Chapter 10: Beckett's POV

Authors note: Let me know what you think. [I thought I posted Chapter 9 a week ago, but I forgot to add it! Sorry. Now you get two chapters in one night!]

..

The moment Lake Taupo came into view, silence fell on the car. It lay flat, like glass stretching as far as the eye could see. Swans stood on shore stretching and drying their wings, some moved smoothly through the water. Birds she didn't recognise also stretched their wings on the rocks; the sun was burning off the clouds so the animals were making the most of the sunlight and the warmth that it brought. Without asking, she pulled into the first picnic area she could find. Castle turned to look at her, and smiled... His smile told it all. The view was stunning. The clambered out of the car and onto the still muddy ground, and moved to the shore. Black sand mingled with stones and pummus crunched under their feet. They stopped near the shore and Alexis let out a gasp.

"Wow, this is even more beautiful than I expected. The photos do it no justice!" She picked up a smooth stone, and skipped it across the water. Castle threw a large piece of pummus into the water, and began throwing stones towards it – but missed. She sat down on the slightly damp ground, and took in a deep breath. The air was still wintery cold and made her lungs hurt. But she hadn't felt this good in a long time.

"I wish it were summer, this would be a beautiful place to swim." She told them, imagining jumping from the rocks into the fresh water.

"See over there," Castle pointed far off, and she couldn't quite figure out where he was pointing. "That's the river mouth; I hear its good fishing here. Turangi is the best place to fish for trout in New Zealand."

"You want to go fishing?" Alexis asked, scrunching up her face. "I don't like fishing." She tuned out their conversation, and looked around. A copse of trees near to where she had parked the car looked enticing, so she looked over at father and daughter who were arguing good naturedly whether fishing was a sport or not, and headed up towards the trees. The ground was still sodden from the rain they'd had over night, and it smelled of damp earth and decaying leaves. But she liked the smell, and the trees were pretty. She walked through the trees; they were so thick she couldn't even see the shore beyond them. Small animals were moving, so she stayed still trying to figure out where they were. A fantail darted out in front of her, and she jumped in surprise, and a little further away she could hear a beautiful bird song. She carried on walking towards the bird making such a wonderful sound, but the cracking of a brunch and heavy footsteps stopped her. What in the hell was that? She stayed still again, straining her ears.

"Boo!" Castle leapt out from somewhere behind her and grabbed her shoulders. She let out a squeak of surprise, and covered her mouth.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She tried to sound stern, but ended up just laughing.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked as she turned to face him.

"Just looking around, I heard a bird..." She trailed off, and tried to hear it again but it had stopped.

"It was a bell bird," Castle told her. "They're not as pretty as fantails," he said, pointing to a pair of fantails that flitted past them. "But they sound beautiful, don't they?"

"Sure do," she looked over her shoulder. "Where is Alexis?"

"Still on the beach," He shrugged. "I just wondered where you had gone; I'll leave you to it." He obviously thought he was annoying her, but that wasn't the case. Actually having him follow her wasn't so bad, for once she didn't find it annoying. Kind of sweet actually...

"It's okay," She answered. "I was just thinking we should head off, that's all." Smiling to reassure him, she began walking back the way she'd come.

"Good," he walked behind her, and tripped not long after they set off. She had a strong suspicion his eyes were not on the ground looking for obstacles the way they should be, she thought they might be somewhere higher up – like on her ass! She spun around the second time he tripped.

"Pay attention Castle...! Keep your eyes where you're walking, not somewhere else." He nearly bumped into her, so she found herself toe to toe with him.

"I didn't! How did you know?" He looked down at his feet, obviously pretending to be ashamed. She knew he didn't really care what she thought, and technically he wasn't doing any harm – except to himself.

"Know what?" She asked, blinking innocently at him before turning and walking again.

"I swear you have eyes in the back of your head sometimes." She heard him mutter over the sound of them walking. She chose to ignore it, instead smirking to herself.

..

