Genre: Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for sexual situations and language
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.
A/N #1: I just want to say now at the beginning of this story that I don't know everything about filming Dancing With the Stars so some things may not be exactly right, but I tried to write what made sense as much as I could with what I didn't know.
A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs New and Ballroom Dancing by Paul McCartney, from his albums New and Tug of War.
A/N #3: The title of this story and the title of this chapter are lyrics from the song Ballroom Dancing, the same one mentioned in the A/N above.
Made It Up In The Ballroom
Listening to the tower, Beckett looked away from the plane that was banking above them and said to Derek, "How's it looking?"
"Great," the dancer replied. "They just need her to bank and then land."
"Good," Beckett said.
Smiling Derek said with a slight laugh, "Julia's ready to leave?"
"She may not be conveying that but believe me; she is," Beckett said, nodding her head. When the dancer laughed again she looked up at Skye's dad's plane she was flying while the film crew from Dancing With the Stars was filming her at the Santa Monica Airport. She was there with her husband, Julia, Mari, Peter and Clive as they would be heading to the dance studios where the pairs on the show practiced. It was the thirty-first of August and the first day they would be able to watch the investigator practicing. She knew her daughter was eager to go but the boys were having fun watching the plane.
"That's so cool she knows how to do that," Clive murmured to Peter.
Nudging him the boy said under his breath, "You are getting a crush on her." Peter wasn't surprised when Clive frowned at him and shrugged before they watched Skye coming in for a landing before she parked near the hangar the plane had been in.
"Is she ready?" Castle asked.
"Yeah," Beckett said as the plane was pushed into the building and the investigator got out. "Ready?" she asked when Skye was near them.
"Yeah," she replied with a smile. "So how was my flying?" Skye asked the kids.
"Great!" Mari said eagerly. "But… where's everyone else?"
"They're already at the studio," Skye said, smiling as she gestured for them to follow her so they could go to the crew. "Are we good?" she asked the cameraman.
"We are," he replied. "You got us some great shots."
"Thanks," Skye said before she went to Derek. "Ready?"
"I am, so is your family," the dancer replied in amusement.
"You got word they're there?" Skye asked in surprise.
"Yes, and your other daughter," Derek directed to Castle and Beckett.
"Of course she is," he said, knowing he meant Eliza. "We can go?" Castle asked.
"Yes, please," Skye said before they walked together to the parking lot where their two cars were. She let Derek drive and she went with Julia and Mari in the car with him as they made their way out to Hollywood.
"Wow… it looks just like on the show," Julia breathed once they were parking. "Well… from the side."
Derek laughed and said, "There are a lot of aerial shots I know, you'll definitely recognize it once we're inside."
"Probably," Julia said with a smile. When they had met up with her parents and the boys, she took her mother's hand before they were walking inside.
"Hey Mum," Kathleen said first, a wide smile on her face as the group was meeting them in the lobby. "Where?"
"Give us a sec sweetling," Skye replied with a slight laugh. She wrapped her arm around Ivy when the little girl had gone to her and they were following Derek to a room.
"Oh cool, I know this room," Julia said eagerly as she looked at the mirror along one wall and the steps against the side.
"Where should we go?" Castle asked though he wasn't sure there was anywhere else they could go and be out of the way of the two practicing.
"The steps," Derek said as they looked away from Skye and her wife who were kissing one another in greeting. "The cameras will come in eventually, but we'll have a voice over intro and probably your interview Skye?"
"That's what I said," the investigator replied, nodding her head. "I've done the interview for my intro for the premiere already," she told Castle, Beckett and the New York kids. "And I introduced you kids and you Rick, Kate."
"You needed to?" Beckett guessed.
"Had to," the investigator replied. "We'll be back," she told the others as she and Derek left hurriedly.
"They're not gonna change together are they Mommy?" Iris asked Mary.
Shaking her head, the doctor said, "No, they just both need to change." Mary said to the four kids who were staring at the mirror wall, "Go, I think you can go dance."
Glancing at her friends and then her parents; who nodded to each other; Julia jumped up with the others before she started to call out the names of the steps to the Jive and they were dancing together eagerly.
Beckett was smiling as she watched the two pairs, not surprised that Derek; and then Skye when she walked in behind him; paused just past the doorway to watch them. She wondered what her friend would say before the kids were stopped and the two at the door were applauding before the investigator was speaking to them first, which was no surprise to her as she'd been watching their steps closely.
