And so, we come to our final chapter of this tale. BUT WAIT! There will be a sequel coming ASAP. I have big plans...

Since about ten in the morning, Kate had felt a shift in contractions. They were no longer irregularly spaced and random. These were regular and predictable. Not to mention, they were getting stronger. It was now four in the afternoon and Kate was increasingly more uncomfortable. It was becoming hard for her to relax between contractions, she felt overworked from the highs and lows. When Castle called the OB/GYN, he was told that Kate did not need to go to the hospital just yet- she was better off being in a more comfortable place for now.

It was October thirty-first, also known as a week before Kate's due date or Halloween. The one good thing about this day being the day Kate went into labor was that she had something to distract her from the contractions. The kids had begun to knock on the door like clockwork and Castle put his wife in charge of candy duty.

Knock knock. Kate stopped her pacing and went to the door as Castle got up to follow. He maneuvered around the suitcases they had set by the door as his wife grabbed the cauldron of candy and donned her witch's hat.

When she opened the door, a squeaky "trick-or-treat!" greeted her excitedly. Kate looked down to see a girl about seven years old dressed in a fairy costume. It was teal and gold with white-shimmery wings attached to the back of it. The little girl was holding a pumpkin bucket for her candy to go in. Her mother stood behind her, one hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Well, hello," Kate greeted the pair with a smile, "What a lovely costume! Take two pieces."

"Thank you," the little girl said, her eyes growing wide at the vast array of candy in the cauldron.

"Melissa was excited to come up here, apparently you have a reputation for amazing candy selection," the girl's mother remarked with a smile.

Kate laughed and glanced back at Castle. "That's my husband's doing, I just hand it out."

The woman nodded to Kate's belly. "Well, that little one is sure in for popularity among the trick-or-treaters. When are you due?"

"Actually, I'm- oh!" Kate's eyes widened a bit as she looked down at her sweatpants and then back up, glassy-eyed. Castle moved like lightning, turning to face his wife.

"Are you-?" he asked and got a nod as an answer.

"I think my water just broke," she said breathlessly.

After that sentence, everything was a blur. Somehow, they left the candy outside the door and got into a cab to go to the hospital. Castle was making phone calls and Kate was breathing through contractions.

Kate remembered pain and waiting and people coming in and out, but only Castle and Alexis were staying through the birth.

Then everything became defined again when she was told she was completely dilated. No, that's not true. Kate had tunnel vision during that time. She was focused on Castle's presence and needing to push; she made the latter very well known.

She was given instructions and then the work started. It hurt, probably as much as getting shot in the heart did, but it was a different kind of hurt. Every ounce of pain was a step closer to Kate and Castle getting to meet their daughter. She kept pushing as told and when it finally felt like she was stretched to her limit, there was relief and then a cry that had to be the most beautiful sound Kate had ever heard.

"Ridley," Kate whispered emotionally, seeing her baby for the first time. She was perfect already.

Castle's mouth was suddenly next to her ear. "You did so well," he told her quietly, "You're extraordinary, Kate."

She smiled and leaned her head against his chest. When they gave her Ridley, Kate's heart finally felt complete. Alexis came around to stand next to her dad, stepmom and sister.

"She's the most perfect baby sister ever," Alexis said lovingly.

Kate smiled at the young redhead and then just closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of her daughter in her arms and her family by her side. This, Kate thought to herself, is completion.

Ridley Elaine Castle, born at ten forty-one pm on October thirty-first, was the perfect baby; give or take the occasional meltdown and not always sleeping through the night (though she had gotten exceptionally good at it). At two months old, on New Year's Day, she was about to have her first adventure.

She had fallen asleep on the car ride up to the now snow-covered place they were going to this afternoon. Kate kept glancing back at her little girl and smiling to herself. Castle loved watching his wife reaffirm that she had a daughter. He had to admit, it was hard for both of them to realize they were not just two people and sometimes Alexis and Martha anymore.

Today was a special day for all of them; their family was about to get fully acquainted with one another. They rolled up the long driveway, which was fenced by bare trees. They parked next to the last building which had yet to get its roof put back on, so for now a blue tarp flapped in the wind. Kate got out of the car and opened up the back door to take out a now awake Ridley.

"Come on, baby, we have to go meet and greet," Kate told her daughter.

The family crunched across the snow to an open door. Inside, the lights were warm and familiar smells greeted them. For Ridley, it was all new. Odd-looking creatures stared at her from boxes and the smells were weird and not at all like home. The three of them stopped at what Kate had deemed her happy place and rolled the door open. A head, much larger and higher up than it was in May, thrust into the open, followed by another head. Leggy and Zenyatta sniffed at Kate's belly and then rose up to look at Ridley.

Zenyatta turned her eye to Kate and blinked slowly before backing back into the stall. Leggy looked at his best friend questioningly, ears pricked and blue eyes curious.

"Leggy," Kate said, 'This is Ridley- your sister. You can't eat her or be rough with her, you have to be gentle and kind because that's what families do. Okay?"

Leggy blinked his big blue eyes, and lowered his nose to the little girl, breathing her scent in and out. She smelled like his Kate, but different. Ridley opened her eyes and reached her hand up. Little fingers stroked a white nose curiously and blue eyes locked on blue eyes. If that was not the beginning of a beautiful sibling relationship, Kate did not know what was.

And yes, they do go on to become best friends. Although this will later be reiterated- Leggy is the first horse Ridley rides. He also only listens to her and his jockey and Kate, not many people can ride the stubborn boy :]