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: Really happy to get the reviews I did for the last chapter so I want to get to my thank yous right away. Lizzy80 (Nice to see you're enjoying this story so much that you're loving it, I always am pleased to see readers think that. And you're welcome for sharing, I'm glad to do so!), MichelleBell16 (I was happy to see you thought it was nice that Castle and Beckett are there for Skye with everything going on for her. I wasn't surprised to see you're hoping that they'll close the case soon. And pleased that you're looking forward to reading more still and now you can do that!), vetgirlmx (Very pleased to see that you enjoyed both chapters and also that you're still loving the dynamic I have here. I hadn't known what readers would think of it so to see your reaction is very reassuring! Okay, so the bit about LA buying the airport I made up, there's been some discussion this year of closing the Santa Monica Airport, so I took that idea and went to LA buying it so there was a reason why the LAPD was investigating the case. They did this with the Ontario Airport, in Southern CA not Canada, but I think now it's been sold to someone else so that's where I got the idea for that So hopefully that explains it for you! And you got what I was doing with Brent not being the one smuggling drugs, it being a shame they used him to do that. And I'm not surprised to see you're still wondering at this case and the particulars, I figured that would happen, lol. Also pleased to see the case still has you confused! Glad to see you want to read more and now you don't need to wait for it any longer!) and TORONTOSUN (Not surprised that you can see the reason why Mary's worried about Skye, with a woman wanting her. I wasn't surprised either to see that you're hoping that Skye and Mary will be okay, happy to see that, or that you're hoping their girls don't hear about what's going on either, makes sense though it would be better they didn't). Thanks so much for these reviews, I greatly appreciate them as I always do and loved reading them, you guys are all awesome for taking the time to send them to me!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Put It There by Paul McCartney, from his album Flowers in the Dirt.
Night And All Its Mixed Emotions
Watching her sister, Julia told her, "He'll come right back down, he's only going to make sure he can drive."
"With a…" Eliza started to try to say before she paused, frowning.
"Lie," Julia pronounced first for her.
"Lie," Eliza repeated.
"Sense," Julia then finished. When her little sister slowly pronounced that she nodded and said, "Good job."
"She's right" Jim said, coming down the stairs as he was pocketing his wallet. "You're a good teacher Julia."
Shaking her head the little girl said, "I only help on some words, Daddy does that a lot more. He knows big words."
"Big ones," Eliza added before she hopped down from the bench with her big sister's help. "Do we see 'lexis?" she asked as Julia held her hand while they went to the garage.
"Later on tonight she'll call," Jim replied, having texted back and forth with his step-granddaughter that day. "For now let's get going so we're not too late to talk to your parents."
"Mommy and Daddy?" Eliza then asked when her grandfather was putting her into her car seat.
"They're probably getting some last minute work done," Jim said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I miss… them," Eliza said carefully before she smiled widely.
"A lot?" Julia asked, looking over at her when their grandfather stood up and closed the door. "Do you want them to come home now?"
"Do they work?" Eliza asked. When her sister nodded she shook her head saying firmly, "Mommy and Daddy help." She then stuck her tongue out for a moment and said, "They miss… us?"
"Of course they do," Jim said as he was buckling his seat belt. "I know as soon as they can, they'll want to see you."
Julia smiled at her sister when Eliza kicked her legs a little in response to that and said, "Now we get to go paint Lizzy."
"I know," Eliza replied with a giggle. "What do you paint?"
"I think I'm gonna paint a plate this time," Julia said. She then gasped and when Eliza looked at her with wide eyes she said, "Let's both paint one and give it to Mommy and Daddy once they come home."
"Kay, what do I paint?" Eliza asked.
"I don't know yet, let's wait to see when we go home," Julia replied. "Maybe Grandpapa will help us."
"Why don't we wait to see what you're going to paint first?" Jim asked, smiling back at them in the mirror, having been listening to their conversation.
"Okay," Julia said, reaching over and holding her sister's hand. "What do you want to have at the restaurant?"
"Cookies!" Eliza cried immediately.
"I don't think they're going to have that on the menu," Jim replied, smiling again at that. He glanced in the mirror and seeing his granddaughter's slightly pouting lips told her, "Why don't we wait and see what's on the menu?"
"Kay," Eliza replied. She then looked out the window as she could feel the car was stopping and she asked, "Do we go now?"
"We're here," Jim said. "Wait Julia," he said quickly when he heard her unbuckling her seatbelt.
"I know Grandpapa," the little girl said. "I'm gonna help."
Going back to them, Jim watched as Julia unbuckled her sister's car seat before he took the toddler into his arms.
"I wanna walk," Eliza told him seriously.
"Just until we get inside okay?" Jim asked her. When she thought for a moment and then nodded, he had to chuckle under his breath as by then they were nearly to the door of the studio. He realized that Julia wasn't with him and for a moment he was concerned before he quickly spotted her looking into the window of the florist's shop next door. "Julia, honey, come on," he called to her.
