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Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters. Also, I don't own Youtube or Jacksepticeye.

Adoption?

It was the weekend, and I was hanging out on Castle's couch, watching YouTube videos on my laptop. I had my headphones on and was getting ready to watch my favorite youtuber start one of the games he usually plays. It was one of my favorite series too, so I was excited to see what he had in store for the new episode. While I was waiting for the video to load, I heard my Aunt and Uncle Rick chatting away in the kitchen as they made lunch.

My Aunt Kate and Uncle Rick have been doing pretty well since they got married. It was really cool to be a part of a happy little family, especially since I've never really been a part of one. My Aunt and Uncle have just come back from their "honeymoon" about a few days ago. It wasn't technically a real honeymoon because they went to an Old Western resort undercover, so they could solve a murder that happened. They're planning on going on a real honeymoon in the future, but for now, that little trip is going to have to do.

My video finally loaded, so I hit the play button, and I was met with a loud high-fiving sound. I decided to do his intro with him because how could I not.

"Top of the mornin' to ya laddies! My name is Jacksepticeye and welcome back to…" I threw my hands in the air and screamed, "HAPPY WHEEEEELS!"

Someone lifted the left side of my headphones off and said, "Emily… No screaming…"

I looked bashful over at my aunt who was standing next to the couch with a drink in her hand. I paused my video and said, "Sorry Aunt Kate, I got into the moment."

Castle plopped down next to me and looked at the video on screen, "Eh…. That looks pretty brutal."

"It's awesome… And this guy, Sean, AKA Jacksepticeye, is a total boss. Not just at this game, but at so many others. Well… Sometimes he sucks, but it's not his fault. He can't be good at everything."

"So… he plays videogames on here?"

"Yep… It's super cool. He's my favorite… His blue eyes are so dreamy and his smile is adorable… He's just an adorkable guy…"

"Adorkable?"

"Adorable and a dork put together.

"Ah… Kate, do you think we should lock her in her room now?"

My aunt chuckled and said, "We can't just lock her in her room Castle."

"Why not?"

"First off, that's illegal and child abuse… Second of all, we can't stop her from liking boys."

"But I don't want her to grow up… I already lost Alexis, I can't have my little buddy leaving me too."

"Don't worry Castle… We still have a few more good years ahead of us," I said smiling at him.

"See that… She's still a kid… We don't have to lock her away just yet," my aunt said with a smile.

"Hey… Will you really lock me in my room?"

"No, we wouldn't do that."

"I would," Castle said, then pulled me close, "I don't want my mini Beckett to grow up."

I struggled in Castle's embrace and said, "Sorry Castle, but I'm not Peter Pan… I have to grow up someday."

"She's got a point, Castle," Aunt Kate said still chuckling at our little squabble.

"Ugh… Fine, I guess I'll just have to watch my mini Beckett become a bigger Beckett," Castle said with fake sadness.

I finally got out of his embrace and said, "Don't worry… I'm sure you and Aunt Kate will have plenty little ones running around."

"And that's my que to get back to the precinct," my aunt said as she went to place her drink in the sink.

"She's right Kate… Mini Castle's and more Mini Beckett's running around," Castle said with a goofy smile.

"Ummm… Maybe, someday… Let's talk about that later," she said as she put her coat on.

"Fine…" he grumbled as he got off the couch.

"Okay, Em. Be good, don't cause any trouble, and we'll see you later."

"Okay, I won't. Bye, guys," I said watching them getting ready to leave.

"Bye mini Beckett… Don't grow up until I get back," Castle said with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen."

They both laughed as they walked out the door and I smiled to myself. I was having a lot of fun lately with everyone and it was what I always imagined a real family would be as a kid. Well… without the kidnapping and crazy killers, but it can't be perfect, right? I shrugged to myself at my lingering thoughts and went back to the video I was going to watch before I was distracted.

I cracked my eyes open, and heard Alexis and Mrs. Rodgers talking in the kitchen. I didn't know I fell asleep on the couch, but I guess after watching dozens of videos on YouTube, I kind of conked out. I decided to stay on the couch quietly and listen in on Alexis and Mrs. Rodgers conversation.

"I don't know gram, it's kind of bugging me. Every time my friends and I pass that little boy, we feel so bad. Today was the worst shape we've seen him in this past month. He has bruises all over and looks malnourished. But he says it was him and his friends tussling around, but we know there's more to it than that," Alexis said with sadness clear in her voice.

"That poor boy. I'm not quite sure what you could do darling, but I'm sure Beckett and your father could look into it," Mrs. Rodgers said.

