Chapter 29

.

Castle was in the zone. He was so immersed in Nikki Heat's universe that he didn't even acknowledge the ringing of his cellphone until he heard the beep that signalled he had a new voicemail message. He was tempted to just keep ignoring it when it rang again less than two minutes later.

Seeing Alexis' face flash up on the screen made him change his mind.

"Hey pumpkin," he answered, putting it on speaker so that he could continue working.

"Dad, don't freak out."

Castle stopped typing immediately. "Honey, you might think that sentence sounds reassuring because you're not yet a parent but let me just tell you right now, don't ever start a phone call with those words." He held the phone up to his ear then, "What happened?"

James had arrived earlier that afternoon to see Alexis and the both of them had decided to take Zoey out for some ice-cream. Castle had been too busy writing to go with them.

Alexis' rapidfire answer made him regret that decision immediately. "Well, James and I took Zo to the park after ice-cream and I swear, dad, we turned around for a second, a second and the next thing we knew, we heard Zoey crying. Some kid had pushed her off the jungle gym."

Castle took a deep breath in. "Where are you now?"

"…Mt. Sinai."

Castle pushed his chair back from the desk. "So, not just a little scratch then?"

He could hear the guilt lacing her words. "No, she scraped her arms and she has a pretty large gash on her leg. She's fine though, dad – alert and everything. It was the other kid's mom who called an ambulance – I think she thought we would sue her or something – we could've gotten her to the emergency room ourselves."

Castle was already out the door and in his car by this point. "Did the doctor check her out yet?"

"Yeah, that's why I called," Alexis replied, "Zoey needs stitches and the doctor, like, refuses to do it without parental consent! I told him I was legally an adult and everything but he just cleaned out the cut and told me he has to get in touch with the parents." Alexis let out a noise of frustration, "I tried Kate first but she's not picking up."

"Did you leave a message?"

"Yeah. A voicemail and I called the station, too."

Castle accelerated through a yellow light. "Okay, well just keep trying," he said, "I'll be there soon."

.

A nurse led Castle to the correct curtain area when he was spotted peering into random exam rooms.

"Daddy!" Zoey cried out, arms reaching out for him from her propped up position on the bed. Alexis, who was sitting with her, held her in place so that she wouldn't disrupt the sterile dressing temporarily covering her right leg.

"Dad," Alexis started, "I'm really sorry. It's my fault that Zoey got hurt."

James, who was sitting in a plastic hospital chair in the corner, also sounded a little guilty when he said, "Hello, Mr. Castle. I just want you to know that I am so, so sorry as well."

Castle shook his head. "It was an accident, guys, I know that."

"Yeah, but Zoey could've—"

Castle stopped Alexis from catastrophizing. "—Don't blame yourself, pumpkin. The important thing is that Zoey's okay." Standing beside the bed, Castle could see the scratches on her arms and left knee. He bent down to give Zoey a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "You're okay, aren't you, Zo?"

Castle could tell that Zoey had been crying a lot – her grey eyes were puffy and rimmed red and her nose was still running.

"I gotta big boo-boo, daddy," Zoey said, rubbing her eyes with her fists.

"I know baby girl," he said, hugging her as carefully as he could, "But I heard you've been very, very brave."

"Yes, she has," came a foreign voice. The curtain was pulled back from the outside to reveal a doctor who looked like he was fresh out of medical school.

"Hello," said Castle, approaching him immediately, "I'm Richard Castle."

"Dr. Cornish," he replied and then proceeded to fill Castle in on Zoey's injuries. "None of them life threatening, I can assure you. Mostly just minor cuts and bruises," he finished.

"Except for the one on her leg that needs stitches," Castle said.

"Yes," replied Dr. Cornish, "We were unable to start the procedure until we got consent. Although your daughter Alexis has been very persistent."

"Annoying," Alexis chimed in, "He means to say I've been very annoying." She looked at her dad, "I tried to fill out as much of the forms as I could."

The doctor had two clipboards with him and upon Alexis' comment, he handed Castle one of them. "You just have to fill in the rest and sign the bottom. I'll be back in a moment with the suture kit."

Castle flipped rapidly through the pages and paused at the very bottom of the last one. Underneath the line, the words clearly stated "parent's/legal guardian's signature". "Um…" he started.

Dr. Cornish turned back around and Castle cleared his throat, "What does 'legal guardian' technically mean?"

The doctor glanced at the chart in his hand and then at Castle. "Are you not Zoey's father?"

"Zo," Alexis interjected, giving her dad a look as if she couldn't believe he had chosen this, of all times, to forego embellishing the truth, "Isn't he your daddy?"

Zoey nodded, "Yes, my daddy," she said possessively, eyes shifting back and forth between the adults, not understanding what was causing all of this fuss.

Castle looked at Dr. Cornish. "It's… complicated," he said. And then, at the weary look that passed across the doctor's features, Castle sighed and realised this would be the passport office situation all over again. "Can we speak privately for a sec?" he asked and then, to Alexis, he said, "Keep calling Kate, okay?"

