Eight weeks later Kate was still pregnant. This had to be her daughter's idea of a joke. A really bad joke. She had decided that her daughter was definitely taking after her father. Apparently deciding that she was content to stay inside her for as long as humanly possible.

She hadn't had anymore Braxton-Hicks contractions. There had been nothing to signal that her daughter was ready to be born. She was seeing her doctor once a week now and even Doctor Taylor was confused by these turn of events. He kept expecting her to go into labor any day now, but no. Her daughter was stubbornly refusing to make her appearance into the world.

So, her doctor decided that it was time to induce her. That was how she found herself in a birthing room on the fifth of July. Hooked up to machines to monitor her heartbeat and the heartbeat of her daughter. They had started an iv that morning and now she was just waiting for the contractions to start.

Twelve hours later and they were still waiting. It seemed that their daughter was determined to make her appearance on her schedule. Not anyone elses. She hadn't even had the first labor pain. It felt more like the cramps she had when she got her monthly cycle. To say that Kate was frustrated would be an understatement.

The nurse came in to the room to check her out at five in the evening. Seeing that she hadn't made any progress as far as dilating, she told her, "I'm going to call your doctor."

Kate had simply nodded and cried tears of frustration. Castle sat beside her, holding her hand.

The doctor came in a few minutes later and told Kate, "I'm not liking the way your progressing. I don't want to wait."

Kate panicked and asked, "Is she okay?"

"Her heartbeat is strong and she's not showing any signs of distress, but that could change if we don't deliver her soon. I want to perform a c-section tonight."

Castle spoke up and asked, "Is it safe?"

Doctor Taylor smiled, "It's safer than letting her continue being pregnant. It's for her health as well as the baby's. Lets have ourselves a baby. Shall we?"

Castle smiled at Kate and when he saw her face, he could tell that she was upset. After the doctor left, he asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded and then whispered, "I failed her..."

"What?"

"I can't even give birth right. I..."

Castle shook his head and whispered, "No sweetheart. It's not you. She's just stubborn and like her mom, she does things when she ready, but sometimes she needs a push in the right direction."

Kate smiled at him, "Thank you."

"What for?"

"For being you. For trying to make me feel better."

He gave her a smile and asked, "Did it work?"

"A little bit."

He kissed her softly on the lips and then he whispered softly, "I can't believe the sex didn't work."

Kate rolled her eyes and laughed softly at him, "You are terrible Richard Castle." Then she put her hand on his cheek and with tears in her eyes, she whispered, "But I love you so much. Thank you so much."

"What for?"

"For being you. I couldn't have done this without you."

His forehead furrowed in confusion and asked, "Done what?"

"I couldn't have survived this pregnancy. You made me see that life was worth living. That I could find love again. That I could be happy..."

He leaned down and kissed her softly again. He shook his head and whispered, "You don't give yourself enough credit. You can do anything you set your mind to Kate..."

"Not anything. You gave me something wonderful. Something that only you can give me." She put her hand on her stomach and whispered, "Give us. You gave us hope. A future. A family. I don't know what I would do without you or Alexis."

Castle nodded, "You did the same thing for us Kate. You gave Alexis a mom for the first time in her life. I think she likes you more than me now."

Castle was only halfway joking. He would watch Alexis and Kate together and it made him smile. They could spend hours sitting on the couch doing each others hair. And no matter how strange Kate's hair looked, she would always tell Alexis that it was absolutely beautiful. It never failed to melt his heart and it made him grateful for opening his heart and his life to loving Katherine Beckett.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the nurse say, "Are you two ready to meet your baby?"

He felt Kate's grip on his hand tighten and he watched her nod. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Everything will be okay and soon we will be meeting our daughter."

He started following her bed, but was stopped by the nurse, "You need to wait here."

That was when Kate started to panic. She tried to sit up and he heard her say, "I need him with me!"

The nurse that was pushing Kate's bed, told her, "He just needs to get ready himself. Then, Mary will bring him into the delivery room. Plus, you don't want him seeing you get ready."

Castle walked over and kissed her softly. Then he whispered, "I'll be in there soon with you. I love you." Then he put his hand on her stomach and whispered, "Take care baby girl."

Kate felt her heart melt once again at this man's compassion for a baby that wasn't truly his. It made her fall in love with him all over again. She finally whispered, "Hurry back to us Castle."

