Genre: Family, Crime, Drama, Romance, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
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.
A/N #1: I'm sure there are some of you who came to this Prologue, wondering at my genre, but there is a reason for it being Family/Crime. Simply because it has both, lol, but it tends more towards the Family genre, which is why I put that first. So this is my attempt to mix them- though I think I leaned more towards Family in the end.
A/N #2: Might come as a shock to my readers, but the title of this story is not a lyric or title of a song, it's something I came up with as I was walking through the actual Union Square (and in case anyone's wondering, the picture I have for this story part of a picture I took, it's the statue at the very top of the monument in the middle of Union Square). And the title of this chapter is the title of a song by U2, a non-album single.
A Celebration
The sound of whispers broke into Beckett's sleep, and she turned onto her side as she woke up, realizing who it was. She listened to the conversation, smiling under the covers at what the two were saying.
"My mommy won't care if I wake her up," Julia whispered, tugging on her friend Celia's hand.
"But she's asleep," Celia replied.
"I'm gonna go wake her up and tell her what day it is," Julia said firmly before she hurried inside and then climbed up onto the bed. She slid under the covers before slipping into her mother's arms. "Mommy?" she said, shaking her arm.
"Hey," Beckett said, opening her eyes finally and smiling widely at her daughter. "You're up a little early today."
"It's my birthday," Julia said proudly. She hurried to sit up as Beckett did and said, "Did you remember?"
"I did," Beckett said, hugging her tightly to her. "Here," she said, kissing her cheek six times. "Five and one to grow on."
Giggling happily, Julia hugged her mother tightly and then turned to the doorway calling out, "You can come here Celia she's awake now."
"Come on Celia, it's alright," Beckett said, smiling as the little girl peeked into the room. "Okay, so you're five now sweetie," she said once she'd helped Celia up onto the bed. "Castle and your uncles and aunts aren't coming over for…" she began before looking at the clock on her nightstand. "For another three hours. So it's up to you what we do after breakfast."
"What about Grandpapa?" Julia asked eagerly.
"He'll come around twelve too," Beckett said. "For right now though, I think we should get changed into something green."
"Oh, it's St. Patrick's Day," Celia said, having been watching the two with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, I don't wanna get pinched," Julia said before she and her friend climbed down off the bed with Beckett's help. She took Celia's hand and they ran to her bedroom before her mother helped her friend dress first. "What do I wear?" she asked a little impatiently.
"I saved this for you," Beckett said with a smile as she took out a box from the dresser. "For you to wear on your birthday if you like it."
Peering into the box, Julia smiled widely at the outfit inside and nodded at her mother, letting her change her before she brushed her hair and put a green headband on her head.
"That's really green," Celia said when they were finished.
"Yeah, I like it," Julia giggled, spinning around once to let her green and white plaid skirt bell out above her black leggings. "And I like the shirt too Mommy," she said as it was a white Beatles shirt.
"I'm not surprised," Beckett said. "Now we can measure how tall you've grown," she said, grabbing a chart that had a giraffe on it before hanging it on the wall. "Come here sweetie."
Hurrying over, Julia stood straight against the wall, looking up as her mother marked the chart with a pencil. When she was standing next to her mother she jumped a little in excitement as Beckett filled in the line with pen and wrote 'Julia- 5 years old, March 17th, 2014' next to it. "Did I grow?" she asked.
"You did," Beckett assured her, though she was a little disappointed to see Julia was slightly under the average height of a five year old girl. She shook that off, knowing that was partly because her daughter hadn't had enough time outside the first four years of her life; but she was still growing which she tried to remember. "Alright you two," she said to get their attention as she stood and put the chart away. "I'm going to change, so you can play out in the living room, just be careful okay?" She watched the two girls hurry out to the room, and soon heard them giggling as she walked to her room. Smiling to herself, she had a hard time believing that she was actually celebrating her daughter's birthday as a year before she had still not even known who Julia was. It was a very unsettling sensation, and she pushed the thought out of her mind, focusing instead on what needed to be done instead as she changed into a deep green sweater.
"Hi, I'm not too late am I?" Castle asked as Beckett opened the door to let him in.
"No, early enough," Beckett said before there was a loud shriek of laughter that made her shake her head.
"So how was it last night?" Castle said as he set down the bag of gifts he'd brought with him.
"Interesting, I really thought I'd have to stay with them so they could sleep, but they were out like lights pretty much as soon as I said goodnight," Beckett said. "I guess taking them to the playground for an hour was enough to wear them out. I told you not to spoil her didn't I?"
"Two of these are from my mother," Castle said as he took five presents out of the bag. "One for the lunch with the co-workers and the other for after when we have dinner. The other's from Alexis."
"Are you sure you want to stay for the other party?" Beckett asked, watching him set aside the gifts in the entry closet, a little out of the way.
"I said yes," Castle said. "Now, two things," he said as he turned to her. When she asked what as he didn't continue, he leaned down to kiss her before he told her, "The other thing is where do these go?"
"On the table," Beckett said with a smile. "You know we just saw each other yesterday," she teased him as she went into the kitchen.
