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 wanted to say first off that I have a collection of photographs of San Francisco that I used while planning this story; pictures which I took of course; and I wanted you readers to see them so you can get a kind of visual of some moments and places. I have them in a folder at my gallery at deviantART, but since I can't post them here, I'll of course provide the link to my SF folder on my profile if you readers want to check them out, and they'll pretty much be in order of how things go in the story, tried to stick to that to make it less confusing.
A/N #2: I put planes together in a terminal at JFK that I don't think are ever in the same ones, but I'm taking artistic license with that 'cause there's a reason I chose the planes I did.
A/N #3: I am of course very happy to see the response I got from the Prologue, so I need to say thank you of course! pcol22 (I was definitely happy to see that you were the first to favorite this story, right off the Prologue, so that was very nice. And I was relieved that you liked the way Julia's birthday went, because of course I never know what readers will think beforehand, lol. Also, am glad that you want to read the chapter, really happy to see that in your review!), vetgirlmx (And I'll say it again, am happy to see you too liked how Julia's birthday went. It's not really that I love presents; I do; but it's more that it just worked out better to have three rounds of presents with the way the celebration went, lol. But I am glad to see you liked that I had the gang there to celebrate her as you said. Also am very, very happy that you're eager for their trip to San Francisco too, I kinda tried to tease it out a little more, 'cause I wanted the readers to want to read about the trip, and I think I was able to do that!), Anonymous (I was pleased to see that Julia's one of your favorite characters. And I will keep writing her, definitely), TORONTOSUN (Was glad that you're eager for this story, again, wanted people to be eager about the trip. And also glad that you could see what I was trying to write, with Julia being very loved. Was happy to see that you liked the gifts; that can be hard to think of, lol, especially if you don't think of all of them beforehand and instead are doing it as you write. I had to smile at your reaction to Castle and Beckett kissing at the end, hadn't expected the work attack there, but it applies, so liked reading that. And I'm happy that you too can't wait to read about them in San Francisco!), sammysgirl78 (Hey, was glad to see you, I'd thought you'd stopped wanting to read, but I'm glad to see that you do enjoy my stories, was great to hear since I was hoping you'd be here to read this story since it'll have stuff which I think you'll enjoy! And I am glad to see that you like the more family oriented stories, this'll lean more towards that genre, which is why I put it as my first genre, lol. I am of course very happy that you like the way Julia and Castle's relationship is going, because I've tried to write that the best I can, so it's great to get some confirmation on that! And also, was great to see that you can tell Castle's acting more and more like her dad now, what I was aiming for! Yet again, am glad to hear you too want to read more!) and 41319always41319 (I loved reading your comment that you like reading about how Julia interacts with the others. Try not to write her acting the same with everyone, so was glad to read that in your review. And I was smiling when I saw that you were laughing at the mom that was hitting on Castle, was hoping someone might).
A/N #4: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Hong Kong Blues composed by Hoagy Carmichael, the version I took it from is sung by George Harrison, from his album Somewhere in England. It actually mentions San Francisco by name, so the bay in the title is in fact San Francisco Bay.
To See That Bay Again
"Our luggage is set, we are checked in… I think we're ready to go," Castle said, setting Julia down in front of Beckett and his mother. "And with an hour to go still."
"Julia has her camera, and you have the whole airport terminal to walk through," Beckett said with a slight smile as her daughter jumped against her. "You need to walk for now sweetie," she said. "After we go through security then I'll carry you."
"I don't know about her, but I could very much use some coffee," Martha said as they headed to the line forming for the security checkpoint.
"You're not alone, but she's not getting any," Beckett said.
"I don't think she needs anything with caffeine," Castle commented as they watched the little girl hopping from foot to foot. "Any more and she'll be running around the terminal."
"And you'll be the one to go after her," Martha said. "Seeing as you're the fastest out of us."
"I won't run," Julia said, looking up at them. "But I wanna see the planes."
"We'll get there," Castle promised her. "We just need to do this stuff first."
"Kay," Julia said, taking her mother's hand and his. She looked on interestedly as they came to a TSA worker, and Castle handed over four tickets and four passports. "Is that important?" she asked.
"Very, we need those to get onto the plane," Beckett said. "Okay sweetie, you need to stay with me here, don't get lost," she told her daughter seriously as they walked up to the metal detectors.
Nodding, Julia stuck close to her mother, a little nervous at the men and women wearing uniforms. She walked through one of the metal detectors on her own, and nearly ran back as Castle walked through right behind her.