He nodded and watched as she was wheeled away from him. He had to hold himself back. Because every instinct he had in him made him want to follow her. He felt a tug on his arm and smiled at the nurse. She smiled back and asked, "First baby?"

He shook his head, "We have a little girl. She's six. Almost seven."

The nurse smiled and thought that this family was so incredibly lucky. She could tell that this man and woman were in love with each other.

After what seemed like forever, Castle and Kate were reunited in the delivery room. He bent down and kissed her forehead softly. Then he took her hand and whispered, "This is it."

The next few minutes went by quickly. Castle was staring at Kate, so he didn't see what was going on behind the sheet. However, he made the mistake of looking and he realized immediately that he shouldn't have. Because he saw them cutting into Kate's stomach and he felt sick. However, he managed to fight off the sickness, but he collapsed to the ground.

The nurse laughed and said, "I don't think he has a strong stomach."

Kate rolled her eyes and whispered, "Seriously? The man can stomach dead bodies, but seeing me like this freaks him out..."

The second nurse was finally able to bring him around. He shook his head and whispered, "I'm fine, I'm fine.."

Laughing, Kate told him, "Sure you are. Keep your eyes on me."

He nodded and whispered, "Yeah..."

"Seriously? What happened?"

"Seeing your blood..." He felt his stomach threaten to revolt and he whispered, "Can't deal with it..."

She shook her head and he leaned down to kiss her softly. Then she whispered, "Don't do that again Castle."

"Never."

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Kate felt a painful pressure on her stomach. She grunted and whispered, "That hurts..."

Doctor Taylor smiled and told her, "She's almost out."

Kate nodded, "Okay..."

Soon, her doctor asked, "Want to cut the cord daddy?"

Kate laughed, "Think you can handle it?"

He nodded and walked behind the cloth. Finally, he reached for the scissors and the doctor pointed to the spot where he needed to cut. He took a second to look at their daughter and he felt the air leave his lungs. Even covered in goop, she was a little heartbreaker. Then, he heard her cry and then he felt the tears start.

He heard Kate gasp and then she asked, "Is she okay?"

Castle followed the nurse and watched as she was weighed and cleaned off. She was a tiny little thing. She weighed just over six pounds. Six pounds three ounces to be exact. She had a head full of hair just like her mom. They put her in his arms and he lost his heart all over again. She had him wrapped around his little finger. She opened her eyes and then she yawned. Castle had never seen a more precious sight in his life. He whispered, "Hello there baby girl..."

Castle had never believed in miracles, but he knew that this little girl was the biggest miracle of all. Ten fingers and toes and the most wonderful gift anyone had ever given him.

Kate kept trying to see her daughter, but she was out of her line of sight. He heard the panic in her voice when she asked, "Castle?"

He walked over to her and whispered, "She's perfect. They are just cleaning her up. Making her pretty for you."

Soon, the nurse brought the baby over and laid her on her chest. Looking into her baby girls eyes, she felt an instant connection to her daughter. She thought that she had known love before, but it was nothing like this. She kissed her baby girls forehead and whispered, "Hello sweetheart. I'm your mommy." Then she looked up at Castle and whispered, "She's so tiny..."

Castle smiled, "Just like her mommy..."

Kate's heart overflowed with love and she whispered, "I love you sweetheart. No one will ever hurt you."

Their daughter looked into her eyes and she blinked her eyes. Kate smiled at her newborn daughter. Then she noticed her eyes. They were a bright and piercing blue. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn that they were Castle's eyes. Which, was crazy, but she wished that they were. That was the only thing that could have made this day even more perfect.

The nurse swooped in and took her off of her chest. Kate suddenly felt empty again. She wanted her baby girl back in her arms. She panicked and asked, "Where are they taking her?"

The nurse smiled and whispered, "To get her cleaned up and checked over by the pediatrician on staff. You need to go to recovery and then, we will reunite you with her."

She was anxious to have her little girl back, but she realized that it was necessary. So, she looked at Castle and whispered, "I love you. Thank you for being here. For loving me. Us..."

He smiled and whispered, "Always..."

They wheeled her off in one direction and left Castle standing in the middle of the delivery room. He smiled and went downstairs to make the phone calls to their family and friends...