you will be around babies and little kids a lot.'

'Oh, okay, then, let's give this a try.' Adam held out his arms and he took the snoozing infant into them gingerly, and felt his heart melt when he saw the baby's little nose and her long black lashes. 'Hello there, cutie-pie. Hey, little sister, what's up?'

'We're calling her Heddie for short, just like the actress,' Daniel said softly. 'But spelled differently.'

Heddie cooed and gurgled, and when she blinked open eyes of the darkest blue Adam had ever seen, he fell headlong in love with the idea of having a namesake for his father. Then when she sense the one holding her did not have a midnight snack handy, she began to fuss and splutter.

'Oh, oh no, what did I do? I don't-'

'It's okay, Adam, she's just hungry,' Beckett told him warmly, coming over to pass Heddie back to Andrea, then stood up to wheel Adam out to give Andrea privacy. 'Here, we're off to find food. You hungry?'

'Yeah, now that you mention it, and the doc says I should be taking these painkillers with food.' He held up the bottle of naproxen and shook it.

'Good idea.'

She turned them into the lounge and grinned when she saw her man had come through yet again. Everyone was crowded around boxes of pizza and chatting; Adam could see Lanie and Shane, he recognized her from being on the force, and Meredeth Esposito needed no introduction.

'Adam, you remember Shane Weaver and Lanie Parrish-Robbins I'm sure, and Honey-Milk over there she brought you up to meet the new baby. She's got the new big sister asleep in her arms there-'

'And you are going home,' Castle finished for her. 'You need to rest, Kate. It's been a long day, an eventful one, and you've been awake for nearly twenty-four hours straight.'

'But-'

'No buts, unless you're talking about yours sinking into the passenger side of the car.'

Beckett wanted to protest, but one look at Castle's face and she knew it was time to call it a day. 'Pizza first?'

'To go.'

'Adam, dig in.' Meredeth held out a box. 'This is four-cheese, and there's also super-veggie and meatlover's somewhere around here too.'

'Mama?' Nessa stirred in Honey-Milk's arms. 'Mama here?'

'No, she's in her room with your new little sister, sweetie,' Honey-Milk crooned to her. 'Go back to sleep.'

'New boy,' she said, looking at Adam. 'What name?'

'I'm Adam, and I hear you've got a new little sister.'

'Hiddie,' Nessa yawned, and conked out again; the sight of it had Castle elbowing Beckett.

'See? That needs to be you. Time to go home.'

'You know, I think this is the most I've ever let you drive my car.'

Castle unlocked the door to the loft, flicked on the lights as he watched his wife strip off her boots and coat, look around the empty space. For the first time since she'd started the case, they were totally alone and it was not a feeling he knew his wife would care for.

He felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket, checked the incoming text. 'Hey, Alexis is telling us to check the family email.'

'Probably more Walk on the Wild Side,' Beckett laughed, going to sit by the fireplace. She pressed the remote for the gas furnace and sighed as the orange flames flickered to life. 'Five bucks says RJ comes home with more wading bird impressions.'

'Why don't we just find out?'

Castle brought over the laptop, put it on the coffee table in front of them and held her hand as he clicked on the email. It was indeed a video but not some Internet sensation - it was Alexis, RJ and Jojo, all sitting together on the patio of Terrance's house in Miami.

Hey you guys, the on-screen Alexis said; she had Jojo in her lap and RJ to the left of her deck-chair. I hope you're not answering the phone because you're out partying in celebration of wrapping up the case! These two monkeys were missing you so we thought we'd send a video card.

She angled the laptop camera towards RJ, who was swuinting a little from the sun, but his voice was its usual chipper one. Hi-hi Mumum! Hi-hi Daddy! We are having fun on our va-ca-tion, and we miss you and love you and we have surprises when we are home!

Not to be outshone by big brother, Jojo straightened up and offered a winning smile to the camera as well. Hi-hi Mumum! Hi-hi Daddy! Miss you! See soon! Pises!

Alexis re-angled the camera and together they waved goodbye. We love you! they chorused just before the video ran out

Beckett stared at the blank screen where her children's faces had been; she could still hear the echo of their words in her ears, and pressing a hand to her mouth, she broke.