A/N: Thank you guys for all the support and I am so thrilled to say this story will officially be marked complete as of tonight. I am so happy I came back to finish it. My Castle fans, I have one more story for you, coming soon! Keep on the lookout. If you are a Blue Bloods fan, I'll be finishing my crossover fic "Fresh Darkness" soon. If you're a Criminal Minds fan, I have a Spencer Reid x OC fic, Used Books and Autumn Rain, in the process of being completed soon. Thank you all for everything!

"Are you ready to meet your little sister?"

Alexis Beckett-Castle, at eleven years old, was every bit as intelligent and bright as she had always been. But she felt different. She had a mom, a real one, and a hyphenated last name that she'd gotten used to in the year since Kate adopted her. She had started dancing with pointe shoes and loved ballet more and more every day. She was taking after her mother in that area, too. And now, she had a full-fledged family. She had parents and a brand new baby sister.

She nodded her head in response to her dad's question. Alexis couldn't wait to meet the new addition to their lives. Rick smiled and opened the door to the hospital room. Kate was sitting in the bed, her long, dark hair in a messy ponytail. She looked exhausted, but also radiant, and she cradled a little bundle of pink blankets in her arms.

"Hi, Mom," Alexis said quietly.

"Hi, sweetheart," Kate replied with a beautiful smile at her older daughter. There was no question now- Alexis was her little girl. They had not heard from Meredith since that first New Year's three years earlier, and none of them had minded very much. Alexis did, a little, but the older she got, the less it mattered to her. Meredith had never been much of a mom, and now she had the best mom she could ever want. "Come here," Kate said. "I want you to meet Ella Jo."

"Ooh, she has such a pretty name," Alexis said.

"You like it?" Kate asked. Alexis nodded, brushing her long red hair back over her shoulder as she leaned over to peer down at the newborn baby in Kate's arms.

"She's so cute!" Alexis whispered reverently. The baby opened her light eyes and Alexis gasped.

"Hello, Ella," Kate said softly. "Say hi to your big sister, Alexis."

"Hi, Ella," Alexis whispered. "You are so cute. I love you so much."

Kate looked over Alexis at her husband, who was looking at the three of them with joy and love shining in his blue eyes.

"Daddy, can I stay here tonight?" Alexis begged. Rick laughed as he ran his hand through her hair.

"Sorry, Lex, but Mom and Ella have to get some rest and so do you," he said. "Ella will probably be awake at weird hours, and you wouldn't get any sleep. Gram is coming to take you home in a little bit. But first, how would you like to hold your sister?"

Alexis perked up at that. She sat down and Rick carefully handed the baby to her. Alexis cradled Ella in her arms like she was the most precious thing in the whole world, and Rick's camera was unbeknownst to any of the other in the room. Soon, Ella started to cry.

Kate nursed her baby and listened to her daughter chatter about everything she wanted to teach her sister, taking it all in.

Three years later, she felt just as warm and lucky as she had the day Rick Castle had been late picking up his daughter from dance class.