"Help me get my things," he said to her quickly to keep her from running back to Beckett who had yet to go through. "And make sure I have everything I set down," he told her as he took the bin with his shoes, the items he'd been carrying in his pockets and his watch.
"You did pretty well Julia," Beckett said, rubbing her back once she was getting her things. She sat down and slipped on her boots before she took her wallet and watch that Julia was holding for her. She kissed her cheek and then stood as they waited for Martha to get her things. "Okay, coffee?" she said to Castle.
"Coffee it is," he said quickly, taking Julia's other hand. Leading the way to the coffee shop he could smell was near, he watched Julia, seeing she was looking around with wide eyes, trying to take everything in. "Are you excited?" he asked her.
"Yeah, there's lots of people," Julia said in a whisper. "Do they all go to San Francisco?"
"Not all of them, they're going to different places," Beckett said. "You know, I was going to let you two go alone to look at the planes, but I think I'll join you."
"That would be nice, actually that's a great idea, I might forget the time and we would miss our flight," Castle said as they walked up to the coffee shop, making a face at Julia who giggled in response. He took care of their order, and as soon as they had their drinks, the little girl was grabbing onto the pocket of his jacket and jumping up and down hurriedly.
"Can we go, can we go?" Julia said eagerly.
"Mother, are you joining us?" Castle asked as Beckett grabbed Julia's juice from the counter along with her coffee.
"To our gate, I'll wait for you there until we can board," Martha said simply.
"You might want to walk to our gate ahead of us," Beckett commented when, as soon as they had come to the first gate, Julia pulled Castle to the windows to look at the plane there. "We're only three more down so we'll pass you soon… I think."
"Good luck getting those two back before the flight," Martha said wryly as they could see the two were pressed up against the glass.
"I'll try my best," Beckett said with a slight laugh. She walked over to the windows, and heard Castle telling Julia what type of plane it was.
"Do they all have numbers?" the little girl then asked him.
"They do," Castle said. "But there are two big names, remember I told you?"
"Yeah, Boeing and Air… Airbus!" Julia said. "Did I say that right Mommy?"
"You did," Beckett said, still a little surprised at how quickly her daughter had taken to airplanes after they'd been trying to get her to recover from seeing the crash they'd been in. "And what's this one?"
"It's my same plane," Julia said eagerly. "Air Jamaica and it's a… 737," she said, slowing down a little at the end to think.
"Pretty good, and a nice plane, the livery is interesting," Beckett said. "Did you get a picture?"
"Two and I got one of the birdie there on the side, it's a pretty color," Julia said. "Where is it going?"
"Kingston, Jamaica," Castle said, taking her hand so they could move to the next gate. "We should go a little faster Julia, that way we can see as many as we can before we get on our plane." When the little girl nodded, he led her to the next gate and said, "This is the same kind of plane we're going on, just a different name. This is a Lufthansa and it's a 747."
"That's a different name," Julia said, taking a picture of the plane before they went to the next gate. "Where is it from?"
"Germany, and it's going to Munich in the same country," Castle said.
"Is that where the Beatles went, Germany?" Julia asked before she took a picture of the plane at the gate.
"They went to Hamburg," Beckett said, taking her daughter's hand to stop her from going to the next gate. When Castle looked at her she whispered in his ear and watched him look out the window.
"Okay, this one's pretty special," Castle said after he shared a look with Beckett. He took Julia's other hand and they led her to the windows next to the plane and said, "Remember that plane that woman your mom protected drew for you?"
"With the horsies?" Julia asked. When Castle nodded she said, "That's not this plane."
"No, but she also made the livery on this plane," Beckett said as they all looked out the window at the British Airways 747 with the blue, red and white plaid along the tail and down to the fuselage.
"Oh, it's pretty, but, it looks like the plane you were on, when it fell and was on fire," Julia said, biting her lower lip.
"It's the same airline," Castle told her quickly. "But we're not flying on it, though it is going to San Francisco in a couple hours," he said as he saw the display next to the door to the jetway.
"You okay sweetie?" Beckett asked, picking her daughter up and kissing her cheek tenderly.
"Yeah, are you gonna be kay on the plane? And you?" Julia asked, looking at Castle as well.
"We'll be fine, come on, there are a lot more planes to look at if you want to keep taking pictures," Castle said.
"Yeah," Julia said, holding her arms out to him.
