Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, 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 was very happy to get the reviews I did for the last chapter, so want to get to my thank yous! life's a mystery (Great that you thought the last chapter was interesting! And it's nice to see you like the two different suspect angles), Beckett-Castle4ever (Happy to read you thought the last chapter was a good one as always. Glad that you want to find out who the killer is and to see you're wondering if the woman will talk with Beckett. Had to laugh a bit at what you said about Castle getting hurt, but you made a point, he does a lot. And you'll have to see what they'll do with regards to the girls if they see that bruise!), vetgirlmx (Nice to see first off that you too thought the chapter was a good one, and that it very good one as well! It was glad that you think already it's a difficult case. Not a surprise that you're thinking someone's going to be lying of course. So happy that I could surprise you with the affair, baby and attempted suicide, wanted to do that! And not surprised you think it's going to be a long day, and with that had to laugh at what you said about them being all over the place and it only being lunchtime. So glad that you can't wait to read what's next to see where the other half of the paper is as well as any connection to Argentina. And now you don't need to wait anymore!), sammysgirl78 (Really nice to see I have you stumped with this story so far, nice to be able to do that with a case! And concerning what you said about the two people at the end of the story, the guy is someone who hasn't been in the story before and the woman is from the party back in the Christmas story, not surprised you don't remember her as it's been a while since that story!) and MichelleBell16 (It was great reading that you thought the last chapter was a great one. And I was pleased to see that you can't wait to read more, not surprised to see that you can't wait to read about their Christmas, lol). Thanks so much to those of you for sending me your feedback, loved reading all of it and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song When the Night by Paul and Linda McCartney, from the Paul McCartney and Wings album Red Rose Speedway.
Light Of The Night
Looking up at her sister, Eliza listened to her humming and said, "What if Mommy and Daddy come?"
"Do you want me to stop?" Julia asked, unable to help smile at how serious her tone had been.
"Yeah, I wanna see," Eliza replied.
"I hope they do come," Julia said under her breath. She had been surprised when their grandmother had told them their parents were coming home, since she'd just barely gotten home from dance class and was about to start her homework. It was then that she heard the sound of a car on the driveway and her little sister started to cry out happily.
"There!" Eliza said as the car passed them. "Open the door!" she cried to her sister.
"I can't, we'll get in trouble," Julia said, not surprised when Eliza jumped up and down to try and reach the doorknob. But it was too tall for her, so she then pressed up against the window with the toddler saying, "They went to the garage, maybe it's gonna snow."
"Will I play?" Eliza asked, looking up at her.
"I don't know," Julia said. "It depends on if it's cold."
"Do they come here?" Eliza said then, frowning as they looked back out the window. When she saw no sign of their parents she was about to ask her sister to open the door when she was suddenly letting out a short scream as she was picked up. She saw quickly that it was her father, so she turned in his arms crying, "You came!"
"Yes, we decided to see if we could surprise you," Castle said with a laugh as the toddler was kissing his cheek, hugging him tightly.
"I think we managed to," Beckett said, smiling as she was hugging Julia to her. "I'm surprised they didn't try to go out," she said as she looked at Castle's mother who was walking down the hall to them.
"So am I, but Eliza was asking her sister to open the door," Martha replied.
"Daddy, this?" the toddler then said, almost touching Castle's jaw where his bruise had gotten darker.
"It's okay, I was a little bit of a klutz," he replied. "But I'm fine, it doesn't hurt." He had to quickly grab Eliza's hand and said, "Unless you touch it."
"He's alright," Beckett told the girls when they looked to her. "Come here sweetie," she said, holding her arms out to the toddler.
"How come you came back so soon?" Julia asked as she hugged her father then.
"What you want us to leave?" Castle asked jokingly.
"No! But you don't come until it's starting to get dark now," Julia replied.
"We did as much work as we could with the case today," Beckett said. "So we could leave early."
"Does it snow now?" Eliza asked hopefully.
"Let's get some cider," Castle said quickly since they were still standing in the entry. "They didn't have a snack yet did they?"
"No, no, you texted me before I could get it," Martha replied as she followed them to the kitchen.
"Okay, so about that snow, the clouds are looking pretty dark, so it might snow like it did last night," Castle replied.
"Could we play in it?" Julia asked as she went to the door to look out.
"I don't know if you'd get enough to do that much," Beckett said, setting Eliza on one of the chairs at the island and standing with her. "But we could walk out for a little. Didn't you play outside today at school?"
"Yeah, but still," Julia said.
Smiling at the way she'd said that, Castle said. "Better start your homework sweetheart, just in case it doesn't snow so you can head out and play with your sister."
"How do you know I'm going to agree to that?" Beckett asked him teasingly as Eliza held her arms out to her. She set the toddler down and watched her run after her sister who went to get her backpack.