"And your point?" Castle asked as he set the presents out. He heard a squeal then and turned to see Julia running out of the room. "Hey, there's the Birthday girl," he said as he scooped her up once she'd reached him. He laughed when she told him excitedly about her outfit and said, "Hold on, first I have to say Happy Birthday, and good thing you're wearing green."
"Were you gonna pinch me?" Julia asked with a little giggle.
"Nope," Castle said, having started to answer before he glanced at Beckett and changed his mind.
"But he would have to Mommy, those are the rules," Julia said seriously to her mother.
"I know, but no pinching today," Beckett said. "Though too bad you wore green," she said when there was a knock at the door. "Sounds like your grandpapa sweetie," she said to Julia. "The party's going to start." She walked over to the door as Celia came out and said a shy hello to Castle. She took a quick look out of the peephole before saying, "Make that your grandpapa and Martha," before she opened it to the two. "Hello Martha, Dad, thanks for making it," she said as she stepped aside for them.
"We managed to arrive at the same time," Castle's mother said. "A coincidence, but we are very eager to see the birthday girl."
Once Castle had set her down, Julia ran to her grandfather first, hugging him tightly before she did the same with Martha, letting them both wish her a happy birthday. Beckett, watching as they then told the little girl how much she'd grown up, was a little surprised when she heard another knock on the door.
"I guess the party is starting," Castle said to her. He went over to the couch as she went to open the door and he saw that it was the remainder of the lunch party guests.
It took a little time before things settled down as Esposito, Ryan, Jenny and Lanie said hello to Julia and the others, but once they were all gathered on the couch and chairs with their food for lunch in the living room, the little girl went to her mother, climbing on her lap. "What do we do now Mommy?" she whispered.
"Well, it's time for lunch," Beckett said. "And then after we have dessert you can open your gifts."
"I think you'll like my gift Julia," Esposito said, eating some food off his plate. He saw Lanie was rolling her eyes and he asked, "What?"
"He and Ryan were arguing about this the whole time we were on the elevator," Lanie said simply. "Well, arguing is too strong a word, it was more-"
"Betting?" Beckett asked. She rolled her eyes when her friend nodded and said, "Really guys, about a child's birthday gifts."
"Yeah, it's more about who picked out the better present," Ryan said. "Who was smarter. You want in Castle?"
"You know, I think I'll actually pass," he said, glancing at his fiancée. "I got Julia a gift and if she liked it that's up to her. But good luck on that bet, because I get the feeling neither of you is going to collect on it." When the two men looked at him he nodded simply towards Beckett.
"Oh hey, her gift or gifts aren't included," Ryan said.
"Come on bro, go up against her mother? No way," Esposito said incredulously. "But we might cancel that bet, Julia doesn't look too happy," he said to Ryan.
"I will like my presents a lot," the little girl said simply as she had her mother help her down to the ground before she hurried over to Jenny who was smiling at her.
"She's right," Beckett said with a smile as she watched Ryan taking a picture of his wife and Julia. "Celia," she then said to the little girl. "Are you okay?" she asked since she knew the girl was very shy around strangers.
"Yes," Celia whispered, looking down at her plate of food.
Julia noticed the exchange and she went to her friend, sitting on the floor next to her and eating. She then reminded her of the day before, when they'd gone to the playground for an hour with her mother, and they were soon chattering happily together.
"She had her first sleepover here last night didn't she?" Lanie asked. "How'd it go?" she said after Beckett had nodded.
"Not too bad, they had fun," Beckett replied. "What?" she said to Esposito when she noticed he was holding up his phone towards her. "Are you taking my picture?"
"Nah, you mind if I get some of this party filmed, because this is very interesting," Esposito said. "I'm kidding," he then added when Ryan hit his arm with the back of his hand and at the same time Beckett gave him a steady look until he put away his phone. "Don't usually see you like this, think you can treat a couple suspects like this, you know the ones with their heads up their…" He trailed off, looking at the girls and then said, "The ones that don't really want to talk."
"You know, I think my method I have now is pretty good, I don't think we'd have the closure rate we do if I acted like these suspects were my kids," Beckett said, finishing her drink. "It would be too disturbing actually," she said as she stood. "Anyone want their drinks refilled?" she asked. When no one indicated they did she headed to her kitchen and as she was filling her glass asked, "Something up?"
Lanie didn't say a word, and instead handed her a piece of paper that was folded in half. "Please, just read it," she said before her friend could throw it away.
Breathing in deeply, Beckett unfolded it and said, "Klaus Peters, okay, Lanie, you know how I feel about you doing this. I mean, I appreciate you're trying to help me out with my love life but…"
"You need to think about dating," Lanie said. "When was the last time you had a date? And I know, I know you have a daughter now but Kate, really, Julia could use a father."
"You're absolutely right, and when I've found him, I'll let you know," Beckett said with a sigh, not really getting angry since she was too used to the doctor trying to set her up. "I've yet to find a guy who'll raise a child that's not even mine, let alone his," she then said, looking at Castle quickly who glanced over at her at the same time.
"You'll find him, who knows, Klaus might be the guy," Lanie urged her. "I told him about Julia, he knows her story, and he doesn't mind."