Walking along the windows, Beckett placed her hand on Castle's back, relieved that it looked like her daughter was going to be okay on the plane since it seemed she was more worried about them instead of herself. She looked at him as he reached down and took her hand as she moved it, squeezing it a little carefully as her engagement ring was there and had been since he'd put it on her that morning.
Walking around the rest of the terminal until they joined his mother, Castle was trying to make sure that Julia was alright since they still had a while to get onto their plane. But when she ran to where Martha was sitting, he guessed she'd be okay, and with her busy he turned to Beckett and asked, "Sure it's a good idea for you to wear that?"
"What did you want to do, wait until we reached the next time zone before I had you put it on? I was wearing gloves until we came inside," Beckett said simply. "Don't be so paranoid, it's unattractive."
Shaking his head, since he could easily tell she was joking, Castle looked at his watch and said, "We're-" when an announcement over the PA system interrupted him. "About to board," he finished after the female voice announced their airline and flight number and they was boarding first class.
"Come on Julia," Beckett called to her. "Give me your camera, and then hold our hands while we're going onto the plane."
"Your first time," Castle said as Julia looked to be a little unsure. "I wish I could remember my first time on a plane."
"You don't?" Julia asked as they walked up to the door and he handed their tickets to the employee.
"Not really, I've been on a plane so many times since then," Castle said simply as they walked through the doorway. "This is the jetway," he told her as she was looking around them a little worriedly. "It's just a tunnel to get us out to the plane since it can't park against the building."
"Yeah, the wings would hit won't they?" Julia asked.
"Pretty much," Beckett said. "See, here's the plane."
"Bienvenue, welcome to Air France," the flight attendant said. "Is this your first time flying?" she directed to Julia. When the little girl nodded, she smiled and then said, "You should 'ave a nice flight today, the weather looks to be really nice. And I'll stop by later to see 'ow you're doing."
"Thank you," Julia said shyly.
Taking Julia's hand, Beckett let her walk ahead of her, leading her daughter through the plane until they had reached the stairs to first class. "Go on up sweetie," she said when Julia hesitated slightly. As she started up after, she thought of Castle and turned back to him.
"I'll be fine," he said quickly, seeing Julia was at the stop of the stairs. "Wait for us," he called to her when she looked down at him too before he continued up after his mother.
"We're here," Beckett said when she had located their seats, which were on either side of the plane in the same row. "Are you sure you don't want me to sit with you during the flight?" she asked Julia as they waited for Martha and Castle.
"I wanna sit here with Martha, Mommy," Julia said firmly.
Leaning down, Beckett kissed her forehead before she said, "Then let's get you buckled up."
"You know if you want to switch places with me," Castle said as he was taking their carry on bags and putting them up in the overhead storage. "You can Julia, I won't mind."
Nodding, Julia took her Stitch doll that her mother handed her, and was surprised when she sat next to her seat. "I wanna-" she began to say.
"I just want to tell you to remember that when we take off the plane is going to be noisy and it'll lean back too so we can get off the ground," Beckett said, running her hand over her daughter's hair. "But you'll be fine, just make sure you hold on to Stitch okay?"
"Kay, I'll be good Mommy," Julia said as Beckett checked her seat belt one last time and then stood up.
"There's no need to worry," Martha said, sitting next to Julia. "She and I will be just fine sitting together, especially since she has the best seat."
"Okay, when you can take off your seat belt you can come sit with us," Beckett said before she turned to Castle and went to the window seat. "I thought you'd want this one."
"I'll be generous," he replied after they'd buckled up. "But on the way back I get the window seat."
Smiling slightly, Beckett took out the safety instructions and read over them as Castle did the same next to her. As soon as she was done, she glanced over at Julia, seeing her looking at a magazine with Martha.
"Any reason why she wants us to sit with each other?" Castle asked her, looking over from them as well.
"Do you remember Skye drinking hot chocolate before flights?" Beckett asked. When he nodded she then said, "I think it's something like that, she thinks because we were sitting together on the plane we were okay."
"Interesting, I didn't think your daughter would be that smart," Castle said. "I mean Julia."
Smiling a little, since they had stopped using your when referring to Julia; and she had also tried to stop using my daughter when she was with him herself; Beckett asked, "Anything interesting in there?" She looked at the SkyMall magazine with him until the plane was finished boarding, and the pilot made a few announcements in both English and French, about their flight time and the weather in San Francisco. She looked over at Julia again the second she felt the plane moving back, and was surprised to see the little girl looking at her and Castle. She smiled and waved as Julia did so too, and leaned back against her seat.