"A guess?" Castle suggested, putting the cider mix into the bottoms of the mugs he'd set out. "A lucky guess?"
"A lucky one," Beckett said, shaking her head though she was smiling slightly. She turned to Martha then and said, "You're freed up from watching them now if you'd like to do anything."
"Oh no, I'm fine," Castle's mother said. "I won't have any plans until the weekend, when the parties are being held, so I'm sticking around here."
"The girls will be happy to hear that," Castle said before he heard Julia talking.
"That book is too big for you," the little girl was protesting. "Mommy, she wouldn't put it down."
"Here, your math book?" Beckett asked as she took it from Eliza.
"Yeah," Julia said. "I have to work on fractions again."
"Hopefully you remember how we helped you yesterday," Beckett told her.
"I do," Julia replied. "And that's it."
"That's it? You got off light today," Castle told her as he was setting the mugs on the table. "Love, the shortbread-"
"That's fine," Beckett said. "But just one, and Eliza and I will split one together."
After getting the small cookies, Castle went back to the table, sitting with his family as his mother and wife were talking while Julia had begun her homework. He had sat next to Beckett when Eliza called to him and looked at her he was surprised to see that she looked a little unsure to speak again. "What is it?" he asked.
"Do I tell Jules?" the toddler asked.
"Tell me what?" Julia asked, hearing her name and looking up.
"Oh, about their visit," Beckett replied. "Your sister and gram stopped by the station today."
"Sorry," Eliza said.
"That's okay," Julia said with a smile at the concerned look on her sister's face. "I went there before."
"She did?" Martha asked.
"The open house they had when they finished building the new station," Castle reminded her. "She enjoyed it."
"Yeah, except for the…" Julia started to say before she looked to her mother for confirmation.
"Gun range, I'm not surprised you didn't," Beckett replied.
"They were firing weapons that day?" Martha said, looking startled.
"No, I didn't like the stuff in the back," Julia said. But she then started to smile and she turned to her father who glanced back at her in surprise.
"Wh- oh you told her about that?" Castle asked with a slight laugh as he realized what the little girl was talking about.
"Did you really have to trick Mommy?" Julia asked.
"Not really, but back then I liked to get her attention by making her just a little irritated at me," Castle said. "And I really wanted to see those pictures for the case."
"I don't know if that's the kind of attention you wanted though," Beckett said. "How's your homework going?" she then asked Julia to change the subject.
"Good," the little girl said.
"What're you thinking?" Castle asked since her tone slowed down. "Or are you having problems with… a problem?"
Smiling at her father at that, Julia shook her head and said, "I wish we could go get the fabric for our dresses today."
"We could," Martha said. "We could leave your parents alone-"
"I think I'll go with you," Beckett said, interrupting her.
"You will?" Julia asked, trying not to laugh as her sister looked so eager.
"Yeah, plus I'll help your gram control the two of you," Beckett said teasingly. "Rick?"
"I'll stay, I could start dinner," Castle said.
"Okay, so as soon as you finish sweetie," Beckett told Julia. "And don't rush so quickly you make mistakes," she said hurriedly as the little girl's head turned down to her paper swiftly.
"I know, 'cause you're going to check it right?" Julia asked as she was reading her next problem.
"I am," Beckett said before she got up and went to Eliza in her high chair, kissing the top of her head. With that she went into the kitchen where Castle was looking through the fridge. "Do you need us to pick up something at the market?"
"I think I'm good," Castle said slowly before he closed the door.
"Do I get a hint?" Beckett asked.
"You'll see," Castle replied. "I'm surprised you want to go."
"I have the chance to spend time with them," Beckett said. At that point her phone rang and she quickly answered it saying, "Charlie, hey, is something wrong with Thunder?" looking up at her husband as he went over to her to lean close and listen in.
"No, no," the man said before she had finished saying that. "I wanted to let you know that Thunder was actually sold this morning and they wanted me to give their respects to who trained him, they love him."
"Oh… you sold him…" Beckett started to say before she slowed down. She felt Castle's hand on her back and then quickly said, "That's great, I'm glad he turned out that well for them."
"I'm wondering if I might call you again if I ever have a horse like him? I could split the money with you from any sales, or else take off some of your dues for the stables," Charlie said.
"We can talk about that later, if there is ever another horse that needs the same kind of help," Beckett replied. She then said goodbye to the man before glancing at the table, seeing that the girls both had slightly saddened looks on their faces. "It's alright you two," she said comfortingly, pouncing on the chance to ignore the disappointment she felt. "As long as I can ride a horse I don't care which one it is."
"Julia's finished," Martha said. "And we're all done with our cider."
"Gram, wanna go," Eliza said, reaching out to her.
"We'll head out in a second," Beckett said absently, looking at the answers to the problems on Julia's paper. "We'll go right now, great job sweetie," she said with a smile as she gave the sheet back to her. "Pack up while I bundle your sister to go."
