Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: I was pleased to get feedback for the last chapter, so I'll go ahead and get to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (I'm really happy that you thought the title of the chapter fit what was in it so well, I do try to have a connection to the chapter in some form. I wasn't surprised to see you say that Castle was so caring after the first half of the chapter, it makes sense after what I had him do for Beckett. It was interesting to see that you could connect to how Castle was pampering Beckett since you had an ex would do that. And you're right it is relaxing and can be more. I wasn't surprised you thought it was true what Darnley said about Julia with Castle, since an outsider would think that. Great you're happy that Julia was able to trust both him and her grandfather. But I didn't think it would have been an issue for her to trust Jim since she would see him more often as it's Beckett's father. I was pleased reading you thought the second half of the chapter was really cute. I was relieved that you enjoyed Julia's reaction to Will and Grace, I wasn't sure if readers would think she was too young for it yet, so glad to see you enjoyed it when it first came out at your age. And since you're from the city I'm not surprised you could picture the dynamic. Oh, also not surprised you were super happy when the show came back; I love the show myself though I was a little late in watching it (I started watching season 5 and have loved it ever since), I love it being back too! To answer your question, Nkosi was born in South Africa and I put that he moved to the US with his parents when he was four years old, so he still has an accent from there. And of course, really happy you thought it was great writing as usual! And it was a very nice review, seems like you got everything with it!) and

TORONTOSUN (It was nice to see that you liked how happy Beckett was in both halves of the chapter. I figured she would be after what went on in them!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and am grateful for 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 It's Johnny's Birthday written by Bill Martin, Phil Coulter and George Harrison, from George's album All Things Must Pass.

All The Very Best

"Now you have to tell us," Julia said as her father pulled away from the curb. "We're almost there."

"How do you know where we're going is in Rochester?" Castle asked in amusement, looking back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Why else would we come here?" Julia asked quickly.

"She's getting too smart," Castle told his wife.

"That's her logic working," Beckett replied simply. "And we'll get there soon."

Sitting back fully with a slight huff Julia said, "You should tell us."

"Believe me, none of the other kids know where we're going," Castle said.

"But the grownups do," Julia said.

"They needed to know," Beckett then told her. "Don't pout sweetie you are eleven, aren't you?"

"Does that mean I'm a grown up now?" Julia asked hopefully.

"She's got you there," Castle said.

"No, she doesn't," Beckett said, rolling her eyes. "No Julia, it just means you need to start learning to be patient." She couldn't help smiling when her daughter crossed her eyes at her and said, "Believe me I was the same way when I was your age."

"Yeah?" Eliza asked as she'd been listening to them.

"Of course," Beckett replied.

"What about when you were five?" Eliza asked.

"I was the same way as you," Beckett said, reaching back to her and squeezing her leg. She lingered looking back at both her daughters for a little longer before she looked forward and then said, "According to my parents."

"I had a feeling you wouldn't remember too much," Castle commented. "I know I don't."

"Are you happy it's your birthday Daddy?" Eliza asked him.

"I am, Julia?" Castle said quickly.

"Sorta happy," the girl replied. When her parents looked back at her at the same time; since they were at a red light; she smiled at them and said, "It's sorta my birthday."

Shaking her head Beckett was going to comment about that when her husband touched her arm and she glanced out the windshield, seeing the building was ahead. "We're here," she told the two in the back.

Julia couldn't see a name at first, just shapes at the front in different colors that made her smile. But a second later she caught sight of a sign to the left and she gasped saying, "The toy museum!" to her sister.

"Is it?" Eliza asked happily.

"Yeah, Strong National Museum of Play," Julia said, reading it off the sign that had a figure in purple throwing up shapes in different colors meant to be confetti. "We get to go here?" she asked, turning to their parents.

"No, we're just going to look at-" Castle said before his wife was grabbing his arm.

"Yes, we get to go," Beckett told them once they were out of the car. "Happy Birthday you two." She shared a smile with her husband when they rushed to her and embraced her. "And your dad," she added.

"But your mom thought of the place," Castle said, hugging the two as the others were joining them. "She remembered the episodes of Mysteries at the Museum we watched."

"Do they have Silly Putty?" Eliza asked, remembering when the show had featured the history of that.

Before anyone could answer everyone was there and the group headed together over to the entrance to go inside. When they saw the carousel just past that the kids headed to it immediately, watching it as it was already going around before they started to look back at their parents so they could ask if they could go as they neared them.

"We'll get the tickets," Brad said when they all started to talk at once.

"Why are you dragging me away? Am I paying?" Castle said as his friend had taken him with him by the arm.

"No, the other parents are coming too," Brad said. "I just needed to show my kids we were moving."

"And my kids," Castle commented.

"That's true," David said as he, Nkosi and Brennan were following them. "There are horses so if your girls saw you crawling they'd pick you up and run over to the counter."

"Interesting image but if you're talking about how much they'd want me to go then I can see what you mean," Castle replied.