"Are you okay?" Castle asked as the plane waited at the end of a runway.
"Yeah, you know how many times I flew my first year at Stanford to go back and forth?" Beckett replied. Before he could reply to that the plane began to taxi, and as it leaned back she wished she could check on Julia again. But she didn't hear any kind of crying or vocal reaction, so she relaxed until they were up in the air and then began to level out. She leaned over her fiancé again, and smiled seeing Julia was looking out of the window.
"She should be okay," Castle said. "Should I stop with all the airplane stuff we've been doing lately?"
"No, because you two have a bond with that," Beckett said.
"But you-" Castle started to say.
"I may be with you, but when it comes to the planes themselves, that's definitely all you two," Beckett interrupted him. She smiled when he nodded and she squeezed his arm saying, "Excited to see Alexis again?"
"Very much, since now I can see how she's doing out there," Castle answered. "And I know, there's only about two and a half, three months left until she comes back, but still, I'd like to see."
"That and the city," Beckett said with a slightly wider smile.
"That as well," Castle said. By then the pilot had turned off the seat belt sign and he stood up, going over to the storage compartment above his mother and Julia. "That was pretty neat huh?" he asked the little girl.
"Yeah, can I go see my mommy?" Julia asked eagerly.
"Go ahead," Castle said, getting her backpack and then pulling a wrapped package out before he went to sit next to Beckett.
"We're up high," Julia was saying as she peered out of the window.
"I know, it's pretty isn't it?" Beckett asked, kissing her temple.
"Yeah," Julia said before turning to her. "Mommy I'm hungry."
"We'll have breakfast soon," Beckett assured her before taking the package that Castle handed her. "Until then, why don't we open up your present?"
"Why do I get one?" Julia asked though she was already opening the gift.
"It's your first time on a plane, we have to celebrate," Castle said simply.
Beckett smiled as Julia pulled out a coloring book and a set of crayons, exclaiming over both before she pulled out a small ballerina paper doll book. She glanced at Castle, since he'd gotten that for her daughter. "So what do you want to do first?" she asked as she crumpled the paper into a ball.
"I wanna look at this first," Julia said, handing the coloring book and crayons to Castle and opening the other book.
"I think you made a good choice," Beckett said as Castle put them into the pouch in front of him.
"Looks like it," he said with a slight laugh as Julia had nearly thrown the items to him. When she turned to him then, he leaned over to listen to the little girl's explanation of the different costumes in the book that she was making up, glad that he and Beckett had successfully managed to get her to get over whatever fears she might have had her first time flying.
"So it's about eleven," Beckett said, looking at her watch. "That flight felt much longer."
"What time did we leave JFK?" Castle asked, rubbing his cheek.
"Not that early, but luckily we did sleep," Beckett replied.
"Though it looks like Julia didn't lose any energy," Martha commented as they looked at the little girl who was looking out the window, sitting in her seat again as she bounced up and down in excitement.
"Come on sweetie," Beckett said to get her attention. "We can go now."
"It doesn't look like San Francisco," Julia said as she went to Castle and let him pick her up.
"We're not in the city exactly, a little bit south," he told her as they left the plane.
"Alexis?" Julia then asked him.
"Where we're going to get our suitcases," Beckett replied.
"I'll give her a call to make sure she's at the right carousel… though she's probably doing what we did last month when she came home," Castle said to his mother. "Waiting where we come out."
"It's very likely," Martha agreed.
Once they were in the terminal, they headed out to where they could get to the luggage carousel and started looking for Alexis, but were unable to see her and had turned when they heard her calling them.
"Dad, Gram!" Alexis yelled as she was running through the people gathered at the exit for arrivals. She threw herself at her dad and then hugged her grandmother when she joined them. "I'm so glad to see you," she exclaimed.
"Can I say hi?" Julia whispered.
"Hold on," Beckett said, holding on to Julia's shoulder in front of her.
"Hey Jules," Alexis said then as she let go of her dad and grandmother. She smiled as the little girl ran to her and picked her up, kissing her cheek as they hugged. "I missed you a lot, how was your first time on a plane?"
"Fun, I didn't get scared, and I slept a lot, but I got to see outside," Julia said excitedly. "And I got a present from my mommy and Castle," she said as Beckett hugged Alexis quickly around her.
"I'm so glad you're here," Alexis said. "And we should go, because I kind of need to head back to Sausalito before we can go to the hotel."