Eliza; handed over to her mother from her grandmother; said, "Not cold Mommy."
"I know, but when we get out you will be," Beckett told her seriously before she smiled as the toddler kissed her cheek. "Thank you, do you know what color you want your dress to be?" she asked as she sat down on the bench at the foyer. She looked up at Castle as he knelt in front of her, getting Eliza's shoe on. It was then their youngest was lightly tugging her pendant and she said, "That color? We'll look out for it."
"Okay, you're set," Castle said as he stood up.
"Rick-" Beckett started to say when she saw him wincing for a moment.
"I'll get it when you go," Castle told her quickly. "Let me get her ready for you."
Sighing slightly, Beckett let Eliza slide off her lap before she stood to get her red coat back on. Getting her scarf set underneath it she kept her eye on her husband and their daughter before he had their youngest ready. "Come here-" she started to say, about to bend down to pick her up.
"Daddy it's cold," Julia said when he picked up her little sister, having been putting on her things with Martha next to them.
"We're going to the garage so I won't be cold," Castle told her quickly as he carried Eliza.
"If you need anything, call me," Beckett said when they had gotten into the garage and she was watching him put the toddler into her car seat.
"Some fabric?" Castle asked as he stood up. When she just gave him a look, her eyebrow raised, he said quickly, "Got it. Have fun over there." He kissed her briefly, chancing that before he let her get inside. He watched them go, unable to help shivering in the cold as he saw that it was starting to lightly snow as the car turned to leave the driveway. Shaking himself then he went back into the house after closing the door, focused on the meal he wanted to try and make for the first time.
During the ride to the fabric store, Beckett was able to look back at her daughters every so often since Martha was driving. She had to smile as they were having a conversation about the Christmas lights that Eliza had yet to see. "We'll try and take you this year," she told the toddler, smiling when the two looked at her in surprise at her contribution. "But you know what it looks like; you've seen your sister's pictures."
"It's not the same Mommy," Julia protested.
"I know but she's still young, the cold is going to affect her more, remember?" Beckett said.
Looking back and forth between her mother and sister, Eliza finally said, "I want to go."
"We'll see," Beckett said soothingly, reaching back and squeezing her leg gently.
"Okay, we're here, now I think we should try some silks with them," Martha said as she was parking the car.
"Silk… for play dresses?" Beckett asked slightly doubtfully.
"They're not that rough with their costumes," Martha said as she helped Julia out while Eliza was unbuckled from her seat by her mother. "Every time I come I think to myself these two aren't even wearing them. I only have what you tell me to know they are dressing up."
"We are Gram," Julia giggled as they walked into the store. She squeezed her hand and said anxiously, "Where do we look first?"
"The silks are over here," Martha replied, taking Julia over to the bolts of fabric. "Now, you said you wanted to get something blue…" she began.
Watching the two, Beckett looked down at Eliza who was pulling at her hand slightly and said, "Hold on sweetie, wait until they pick something for your sister."
"Colors are pretty," Eliza said eagerly, looking up at her mother.
"Kate," Martha called to her. "Julia liked this shade, and I have to say I do as well, it makes her eyes much greener."
"I think we all like the color," Beckett said, looking at the rich blue fabric that Eliza was lightly touching.
"You think Daddy will?" Julia said, biting her lower lip.
"He will, now it's your turn," Beckett said, directing the last to Eliza.
Going to her grandmother eagerly, the toddler looked over the shades of blue they were in front of. "That Gram," she said, pointing to one above her.
"This?" Martha said, taking down the light blue bolt. When Eliza nodded eagerly she smiled saying, "You have a good eye for colors already, you'll take after me I believe."
"For what?" Julia asked in slight confusion.
"Perhaps making costumes as well," Castle's mother said absently as she took the two bolts. "Now, for some ribbons."
"Are you going to trim them?" Beckett asked.
"No, no, for sashes," Martha replied. "Julia, what do you think of a white ribbon for yours?"
"I want too, Gram," Eliza said quickly as her sister was nodding.
"So you don't mind matching with that?" Martha asked with a smile. When the two shook their heads at the same time she leaned down to kiss them both saying, "I'm so glad I came when I did."
"Me too," Eliza said, her big sister echoing her.
"Alright, I'll take care of this," Martha said, holding up a roll of white ribbon that the girls nodded to. "Look around," she urged the three. "It might take me some time to get everything set."
"When did you take their measurements?" Beckett asked.
"When we got home," Martha said simply as she set the fabric and ribbon on a table.
"Can we go look around Mommy?" Julia asked.
"Yes, we'll be around," Beckett told her mother in law before she picked up Eliza and took Julia's hand with her free one.
"Mommy," the little girl said as they came to some patterned fabrics. "Will you work tomorrow?"