"So are you going to join us on there?" Clara was saying to Beckett.

"I don't think I should," she replied. She smiled when the woman looked at her questioningly and she said, "I'll likely sit because there's a lot more to go."

Laughing softly Clara said, "Brennan was the same with me. But will your girls mind?"

"We won't," Eliza said, coming over to them to wrap her arms around her mother.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Beckett asked, gently caressing her hair. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Clara was moving away from them and wanted to tell the woman she didn't need to do that when her youngest was speaking.

"Am I still your little girl?" Eliza was asking softly.

"Come here," Beckett said, taking her over to the nearby bench. Sitting down she placed her hands on her arms and said, "Why are you asking again?"

"Eve said that I'm not gonna be the littlest; I'm gonna be a big sister," Eliza replied. "She wasn't mean Mommy."

"I know she wouldn't be," Beckett replied reassuringly. "She's just stating the fact that you are going to be a big sister. Now as for you being my little girl you will be, always."

"Yeah?" Eliza asked hopefully. When her mother nodded firmly she smiled and then wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. "What about Jules?"

"Her too, and yes your sister," Beckett said, pulling away so she could look her daughter in the eyes. "Alexis… I'm not sure she'd want me to call her that but believe me when I say I love her as much as you three."

"She'll be happy to know that," Castle commented as he'd walked up to them in time to hear. "You've got a ride on a carousel sweetheart," he directed to the little girl. "Ask your grandpapa to take you," he said as he handed her the ticket to her squeal of joy.

Beckett watched their youngest hug him tightly in passing before Castle turned to her and she opened her mouth to speak when he did so before she could.

"She's worried about not being the youngest anymore?" he asked her.

"Now that she's a year older," Beckett replied with a smile. "I expected it really; I just thought the museum would have distracted her enough for that."

"Me too," Castle said. They watched the carousel begin to go around and he said, "You know you could have gone on that, stood with Eliza."

Shaking her head Beckett told him, "I'm getting some rest now."

"Don't do that all during the day," Castle said quickly. He then frowned as she glanced at him and said, "I mean while we're here. All I ask is that you rest when you need to."

"I'm teasing you," Beckett said, taking his hand. "I'll be doing that, I just want to take a break now as I wasn't looking forward to standing and spinning around."

"You should have mentioned that to the girls," Castle said with a smile. "I'm sure they would have urged you to sit."

"Probably," Beckett said. "How do you feel?"

With a smile Castle said, "Fine, to be honest I've been paying more attention to the girls."

"Me too," Beckett said.

"Ní nuair a dhúisigh tú dom suas," Castle said, leaning close to her.

With a slight smirk; as he'd said not when she'd woken him up; Beckett told him, "Feicfidh tú a fháil níos déanaí," promising him he'd get more later. When he froze she smiled and kissed his cheek, remembering that morning when she'd woken him up and then gone to their daughters to wish them a Happy Birthday as well.


Grunting slightly Castle felt something on his cheek before he felt it on his ear lobe, eyes flying open to find that it was his wife. "Kate?" he asked.

"Happy Birthday love," Beckett replied, smiling down at him. She watched him start to smile but before he could speak she leaned over and kissed him, being gentle as he'd just woken up. As soon as she pulled away she said, "I wanted to make sure that it started out well for you. How was that?"

Though he knew she joking Castle said, "Ask me again." When she looked at him in confusion he took the chance to kiss her hard, bringing her down to him. He held her tightly against him, feeling the curve of her stomach against his as he gently stroked her hair before they slowly parted. "Ask love," he urged her.

Beckett just smiled and kissed him again, as hard as he'd kissed her before they slowly pulled away from each other. "Tonight?" she asked.

"Definitely, I want to see them both," Castle said.

"But Eliza a little more?" Beckett guessed. When he merely smiled at her she kissed him and said, "Let's go."

Getting up together Castle and Beckett changed and got ready as fast as they could before they were walking down the hall together to the other side of the hall. Going into Julia's room they separated, Beckett urging her husband ahead to the bed before he sat down next to their oldest.

"Julia," Castle said, gently shaking her shoulder. "Hey, Happy Birthday sweetheart," he said with a smile as she quickly opened her eyes.

"Dad," Julia said once she was focusing on him. She looked around the room and soon spotted her mother before she was opening the blinds. "Is it the thirty-first?" she asked as she sat up. When her parents both nodded she threw her arms around her father's neck and said, "Happy Birthday Dad!"

"Thank you, Julia," Castle said slightly laughingly. He kissed her temple and then said, "Are you ready to celebrate?"

"Yeah, are we gonna wake up Lizzy?" Julia asked.

"After we measure you and you get dressed," Beckett told her. She watched the girl get out of the bed before she was coming over to her, embracing her tightly. She leaned down and kissed the top of her head saying, "You might have gotten taller already."

"I hope so," Julia replied with a wide smile. She then said, "How're you gonna measure me? We don't have my chart."

