A/N: Hello hello, I'm back! I'll be honest, the finale left me with mixed feelings, which was one of the reasons why this took me so long. Anyway, just a reminder that in my version of events, Castle did Not propose. Neither did Kate. There was No proposal.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this fic. It started out as a one shot and I'm amazed at how long it has become! I could never have done this without all of your support! Special thanks again to heypiasano who has been amazing with helping me develop this story :)

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Epilogue

The hearty wails of a crying baby pierced the night. Kate groaned. Please, please go back to sleep, she willed, lying still in bed.

The crying continued. Even Rick who was the heavier sleeper of the two of them was beginning to stir. Kate quickly reached for the baby monitor to turn the sound down.

"Kate?" Rick called out, still half asleep.

"It's Brooklyn," Kate rasps tiredly.

"Again?" he asked, a touch of disbelief coloring his tone.

Kate sat up, yawning. "Go back to sleep, Rick. I've got it," she reassures him, tying on her robe and padding quietly to the baby's room. It was feeding time again.

"Hey Brooklyn, mommy's here," she said softly as another yawn escapes. The glowing digital clock on the cupboard told her that it was four in the morning. Kate sighed as she headed over to the crib; Brooklyn's wails softened a little as she detected someone's presence in the room. The little baby had to be fed every two hours like clockwork.

Kate quickly picked her up and settled into the rocking chair in the corner, preparing to feed the little monster. Wait, what? Monster? Kate caught herself mid-thought. Little angel – Brooklyn's my little angel, Kate corrected herself.

As the baby's cries turned to whimpering, she finally quieted after latching on and suckling heartily. "You're my little angel, Baby Brooke," Kate murmured, rocking gently.

Establishing a comfortable rocking rhythm, Kate began talking to Baby Brooke. For some reason her voice soothed the baby.

"How in the world does a little thing like you pack such a loud cry, huh? You've got strong, healthy lungs, don't you, Brooklyn? Your big brother, now, he had a nice pair of lungs too, but he knew to keep the sound down because he figured out early that mommy and daddy could hear your cries perfectly fine. You wanna try that next time, Baby Brooke? You know, maybe turn the notch down a bit?" Kate joked.

"Mommy must be going crazy, huh, trying to negotiate with a baby. What was I thinking, insisting that we have another kid. You know, sometimes mommy wonders if I've lost my mind, but guess what, Brooke," Kate whispers conspiratorially, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Wild horses couldn't keep me from having you, Baby Brooke."

Kate fell silent for a while, and Brooklyn began fussing a little.

"Hey, don't fuss, I'm still here, you know. Okay, what do you want to hear about tonight? You wanna hear about your big brother? Yeah? I'll tell you all about Luke. You know, he's going to turn three in a month. We're gonna have a big party, and there will be lots of people over.

"So you gotta be on your best behavior, okay? I know you love mommy and daddy, but it's okay to let other people carry you for a while, you know. You're so adorable and puffy that people can't help but want to pick you up, so you can't be too fussy okay. Back to Luke now.

"Nowadays he's running all over the place and into things. But years ago, your brother Luke was an easy baby. He could sleep through an earthquake – I'm pretty sure he inherited that from your daddy. He was always smiling and ready to play with anyone and everyone, including the paparazzi. Fun, loving and playful, just like his daddy," Kate reminisced wistfully.

"That's probably why I bugged your daddy so much to have another kid. But you're not so much like daddy, are you? No, Baby Brooke, you're more like me. We're not so outgoing; and a little shyer, but that's okay. That's fine because we have daddy to protect us, to keep us safe and to help us open up. Daddy's great at that," Kate trailed off softly as Brooklyn finished feeding.

"Hey," Rick greets softly from the doorway, startling Kate.

"How long have you been there?" she asks, embarrassed at what he may have heard her rambling to their daughter.

"Not too long, I came to burp her. Why don't you go back to bed?" he offers, reaching for the baby. Kate passes Brooklyn over as Rick draped a small towel over his shoulder. He was always better at burping the kids. Dropping a kiss on both Brooke and Rick's forehead, Kate headed back toward their bedroom.

She stops at his study as the notepad caught her eye. Smiling softly, she sat in his chair and reached for the notepad and a pen. Kate thought back to the last five years. Wow, could time really have flown past so quickly?

She was such an idiot back then. Rick was an idiot too. Granted, he wasn't as idiotic as she was, but they were both idiots. She remembers an argument they had five years ago that had started with a note she wrote after getting a job offer in D.C.

"Castle this isn't about you. This is about me, it's about my life."

"Please don't do this; please don't make this about us."

Even now, she could still picture his disbelief as he had said, "Tell me how this isn't about us."

He was right, of course. Luckily, they were stubborn enough to work through the hard times. Kate spent some time in D.C. before Rick moved to stay there with her as well. They fought and made up countless times within that one year they spent in D.C.

In the end, they decided together to return to New York. Surrounded by friends and family once more, they were home at last. It didn't take long before Rick finally proposed to her.

They got married, and after some time Kate gave birth to two beautiful children. She was thankful that she has such amazing children – all three of them, Alexis included.

Five years, she thought, what an experience the past five years have been.

With Castle's soothing murmur floating over softly to the study, Kate writes another note.

To my amazing children,

When I was born, it was all about me. My parents loved each other, and a product of that love was bringing me into this world. For the longest time, it was all about me.

Then I met your father, and eventually we ended up together. The axis of my life shifted.

Now, the statement changed from "What about me?" to "What about us?" We were two different people with different opinions who now had to adjust our goals and direction. Will love and understanding prevail through strife and turmoil? Luckily for us, the answer to that was "Yes".

But now comes a different phase in my life.

The greatest and most amazing aspect of life is bringing another life into this world. Becoming a parent, caring for your children, brings out emotions and feelings that you have never felt before.

My axis shifted yet again.

The statement changed once more, from "What about us?" to "What about them?"

How quickly the cycle of me turns to the cycle of you.

My greatest hope as your mother is that you will be able to go through all these phases throughout your own life, with the person you truly love, just like I have.

A/N: The end! I hope that you guys are satisfied with the way things turned out. I didn't want to go into detail about how Caskett sorted out their differences and worked out their problems etc within those five years – I'll leave that mess to Marlowe to sort out! Since it started out with a note, I think it should end with a note as well. :) I've got no plans to write anything new anytime soon, besides, there's a whole barrage of post-finale-fever fics out there, but you're welcomed to go check out my other stories. My next fic should be a sequel to Second Chance, so go ahead and check that one out. Thanks again for reading!