Beeping. Steady beeping is the first thing she noticed when she started to come around. The fog desperately tried to cling to her brain, as she made her best attempt to make sense of her surroundings.

Lilac. The sweet smell of her favorite flowers was the second thing she'd noticed. Before she'd even opened her eyes she could smell the scent of lilacs around her. It enveloped her and comforted her like an embrace.

Voices. There was muttering around her and she was trying to make sense of what the voices were saying. She turned her head toward the voices and let out a moan, trying to communicate to whomever was nearby.

"Kate?" somebody was calling her name, but she didn't recognize the voice.

"Kate, can you hear me? Open your eyes Kate, open your eyes and take a breath."

That's an odd request, Kate thought to herself.

A gloved hand tilted her chin up and she opened her eyes. A doctor was standing by her bedside and was smiling softly at her. "Welcome back." He spoke.

"Did…" Kate tried to speak, a haze of confusion surrounding why she was in her current situation clouded her brain. "Did they get it?"

She looked to the doctor, waiting for him to answer her and update her on the success of her surgery. I was here to have the cancer removed, right? She thought for a moment. No, that's not right. I don't have cancer anymore. I wasn't in the…why am I in the hospital? She couldn't wrap her brain around anything.

Her head shot up suddenly as she finally got her bearings, the baby.

"The baby," she spoke, "is the baby ok? What happened?"

The doctor pressed Kate back to the bed, observing her wince in pain as she tried to move too fast. He spoke to her as he felt her body relax, "Take it easy Kate. You developed eclampsia and had to have an emergency C-section. You're stable now though and you're going to be just fine."

She nodded before asking again, "the baby?"

She heard Castle's voice then, and turned to see him moving towards her. In his arms was a pink bundle and Kate was filled with overwhelming emotion with the knowledge of who she was about to meet. She looked to her husband for confirmation,

"Castle?" She spoke, tears filling her eyes and a look of wonder upon her face.

He nodded his affirmation to her. "Kate." He spoke, "I would like you to meet Audrey." The doctor and a nurse helped Kate to adjust and turned her bed up so that she could take the child into her arms. As he approached he found her ready to hold their daughter.

Tears were in his eyes again, as he placed another kiss on the girl's cheeks and handed her over to her mother. "Audrey weighs 7lbs, 8oz and is 19 inches." He began, pulling himself up onto the bed beside her and wrapping his arm around Kate's shoulders.

He removed the hat from her head again and revealed the girl's hair, causing Kate to laugh with joy. "Audrey is bound to have her mother's hair, famous throughout the city for it's gorgeous nature." Kate ran her fingers through the girl's unruly, soft locks and smiled brightly. Audrey Johanna Castle was the most amazing creature she'd ever beheld.

Castle continued his verbal inventory of their daughter, "her skin is the perfect shade of pink and she's got a good grasp in those perfect little hands of hers. Her button nose is small and beautiful and her rosy lips are simply gorgeous. She's a heartbreaker." He spoke with pride and love.

He leaned his head against Kate's, who in turn, rested hers against his. He turned in and kissed Kate's temples before continuing,

"Her best feature, by far, Kate." He began and waited for his wife to look at him. When she did he continued, "Her best feature is here," He ran his fingers back into her hair and rested them on her head. "This is my favorite feature Kate because it's her brain. It's her perfectly healthy formed brain Kate." He looked to his wife, tears building there as he waited for his words to sink in.

Her eyes widened in disbelief when his meaning sank in. "Do you mean she's?" She began and he nodded.

"The doctor came in about an hour ago. They did an MRI and determined that Audrey is perfectly normal and healthy. Their best guess is that she was further along than they'd guessed and that caused the elevated protein levels." He smiled and they both cried, "Kate, our baby girl is going to be just fine."

They kissed happily as they both looked back down to their sleeping daughter, taking in her perfect feathers and breathing sighs of relief over her healthy state. After everything they'd been through together, nobody could argue that Rick and Kate deserved a miracle, and late in the night on February 15th, they'd gotten one.

Audrey Johanna Castle was a bundle of perfection. Her tiny body nestled against her mother's as, after the assistance of a very kind nurse, she suckled on her breast eagerly for sustenance. Kate couldn't stop looking at her. She was too much to take in, her arms and legs, her soft stomach and the smooth skin on her cheeks. She loved to run her fingers through the girl's hair, and she loved to inhale the unique baby smell that seemed to simply be Audrey.