"Tape measure," Castle said, holding up the roll he had in his hand. "And if you're wondering why it's fabric I thought it would be very Mary Poppins."

Julia laughed softly and said, "Cool," before she moved to stand against the wall. She watched him hold the tape measure at her feet while her mother held it at her head. "Well?" she asked finally.

With a smile Beckett said, "You've grown nearly half an inch. You're going to be tall I think."

"Good, now we have to measure Lizzy," Julia said before she hurried to get her clothes.

"I'll be outside," Castle said quickly before he stepped into the hall.

"Is Dad happy?" Julia asked her mother once the bedroom door was closed behind him.

"He is, he's thinking more of your birthdays," Beckett replied.

"Has the baby moved yet?" Julia asked, looking at her mother then and seeing she was rubbing her abdomen lightly.

"She's moving but she hasn't kicked yet," Beckett said.

"Good," Julia said firmly. When her mother laughed she smiled and said, "That'll be her saying Happy Birthday to him… and Lizzy."

"And you," Beckett added. When her daughter blushed slightly she cupped her cheek and said, "We love you that much we wanted you to share today too; especially them."

"Thanks," Julia said with a smile. She kissed her mother's cheek and then went over to the bathroom to grab her brush before she went back out to hand it to her mother. "Just brush my hair today please," she told her with a smile.

"You're going to wear your Ravenclaw headband?" Beckett asked knowingly as she began to brush her daughter's hair. When Julia nodded she said, "I had a feeling, especially since you're wearing your Ravenclaw Quidditch shirt today."

Julia laughed softly and said, "I thought that would be fun."

"You look great," Beckett said once she'd finished, kissing her cheek gently. She let Julia get her headband and waited for her to come back out to the room with it on. "It looks perfect," she told her with a smile.

"Thanks, let's go wake up Lizzy!" Julia said eagerly.

"Hey, you look great," Castle said the second he saw the girl followed by his wife.

"Thanks," Julia said. "Let's go get Lizzy."

"She's eager to wake her up," Beckett murmured to her husband as they followed their oldest.

"I can tell," Castle said with a smile. "You wake her up," he added firmly.

Though she wanted to protest Beckett saw her husband was serious so she went over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it saying, "Eliza, sweetie time to wake up," as she shook her shoulder.

Opening her eyes slowly after her mother shook her a second time the little girl smiled at her and said, "Morning Mommy."

"Morning sweetie," Beckett told her. "Happy Birthday."

"It's my birthday?" Eliza asked, waking up a little more though still talking a little slowly. "And Daddy and Jules?"

"It is," Castle said, getting her attention.

Pushing herself up Eliza hugged her mother tightly before she stood and held out her arms to her father. "Happy Birthday Daddy! And Happy Birthday Jules!" she said, waving to her sister.

"Thanks," Julia said with a smile. "How do you feel now that you're five?"

"I'm a big girl," Eliza said, looking between her parents.

"You are," Castle said with a slight laugh, kissing her cheek as he took her off the bed. "Want to see how much you grew from last year?"

"Yeah," Eliza told them eagerly. When her father set her down she went to her mother and took her hand as Castle was grabbing her measuring chart they'd brought with them. While her father held it against the wall she stood against it and watched her mother mark it with a pen. As soon as they told her to she stepped back and asked, "Did I grow?"

"You did," Castle said first. "A little bit over half an inch, nearly a full one."

"Cool," Eliza said, beaming at them. "Now can we go where we're gonna?"

"Yes," Beckett said. "Want to help her?" she asked her husband.

"You can Daddy," Eliza told him quickly.

"Alright," Castle said, picking her up. He took her over to his wife, letting them exchange a kiss before he set her down on the bed as Beckett was getting her clothes for the day. He changed Eliza into her outfit as the girls were guessing playfully at where they were going to go, and he exchanged a look with his wife, smiling at her.

Beckett knew what her husband was thinking as it was the same that was going through her mind and she couldn't wait to see the girls' reaction to the museum once they got there.


"This is so cool," Mari said to Julia.

"I know are you having fun?" she said, directing the question to her cousin who was next to them on the rock wall in the first exhibit they had gone to in the museum.

"Yeah, the toy museums I've been to at home never were like this," Erin replied. "And we didn't even start really!"

"No," Julia said before she slipped trying to put her foot on a hold that was shaped like a squirrel. She fell to the floor and laughed as her father rushed to her and said, "I'm fine Dad, just slipped," smiling at Mari when her friend came to her as well.

"Are you sure?" Castle asked, helping her up.

"Yeah, are we done here?" Julia asked.

"I think so," Castle replied. "The next place will be really nice though… the next room I mean."

"You said place Daddy," Eliza said, grabbing his arm as she hurried over to them.

"I guess I did," Castle replied with a laugh before he picked her up.

"Daddy?" Eliza asked him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yes sweetheart?" Castle asked as he walked with the others over to the doorway to leave.