"There's a reason why I asked you guys here," Skye told them with a smile. "Luckily I'm not incredibly dense and I knew what you were going to do as you called out the steps." She turned to her partner and said, "You're not going to start doing that are you?"
"No," Derek said with a laugh. When the four kids had started to go back to the steps he said, "Wait, there's one thing I wanted to check before we started our dance."
Eliza's eyes widened when she realized Derek was looking at her and she asked, "Me?"
"I've heard you can dance too," the dancer said.
"Sorta," Eliza said quickly, standing up when her sister took her hand.
"Can I see? I forgot to ask you last week, but I wasn't sure who you danced with," Derek added.
"With me or our teacher," Peter said.
"I practice at home with her," Julia then added.
"Will you dance with her?" Derek asked the boy.
"Yeah," Peter replied quickly.
"Jules," Eliza said in a desperate whisper, squeezing her sister's arm.
"Wait, what if I dance with her better?" Julia said quickly.
"Sure," Derek replied.
Watching Julia whisper into her sister's ear, Beckett was tempted to go over to them to see if the little girl was alright. But Eliza was soon smiling and nodding, so she remained where she was on the step before Julia was counting them in.
Calling out the steps again, and letting her sister know that time when to kick and flick, Julia lost herself in the dance they had. It was one she'd made up for them; basic steps so it was easier for Eliza; and when they stopped she was a little startled when she heard the applause from everyone. She then looked at Derek, hoping her little sister had done well enough so that she could be on the show as well.
"You'll be a good dancer if you keep practicing like that," he told the little girl with a smile. "So we'll keep you in mind should we need extra kids; if it's okay with your parents."
Hurrying back to the steps, Eliza wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and said, "Mommy-"
"We'll let you be in any dance Skye and Derek need you to be in," Beckett reassured her.
Squealing Eliza hugged her tightly before doing the same to her father and she said to the dancer, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Derek said. "Now we can start. Since it's Monday, let's go over from the start."
Julia, sitting with her friends, watched as the pair was talking about the intro, not surprised they were going to be standing in front of a prop of real airport chairs with a screen with a British Airways plane at a gate on it. She laughed when Skye looked back at them and she was able to say first, "Good idea."
"She's right," Mary said to her wife quickly. "But how are you getting the chairs out of the way."
"We didn't finish," Skye told her in mock annoyance.
"They're going to pull the chairs away and we'll have the sound of people talking and announcements," Derek took up. "Like in an airport."
"And the music will take over?" Castle asked.
Derek nodded and said to Skye, "Should we have that explanation in the intro?"
"I don't think so, the announcement was going to mention a flight number and a gate number so…" the investigator replied, shrugging her shoulders. Skye then said, "We'll hear the intro music and head a few steps and start," so he would know she had remembered.
"Yeah, toss your cap," Derek replied as they went to stand in front of the mirror wall.
"I'm wondering if we should just take them off beforehand," Skye said after a bit of hesitation.
"Disrespectful?" Derek guessed. When she nodded he suggested, "We should place them on the chairs with our coats."
"We should have said they're not pulling the chairs away too far," Skye told the others. "They're just going to be moved aside."
"And that's where we start moving," Derek said.
"Okay, your count," Skye started to say before there was a knock on the door. "Hey Bert, Vic," she said to the two men, one with a camera. "We were just going to start."
Castle glanced at his wife when the pair went to the barre against the wall as the camera man prepared to film. He was relieved when that happened quickly, and they were filming, not surprised Eliza leaned against him while Skye and Derek went back to where they'd been standing before.
"Alright, one two three four," Derek counted off before they started to dance. "Twice… flick and step!" he called to her before they grabbed each other around the waist and started to turn one another.
Julia's eyes went wide on that, surprised the investigator wasn't getting sick as she knew beginners spinning like that would do. She wanted to comment about it but knowing the camera was filming she felt a little shy talking. The pair was spinning a second time before Skye stopped him and turned to her to her surprise.
"What do you think?" the investigator asked the girl. "Spinning twice like that?"
"Where are you in the music?" Julia asked after hesitating for a moment.
"Remember it's not the full song," Skye told her.
"Singing grá?" Mary asked her wife.