"We need to," Beckett replied. "Do you mind?"
"No, I have to go to school anyway," Julia said. "Lizzy was asking if she was going to get to play with Gram again."
"She will," Beckett said with a smile. "How come you couldn't tell me?" she asked the toddler.
"She didn't want you and Daddy to be jealous of Gram," Julia told her as her little sister buried her face into their mother's shoulder.
"It's alright," Beckett assured the toddler. "You don't get to see your Gram for that long when she comes for the weekend, so I don't blame you both for wanting to spend as much time with her as you can."
"How did you know I-" Julia started to say.
"I could tell sweetie," Beckett said, setting Eliza down then. "And also, the same with your grandpapa when he comes over." She then turned to her youngest and said, "Eliza, don't pull on the fabric."
Frowning as she had wanted to see more of the pattern with animals on it, the toddler walked ahead of her mother and sister before she then ran to Martha. "Do we go now?" she asked, flinging her arms around her grandmother.
"After I pay," Martha assured her. "Would you like to come with me?"
"Yeah," Eliza said happily, taking her hand.
"So how was your dance class today?" Beckett asked Julia as they were left alone.
"Okay," the little girl replied. When her mother asked if something was wrong, Julia quickly said, "I had some trouble with the pivot."
"Well, Jennifer had that same problem in her Samba didn't she?" Beckett asked with a smile.
"I thought of that too," Julia said, leaning against her mother. "Can I show you and Daddy something after dinner?"
"Of course, you know we want to see everything you do," Beckett assured her. "I think we should go, your gram is done." She took her daughter's hand and walking out to the car she looked up at the snow.
"Mommy-" Julia started to say.
"Let's wait and see how it is at home," Beckett replied. "I'll drive this time," she said to her mother in law.
"I think I'll sit back with the girls, if you won't be lonely up front by yourself," Martha said as she was holding Eliza when they got to the car.
"Go ahead," Beckett said, letting her take the girls in the back as she made her way to the front. She set off for home, listening with a smile to three talking about the dresses that Martha was going to make with the fabric on the driver's seat next to her.
Setting something into the oven, Castle heard someone walking up to him and he turned to see it was his wife. "Hey, how was it?" he asked.
"Very well, they're going up to check on some patterns online already," Beckett said with a smile. "Are you doing something right now?"
"I… no," Castle said, starting to look over at the stove before his gaze snagged on the expression on his wife's face. He reached out for her as she stepped into his embrace, noticing for a second that she still had her coat on before they were suddenly kissing hungrily. He groaned as he held her close while their tongues began to flick against each other inside of his mouth.
Beckett was a little frustrated when they had to end the kiss to breathe but she smiled when her husband was a little frantic in pulling her scarf enough away from her neck to give him access to it. She sighed as he kissed at her pulse and she whispered, "Tonight."
"I know," Castle told her, feeling the same desire that was in her tone of voice. He kissed her then, but kept it very quick as he could hear the others coming down the stairs. "Hey, you must have gotten some great fabric," he told the girls as they hurried over to him while Beckett went to take off her coat and put it away. "Didn't even- oof," he grunted as they threw their arms around his waist tightly at the same time. "I'm glad to see you too, both of you," he said as he knelt to hug them and kiss their cheeks quickly. "Now, show me what you got."
"I wonder if I shouldn't have had you two go," Martha commented as she met Beckett at the end of the staircase.
"It was a fun trip," she assured her mother in law. "And Rick wanted to make dinner so…"
"Do you have the patterns?" Julia asked as she saw them walking over to the kitchen.
"You found them already?" Castle asked. "Again Mother, you're so much quicker with them than you were with me."
"Richard, you're a grown man now, I would suggest that you let it go," Martha said in a mock-stern voice.
"Alright," Castle said with a suffering sigh that had no real distress in it. "Show us what you found."
Taking the pieces of paper with pictures on them, Julia said, "That one's mine, and that's gonna be Eliza's."
"Wait," Beckett said as she and Castle exchanged a glance then. "You got the fabric without a pattern or measurements."
"There will be scraps," Martha said, nodding. "Which I won't mind. Now, can they go outside?"
"I think we should," Castle said, looking out with the others to see the snow falling still.
"But you come inside when we say it's time to," Beckett said. "Or when I say since I get the feeling already your daddy would let you stay out as long as possible."
"Well… you got me there," Castle said before he nodded. "We'll listen to you love."
"And dinner?" Martha asked.
"It's fine, it's in the stove," Castle said as he took Julia over to the entry. "Are you coming out?" he asked his mother.
"I'll step out for a moment," Martha said, having followed them. "To see what you get up to."
"Great, when you come back in, do you mind opening a bottle of wine?" Castle asked, throwing on his jacket while Julia was putting on her scarf.
"My choice?" Martha asked. When her son nodded she smiled and buttoned up her own coat before she followed them out into the back.