"You don't look like you're older," Eliza told him seriously.

"No?" Castle asked, smiling at her tone.

"Nope," Eliza replied.

"I don't think so either Dad," Julia said quickly as she was holding her father's free hand.

"Neither do I," Beckett said as she was walking behind them, trying to catch up to them. When her husband stopped she smiled and said, "Tá mé an-dáiríre faoi anocht."

Castle tried not to react to that so the girls wouldn't notice as she said she had said she was serious about that night and then told her, "Mise freisin," simply saying me too.

Beckett smiled and said, "We should go, everyone-" before she cut herself off as Eliza was kicking her legs. She watched her husband set her down before Julia grabbed her little sister's hand and then rushed ahead. When the two stopped just outside the room she said, "Why are they still within viewing range?"

"I think they want to make sure we kiss," Castle commented as he stepped over to his wife. "So, could we?" he asked her.

"Quickly," Beckett said since they weren't alone in the room. She shared one kiss with her husband and they walked hand in hand out to their daughters.

"That's it?" Julia asked.

"We're in a museum with other people," Beckett said firmly.

"Are you gonna be alone later?" Eliza said. "When you get to bed!"

"Okay, now we really-" Castle started to say.

"Julia, Eliza, come see what's next!" Mari said, coming over to them then from the doorway to where everyone else was.

"Go," Beckett said, watching as the girls took Mari's hands and they went inside quickly.

"Big Bird!" Eliza squealed when she saw the character hanging out of a window.

"Is this for Sesame Street?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, our parents want us to take a picture on the stoop all together," Eve said as she, her brother and Erin were walking over to them. "Even the babies."

"Cool," Julia said, looking up at her mother.

"Go I'll take a picture too of course," Beckett said quickly.

"Me too," Castle added. "I'm going to want this on my phone…"

"What?" Darnley asked as they were all grouped together.

"Alexis, Louis-" Castle said, looking over at his daughter and her boyfriend.

"Gram insisted we join them," the former said wryly. "And Jim did too."

"I'm taking a picture with my phone as well," Beckett's father said.

"I can send it to you," Castle told his father in law since he knew the man had his camera with him.

"Alright everyone here," David said as the kids started to go over to the stoop. "We need someone to hold Keo and another to hold Dani."

"We can," Louis replied, holding his hands out to the toddler.

"Isa," Dani said as she stood on the step next to Eliza.

"I guess you don't need to," Rebecca told the young man in amusement.

Once all the kids were set Beckett said, "Stay still and everyone say yeah."

After taking a picture himself with his camera Brennan asked, "Yeah?"

"Form the word with your mouth in front of a mirror and then do the same with cheese," Castle said. "If you say yeah you look like Oprah on her magazine covers."

"She said that when she was on Colbert," Beckett said quickly. "And let's go get our kids since they're ready to go," she added as they were leaving the stoop. She laughed with the others when the older kids pretended they were going to run away before they went over to them and started to walk through the exhibit though they eventually split up after they looked up at Big Bird in the window. She was walking with her husband and their oldest and Mari, about to talk when the two girls gasped and ran ahead of them together before Julia turned to her and Castle to ask them a question.

"Can we take pictures?" the girl said.

"Plural?" Castle replied.

"Me with Mari, all of us together, me and Lizzy and 'lexis…" Julia said.

"Go see if the others want to do that," Beckett said slightly laughingly.

"And your big sister," Castle said. When the two girls had left them, he looked at a mockup of Big Bird's nest in front of them and said to his wife, "Think they'd all fit in there?"

"I don't think so," Beckett replied. "But the others are possible," she added before they turned to see everyone else coming their way.

"Well I think a group picture is out," Darnley commented as he saw the 'nest' once they were there.

"Family pictures?" Brennan asked his cousin.

"You expect two pregnant women to get in and out of there?" Lily asked jokingly.

"Okay, kid pictures," Brennan replied.

"Let Julia and Mari go first, they thought of getting you all over here," Beckett said once they'd stopped laughing. The two girls climbed in and she was about to take their picture when she saw they looked a little unsure. She moved her camera away from her face and was going to ask them what was wrong when her husband suddenly spoke next to her, making her jump.

"Eliza get Dani and come over with them," Castle said.

"Is that what you two wanted?" Rebecca asked as she'd noticed their expressions too.

"Yeah, and then we'll take turns," Mari said, smiling at her mother.

Once the other two girls were with their big sisters in the nest it took a little time for the other pictures to be taken but finally they had done so and they were all going around the exhibit again.

"That came out really nice," Beckett said, looking at the picture her husband took of their daughters on his phone.

"You want me to send it?" Castle asked with a smile at her.

"That would be nice," Beckett said. She looked ahead of them, seeing their daughters starting to play hopscotch with Alexis as the young woman had joined them.

"I wish I could go to Sesame Street," Eliza said after she had finished her turn.

"Me too," Julia replied as they watched their sister going next. "Who would you go to see?"