Nodding Skye then looked at Derek and after he'd counted them in she sang as they moved, though not quite as fast as they'd been moving, "I can try to give you everything you ever wanted, you're not hard to please-"
"Wait!" Peter said quickly. He blanched a bit when the pair stopped and said, "What if you clapped instead of spinning."
"I was going to say," Julia said, nodding and not surprised Mari and Clive were doing the same too. "After the whole verse. It's a lot of clapping though."
"I think we can do that. And spin while, Keep on sending your love, is going?" Skye asked. When the four kids nodded, she smiled and looked at her partner before saying, "For two lines, then travel down and spin again?"
"Sing for me?" Derek said to her.
Nodding, knowing from the past two weeks they'd been practicing together that he would use it to choreograph, Skye sang the first verse and the chorus as he showed her and the others how they'd dance and move on the dance floor. When she sang the second verse she wasn't surprised when he made a gesture with his hand to go with the lyric, "Got a feeling there's a jungle rhythm beating in me," before he spun around and started the steps again. When she had finished she said with a smile, "You'll have to make sure I can do that."
"We will right now, but each section of lyrics," Derek replied. "Don't sing though."
"I know," Skye said with a laugh. "I tried that the first week and…" she started to say before she stopped herself.
"Did you get out of breath?" Mary asked.
"Mum!" Marie and Kathleen said at the same time.
"I was alright, we stopped and took a break," Skye reassured them. "We're using the music."
"Is the band going to be performing this?" Beckett asked her as Derek went to the speaker that was on a chair near them on the steps.
"No, Paul gave us permission to use the song luckily," Skye said with a smile. She then turned to Derek, as he'd instructed Marie to play the song when he said, and they got ready to dance again. She was able to perform the first few steps when she stepped on the left and needed to be doing that on the right.
"Yazyk!" Beckett said jokingly to her friend since she'd cursed in Russian, saying the word language herself. "You had a good start though."
"Are you two watching her closely?" Derek asked Julia and Peter. When they nodded, looking confused, he then said to Mari and Clive, "Back them up."
"Okay," the latter two said with a laugh.
"Once more, your right…" Derek told his partner. "Two… three… one… two, kick flick. Ah, on the heel."
"I know, I know," Skye said with a sigh as they had to stop. "Julia, come here and help me?"
"Sure," the girl said, jumping up. Julia tried not to pay attention to the camera that was focusing on her and she glanced back at her mother who smiled at her. She smiled back quickly and then went over to Skye saying, "You're thinking of the spinning step, you don't have that anymore remember."
"I know, but I have a bit of trouble getting that transition since it's new," Skye replied. "Which is odd since it's a simple slide."
Shrugging Julia said, "Just think of moving over to the other part of the floor… or think of the lyric."
"You've got something that'll save us, save us now," Skye sang. When Julia was just smiling at her she urged, "Well go on then, do it."
"Oh!" Julia said in surprise. "Sure," she said before she waited for the investigator to sing the lyrics again. She kicked and flicked a bit before stepping forward with her foot before she was doing the skipping steps the pair was going to be doing yet again. "Good?" she asked.
"I knew there was a reason I had you here," Skye said with a smile, ruffling her hair. "Let's try again," she then said to Derek, turning to him. "And then I'd like the two to try those dance steps so we can see them."
"Also let you dance," Derek commented as he went over to her. "We can tell," he said as both Julia and Peter looked slightly abashed. "Don't worry, it shows me you're dedicated. The four of you," he added.
Beckett wasn't surprised when Julia was smiling as she sat down, and she squeezed her daughter's shoulder before they watched Skye and Derek beginning to dance again. They were doing that for a while; the same steps; before they stopped and allowed the two pairs of kids to try out the steps themselves. "Great job," she said to the kids when they'd finished taking turns.
"Thanks," Clive said. "Can I ask something?" he directed to Skye.
"Sure," the investigator replied, drinking some water.
"Are you gonna have a name?" Clive asked.
"You mean like a team name?" Derek said.
When the boy nodded Ivy said, "Team Take off!"
Laughing with the others Castle said when they'd stopped, "Maybe that would work."
"It might," Skye said. "Captain and Tennille?" she then asked her partner.
"Oh no," Derek said, laughing with everyone. "We'll think of something-" he started to say before Skye was interrupting him.
