Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm for this story, and for 1,001 reviews so far. Knowing this story means so much to you is motivating and humbling at the same time, in the best possible ways. Knowing these characters mean as much to you as they do to me makes me determined to give them, and you, the best that I possibly can as a writer in every chapter.


Two days after Kate was sworn in as a City Councilwoman, she was getting ready to go to her former campaign office, which was now her personal office in District 1, for her first day of work as a City Councilwoman. Rick was going to stay at home with Lily, and Kate would be coming home to have lunch with them. "Okay, Mommy's going to work. 'Bye, Lily. See you at lunch." She gave Lily a big snuggle and a kiss before handing her over to Rick.

"Ma!" Lily exclaimed. And then, looking from Kate to Rick, Lily exclaimed, "Da!"

"Lily!" Rick and Kate exclaimed in unison, surprised and proud all over again.

"Da!" Lily said, unconsciously clapping her hands together as she looked at Rick. "Da Da Da Da Da Da Da!"

Rick had tears in his eyes. "That's right, Lily, I'm Dada," he said, holding her closer to him and more tightly.

Kate, blinking away tears of joy, just soaked in the moment, her gaze laser focused on Rick and Lily. "That's our girl," she said proudly, brushing her hand down the back of Lily's silky dark brown hair. She looked at Rick and felt herself fall in love with him all over again at the look on his face as he looked from Lily to Kate, a look of pure, unadulterated joy and wonder. "You have fun with Daddy, and I'll see you both at lunch."

"Ma, Da! Mama, Dada!" Lily exclaimed, waving her arms at them as if to say, Okay, Mommy, you kissed me. Now you're supposed to kiss Daddy bye.

Kate leaned in and kissed Rick. "Have a great morning, you two," she said. "I love you both."

Rick swiped at his eyes with one hand. "We will," he said. "You have a great morning too, and we love you too." Kate turned back at the front door, Rick still beaming, and he waved Lily's little hand at Kate before waggling his fingers in a wave at her too. Kate blew them a kiss before leaving.

At work, Kate made her choices on which committees she wanted to be part of, finally deciding, after most of the morning, to join the Committees on Fire and Criminal Justice Services; Women's Issues; and State and Federal Legislation. After filling out the necessary paperwork and sending it over to City Hall via messenger, it was time for her to go home for lunch.

When she walked into the loft, she called out, "Rick, Lily, I'm home!" She could neither see nor hear her husband or baby, and she was momentarily confused as to why the living room furniture had been moved out of place, and why the coffee table was upside down on the sofa.

She was momentarily confused until she heard baby giggles and then Rick's head popped up over the back of the sofa, his eyes alight with mischief and glee. "You're here!" Rick exclaimed. "Wait right there, okay?"

Kate dropped her briefcase and messenger bag in the foyer. "And what am I waiting right here for?" she asked.

"This," Rick said. He looked down then before dropping out of Kate's sight once more, and she heard him say, "Okay, Sweetpea, show Mommy what you showed me earlier."

Lily crawled out from behind the couch, Rick right behind her on all fours. As Kate's jaw fell open in surprise, and she dropped to her knees on the floor, tears welling in her eyes again, Rick gently picked Lily up, her arms and legs still windmilling, and then just as gently placed her back down on the floor, headed right for Kate.

Lily held her head up and gifted her mommy with a drooly smile as she shrieked, "Mama!" and proceeded to quickly motor her way over to her proud, happy, and surprised mother.

Kate caught Lily up in her arms and covered her with hugs and kisses. "Lily, you're crawling!" she exclaimed.

Rick, still on all fours, crawled over to Kate and Lily. "She totally surprised me during tummy time," he said. "One minute we were chatting, the next she just took off. We decided to surprise you when you came home for lunch, didn't we, Lily?"

"Mama," she said. Then she looked at Rick again. "Dada."

"She knows who we are, and now she's crawling," Kate marveled. Then another thought occurred to her: "We've got to babyproof this place."

"I'm planning on sending an SOS text to Ryan after lunch and seeing if he's willing to come over and help us out, since he's done this twice, and way more recently than I have," Rick replied.