"Any reason why?" Castle asked as they headed for the luggage carousel.
"I sort of forgot my suitcase at Diana's house," Alexis said, smiling widely.
"If you wanted us to go to her place you could have just said," Castle said, knowing she had done that on purpose.
"So you don't mind? Great, because some of my girlfriends from Berkley are going to be there," Alexis said. "They want to meet Julia."
"Why me?" Julia asked.
"Because I told them all about you," Alexis said, laughing slightly when the little girl blushed deeply and hugged her around the neck. "But it'll be quick, and then we can go to Union Square."
"Is it pretty?" Julia asked.
"The city? It's gorgeous, you're going to love it," Alexis said. "You saw all the pictures I sent, and wait until you see the hotel, I've walked by it a lot."
Listening in as they were waiting to see their luggage, Castle and Beckett shared a smile as Alexis was telling Julia all about the city, knowing it was going to take a while for the little girl's enthusiasm for the city to calm down even though they were finally there.
"Oh, and Dad? Beckett?" Alexis said suddenly as Castle was grabbing Julia's suitcase. "I kind of had to tell Diana's parents something. Hopefully you won't be mad," she said hesitantly as the two looked at her questioningly.
"Pretty amazing you're able to get around so easily," Castle commented.
"You have to learn," Alexis said since she was driving the car she'd brought to pick them up. "Diana shared some tips with me in the city; I'll share them with you if you want to drive?"
"I might leave things to you," Castle said. "We'll need to thank Judy and Daniel for letting us use their car."
"You're not mad I had to tell them about your engagement?" Alexis said, glancing in the mirror at Beckett.
"You told us they pretty much figured it out," Beckett said simply. "So you didn't really tell them. I'm not surprised that they did."
"Me neither, but as long as they won't say anything to anyone else it's fine," Castle assured his daughter.
"Here's the zoo, just past those buildings Julia," Alexis pointed out as they were going up the Great Highway along the coast. "I can't wait to take you there."
"And the beach is here too," Julia said eagerly, trying to lean over her mother though she was in her car seat they'd brought with them. "It's pretty."
"It is, but there's something else coming up you're going to love," Alexis said. She drove along the highway though it was longer, wanting to stay on the coast so the others could see the view and once they were in the Presidio area of the city itself she pointed to the red-orange tower ahead of them.
"That's the bridge!" Julia cried out as she saw. "Oooh, it's so tall!"
"That is pretty amazing," Castle said, taking a picture with his phone as they went through the toll booth. "You don't need to pay?" he asked his daughter.
"No, on the way into the city you do; that's how all the bridges are here, you pay to go in but not to go out," Alexis said. She glanced back at Julia and saw she was taking a picture saying, "Will we get the chance to walk across here?"
"I think we can work it in," Beckett said, looking out the window on the other side and seeing the people walking across on the east side of the bridge.
Winding through the hills of Marin County once they'd gotten off the bridge, Alexis got off at the Sausalito exit and it took a short amount of time before she was parking against the curb in front of a house on the water. "This is it," she said, smiling at her dad. "My home for the past three months."
"Nice," Castle said as they got out of the car.
"You're going to love the view from Diana's room, actually every room at the back of the house has great views," Alexis said, walking arm in arm with her grandmother to the door. "You should see their boat they have, it's in the marina over there, they sail around the bay in the summer, but they took me for dinner one night after I first got here."
"I remember you telling us, they seem to be well off," Martha said as Alexis knocked on the door.
"Very," Alexis said. "But they're really nice; I've been having a lot of fun here. Hey, they're here," she said with a wide smile as her friend opened the door. "You remember everyone of course."
"Hi, it's nice to see you all again," Diana said, stepping aside to let them in. "How was your flight?" she asked Julia. "Alexis told me it's your first time on a plane. And your first time in another state."
"It was fun," the little girl said shyly, holding onto her mother's hand tightly. "I got a little wings," she said, pointing to her shirt.
"How sweet," Diana said before turning to her parents who were waiting behind her. "Sorry, this is my mom and dad, Judy and Daniel, and this is everyone," she said with a slight laugh.
"It's nice to meet you," Diana's father said, shaking Martha's hand. "We've heard a lot about you from our daughter. And we're glad you stopped by."
"So are we, your house is amazing," Castle said as he shook hands with the two.
"Your friends are all here," Judy said to Alexis. "Waiting upstairs in Diana's room for you."