Out of the range of tiny ears, Castle tried his best to give the quickest explanation he could. "Zoey's mom is Kate Beckett – I'm Kate's boyfriend. Madison Queller, Zoey's biological mom, passed away when Zoey was barely a year old and her wish had been for Kate to have full guardianship of Zoey should anything happen to her – they had been friends for a long time. I was there, with Kate, taking care of Zoey from the very beginning. I know that technically I'm not her father but Zoey is as much my daughter as Kate's – I love her just the same and I can guarantee that when it comes to Zoey, Kate would agree with any decision I make on her behalf. Especially in this situation."

Dr. Cornish nodded. "I believe you, Mr. Castle, I really do," he said.

"But…"

"But, this is a legal issue. And legally, you are not Zoey's parent or guardian. You simply have no right to make her medical decisions."

"There has to be some sort of exception," Castle said, "I mean, I came here months ago when Zoey was sick and she got treatment then."

Dr. Cornish nodded, "If the circumstances had been serious enough – a threat to life, for example – then the consent of the parent would have been presumed. Immediate treatment would have been provided so that the child didn't suffer avoidable injury. I mean, unless the ER at the time did something they weren't supposed to do… in which case, I don't really want to know…"

Castle sighed and shook his head, "No, Zoey had had trouble breathing at the time."

The doctor looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mr. Castle. I know this must seem unnecessarily complicated to you but Zoey is fine for the moment. Even permission over the phone would be okay if Zoey's mother can't come in."

"Yeah, we've been trying to get in touch but Kate's a cop and there's no telling when she gets called away," Castle replied.

"Wait! Wait!" Alexis called, suddenly yanking the curtain back, "I just tried the precinct and I told the officer it was an emergency this time. They're going to pull Kate from the interrogation she's doing."

A second later, Kate's "Hello?" echoed out.

"Here." Alexis handed her cellphone to the doctor.

Castle and Alexis were left picking up as much as they could from the doctor's side of the conversation.

"This is Dr. Cornish, who am I speaking to?... Hello, Detective Beckett, I'm calling from Mt. Sinai Hospital… It's regarding your daughter Zoey Queller. She was brought into the ER about an hour ago… No, no, nothing serious but she does require some stitches for her leg…"

Kate must've said something along the lines of, "Well, do it, then! Why the hell are you wasting time calling me?" because Dr. Cornish winced and responded, "Before treating a minor, we need to get permission from a parent or guardian… yes, Mr. Castle is here… mhmm, well he also isn't a legal guardian… there's no note in Zoey's file stating—right, but unless there's some sort of notorized—Detective Beckett, I'm… look, why don't I just get started on the stitches for your daughter's leg?... uh huh… my pleasure."

When Dr. Cornish hung up the call with a grimace on his face, Castle couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit redeemed. The self-satisfaction he had experienced from having Kate tear the doctor a new one crept into Castle's voice. "Delightful, isn't she?"

.

They were both in bed after spending an extra long time tucking Zoey in for the night – reading her two books each before singing Rainbow Connection, her favourite lullaby. Kate had photos of the latest crime scene strewn all over the covers. It said something about the both of them that they could look at blood and gore right before going to sleep.

Kate was so busy concentrating that it took her awhile to notice that Castle was being awfully quiet. She looked over at him. He had the strangest look on his face – similar to the one he got when he finally figured out a solution to a dangling plot point. "Okay, what's wrong?" she asked.

No answer.

"Alright, fine," she said, turning back to her pictures with a roll of her eyes, "But don't ask me ten minutes later to help you with the logistics of getting Nikki Heat out of a dungeon or something."

It was a testament to how well she knew his thinking patterns.

"Kate?" he said, only minutes later.

"Hey, I offered and yo—"

"I want to adopt Zoey."

She shifted her body to face him. "What?"

"I want it to be official. Legal. Zoey is our daughter so she should be our daughter." Kate was still blinking at him. "Look," he continued, "If Zoey needs a new passport, I want the right to apply for it as one of her parents. If she, god forbid, has to go to the hospital again, I want to to be allowed to make medical decisions. I'm tired of being just 'the boyfriend'," he paused, "We both know I'm more than that. Zoey's had me in her life maybe a week less that she's been in yours and—"

"—Yes."

Now it was his turn to blink rapidly at her. "What?"

"Yes. You should adopt Zoey."

"Really? 'Cause I mean, I had this whole speech planned out in my head."

Kate shrugged, "You're right—" she raised a finger before he could make a jibe about that, "—you should be able to make decisions about Zoey's welfare. You take care of her as much as I do and you love her as much as I do." After a beat, she added softly, "There's nothing more I could ask for."

He smiled. "Of course, we still have to ask Zoey."

"And Alexis."

"She'll be ecstatic, I'm sure."

"Castle," she said, "I just—I need you to know that the adoption… it has nothing to do with legalising childcare responsibilities or—well, definitely not monetary contributions…"

"Kate," he interrupted, "Of course n—"

She shook her head and he stopped talking. "—It's not because you should be her father—" she continued, meeting his eyes so he could see the emotion in them, "—It's that I want you to be her dad."

