Here it is, guys; the last update. I have been writing this one since I really got into Castle right before I started college and it has been a long journey. I'm so glad that so many of you have been following it and leaving me such nice reviews and even supported me when I had that pesky troll about 60 chapters ago. Thank you so much; it means a lot to me. I hope you'll continue to follow my writing on here and even buy one of my books in the hopefully near future. Thank you and enjoy this last installment.

Epilogue

"Mommy!" the voice was barely a squeak as her four-year-old son ran into the room, sliding a little in his Batman socks. Richard James Castle—or RJ—was the spitting image of his father, with unruly light brown hair and devilish blue eyes. He had her grace, though (thank God), and was able to stop, practically on a dime, in front of her, giving her that dimpled little grin of his. "Jo and Marti are hungry," he informed her. "Where's their bottles?"

"Right here," Kate said, picking up the two warm bottles of formula and handing him one. Since the twins, Johanna and Martha, were born, RJ as been her little helper; he was always eager to feed his baby sisters and loved nothing more than holding them and singing to them while they napped in his arms. Alexis had been that way when he was born. She placed a burp cloth on his shoulder and then one on hers before leading him towards her room, where the babies slept in their basinets until their nursery was finished being painted. Castle had moved a rocking chair into the spacious room and Kate allowed RJ to sit in it, placing Johanna, the older of the twins, in his arms. He supported her head, as he was taught, and popped the nipple right into her mouth.

Kate smiled when he looked up at her, proudly. Jo had been the fussier of the two since they were born about six months ago, but she's begun to mellow out in the last couple of weeks.

Marti, however, had just started, and attempted to tug on her mother's hair as Kate fed her, rocking soothingly on her feet, desperately trying to get her to calm down. Marti was having none of it.

"Need a hand?" a voice asked her from the doorway and she looked up, a wide grin blooming on her face when she saw who was standing there.

"Hey," she said, softly, nodding to her husband and stepdaughter. "Yeah, I could use a little help," she added when Marti reached up and tried to shove her fist up her mother's nostril. Castle chuckled and walked towards Kate, scooping Marti into his own arms and popping the bottle into her mouth. Kate frowned at that and he shrugged.

"I'm a little…fluffier than you; she likes to use my arm fat s a pillow. Don't take it too personally; you're much more buff than I am, Mommy," he said, leaning forward to place a kiss on her lips. Kate smiled against them, snorting.

"Such a charmer," she joked, before smiling down at the redhead, who was at her chest now. "Hey, Lex," she said, kissing the girl's forehead. "How was school? Did you learn anything new?"

"Christopher Columbus led a genocide," Alexis replied, shrugging, "but I don't think that's new information." Kate shot a look at Castle and he sighed.

"They're learning about Columbus's journey to America in preparation of Thanksgiving and, once again, my kid focuses on the dark side of things."

"Well, she is your kid, Castle," Kate laughed. "Besides, it's probably better that she know the truth rather than the perpetuation of the peaceful settlement myth."

"Not when it makes six other students cry and a phone call home," Castle retorted.

"Hmm," Kate said, "I guess not. No more making other students cry, alright Lex? Keep your genocidal knowledge to yourself."

"But—" at Kate's look, Alexis's words dissolved on her tongue. "Fine," she said, "but they'll have to learn eventually."

"And I'm sure they will," Kate acquiesced, "but it's not your job to teach them. Besides, I'm almost certain that information comes in middle school."

"That's a whole year away though!"

"Eh, you've made it this far," Kate laughed. "Now, come on; don't you want to hold your little sister?"

Alexis's face immediately lit up and she looked up at her father, who pretended to shield Marti from her eyes. "Not this one," he said. "I just got her. Go steal your brother's baby." Alexis rolled her eyes and made her way to RJ, who immediately handed over the baby and burp cloth, allowing his beloved big sister to settle in the rocking chair next to him while they fed the baby together. Kate and Rick watched them, their hearts swelling as their children got along.

Alexis had loved RJ from the second she first saw him and the feeling had been decidedly mutual. The little boy loved his big sister and followed her around like a duckling most days, imitating everything she did. Kate was certain that had she had any younger siblings, she would have knocked their heads in by now from annoyance, but Alexis was so calm and gentle with her little brother and loved her sisters just as much. And Kate thanked whomever was responsible every single day.