"Bert and Ernie," Eliza said immediately, those two her favorite characters. "You?"

"Cookie Monster," Julia replied.

"Okay I think we should head over to his food truck," Alexis said, stopping when she heard that.

"Who won?" Eliza asked as she and her sister took their big sister's hand.

"Were we playing so someone would win?" Alexis asked the two.

Eliza watched Julia quickly shake her head before she did the same herself and then said, "Mommy, Daddy," turning to look for them.

"We're following you," Castle said quickly.

"Unless you want to go alone with your sisters," Beckett added with a smile.

"That's kay," Eliza replied before she went with her sisters to the food truck with Cookie Monster on the side of it.

After they had gone through the room the group gathered in the hall outside and the kids were looking at their parents.

"I think we need some food," Clara commented. She smiled when the kids looked at her in confusion and she nodded over to the 'building.' "I'm sure that's a market," she added.

"You don't have Wegmans?" Jacob asked with a smile.

"I'm afraid not," Brennan replied. "So this should be nice to see." When they reached the area he said, "And the kids will go crazy I believe."

"They will," Beckett said as they had suddenly dispersed, Alexis and Louis going after them. She looked around for Lily before she saw that her friend was sitting on one of the benches against the windows the 'market' had. "Did Brad usher you over here?" she asked with a smile.

"No, I'm surprised Rick didn't do that with you," Lily replied, looking down pointedly at her friend's stomach.

"Eight months tomorrow," Beckett breathed out as she was placing her hand on her abdomen. "The home stretch… which is horrible but true."

"Lucky," Lily said. She and Beckett looked at each other and laughed heavily with her before she said, "I just got the image of us on this bench, bulging and everything."

"I saw the same," Beckett replied, shaking her head. "But how're you? You're nearly seven months."

"Good, she's getting heavier but I'm good," Lily said, touching her own abdomen. "Are you staying here the whole time?"

"Oh no, I want to see everything here. I'm not letting Rick have all the fun with them," Beckett said as she looked for her husband, seeing him pushing one of the tiny shopping carts for kids around the merchandise on the shelf. She smiled as she saw the girls were grabbing some boxes and jars and she stood up, deciding she'd had enough rest as she was suddenly keen to join them.

"Hey Mom," Julia said when she saw Beckett approaching them. "Do you think we have enough stuff?"

"Well," she replied, looking down at the cart. "You don't have any fruits or vegetables."

"That's next," Eliza told them.

Watching as they walked together over to the next section Beckett asked, "Having fun?"

"I am," Castle said. "I offered to help them, but they said I shop enough."

Beckett couldn't help laugh and then said, "I guess they have a point. And I guess that means I can't shop either."

"I don't think so," Castel said with a laugh. "How are you?" he then asked in Irish as he let Eliza take the cart when they got to the fruits and vegetables.

"I'm fine; you've wanted to ask me that for a while, haven't you?" Beckett replied in amusement.

"I wanted to but the girls…" Castle began.

Beckett, since they were standing and watching their daughters going around, leaned over and kissed her husband's cheek. "I don't mind, that's what today was for," she assured him.

"Are we moving on after this?" Castle asked as he watched the girls putting in a watermelon and a pumpkin as well into the basket.

"We should probably have lunch," Beckett said with a smile. "Do those registers really work?" she asked in English as there were some by the entrance.

"I think so, I see people taking pieces of paper," Castle replied. "And if they do work I'm really interested in seeing what this is going to ring up to."

"I know," Beckett said slightly laughingly. "Are you ready?" she asked as the two came with some potatoes.

"Yeah, we're ready," Julia said. "Can we go ring everything up?"

"Of course," Castle said. "Who'll be the cashier?"

"I think you should sweetie," Beckett told their youngest.

"Kay!" Eliza said eagerly before she ran around the counter and waited for her sister to put everything on the conveyor before she started to ring everything up. Once she had finished she waved to her father, waiting for her to join her before he asked what she had been about to.

"Need me to help you ring this up?" Castle asked her. When the little girl nodded he helped her by pressing a button on the register and watching with her as the receipt was printing.

"Were you two trying to equal what we buy for us in a week?" Beckett asked before she looked at her father and mother in law who'd walked up behind them.

"Yeah," Eliza said, smiling over at them.

"How are you getting that home?" Martha asked as she saw all the things there were on the counter.

"Dunno," Eliza said, shrugging her shoulders.

Julia, who'd been laughing, stopped and said with a smile, "She wanted to try and do that. How much was it?"

"One hundred and fifteen dollars," Castle said as he let Eliza take the receipt to her sister.

"And sixteen too," the little girl said as she wrapped her arms around her mother.

"Okay," Beckett said slightly laughingly. "We can take that with us but we need to put everything back."

"We will, stay here Mom," Julia told her before she and her sister put everything back in their cart so they could do that.

"Where is everyone?" Beckett asked, looking around but only seeing the Davises there.