"That's what I was thinking. I just didn't know if I should get involved."

"I think you should. I saw many kids worse off than me when I still lived with my mama. It wouldn't be fair to leave him with people who don't care about him," I said walking over to them.

"I didn't know you were awake Emily?"

"I wasn't, but I heard you guys talking and I thought I'd umm… I'd…"

"Eavesdrop?" Mrs. Rodgers questioned.

"Yeah…"

"It's all right, It's not like it was much of a secret anyway. So, you think we should do something about it?" Alexis asked.

I nodded my head and said, "I think that would be a great idea. You don't know what could happen to him. I'm sure Aunt Kate and Uncle Rick will be able to solve this."

Both of the women in the room smiled at me and I said, "What?"

"It's cute seeing you call my son your uncle," Mrs. Rodgers said.

"Yeah… It shows how close you are to my dad and us," Alexis said.

"Yeah, it's pretty neat. It's still hard to get used to, but I've been calling him my uncle more and more now," I said.

"Yes, of course it will take a while to fully get into the habit, but just having you here and a part of the family is great for all of us," Mrs. Rodgers said with a heartwarming smile.

"Yep, and it's like I have a little sister," Alexis said.

"Thanks," I said with a small smile.

Alexis patted my back and said, "No problem."

"How about we go out to dinner at that new restaurant, just the three of us?" Mrs. Rodgers said.

"That's sounds great, gram. We haven't been out together with just the three of us, not in a while anyway."

"Yeah, it sounds like fun," I said.

"All right… Let's get going before we hit the crowd," Mrs. Rodgers said as she headed towards the door.

We all grabbed our coats and headed out the door, making our way towards the new restaurant to have some bonding time.

The next day came around and Alexis told Uncle Rick and Aunt Kate all about the little boy in the park. They had a brief discussion about the situation and my aunt said that it was a smart idea to look into it.

We all decided to go the park and that's where we were now. As we walked down the pathway of the park, Aunt Kate said, "So, do you see him often, Alexis?"

"Not too often, but usually once a week or so. We don't come down this way often," Alexis said.

"And you never seen him this bad before?" Castle questioned.

"No, yesterday is definitely the worst shape we have seen him in. It was horrible…"

"Hopefully he's here and we can talk to him," my aunt said.

"Yeah…"

We made it to the area Alexis pointed out and there was a young boy, around seven, standing meekly by a pole, watching all the other boys and girls play at the playground. My aunt crouched down next to him, not wanting to scare him and said, "Do you want to play with the others?"

The little boy shied away from my aunt and looked over at Alexis, recognition filling his face. He looked between the four of us and looked back at Alexis with a confused face.

Alexis crouched by him like my aunt and said, "Hi, Timmy… This is my dad and my stepmom, Detective Beckett. This is her niece Emily."

He nodded at her and said softly, "Hi…"

"It's okay to talk to her… She's really nice."

He shyly peeked over at my aunt and said, "I don't want to get into trouble..."

"You won't get into any trouble, I promise," my aunt said

"Okay…"

"How did you get these bruises?"

"I was tussling with my friends and I fell …"

"I don't really think that's what happened."

"It's okay, Timmy…. You can tell her, we can protect you," Castle said.

He shook his head and my aunt sighed, looking up at Castle with hopelessness. The boy looked over at me and said, "Her…"

I gave the kid a questioning look and asked, "Me?"

"I only want to talk to her."

"Okay…" my aunt said before walking over to me, "Befriend him, Em… I think because you're closer to his age, he'll confide in you."

I nodded and said, "Okay."

Castle gave me some money and said, "Here, take him over to the ice cream vendor and have some ice cream," he looked over at the kid and said, Do you like ice cream, pal?"

The kid smiled a little bit and nodded excitedly. Castle turned back to me and said, "See… Kids love ice cream."

"Okay… I'll see what I can do," I said.

"All right, we'll be over here if you need us," my aunt said, motioning to the benches by the pole.

"Got it," I said before turning to Timmy, "Come on little Timmy."

"Don't call me little," he said with a pout.

I smirked at him and said, "Sure thing."

We walked over to the ice cream vendor and stood in the short line. I looked down at the kid next to me and asked, "So… What would you like?"

"I want a Firecracker Popsicle," he said with a smile.

"Okay, that's a good one… I think I'll have the same."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know… Not too many people agree with me."

"Oh… Is it your parents?"

"Well, yeah… But they aren't around too much… But when they are…"

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

We moved up a place in line and I said, "I do… My mom wasn't the best to me…"

He looked up at me with a confused face and said, "Your mom didn't care about you either?"