"Want to see where I've been staying?" Alexis asked Julia.
"Yeah," the little girl said, nodding eagerly as she hurried over to the young woman.
"Feel free to join them," Daniel said. "You'll want to see the view from her room."
"Mommy?" Julia asked, stopping before they could leave the entry.
"I'm coming sweetie," Beckett said, surprised it had taken a little for Julia's shyness to come back. She took her daughter's hand and followed Alexis and Diana up the staircase, glancing back at Castle to see he was looking around the family room the stairs were in.
"Hi guys, we're here," Alexis said, entering the bedroom on the third floor of the house. "Though I'm sure Diana told you."
"She did, is that Julia?" one of the three young women sitting in chairs in the room said.
"This is her," Alexis said. "These are my friends Julia. Patty, Lola and Dawn. And this is her mother, Kate Beckett and… Dad," she called out when she looked back out the doorway to see him looking at the windows at the top of the walls on that floor. "This is my dad."
"Sorry, it's nice to meet you," Castle said quickly as he came inside. He wasn't surprised to see Julia was standing with Alexis in front of the other girls, and he glanced at Beckett.
"Go out on the balcony," Diana urged them. "It turned out to be a pretty nice day today."
Walking over to the French doors, Beckett stepped outside and said, "This brings back a lot of memories," as she and Castle stepped outside, the view of San Francisco Bay and the city itself.
"You said you came here to Sausalito," he said as he closed the door behind them to the five inside talking with Julia.
"On the ferry," Beckett said, pointing out a boat that was heading out into the water. "There are a lot of little shops, cafés and the view was pretty much the same ground level, but it's a lot higher up."
"It is amazing," Castle said, standing with her. "And I'm seeing that the streets are steep."
"You knew that already," Beckett said with a smile. "Or is that confirmation?"
"Confirmation, I really hope Alexis is okay to drive," Castle said.
"I'm pretty sure she is now," Beckett said, turning to him. "So does everything meet with your approval?"
"It does, and I'm really glad she found a friend who lives out here," Castle said when he heard the door opening behind them. "Tired of talking with Alexis' friends?" he asked Julia as she came out.
"I wanna see," she said, tugging at his hand. She gasped slightly when Castle picked her up, and looked out at the city across the bay. "Wow," she said in amazement. "When do we go?"
"Dad? Diana's parents have lunch for us if you don't mind eating here," Alexis said, joining them on the balcony.
"That would be fun," Beckett said when Castle looked at her. "We don't need to check in right away."
"No we don't, and is it possible to eat out here?" Castle said as he set Julia back down.
"They have a deck downstairs, you can see the city from there too," Alexis said, leading the way back inside. "You're lucky though, the weather until yesterday has been horrible, cold, rainy and foggy. Didn't you say it was sunny back home?"
"For a few days," Castle said, putting his arm around his daughter's shoulders as everyone was leaving the room.
"Then you brought the good weather with you," Alexis said. "Which is great because there's a lot to do outside especially Chinatown."
"When do we go there?" Julia asked with a little gasp, letting go of her mother's hand to run up to the two.
"Later tonight," Alexis said. "I'll take you all to see the gates, and we'll have dinner there and shop after."
"Can I take pictures?" Julia asked. When her mother, Castle and Alexis all said yes she then asked, "Can I get a doll?"
Laughing a little under her breath as they started down to the first floor at that point, Beckett picked up her daughter and said, "We'll see when we get there. For now, let's get our lunch and sit outside so we can look at the city some more."
"Kay, and then we go to the city right?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded she squirmed a little and said, "I wanna go."
"And we will," Castle said as they walked into the kitchen and joined everyone else as they gathered around the island and the room soon filled with questions to them about their plans for their stay in San Francisco.
Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge again later that afternoon, Alexis took the car back into the city, and to Union Square, telling the others in the car about different places she'd been to the past three months of her stay as they passed them. She was able to reach the valet parking for their hotel, and sighed in obvious relief saying, "It's going to be so nice not to have to look for parking here. It's a nightmare in the city."
"It looks like it," Castle said, getting out and opening the back of the car to let the bellman waiting unload the luggage. When the man had finished he walked over to where Beckett and Julia were looking across the street. "Okay, so this is Union Square," he said as they looked at the large square.
"Just like in Vertigo," Beckett said with a smile.
"Are we ready?" Martha asked as Julia, who was walking over to her then, was looking around interestedly.