"Some of the kids headed back to the Sesame Street exhibit," Jim answered. "And they're going to come back right now."

Looking with his wife Castle could see that the others were coming over and he said, "Some kids look hungry."

"And you," Beckett told him teasingly.

"Yeah," Castle said simply. When she glanced at him he smiled at her before they went over with their parents as their daughters were hurrying to meet their friends. After talking with the other parents, he said to the kids all together, "We should go to lunch, if you guys are hungry."

When the kids all began to say they were in different ways Beckett looked at Darnley and they laughed before they went to their kids and they managed to head back to the entrance where there was an old chrome diner there. They had to split up at the tables and when they were seated they took up most of the restaurant.

"This is so cool," Julia said. She then smiled up at Alexis who was next to her and said, "Thanks for sitting with us."

"I wanted to spend today with the birthday girls and dad," Alexis answered. "But there's more to this museum, right?"

"He never brought you here?" Beckett asked, sitting with her husband across the table from them.

"No by the time we'd heard about it in the city I was a little old," Alexis replied. "But Dad…"

"Okay, it is my birthday you know," Castle said, pretending to be annoyed.

"Mine too," Eliza said firmly; turning from the window they were seated at.

"We'll stop," Alexis said quickly. "And we need to order so we have to stop."

After they'd done so the girls were peppering their parents with questions about the rest of the museum, but Castle and Beckett didn't say anything, reminding them that they hadn't been there before. The girls were about to protest when their food was served, and they turned their attention to the meal as their parents shared a look. When they had all finished they met their friends and family outside and continued through the museum.


"Try not to tilt," Castle said to his daughter with a laugh as he was holding Eliza up so she could play the pinball machine they were at.

"He means don't shake the machine," Beckett explained as she saw the little girl looked confused.

"Hurry the ball is coming down to you," Castle told her quickly.

Eliza gasped and then pressed the buttons but missed hitting the silver pinball which made her sigh in disappointment. "I missed," she told her parents as her father moved her to hold her on his hip.

"That's alright, if you kept playing you couldn't keep going through the museum," Beckett told her quickly.

"Are we gonna go see the next thing?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"We are, it looks like everyone's finished love," Castle said, directing the last to his wife.

"Okay, one more thing to see on this floor before we go," Beckett said, smiling at Eliza as she wouldn't let her father put her down.

"What is it?" the little girl asked hopefully.
"You'll see," Castle said.

"What about Jules?" Eliza asked.

"She's going with Mari," Beckett answered.

Ahead of her family Julia was talking to her best friend saying, "There's still more to the museum my mom and dad said."

"So did mine," Mari replied. "I can't wait to see what's next."

"Sorry we tilted the machine we were playing," Julia said with a smile.

"I was bouncing too," Mari said before they giggled. They had come up to a door and she said, "Butterfly garden!" whispering since she didn't want the other kids to hear that.

"I see," Julia whispered. "Wait," she began as she realized she hadn't needed to whisper. She smiled as Mari giggled and they let David and Rebecca give the worker at the door some papers before they were allowed inside. She looked around in awe, the large garden enclosed by glass and butterflies flittering around them and on the plants and trees she could see.

"This is so pretty," Mari breathed, squeezing her friend's hand.

"I know," Julia replied. She bit at her lower lip and then said, "Let's go through together."

"I wanted to do that too," Mari said.

"Should we call them back?" Rebecca asked Beckett as they watched their daughters.

"They have their phones, they'll be alright," she replied. Beckett then said, "And Julia will make sure Mari's alright."

Nodding her head Rebecca said, "Of course."

While her friend went over to her husband and daughter Beckett looked at her husband, seeing their youngest was going with Erin and her parents. "Alexis is going with his family?" she asked when he was close.

"She is and so is Eliza now," Castle said as they watched them go. Seeing they were alone he said, "Shall we?"

"Yes, but don't hold your arm out to me," Beckett said. She smiled when he looked disappointed and she kissed his cheek before taking his hand. They started down the same path that Julia and Mari had gone to, stopping when they spotted some butterflies near them.

"This reminds me of San Francisco," Castle said. "I'm probably never going to see a butterfly again without thinking of Julia kissing me on the cheek for the first time."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said, smiling at the memory and squeezing his hand warmly. "She's probably thinking the same too."

"You think she remembers?" Castle asked.

"Have you ever asked her?" Beckett said simply, holding up her hand to an orange and black butterfly that was flying around them.

"I didn't think it'd be okay," Castle said, trying not to suck in a breath too loudly as he watched the butterfly perch on the back of his wife's hand.

Glancing at him, since she'd heard him slightly breathe, Beckett smiled and then let the butterfly fly away from her before she said, "It is, she remembers how she was with you. Ask Rick," she added gently.

"I will but… not here," Castle replied after thinking for a moment. "Keep going?" When his wife nodded he then took her hand and they continued down the path, not knowing that they'd been overheard.

"How come it wouldn't be okay for your dad to ask that?" Mari asked Julia as they'd been just behind her friend's parents.

