A/N: Some of you may remember this story from earlier this year. This is a rewrite of what little I had because I can't find the rest and I like the idea of little Castle babies. So, this is taking place 7 years after the events of 'Always' and is not mine. Because if I were Andrew Marlowe, there'd already be canon Castle babies. - Immac
Kate Beckett rested her hand on her pregnant stomach as she parked the car outside of the Castle home in the Hamptons. It had been so long since she'd been back, or if it wasn't, it felt like it. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she had stood, naked, by Richard's pool, waiting for him to ravish her, and so much had happened since. The wedding, the honeymoon, the three children, the fourth on the way.
With Kate on maternity leave and their oldest child out of school for the summer, she decided to take them for a week in the Hamptons to give Rick time to write. Along with Alexis, the kids were ready for a week of fun at the pool and on the beach, and, to be honest, so was Kate.
Alexis had already swiftly left the car, unbuckling the kids from their seats before Kate even registered what was going on. Before she had even exited the vehicle, Rick and Kate's oldest child, Jo, was out and asking a million questions. The six year old was already the miniature version of her mother, with dark brown curls and bright blue eyes. She was sarcastic and adventurous, frequently in trouble, and she was always ready to explain everything to everyone, whether they wanted to know or not.
If Jo was the mini Beckett, their middle child, Edgar, was the mini Castle. He was already the spitting image of his father, and he wanted to be a writer just like him, too. Edgar carried around a spiral-bound reporter's cut notebook at all times, and would get help from his dad to type up the stories he'd come up with about himself and his family. Alexis got him out of the car second, and the 5 year old began noting the details of the setting immediately.
Kate had Alexis take the kids to get the luggage while she unbuckled their youngest from her seat. Aggie, a quiet 2 year old, was the only one out of the "Caskett Babies" (as Ryan and Esposito dubbed them) to inherit her grandmother's red curls and her mother's hazel eyes. Unlike her siblings, she wasn't outspoken and she didn't write, and she very seldom communicated at all. Though worried, Rick and Kate were assured there was nothing wrong with her. She was a very good child, very happy most of the time, and they decided she just preferred to observe.
Aggie clung to her mother's chest as Kate pulled her out. She prodded the baby bump, waving to it.
"Baby says hi to you, too, Ag," Kate said, kissing her daughter. Aggie grinned, then squirmed until she was placed on the ground. She ran to her brother and sisters, little red pigtails flying behind her.
Alexis was a lifesaver, Kate decided. Had the eldest Castle child not come along, it would have taken forever to get everything and everyone out of the car. But Alexis had already loaded up Edgar and Jo with their bags and Aggie with her little backpack, and she had her own laptop bag and duffel bag slung over a shoulder, with Kate's bag in the opposite hand. That left Kate with grabbing Aggie's diaper bag and her laptop case, and closing the car.
"Wow, Alexis," Kate said with a chuckle. "You're really good at this."
"I've had lots of experience. Dad has a tendency to over-pack," Alexis shrugged, smiling.
"I've noticed," she replied, remembering how he brought enough clothes for a month to their first weekend trip here, and the same amount to their honeymoon. "Jo, honey, will you take the key and open the door for your older sister?"
Jo nodded, her curly ponytail bobbing up and down as she took the keys from Alexis and ran to the stairs, Edgar and Aggie in tow.
"Help Aggie up the stairs!" their mom called after them. Alexis chuckled as they watched the kids go off. Kate placed her hand on her stomach and grimaced.
"Baby okay?" Alexis asked as they followed the children to the door. "You aren't going into labor, are you?"
"No. It's just kicking," she replied. "Trust me, after three kids, I know what labor feels like. I'm fine."
No matter how often she visited the Castle Hampton home, Kate was always astounded by its beauty. It hadn't changed very much since her first trip. There were minor differences, like pictures of the Castle family in its various stages (Rick, Martha, and Alexis; Rick and Kate; Rick and pregnant Kate; Rick, Martha, Alexis, Kate, and Jo; so on and so forth), and the addition of every Nikki Heat book thus far in various locations, but it was still charming and classy like she had found it to be from her first day. Of course, at the moment, half of her children's belongings were sitting at the bottom of the stairs, with their owners nowhere to be seen. As Alexis scampered up the stairs, Kate rubbed her temples.
