HERE IT IS! The conclusion to this wonderful story! (UNLESS YOU ALL WANT MORE?)There will be more in this series, but I am going to start a new story and to be honest I think I am going to go back and write a little back story. I want to see how Castle and Gen's relationship started out. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have, please review! :)

As she printed the forms she would need, she dialed Castle's number. She hoped his meeting was over so he could run Gen to the station. She wanted this behind them. That, and hopefully he could tell her she was doing the right thing.

Castle watched his phone buzz across his desk. Gina and Paula were still yammering on about something and he was ready for them to leave over a half hour ago. When he saw it was Beckett, he knew this was his out.

"Um, I have to take this, it's Kate," he said quickly, grabbing the phone and moving out of the room.

"You never answer the phone that fast when I call," Gina pouted.

"And that my dear is why we aren't still married," he retorted as he hit the green button.

"I guess Gina is still at the loft," Beckett assumed as she caught his last statement.

"Yes, but hopefully leaving soon," he responded.

"Well, she may just have to because I need you to bring Gen to the station," Beckett requested.

"What's going on?" Castle questioned. Beckett sighed. She really didn't want to explain it to him, but she knew he needed to know.

"Cole wants to talk to her," she disclosed.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" he wondered. Initially, Beckett felt defensive, but she knew he was simply asking her if she felt that was the right thing to do.

"I'm not sure, but I think he needs to speak to her one time while he's sober," she answered, trying not to go into detail.

"Ok, let me get Paula and Gina out of the loft, then I will grab Gen and meet you there," he planned, accepting her logic.

"Thanks Rick," she ended the call. Castle slid his phone into his pocket and went over to where Gen was reading at the counter. He leaned around and peppered her cheek with kisses, eliciting a fit of giggles from the preteen. He set his hands on her shoulders.

"I need you to put shoes on, we have to meet Mom at the station," he informed.

"Ok, did she say why?" Genevieve wondered as she started up the stairs. Castle faltered for a moment. He didn't want to lie to her.

"Yeah, but I'm going to let her tell you," he deflected. This was between Beckett, Cole, and Genevieve and he really didn't know where his place was in all of that. Gen nodded and continued to her room.

Castle quickly turned back to his office to get rid of their guests.

"Ladies, I hate to cut this short but Kate and I have something we have to take care of," he announced.

"You can't be serious," Paula huffed.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to finish this at another time. I'll be in town all week. We have postponed our honeymoon," he added.

"Is everything ok?" Gina checked.

"Of course, something just came up," he responded vaguely. "I'll call you later this week," he promised, ushering them out of the loft.

"Javi!" Gen squealed as she walked into the squad room. Esposito grabbed the girl and spun her around.

"Hey beautiful," he smiled.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Ryan whined.

"Nooo," Genevieve replied, moving to hug him too.

"Yeah, Mom's the one who is chopped liver," Beckett teased as she walked towards her husband and daughter. She leaned up and gave Castle a quick kiss.

"Hey Mom," Genevieve blushed. "Why am I here? Rick wouldn't tell me," she continued, shooting a glance at her stepdad. Beckett shot him a very similar glance, one that told him she was not happy he didn't tell her. He threw up his hands in defense, saying this wasn't his fight. Beckett took Genevieve's hand and led her towards her desk. Castle followed while Ryan and Esposito busied themselves with paperwork.

"Your dad is still here and he wants to talk to you," Beckett informed. A mix of fear, hurt and anger crossed Genevieve's face. She couldn't believe what her mom was saying. They wanted her to talk to the man who dropped her on the floor last night. Castle told her she would never have to see him again. She turned to look at Castle.

"You promised," she spat. Beckett watched her husband go pale. It was like Gen had slapped him.

"Sweetheart…" he started, but Beckett waved him off.

"Genevieve, this has nothing to do with Rick. This was my decision. After this, you will never have to see him again. He just has something he needs to tell you," Beckett explained.

"I don't want to," Gen stated firmly.

"I know, but I promise it won't take long. And then we will do whatever you want for the rest of the day," she offered. Gen studied her, considering the idea.

"I don't want him to touch me," she conditioned.

"Ok, he won't," Beckett agreed. She set a hand on her daughter's back and gently pushed her in the direction of the room Cole was waiting in. She looked back at Castle who still looked like he was recovering from a severe blow. He nodded at her and leaned against her desk to wait for their return.

Cole looked up as his daughter walked into the room. For the first time he noticed how grown up she was. He wondered when she went from being a little girl to being the young woman who stood in front of him. He was sure he was drunk for most of it. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Cole, don't," Beckett warned, keeping her promise to Gen. Cole's eyes flicked towards Beckett and then back to Genevieve.