"We are," Castle said as a bellman pushed the cart to the doors. He led the way inside and looked around the lobby as he went to the front desk. "I feel weird," he commented to Beckett as they waited for another guest to finish in front of them.
"Why?" she asked.
"Nobody knows me here," Castle said.
"If you still love the city at the end of the trip then they might," Beckett said with a slightly amused smirk on her face.
"You make a good point," Castle said, before he stepped up to the counter. He checked them into their two suites, and they followed the bellman with their things up to the very top floor.
"Your suite," the bellman said, opening the door for them and walking inside.
"I think this is for you," Castle said as they entered and he saw a bedroom at the other end and a second one that was closer to the entry with a sliding door.
"And it's stunning," Martha said, looking around the room and then the view.
"Look at the statue," Julia said excitedly, looking out at the top of the monument in the middle of Union Square.
"We'll be right back sweetie," Beckett said, as she had a feeling her daughter wouldn't want to move from where she was sitting on her knees on the couch at the window. When Julia turned to her she said quickly, "We're just going to get our things set in our room and unpack. If you want to come over just tell Martha or Alexis."
Castle let Beckett leave the room first before he followed, and they went down two doors before the bellman stopped. He stepped inside after her, and saw she was looking around. He soon did the same, seeing the suite was slightly smaller, but no less impressive, especially with its view. After the bellman had set down their suitcases, he tipped him and turned to his fiancée once they were alone. "So, good choice?" he asked as she went into the bedroom.
"A really good choice," Beckett said, looking around the room. "I'm surprised, with it being as old as it is, I wasn't sure what it would look like."
"Then you didn't look at the web site before we came out here, great," Castle said, going to the closet. "So I was able to surprise you… or the hotel was," he quickly amended as she looked over at him.
"Unpack Castle, I'd like to spend a little time outside," Beckett said. "Especially out in the Square, Julia can run around after being cooped up on the plane for five hours."
"Great, I might join her," Castle said as he got his suitcase open and pulled out a coat.
"You will, because you're watching her while we're there," Beckett said simply. She smiled at Castle's expression, and then walked past him as he let his hand slide over her hip in passing.
"You think we should be worried Julia didn't come over to see our room?" Castle was asking a half hour later, lying out on the bed and looking at his phone since he'd finished unpacking.
"Not really, I'm sure your mom and Alexis are keeping her busy," Beckett said. "Or the view. That is an amazing closet; I really wish we were here for more than nine days."
"We can always come back," Castle said, sitting up. "So you're done?"
"Finished," Beckett said, setting the coat in her hands on the dresser across from the bed. She walked over to what she guessed was her side and sat down before she felt Castle moving over to sit next to her. "Wait," she said a little warningly, putting her hand on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned towards her. "We need to spend some time with our family this trip."
"Great, but I wasn't going to take that much time, I would like to go out and explore with Alexis leading the way," Castle said. Before Beckett could say anything to that, he closed the space between them and kissed her, starting out carefully at first.
Allowing him to deepen that kiss without any real way of showing him it was alright; Beckett reached up and cupped his cheek as he carefully slid his tongue over her lower lip. She was just about to part them when his phone suddenly rang, making them both jump apart.
"Too easy to forget where you are. What's wrong Alexis?" Castle asked as he answered his phone, putting it on speaker.
"Nothing, but Gram and I are almost done packing, we're not sure what to do about Julia's clothes though," Alexis said on the other end.
"We're coming right now," Castle said, watching as Beckett stood and grabbed her coat. "Hey, does it get cold at night?"
"Very, there's still fog, so I would bring something heavy if we're staying late in Chinatown," Alexis said.
Saying goodbye to his daughter, Castle went to the closet and grabbed the heaviest coat he had before he followed Beckett out of the suite and down the hall. "What time does Julia have to go to bed this trip?" he asked her.
"I think I'll inch it up to in between nine and nine-thirty," Beckett said. She had to smile for a moment at Castle's surprised expression and explained, "You see how excited she is, I'll be lucky if I can get her at least sleepy by nine-thirty."
"I'll be glad to help," Castle said.
"By doing what? Pillow fight?" Beckett asked.
"If you're involved, sure," Castle said. He smiled when she rolled her eyes, and he went to unlock the suite door with the key he'd taken from the bellman earlier. "Hey, are you guys ready yet to go out?" he said once he followed Beckett inside. "Looks like Julia is," he said when he saw the little girl on her knees on the couch at the window.