"Not really… She did drugs and wasn't around a lot… She never hurt me, but I think the emotional trauma is the worst."

He nodded and said, "How'd you get away?"

"She… um… She died…So… that's when my aunt took me in… I was about a year older than you."

"Oh… That sucks… My Uncle wants to take me away and adopt me… but every time he tries, my parents won't sign the papers to hand me off."

"Do you want to go with your uncle?"

"Yeah… He has a big house, and doggies, and my cousins are around my age. It's so cool…"

"Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, but he's not allowed to come see me anymore… I want him to save me."

"I know the feeling, Timmy."

He looked towards the ground and nodded sadly. We stepped up to the vendor and I ordered our popsicles for the two of us. Once the vendor handed them over and I paid, I walked Timmy over to a bench near the ice-cream truck. We started to eat our popsicles quietly until I spoke up, "You know you could tell my aunt about your parents."

"I don't want them to get into trouble… They always said if I get them into trouble, I won't see anybody again," he said looking at his Popsicle.

"My aunt will make sure nothing happens to you… She'll contact your uncle and everything will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

He was looking at me with hope shining in his hazel eyes, and I wasn't positive on the outcome of this whole situation, but I didn't want him to lose that hope. I gave him a reassuring smile and said, "I'm sure… We'll help you."

His smile grew a little and said, "Yay…"

We went back to eating our popsicles and sat together in a comfortable silence.

We took Timmy back to the precinct with us after we were able to gain his trust and he was sitting in the interrogation room, waiting for my aunt to go talk with him. We were all by Aunt Kate's desk, discussing the options of helping poor little Timmy.

"What can we do, Beckett?" Esposito asked.

"I don't know… We clearly have evidence that his parents have been abusing him and neglecting him. It's just trying to deal with child welfare and trying to get the clearance for his uncle to take him," my aunt said.

"If that doesn't happen, he goes to foster care?" Castle questioned.

"Yeah…"

"But there is a chance we'll be able to arrest his parents and save him from this life?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, it's definitely possible. I'll have to go sit down and talk with him, so I can get more information, but I think we definitely have enough evidence to arrest parents."

"Javi and I will go contact the uncle and see if he'll come to the precinct to give us a statement," Ryan said.

"Okay, thanks guys."

"No problem," they said as they went to contact the uncle.

"I'm going to go talk to Timmy, and see if he's ready to tell me about his parents."

"Okay," we said and she walked into the interrogation room.

As we waited, Alexis started to speak, "Do you think we'll be able to help him?"

"I don't now, Alexis. The precinct knows what they're doing, but things like this get tricky," Castle said.

"Yeah, I know… But even if he has to go to foster care, he'll be safer."

"Not necessarily," I interjected.

"Mmm… I guess you have a point, but I don't want to jinx it," Castle said.

"Yeah… I want him to be happy like me."

"Yeah, you made it through all right."

"Yes, and I'm grateful for that."

They smiled at me and we waited for Aunt Kate to finish up with Timmy.

A few minutes later, Aunt Kate came out of the room and walked over to us.

"Did he tell you anything?" Castle asked.

"Yes, he did… It was pretty disturbing, but pretty much what we expected," she said.

"So you'll be able to arrest the parents?" Alexis asked.

"I'm pretty sure we have enough evidence to search their place and bring them in for questioning."

"That's good, right?" I asked.

She nodded slowly and said, "It could be… We have to see."

Ryan and Esposito came over and Ryan said, "Hey we got in contact with, Dave Vinton, Timmy's uncle. He said he would be down here as soon as possible."

"That's good… Stay here and wait for him, and get a statement from him. Castle and I are going to take a team over to Timmy's home and see if we can apprehend Mr. and Mrs. Vinton."

"All right," Esposito said.

They all went their separate ways and we waited to see if they could put this small case in the bag.

Alexis stayed around with me in the precinct and we even hung out with little Timmy. I gathered some of the extra paper that the precinct had and found my old markers that thankfully still worked. The three of us drew a few pictures and conversed with each other. We were having a great time, until we were interrupted by a man's voice, "Timmy?"

Timmy looked over towards the door of the room we were in and yelled, "Uncle Dave!"

He flew from his seat and jumped into his uncle's arms. His uncle held him close and gave him a long kiss on the head. Timmy pulled away slightly and said, "Are you going to keep me safe?"

"Yeah… Yeah, of course, buddy. I'm not going to let your parents keep you from me again."

"Yay… I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

Esposito came over and said, "Mr. Vinton, we need to ask you some questions before you get to close to your nephew. This is still a sensitive and open case."