"Sorry, I was thinking about Daddy going in there," the little girl said, going over to them and following him inside the studio.
"How often does he?" Jim asked, wondering as he knew his son in law sometimes got Beckett flowers.
Before Julia could respond to that they were led to a table and after getting some milk; while her grandfather got some tea; she took them to pick out their items to paint. "Look at those," she said to Eliza, pointing to some square shaped plates. "They're like frames for what we paint, want those?"
At the toddler's nod Jim grabbed two before he told them, "Why don't you pick for me what I'll paint."
"You paint too?" Eliza asked in surprise.
"You didn't think I would?" Jim said.
"We weren't sure," Julia replied slowly. "But what about a plate too?"
"What would I do with it?" Jim asked.
Frowning at that, Julia then said, "Then a vase."
"Okay, what would I do with that?" Jim then said.
"We'll help," Julia explained, pointing to herself and Eliza. "And you can put it in your office."
"Alright," Jim said as he grabbed the vase that Julia had motioned to. "But you two have to paint most of it okay?"
"Then should we paint it first?" Julia asked. She was startled when he leaned over and kissed the top of her head as they made their way over to their table and said, "Why?"
"Because you're very smart," Jim replied, smiling when the little girl blushed. "And you too Eliza," he said as he picked the toddler up and kissed her forehead. Setting her into her high chair, he sat next to her, watching Julia get on the chair across from them. "Drink your milk first you two," he told them.
"Now we can paint the vase," Julia said quickly once they'd both taken a sip from their cups. "What first?"
"Well, I think someone needs to consider a way to paint this," Jim replied. "Do you have any ideas Eliza?"
Giggling shyly, the toddler seemed to think for a moment before she was saying, "Blue!"
"Just paint it blue?" Jim asked, not surprised when Julia was quick to speak.
"We can paint it blue and then black lines on it," the little girl told him. "Is that alright?"
"It's very simple," Jim replied. "And I do like simple of course."
Smiling at that, Julia told him, "You can paint the vase blue and then when it's dry we can paint the lines."
"Are you going to be okay painting this?" Jim asked Eliza. When the toddler shrugged he said, "I think you need to decide what you're going to paint now for your plates."
"I think it should be the ocean," Julia replied hurriedly. "Do you like that idea?" she asked her little sister.
"Yeah, what do I paint?" Eliza said eagerly.
"Just paint the blue and then Grandpapa can help with the waves," Julia told her. "And maybe we can put ships on it?"
"For the ships you've been on before?" Jim asked.
"That and Daddy likes them," Julia told her.
"And Mommy?" Eliza asked.
"Why don't we paint some dolphins on the other plate?" Julia said, her voice starting to speed up with her excitement. "And it'll be like the first time I went on the ship with Mari, Rebecca and David."
"There are dolphins?" Eliza said, her eyes wide.
"There were," Julia said, smiling as she remembered. She bit at her lower lip for a second and then pushed aside her memory of how she'd been calling her father by their last name then. "Daddy would say that was a good idea," she said then. "And Mommy too."
"Then we should get started," Jim said, wondering what the little girl had been thinking about in that moment. But she seemed to be able to turn her attention to the plate in front of her so he turned to Eliza, helping her get blue paint to cover it in.
The table was quiet then as the three were busy painting their things, Jim helping both of his granddaughters when they needed him to. Finally he had to help them, as they were first painting the lines on his vase.
"Don't worry," he told Julia with a smile after she had asked him if he liked the way she was painting one line. "However you two paint this I don't care, I just want to know my granddaughters had fun working on it whenever I look at it."
Smiling at that, Julia painted a thin squiggly line before she started to push the vase across the table.
"Why don't you paint the lines, and Eliza can put dots in between them," Jim suggested.
"Do you want to?" Julia asked her little sister.
"Yes," Eliza replied with a quick nod of her head.
Smiling at that, Julia then turned her attention to the lines on the vase, which she was soon able to do. "Now while that dries, paint your waves," she told Eliza quickly, nodding to the plate in front of her.
"Grandpapa help me?" the toddler asked.
"What colors do you want?" Jim said in response.
"White and some grays," Julia said when her sister looked to her to answer. As her grandfather was picking out those from the paints they had at the table she said, "I hope Mommy and Daddy could go to the ocean while they're there."
"Is it home?" Eliza asked.
"No, not our beach," Julia said as she could see that their grandfather looked a little confused. "It's the Pacific Ocean, you saw it before," she said. "But you were just a baby so you don't remember huh?"
"Do I go again?" Eliza asked.
"I hope!" Julia cried.
Since they were all soon concentrating on the waves that time they were quiet before Julia was the first to finish and she held up her plate for them to see. She smiled when her grandfather and sister applauded her efforts and she peered across the table at the other plate.
"I think she did pretty well," Jim said as he noticed what Julia was looking at. "I only had to help a little."
"More than that," the little girl said with a smile.