Kate set Lily back on the floor. "Lily, go to Daddy," she said.

Happy to oblige and to show off, Lily crawled back across the rug to Rick, who scooped her up, held her upside-down, and blew raspberries on her belly until she was shrieking with laughter.

After they had all eaten lunch, Lily wanted to continue crawling, so Rick and Kate sat at opposite ends of the living room rug, and Lily crawled back and forth between them, with both of her parents alternately taking pictures and filming, and after Lily fell asleep, exhausted from all the activity, they were both sending videos of Lily crawling to the rest of their family and friends. Rick also sent a quick text to Ryan after sending him video of Lily crawling, saying, "SOS, Uncle Kevin, Daddy hasn't babyproofed an apartment in 24 years. Can you please help him?"

Ryan replied almost immediately, "I'll come over after work and help your daddy get everything squared away, Lily. Congratulations to my favorite goddaughter on learning how to crawl. Walking won't be far behind, I'm sure."

Kate returned to her office for the rest of the afternoon, and then when she got home, Ryan was already there, helping Rick babyproof the loft. Lily was squawking and babbling unhappily from her bouncy seat, wanting to be down on the floor crawling and playing.

"Hey, Beckett," Ryan called from the kitchen, where he was finishing up attaching a latch to a lower cabinet door. "Great timing. We're almost done." He gave the latch a final once-over before nodding in satisfaction and straightening up. "Castle's upstairs, finishing up in the nursery."

Kate noticed that the living room furniture and coffee table had been returned to their regular spaces. "Thanks for all your help, Ryan. We really appreciate it."

"No problem," Ryan replied with a smile. "Anything for Lily."

Kate put her briefcase and messenger bag down on the kitchen counter and then went and got Lily out of her bouncy seat. "Let's go see how Daddy's doing in your room, shall we?"

"Dada!" Lily exclaimed as Kate carried her upstairs to the nursery.

Kate, carrying Lily, walked into the nursery and found Rick putting the last safety latch on the lower dresser drawers. "You and Ryan have been busy," Kate said by way of greeting.

Rick turned his head and looked over his shoulder at Kate and Lily. "We did the downstairs first, but don't worry, I did our bedroom and bathroom. Ryan handled the living room and kitchen, and we both worked on my office. Then I came up here to do Lily's room and the hall bathroom." He stood up and crossed the room, giving first Kate and then Lily kisses of greeting. "And I know you hated having to watch Uncle Kevin and me from your bouncy seat, Sweetpea, but we had to make everything safe for you now that you're crawling."

Ryan called from downstairs then, "I'm all finished in the kitchen, Castle!"

"Thanks, Ryan! We'll be right down!" Castle shouted back.

After they had returned downstairs and Rick and Kate both thanked Ryan again for all his help, he said, "Like I said, anything for Lily. And you," he said, reaching over to tickle Lily under the chin, "now that you're crawling, Sarah Grace really wants a playdate." Shifting his attention to Beckett and Castle, he continued earnestly, "She's always been great with Nick, and I know she'll be great with Lily."

"Maybe you and Jenny and the kids can come over this weekend," Rick suggested.

"I'll talk to Jenny about it tonight and get back with you," Ryan replied as he put on his coat. "Catch you later."

"Catch you later, Ryan," Kate said.

"Thanks again for all your help, Ryan," Rick added as he, Kate and Lily walked Ryan to the door.

After Ryan had gone home to his own family, Rick went to wash up and start putting dinner together for himself, Kate, and Lily. After dinner, Lily showed off her crawling prowess in the living room, and then after her bath, and Rick and Kate alternating reading pages of Goodnight Moon, Lily fell asleep.

Rick and Kate stood at their daughter's crib once more, gazing down at Lily as she slept. "She's crawling," Kate marveled.

"And talking," Rick added. "Her first birthday is a little less than four months away."

"I wonder if she'll be walking by then," Kate mused.

"Probably before then," Rick replied.

"Lily has always been her own person, but now she's becoming even more her own person," Kate said.

"Her own incredible person, just like her mom," Rick said.

"Just like her dad," Kate said.

