Chapter 2: State of Grace
In 'State of Grace', Kate Beckett and her daughter Grace meet Rick and Alexis Castle. This chapter is set prior to the final chapter/epilogue of the original story.
Grace is nestled between them, her socked toes in Castle's lap and her head resting against Kate's chest. A mug of hot cocoa is cradled in her palms, but the girl's eyes are closed, her face relaxed. The most peaceful ten year old he's ever seen.
Christmas morning is Grace's favorite morning of the entire year, according to the girl he's spent the last three Christmases with, and it never fails to wear her out, the thrill of holiday magic, the excitement, and overflow of gifts leaving her slumped on the sofa.
"Hey, Grace, you've still got another present left," Alexis calls from her spot near the tree, her attention torn away from the brand new laptop they figured would be the perfect gift, given she's starting Columbia in the fall.
God, his girls are growing up.
Grace shifts against her mother, eyes fluttering after the consistent comb of Kate's fingers through her daughter's growing hair started to lull her to sleep.
"There's nothing left under the tree, Lexi," Grace yawns, but Kate and Alexis share a wink. His oldest daughter has always liked Kate, but in the last three years, his wife has become one of Alexis's most valued confidants, a friend she could always turn to. Just shy of being the mother she never had.
Kate nudges her kid.
"I don't know," she muses, coaxing Grace up into a sitting position. "I think I see something peeking out from one of the branches with your name on it."
Kate's daughter casts an inquisitive glance towards the evergreen, her brow falling into that adorable furrow that she without a doubt inherited from her mother.
"Rick, why don't you show her?" Kate hums, trying to suppress the smile blooming on her lips, the same spread of joy along her mouth that's been there since this surprise gift was made official yesterday morning.
"Come on, bud," Castle encourages, hoisting Grace up from the sofa with him, spinning her once, and making her laugh, before setting her down on her socked feet. "See? That looks like an envelope with your name on it, huh?"
Grace nods her agreement and it strikes him once more how different she is from most of the children her age, how she wakes Christmas morning with awe, accepts her gifts with reverence, how she appreciates every moment. She's still a little girl, but the maturity she's adopted so young ceases to astound him at times, much like it often did with Alexis.
He waits patiently for Grace to extract the envelope with her name printed in big block letters, stands back a little while she slits the top open and withdraws the papers inside.
"These look like forms Momma deals with at work," she mumbles, reading them over with concentration pinching her features. "And there's a certificate."
"Can you read what it says for us, bud?" Kate prompts, biting her bottom lip as Grace scans the sheet first, her lips parting with surprise before her wide eyes dart up to him.
"You - this - these are adoption papers," she whispers, not a question, but a realization. Castle's heart cinches with nerves, but the little girl he loves like his own is staring down at the documents with her eyes starting to glitter as her bottom lip trembles. She stops it with the pin of her teeth, another inherited trait from her mom, and lifts her hopeful gaze to him. "This means you're officially my dad now? That you're not - not just my stepdad?"
And she just looks so happy, he could cry.
He wasn't sure about the process at first, bringing it up to Kate on a whim, wondering if she would be accepting of the idea, if it's something Grace would even want. But his wife beamed at him, just like Grace beams up at him now, and they filed the papers earlier that month.
Will signed for abandonment without issue, the entire exchange quick and impersonal, and for that, Rick was relieved. He can't help holding at least a small but fierce grudge against Kate's ex, Grace's biological father. He's only met the other man in person once, but it's not an experience he (nor Will, for that matter) wishes to endure again.
"Might as well make it official," were the only words the other man offered when it came to allowing Castle to officially adopt Grace into his family. So nonchalant in giving away his little girl.
The agent knew of Rick's marriage to Kate, the parental role Castle filled for Grace, and while he doesn't believe Will was ever thrilled with the replacement, he believes the man was relieved for it.
Rick is the one who takes Grace to school in the mornings, he's the one who shares the responsibility of making her happy, comforting her when she's sad, and he's the one who loves her as if she's been his own daughter all along.
He's the one she calls 'Dad'.
Might as well make it official - damn straight.
"Yeah," Castle answers, clearing his throat and offering Grace a smile. "Is that okay with you?"
She's nodding as she reaches for him, the papers crinkling against his back as she hugs him with all her strength, burying her face in his neck when he bends to lift her into his arms. He hears Kate sigh from the couch and props his chin on Grace's shoulder, catches the way his wife's eyes shine with more than just lights from the tree while she watches them.
"Nothing changes, you know," he reminds Grace, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Been your dad for a while now. This just puts it on paper."
Grace nods and hugs him tighter, her usual tell for when she's trying not to cry. "Does this mean I'm Grace Beckett-Castle now? Like Mom?"
He chuckles and pulls back to look at her, the little girl he's been raising with Kate for three years, his daughter.
"Won't cramp your style, will it?"
"As long as my future teachers don't try to hit on you like they did when Alexis was a kid," she murmurs solemnly, her face breaking into a grin when her sister bursts out laughing, pausing in the apparent videotaping she's been doing on her iPhone.
"That was years ago," he groans, shifting to lower Grace back to her feet. "Besides, I'm taken."
"Damn right you are," Kate adds, sitting up as Grace skips towards her with the papers, lays them out across her mom's lap.
"You owe me a dollar," Grace chirps, smoothing away the wrinkles in the paper over Kate's thighs.
Kate huffs, but the smile on her lips is unbreakable. "You're already going to be put through college with your curse jar money."
"Shoot for law school, Grace," Alexis chimes in, chuckling when Kate stretches to swat at her knee while Castle stands back, observes his girls, his family.
Alexis is grinning at Kate from over the lid of her laptop while Grace curls into her mother's side, fingers tracing over the words printed on the documents in her hands, and his yearly statement is proven true once again:
Best Christmas ever.
His wife catches him staring over Grace's head, probably growing pathetically misty-eyed.
"Come here," she murmurs, just loud enough for him to hear.
Rick obeys without hesitation, crossing the few feet of distance and balancing his fist to the arm of the sofa next to her shoulder, leaning over her and Grace. Kate's hand rises to cradle his cheek in her palm and he coils his fingers at her wrist, colliding with the leather bound charm bracelet that she never takes off.
They add a new set of charms to it each year, he, Grace, and Alexis each picking one out for her. It'll weigh down her wrist soon, but the soft flare of gold in her eyes each time she opens the jewelry box in her stocking to another meaningful piece inside is too good to sacrifice for any other gift.
Except the year before last, when instead of a charm, he gave her the ring currently adorning the fourth finger on her left hand.
He brushes his thumb over this year's addition. It's a simple one, a piece of paper with indescribable scribbles engraved, but it looked close enough to the document in Grace's hands for Kate to understand, appreciate.
"Love you," she whispers, dusting a kiss to his mouth that has his heart fluttering even after three years.
He's always believed that the Christmas season carries yearly reminders of magic for everyone - the first snowfall, the excitement of gift giving, the welcome gatherings of families and friends.
Castle rests his forehead against hers, their noses bumping, and her lips spread into a smile beneath his.
"Love you too. So much, Kate."
But loving her, their family, is a kind of magic that touches him daily, the only kind of magic he needs.