"Johanna Martha Castle!" she yelled up the stairs. There was some scampering and shifting, but soon her daughter's head appeared at the top. "Alexis told you to take these upstairs. Come get them."
"We were wanting to go to the beach, mama," Jo pouted.
"We'll all go down to the beach, Joey, but you three need to put your bags away like Alexis told you to," her mother replied, crossing her arms. Jo sighed dramatically and ran down the stairs. As she grabbed the duffels, Kate kissed her head. "What do you say to your older sister?" she asked as Alexis walked past the top of the stairs.
"Sorry, Alexis!" Jo called up. Alexis smiled and accepted the apology, and the child turned back to her mother. "Can I go get ready for the beach now?"
"Yes," Kate rolled her eyes. "Tell your brother to get ready, too, and I'll be up to help Aggie in a minute."
"Okay!" Jo turned back towards the stairs. "Edgar, get the floaties!"
Jo and Edgar frolicked in the waves, splashing and pretending to be sharks, while Alexis staid on the shore with Aggie, building a sandcastle over Kate's stomach. Hardly anyone was on the beach, which was unusual considering it was the first week of June. The surf was good enough for boogie-boards to be brought out from storage, but not bad enough where anyone was worried about someone getting hurt or drowning. It truly was the perfect time to go to the beach.
"Guys, come back in and get sunscreen," Kate called out to Jo and Edgar. "Aggie, honey, can you please clean this off of me?"
Aggie and Alexis had long since given up on making an intricate castle over Kate's baby bump, and had instead just built a giant mountain of sand. It now left her incapable of getting up. Grinning, Alexis swatted the sand away while Aggie drenched the mountain with her full sand bucket of water.
"Mama, you're all wet!" Edgar laughed as he and his sister ran in from the water, dragging boogie-boards behind them.
"So are you, little writer-monkey," she laughed, using her son for stability as she sat up. "Are you four ready for dinner yet?"
"No!" the younger ones said in unison. Or, rather, Jo and Edgar said in unison, while Aggie shook her head no and pouted. Alexis just arched an eyebrow and smirked, looking an awful lot like her father in that moment.
"Alexis?" Kate turned to the eldest.
"I'm fine. If they want to keep playing, I'll hang out with them so you can get dinner ready," she offered.
"You don't have to watch them. You can relax and they can go get cleaned up."
"Please mama? Can't we play a little longer?" Jo pouted, her blue Castle eyes taking the shape of her mother's eyes whenever they wanted something. These were the same eyes Kate made in interrogations, just with a different coloration, and everyone knew it.
"I'm fine with hanging out on the beach. I like it out here, and I'll make sure they get hydration and sunscreen," Alexis assured her stepmother. "Go ahead in. You can shower and call dad, and do whatever you want, and we'll be in by 7:30. If you want me to, I can order pizza, too."
"I'll get dinner ready, then," Kate said, accepting help from her children as she stood to her feet. "You three, listen to your sister. Usual pizza toppings?"
"Yes, please!" Jo, Edgar, and Alexis said in unison, with Aggie nodding beside them, grinning widely and showing off her tiny square teeth.
"So be it," Kate smiled. She bent down to kiss each of them on the head. "I love you."
Alexis perched on the beach, reading from the latest Nikki Heat book. The sun was going down, and the kids were all playing in the shallow water, trying to find shells and shark teeth. It was perfectly serene, and she loved it. Life had been so hectic as of late, and the peacefulness was a welcome change. Unfortunately, that all changed when a Frisbee struck her in the head.
"Ouch!" she gasped, grasping at her forehead. The disc had definitely left a knot, but she felt no blood. The kids looked up in surprise, running back up the sand to check on her.
"Alexis! Are you okay?" Edgar asked.
"Yeah," she said, grasping the red Frisbee out of the sand and examining it. "Someone threw this."
"Hey, sorry about that," they heard from behind them. All four Castles turned to see a young man, around Alexis's age. His dark hair was wet and his bangs clung to his forehead, his green eyes bright even in the setting sun. The young man blinked in confusion. "Alexis Castle?"
"Noah?" Alexis responded, startled. "Noah Winchester?"
"Who's he?" Jo deadpanned, pointing.
"Jo, be polite. Don't point," Alexis chastised. "This is Noah. When I came here when I was your age, he was my best friend. We used to play together all summer." She turned to Noah. "I thought your parents sold your place here."