"Genevieve, I wanted to say I am sorry for last night," he addressed her. She just stared at him. Beckett had to bite back a laugh. She told Genevieve that Cole wanted to talk to her, she didn't say anything about talking back. Cole fidgeted and tried again. "Look, I know I haven't really been the best dad and our time together lately has been…limited…" Genevieve turned to look at her mother, wondering when this meeting could end. Beckett pinned her with a look, telling her to hear Cole out. "So uh, I think it would be best if we didn't see each other," he mentioned and Beckett saw the same look on Gen's face that she saw on Castle's moments earlier. The girl had been so stoic but as her father mentioned never wanting to see her, she started to crack. "You deserve better honey, and Castle he is great and he really loves you. He can be everything you need in a dad," Cole tried to recover. Genevieve let him finish talking as she fought back tears and her chest burned. He not only dropped her on the floor, but now he didn't even want to see her. That might have been what she wanted, but he was still her dad. She at least wanted to be wanted. "But listen Geni, I love you and I hope someday…" this time Genevieve cut him off.

"No! You don't get to say that! You can't love me and not want me at the same time!" she screamed, turning around and running out of the room.

"Kate…" Cole sighed. Beckett shook her head.

"I told you the second you upset her it was over," she shrugged. Cole nodded.

"I really am sorry. About everything," he added.

"I know and in time Genevieve will understand that. Now please, go get the help you need," Beckett replied.

"You're not pressing charges?" he asked.

"Not if you really leave her alone and get cleaned up," she answered.

"I really appreciate that, Kate," he responded gratefully.

"Well I promise you, you bother her again, I will make sure you are prosecuted to the full extent of the law," she promised. The look on Cole's face said he believed her.

Castle straightened up as he saw Genevieve come around the corner in tears. The child shot at him. He stumbled backwards as he caught her. She was tall for twelve, but pretty lean. So with the exception of her long limbs, she wasn't yet too hard to hold. She buried her face against his neck just like she had done the night before. Now Castle was angry. This was the second time in twelve hours that Cole had upset her. If Beckett didn't do something, he was going to have to step in. His place or not.

Beckett knew she was in trouble when she saw Castle holding Gen. If he was anymore angry, smoke would have been coming out of his ears.

"He's gone, let's go home," was all she said, trying not to start a fight in the middle of the station.

The drive back to the loft was painfully silent. Castle was stewing in the front seat while Genevieve stared out the window in the back.

"So Gen, I told you we could do whatever you wanted. What would you like to do?" Beckett asked cautiously.

"I just wanna watch movies all day," Gen replied.

"Do you need to finish your meeting?" Beckett asked Castle. He just shook his head. Beckett reached across the center consol to grab his hand. She tightened her grip as she tried to pull away. She took her eyes off the red light and looked at him. "Rick, he's gone. For good," she informed. And with that, her husband finally began to relax.

When they got back to the loft, everyone scattered. Castle went to his office, Beckett went to the bedroom and Genevieve plopped down on the couch. After Beckett changed out of her work clothes she went to find her husband.

"Hey you," she greeted as she walked into his office.

"Hey yourself," he smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Are we ok?" this time it was Beckett's turn to ask.

"Yeah, being married to you is exciting," he laughed.

"Rick…" she scolded.

"I am so lost," he admitted. "You said Cole is gone, but I have no idea what that means," he sighed.

"We have a lot to talk about," she stated. "But I think it should wait until Gen goes to bed. I'm going to make a safe bet she will be in here any minute looking for us. But I promise to tell you everything," she recommended.

"Ok," he smiled again. She stared at him for a minute. "what?"

"I just thought once we were married, I would feel different. Do you feel any different?" she wondered.

"Kate honey, this is my third marriage. Of course I feel different," he chuckled, getting out of his chair and walking towards the bedroom.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she called after him. He didn't answer, instead he pulled his phone out and made a call.

Castle left a message for Alexis telling her they were having a family movie night and even though he knew she was studying , it would be great if she stopped by. He changed into his favorite sweats and went to join his wife and stepdaughter on the couch. Genevieve put herself between him and the arm of the couch. Beckett took up residence on his other side as the movie started.

"What I meant was this is the first time I have put a ring on my left hand with no regrets and it feels wonderful," he whispered. She smiled up at him and gave his bicep a gentle squeeze before resting her head on his shoulder.