Beckett didn't reply to that, and simply handed back the paper, not moving until Lanie had it back in her pocket.
"You're not lonely at all?" Lanie asked her.
"No, I have Julia, I have my friends, I'm good," Beckett said, unable to stop herself from grabbing her pendant. "Sweetie, are you finished?" she asked with a slight laugh as a smile spread across her face as Julia walked over with Castle, both of them carrying plates in their hands.
"I tried to get her to give those to me, but she said she wanted to help," Castle replied. "I think she wants her gifts," he said in exaggerated whisper, making the little girl giggle at that.
"Can I open them?" Julia asked hopefully.
"Go ahead," Beckett said, shaking her head.
Hearing that, Julia turned and ran over to Esposito and Ryan and said seriously, "Are you still going to bet?"
"Nah, we changed our minds," Esposito assured the girl. "And it wasn't really fair, since Jenny helped Ryan pick out his gift."
Julia smiled and then went to the coffee table where her mother set down a pink box and she asked, "Do we eat those now?"
"Yes," Beckett said. "Since Julia's having cake later," she explained to the others; though Castle, Martha and her dad already knew. "I let her pick some cookies to have for dessert now."
"We don't get to sing Happy Birthday to her?" Jenny asked.
"You will," Jim said as they watched Julia pick a cookie from the box.
Beckett quickly pressed a small candle holder into the cookie and lit the blue candle she set in it before everyone sang quickly for her daughter before the wax could drip down. She glanced at Castle and smiled when Julia squeezed her eyes shut tightly as they sang, and then blew out the candle.
"Great job Julia, what'd you wish for?" Ryan asked as they all picked out a cookie and sat back to wait for the little girl to start opening her presents her mother and grandfather were bringing over to the table.
"I can't say, 'cause it won't come true," Julia said. She bit her lower lip a little and then asked her mother, "Can I make another wish for my cake or does it have to be the same?"
"I think you can have different wishes," Beckett said. "Okay," she said once all the presents were on the table. "I don't know if you want to open these in order sweetie."
"Can I open the small ones and then open them bigger? Celia did that at her party and it was fun," Julia said, smiling at her friend who gave her a smile in return.
"Go ahead," Beckett said, sitting in the armchair that was next to her daughter.
"This one," Julia said, picking up the smallest of the gifts. "Mommy, can you read?"
"It's from your grandpapa," Beckett said, not having to look at the tag. She smiled as Julia ran over to him and leaned against him as she unwrapped the gift hurriedly.
"Ooh, they're pretty," Julia said happily when she saw the earrings inside. "Look, they're green like my eyes," she told Celia and the two looked at the stud earrings together.
"Pretty nice," Lanie said. "They match her eyes really nicely."
"I'm very lucky she likes the color green as well," Jim said before Julia turned to him and kissed his cheek. "You're welcome Julia," he said when she told him an exuberant thank you.
Picking up the next gift, Julia smiled as it was from Ryan and Jenny, and she unwrapped a box to reveal a large set of colored pencils inside. "Thank you," she said quickly, looking up at them.
"Keep looking inside," Jenny urged her.
Julia took out a box of crayons, and three coloring books before she came to the tissue paper. As soon as she had looked to see what the books were of, she jumped up and went to the two, thanking them before she went back to open her next gift. That one was from Martha, and was a dress in whites and blues. She smiled when Martha whispered into her ear it would be perfect for San Francisco, and nodded in agreement before going back to sit next to Celia.
Glancing at Castle and then at Esposito when her daughter began to open his gift, Beckett couldn't help saying, "I'm surprised you two called off the bet."
"Hey, she wanted us to stop, so we did," Esposito said.
Gasping in surprise, Julia pulled out a yellow stuffed toy and wrapped her arms around it tightly saying, "I got a minion!" She was about to get up to thank Esposito when he stopped her and told her she had something else in there. She pulled out a t-shirt with one hand, blue with minions from the movie Despicable Me on it. She squealed and then went to hug him; still holding both things in her hands; before she went to show her mother.
"That's a pretty good gift Javi," Beckett said, holding the shirt up to Julia. "And now I see why you were asking me her size. Why don't you open the other one Ryan and Jenny has for you and then they can relax," she said, glancing at the two out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey, it's not every day we need to get a gift for a five year old," Ryan said defensively, Esposito agreeing with him.
"And girls can be difficult to get gifts for," Esposito said. "I bet you Castle's got a great gift."
"I like this one," Julia said, looking up from the gift she'd opened; a white stuffed horse.
"Good choice," Castle commented. "You said she's crazy about horses?" he said jokingly.
"Pretty much," Beckett said, trying not to smile too widely at that as Julia thanked Ryan and Jenny. "Okay, now you can open the last two."
Once she had it on her lap, Julia tore off the wrapping paper on the gift from Lanie, and inside were some more dresses and some t-shirts. She exclaimed with Celia over each item, and after she'd looked through the whole box, she ran to the doctor and hugged her tightly, thanking her happily for everything.
"I'm a little interested in seeing what this one is," Ryan said as Julia opened the last gift; which was from Castle. "Biggest box out of all our gifts."