Shrugging the girl said, "I don't know but I think it's 'cause I was scared of my dad… a long time ago. Before he was my dad."

"But do you remember that?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, I… I didn't want him to be mad at me and I thought he sounded like my dad," Julia tried to explain. "And I wanted him to be too."

"And now he is," Mari told her.

"Yep," Julia said before she laughed. "Let's go catch up with them." When her friend nodded she grabbed her and together they walked after where her parents had gone until they came into view.

"Hey, how'd you guys get behind us?" Castle asked in surprise when he and Beckett heard their oldest and turned to see that Julia and Mari were walking up to them.

"We stopped at a little alcove," Julia explained.

"Hey, I'm gonna go back to my family," Mari said as she heard her sister's laughter.

"Huh, thought she'd stay with us," Julia said with a smile. She turned back to her parents and said, "You walked by us."

"You heard us, didn't you?" Beckett asked. She wasn't surprised when her husband grabbed her arm and she shook her head slightly before saying, "Do you remember that?"

"Yep," Julia said simply. She smiled when her father laughed and said, "Just a little bit of it, I remember I kissed you 'cause I wanted you to be my dad. Do you remember Mom when we were in the park and we saw that wedding?"

"That was well before the trip," Beckett replied. "Just before Christmas too."

"You wanted me to marry your mom then?" Castle asked as he knew she was serious.

"Yeah but I was scared too," Julia reminded them. "I didn't know if it was a good thing… it just looked like they were happy."

"The bride and groom were posing for their pictures too," Beckett explained to her husband.

"Ah, I see… you just worried about yourself," Castle said. When the girl looked concerned he said, "Not selfish concerned since you wanted your mother to be happy."

"Sorry Dad," Julia said, not surprised he had guessed she hadn't been thinking of him as well as her mother with regards to that.

"Don't worry," Castle said firmly and reassuringly. "I know we weren't quite to being daddy-daughter, but we are now."

Beckett, having kept quiet at that point, smiled as Julia hugged him with one arm immediately before they turned to her. "What?" she asked.

"Can we keep going?" Julia asked before she froze.

"It's in your hair," Castle said as what he thought was a brown butterfly landed on her head.

Taking her daughter's camera Beckett took a picture of her with the butterfly, just as it was opening its wings to reveal the blue on them.

"Now she looks exactly like you did," Castle commented.

Rolling her eyes Beckett watched the butterfly leave them and she said, "You remember the picture," to their oldest.
"I do," Julia said. "Hey, can we go look for Lizzy and 'lexis?"

"You're getting bored with us?" Castle asked jokingly. When Julia just gave him a look he smiled and said, "It is a family trip I agree." He took her hand while Beckett took the other and they started to walk down the path.

"Look, Mommy and Daddy came to see us," Eliza said, turning from a flower that she was looking at with her sister.

"Louis," Alexis said after she'd spotted her father, stepmother and sister. "We're going to walk with our family." After Louis had waved to them she took Eliza's hand and said, "What do you think?" to Julia.

"It's so cool," the girl replied with a smile. "One landed on my head!"

"I got one on my hand," Eliza said eagerly, hugging her mother.

"I did too," Beckett replied. "So that was a lot of fun."

"Are-" Julia started to say before she saw that they were in fact finished with the garden. "You were serious, there's more right?"

"An upstairs," Castle said as he saw the others in their group were starting to gather where they'd come inside.

"I wanna play more," Eliza said as she went to her father.

"We will," Beckett said. She saw that Darnley and Nkosi where there already with their kids so she went straight to her friend and asked, "How'd they like it?"

"They loved it," Darnley said, gently bouncing his daughter on his hip. He smiled when Maddy squealed and then held her arm out to Beckett. As her friend kissed her cheek he told her, "One of them went on her arm, Trev filmed it as she just froze and her eyes were wide."

"You'll have to show me," Beckett said slightly laughingly. "And Keo?"

"He was eating his hand and laughing too," Darnley said.

"I think he enjoyed it," Castle said as he'd gone over to his wife, having heard that. "At least he didn't try to grab the butterflies."

"I had the same thought," Darnley replied. "More toys?"

"Julia asked the same thing and yes," Beckett said firmly.

Going back inside once the group was all together they headed upstairs to the second story and came to the Toy Hall of Fame. There they did different activities before the parents had their kids look with them at the displays of toys like crayons and dolls. They eventually moved on to the next section where they split up and then played the video games and games like foosball in the next two exhibits and built some things from different materials at the next to last exhibit.

"How's he doing sweetie?" Beckett asked her daughter with a smile as she watched her daughter take the temperature of a teddy bear she was holding on her lap in the very last exhibit.

"Yeah, he has a good temperature," Eliza said, nodding her head. "Mommy?" she asked then.

"Yeah?" Beckett asked as she watched her youngest knocking on the bear's 'knee' with a toy mallet.