At the start of the second movie, Alexis showed up with dinner. And by the end of the third, Genevieve was asleep in Castle's lap and Alexis and Beckett weren't far behind.

"Ok, I have to get back to school, I have a study group tomorrow," Alexis stated, pulling into a deep stretch.

"Alright sweetie, drive safe. Thanks for coming over," he smiled, pressing a kiss against her hair.

"No problem, it was fun. Bye Dad, bye Kate," Alexis replied, hugging Beckett before she found her shoes and left.

"I am going to take her to bed, then we'll talk," Castle planned. Kate nodded, breaking out into a big yawn. "If you can stay awake that long," he teased. Beckett rolled her eyes and leaned forward to kiss her daughter on the cheek.

"I'll be waiting," she smiled. Castle gently scooped Genevieve into his chest and carefully carried her up the stairs. As he set her on her bed, she stirred, tightly gripping his shirt. He tried to wiggle away but ended up at the edge of her bed without a shirt. He looked down and his bare chest and then over at his stepdaughter still clutching his now vacant t-shirt for dear life.

"Can you stay for a second?" she asked.

"Sure, if you give me my shirt back," he allowed with a light laugh. She made a silly face at him and tossed the garment back, hitting him in the face. "Thanks for that," he deadpanned, stretching out on the bed next to her. "What's up, kid?" he wondered. He could see her mind churning as she decided how to broach whatever subject she wanted to talk about. He had a feeling he knew what it was and he hoped he could come up with the right thing to say in return.

"You still want me, right?" Gen asked, her voice cracking and her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh sweetheart," Castle crooned, running his knuckle over her cheek. "You know the answer to that," he whispered. "There will never be a time when I don't want you," he promised. "You are such a special girl, Genevieve. Don't ever forget that. And you are so loved. By me, your mom, Alexis, Martha, Javi, Kevin, Lanie and I know you don't believe it or understand it right now, but you dad loves you too…" he trail off letting her absorb what he said.

"But Rick, he got rid of me, he told me he never wanted to see me," she cried. Castle sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, deciding how to play this one. Even if he didn't know exactly what was going on, he knew it was much more complicated than that. However, he also knew Genevieve was exhausted and the hurt was still really fresh, so she probably didn't want to hear the rational answer and at the same time he knew saying anything negative about Cole that would make him look any worse wouldn't help anything. So he went from there.

"That's his loss, Gen," he stated simply. Genevieve scooted closer to him. Castle kissed her hair. "And it is my gain, because now I get to be with you all the time," he added.

"Do you think you'll be my dad someday?" she asked wistfully.

"Maybe someday. Like I said, we'll talk about it," he deflected once again. Someday was a good answer. He needed a lot more information and he needed to discuss everything with Kate before they made any sort of decision on that front.

When Castle didn't return immediately, Beckett decided to go check on him. He was lying on Gen's bed on his side with Gen tucked tightly against him. It appeared they were both asleep so she entered the room quietly. She ran her hand over her husband's back. He craned his neck to look at her.

"Hey, I know you. You're my wife," he smiled.

"And I believe you're my husband, but I'm not sure since I haven't seen you a whole lot since we got married," she laughed.

"I told you, being married to you is exciting," he teased. She made a face at him and then looked over at Genevieve who was in fact dead asleep.

"Is she ok?" Beckett wondered.

"Yeah, we were just talking. I just wanted to make sure she was asleep before I left," he replied softly.

"Well, she is out now. You think you and I can finally talk?" she wondered.

"Sure," he agreed, kissing Gen's cheek and carefully extracted himself from the bed.

Castle stretched out on his own bed in way much similar to the way he had on Gen's earlier only this time he was facing a different Beckett woman. No, Castle. She was Castle now. He smiled at that thought.

Beckett sat cross legged on the bed looking at her husband. He had a dopey grin on his face. Lord only knows what he was thinking about.

"So...Gen talked to you?" she started slowly. Castle shook his head.

"No, you go first. I need to know what happened at the station today before I tell you anything," he pressed gently.

"Cole signed over his parental rights," Beckett stated. Castle's eyes widened.

"Just like that?" he wondered.

"Just like that. I was going to revoke his visitation rights, but before I could tell him, he said he wanted to give her up completely," Beckett shrugged. Her husband nodded slowly, still not really understanding, but what Genevieve told him was starting to make more sense.

"Did you end up pressing any charges?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I told him as long as he left her alone, I wouldn't. He said he was going into rehab and hoped he could make amends with Gen down the road, but on her terms," she explained

"If he means it, I guess that's a good thing," Castle replied slowly.

