With no active case to work she and the boys are sitting at their desks completing paperwork when the call comes in. Not bothering to look at the caller id, Kate slides her finger over the answer icon before pushing out a sharp, "Beckett."

The pause is brief before a hesitant voice carries over the line, "Mrs. Castle?"

Still not accustomed to the moniker the caller uses she pulls the phone from her ear and looks at the display. Her heartbeat speeds up as recognition washes over her, "Yes. Sorry. Yes, this is Mrs. Castle, Kate Castle. Speaking."

"Mrs. Castle, this is Sonia Johnson from the Child Welfare Services and I'm calling today to discuss potential placement of a little girl with you and Mr. Castle."

The last 10 months flash through Kate's head, the endless paperwork, classes, interviews, letters, background checks, fingerprinting. Selling themselves to the State through family collages, fighting over the right wording and the perfect pictures in hopes of adding to their family through adoption. Was the waiting and the wising finally coming to an end?

Making strides to the door down the hall, Kate manages to grab Javi's attention, holding up all fingers on her left hand as she steps out of the room so she can speak clearly and freely.

The line crackles to life again, "Mrs. Castle are you still there?"

It's the jolt she needs and Kate takes a deep breath before answering, "Yes, Ms. Johnson, I'm still here. I needed to step out so we could talk in private. Did I hear correctly that you would like to place a little girl with my husband and me?"

Paper rattles and carries over the connection before the placement worker speaks again, "I did, but Mrs. Castle, I have…."

"Kate," she interrupts before Sonia can even begin, "Please call me Kate."

Sonia can hear the nervousness in Kate's voice and begins again, "Ok, Kate. We have a little girl that could be a possible placement for you and your husband, however, there are risks, a lot of risks and I want to go over those before moving forward."

Kate's heart tumbles over the words little girl and risks and she starts to pace around the small stairwell platform she escaped to shortly after the call started, "I understand, Sonia. We were warned this isn't always an easy path. Please tell me more about the little girl."

Scanning the intake sheet, Sonia begins, "The child was born…."

"Wait," Kate directs. Kicking herself for interrupting once again, "I'm sorry, Sonia. I'm sorry to interrupt again but my husband is out of town until tomorrow and I need to grab my notebook so I can write everything down. Please. Can you…Will you just hold on for a minute?"

Sonia can't help but chuckle as she listens to the detective fumble over her words, trying to get them out but also not mess anything up. She's done so many of these calls in her 10 years as a placement worker, she gets it and is patient, "Of Course, Kate. This is just information so please, please just relax, get your paper and we'll start at the beginning."

Kate releases an audible breath of relief, "Thank you. I'll just be a second."

Javi's eyebrows rise quizzically as Kate rushes back to their office area flustered and breathless in her quest for pen and paper. "Everything okay, Beckett?" Javi asks, figuring that only the writer can rattle his normally collected colleague this much, he adds, "That Castle on the line?"

Kate barely acknowledges him before rushing out the area again with a gruff, "Everything's fine, Javi. I just need a few minutes."

XXX

Feeling like her world could very well change in the space of this phone call, Kate steadies herself, closes her eyes and looks to sky for a bit of courage, "I'm ready."

When Sonia begins again, her voice is informative and clinical, "The child is a 3 day old female, African American, born preterm at 37 weeks and weighing 5lbs 10oz at birth."

Kate gasps and wants to interrupt again but won't. She opens her heart, closes her eyes and waits for the rest of the information.

Tenderness trickles in to Sonia's voice as she continued, "The baby tested positive for Alcohol, Cocaine, and benzodiazepine at birth. Since she was born addicted to several substances she was immediately transferred to PICC, a pediatric interim care facility that handles infant drug withdrawals. After speaking with the staff at PICC it has been determined that she will remain at their facility for 3-4 weeks. At which that time, if she survives, she may be placed in to your home as a foster child."

"If? If she survives?" Kate chokes out. "What does that mean? Are you telling me about a child that might die?"

Sonia hates this part of her job but it has to be done and the truth, although at times hard has to be told and as much information as she is able to legally give out must be given to prospective parents, "The child has been identified as an FT baby. A failure to thrive baby and it is possible she might not survive or she may have some very serious lingering effects from the drugs she ingested inutero. She might no walk, she might not speak, she could have sight or hearing issues, gross motor delays. Delays that may not present themselves for months or years to come."

Kate can only listen as Sonia continues, "There are other risks though, Kate. She is the child of a young mother who has lost custody of four other children and as of now we are unable to find a suitable relative placement for her. That may change though. We are obligated to continue our search. The mother, who abandoned the child once she was transferred to PICC may also re-surface. So, I urge you that if you and your husband are interested in becoming the placement for this child that you consider the risks, talk them over and make sure you are prepared for parenting this child."

"How does anyone prepare to parent a child that is so sick?" Kate whispers.

"PICC is an excellent facility, one of only two in the country and they will help you, should you decide to move forward," Sonia explains. "They can discuss her condition in more detail with you, assist you in learning the tools needed for her care. They'll make sure the baby, and you, are ready for the transition before she is released to your custody."

"It's a lot of information, heartbreaking information and I'm…Rick, My husband, is out of town until tomorrow and I will need to talk to him of course. Is there…is there a time limit on our answer?" Kate finishes in a rush of words.

Sonia's voice is back to soothing, her answer a healing balm on Kate's breaking heart, "Mrs. Castle. Kate, this is a big decision, monumental for you and your family and we understand that. She is a high risk placement both in terms of health and legal issues so please, take the evening to discuss this and call me back tomorrow. While there is no time table per say, I will need to know as soon as possible whether you will be moving forward or if I should continue to search for another placement for the child."

"I understand," Kate states and prepares to end the call but before she can hang up she has one last question to ask Sonia, "Can you…does she have a name?"

Sonia laughs on the other end, "I'm so sorry, Kate. I should have told you that in the very beginning and it completely slipped by me. Yes, the baby's name is Destiny."

Destiny. The name travels across the connection, wraps itself around Kate's heart and settles in her chest, pulling every string as it whispers hello.

She has to call Castle.

tbc

A/N – Indulge me? I know this was heavy on dialogue and light on action but the story is a journey and I have a clear vision of where it's going. Although told in the realm of Caskett, this is the adoption story of my daughter.

Thank you to KB and GM for taking the time to read through and find errors and make suggestions. Mistakes belong to me and only me.