"Right… right, I understand, detective," Mr. Vinton looked back at Timmy and said, "I have to go talk to these officers first bud. Then we can hang out, okay?"

Timmy nodded his head and said sadly, "Okay."

His uncle gave him another kiss and put him back on the ground. He walked away with Esposito and Timmy came back over to finish his picture. Alexis glanced over his drawing and asked, "Is that you with your Uncle and his family?"

"Yeah, it is. And those are his two dogs, Skipper and Dingo."

"That's really cool."

"Yeah… Am I really going to go live with them?"

Alexis looked over at me, then back at him, and said, "Yeah, I bet you will."

He smiled and went back to finishing his picture again.

About a half hour later, Timmy's uncle was able to sit with him in the room we were occupying, and Alexis and I gave them some space. While we were waiting around, Aunt Kate came into the precinct with Castle following behind her. Two uniformed police officers walked, what I assumed Timmy's parents, off towards the interrogation room, so they could question them further. Aunt Kate and Castle, came over to us and Alexis asked, "Is that the parents?"

"Yeah, they put up a little fight, but we were able to restrain them," Aunt Kate said.

"The place they lived at though, was a complete mess. It was worse than your old apartment mini Beckett," Castle said.

"Wow, that's pretty hard to beat," I said with wonderment.

"Yeah, I can't believe anyone was living there, especially a young boy," Aunt Kate said.

"Speaking of young boy… Where is Timmy?" Castle asked.

"He's catching up with his uncle right now, in the conference room," Alexis said.

"That's good."

We nodded and Ryan came over to us, "Got ahold of DCF… They said they'll be here soon to discuss the case."

"All right, let them know what's going on when they get here. Castle and I are going to go interrogate Mr. and Mrs. Vinton," my aunt said.

"Got it… I'll go let Dave Vinton know about the circumstances," Ryan said.

My aunt nodded and they all went off to do their separate tasks. I went off to watch the interrogation go down in the observation room and Alexis joined me, wanting to know the outcome to this case as well. We watched through the two-way mirror as her dad and my aunt sat opposite of the neglectful parents.

"Jessica and Nathanial Vinton, we have reasons to believe that you abuse your son and are negligent parents," my aunt said.

"Pfft… You have nothin' on us detective… Our son is just fine," Mr. Vinton said.

"Do you know where your sons been all day?"

"Little brat runs off all the damn time… Can barely keep track of 'im. Not our fault he's all over the place and gettin' into trouble."

"He was at the park, Mr. Vinton. Just like he always is," Castle said.

"Listen we…" Mrs. Vinton started.

"Don't feed into their bull, Jess. They don't have nothin' on us… If we just keep quiet, they'll let us go," Mr. Vinton said, looking over at his wife with anger.

"Mr. Vinton, we have plenty of evidence that you are not suitable to parent Timmy. I'm sure we'll find plenty of stuff around the house, not to mention the state Timmy is in right now," my aunt said.

Mr. Vinton sighed loudly and said, "Fine… Jess, say what'eva you were gonna say…"

Jess looked sadly at my aunt and Castle from across the table, "We know we haven't been the best to our Timmy. It's really hard, we barely pay bills and then the rest of the money… It goes to… it goes to drugs… We rarely have food in the house and we're usually to out of it to even think about him. I'm sorry…"

"Why haven't you handed him over to his uncle?" Castle asked.

"Ha, my good for nothin' brother… thinkin' he's hot shit because he has a good job and a fancy house. I ain't lettin' my son near 'im," Mr. Vinton said with a sneer.

"Well, I don't think you have much of a choice now," my aunt said.

"Can I see him? Just, one last time before I go away…" Mrs. Vinton said sadly.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea," my aunt said.

"They ain't lettin' 'im anywhere near us, Jess. Didn't care about 'im anyway," Mr. Vinton said.

"I'm sorry," my aunt said to Mrs. Vinton before Castle and her left the room.

We all left the rooms we were in and my aunt told the uniformed cops to book them for their offences. We saw Ryan, Timmy's uncle, and a DCF worker talking together in the hallway and I was hoping they were going to let him have Timmy. I saw Mr. Vinton, Timmy's dad, look at the interaction across the hall, and he broke free from the officers grasp. He bolted for his brother and Jess screamed out for him to stop. Mr. Vinton didn't listen as he threw his brother up against the wall of the precinct and yelled, "You can't take my son from me!"

"You never cared about him! What does it matter anymore?" Dave yelled back.