Shrugging, Castle didn't say anything, just sat back and watched as Julia opened the box and pulled out two sets of toy horses that he knew she wanted. It was also a safe gift to open with the others there, less likely to bring any questions as to why he'd given her that. He glanced at Beckett as Julia and Celia immediately started taking out the horses and began playing with them and the stuffed horse and minion she'd gotten as well. He saw her slight smile as she looked at him from the corner of her eye, and as Ryan brought up a recent Knicks game, he breathed out slightly, pleased that Julia was enjoying it as he could obviously tell watching her laugh with her friend.
"That went pretty well," Beckett said, walking back to the couch where Castle was sitting with Julia, looking at one of her horse figurines.
"It did, and I think Julia had fun, which was the important thing," he said as he looked down at the little girl who nodded without looking up.
"So they didn't ask why we were staying?" Martha said as she folded one of the dresses that Julia had gotten from Lanie. "This is a gorgeous dress by the way."
"It is," Beckett said with a smile. "And no, they think you're staying until the next party starts."
"How are you doing?" Jim asked.
"For throwing two parties, not too badly," Beckett said, leaning back on the couch. "Luckily the first one wasn't too detailed. Neither is the second, but there'll be more kids this time."
"Four Richard said?" Martha asked.
"Three are coming, but Celia will make it four," Beckett corrected her. "Her friends Betsy, Lilia and Katrina. Betsy's mother is bringing them and will stay to help out with Anita. You really don't need to stay for that," she said to Castle's mother. "They might get a little… boisterous."
"No, no, I don't mind at all, it's been fun celebrating with Julia and I want to continue," Martha said. "And I'm sure you could still use the help. After all, I have the experience of raising Richard and helping him with Alexis, I think I can manage the girls that will be here."
"And you Dad?" Beckett asked, turning to her father.
"I'm fine," Jim said absently as Julia had gone over to him and was showing him the horse in her hand.
"Okay, sweetie, let's get these gifts cleaned up before the other party starts," Beckett said, standing up.
"You can keep playing," Castle said as he stood up. "I'll help your mom."
Taking the box where all the clothes Julia had gotten were, Beckett went to her daughter's room, waiting until Castle joined her, carrying the box with Julia's new art supplies and the stuffed horse and minion in his other arm. "What is it?" she asked as she took the stuffed animals and set them on the bed for her daughter to put away later.
"No gift for her?" Castle asked, setting the box on the small table next to the dresser.
"I'm waiting until after we eat dinner," Beckett explained. "I want her opening them in a slightly more…"
"You mean with fewer kids around?" Castle said.
"Well, yes, but that depends on you if there's going to be more than one," Beckett said before she left.
"Hey, I think I've been doing pretty well," Castle said before he turned as they could both hear footsteps running to them.
"What's wrong Julia?" Beckett asked as the little girl hurried in.
"Can I wear my new clothes in San Francisco?" Julia asked eagerly. "Martha said to wear her dress there, that I should wear it there," she corrected herself rapidly.
"Yes, and… there are your friends," Beckett said at the loud knock. "Let's go ahead and let them in."
Julia took her mother's hand tightly before waving back at Castle as they walked over to the door. She greeted her three friends as they entered with Anita and Betsy's mother, Lauren. She took the other girls to the table as Celia greeted her mother, and they began playing with the horse figurines as Beckett introduced the two mothers.
"Okay, I don't know if you want to come with us," Beckett said once she was finished. "We're heading to the park and if the weather holds we'll stay for a while before we come back here for cake and gifts."
"I'll join in the group," Martha said, standing. "Until I feel ready to return."
"I think I'm coming too," Jim said as Julia grabbed his hand and pulled on it until he stood.
"Then let's head out," Beckett said, glancing outside. She was the last out of her apartment and when she stepped into the hallway she saw that Lauren was talking to Castle before her daughter called her. "She likes you," she said jokingly to him as she walked down the hall.
"How long are we staying at park?" Castle asked.
Looking at him since it was an obvious deflection, Beckett shook her head saying, "You heard what I said before. Now, Anita has some idea of us, but Lauren not so much."
"So behave?" Castle asked. When Beckett nodded he asked, "Shouldn't you be saying that to your daughter."
"She knows already," Beckett said simply. "But no, I'm kidding, I know you won't do anything that risky."
"But it's going pretty well, today," Castle said, since they'd turned the corner and saw everyone else ahead of them at the elevators. "Your planning paid off."
"Planning that was so early I actually had to come back to it once we got to March," Beckett said, shaking her head. She smiled at her daughter as she ran up to them, and took her hand before they got onto the elevator, smiling at Castle as he followed them.
"Dinner's here Julia," Castle called as he walked to the table from the door where he'd taken the pizzas he'd ordered.
"And what about us Richard? We're starving looking after five very rambunctious girls," Martha said. "You're very lucky," she said to Beckett as they were walking to the table.
"Believe me when say I know," Beckett replied with a smile. "But I think it was a fun birthday still," she said to her daughter who was climbing up onto her chair.
"Yeah, that was fun at the park," Julia said, watching as the adults all got drinks and plates. "When can we talk to Alexis?"