"Like both of us," Rick amended.

"Like both of us," Kate agreed, her hands finding their way beneath his shirt to glide slowly up the bare skin of his back. "I've heard the second kid is nothing like the first. But I hope we're still lucky with the next kid."

"Are you trying to tell me something, Kate?" Rick asked.

"I'm not pregnant, if that's what you're getting at," Kate replied, "but I do want another one...as long as you still do too?"

"I'm up for as many kids as you are," Rick said, wrapping his arms around Kate's waist and pulling her in closer to him. "And I believe I promised you a mini-Castle."

"And you are a man of your word," Kate said, serious and flirtatious at the same time.

"When it comes to you, always," Rick replied seriously.

"Not yet," Kate said. "But we can start trying in May of next year."

In the dim light of Lily's nursery, she saw the wheels turning in Rick's mind and knew he was puzzling out her reasoning. After several seconds, she saw the look of triumph in his eyes, and he said, "A three-year age difference between Lily and Baby Beckett-Castle Number Two. We start trying in May of 2019, and as long as the baby doesn't come two months early, if you get pregnant right away, the baby will be born in February of 2020. Lily will turn three on May 12, 2020, so she'll turn three before the baby turns one, and there'll be a three-year age difference between them."

"Exactly," Kate said, smiling. "Lily will be walking and talking by then...talking more than she is now, I mean. She'll be potty trained, I hope."

"She will," Rick assured Kate. "Girls are fairly easy to potty train. But if you get your mini-Castle the next time around, I can finally do the thing with the Cheerios I've always wanted to try."

Kate considered this for a moment, then said, "You know what, I don't think I want to know about this Cheerio thing yet. I have a feeling it would just make me roll my eyes."

Rick grinned unrepentantly. "I know it's gonna make you roll your eyes."

"Then it can wait," Kate said. "And Lily can start preschool when she's three. We'll have to be sure that she knows that the new baby isn't replacing her-"

"We will," Rick assured her. "So, May 2019 we start trying again."

"You're okay with that?" Kate asked. "I'll be settled into the City Council by then, and Lily will be old enough to understand that she's going to be a big sister, and hopefully to understand that the new baby doesn't mean that we'll love her any less, and you'll have your new book finished."

"I am so much better than okay with that, and Lily will be fine with it too, because we're going to raise our kids to be friends and allies and not just brother and sister," Rick said. "Or sister and sister, as the case may be."

"Then May 2019 it is," Kate said.

"Deal," Rick said before sweeping Kate up into his arms and carrying her out of Lily's nursery, down the stairs, across the living room, into the master bedroom, and to their bed, where he gently laid her down.

"Showoff," she said affectionately as she pulled him down to her.

And then there was no talking for quite a while.


"You're being awfully secretive about where we're going," Madison said as Mark drove down I-495. "We're obviously leaving the city. It's the 'why' and the 'where' I can't figure out."

Mark took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Well," he said, "there are two reasons we're going where we're going."

"And where are we going?" Madison asked as Mark changed lanes.

"Huntington," Mark replied.

"Long Island?" Madison asked, confused. "We're going on an overnight to Long Island?"

"Blues Traveler is playing The Paramount tonight," Mark said.

"I love Blues Traveler!" Madison enthused.

"I remembered," Mark said, cracking a smile, "which is why I got the tickets. But that's not the only reason we're going to Huntington today." He paused. "There are some people I want you to meet."

"Your mom and The Coach live in Boston," Madison said.

"It's not my mom and The Coach," Mark replied patiently, "but they are family and they do mean a lot to me."

"I thought you said you didn't have any siblings?" Madison said.

"I don't," Mark replied.

"So, what, it's your favorite aunt and uncle or something?" Madison asked.

"Or something," Mark said.

"Mark!" Madison exclaimed, exasperated. "Stop beating around the bush and just tell me."

Mark sighed. "You're right," he said. "I should have told you before we were halfway there. I just...I wasn't sure how you'd take it." After a long pause, he said quietly, "We're going to see Kim's parents. Kim's birthday was yesterday, and we always get together as soon after the day as we can. And honestly, I want you to meet them, and I want them to meet you."