Mr. Vinton didn't even answer, and threw some wild punches at his brother. They started to tussle roughly and Ryan and Esposito tried desperately to break the two men apart. When they were finally able to break them apart, all four men were panting heavily as they tried to recover from the heavy exertion. Esposito handed off Timmy's dad to the same police offer, but this time he handcuffed him, and led him quickly out of the room.

Captain Gates came out of her office and asked, "Is everyone all right?"

"Yes, sir… We have it under control," Aunt Kate said.

"Are you sure?" she asked Ryan.

"Yes sir," Ryan said with a nod.

"Okay... Good work… Finish up this case," she said before heading back inside her office.

"You okay, Mr. Vinton?" Aunt Kate asked.

He wiped his slightly bloody nose and said, "Yeah… Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Mommy?" Timmy asked as he came out of the conference room.

"Timmy," she said.

He ran to her, giving her a large hug, and asked, "Are you going away?"

"I am, but uncle Dave is going to take real good care of you."

"Okay… I love you mommy."

"I love you too, Timmy."

"Ma'am," the uniformed officer said.

She nodded and got taken away just like her husband did minutes before. Timmy went over to his uncle after watching his mother get taken away and his uncle picked him up, keeping him close.

"Will I be able to take him home?" Dave asked.

The DCF worker nodded and said, "You can take him home. I'm sure after the events today, he'll need his family to be with him. But we will check in from time to time to make sure he is getting the proper care he needs."

"I understand… Will I be able to adopt him?"

"We recommend you to wait a little while. But I'm sure you'll be able to do so down the road."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome… Let me walk you out and I can discuss some more information with you."

"Yes, thanks… But I would like to thank some people first."

"Sure thing… I'll be by the elevator."

The DCF worker walked away and Dave came over to us and said, "Thank you… Thank you all. You don't know how much this means to me."

"It's not a problem at all. It's our jobs to protect this city," my aunt said.

"Yeah… Now I might finally be able to help him and adopt him like I've been wanting to do since he was born."

"I'm sure it'll all work out for you guys," Castle said.

"Yes, thanks again and goodbye."

He shook everyone's hands before he started to leave and Timmy spoke up in his arms, "Bye, Alexis… Bye, Emily… Thanks for helping me."

"Bye and your welcome," we said as we waved to him and his uncle as they left.

"Wow, what a crazy case today," Esposito said.

"Yeah, but we helped a kid and part of his family," Ryan said with a smile.

"Yep, and it's all thanks to Alexis for letting us know," Castle said.

"Yes, it is. Who knows what would have happened if we didn't know about him," Aunt Kate said.

"It was nothing, and I couldn't have brought it to justice without all of you. Also Emily was able to get him to open up and trust us," Alexis said.

"Yep, good job mini Beckett," Castle said with a smile

"It was nothing," I said with my own smile.

They all chuckled and discussed a little bit more of the case before we all decided to head home.

We made it home and Castle decided to pop some champagne to celebrate another job well done. Of course I stuck with some juice while the adults drank their alcohol. Castle raised his glass and said, "To another case closed and helping a small boy and uncle reunite with each other."

"Here, here," we said with a small chuckle.

They clinked their glasses with one another and took a few swigs of their drinks.

"You know, Dave talking about adopting his nephew, really got me thinking," Castle said.

"About what?" my aunt asked with a raised brow.

"Adoption."

"You're going to adopt a kid?" Alexis asked looking just as confused as my aunt and I.

"No… not just any kid," he looked at me and said, "Mini Beckett."

I raised my brows and asked with surprise, "You want to adopt me?"

"Yeah, why not? There have been plenty of times we've thought about it."

"He has a point… I wanted to make it official too, but I was never sure when the right time would be," my aunt said.

"I think you guys should do it… It would be great to have Emily officially apart of our family," Alexis said with a smile.

"I'm all for it, but it's up to you Mini Beckett. What do you say?" Castle asked me.

I looked at the three people in the room, knowing how far we've come and how much love I have for them. I smiled brightly and said, "I would love to be adopted by you guys."

Castle pulled me close and said, "Yay! Then that settles it. I can contact a lawyer and we can get this process underway… Is that good with you Kate?"

"Yep, that's fine with me," She said with a smile.

"Great," Castle raised his glass again, "To our future step-daughter/ niece… hmm… We'll figure it out."

We all chuckled and said, "Here, here."

Everyone started to talk amongst themselves, so I kind of went into my mind, thinking about the things that were on it. I'm happy that Castle and my aunt Kate are officially going to adopt me, now they'll have more legal coverage over me and it'll really feel like we're a true family. I never thought I would be in this moment when I was little, but I'm glad I am.