"They did, but my little brother and one of his friends and I are down here for the week, renting a place. Parents are trying to finalize a divorce, and Lyle was really messed up about it, you know?" Noah explained. He squatted to face the Caskett babies. "I have a little brother who's your age. He and his friend are playing in the water. Would you like to meet them?"
"Alexis, can we?" Edgar turned excitedly.
"It's getting kind of late," Alexis shrugged. "I promised we'd be in soon."
"Noah, can you come eat dinner with us?" Jo asked, turning to him. She had wide eyes, hopeful eyes, and it was impossible to turn that face down.
"Uh," Noah stammered, looking at Alexis awkwardly.
"You guys ask and text me what she says, and I'll walk with Noah to get his brother, okay?" Alexis decided. Jo and Edgar were instantly out of the sand and racing each other back to the house, Aggie a few steps behind.
"You look good," Noah said, offering a hand for her to use to stand up. She gathered her towel and book, as well as the toys, towels, and shoes the kids had left behind, and turned back to him.
"Thanks," she smiled. "You look good, too. I can't believe we ran into each other."
"Were they your kids?" he asked as they started up the beach. She laughed and struggled to get out the 'no' necessary to answer his question.
"They're my little brother and sisters," she explained. "My dad remarried again."
"It's not one of those two-year marriages like he had when we were kids, is it?" Noah asked.
"Not this time, I don't think. He and Kate are really in love, and they've already had three kids with a fourth on the way," Alexis smiled. "They have their seventh anniversary next spring."
"That's cute. What about you? Any man in your life?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder lightly. "What? It's a valid question. You've gotta be in your twenties, right? Lots of girls have settled down by that age."
"I'm twenty six and too busy to 'settle down,'" Alexis shrugged. "I'm studying for a doctorate in psychology."
"So no boyfriend?"
"Why do you keep asking?"
"Just curious."
"No. No boyfriend. What about you? Any girls lining up at the prospect of having the Noah Winchester's babies?" she asked sarcastically.
"Nah, my last girlfriend just stole my money and helped contribute to my parents' downfall as a married couple," he replied nonchalantly. "Not that I've been jaded by it, or anything."
"Well that's good to know," she giggled. "What about college. How did that go for you?"
"I'm trying to get teaching credentials so I can teach high school English," he shrugged.
"My dad would like that," she nodded.
"Mine doesn't. I'm a Winchester. We're doctors and lawyers and moguls and socialites. Not teachers," Noah sighed. "Apparently, I should want something more out of life than to teach kids the thing that I love."
"Yikes, that seems really-" Alexis started, but they were interrupted by two boys running up and attacking Noah. She watched, giggling as the two wrestled the Frisbee away.
"Whoa, calm down!" Noah laughed, pushing the children off of him. The kids laughed, standing back. One looked just like Noah, with dark brown hair and sparkling eyes. The other was taller, blonder, and looked more mischievous. "Alexis, this is Lyle, my brother, and his friend Matthew," Noah gestured to the mini-Noah first, and the blonde second. "Guys, this is Alexis. She's an old friend of mine."
"You're pretty!" the blonde one exclaimed. Alexis blushed.
"Her family invited us to come eat at their house tonight. Grab your stuff so we can go, okay?" Noah continued.
Alexis felt her cell phone vibrate from within the beach bag and pulled it out, revealing a text from Kate. Tell your friends it's okay for them to come over.
"I just got the okay from Kate," she said to Noah as he helped Lyle and Matthew fasten the straps on their sandals. She watched, feeling kind of useless as they loaded all of their stuff into their own bag and dried off and pulled on t-shirts and everything. By the time they were ready to go, the sun was almost done inching down the horizon and the sky was fading from orange to a pinky-purple. They hiked back up the sand towards the Castle home, while Lyle and Matthew explained to Alexis how they had played they were pirates, storming the beaches and stealing cookies. Even though she knew it was embarrassing for Noah to listen as they explained how he was a pirate, too, Alexis couldn't help but smile because she knew that Jo and Edgar would relay similar stories over dinner.
So she just grabbed his hand and squeezed comfortingly.
A/N: Thoughts? How do you like the Caskett Babies? Sound off in the reviews, and I'll work on the next chapter where Mama Beckett meets Noah. And, you know, murder or something. :) - Immac