"Why?" Madison asked. "You haven't even introduced me to your own mother and stepfather yet."

"Trust me when I tell you I'm doing you a favor there," Mark said. "You'll meet them too. Soon, if you want. But I've stayed close to Jack and Anna. I was always closer to Kim's parents than my mom and stepdad. They were more parents to me than my mom and Coach. They'll always be family to me. But I've been telling them about you every chance I get since the day after Thanksgiving, and they've been wanting to meet you, and I've been wanting you to meet them, and when I got the Blues Traveler tickets for this weekend, I thought we could spend some time with them before the concert." He glanced over at her before returning his attention to the road. "I'm not trying to freak you out or make you uncomfortable, but they matter to me a lot, Maddie, and so do you, so I want you to meet."

Madison wasn't really sure how to react to that. She fully expected to be meeting Mark's mother and stepfather at some point; she had even secretly read a couple of books on football, and watched the movie version of Friday Night Lights in an effort to be able to follow at least some of what Coach would say, since, according to Mark, the man lived and breathed football. And she had told her own parents that she was dating someone, and that it was serious, which it was, but she hadn't yet broached the subject of taking Mark to meet her own parents, though she knew it would most likely happen before spring. Mark had told her a lot about his late wife, and a little about her parents, but she didn't know until now that Mark was still so close to his in-laws that he felt it important that Madison meet them, and that they meet Madison.

"You don't need to be nervous at all," he assured her as they entered Huntington. "Jack and Anna are two of the greatest people on the planet, and they can't wait to meet you." Madison looked at Mark doubtfully. Their beloved son-in-law, tragically widowed on September 11, when the collapse of the World Trade Center took the life of their only daughter, and they were going to be meeting her—for all intents and purposes, their daughter's successor. Madison was not expecting a warm reception at all.

Mark drove quickly through town, and fifteen minutes later, he was pulling the car into the driveway of a two-story sunshine yellow house with a wraparound front porch and dormant rose bushes planted in the front yard near the house. As he cut the engine, the front door opened, and a couple in their early 60s, the woman with long blonde hair shot through with gray and pulled back in a braid, and the man with a full head of gray hair that made him look distinguished, both of them wearing parkas (his navy blue, hers dark green), came rushing out of the house to meet them. Madison barely had her car door open before the couple had engulfed Mark in an embrace. "It's good to see you, son," she heard the man, Jack, say as he gave Mark a couple of hearty thumps on the back between his shoulder blades before releasing him.

"It's good to see you too, Jack," Mark replied with a smile. "I'm sorry it's been so long."

"Hey, you're an important man doing important work. We understand," Jack said earnestly.

His wife, Anna, who had still been hugging Mark, stepped back to look at him. "You should be wearing a hat, Mark. You know you get headaches in the winter if you don't wear some kind of hat, even a baseball cap."

Mark stuck his hand in his coat pocket and removed a New York Giants ski cap. Stretching it atop his head, he asked, "Better?"

"Much," Anna replied, but then she tugged it down so it covered his ears. "But you have to keep your ears covered."

"I know," Mark said cheekily. "I did that on purpose because I knew that's how you would react."

"Oh, you," Anna said fondly before hugging Mark again. "You look wonderful. Better than you've looked in a very long time." Madison had stood beside her open car door, watching the exchange between Mark and his late wife's parents, and feeling very out of place...

Until the moment Anna squeezed Mark's hands in hers, walked around the front of Mark's car, and stopped in front of Madison. "And you must be the reason Mark looks so wonderful and is so happy. I'm Anna Holbrook, Mark's mother-in-law. And that handsome lug over there is my husband Jack. We're so pleased to finally meet you, Madison, so that we can thank you."

"Th-thank me?" Madison stuttered.

"Yes," Jack Holbrook said as he joined his wife in front of Madison.

"Mark is our son. We've waited a long time for him to find you, Madison," Anna said.

"You have?" Madison asked, surprised.

