CBs

Chapter 42

Kate put down her tablet with satisfaction after watching a video of Trimp being taken off to prison. "Castle, who was that on the phone?"

"It was the social worker who's been checking us out for certification as foster parents. The background checks, medical clearances, and our home study are finally done. Things are set for us to have Emily with us for pre-adoption placement. Unless you have some reason you want to wait, it's time for us to talk to her. Are you ready for this?"

Kate drew a deep, slightly trembling breath. "Actually Castle, the timing couldn't be better. The trial has taken forever, and then there was the appeal, but it looks like Trimp's finally going to be put away for good. Emily and her brothers will all have some closure. It's time for us and Emily to move ahead."

Castle dipped her, dance style and snatched a swashbuckling kiss. "So when?"

"It's Friday, Castle. We were planning to take her out this weekend anyway. We should talk to her tomorrow."

Castle kissed her lustily again. "Tomorrow it is. And tonight we celebrate! Where do you want to go? This may be our last chance in a long time for an evening out for just the two of us without having to worry about getting a sitter."

"Wow, Castle, I hadn't even thought about that. What did you do about all your outings with super models while Alexis was growing up?"

Castle laughed. "There weren't nearly as many of those as my readers were led to believe. And I was married for many of those years. A lot of that was just P.R.. And as you might recall, Alexis had a sitter who shed her cocoon and became a model. Never saw that one coming. But most nights I stayed in and wrote. Then when Alexis hit her teen years, she thought I was the one who needed a sitter."

Kate grinned, mischief dancing across her face. "I can understand why she thought so. I've had the same thought a number of times myself, but somehow you always seem to be a grown up when it counts."

"Yeah, I can send my inner child to his room when I need to, I just like to leave the door open."

Clinging to Kate's hand, Emily gazed with wonder at her first view of the loft. "Is this where you live?"

Kate nodded. "We do. We wanted you to see it because Mr. Castle and I want to talk to you about something."

Emily's lip began to tremble. "When my mother said she wanted to talk to me about something, she told me my Daddy had to go to Heaven. Then when Miss Beazley came to my school, she said it too. Then she told me my Mommy was with my Daddy. What happened?"

Kate gathered Emily to her in a hug. "Oh honey, nothing happened, except that Mr. Castle and I have fallen in love with you. We want you to come live with us, to be our little girl."

"Live here?" Emily asked.

"That's right," Castle confirmed. "You'd have your own room. Here, I 'll show you." Castle extended a hand to lead her upstairs. She followed hesitantly. Castle opened the door to Martha's former room. "This would be yours. We can paint it any color you want and you can pick out whatever furniture you'd like."

"There's a bathroom too," Emily noticed. "Is there enough hot water for me? Mrs. Perkins always tells me I use too much hot water."

"We have a big water heater," Castle assured her. "You can use as much hot water as you need."

"I love bubble baths," Kate added. "Do you?"

Emily nodded. "Before Mommy went to Heaven, I used the bubbles that come in the bottle with the princess on top. Mrs. Perkins just wants me to take showers with soap so she can get everyone out to school."

"You can have princess bubbles here," Kate promised, "if you want to live with us. Do you? Do you want Mr. Castle and me to take care of you now?"

Emily threw her arms around Kate, pressing her face into Kate's chest and silently bobbed her head.

Emily ran through the aisles at Children's Castle past children's caves and beds built into play centers. The Castles struggled to keep up. "What kind of a bed are you looking for?" Kate asked, panting.

Emily stopped short and pointed to a display featuring a pink four poster bed topped by a frilly white canopy. There was a matching dresser and a small dressing table with a bench upholstered in tufted pink velvet and also a little desk with matching shelves. She looked up at Rick. "Papa Castle, a princess lives there. Can my bedroom be like that?"

Castle lifted her into his arms. "Well I don't know. You think Liberty Bear would want to live there?"

Emily thought for a moment. "She would. She'd really like it."

"In that case, I like it too." Castle pulled out his black card and flashed it at an immediately attentive sales person.

After hot dogs at the in-store snack bar, Rick made sure a bouncing Emily was belted into her booster in the back of his car before he slid behind the wheel beside Kate. "Where are we going now?" Emily asked.

"Well it's still a little cold, but we're going to the beach, or near the beach. I thought you'd like to see our other house," Rick explained. "You might want to make some changes there too."

"Oh, I stayed in a cabin at the beach one weekend with Lilah, one of my friend's from school, and her parents. Lilah and I shared the bed 'cause there were only two bedrooms. There was only one bathroom too. Lilah's mother said it was snug. Do we have a snug cabin?"

Kate hid a laugh behind her hand."It's a little bigger than that. You'll see when we get there."

Emily used the car's Wi Fi to watch a movie on a tablet during the drive to the Hamptons and didn't notice the house until after Rick shut off the car's motor. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened as she looked up at the manse. This time Kate didn't bother to cover her laugh. "It's big, isn't it? I looked at it the same way, the first time your Papa Castle brought me here."

"Can we really live here?" Emily asked.

"We can stay here in the summer when it's warm and when Mama Beckett doesn't have to be at the police station," Castle explained. "Do you want to see it?" Emily released herself from her seat belt and bounded out of the car. Castle looked at Kate. "I guess she does."

Kate noted that the tour Rick gave Emily was nothing like the one she'd first first received. Aside from the substitution of tumblers of soft drinks for wine glasses, Castle didn't mention a word about decorators or design. He just led Emily through the rooms and let her look. When they reached one of the guest rooms where Alexis' friends had often been put up, he told her it would be hers and she could decide what she wanted to do with it, but she had plenty of time to think about it.

Emily's brow wrinkled, already deep in thought, but accepted the mulling time Castle was offering. As with Kate's tour, Castle made the last stop the swimming pool. A fleeting regretful thought rolled through his brain that it would be unlikely he'd see Kate skinny dipping here again for a while, but swimming with Emily was also a joyful prospect. Castle retracted the solar cover so Emily could see the sparkling water. "Can you swim, Emily?" he asked making a mental note to assess the child's skills, no matter how she answered. It turned out it wouldn't be necessary.

Emily shook her head. "My brothers said they were going to teach me at the 'Y' this summer.

"You can learn sooner than that," Castle told her, "I know a great teacher in the city. She can have you swimming as well as the fish in the pond at the park by the time it's warm enough for you to swim here."

Knowing the traffic would be merciless, Castle was on the road soon after the tour was finished and Emily'd had a snack and a trip to the bathroom. "Papa Castle," Emily asked as Castle tooled toward the city, "can my brothers come and swim in the summer too?"

Castle grabbed for Kate's hand and squeezed it. "Of course," He assured the little girl. "They're family. We're all family now."

Finis

A/N This story could go on forever and I may revisit it, but for now I want to go on to something new. Based on an idea from 4fireking, I'd like to do an AU about what would have happened if Castle had a son instead of a daughter. It will be called Ian. Given Castle's fascination with a certain British spy, I'm sure you can guess why. I hope you'll join me in this next journey. Love, Sally