Disclaimed.

Chap. 7

She hadn't been able to sleep much that night so naturally she was awake at 6 a.m. As she turned to face her sleeping her husband she smiled. It was kind of hard to image, even after all these years, how great her life turned out to be. Granted, she did have to face several hardships to get to this point, but it was days like today that made all those horrific moments obsolete. Today her son was graduating from high school.

She rolled back over and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the day they brought home the twins. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't terrified. After Emilia's dramatic entrance into the world they had to stay an additional week at the hospital before they were released, so Martha and Alexis were the ones that went back to the loft got everything set up in the nursery. Infants were hard work and she knew that, but it wasn't until she had twin infants that she completely understood How. Much. Work.

The twins had been home for nearly two months when she finally broke down. Emilia had been a real fussy baby from the start and one night she would simply not say calm. The doctor said that she had a touch of colic, but that her symptoms would subside after a few weeks, but it had been two months and Kate was not doing well tonight. She and Castle had already been up with Em for hours before she was able to finally get her down; only that lasted for about 20 minutes before the baby monitor rang out again.

She didn't have the heart to wake her sleeping husband so she decided to take this one on her own. It wasn't like she hadn't handled the two of them alone before, she thought. When she got to the nursery Emilia was in some fit of rage. Kate hurried to comfort her daughter when her son caught her eyes. Ethan was such a sweet baby, with not a care in the world. He just lived in the moment.

"He's the yang," Castle would tell Kate. "Em's obviously the ying; all that pent up – something. Ethan keeps her stable. He's the yang."

Kate had always thought that her a Castle shared some weird mind melding power, but when it came to their kids they shared something entirely different.

When the twins were 12 Ethan broke his arm playing soccer. He had to have a titanium rod put in to ensure that the bone set properly. Castle and Charlotte were on a mini book tour for the summer so Kate had the twins.

When Ethan was rushed to the ER after the accident she thought she was going to have a heart attack. Kate Beckett was not a big fan of hospitals and neither was the 12-year-old daughter she had in tow. When she got there Ethan looked so – stable. He was laying on the hospital bed, looking just a peaceful as that night Emilia wouldn't calm down when they were two months old. He smiled when he saw his mother and sister. Kate held tightly onto Emilia's hand and rushed to her son.

"Oh baby. Are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?" Kate said.

"Yeah mom I'm fine. Are you guys okay?" Ethan said.

He was such a sweet and thoughtful kid. Here he was, hurt and about to get surgery, and he was worried about his mother and sister.

"We're fine," Emilia snapped.

She went to console her daughter when Ethan leaned over and used his unbroken arm to reach for his sister. He simply grabbed her hand and looked at her with an apologetic look.

Kate immediately felt her daughter's body relax. She always knew that her kids were special, but when they shared moments like this it made her heart hurt. It made her heart hurt in the best possible way.

"We're fine," Ethan repeated to his sister.

And they were going to be fine. Ethan was going to graduate and move at the end of the summer to California, but it didn't matter if they lived on two separate planets – her twins were going to be okay and that's all that mattered.

She smiled and then turned back to her husband again before gently placing her hand on his cheek, slightly rubbing his eyes to wake him.

"Rick," she whispered.

He stirred a little, but still kept his eyes tightly shut.

"Castle," she dragged out while tracing his jawline.

"Mm, stay," he groaned, placing his hand on top of hers as it was placed on his cheek.

"Babe it's time to get up," she said softly.

A frown formed on the edge of his mouth and then he quickly took her hand and interlocked their fingers. "Five more minutes, k?" He asked.

She smiled and scooted closer to her husband, placing her head in the crook of his neck. They could be together for 100 years and she would still never get over being with him. He was her rock through everything. Through her pregnancies, through Emilia getting sick and even through their son graduating and moving away. Richard Castle would always be there and she would always take the extra five minutes to be with him. He was her yang.

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A/N: Hey guys so I wanted to get this out before my spring break is over and I head back to college. I know I originally said I was going to take this story through the summer, but I've decided to end it at Ethan's graduation, which will take place next chapter. So we will have one more chapter and then a little epilogue to finish. However, I do have another story in the works with the same characters, & an excellent idea was brought upon by one of my lovely viewers, which will also be released next chapter. Ah! Anyway I'm done being vague and hope you guys enjoy this little chapter.

Feedback is always appreciated, -K.