Beckett watched as Julia ran out onto the grass, hidden by the snow, and wasn't surprised when she tilted her head back to try and catch the snowflakes on her tongue. She laughed softly when Eliza let go of her hand to hurry over and started to try and mimic her sister, pulling her scarf out of the way.
"I don't get any," the toddler complained.
"Yeah you did," Julia replied, taking her sister's hands. "They just melted, it's like ice cream."
"Oh," Eliza said, looking up. She then said, "What do we play?"
"Let's see if we can make snow angels," Julia said. She had to help her sister lay down, but soon she was lying back with her, running her arms and legs up and down. She was startled to see their dad coming over and asked, "Can she do it?"
"I don't think so," Castle said, hurriedly moving the toddler's arms and then legs. He picked her up and said, "Look down now."
"Pretty!" Eliza said, seeing the two snow angels. "Play again!"
"Why don't we make the first snowman of December?" Beckett suggested since she didn't want her youngest lying on the snow again.
"Yeah, make the bottom with me Mommy!" Julia cried as she ran towards the side of the lawn to gather up the snow there.
Martha watched the family with a smile on her face before cold drove her into the house. But she remained at the doors for a moment, watching as her son made a small head for the snowman while Beckett and Julia were preparing the base. As Eliza threw some snow in the air over Castle, she laughed softly and then left as he was taking his youngest daughter in his arms, hugging her tightly before they finished the snowman.
"Okay, so I think we did a pretty good job considering we don't have that much snow," Beckett said as they studied what they'd made.
"He's naked," Julia said, looking up at her parents.
"He's going to need to be," Castle said. "She's shaking love," he told his wife.
"Go," Beckett said quickly, seeing that Eliza was shivering in his arms.
"Don't say I have to go too," Julia protested as her mother took her hand.
"We can't really do anything else out here," Beckett said firmly. "Plus you have to be cold too."
"I am… a little," Julia admitted.
"I'll get you two something warm to drink," Castle was saying as he was getting Eliza's coat off of her inside the house. "Not hot chocolate, because-"
"I'll make some cider for them again," Beckett said, helping Julia with her things.
"What about you?" Castle asked as the two girls left them to go find their grandmother.
"What about me?" Beckett asked in amusement as he slid her scarf from off her shoulders.
"Cold?" Castle said.
"Oh, freezing," Beckett said jokingly. She put her hands on her husband's chest then, stopping him from getting any closer saying, "I wish we had the chance but…"
"The girls… oh, and dinner. How long were we outside?" Castle asked rhetorically as he took her hand and led her to the kitchen. Before he let it go to check on the stove her kissed the back of her hand and watched as she glanced at him before going to the stove.
"It's not very tall," Julia was saying to Martha who she was leaning against at the kitchen table. "But it's still a good snowman."
"Your first one wasn't it?" Martha asked Eliza who was on her lap.
"Yeah, I wanna make more," the toddler said with a wide smile before she giggled. "I made snow!"
"I saw that," Martha said, cuddling her close. "Oh, here you are, now you'll warm up," she said as Beckett came over with a mug. "They're sharing?"
"Can you help her with that?" she asked her mother in law.
"Go talk with my son about… whatever you'd like, I'll take care of them," Martha said, waving her hand at her.
Smiling, Beckett kissed the girls quickly before she went over to Castle at the oven, looking at what he was taking out of it. "Really?" she asked with a smile.
"You know how interested in it Julia was," Castle replied, looking at his first attempt at Cornish pasties. "I think they look pretty good. Smell good too," he said, glancing at his wife.
"They do, should we eat now?" Beckett asked, looking at her watch. "We were outside longer than I thought we were. Julia, Eliza," she called before going over to their daughters.
With that the table was set and after everyone had been served, Castle urged his wife to be the first to taste his concoction and when Beckett had given it her approval the others began to eat and the discussion went to Julia as dinners during the week often did, the adults inquiring about her day.
"So we're going to get a demonstration tonight?" Castle asked as Julia was getting some of the steak and potato from the pasty onto her plate.
"Yeah… can I show you and Mommy how to do something?" the little girl asked.
"What? The pivot," Beckett said, sharing a look with her husband as she'd told him what Julia had talked to her about at the fabric store.
"No, something else, it's-" Julia started to say.
"The roll?" Castle guessed. When the little girl blushed slightly before nodding he said, "I don't think we could do that sweetheart."
"We're not the dancers here, that's you," Beckett said gently.
"But could you maybe try?" Julia suddenly begged. "I would love to see it in person, and you're tall enough to do that Daddy."
"She's right, Peter at the moment is a little too short; meaning he's the same height as her," Martha said as she was cleaning Eliza's fingers of some of the potato she'd mashed herself with them. "It's awkward for them to try."
"What, you want us to try that move?" Castle asked.