"After you open your gifts," Beckett said. "Which is going to be after dinner," she said quickly before Julia could ask that. "So eat, slowly, and then we'll get to your gifts."
"Can I have more cake?" Julia asked, bouncing on her knees as her mother got her a slice of pizza. She was smiling as she remembered her cake, which her mother and Castle had ordered specially for her, decorated with horses on top made of fondant that she hadn't wanted anyone to eat.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Castle said, sitting down at his usual chair. "You have any more sugar then you're not going to fall asleep." When he saw Julia didn't see the problem with that he reminded her, "You have school tomorrow."
"He's right," Beckett said. "But you still have a while until you need to go to bed, so your birthday's not over yet."
Julia pouted for a moment, and then sighed before she started to eat, listening to everyone else talk around her. She wasn't really interested in what was being said, but when she heard her grandfather say San Francisco her head shot up and she paid close attention.
"I really wish I could have managed to work out some time off, but the lawsuit I have is taking longer than I thought it would," Beckett's dad was saying.
"I wish you could come Grandpapa," Julia said to that.
"We'll try and go on a trip, just the three of us," Beckett said. "We should try and visit your cabin once we get to summer Dad."
"That would be a good idea," Jim said as he saw Julia looked eager at the idea. "But we can plan that later. I'm guessing she's very excited for San Francisco?"
"Incredibly," Castle said.
"It's all she talks about now we're getting closer to Saturday," Martha said. "And I'm surprised that book you bought her hasn't fallen apart."
"I know," Beckett said with a slight smile as Julia seemed to be a little embarrassed. "But, you know you've been very eager for our trip too."
"Yes, but, you can't blame me," Castle said slowly since she'd been looking at him.
"I don't, and it will be nice to see the city again," Beckett said. "We've still got six days to go, so why don't we focus on everything we have to do before we can leave?"
"Speaking of focusing," Castle said, glancing around the table. "I think we're finished," he told his fiancée as a hint.
"And now you can open the rest of your presents," Beckett said to her daughter. "Go ahead and wait and we'll bring them out once we're finished cleaning up."
Julia cried out when Castle picked her up out of her chair before setting her down. She ran to the living room and climbed up on the couch, grabbing her Stitch doll as she watched her mother and Castle cleaning up while her grandfather and Martha joined her.
"You had a pretty good birthday kiddo," Martha was saying when Beckett and Castle began to get the last of the gifts from the entry closet. "Opening gifts three separate times, not many people get to do that."
"She has a lot of family and friends," Beckett said with a smile. "Do you want to open them the same way you did before?" she asked her daughter.
"No, I wanna open Martha's first," Julia said, looking at all the boxes.
"Thank you Julia, I really hope you'll enjoy this one," Castle's mother said as Julia took off the ribbon holding the white box closed.
"It's a costume!" Julia said eagerly, parting the tissue paper and pulling out a dark blue dress from the mid-1800s. "And two costumes, thank you," she said happily as she touched the green velvet on the second one which was made in the Tudor style.
"Those are really nice," Castle said. "And yet again; I couldn't get you to help me with my costumes."
"It's more of a challenge to make these dresses than just a pirate costume," Martha said, waving her hand before Julia came over to hug her. "Plus you managed to dress up like a pirate still even without me making the costume for you."
"But they are beautiful," Beckett said, her dad nodding in agreement since they were looking at them. "I'll add my thanks to hers."
"They were fun to make," Martha said. "Who's next?"
"My gifts," Castle said as Julia went back on the couch. "This one first," he told her.
Opening the present Julia started pulling out books from the box inside and she squealed as she saw some were picture books and others were thick books. "Look at how many Mommy!" she said eagerly.
"That's actually from us both," Beckett said, looking at Castle.
"Sorry, I really thought that was the other gift," he said, making a face. "Open the other one Julia."
A little surprised, since she had been about to thank him, Julia quickly opened the box her mother handed her, pulling out a toy set of an airport. "Ooh, this is what I said I wanted," she said eagerly. "Does the plane go to San Francisco?"
"It'll go wherever you want it to," Castle assured her. "But there's more."
Going back into the box, Julia pulled out a small blue box and said, "This is for me?"
"Of course," Castle said with a smile. He laughed then when Julia almost jumped off the couch to run to him. He hugged her back and said, "You can't really play with that one, but it'll be a nice decoration for your room since you kept asking me for it."
"It's so pretty," Julia said happily as she looked at the model Air Jamaica plane. "Just like the one we saw at the airport."
"We'll put it together another day okay? For now open the rest of your presents," Castle said.
Hurrying back to her mother, Julia opened the next gift which was from her and Castle. She lifted the lid off the box and her mouth dropped open in response as soon as she saw what was inside.
"What is it?" Martha asked.
"They're records, of Paul!" Julia scream whispered. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried as she ran to hug Castle again before doing the same to her mother.
"I want you to see one of the albums we were able to get," Beckett said, taking out one. "We thought you might want this one," she said, showing it to her.
"New!" Julia clapped as she jumped up and down. "Can we listen to it now?"