"I moved her hand," Jim said simply.
"Grandpapa?" Julia asked as she waited then for that paint to dry and watched him help Eliza start to paint dots on the vase. "Did Mommy ever make stuff for you like this?"
"Oh she did, quite a lot of stuff too," Jim said with a nostalgic smile. "She usually liked to use colored pencils but she did a few ceramic things for her mother."
"Do you still have that stuff?" Julia asked.
"I do, I made sure to save every last thing and put it in a box," Jim replied.
"It's up at your cabin?" Julia guessed.
"It is," Jim replied with a nod. "Next time you're up there I'll show you, I promise." After a few more minutes he checked both plates to make sure the paint had dried enough and he then helped Eliza paint a small boat so it looked like it was in the distance. He then checked on Julia, seeing that she'd mimicked his boat the best she could and he asked, "Are you going to still paint those dolphins?"
"I will, I have to make them right though," Julia replied. "Or else they'll look like sharks." With that she then used a thin paintbrush to paint the fins of four dolphins and she showed them to her grandfather to see if it looked like the right animal to him.
"Fins!" Eliza cried.
"I know, they look just like dolphins," Jim said, smiling as Eliza nodded her head rapidly then.
With a slightly shy smile, Julia said thank you to them both and filled in the fins. After she had finished she gave the plate to the worker who came around to their table to take their things to the kiln. When everything was gone she said, "Now what do we do?"
"You can play for a little," Jim said. "Come on," he told them after he'd gotten Eliza out of her high chair. He carried her over to the section with a few toys for children to play with while waiting and set her down at a small table before Julia joined her at another chair. He sat down and checked his phone for any e-mails or messages before he turned his attention back to his granddaughters who were running wooden beads through the mazes that the table had all over the top of it.
Just as she was starting to get bored Julia saw the employee who had taken their things coming over to them with three boxes. "Our things are cooked!" she said, jumping up from her chair.
Smiling as Eliza squealed in response to her sister, Jim took the boxes and said to them, "Hold hands while we go to the car okay?"
"Are we going to the restaurant now?" Julia asked.
"Did you want to go somewhere else?" Jim said since she sounded disappointed.
Julia thought for a moment of where else they could go before she sighed and said, "No."
Walking out to the car, Jim watched as Julia helped her little sister step up into the backseat of the car while he was setting the things away in the trunk. When he reached them he wasn't surprised to see the two girls standing behind the passenger seat. "Okay, up you go honey," he told Eliza before buckling her into her seat. When both she and Julia were set he drove them to the restaurant and once they were there he went to the backseat, sitting next to his oldest granddaughter.
"What is it?" Julia asked in surprise.
"I just wanted to do this," Jim replied before he hugged her tightly to him.
Julia was still confused but then she relaxed and sighed deeply as she found comfort in her grandfather's embrace. She hugged him back for a few moments before she heard whimpering next to her. "What's wrong?" she asked Eliza.
"Me too Grandpapa! Too!" the toddler complained.
Laughing softly, Jim kissed Julia's forehead before he got out and went over to the other side to get Eliza out. Once he had he took her out of the car and swung her up into his arms, kissing her cheek before hugging her tightly. "Come on girls," he said. "Let's have a really nice dinner and then tonight when we get home we'll play a game before we talk to the family. He smiled when both girls cheered at that and he then led the way over to the door to the diner.
Looking around excitedly, Julia took Eliza's hand as they went out to the tables and sat down at one, her sister sitting next to their grandfather. "Can we pick a song?" she asked hopefully, looking at the small jukebox at the window next to them. "These are new," she then said, as they were a recent addition to the restaurant. When Jim handed her a quarter she smiled widely and thanked him, telling her sister, "What should we pick?"
Eliza looked at the words but then shook her head before seeming to be upset.
"It's okay," Julia told her sister quickly, knowing what was wrong. "I can read them for you."
"There's a lot there," Jim pointed out to her gently. "Are there any Beatles songs?"
"Yeah, a bunch," Julia replied. She then listed the ones there and when she paused at one said, "I wanna pick this one."
"Go ahead," Jim said. He watched as she placed the quarter and then picked out the song. When Get Back started he said, "You know your grandmama and I used to do this on dates."
"When was that?" Julia asked, glancing at her sister and trying not to giggle as she could see the surprise on the toddler's face.
"Back in the sixties," Jim replied. "You know I had met your grandmama when I was a junior in high school and she was a sophomore. We did date a little then but we didn't think it was serious until we ran into one another three years later at the same diner we used to go to."
"Did you pick songs?" Julia asked.
"Dance?" Eliza said.
"Yes to both," Jim replied with a slight smile as the memory was still a little painful since he wanted more than anything to be telling the story with his wife. But seeing how engrossed his granddaughters were he couldn't stop and he said, "We would have shakes and argue a little about what song to pick before we finally chose the ones we both liked."
"I'm glad you met again," Julia said seriously.