"I've got my feet in the clouds, got my head on the ground, I know that I'm not a square as long as they're not around," the investigator sang.
"Team Feet in the clouds?" Mary said slowly.
Skye laughed and then shook her head saying, "No, something with the sky, that was the first song that came to mind. But Derek's right, we'll need to wait and see what we might come up with."
"Skye Hough?" Castle said.
"Let's leave off the names," Skye said when they'd stopped laughing again. "We'll never get anything done. I see why that stopped," she said to her partner.
"I know, let's get some more in before we use up time before lunch," Derek said before he nodded to Beckett who had his phone and they started over with their dance as everyone was watching again.
"Are you tired at all?" Beckett asked her daughter as they got out of the car.
"Nope," Julia replied with a smile. "You?"
"I wasn't the one dancing," Beckett replied.
Sighing Julia said as they walked across the McDouglas' backyard, "I wish we hadn't had to leave."
"I know, but they wanted to be alone to practice," Beckett told her gently. "And they're going to keep doing that just for this first dance."
"Yeah," Julia said. "I'm just glad you let us come here though we won't be there that much."
"Like your mom said, just the first week," Castle said before he looked up to see his father in law coming out quickly before he was calling to his wife to their surprise.
"Josie needs to nurse," Jim told his daughter simply. When she was jogging up to him he said, "I was just about to get some formula ready, but I saw you."
"Thanks Dad," Beckett said quickly, entering the house and hearing Josie crying. She went over to the living room in front of the house and saw that Martha was walking with the baby against her shoulder. "I've got her," she told her mother in law.
"Oh good," Martha said with a smile as she turned to her daughter in law. She handed Josie over to her and then said, "I'll help Jim and Mary with the kids."
"It's just the four of them," Beckett called. "The McDouglas girls and Mary stayed at the studios to have lunch with Skye but they'll be here soon," she said, talking in a rush as she was opening her blouse to set the baby to her breast.
"Hello Mother," Castle said, walking up to her.
"Hello, how was it?" Martha asked.
"Fun, we're not going to be going in too often," Castle said, glancing to the other room since they were in the hallway from the family room and kitchen to the living room. "But just this first dance since they're making sure Skye knows the basic steps."
Though she wanted to ask her son what he thought of the dance so far, Martha knew he was itching to be with his wife so she nodded and said, "It'll be nice to see."
Hurrying over to the living room, Castle saw his wife was fine nursing the baby, looking down at her and letting her hold her index finger. "Hey love," he told her as he walked into the room.
"Hey," Beckett said with a smile as she looked up at her husband. She shared a kiss with him when he sat next to her on the couch. "You left the kids with our parents?"
"Of course," Castle said simply as he knew what she was doing. He gently ran his hand over the back of Josie's head and said, "Are you ready for school?"
Beckett was about to reply to him teasingly; as he'd done to her; when she remembered her father was going to be working with Eliza that day and was about to tell him to talk to him when her husband spoke first.
"He knows, I mentioned it to him when I was setting lunch in the kitchen," Castle assured her.
Nodding, Beckett switched Josie to her other breast and then told him, "What's the schedule for the sixth graders once I finish with French?"
"Math, we're keeping that first," Castle replied as he was going to be teaching Mari, Clive, Marie and Kathleen. "Luckily that's the same between our states."
Nodding Beckett said, "You need to get me a towel," as she realized she didn't have one. "And then head to the kitchen to make sure we get everything ready for them to eat."
"And you," Castle commented as he got up reluctantly.
"I think that was a given," Beckett said, smiling as she watched him go for as long as she could before facing forward again.
"Here Dad," Julia said, coming up to him. "Gram said Mom needed it."
"Thank you," Castle said gratefully before he walked back to his wife. "Mother told Julia," he explained when he saw the surprise on Beckett's face.
"Oh… I'm glad she did," she replied. Beckett took the towel then and got it on her shoulder just in time as Josie was finishing. She began to burp the baby, saying to her husband, "Are you ready for everything else?"
"I am, don't worry," Castle said, knowing why she was talking about the lessons they would be giving the kids that day. "We're doing fine so far love."
"I don't want any of the kids to fall behind," Beckett confessed. "Especially ours."