"Tomorrow when we get ready in the morning," Beckett promised. "Why don't you look in the box again?"
Looking confused, Julia did so, and she pulled out a book, seeing on the cover was a picture of her standing in front of a display at Citi Field; when they'd gone to see Paul perform. She opened it and flipping through the pages, saw it was full of pictures that were taken before, during and after the concert. She looked up at her mother and Castle and said, "For me?"
"We would have given it to you for Christmas-" Beckett said.
"But we didn't have the idea until after, so we decided your birthday would be pretty good," Castle finished for her. He laughed when Julia hurried to him and hugged him tightly before doing the same with her mother yet again.
"Sweetie, why don't you open the next-" Beckett started to say as Julia began to look at the book from the beginning when Castle's phone rang.
"It's Alexis, hold on," he said after he answered it. "Hey I thought you were calling at seven?"
"I'm sorry Dad, there was a study session for my history class that just got set up and I really want to go to it. Is it okay if I talk to everyone now?" Alexis asked.
"Let me get everything set here on the TV," Castle said quickly. "And actually, Julia's got three more gifts to open."
Looking down at the table; where there were only two, Beckett glanced up at him and then realized that he probably had something he hadn't told her about for her daughter. "Need help?" she asked.
"I've got it," Castle said before he turned on the TV and then his tablet, making sure the webcam was pointing to everyone. "See us Alexis?" he asked when she appeared on the screen.
"I see you, Happy Birthday Julia," Alexis said with a wide smile as the little girl jumped up, waving to her.
"We saved your gift for her to open," Castle said. "I'll let her go ahead and do that now."
At her mother's urging, Julia started to unwrap the present, and pulled out a stuffed sea lion and two coloring books about the city that were inside, along with a t-shirt that said I love SF, with a heart taking place of the word love.
"What do you think?" Alexis asked.
"I think she likes them," Martha said as everyone smiled, watching as Julia hugged the sea lion to her.
"Great, I hope that shirt fits, you see those all over the place here," Alexis said. "I got one too to wear back home."
"They're all great gifts," Beckett said, holding the shirt up to Julia. "And this will fit fine. What do you say sweetie?" she said to her daughter.
"Thank you Alexis," Julia said hurriedly, running up to the screen. "I like my seal."
"Sea lion," Alexis corrected quickly. "I can't wait for you to come and see the real ones here. So how has your birthday been?"
Julia chattered excitedly about almost everything she'd done that day, and all her gifts. But once she reached the point where she'd been opening the gifts after diner, she trailed off and said, "I wish you were here, I missed you here for my birthday Alexis."
"I know, I missed you too today Jules," the young woman said, using her recent nickname for the little girl as she saw Beckett kiss her daughter's temple gently. "But we'll see each other Saturday and we'll have nine whole days to spend out here in San Francisco. So don't be sad okay?"
"Kay," Julia said with a little smile as seeing Alexis doing so made her as well.
"I really don't want to go, but I'm going to miss my study session. Dad, Gram, I'll talk to you later. It's nice to see you Mr. Beckett. And Julia, Beckett, I'll see you guys on Saturday," Alexis said as she noticed the time on her computer.
"See you then," Beckett said as the others said goodbye. When the screen went dark she turned to her daughter as Castle turned off the TV and his tablet asking, "Ready for the last two gifts?"
"Yeah," Julia said, nodding. She reluctantly put the stuffed sea lion down, and then took the small box that her mother handed her. "Who is it from?"
"Me," Beckett said, watching with a smile as Julia furiously tore off the wrapping paper.
Removing the lid, Julia pulled out an old fashioned box camera, and she quickly put it back in. She jumped up into her mother's lap as best she could and cried, "Thank you Mommy! It's perfect!"
"You were able to find it," Castle commented as he picked up the camera.
"I know, I was almost going to let you take over, but luckily there was a shop on 115th that carried older cameras, and it was there," Beckett said. She smiled as Julia kissed her cheek and she hugged her daughter to her tightly. "You're very welcome sweetie, and I hope you'll take some great pictures and that you'll share them with me."
"Yeah," Julia said before going to Castle. "It's pretty huh?"
"It is, and it definitely looks just like the one Paul was holding in that picture," he said before handing her the camera.
"I think it's safe to say you had a nice birthday Julia," Jim said as she was showing him her camera.
"It's not really over yet," Castle said, glancing at Beckett as he got up. He went to where his coat was hanging, and took out a small box that he easily hid in his hand. "Come here Julia," he said, sitting next to his fiancée on the couch.
Putting her camera back in its box carefully, Julia skipped around the table before she stood in between her mother and him. "Is that for me again?" she asked a little shyly as he held out the box.
"Open it," Castle urged her, smiling as he could tell she was trying to keep her curiosity under control.
Glancing at her mother, who nodded, Julia pushed the lid up and she smiled widely at the necklace inside. "A emerald, for me?" she asked, looking up from the small oval pendant on a delicate silver chain.
"It is," Castle said, looking at Beckett.
Holding his gaze for a while, she looked down at Julia before Beckett said, "Do you like it sweetie?"
"Yeah, can I put it on?" Julia whispered, looking up at her.