"So was I," Jim replied.
"Did Mommy and Daddy?" Eliza asked.
"You know their story is different," Julia replied. She had to stop there as a waiter came along and they had to order their drinks and food. When they were alone again she said, "They met at work and Mommy said no to Daddy before they were friends and then she said that she loved him for a long time."
"Is that how they explained it to her?" Jim asked as Eliza looked pleased hearing that.
"It is, when she's older they'll say what they told me," Julia said quickly. "It's a pretty story but they took time Lizzy."
"But they are in love," Jim said when Eliza looked to be a little unsure of that information. "You see it when you're around them don't you?"
Giggling, Eliza nodded and said, "They have special smiles."
"They do," Julia replied. "Remember I told you?"
"I do and I can't believe I almost forgot that," Jim said. He had to wonder what it was about the girls that made them okay with their parents displaying their affection for each other in front of them. He recalled easily that his daughter hadn't been fully comfortable seeing him and his wife doing that growing up but she had accepted it. Looking at Julia then he recalled how she'd been afraid of her potential family not coming together and guessed it stemmed from that. He had to shake himself from his thoughts when Eliza tugged on his sleeve for him to see what she had colored which he was quick to do as Julia was soon doing the same to him.
While they were waiting for their food, Eliza looked at her grandfather from time to time before she pushed away the book she'd been coloring in, looking outside.
"Are you finished?" Jim asked, putting his hand on her back when he saw her doing that.
"I think she's tired of coloring," Julia replied, looking at her.
"Want Mommy," Eliza said firmly. "Want a story."
"I was thinking," Jim said, knowing then what was bothering the toddler. "About showing you and your sister the pictures I have from when your mother was little here on my phone."
Looking slightly interested, Eliza said, "Yeah?"
"Do you want to?" Jim asked instead of replying. At the slight nod of the toddler's head, he leaned over and kissed her forehead saying, "I'll tell you stories then." He was relieved when she smiled at that but had to turn his head as their food was served to them and he had to help Eliza by cutting her grilled cheese sandwich. "Don't forget you can dip your sandwich in your tomato soup," he told her when he had finished. He smiled when she looked at him in almost shock before asking, "What's wrong?"
"He does that Lizzy, you didn't see before?" Julia said, having been watching them while she was getting ready to eat her chicken strips. "It's good, he showed me before when I spent the night for the first time at his home."
A doubtful look on her face, Eliza carefully dipped her sandwich piece into the soup and took a bite. Her look soon turned to a smile and she started to hum before doing the same thing again.
"Oh Grandpapa, I wish we could stay up late," Julia suddenly said as she and Jim went back to their food.
"Why?" he asked with a slight smile on his face.
"It would be fun," Julia replied. "And we could talk to Mommy and Daddy later." But when a second later he slowly shook his head she sighed and said, "No?"
"Sorry but you know your mother would not want me to do that," Jim replied.
"She might get mad huh?" Julia asked.
"A little," Jim replied.
Sighing, Julia ate again and then said, "Can I tell you what I did today at school? And Eliza too?" adding that when her sister looked up at them.
"Go ahead," Jim directed to his youngest granddaughter.
Since both girls had to talk about their days in between eating, it took the rest of the meal to tell their grandfather everything. Once they'd finished, Jim got them ready to go before leaving after he'd paid, watching the two dancing a little next to him at the register.
"Alright, let's see if we might have time to play a game before we talk to everyone," Jim said as he picked Eliza up and took Julia's hand with his free one. He felt her squeeze it and asked, "Are you excited to play?"
"Yeah, are you?" Julia asked her little sister. At her nod she said, "I'm excited to talk to Mommy and Daddy a little bit more."
"Me too," Eliza was quick to say.
"We will soon," Jim promised before they reached the car and he helped them into the back. Driving home, he listened to them with a smile as they talked about what they'd tell their parents about their days at school before finally agreeing to tell them everything, just as he pulled into the garage at the beach house.
"Let's pick something now, really fast," Julia said to her little sister once they were inside. "And play it until Mommy and Daddy call."
Nodding her head, Eliza followed her to the cabinet and when they were looking through it she said, "Cherries."
"This one?" Julia asked. When her little sister nodded eagerly she giggled and said, "Remember that this isn't real fruit okay?"
"What did you pick?" Jim asked, watching them.
"Hi Ho Cherry-O," Julia read off the box before she handed it to him. "Mommy and Daddy let her start playing this one since she's three now."
"They usually let you play games a little older with them," Jim replied as he went to the coffee table.
"See the fruit?" Julia said as she pointed to the pieces once he had the cover off the game.
"I see, she's not going to try and eat these will she?" Jim said, looking at Eliza as he spoke though.
Giggling, Eliza shook her head and said, "I don't."
"You two will have to teach me how to play this one," Jim told them.
"It's easy," Julia replied. "But first we have to put the fruit in the right tree." She helped her sister do that; though Eliza did it mostly herself as she liked to place the fruit into its correctly colored tree; and then said to their grandfather, "This isn't really a real fruit."