"It would be interesting," Martha said, the amusement in the idea filling her tone.
"Well…" Castle said, looking at his wife questioningly.
"Alright," Beckett said, sighing in slight frustration as the others were all looking at her. "We'll try it. But," she said quickly when Julia looked eager at that. "We'll try it once."
"Why not three times? As they say, third time is the charm," Martha said. "And as I say, third time doing a roll makes it Samba."
"Since when do you say that?" Castle asked, his eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Since I decided it'd be good for you two to try to dance," Martha replied.
"We'll try," Beckett said firmly. "I'd say you should dance for us Julia."
"I can't dance without Peter," she protested though she was smiling.
Castle, taking a sip of wine then, wondered why it was so quiet around the table when he set down his glass, seeing that his wife was pointing at him. "Oh sure love, I'm hesitant about doing a Samba roll, you think I'll suddenly turn into Fred Astaire dancing with Julia."
"That would be so cool," Julia said her eyes wide.
"Yeah," Eliza said, her already wide eyes wider as she mimicked her sister. She smiled as the others laughed at her then and she asked, "Why? Mommy, Daddy, why?"
"Because we love you sweetie," Beckett answered. "And Fred Astaire is the dancer we've watched in movies remember?"
"Daddy dances like that?" Eliza asked, her eyes growing wide again.
"That would be nice," Castle said.
"I doubt I'd turn into Ginger Rodgers, but you're right, it would be nice," Beckett said with a smile. "Okay, let's finish up and go try to dance since I'm guessing we're not going to be able to get out of it," she commented.
Finishing up their food, Martha helped Julia clear the table while Castle and Beckett started to clean at the sink; all of them watching Eliza trying to waltz with an invisible partner.
"You're sure she doesn't want to dance?" Martha asked her son and daughter in law.
"We're sure, but only for right now," Castle said, taking a plate from his wife to put into the dishwasher. "If she wants to try when she's older you know we'll enroll her in Julia's dance class."
"Of course," Martha said. "Well, they don't need us anymore kiddos," she said to Julia and Eliza; who quickly stopped dancing at that. "Why don't we scout out the family room, make sure that it's ready for your parents; and you as well Julia?"
"I go and scow!" Eliza cried before running to the room.
"I wonder if she knows that means a boat," Castle said as his mother and Julia left in a hurry to follow.
"Here," Beckett said, handing him the forks she'd cleaned. "Are we really going to do that?"
"Look at it this way love, she wants us to do it, so we should just give it a shot," Castle said. When his wife stopped and turned to him he asked, "What?" wondering at the look on her face.
"You just want me pressed back against you," Beckett said.
"No I don't," Castle said quickly.
"You just lost your poker face you pervert," Beckett said, turning back to the sink, though she was smiling; unable to help it. She laughed softly when Castle's lips suddenly pressed to the side of her neck and said, "Here, this is the last of it, we can go now." She watched him close the dishwasher before washing his hands hurriedly and once they were dry she took his hand, pulling him to the family room where the others were waiting, the girls what looked like anxiously, for them.
"So, I guess we're dancing tonight Kate," Castle told her as Julia jumped up and handed him the remote for the TV. "Or wait… we're watching a movie now?"
"No," the little girl said firmly. "You should watch Derek do it first and then you can try."
"I think she's a little nervous instructing you two," Martha said with a smile.
"Jennifer's Samba?" Beckett asked. She smiled when Julia nodded and then saw out of the corner of her eye that Eliza was slipping off her grandmother's lap. "You sure you don't want to try the roll with your sister?" she asked teasingly.
"I'm too tall for her," Julia said simply. She then turned to her mother and said, "Just once Mommy? I know you don't dance like this but I want to see if you can do it."
"Just once," Beckett said, not surprised that she'd picked up on her reluctance still.
"Okay, here we are," Castle said. "But should I just go straight to-"
"No! Watch the whole dance," Julia said, pretending to be stern. When her father jumped a little in mock surprise she giggled and said, "Please? And you should stand here behind Mommy," taking his hand and tugging at it.
Smiling when she felt her husband's hand coming up to rest on her abdomen, Beckett said, "We've seen this clip so many times…"
"I know," Castle was able to say before it began.
"See?" Julia said when the dance finished. "You bend over and roll around, make sure not too much or you're gonna fall over."
"Did someone do that in your class?" Castle asked in amusement.
"Yeah, they were okay though," Julia said. "We all started to laugh because it feels silly doing it when you don't have music."
"Should we have some music then?" Castle suggested.
"We're just doing one move love," Beckett said. "Which we should go ahead and do."
"Alright," Castle said. "Ready?" he then asked, whispering in her ear.
Julia watched as her parents went through a Samba roll, but very slowly. When they'd stopped she winced when her mother touched her side and asked, "Did you stretch too far?"