"Yes you can, but let Castle do it," Beckett said.
Smiling at that, since he knew it meant she was fine with the gift, Castle took the box and took out the necklace before having Julia turn around. "I would have bought you an aquamarine like your mom has, since it's your birthstone," he told her as he closed the clasp. "But I thought you might like an emerald, it matches your eyes."
"Thank you," Julia said happily before she climbed up on the couch and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I'll wear it forever," she promised, kissing his cheek noisily.
"I'm glad to hear it," Castle said, looking over at Beckett, her hand reaching over and squeezing his arm tightly as she looked at him with a small smile on her face.
"So another year until we do that again," Beckett was saying as she took the mug of coffee that Castle handed to her. "But I think our first birthday with her went pretty well," she said, keeping her voice low since Julia was at the coffee table, coloring.
"It was," Castle agreed. "I wonder how we'll top this year."
"Give it a little time," Beckett said quickly. "You had some pretty amazing gifts for her though."
"I'm assuming you're bringing up the necklace?" Castle asked.
"I am, that was unexpected, incredibly so," Beckett said. "Is it because you gave me the aquamarine at Christmas?"
"Yes and no," Castle said, leaning against the counter next to her chair and looking at Julia. "I was thinking of those papers, and decided that if I'm her father, then I should give her a gift that wasn't really par for the course. Like you did."
"She does love gemstones," Beckett said. "And you made a good choice; it matches her eyes really well."
"It does, and I'm actually pretty proud of myself for that," Castle said. "I didn't have her in front of me while I was picking it out," he said when Beckett looked at him questioningly. "It won't be weird you both have pendants?"
"I don't think they'd suspect anything," she said, knowing what he meant by that. "It would make sense that I'd buy that for her."
"We did a good job with the records," Castle then said.
"And the books, and I'm including the concert one," Beckett said. "Thank you for getting the pictures together."
"So all in all a good celebration," Castle said as they looked at Julia at the same time. After they were quiet for a while he then said, "You're sure I can't stay?"
"I don't think so," Beckett said, smiling slightly as he looked a little annoyed. "No, I think I want to spend the rest of her birthday just us two."
"I don't blame you," Castle said. "But I'm going to insist you come over tomorrow."
"After I work on prepping for the trial on Tuesday?" Beckett asked. "And at your place because you're going to be writing?"
Castle opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, nodding with a slight sigh. "Yes, although I could help you out," he said.
"It's nothing I can't really handle," Beckett said. "And you have that chapter to finish."
"And that's why I can't stay over?" Castle asked.
"Partially, I do really want to spend some alone time with my daughter," Beckett replied, nodding to Julia. "We'll stay tomorrow night at your place," she told him. "And next week I'll be staying with you."
"You make a valid point," Castle said. "Okay," he said when he saw she was finished with her coffee. "I guess I should go since you've only got an hour until she goes to bed."
"Julia, come and say goodbye to Castle," Beckett called to her daughter as they walked to the entry.
"Thank you for my presents, I like them a lot," Julia said, hurrying to them. She waited a little impatiently for Castle to put on his coat and scarf before holding her arms up to him.
"I'm really glad to hear that, one of these days this week we'll get that airport set up," Castle told her as he picked her up.
"This one is my fav'rite," Julia said, touching her pendant.
"I'm so glad it is, because I wasn't sure you'd want another color stone," Castle said.
"It's pretty, and my mommy can have a blue stone," Julia said, turning the emerald so the green caught the light in the entry.
"Okay, I think we need to say goodnight, it's getting late," Castle said, pleased to see her reaction to the necklace. He kissed her cheek as she kissed his and said, "Sweet dreams Julia, I love you." At her nod he set her down, kissing her cheek a second time as he did so.
"You can keep coloring sweetie," Beckett said. When she and Castle were alone she turned to him and said, "You're very sweet you know."
"I try; sure it doesn't make you want to change your mind and invite me to stay the night?" Castle suggested. When she merely gave him a look he gave an exaggerated, suffering sigh and said, "Fine, but, you owe me."
"Owe you what exactly?" Beckett asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't have a chance to react when Castle grabbed her, pulling her to him before he kissed her deeply. She soon slid into that kiss as she recovered from the shock of it, and then wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her tightly to him.
Though he knew Julia would easily be able to see them, Castle couldn't really resist the temptation to make that kiss as deep as he could, not having had much of a chance to since he'd arrived earlier that day. And he was trying to forget Betsy's mother, who apparently had been after him as a rebound guy after just coming off a divorce. When he finally had to pull away to breathe, he leaned his forehead against Beckett's and said, "Had to get that out of my system."
"Lauren?" Beckett asked, unable to help smiling widely as she recalled how the woman had been trying to get her fiancé's attention almost the whole party.
"Never really was into a woman who was aggressively nice," Castle said, leaning down and brushing his lips across Beckett's jaw.
"Hmm, I know, you prefer a challenge," she said before they turned their heads towards each other and kissed again. Like before it was deep, but they took their time, her tongue soon coaxing his before they parted again.