Seeing that she was pointing to the blue one, Jim asked, "Why not?"
"It's blueberries and they don't grow on trees, they're on bushes, Mommy and Daddy took us to pick them once," Julia replied. "Remember?"
"I do," Jim said as he'd been with them the year before for that. "And I remember you eating more than you picked Eliza."
"Now we play," the toddler said with a smile. She was allowed to go first, and she spun the spinner with her sister's help, seeing she could pick one fruit off of the red tree which she'd chosen to play with.
Jim watched as Julia helped Eliza with counting as the game continued and he smiled when the toddler cheered heavily at picking ten fruits first and winning. "That's a nice game," he said when he had put it away. "I can see why she likes it."
Julia was about to reply to that when his phone started to ring and she cried out, "It's them!"
As quickly as he could, Jim got the TV ready and stood with the girls as their parents appeared on the screen.
"Hi Julia, Eliza," Beckett said as she smiled down at them. She squeezed Castle's hand when the two cried out their hellos to them both and she then said, "So you'll have to tell us about how your day went."
"Both of you," Castle added.
Giggling, Eliza looked at her sister before she nodded and she quickly told their parents about her day at school.
"But you're okay now?" Castle asked as she told them about skinning her knee a little at recess.
Nodding, Eliza said, "Grandpapa said you kiss it after Mommy."
"I will," Beckett said, smiling slightly at her. "But it seems like you're okay."
"Yeah I took a nap and went to see Julia dance," Eliza continued.
When Eliza stopped there Castle said in amusement, "I think that's where you tell your story now Julia."
"I thought so too," the little girl said, smiling at her sister. She then talked about her class, when her sister had gotten hurt at recess and lastly her dance class. "So we're doing a little test since school is almost over," she told them.
"With your dances?" Beckett asked.
"Yeah, they're not real tests," Julia was quick to say. "But we're going over the dances again to make sure we'll remember the steps and remember what to practice."
"You're going to right?" Castle asked.
Julia nodded and then said as somberly as she could, "I'll dance the Foxtrot all the way down Penny Lane when we go to Liverpool." She then started laughing, unable to keep it in as her father looked startled for a moment.
"I can see you doing that," Castle stated. "Okay so after school?"
"I did homework, Eliza did some art with Grandpapa," Julia said quickly.
"Some painting," Jim said as the toddler was tugging on his hand. "A picture for me to take home."
"That was nice of you to do Eliza," Beckett said.
"After we went to the studio," Julia said. "And we painted some things."
"Things?" Castle echoed. "We don't get to know what they were."
"A vase," Eliza said in a rush. "For Grandpapa."
"Again, a nice thing to do," Beckett said. "Did you paint at all Dad?" she asked him.
"The vase, they painted lines and dots on it," Jim responded. He then noticed his granddaughters were looking at him and he said to the two on the screen, "It's a surprise, what they were painting today."
"For us," Beckett stated.
"They were gonna figure out," Julia quickly said as she saw that her sister looked dismayed. "And yeah, it's a surprise but you can't see until you come home."
"Okay, then we'll be looking forward to that even more," Castle commented.
"How is work going?" Julia asked before he could continue.
"It's going well, we think we're nearly finished," Beckett replied. "But we can't be sure of that just yet."
"I bet you will be soon," Julia replied. "Are you going to the beach house still?" When her parents looked at each other she told them quickly, "You need to."
"Why?" Castle asked, some laughter in his voice.
"Because you can be alone too," Julia said. "You don't have to be with us every day."
"You like that we are though," Beckett said as she caught the slight hesitation in her voice. "And we might still go but only for a couple days."
"Good," Julia said, nodding her head.
"Yeah," Eliza said, mimicking her sister's movement.
Trying not to laugh at how adorable their youngest looked, Beckett felt her husband squeeze her hand before she then turned her attention to her father, "You haven't given her a bath yet have you?"
"We played a game instead," Jim said, seeing Eliza looking a little worried. "But as soon as we hang up with you I'll take them upstairs."
"It's getting late," Castle said, looking at his watch. He sighed when both girls protested and said, "We can tell you one thing about our day."
"He's right," Beckett said as her husband was then looking at her. "We went out to eat at a place across the street from the beach. Though it was actually a highway."
"Did you go to the beach?" Julia asked eagerly.
"We did but we just walked around a little," Castle replied. "Do you want to hear about the whole dinner or just the beach?"
"All of it," Julia replied.
"I should have known," Castle mumbled under his breath.
Shaking her head as she tried not to smile so obviously at that, Beckett helped him tell their daughters and her father about their time in Malibu, from the dinner to the point where they'd left the beach to return home. "So it was nice, a little break from working," she said.
"It sounds fun," Julia said. "I hope you can bring that shell back," she said as Castle had held it up to the screen for them to see.
