So my beloved pumpkin () turned 15 on Dec 2 and I promised her a fic that she asked to include a baby named Emmaline Hope, daughter of Kate Beckett and Richard Castle, and then for Castle to comfort Beckett in some way. This is what it turned out! Hope you like it

Well I obviously don't own anything Castle related, not even a pen. If I did though, it meant that I was an awesomesauce person, and that Castle was now airing on HBO just so we could have naked people having hot moments there.

'He's my big bad handsome man,

He's got me in the palm of his hand

He's the devil divine

I'm so glad that he's mine

Cause he's my big bad handsome man'

"That's not an appropriate song to put Emma to sleep." Kate chuckled. She didn't know he was there, looking tenderly at his wife while she tried to put their daughter to sleep.

"Fact. But it was the first one that came to my mind. And with the right tone… everything turns into a nursery song."

"Well, I guess it won't traumatize her, her mother singing about her father"

"Who told you it was about you?"

Rick, initially standing under the doorway, decided to walk to Kate and hug her, putting his chin on her shoulder.

"Because… I'm big… and handsome… and bad" he bit her neck, making her shiver "but most of all I'm yours."

Kate turned her head to him, smiling while giving him a quick kiss.

"I'm still amazed at how things worked out so well." Kate sighed at her lover's sentence.

"Yeah… not really." Her mind kept shouting how much she had missed of their daughter growing up, when she was stuck at the precinct between murders and paperwork.

"Put her down, she already fell asleep."

"Uh?"

"You really have forgotten that you were holding a tiny human, little miss Emmaline Hope Beckett Castle, also known as our daughter?"

She did. She put down the baby in the crib, covered her with her tiny blankets and let Castle guide her out of the room. They went by Alexis room and kissed her goodnight, and then -Castle took her downstairs. Castle, as the child she knew he was, took them to the kitchen so he could find something sweet to eat – it was that time of the night. He let go of Kate's hand and left her against the isle, trying to find some kind of chocolate in the kitchen. Kate just stared at the floor, her mind off to somewhere he didn't know.

"What's wrong, honey?" He had found what he desired and was now staring at her.

"It's just… I've been missing so many things, so many important things about our daughter, Rick. I wasn't here when she tried to talk, I wasn't here when she tried to walk. I wasn't here, because I have a job that keeps me from being here when I'm needed. I'm either stuck at the precinct doing paperwork or out in the field, trying to solve a murder. And it makes me really sad that I've lost so many important things of her life. I'm not here most of the times when she wakes up during the night, I'm not here when she cries, I'm not here Rick… I'm never here…" Kate hid her face in her hands and started to cry. Rick immediately ran to her, hugging her and running a hand through her hair. He squeezed her, then turned her around to face him and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Kate… Katherine… You are an amazing mother. You have a job that may keep you from being here twenty-four seven, you have a job that may rob you too many time, you have a job that is difficult, and dangerous. But darling, tell me, what's bad about not being here when Emma cries at night? I'm here for her. I'm here. I can hold her and calm her down, put her to sleep again in a second. So what if you rarely do that? The really important stuff is yet to come. Damn, I wish I could trade places with you and be at the precinct so I didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night because of her crying. This first year is the worst Kate." Well, at least he made her laugh. Mission accomplished!

"You will be here to see her giving her first footsteps alone. You will be here to hear her talk for the first time. You will be here to teach her how to ride a bike. You will be here to listen when she needs it, when she wants to talk about boys and all that girly stuff that Alexis went through too. Woman, you'll even teach her how to shoot people when she's old enough." And there was that laughter that Rick knew and loved so much.

"She won't love you any less because you weren't here all the time when she was one year old. She won't even remember being one year old!"

"But Castle… what if…. What if I'm not here anymore? You know, with my job and all…" Kate's face went from a smile to a very concerned look. Castle looked at her in the eyes and answered with a face that Kate rarely saw.

"If you are not here, which you will be, I'll take care of her. I have raised one, I can raise another. But we don't have to worry about her, since you will be here. You, Katherine Castle, are not going anywhere. I won't let you. I won't allow it."

"You know that you can't control those things."

"Kate, haven't we had this conversation before?"

"Yes, Rick… but… but…"

"No what ifs. You will be here and every other option is out of the question. You hear me, Kate? No buts. Unless it's your butt and my butt." And there it was again, her smile. He smiled back at her and kissed her, making her feel whole and safe again.

"I don't know who I'd be without you, Richard Castle."