"They won't," Castle said reassuringly. He then squeezed her hand on their baby's back and told her, "Luckily we have those guidelines."
"I know," Beckett said with a slight laugh before she handed the baby to him as she could tell Josie had finished. She fixed her blouse and then stood up before they went to the kitchen, startled to find the McDouglases were outside in the backyard with the other kids.
"We have enough food," Castle hurriedly told his wife while she was giving Josie to her father. When she looked at him he said, "I figured you were thinking that."
"Did you know she was coming back?" Beckett asked. "They were," she corrected herself.
"No, I just thought we should have extra… and there are a lot of us," Castle replied, since he'd been the one to order their dim sum lunch. "Luckily now there are even more so there won't be too much left over."
Beckett shook her head as she smiled before she went over to the sliding door to head outside with him. "You're finished already?" she asked.
"I am," Skye replied. "We just wanted to review before we stopped. Tomorrow I'm heading in in the afternoon."
"Good to know," Castle said, studying her.
"What's going on?" Beckett then asked, not surprised when the kids looked at her in confusion.
"Alright, you found me out," Skye said, a wry grin on her face. "I was planning this next week but since most schools are now back in session we can do this."
"And our contacts pulled through and we have front of the line passes," Mary added, not surprised when their two oldest gasped.
"Where are we going?" Kathleen asked. "Magic Mountain?"
"Knott's!" Marie cried out. "It's Knott's isn't it?" she said in a rush.
Beckett was startled and then realized they had lunch in the kitchen and she was going to bring that to Skye's attention when the investigator was turning to her.
"Look, I know you bought lunch, but I'd like us to head out for both meals… it will keep until tomorrow," Skye began. "And we have to use these tickets today."
"Mommy-" Eliza started to say.
"We can go," Beckett interrupted her. "But what about you two?" she said, turning to her father and mother in law.
"I'll tag along," Jim said.
"I should stay home," Martha said. "Well… where is this park?" she said after hesitating for a moment.
"Buena Park, and are you thinking of the baby?" Mary asked her. When she nodded she told her, "Good thinking, it's eighty-nine there right now so it's a bit hot for Josie."
"But Gram-" Eliza said in disappointment.
"What you could do," Skye said then. "Is come meet us for dinner. I should have said the park closes at eight but the restaurant where we go is outside the park; right outside. We'll eat there, head back in and spend the rest of the night before we come home and go straight to bed," she said, ending by looking at her five daughters.
"We'll go to bed Mummy," Fleur said first.
"Good," Skye said.
"Do you have a ticket for her?" Castle suddenly asked.
"I do, I forgot about the baby and the heat and told our contact our full number," Skye said.
"Will it be cool enough after?" Julia asked.
"If we eat at five or five-thirty it would be," Beckett said. "Come and then we'll decide for Josie and you can have the final say after," she told her mother in law. When she nodded, she then hurried so they would all be ready to go to the park before she went to Martha to make sure she would be alright with the baby.
"Don't worry Kate," Castle's mother told her as she was checking where the baby's bottles were in a cupboard in the kitchen.
"I know, I just wish we'd been with her a little longer today," Beckett said. "But," she continued as she closed the door and turned to her mother in law. "We're not going in to their practice tomorrow so I'll have the chance."
"And you'll have fun today," Martha commented.
Beckett said, with a smile, "I'm sure your son will make sure I do. But I did want to visit this place. When Skye and Mary were talking about it they seemed eager."
"Well of course we were," the investigator said as she and her wife were coming into the kitchen from the stairs. "The first time our youngest three get to see it."
"You haven't had the chance to take Fleur yet?" Martha asked with a smile as those three girls were with the two.
"Just Disneyland," Mary replied. "Oh, good they're coming," she said, hearing the steps on the stairs behind her. "And we'll have to do something special for your dad," she said to Beckett. "Since he'll need to babysit a number of times."
"He won't mind," Beckett assured her.
"We'll still do something," Skye said firmly. "Now you have the extra clothes for them all?" she asked.
"Yes," Castle said, holding up the bag with extra clothes the two women had told them to bring for water rides. "And ours."
"And we have ours," Skye said. "We're ready to go," she told them, to let the Castles know they needed to say goodbye to Martha and Josie.
"We'll see you at dinner," Castle's mother told her family firmly when they came to her and the baby. "So just a quick ta kiddos," she said to her granddaughters.