"We'll try," Beckett said. "But now you need to go to bed Eliza." When the toddler tried to protest she said, "You keep yawning. So I'll say goodnight now and I love you Julia, Eliza."
"Love you Mommy," the toddler replied.
"Love you too Mommy," Julia said. "We'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Of course," Beckett said. "Night Dad."
"Goodnight Katie," Jim said, saying the same to his son in law.
"And I love you too Julia, Eliza," Castle said to them. "Sweet dreams okay?"
"Kay," Eliza said first. "Love you Daddy."
"I love you too Daddy," Julia said. "Can't wait to talk to you tomorrow."
"Neither can we," Beckett said. "Bye," she called with Castle before he hung up.
"What about Alexis?" Julia said as soon as the screen was dark.
"I think your sister heard you," Jim said with a slight smile, his phone starting to ring then. He opened the call then coming into Skype and watched the girls as they waved to their sister.
"Hi you two," Alexis said with a smile as she looked down at them. "How's it going?"
"We painted," Eliza said seriously.
"And we played a game too," Julia added.
"That's great to hear," Alexis replied. "So you had fun today, right?"
"Yeah, did you?" Eliza said.
"A little," Alexis said with a smile. "But first I want to hear how your days went okay?"
"They'll have to talk a little fast," Jim said then.
"It's bedtime?" Alexis asked. At his nod she said, "Then tell me but try to talk a little fast." She then listened as Eliza talked about her day, letting her check to see if she was okay after the slight injury to her knee. After Julia had told her about hers she told them how her day at school had gone.
"Was that your last final?" Julia asked when her big sister had finished speaking.
"No, remember tomorrow morning is," Alexis replied. "And as soon as I can get the last of my things back to the loft, I'll drive out to you guys."
"When," Eliza asked eagerly.
"I'm not sure yet but you should be out of school by then Lizzy," Alexis told her.
"Kay," Eliza said. "Will you play?"
"Of course," Alexis said with a smile. "So I should say goodnight to you two, let you go to bed."
"You don't have to," Julia said slyly.
"And have your mom and Dad mad that I did that?" Alexis said jokingly.
"They wouldn't," Julia protested.
"She's right honey," Jim said. "I'm sure she needs to study for her test before she goes to bed."
Sighing, Julia nodded saying, "We have school too."
"I know, I'm taking you two on Friday okay?" Alexis reminded them. At their smiles and rapid nods of their heads she said, "Then let's say goodnight. Sweet dreams Jules, Lizzy, I love you both."
"Love you 'lexis." "Yeah, love you 'lexis," Julia and then Eliza told her, waving. After their big sister had said goodnight to their grandfather they turned to him and when he picked up the toddler they sighed at the same time.
"There's something about summer that makes it harder to get you two to bed," Jim said as he took Julia's hand, walking to the stairs.
"It's too nice outside to sleep," the little girl told him in a matter of fact tone.
"And still light out," Jim said as it was nearing twilight. "But we're getting closer to school finishing for the year, and I'm sure your parents will let you stay up a little later on our vacation."
"That would be fun," Julia said with a nod. She went with him into Eliza's room and said, "Is it okay if I take a bath with her?"
"It'll be quick; if you two want to look at those pictures," Jim replied. When Julia nodded and then rushed out he looked at Eliza and said, "Do you mind?"
"With Jules?" the toddler asked. When he nodded she giggled and shook her head saying, "Wanna see Mommy."
"We will, afterwards," Jim told her. He took her into the bathroom and started to get her undressed before Julia joined them again and did so herself. When the two stepped into the full tub he heard his youngest granddaughter whimper and said, "Is it your knee?"
"Yeah, ouchie Grandpapa," Eliza told him.
"Well it does need to be washed," Jim said. "And after you come out of the water we'll choose a band-aid for you okay?"
"A fun one," Julia suggested.
At her grandfather's nod a smile appeared on Eliza's face and she said, "I want that."
"After," Jim assured her. He then started to wash her hair, trying to make sure Julia could do that at the same time with the showerhead. When they were both cleaned and had managed to play a bit with the washcloths; trying to make them float and bump into each other on the water; he helped them out and dried Eliza off. "Okay," he said when they were both dressed. "Time for your band-aid. You want to help her Julia?"
When her sister set down all the different ones, the toddler studied them before choosing the bright blue colored one and said, "That?"
Picking her up, Jim set her down next to the sink before putting some ointment on the wound and asking, "Does it still hurt?" At the shake of her head, he set the band-aid before helping her brush her teeth. He remembered Julia needed to do the same and turned to tell her when he saw that she'd left. "Okay, looks like we'll have to wait for her to finish up," he said to his granddaughter as he carried her out to her bed.
"Want to see Grandpapa," Eliza protested.
"I know honey but as soon as Julia comes we'll start," Jim said reassuringly.
"I'm here, Macca was coming upstairs so I waited for him," Julia said a bit later, coming in with the dog.