Jim was overwhelmed when he saw her for the first time, he swore that he could have been looking at Kate as a baby. Especially the baby's hair, as Kate's hair could also never be controlled. Martha and Alexis were immediately smitten as well, taking pictures and holding her tenderly. Christopher was curious about the baby, but was far too young to understand the significance of her presence.

It did Kate a lot of good to see the boy though, as she missed him terribly. Alexis and Martha brought the boy over, walking in to find Castle in bed behind Beckett, holding her against him as he rested his chin on her shoulder and they both watched the sleeping girl in her arms. Christopher soon joined the family on the bed and nestled into the arms of his parents.

Alexis took advantage and captured pictures of the family in the hospital bed, Rick bent to the left and holding onto a laughing Christopher and Kate leaning to the right with Audrey safe and bundled in her arms.

The picture would be framed and featured by Rick's desk for years to come.

That evening they lay in bed. Audrey was settled in her bed next to them, while Rick and Kate snuggled together. Silence fell upon them for awhile as both parents were lost in their thoughts. Finally, Kate spoke up.

"Rick?" She asked.

"Hmmm." He replied, his face buried into the side of her neck.

"Can I talk to you about Christopher?" She asked him. He pulled back with her question, unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Of course. Is something wrong?" He questioned her.

"No, nothing like that Castle; it's just…" She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Castle, I wanted to bring this up much sooner, but then things happened with this baby and I got overwhelmed and the time never seemed right." She tried to explain, but Castle interrupted her in his confusion.

"Kate, it's ok, what are you talking about though?"

"Castle, if it is ok with you, I would like to adopt Christopher." She looked him in the eyes and waited for his response.

He smiled widely at her and kissed her forehead. "Of course Kate, I would love that. You are already his mother in action. I would love it if you made it legal." She smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her.

They were silent again for quite some time, before Kate spoke up again.

"Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking…a lot." She began, running her fingers down his cheek.

"About what?" He asked.

"Well," She started to talk, but was interrupted by the soft whimpers of their daughter. Castle moved across the bed and lifted her from the crib. "I think someone's hungry," he spoke.

Kate nodded and sat up, shifting her arm out of her gown and exposing her right breast. He handed the baby to her and helped to hold her in place as Kate struggled to get their daughter to latch on. When she finally did so, Castle crawled back into bed and Kate continued to speak.

"I was thinking Castle, that I can't imagine leaving Christopher and Audrey." He wasn't sure where she was going, but had a feeling that it had to do with her mother.

"Kate, you're going to be a great mom and you'll grow old and grey with me, and…"

"You don't know that Castle," she interrupted. "You know better than anyone that this job never guarantees that I'll come home at the end of the day Rick."

He simply sighed, unsure of what to say. She was right. Finally he spoke, "Kate, nobody can ask you to choose between a career you love and a family you love. You can have both Kate." He rubbed her shoulder supportively.

"I know I can Castle, but I'm not sure I want both anymore." She looked at him intensely.

"What are you saying Kate? You want to quit the force?" He asked incredulously.

"I'm saying that there may be other ways for me to tap into my need to bring closure; ways that don't put me directly in the line of fire and enable me to come home to my family each night." She spoke.

"Is there any specific way you've been thinking about, Kate?" He questioned.

She was silent for a moment before speaking. "Castle, what would you say if I told you that I was actually thinking that I could go back to school." He raised his eyebrows in shock, "Really?" He questioned, excitement but confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, really." She spoke. "I have a degree in criminology. I could spend the next several months studying to take the LSATs, and…"

"You want to go to Law school Kate?" He waited for her answer.

"I was thinking that I could follow in my mother's footsteps. I could do what I wanted to do before…before everything changed." She looked at her husband, wondering what his reaction actually was.

"Kate I think that it's great. I think you would kill in law school. I can see you now too, working for the state attorney's office. The boy's bust them and you fry them! It's perfect. You still bring truth and justice, and you're not out on the streets." She smiled at his excitement.

"Calm down there, I'm just thinking of preparing for my LSATs. I don't even know if I would get in." She tried to add some reality to the situation.

"Yeah you will, and I just saw it…a new series of books about a kick ass lawyer who solves mysteries and makes scumbags fry…I love it…"

"Let me guess, she'd be smart, sexy, good at her job and a little slutty." Kate deadpanned.

They both giggled and kissed again, content in warmth of each other.

I loved writing this chapter. If you read the earlier stories, you most likely picked up on the similarities in the hospital room scene when she awakened. I thought it was a nice full circle thing :)