Alexis sat in the backseat, her eyes still on the lake as they drove out of the car park. She sighed contentedly, and Beckett smiled at the sound. She liked Alexis, a lot. She couldn't wait to spend some time later shopping with her and getting to know the girl some more. And she figured Alexis needed some girl time. She remained lost in her thoughts for the majority of the trip, until Castle's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"Left, LEFT!" She jerked the steering wheel quickly turning into the street Castle was wildly pointing out.

"Sorry," she muttered. They came to De Brett's Hotel & Hot pools, and she parked up. The parking lot was fairly full, so she figured the pools could be busy. They got out of the car, she was glad to have stopped driving, she had been getting bored.

"I'm going down the slide before you dad!" They looked down the hill; the large outdoor hot pools were spread out below them. Alexis was pointing to a large white slide. She looked over her shoulder at the sound of a child's voice. It took her a moment to spot her, but a small child was lying flat on her stomach looking underneath a large rubbish bin.

"Come on out," the girl was saying, squeezing her arm under the bin.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked, heading towards the girl. She sat up. She had blonde hair and adorable piggy tails in pink ribbons. But dirt smudged her cheek where it had been resting on the ground.

"I'm just saying hello to the kitties, they need someone to love them 'cause they're scared." The girl said in a childish voice, smiling at Beckett. "They're wild, but the kittens sometimes let me cuddle them." She smiled, and a lady approached them.

"Sarah, come on. You're getting dirty on the ground!" The lady laughed though. "She loves cats," she said, this time talking to me.

"That's really sweet, that she's spending time with the wild cats."

"Sweet, but tiresome at times for me... I deal with the dirty clothes and scratched hands. But yes, she's a sweet girl, with a big heart." The woman smiled lovingly at her daughter who had obediently gotten off the ground and hurried to her mother's side.

"Beckett?" Castle came over, and she walked to him.

"See you later Sarah," Beckett waved, and the little girl waved enthusiastically back before following her mother towards the hotel.

"We pay down the bottom of that hill, it says on the sign." He pointed to a sign Alexis was reading.

"Okay, let's go then." She shifted her bag to a more comfortable position on her shoulder, it was rather heavy with her swimsuit and towels and water in it, and she had even managed to squish her handbag into it.

They walked down a steep hill, and paid at a little office. Steam rose from the hot pools, but where they stood in the shade was rather cold. She couldn't wait to get in.

"Let's go get changed," Alexis pointed to the women's changing rooms. Castle moved towards the mens.

"Okay," she followed Alexis. She slipped into a cubicle to get changed. She sat on a little wooden bench and removed her socks and shoes first. When she placed her feet on the wet ground she shivered, the puddled water on the floor was freezing. Hopping from foot to foot she quickly changed into her bikini, and wrapped a towel around herself shoving all her clothes and shoes into her bag.

"It's c-c-cold!" Alexis said when she came out, her teeth chattering. "Let's get t-these bags into a locker and get in to the water!" They shoved their towels into the lockers, and goose bumps erupted on her arms and legs.

"I love your bikini." I told her. The blue brought out the colour of the girls eyes.

"Thanks, yours too." Then she turned and winked at her. "Dad's going to like it; did he get to see it when you went to the hot pools last time?" She asked innocently.

"Yes,"

"And you guys are still not dating?" Alexis widened her eyes in mock surprise. Beckett felt a blush rising to her cheeks.

"I... um... no. Let's go..." Beckett led the way to the water, and stepped in before Alexis could ask any more questions. She didn't know how much Alexis has figured out, or what her father had told her.

"Hello pretty ladies," Castle said, almost strutting over to them. He stepped in next to them. "I'm pretty sure I'm here with the two most beautiful girls." He grinned. "I bet the other guys will be so jealous." She raised her eye brows, and a plan began to form in her mind. She moved the rest of the way into the water and it reached her shoulders. She let the warmth soak through to her bones, and smiled contentedly. She was certainly going to have fun this afternoon...

TBC.

Authors Note: I didn't really want to end this chapter there, but I need to get back to Beckett's POV for her and Alexis' shopping trip... I'm looking forward to writing about their girly time. :) So the rest of their time at De Bretts etc. will be from Castle's POV... I'll update soon. :)