"Did you brush your teeth?" Jim asked her. At her nod he motioned for her to join him and Eliza on the bed and once he had a granddaughter on either side of him he opened his gallery with his uploaded pictures and said, "First, this was your mother when she was a few days old."
"Mommy is small," Eliza said in awe.
"She was a baby too," Jim said in amusement as her expression was the same as her tone. "And she was small."
"You loved her," Julia stated, looking at her sister.
"Of course, both your grandmama and I did," Jim said firmly.
"Grandmama loves Jules?" Eliza asked. At his nod she then smiled and said, "And Grandmama loves me?"
"She does," Jim replied. "But look at this next picture," he said, wanting to change the subject. "This was your mother's first Christmas with us."
Since she had looked at the beginning pictures the night before with her grandfather, Julia only paid half attention to what he was saying until he came to where they'd stopped the night before. She smiled as she looked at the shot of her mother on a pony, not surprised when her little sister squealed at the sight of the horse. "I told you Mommy went riding when she was little," she said.
"Yeah," Eliza said. She suddenly yawned and whimpered when her grandfather turned off his phone. "Grandpapa."
"You're starting to nod off honey," Jim said easily. "Come on, into bed."
Hugging her sister, Eliza said, "Night Jules, love you."
"Love you too Lizzy, night," Julia replied, hugging her back. She then got off the bed before she watched their grandfather hug her.
"I love you Eliza, sweet dreams," Jim told her.
"Night Grandpapa, love you too," Eliza replied quickly before they shared a kiss. She laid back at his direction and sighed as he tucked her in, watching him with wide eyes.
Running his hand over her forehead, Jim pressed his lips to it and then took Julia's hand before they walked after Macca to the doorway. He wasn't surprised when they looked back to find Eliza fast asleep and he ushered Julia to her room.
"You're not closing the door?" the little girl asked him.
"I don't think we're going to be that loud," Jim replied. "We have about twenty minutes, what would you like to do until I tuck you in?"
Julia seemed to think for a moment before she turned and went to her bookshelf, taking out a slightly larger book before going to the bed. "I was thinking about this when we talked about the vacation," she told her grandfather as she gave it to him.
Opening it to the first page, Jim saw the first picture was one he recognized his granddaughter had taken in San Francisco. He waited for her to get on the bed and followed her before he gave the book back to her. He held her against his side as she pointed things out to him, smiling as she seemed to forget that he'd gone with them the last time they'd been in the city. He was startled when Julia suddenly closed the book and he asked her, "You want to go to bed?"
"No," Julia said with a soft giggle. "When we went to San Francisco, what was your favorite thing?"
Jim smiled at that as he guessed that she'd just wanted to tell him about what was in the book and then thought for a moment before telling her, "I think it was probably Fisherman's Wharf. I had fun seeing that again."
"And the sourdough?" Julia asked.
"That too," Jim replied. "And I had a nice time going with you, our tour guide."
Blushing as she recalled how she'd been telling her grandfather about what they were seeing, Julia said, "I was little, I thought you wanted to hear."
"I did," Jim replied, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "And now when we go to Spain, I'll have to be the tour guide for you all."
Smiling at that, Julia asked, "Will you?"
"Well not for everything, my friend Xavi will help me with that," Jim said.
"I have to say thank you when we meet him," Julia said thoughtfully.
"Why would you need to do that?" Jim asked in surprise.
"'Cause he takes care of you when you go," Julia said simply. "That way you come back home okay."
Jim laughed softly and leaned down, kissing the top of her head. "He does help me but I always make sure I can get back home," he said. "For now…" he then began.
Sighing as she knew it was time for her to go to bed with that, Julia let him take the book from her and once he turned back to her she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Did I say I was happy you were here?" she told him.
"You did," Jim said. He pulled back a little to look into her eyes and said seriously, "But I'm happy to hear it again. I love you Julia."
"Love you too Grandpapa," the little girl said, pressing her cheek against his. They parted and she shared a kiss with him before he helped her lay down and she watched him tucking her in before saying, "Night."
"Goodnight honey," Jim replied, leaning over and pressing his lips to the top of her head. He went to the doorway and closed the light, watching his oldest granddaughter for a moment before he left her to sleep.
When he'd gone, Julia shifted a little and then sighed, turning onto her side before she let the sound of Macca's deep breathing help her drift off to sleep.
"It's, oh, looks like I'm popular tonight," Castle said when he'd started to set his phone down a while after they'd finished talking to their daughters.
"Alexis?" Beckett asked. When he nodded she stood up and then leaned over, kissing his cheek.
Watching as she went upstairs, Castle wanted to tell her that she didn't need to go but remembered their decision to go swimming again to try and relax after that day. He then turned his attention back to his daughter as he answered the phone and started to talk to her.