"She's right," Beckett said, giving her mother in law a quick hug last. "Thank you again and please do something you'll enjoy."
"I have plans already darling, have fun. All of you," Martha assured her before she said the last to everyone.
"We will, see you at five," Skye said before they were heading outside and to the cars.
After splitting up in their cars, the group drove east to Buena Park and gathered together at the parking lot for the amusement park. They walked up to the entrance, Skye walking backwards in front of everyone so she could talk to those that hadn't been there yet which were most of them.
"Our restaurant for dinner is here," the investigator said, indicating the building. "And does anyone mind Mexican for lunch?"
"Oh Mum, Cantina?" Marie asked eagerly.
"Yep," Skye replied.
"We're here!" Clive exclaimed. "The first theme park?" he asked Skye and Mary.
"Derek!" Julia and Mari were suddenly crying out at the same time.
"Hey, I made it," the dancer said to the group with a laugh. "Surprise," he said to the kids.
"Are they filming you?" Castle asked as the adults were all shaking the pro's hand.
"No, Skye and Mary invited me and I said why not," Derek replied. "I haven't been in years though, so you'll have to guide me."
"Mum and Mom will do that," Kathleen commented.
Beckett smiled as the kids were soon distracted by the corkscrew roller coaster they could see and another that was going straight up on a single line of track before it went backwards. They were walking into the park itself finally and she wasn't surprised when the kids nearly ran to the huge water tank that spilled down water and she said simply, "You go underneath, no rides."
"That's not fun Mommy," Eliza said from her father's shoulders.
"We'll go on a water ride…" Castle began though he looked at Skye and Mary.
"I'm not sure about the height restriction," Skye said first.
"But we're going to walk through the part of the park just for her," Mary said with a smile.
Eliza was frowning in confusion at that before she gasped and cried out, "Snoopy!" seeing a sign that said Camp Snoopy.
"There he is," Julia told her little sister when she saw the character.
"Want to get a picture with him?" Castle asked. He felt Eliza nod and when they got close to the character he set her down on the ground, watching her run to her mother.
"I'll take your picture sweetie," Beckett assured her.
"This is boring," Peter said, not surprised when Julia and Marie; who he was standing with; glared at him. "Sorry, I can't help it."
"Oh, he's hungry," Julia said to her friend.
"Oh, that explains it," Marie said with a laugh before their attention was being called and they started to walk again. "The rides are for little kids, but Mum and Mom tell us they're good rides for after we eat. Well… some of them."
Nodding, as she'd seen a kid roller coaster, Julia said, "Have you been on that?"
Shaking her head Marie said, "That one's called Montezooma's Revenge. See how they spelled it?"
Giggling at the two o's, Julia nodded and said, "Has your mom gone on it?"
"No way," Mary replied, having gone to the two since they'd slowed down. "Come on, we're eating over here."
"It's not a restaurant," Skye was telling Castle, Beckett and Jim apologetically. "But we love this one since it reminds of us of the Alamo in San Diego."
"This is fine," Castle said first. "They have a kid's menu, right?" he said.
"They do," Mary said, not surprised he'd noticed how small the menu was. She and her wife gathered their children then and after Castle and Beckett had gotten theirs, they moved up to the menu and ordered before they were gathering around the tables in the shade and sat to eat.
"Do we need to go to Camp Snoopy Mum?" Kathleen was asking her mother when they were nearly all finished eating.
Not surprised their daughter was asking that, Skye answered and said firmly, "We do, also we need to give Eliza a good chance to have her turn at rides."
"But she can ride Ja-" Marie started to say.
"She can't," Skye said after she'd wiped her mouth. "Did we have a good meal?"
Laughing, as she knew that was directed to her, Beckett said, "Don't worry, I enjoyed my tacos."
"The fajita plate was very good," Jim said.
"Mine too," Castle was quick to say.
"I liked my taco!" Clive said firmly.
Hearing the same from the other kids Derek said, "I think it was a success."
Skye explained why she had been asking that and was pleased when her partner told her he had enjoyed his food as well before they got up to walk over to Camp Snoopy. "Okay, so we have a few slow rides," she began. "And we're all going on them… well, this isn't directed to you Derek."
"I didn't think it was," he said with a laugh. "What do you want to go on Eliza?"