"No, I'm okay, I think I'm too old for this though," Beckett said jokingly.
"Jennifer was fifty when she did that," Julia pointed out.
"I'm kidding," Beckett said with a smile. She turned to her husband and when he nodded slightly she went over to the couch, not surprised when Eliza ran to her, throwing her arms around her neck. "Do you think we did a good job?" she asked the toddler.
"Yeah," Eliza replied with a giggle.
"Oh, got a text from Alexis…" Castle was saying then as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "She wants to call us now, are we ready?" When the girls scrambled to sit on the coffee table, facing the TV, he smiled and ruffled Eliza's hair as he went to get Skype set up. "Hey sweetheart," he said when he saw his daughter on the screen.
"Hey, everyone's there," Alexis said with a slight laugh. "Hi Jules, Lizzy."
"Hi 'lexis," Julia said as her little sister was waving frantically.
"How're you doing kiddo?" Martha asked.
"Pretty well, sorry about not calling yesterday, but that essay was due today… had to get it done," Alexis said.
"She's turning into me," Castle said to his wife.
"I'm not," Alexis said wryly. "I needed to check and make sure everything was okay, plus I had a ton of regular homework too. But I'm here now."
"When are you home?" Eliza asked then.
"Soon, I promise I'll come home soon," Alexis said. "In fact… Dad, Kate, would you mind if I came this Friday and stayed for the weekend?"
"It's your home too Alexis," Beckett told her quickly before Castle could say anything. "You don't need our permission."
"Still, I'd like to give you fair warning," the young woman replied with a smile as her dad's wife had spoken very seriously.
"She's right though, it's home and you can come whenever you like. All I ask is that you let us know what time you leave, just so we can be ready to greet you," Castle said.
"Then I'm coming home this weekend," Alexis said. She smiled as the girls cried out in joy at that before she said, "How's it been going in school Jules?"
Quickly recapping the last two days, Julia then said, "And just now Mommy and Daddy did a Samba roll. It was slow, but they did it."
"Really?" Alexis asked in surprise, looking over at the two of them.
"Mind you she said slow," Castle said.
"So what, does this mean you're going to start taking ballroom now?" Alexis asked in obvious amusement.
"That would be awesome," Castle said. "We'll get you some shoes like Julia has, learn some…" he trailed off at the look his wife was giving him then since he'd been talking to her before turning back to the screen. "Never mind."
"What have you been doing with Gram, Eliza?" Alexis asked her then.
As Martha and Eliza talked about that day, Beckett leaned over to her husband and murmured into his ear, "We'll talk about that later."
"I thought so," Castle replied. He then turned back to the others and waited until the girls had stopped talking about their costumes that Martha was going to make for them before saying, "How goes the internship?"
"Pretty well," Alexis replied. "Though I really wish I could just be a doctor."
"After this school year… and two more years," Castle said. "You will be."
"You'll be the best," Julia then said. "I wish you could have been mine when I was little."
"I couldn't really Jules, but still, you helped me decide what I wanted to be, so I have to thank you for that," Alexis said with a smile.
"I want to do that too," Eliza said.
"Wait until you get older to decide," Alexis said, looking over at her. "Okay, I should go; Diana's calling me to go with her to get some pizza for dinner."
"Will we talk tomorrow?" Julia asked.
"I'll see how my homework looks," Alexis replied. "But I love you two and don't forget, I'm coming this weekend."
"Bye," Eliza said, waving again as her sister echoed her.
"Take care kiddo," Martha called. "And don't forget to take some breaks here and there."
"I will, bye Gram," Alexis said with a smile. "Bye Dad, Kate."
Saying the same to her, Beckett watched as Castle got the TV back to its normal screen and asked, "Should we put them to bed?"
Sharing a laugh with his wife as their daughters nearly glared at them at the same time, Castle said, "I think that's a no."
"Fair enough, but sweetie," Beckett said, looking at Eliza. "You will need to go to bed soon."
"No," the toddler said, looking determined.
"Eerie," Castle said then. When the others looked at him he said to his wife, "She looks like you do in that picture your dad took around that age."
"Pick out a game with them," Beckett said, shaking her head though she was smiling. She watched him go to the cabinet where they kept most of their daughters' games, and she watched him "discuss" the pros and cons of the ones that Eliza could play. "Did you find one?" she asked when they'd turned around.
"Yes, but I'm sure you expected it," Castle said as he set down Candyland.
"I did," Beckett said, smiling as Eliza sat next to her sister on the other side of the coffee table while Castle sat with her. "Are you going to play with us Martha?" she asked her mother in law.
"I'll watch this time around," she replied. "And root for my granddaughters."
"But not your son," Castle said in feigned irritation as he was shuffling the cards that came with the game.
"I've done that already, it's their turn Richard," Martha said simply, knowing he was joking.