Changing into her bikini, Beckett could hear outside some laughter and she wondered for a moment if Skye and Mary were in the pool. But she knew the laughter was too high pitched, so she shook her head to concentrate on finishing. Wrapping her sarong around her waist she was startled to come out of the bathroom to see her husband changed into his trunks, putting on his t-shirt. "That was a short conversation," she commented.
"Well Alexis had to study," Castle replied. "For her last final."
As she'd walked up to him then Beckett squeezed his shoulder and said, "We'll have a lot of time this summer with her."
"Yeah that's the best part," Castle replied. "And I think she's ready, just a few things from the loft she'll take to the Hamptons to mail there…"
Hugging him then Beckett kissed his cheek and said, "Let's go."
"Yeah," Castle replied, shaking his mind of the subject as he didn't want to dwell on it too much. He let her take his hand after he grabbed the towels on the bed and when they were outside and around the guest house he said, "It sounds like they're there."
"Then we'll go back and find something else to occupy our time," Beckett replied, going up to the gate in the fence around the pool.
"Hello, decided to join us?" Mary asked, noticing them and walking over to the pool.
"We'd like to, if that's okay with you both," Beckett said with a smile.
A snort leaving her Skye replied, "Didn't think you'd be so shy, come in we've enough room. Pool's quite big I'm sure you noticed."
"I love how you go back and forth between being British and Californian in the way you talk," Beckett couldn't help comment as they went inside and she discarded her wrap on a lounge chair.
"It's how I grew up," Skye said with a shrug. "What is it Marie?" she asked as her oldest was tugging on her hand.
"I want to sit now," the little girl replied.
"Alright go ahead and… oh with me," Skye said before she realized what her daughter wanted. "Why don't we let these two come inside first before we hog the stairs."
"We're not going to take that long," Castle said, going down rapidly before he ducked under the water.
"It's a little warmer for the girls, so that helped," Skye said as she sat down on the top step after Beckett had gone down them. She wrapped her arm around Marie and said in Irish, "I took your advice."
"I can see that," Beckett said with a smile for the little girl who was looking up at her mother nearly adoringly. "Better?"
"Much," Skye said. Hearing her other daughter calling to her twin to race with her she said, "Go on love, see if you and your sister are still evenly matched."
When they were alone at that end of the pool Beckett said, "Is she going to follow in your footsteps?"
"You noticed?" Skye asked with a slight smile.
"Hard not to," Beckett replied. "She was asking you about the flight you're going to be taking. Speaking of that when is it taking place exactly?"
"In the morning," Skye replied. "And I know, they do have school but I've spoken with their teacher and they won't be missing anything really." She then smiled a little wider and said, "Did you think I wouldn't be concerned about that."
Beckett shook her head and then followed her friend's gaze to the others before she said, "But I'm wondering does that mean she wants to be a pilot or an investigator."
"Both," Skye and Beckett said at the same time.
"Yeah she wants to fly a little and then start investigating everything," Skye replied. "Her words not mine."
"The thing that worries me though hearing that…" Beckett started to say.
"She knows but I think right now to her it's just a plane that's broken," Skye said. "And I'd like her to keep thinking that. When she's older then of course we'll have to see what she wants to do."
Nodding Beckett watched as the woman stood up and went down the steps and she couldn't help say, "I always wanted to ask you, why do you wear…"
"Can't quite seem to finish up your statements," Skye said teasingly, looking down at her wet suit-like shirt and trunks. "More comfortable. Mary likes to tease me in this I look the most butch."
"That's not… offensive?" Beckett asked.
"When she says that I take these off, I'm wearing a bikini underneath," Skye replied. "Just more comfortable covered up when we're with the girls."
"And around men," Beckett said.
"Something like that," Skye said. She then opened her mouth to speak but paused before saying, "Why did you turn into my wife there?"
Knowing that the woman meant the fact that she was acting like a therapist, Beckett said, "I can be observant too."
"Quite," Skye said before she then ducked underneath the water and started to swim to the others as Castle passed her.
"Hey, what were you talking about with her?" he asked when he reached his wife.
"What's it to you?" Beckett shot back. She laughed softly at her husband's slightly startled expression before she went to him and said, "She's interesting."
"I bet you that's what Mary said when she first spoke to her as her therapist," Castle replied.
"It is," the woman said, coming up to them then. "Sorry, girls want to play a little before we step out to go to the Jacuzzi. And I can't really talk about what we spoke of during those sessions, not without her permission."
"That's okay," Beckett said. She then smiled at her husband before she ducked underneath the water without a word to him. She wasn't that surprised to feel him next to her a second later and they swam around Skye and the twins to the other end, hanging on to the end.
"Oh completely forgot, how're your girls?" Skye suddenly asked as she followed her daughters to the shallow end.
"They're fine," Beckett replied. "They had a busy evening with their grandfather."
"Sounds nice," Skye replied. "Well we're playing some volleyball if you'd like to join us."
"We might take you up on that," Castle said, looking at his wife. When she smiled and shook her head he let go of the edge and swam with her over to the others standing in the middle and shallow part of the pool.
