Finding My Way Back To You (A Castle FanFic) (ON HOLD)

The War is On

"You wanna adopt Karen?" Castle asked.

"I... boys, can we have a moment, please?" Kate said and dragged Castle into the break room.

"Why?" Castle asked.

"I love her. I just love her more by the minute, I don't want to see her go, I wanna keep her," Kate said quietly.

"I love her too, Kate, but what about when she starts asking about Katrina or Dylan? You're only her aunt, Kate, you have no chance competing with Dylan!"

"I love her so much, Rick. She's the only reminder of Katrina and... I just don't want to see her go. I know Brooklyn and Alexis couldn't bear to part with Karen, and I know you couldn't stand it too! Please Rick," she begged.

"I love Karen too," Castle said quietly.

"So?"

"Let's do this?"

Kate smiled and kissed Castle full on the mouth.

~~~

"Buckle up, cheater pants, your alibi cleared, let's go," Kate said as she opened the door of the interrogation room.

Dylan wasted no time in rushing out of the interrogation room.

"So... can I have Karen back now?" Dylan asked.

"Nope," Kate said, popping the p.

"Why not? My alibi's cleared, I'm Karen's biological father and I am eighteen."

"First, you can't prove to the NYPD that you are capable of taking care of a one year old, you're only eighteen and you don't have a stable income yet. And second, Katrina said she would be leaving Karen's custody to her birth sister."

"But her birth sister is not found and there's no word from her."

"Actually, she is found, and she has agreed to take Karen in," Kate said.

"I want to speak with her, I want my little girl back," Dylan said, clearly angry.

Kate stopped in her tracks and turned to Dylan, "Go ahead, make your deal."

Dylan looked confused.

"I'm Katrina's birth sister."

~~~

Both Dylan and Kate looked really angry as they exited the break room, Dylan headed straight for the elevator and Kate went over to her desk.

"So?" Castle asked.

"Cheater wanted to settle this in court," she grunted.

"Don't worry about a single thing, I'll get the best lawyer we have and we'll build this case against Dylan, we'll get Karen's custody," Castle assured her.

"Yeah, but you know that he has the upper hand. He is Karen's dad and has been looking after her for  her whole life, we have only known her for a couple weeks!"

"But Katrina clearly said that he wanted you to have Karen's custody."

"I don't know, Castle... I... I'm just afraid that he'll win okay?"

"He won't, don't worry," Castle smiled.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad," Brooklyn said, coming up from behind.

"Hey Brooke, where's Alexis and Karen?"

"Lex is at the Mathletes meeting and Grandpa Jim has Karen. So, what are you talking about?"

Kate and Castle exchanged looks and they both silently agreed to tell Brooklyn about their decision.

"We were just talking about Karen," Castle said casually.

"What about her? Can we keep her for a bit longer?"

"We can, in fact, we're gonna adopt her," Kate smiled.

Brooklyn's face broke out into a wide grin.

"You okay with it?"

"Okay with it? I love this! Thank you thank you thank you!" Brooklyn squealed and hugged her parents.

"But there's a problem."

"What problem?" Brooklyn looked at her parents worriedly.

"Karen's birth father wanted her custody, and we are going to settle this in court," Kate said.

"That jerk!" 

"I know right?" Castle added.

"But we can win this right? We have to win!" Brooklyn exclaimed.

"We have the upper hand, I guess, your Aunt Katrina left Karen's custody to me through a text to her best friend, I'm not sure if that is legally okay or not but we'll give this a shot."

"Well then, you need to know EVERYTHING about Karen to win this! I know her best, I'll tell you."

"Okay... what's her favorite food?"

"Chopped up bananas, preferably mixed with Greek yogurt. Her favorite drink's banana smoothie, let's just say she loves bananas..."

Brooklyn didn't stop babbling about what Karen likes and dislikes until Esposito came over with coffee and pastries from his coffee run.

"You really adopting Karen?" Esposito asked.

"Yeah, but Dylan wants her custody too, so we are going to have a trial in two weeks," Kate answered and took a big drink of her coffee.

"So, Aunt Kate, are you confident that you are going to get her custody?" Esposito teased.

"Shut up, Uncle Javi," Kate laughed.

"We are going to get her custody no matter Dylan likes it or not," Castle said confidently.

"Wait, Dad, why are you still here? I thought you said you had a new series of books that you had to work on," Brooklyn reminded him.'

"Oh right! Come on! Let's go pick Alexis and Karen up so we can have dinner!" Castle said and dragged the girls out of the precinct.