"Of course," Castle said. "Alright, go ahead sweetheart," he told Eliza.
Wriggling where she was sitting on her knees, the toddler picked up the first card and cried, "'range!"
"Orange," Castle and Julia said at the same time.
"Can you make the o sound?" Julia then told her little sister. "O," she said, showing her how to shape her mouth.
"Ooo," Eliza said, reaching up and touching her sister's lips before Julia laughed softly. "O-range," she then said slowly.
"Not bad," Beckett said. "How many spaces do you have to go on?" she then asked as they used the game to help her count as well as teaching her about colors.
"One, two, three, fo-our, five," Eliza counted slowly, going on the board.
"Very nice, and you were so close to going up the peppermint pass," Castle said. "No, no," he said as she pretended to grab her game piece to move it back. "Can't go there yet, go ahead Julia," he said as Eliza was giggling.
"I got two yellows," the little girl said, getting her card.
"How much?" Eliza said eagerly, leaning over to see the card.
"I'll count," Julia said before she proceeded to do that. She counted out to ten before reaching her square and said, "That's this many," holding up both her hands.
"A lot?" Eliza asked.
"A lot, your sister isn't even that old yet," Beckett commented as she picked her card next.
"Oh, well, now we know who's going to win," Castle said as she got a card with an ice cream cone on it.
"I don't know," Martha said, a smile on her face as she was watching them. "It's only the first picture on the board."
"Yeah, what if you get the chocolate candy? That's almost to the top," Julia said.
"Since I can't argue with logic like that," Castle said. "I'll go ahead and pick my card… oh, double green," he said, showing Eliza. He counted out to thirteen for the toddler, and said, "Alright, your turn again."
The game proceeded, a little slowly since Castle and Beckett tried to get their daughter to count out loud as much as she could. When one of them had finally reached the end of the board, it turned out to be Julia, who laughed as her little sister wrapped her arms around her, kissing her cheek and crying that she'd won which made them all laugh at her exuberance.
Beckett motioned for Castle to start picking up the game before she then said, "We need to get you upstairs sweetie."
"I-" Eliza started to say.
"I know, you don't want to go to bed yet," Beckett said. "But you need to, plus you need to take a bath."
Sighing as Julia stood up and then picked her up, Eliza made a sound of protest when their mother took her and she said, "I go with Jules."
"You're getting a little too big for her to carry now," Beckett said quickly, kissing her forehead. "Martha?"
"I'll be up to say goodnight," Castle's mother said as she was going over to the coffee table. "I'll take care of this, go," she told him, taking over in putting the game away.
With a quick thanks to her, Castle followed Julia who was following Becket and Eliza upstairs. When they reached their youngest's room he asked, "Want me to do it?"
"It depends on her," Beckett said. She smiled as Eliza got a slightly doubtful look on her face considering the two of them, before pointing to her father. "I had a feeling," she said with a smile. She sat down, watching as Castle got the water started as Eliza was watching her sister. "So it helped we did it in front of you?" she asked in amusement as Julia was trying to do a Samba roll without a partner.
"A lot," Julia said, nodding. "But I have to do it a lot faster."
"You'll get it," Castle said. "That was actually pretty fun to do."
"You should try dancing the whole Samba," Julia said.
"Yeah, you and Daddy kiss," Eliza said, her voice muffled by her father taking off her sweater.
"You think we'd automatically kiss doing that?" Castle asked, nearly laughing at her serious tone.
"Yeah," Eliza said.
"So we have to think of something to do this weekend with your big sister," Beckett said. "Rick?"
"Yes love?" Castle asked, getting their daughter into the tub.
"Would you like to head out to dinner Saturday night? That is if Alexis doesn't want to do something herself," Beckett said.
"I would love to," Castle replied before he murmured an apology to Eliza as some water splashed her face while he was washing her hair. "There's that new Iranian place that opened up two towns over."
"That would be nice to try out. Do you two want to have dinner with your sister?" Beckett asked, more to hear the tone of their replies than to hear them say yes as she already knew they'd agree to that plan. "Okay, we'll tell Alexis the next time we talk to her." She watched as Castle finished washing Eliza's hair before having her help him wash her body with her soap, smiling as the toddler giggled at him tickling her feet. Once she was finished she took their daughter into her arms, wrapped up in the towel she'd dried her with as thoroughly as she could. "We'll be outside," she said to her husband after she'd gotten Eliza into her pajamas and was carrying her into the bedroom, Julia trailing behind them.
Watching them, Castle smiled as he could see from where he was standing that Beckett had gone to the rocking chair that they kept in the room as it was a great help some nights getting the two year old to sleep. He couldn't help but remember the first time he'd seen that same tableau; Beckett holding their youngest, while Julia leaned against the arm of the chair, watching her little sister with a smile on her face; even though it had been two and a half years since it'd happened.