"Yeah, I don't know," Beckett sighed.

"Are you ok?" he checked, reaching out to take her hand. Beckett threaded their fingers together.

"I'm just wondering what all of this is doing to my daughter. I feel tremendously guilty," she admitted, blinking back tears.

"Kate, you shouldn't. Cole should," he responded, adamantly.

"What did Gen say to you?" she asked again. This time Castle obliged.

"She needed reassurance. She needed to know she was wanted and loved despite the fact that her dad didn't want to see her. And that's really all I did for her. I even made a point to not say anything bad about Cole. She is so confused about how she feels about him right now, and I didn't want to make the waters any muddier," he paraphrased.

"I appreciate that," Beckett replied with a grim smile. "How do you explain to a twelve year old that this is not her fault?" she asked, raking her hands through her hair.

"Everyday, as many times a day as you can?" he suggested with a smile. Beckett shoved him in the shoulder. "I was only half kidding," he admitted. "Every time she needs reassurance we need to give it to her until she understands that Cole didn't give her up because he didn't want her. He gave her up because he simply couldn't be her father. Hopefully sometime in the far future she realizes he did what he thought was best for her and she will be able to forgive him," he explained. Beckett released a long breath and moved into his arms.

"God Rick, I love you so much," she whispered against his neck.
"I know, I'm pretty great," he said, squeezing her side. She made a face at him.

"You've always been your own biggest fan," she laughed, reaching between them to tickle his ribs.

"Oh, hey!" he squeaked, squirming and flailing, trying to fend her off as she continued her assault. He finally managed to wrap his arms around her and rolled them over, pressing her against his chest and effectively hindering her movement. Their laughter quieted as their eyes met. Beckett freed her hands and started to card them through his hair. She studied his face, there was something off. Something he was not saying and usually she was so good at reading him, but he was masking it well this time.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing wrong," he replied, shaking his head and he wasn't lying, there was nothing wrong. He was just mulling over things.

"Ok tough guy, tell me what that brilliant brain of yours is hung up on," she tried again, smirking. A slow smile crawled across his face, but he didn't answer immediately. "Rick…" she urged.

"She keeps asking me to be her dad," he said finally. Beckett gave him a quick kiss.

"I figured she would," she smiled. "And I think that's a great idea, but not yet," she admitted. Castle nodded. He agreed with that. "She needs time to adjust before we throw another curve her way. It's not that I don't think you would be a great father for her, because I know you will, but she is still getting used to having you in her life at all and that is without you stepping into the role of a parent who just gave her up," she continued. "Plus I don't want to do anything that could alter the relationship you two are still growing into, despite the fact that I am envious of it," she finished with a chuckle.

"Envious?" Castle parroted with just a hint of cockiness.

"Yes, you draw her out in a way no one else is able to. I don't know if she needed the extra attention you give her or if it's the fact that you two are both geniuses and you understand what makes her tick, but I have watched her personality blossom since she met you. She is so outgoing and social and you have really done a lot for her self confidence. I only wish we would have met you sooner, ya know for her sake," she couldn't stroke his ego like that and not tease him just a little bit.

"For her sake?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I could met you later, for my sake," she replied.

"Lies," he stated confidently.

"ok, ok, you know I've been waiting my whole life for you," she replied.

"Of course, I'm worth the wait," he retorted, playfulness dancing in his eyes. Beckett gave both his ears a tug. "Again with the ears," he groaned.

"Behave yourself and I won't have to do it, Castle," she warned.

"Oh and a Castle too. I must really be in trouble," he laughed. Beckett rolled her eyes. Castle lifted his head and captured her lips in a kiss turning the moment from playful to sensual. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too, and I like the idea of you being the father of my children," she decided.

"Children?" he was making sure he heard her correctly.

"Someday, not now, but someday," she answered, wistfully. She moved her hands to gently cradle his skull and kissed him slowly. She pulled away and met his eyes. They were so warm and full of love. She hope she conveyed the same.

Castle wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, memorizing the feel of her body aligned perfectly with his, touching from end to end. Although they were both fully dressed in ratty sweats, the intimacy of the moment nearly took his breath away. It was always like that with her. Overwhelming.

"Let's stay like this forever," he suggested.

"I'd love to," she agreed, her eyes never leaving his and a small smile playing at her lips. Castle smiled too, realizing for the millionth time that day that this was now his wife. This time he got lucky. His smile widened even more as he remembered what Beckett had said a few weeks before the wedding. They were all lucky to have each other.

I know, I know, the ending is a little cheesy.