She looked up at her husband, who still had a bottle poised at Marti's mouth, with the baby girl suckling hungrily, his eyes filled with utter adoration—the same adoration he often fixed on his other three children and her. They'd been married for more than four years now and she could not have been happier.

After their marriage, Kate had finished school at NYU and had transferred to the Police Academy. She fell pregnant less than a year after graduation and had to wait until the twins were about two months old to apply for a job. She was almost immediately accepted at the Twelfth Precinct, under the supervision of Captain Roy Montgomery. She had yet to have a conversation with him, but from what she'd heard, he was a pretty great guy.

Today was her day off from work and she'd spent it in pajamas, on the couch, relaxing with her three youngest while her eldest was in school. Between her work and her family, Kate Beckett had never been happier.

And while her mother's case was at the back of her mind, she realized that she wouldn't want Kate to kill herself over it, not while she had a family of her own to protect.

We'll get justice for you one day, she thought as she eyed the picture of her mother on her dresser. Just not today.

At the sound of Jo's whimpering, Kate rushed over to her kids, plucking the infant out of Alexis's arms and rocking her body in a soothing back and forth motion, kissing her soft, dark brown locks. Jo peered up at her mother with her startling forest green eyes and grinned, toothlessly. Kate smiled back and nuzzled her nose.

"I love you," she whispered in the baby's ear. "I love you so much, Johanna."

She looked back up at her mother's picture. And I miss you.

Castle's voice shocked her out of her daze.

"Who's ready for an afternoon snack?" he asked. Both Alexis and RJ raised their hands and then ran, hand-in-hand, out of the room, with Castle right along behind them, Marti peering at her over his shoulder. Kate smiled and followed him, entering the main room, just as RJ bumped into the front hall table where her mother's elephant statue sat. Kate's eyes widened as she saw them topple over, her entire body freezing.

"No!" she cried out, startling the baby, who began wailing. The elephants felt to the floor and while they remained mostly intact, the back of one of them popped off and Kate's heart stuttered when she saw something slide out, across the floor.

"I'm sorry!" RJ exclaimed, looking up at her guiltily as she stepped forward, her eyes riveted to the cassette tape that had just emerged from her mother's elephants. She barely even heard him as she reached down, cradling her crying baby to her chest as she plucked it off the ground and straightened back up, locking eyes with Castle.

"What is that?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.

Kate shrugged. "I dunno," she said, "but let's find out."

…

It was two weeks until Congressman William H. Bracken was arrested for the murder of Johanna Beckett.

Kate was given the chance to be the arresting officer, but she declined. It wasn't worth it; if he knew it was her who'd found the last piece of evidence to convict him, he could send somebody after her family. She was content with watching it all unfold on the evening news, wrapped in the arms of her husband, while their children slept in their laps.

"It's finally over," she sighed, once the program changed to some story about an actress's method acting. "We got him."

Castle nodded, slowly. "Yeah," he said, "we got him…now what?"

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"Well, your mother's case is solved; are you going to quit being a cop?"

"Never," Kate replied. "The way I see it, there's too many people like William Bracken and far more like my mother; getting just one of them justice will be more than worth keeping my career. Besides, I spent all that time in school and the Academy—I'm putting it all to good use. I'm gonna make detective."

Castle smiled. "You most certainly are," he said, kissing her forehead. "And, hey, maybe I can help. I'm pretty good at crime-solving."

"Castle, writing about crime and actually solving it are two totally different things. Besides, whose gonna watch the kids?"

"Alexis?"

"Try again."

"My mother?"

"No!"

"What, you don't trust her?"

"It's not that; I just…"

"What?"

"Well, she might try to cook for them…"

"Oh, you worried about food poisoning?"

"More like our loft burning down and everybody having to move in with her and her new husband."

"Yeah, that would be unfortunate."

"See, this is why you need to stay home with the kids while I go out and make the money."

"You do realize that I make more money on one book than you make in ten years, right?"

She slapped him for that one.

"Ow! It's true!" She gave him the look. "Fine, I'll stay home."

Silence.

"Ooh, what if we got little baby bjorns, you know, made from bulletproof material, and carried them around?"

Kate groaned, rolling her eyes. "Just let it go, Castle."

"It would be pretty cool is all I'm saying, Kate. Working together; we'd always have each other."

"We'll always have each other anyway, knucklehead," she laughed.

"Yeah," Castle agreed, smiling down at her, "always."

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