"A challenge that really keeps me guessing," Castle said, panting almost. He kissed her third time, more eager in that one before they parted a while later, breathing very hard. "Oh, and you actually can pay back what you owe me tomorrow," he said.
Pushing on his shoulder, Beckett shook her head as they let go of one another and said, "Call me tomorrow Castle."
"I will. Night Julia," he called to the little girl.
"Night!" Julia called, having been peeking at them to see if it was okay to look up.
"Tomorrow," Castle said then as he looked at his fiancée. He couldn't help it, kissing her again, but that time it was much more chaste and quicker than their previous kisses.
"I'll repay you tomorrow, goodnight Castle," Beckett said once they had parted. She smiled slightly at him as he stared at her and then walked out into the hall. Once she had the door locked, she touched her pendant for a brief second, and then turned to Julia. "You can look up," she told her daughter, seeing she was holding her coloring book in front of her face. "I'm sorry if you don't like seeing that sweetie."
"It's okay Mommy," Julia said. "Now what?"
"Want to try out that camera?" Beckett asked. She laughed slightly when her daughter's face brightened and she took it out of its box before running to grab her hand.
"Is it gonna work?" Julia was asking as she spun around in front of her mother.
"We'll see," Beckett said. "Okay, so what do you want to take your first picture of?"
"Us," Julia said quickly.
"I thought you would," Beckett said in amusement, since the picture of Paul McCartney that had given Julia the idea of wanting the same camera was a selfie. "Okay, we better do it in the mirror," she said, going over to it with her daughter. "And I need to get on my knees or I won't be in it."
"Here?" Julia asked, holding up the camera.
"A little lower, perfect," Beckett said, watching the lens. She had to smile at their reflection, since she had her head over her daughter's shoulder, their pendants flashing blues and greens in the light of the room. "We'll take three pictures, just in case. Ready?"
"Yes," Julia said quickly.
"Smile… cheese," Beckett said before she could hear Julia press the shutter. She was surprised when her daughter did it twice more quickly, and she kissed her tenderly on the cheek saying, "I can't wait to see that picture."
"Me too, can we give one to Castle and the other to Grandpapa if they are okay?" Julia asked eagerly as her mother stood and then led her to her room.
"Of course, what about the first picture?" Beckett asked as she then started to get her daughter ready for bed.
"That's for you Mommy," Julia said with a wide smile as she hugged her tightly when she had her pajama top on. "To put in your room."
"Thank you sweetie," Beckett said, kissing her cheek. "I can't wait to develop it."
"Can I take that to San Francisco with me?" Julia asked after she was changed and her teeth were brushed.
"I don't think so, it might be a little too hard to carry around everywhere, I think you should take your first camera," Beckett suggested, brushing out the little girl's hair. "Okay, we can read a little more tonight; since it is your birthday. What-" she started to say when Julia slid off the bed and then ran towards her room. She smiled and shook her head as she put the brush away and coming out she saw her daughter run in with the San Francisco travel book she'd bought her. "You're going to get so tired of this once we're finished with it."
"Uh-uh," Julia said firmly as she climbed up on the bed using the steps next to it. She got onto her mother's lap once they were both sitting and said, "I wanna pick a page."
"Go ahead," Beckett said, kissing the top of her daughter's head. She smiled as Julia closed her eyes tightly, and then opened the book. "Ah, Fisherman's Wharf," she said, seeing the pages. "Where the sea lions are."
"Oooh, like mine," Julia said, looking at the end of the bed where all her new stuffed animals were along with the two she'd had before.
"That's right, you'll get to see them in person," Beckett said. "But there's more than just that. There's the Pier, and the carousel that you see right here, you can ride on that with Alexis if she wants to go with you." She then told Julia about Fisherman's Wharf as much as she could remember the last time she had been there, and had to smile frequently as her daughter listened in rapt awe; though she'd heard the same things before. They looked at the book again and at City Hall, Haight-Ashbury and also the pages on Berkley, before she closed it to put Julia to bed. "Come on sweetie, you've got school and I have work," she said to her daughter's complaint.
"Okay," Julia sighed. She slid under the covers and said, "This was the best birthday Mommy, ever."
"I'm so happy to hear that," Beckett said sincerely, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "Tomorrow you can tell your friends about your necklace, but we need to leave it here okay? That way you won't lose it on the playground."
Sighing, since her mother had taken it off as she was changing her, Julia nodded and said, "And I can tell them about my camera, my airport, my pla…"
Beckett laughed slightly when her daughter yawned, and she glanced at the model plane that was next to Kauai's tank. "Now I know it's time for you to get some sleep," she said, turning back to Julia. "Sweet dreams sweetie, I love you," she told her.
"I love you too Mommy," Julia replied sleepily. She shared a kiss with her mother, hugging her around the neck with one arm, and then settled under the covers with her Stitch doll under her chin as she was tucked in.
Staying on the edge of the bed, Beckett stroked Julia's hair until she was sure the little girl was asleep. She stood and took the San Francisco book with her, and after closing Julia's door, walked to her room, opening the pages randomly to Alcatraz and smiling at her own sense of anticipation at finally being able to see the city again, that time with her fiancé and daughter.