"She's been like that the whole time you were in your room," Alexis said, coming out of the room she and Julia were going to share. "I hung up her dresses, but didn't know where you'd want everything else," she said to Beckett since she was holding a t-shirt and a hanger.
"I think I can take over here," Beckett said, taking both items. "Thanks for starting though."
"So what do you think?" Castle asked, sitting next to Julia.
"It's pretty, it looks like home a little bit," the little girl said, turning to look at him. "Can you see this from your room?"
"We can, but we're over to the side just a little more," Castle told her as Alexis joined them.
"This is such an amazing hotel, I actually learned about it in my history class," Alexis told them. "The St. Francis was just the two towers of this building, then after the 1906 earthquake they added on to it and the tower behind us is more recent. But yeah, this survived the earthquake."
"I learned that too," Beckett called from the bedroom.
"You took a history class on California?" Castle asked.
"It was one of the classes that were part of the history requirement at Stanford," Beckett said, walking to the doorway as she was hanging a shirt. "And since I'd had enough world and US history through middle and high school, I decided to be a little more selective in my choice."
"The class at Stanford is pretty much the same as mine," Alexis said. "My professor for that one is an alumni and he based it on his class there. I should have told you, but it slipped my mind."
"You've had a lot of stuff going on lately," Beckett said with a smile before she went back into the room. She listened to Castle talking to Julia and Alexis until she had finished, and when she walked out into the main room she saw that Martha was sitting at the table behind the couch. "So it's three," she said, looking at her watch. "We need to figure out what we're going to do now."
"So is Chinatown walk-able?" Castle directed to Alexis as he went to look at the book his mother was looking at.
"It is," Alexis replied quickly. "It's about two, three minutes tops I think, no big hills, but you might need to carry Julia. Oh, and I know where we're going to eat dinner."
"Okay, so I'd like to take Julia to the Square, run around for a little, there's a café and we can get something to drink while we let her do that," Beckett explained, knowing that Alexis was listening to her as well. "And then we can head to Chinatown."
"And after we eat we shop," Castle said.
"Yes, that's partially why I want to have her bed time later," Beckett said. "That way we can do more."
"You don't think she'll have jet lag?" Martha asked, looking at the map in the back of the book.
"I don't think so," Beckett said with a smile. "You know how much energy she has. Will you be alright walking to Chinatown? It's tough in heels."
"Oh, I've already changed," Martha said. "How is the food here?"
"Well, I don't think we're going to be going somewhere that's five star," Beckett said. "But, the food here is some of the best Chinese I've had. I wish Alexis could have found that restaurant I told you about," she said to Castle, putting her hand on his arm. "They have amazing potstickers and their sesame seed balls are incredible. But wherever we go it shouldn't be too bad."
"Then we should go now," Martha said. "The flight has made me want to stretch my legs, so I will join you at the Square. That and I would love to walk around and explore a little."
"That's what Castle said," Beckett said. "And I'd like to explore as well."
"You said you came here," Martha then said.
"Just to walk to Chinatown," Beckett said with a smile. "And to get a meal or a drink at the café I told you about. Though I do remember one time I went through with a friend, they were having a Tango exhibition in the middle of the square."
"And did you and your friend join in?" Castle asked. When Beckett only looked at him he then said, "And if there's one going on right now would you care to join in with me?"
"Another time, maybe if either one of us had any kind of experience," Beckett said with a slight smile. "Oh, there is one store on the way to Chinatown we need to stop at, if it's open and still there. We need to take Julia."
While the others were talking behind them, Julia leaned closer to the window and looking down at the street said, "Are those the cable cars?"
"Yeah, I can't wait until we go on them, you'll love them, they're so much fun, especially when you go on a really tall hill," Alexis said. She smiled as Julia jumped a little in excitement, and she looked up from the street. As soon as she had, she saw a body, dressed in red and white, falling in front of the window and shrieked as she realized the red was not clothing, but blood and she jumped back from the couch.
"Alexis?" Castle asked as he, Beckett and his mother looked over.
"What happened?" Julia asked as Alexis pulled her off the couch.
"Keep her back there," Beckett said, realizing something was wrong as the young woman looked horrified. She ran over to the window with Castle and looking out, they immediately saw what had scared his daughter.
Down on the sidewalk on the west side of Union Square was the body of a person, blood streaming over the curb and onto Powell Street. Pulling back, Castle and Beckett shared a glance and turned to look at Alexis, who was holding Julia to her tightly as the little girl kept asking what was wrong.