.

Castle talked to Alexis first, by himself. It was the next morning and Alexis was eating breakfast at the counter. He thought direct would be the best approach.

"I'm thinking of officially adopting Zoey."

Alexis' response was a quick and unaffected, "Okay." She seemed to be distracted with the peeling of her fruit.

"Kate and I discussed it last night," he pressed, "She thinks it's a good idea, too."

"Well, that's good."

"And Kate actually wants this – having me be Zoey's father."

"I think that's great, dad."

"The thing is, we won't go through with it if you or Zoey don't agree – that's why I'm telling you now. I want to make sure this is okay with you."

"Dad, you and Kate really shouldn't be making such a huge deal out of this," she said, popping a section of clementine into her mouth.

"But it is a huge deal."

"Not really," she jumped off the stool to wash her hands at the sink,"It's just going to be a piece of paper telling us what we already know."

.

His and Kate's conversation with Zoey that night only served to confirm Alexis' words.

"Zo," Castle started, "How would you like it if I became your daddy for real?"

Zoey was playing with her blocks on the floor of her room and he and Kate were sitting cross-legged beside her. She didn't even look up to answer. "But, you are my daddy."

"Yes," said Kate, "But you know how I tell people that I'm your mommy?"

"Yeah," Zoey replied, still concentrating on the tower she was building.

"So, after we go to a big building and meet with a judge," Castle began, "I can tell everybody that I'm your daddy, too."

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and looked up, "But…you're my daddy now."

"Well, yes… to you and Lexi and your mommy, I am…"

Zoey nodded. "So, you're my mommy and daddy," she concluded matter-of-factly.

Castle glanced at Kate and shrugged. There really was no arguing with that.

.

"Will you be changing her last name to include Mr. Castle's?"

Kate and Castle had needed somebody to help them navigate through all of the legal stuff and Liam Barrett was a lawyer who specialised in cases like theirs. Everything had been pretty simple up until that point but at Liam's question, they found themselves pausing.

"Zoey's last name doesn't even include mine," Kate finally answered.

Liam nodded, "So, you'd like to keep her name as is? Zoey Queller?"

"I don't—" Kate turned to Castle, "The adoption papers included a form with the option to change Zoey's name but it never even crossed my mind to do it."

"Well, everything happened so fast for you," Castle answered, "And you didn't exactly feel…" he was going to say, 'like her mother' but it seemed strange to even think those words now.

Kate sighed, "Isn't it too late now? I mean, Zoey's old enough to know her own name. I don't want her to have an identity crisis or something."

Castle voiced his immediate thought aloud. "Does she know her own name?" At Kate's 'are you kidding me?' look, he added, "I know she knows that her name is Zoey but how often has anybody called her by her full name? And it's not like anybody's been teaching her how to spell it. I think Alexis taught her how to write 'Zo' but that's about it."

"I guess… changing it would make things easier?" Kate was clearly wracked with indecision.

"It's not just about the legal side, Ms. Beckett," said Liam, "I deal with a lot of adoption cases and it has more to do with creating a family."

"But, it still feels wrong," Kate said, "Like I'm getting rid of Maddie somehow. I want Zoey to know who Madison is – I mean, someday, when she's old enough to understand… I just keep thinking how upset Zoey might be later on if she found out that we just completely erased that part of her identity."

"On the other hand," Castle began, "She could be upset at the fact that she doesn't share the same names as her parents. She might think of herself as an outsider in her own family. After all, just because we adopted Zoey doesn't mean she's any less of our child."

Liam nodded, "People who aren't personally touched by adoption usually don't understand it and often ask adoptees what happened to their 'real' parents – as if implying that families formed by adoption are somehow less real. But, in fact, you and Mr. Castle are as much of Zoey's parents as Ms. Queller was. I think the important thing to teach Zoey is that families are built in many different ways and come in many different forms." He smiled at them, "It's clear to me how much you both love and care for Zoey. I wouldn't worry about Zoey growing up and feeling resentful over the fact that her last name was changed to reflect her inclusion into your family."

.

The adoption was finalised on Zoey's third birthday. The cake had to be extra large in order to accommodate the words that Castle had so proudly dictated to the bakery: Happy Birthday Zoey Madison Beckett-Castle!

A/N: I have members of my extended family who came to us through adoption and some of the points I brought up at the end (like people asking about whether or not my cousin is my aunt's "real" kid) are actually pertinent. Even though this is a story with a completely made-up situation, I just wanted you guys to know that I didn't just change Zoey's last name for the cuteness or convenience of story - I truly believe that Kate is just as much as Zoey's mom as Madison was (and will remain in memory) and that Zoey will always understand Castle to be her dad even though they might not be biologically related... who says you can only have one 'real' mom and one 'real' dad? What does 'real' mean anyway?

Okay, then! Writer's personal thoughts on the subject matter are now over! I have no idea if I even made any sense so feel free to ignore or come up with your own conclusions but either way...

...please do let me know what you thought of this installment! :)