Smiling shyly, the little girl then hurried over to Marie and Kathleen and asked, "What's a good ride."
"Huff and Puff?" Kathleen said to her twin who nodded. "That one," she then directed to their mothers.
"Let's let you two see and decide," Mary told Castle and Beckett. After they were walking to it she explained the ride saying, "Unfortunately only she and our three youngest will be able to go on that ride."
"I don't think I'd want to," Mari couldn't help saying when they saw it, carts that small kids were moving a cart by pushing and pulling a lever.
"I wanna go!" Eliza said eagerly.
"Me too," Fleur said, not surprised Ivy and Iris agreed immediately.
"Come on, let's get into line," Skye said to the three girls.
"I'll take her," Beckett said before she got Eliza's hand and they went to the front of the line since there wasn't any. She let the little girl go onto the cart on her own, smiling as Eliza waved at her before she left so she could take pictures of her.
"I'll have to bring them back here when you're on the roller coasters," Jim said, standing next to his daughter as the four youngest were going around. He was about to ask her if she was planning to go on all of them when Beckett answered him first as she was smiling.
"Are you sure you'll have fun here?" she asked.
"I will," Jim assured her. "I'm not going to go on every roller coaster but hopefully I'll find one or two." He looked at Eliza who was coming back up to the end of the ride and said quickly, "Will she have anything bigger to go on besides these rides?"
"I'm not sure," Beckett replied. "Let's hope there's at least one roller coaster."
"I think she's hoping the same," Castle said.
"She's only tall enough for one," Skye said. "It's why I wanted to come so much later in the day."
"I'll have to tell her," Beckett commented.
"She won't be mad, will she?" Skye said as Mary was going to the end of the line as the four girls were getting off the ride.
"No, there's other rides, right?" Castle said. "Not roller coasters?"
"There are," Skye said with a smile. "A number of them luckily," she added before she went to her three daughters.
"I don't know if Mum would want us to tell you about all the rides," Marie said slowly, she, her sister and the four oldest from New York standing together as they waited for the four youngest.
"What's that one then?" Julia asked, pointing to the red and yellow roller coaster they could see.
"Silver Bullet, Mum loves that one," Kathleen answered quickly.
"Does your mom like any crazy rides?" Peter asked.
"Thrill rides," Julia corrected with a smile. "And does she?"
"It depends," Marie said after she and her twin shared a look.
"You guys," Castle called to them since they had the four youngest off the ride. "Let's go on the Ferris Wheel."
After they were all together the group made their way through Camp Snoopy and the slower rides until the parents were satisfied they had digested their lunch well enough.
"What's that?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide as they came to a ride that was going around and the people were riding it while laying down.
"Linus Launcher. You'd like to give it a try honey?" Mary asked her.
"Yeah," Ivy said eagerly.
After everyone said they wanted to go, the group went onto the ride, the younger kids crying out in exhilaration though the older six were just laughing together. When they got off the ride they gathered together, talking, before Beckett went to them in time to hear them.
"I hope we're done with the little kid rides," Clive groaned. "They're so boring."
"Guys," Beckett said simply. She smiled when all six of them looked at her with wide eyes and she said, "They need a chance too. But we're going to another ride."
"What land?" Mari asked eagerly.
"Area," Kathleen said quickly.
"Area," Mari corrected herself.
"Here," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the kids all groaned, and she beckoned them to follow her before they reached the ride.
"Oh, cool!" Peter said eagerly as they quickly saw it was a roller coaster.
"The cars are turning!" Julia said in surprise as a train was going then.
"They are," Beckett said before she heard her husband calling her name. She went over and saw he was pointing at the sign for the ride, making her shake her head. "Sorry sweetie, I don't want you to get sick," she told Eliza as the little girl looked angry though it said she was tall enough to go with a guardian.
"But-" she started to say, sounding as if she were in tears.
"There's a better roller coaster over there, we wanted to take you there," Beckett interrupted.
"You're not going to come with us Mom?" Julia asked.
"We'll take the kids; Skye and Derek will go with you," Beckett said. "We'll go on another roller coaster together later."
When she nodded, Julia watched her mother go with Castle, Eliza, Mary, Jim and the three youngest McDouglas girls before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at Mari before they held each other's hand to go in their line for the Sierra Sidewinder roller coaster.