"Can I have a jacket like this?" Eliza said as she was wearing a child's sized lab coat.

"I think we can manage that," Beckett replied. She saw her husband was walking over with Julia and told them, "He's doing very well."

"Glad to hear that," Castle said as Eliza was pretending to check the bear's eyes and ears with Julia's help.

"How was it with the dinosaurs?" Beckett then inquired as her husband and their oldest had gone to play with the toy dinosaurs.

"Very nice, the herbivores managed to win," Castle said.

"Hey, my triceratops had horns," Julia said. "And they kicked butt."

Shaking his head as the two girls laughed together Castle told his wife, "They did."

"I can tell," Beckett said, kissing his cheek as he'd sat next to her.

"Daddy?" Eliza asked, walking up to them.

"Yes?" Castle asked with a smile.

"Can I check on you too?" Eliza said shyly.

"Well I'm not an ani- sure," Castle said before he realized how that would sound.

"They wouldn't have understood," Beckett murmured in Irish as their daughters went to get Julia a lab coat and 'instruments'.

"I didn't want to think about that. At least not yet," Castle replied. "Sásta a fheiceáil- glad to see you're going to assist your sister," he then said quickly, stopping himself as he realized he'd said the first three words of that in Irish.

"We're helping together. And is that how you say glad to see?" Julia said before she asked.

"Yeah," Castle replied. "Why?"

"Sounds cool," Julia said. "Now stay still Dad."

"Oh of course. Hello Mother, Jim," Castle said when he saw the two out of the corner of his eye.

"Make sure you check his heart," Martha said in amusement as Eliza was hitting her son's knee with the mallet, but she could see the little girl was being very careful though it wasn't his bad knee.

"I'll do that," Julia said quickly before pressing her ear to his chest.

Castle breathed in and out deliberately before he said, "How does it sound?"

"Good," Julia told her sister, smiling at their parents and grandparents when Eliza pretended to write on her hand.

"His knee is good," the little girl said seriously. "Look at his ears Jules. Mommy do you want to look at his eyes?"

"I've looked at them already," Beckett said, seeing her husband biting down on his lower lip to not laugh. "You're the one who has the special coat."

Eliza smiled widely at her before she then looked his eyes and said, "They're pretty and blue."

"That's good to hear," Castle said, having a struggle to not laugh out loud. "Julia?"

"What did I say?" the girl said as she'd whispered into his right ear.

"Sásta a fheiceáil, good job with your pronunciation," Castle told her before the girls both hugged him. "So, how am I?"

"You're a big teddy bear," Eliza said happily.

"That's good to hear too," Castle said, laughing that time as everyone else was.

"And you're Mom's teddy bear," Julia added.

"I think he is," Martha said.

"Okay," Beckett said, wondering why her cheeks were flushed along with her husband's. She pushed aside that and then said, "Do you want to check on me?"

"Le bébé?" Julia asked her sister hopefully.

"The baby?" Eliza asked in English.

"You can," Beckett said quickly as she smiled at Alexis who was coming over to them with Louis. "But don't use the mallet." She wasn't surprised when that didn't take the two long and it ended as the two realized they could hear their sister's heartbeat since they covered their open ear.

"That's so cool," Julia said excitedly.

"You did that when I was close to giving birth to your sister," Beckett said. "If you want to-" she started to say to her stepdaughter.

"Not here," Alexis said softly.

Startled; as she hadn't thought the young woman would want to do that at all; Beckett felt tears well up in her eyes and she cursed them before she then said, "I'm not sad just… touched," in case Alexis thought she was upset at her answer.

"I thought so," the young woman said with a smile.

"The baby is kay and she wants to come out to see us," Eliza said.

"Not just yet," Jim said as his daughter took her daughters into her arms and kissed them before squeezing Alexis' hand.

"Where is everyone?" Castle said after the girls had come to him to hug him.

"The Fosters went down to the gift shop; my family is going down the stairs right now… Not sure about the Davises or the Darnleys," Louis said after he'd looked around.

"They're going," Castle said when they looked and saw the former were going downstairs. "And here come the Darnleys… Trevor doesn't mind that right?" he asked his wife as they stood up.

"No," Beckett said with a smile before she turned her attention to her friend.

"Are we the last ones here?" Darnley asked when they were close.

"We are but we were just going to go down after the others to the gift shop," Beckett said. She smiled when he held his arm out to her and said to her husband, "I'm not holding his hand."

"No, it makes sense," Castle said hurriedly as he knew she was doing that with him since he was her friend. He followed them down to the gift shops with everyone else until they were looking around inside. He was surprised when the girls made their one choice quickly, with the others, and when they had paid and were walking back to their cars he said to the girls, "Now we go home to play; again."

Beckett laughed out loud when the girls cheered, and they went to the car before she told him, "You're going to have to pay up Rick."

"I'm glad to do it," Castle said, kissing her cheek before they got their daughters in the car and went in themselves to hurry back to the lake house with their family and friends.