"Not a day goes by that we don't think about Kim," Jack said wistfully. "But her mother and Mark and I...we are the three people who knew her the best, and it took Mark a long time to get used to the idea that loving someone else wouldn't mean he was being disloyal to Kim in any way. You, Madison Queller, are a blessing to Mark, and to us, because you've put that spark of life back in his eyes that's been missing since that terrible September morning. It's good to see that again, and since we know you're the main reason for it, Anna and I thank you, for ourselves and for Kim."

Madison was floored. "Mark told me you were two of the greatest people on the planet. He was right. Thank you for being so accepting of me."

"Thank you for making our Mark happy again," Anna said. Jack echoed his wife's sentiments.

Mark walked around the car and wrapped his arm around Madison's waist, pulling her against his side. "I knew you'd love her almost as much as I do," he said with a smile. Madison froze as Mark's words played on a loop over and over in her head. I knew you'd love her almost as much as I do.

Madison was in love with Mark...but she hadn't told him yet, not wanting the 'L' word to scare him off.

And Mark had never said it to Madison either...until now. And just now he hadn't directly addressed her, but his late wife's parents. Her heart started to pound, and her head started to spin, and she wondered what an anxiety attack felt like, and if she was having the first one of her life.

"I baked your favorite cherry pie, Mark, with the lattice crust, and Jack put on a fresh pot of coffee that should be just about ready," Anna said as she started toward the house.

"Do you have vanilla ice cream too?" Mark asked eagerly.

"Of course," Anna said with a motherly smile. "I know you and your pie a la mode."

"Anna, you're the best," Mark said.

Anna turned to head for the house. "Let's get inside. It's freezing out here!" she exclaimed.

Jack turned to follow his wife into the house, looking over at Mark and Madison and saying, "We'll give you kids a minute while we get the coffee and pie ready. Madison, how do you take your coffee?"

"Black," Madison replied blankly.

"Comin' right up," Jack said before disappearing into the house with Anna.

When they were alone, Mark looked at Madison with a big smile. "See? They love you, just like I knew they would."

"You love me," Madison said. "You just said it."

"I did?" Mark asked, surprised, as he ran his own words back in his head. "I knew you'd love her almost as much as I do."

"I did," he realized, thunderstruck.

"You love me?" Madison asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes," Mark said. "I love you. I'm in love with you, Madison. And after I lost Kim, I never thought I'd ever even want to be in love again, but you changed my mind. It's like I was walking around without an arm, and then one day, I looked down and I had my arm back, and it was just as strong and just as functional as it ever was. Stronger, even, because I had lived without it, lived without love, for so long, and then you came into my life, and you made me feel again. I was numb for a long time. I was a walking Novocain shot, because it was just so much easier to feel nothing after the crushing grief and pain finally went away. You made me want to take chances again, Maddie. And Jack and Anna are right, you make me happy, happier than I've been in sixteen years, four months, and sixteen days, happier than I ever thought I was capable of being again. I love you. And I'm a long haul kind of guy. Kim was my college sweetheart. I only dated two girls in high school, and one of them I only went out with once, and the other one, we dated senior year and broke up at the end of the summer when we went off to different colleges. So if you're not quite where I am yet, that's okay. Unless you don't think you could ever...well, you know...love me, because if that's the case, then I'm gonna have to insist that you tell me now, so I can start trying to get over you, because that's gonna t-"

He was cut off when Madison fused her mouth to his, which she did because she figured it was the only way to get him to stop talking.

"I'm there," she said breathlessly when they broke the kiss. "I love you too, Mark. I'm in love with you. I'm not ready to go picking out Save the Date cards or moving in together-"

"Me neither. Not yet," Mark hastily interjected.

"But I'm a long haul kind of girl. And I never thought I would find somebody to love, who would love me back. But I did. I found you. And I'm not letting you go."

"That's good to know, because I'm not letting you go either, Madison," Mark replied. He framed her face in his hands and kissed her again, softly, gently. When he broke the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers. "Now, let's go inside and have some pie and coffee and warm up before we head over to the hotel and then get some dinner and go see Blues Traveler."

"Okay," Madison replied as she and Mark walked up the driveway, up the front steps of Jack and Anna's house, across the porch, and into the house, arms around each other's waists.