"Here they come," Jim said to his granddaughter as he could hear the tell-tale sound of a boat.
Eliza clapped her hands just as the boat for the ride came out of the drop, sending up a wave of water though it didn't reach them. "Can't we go over there Grandpapa?" she asked him.
"Your mom doesn't want you to get wet," Jim replied. "Or your dad either. So stay with me and we'll wait until we can see them." He couldn't help smiling as the little girl sighed and said, "Are you mad you couldn't go too?"
"Yeah but… that's scary," Eliza said, gesturing to the building that held the eighty-five-foot drop.
"I know," Jim said. "But they'll have fun."
"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly. It was later in the afternoon and she was with her grandparents, Josie and Dani while the others were on the Jurassic World ride. She remembered that some weren't, and she looked behind them saying, "Do you think they had fun upstairs?"
"Probably," Jim said, kissing her temple before she turned to him and hugged him tighter around the neck. "Here comes another," he said as they could hear the boat coming down.
Watching the boat that came down then, Eliza looked for her mother's blue blouse but couldn't spot it as the boat went by. Sighing she said, "What's taking them so long?"
"Hold on Dani," Martha said suddenly, making Beckett's father turn and Eliza gasp. "She wants to see as well," she explained when the toddler had reached the railing.
"I can't really pick her up," Jim said, looking at Eliza.
Opening her mouth to speak, the little girl heard a familiar voice behind them and saw that it was Mary with the three youngest McDouglas girls. "How was the ride?" Eliza couldn't help asking them.
"Good," Fleur said with a smile. "Did they come down the drop yet?"
"No," Eliza said, squeezing her grandfather's shoulder so he would put her down. She went up on the step so she could see over it and said, "Does your mom really like this ride?" to the McDouglas girls.
"Yeah, the drop," Mary said with a smile as the four looked at her. She carefully got her hair out of Dani's grip and told them, "She likes drops like that. I don't know why but she does."
"Is that why you let her go?" Ivy asked.
Mary nodded and then said to Jim and Martha, "I couldn't really stop her."
"Of course not," Castle's mother replied. She was going to say more but there was the sound of another boat and they looked over at the drop to find it coming down into the water.
"There they are!" Eliza cried as she quickly spotted her family in the front row. She waved furiously as the three were doing the same back to her and after the boat had passed by she said, "They look like they got really wet."
"That would happen," Mary said with a slight grimace.
"Did you go on that Mommy?" Iris asked.
"Once," Mary said. "And that was more than enough."
"How did that happen?" Martha asked.
"We were engaged," Mary replied. "And we came here one day and… I went on the ride for her since she obviously wanted to go."
"Did she know you didn't?" Jim asked.
"I didn't really hesitate for all that long," Mary said with a smile. "When we got off the drop she looked at me and said…" She paused, as her fiancée had spoken in Irish and had cursed herself out in that language, and then said, "That she'd been stupid to force me to go." She ran her hand over the back of Ivy's head and said, "And that was the last time I've been on it. But luckily your mum still married me," directing that to her three youngest.
"She loves you," Fleur said quickly.
"She's quite right, I do," Skye said suddenly. She smiled when her daughters rushed to her and told them warningly, "Better not, I'm quite soaked through."
"I'm not worried," Mary said, walking to her wife and embracing her tightly.
Laughing Skye asked, "You told them about our ride, didn't you?" as she was hugging her back. When she felt her nod, she squeezed Mary a little harder and then said, "They enjoyed it."
"Everyone?" the doctor asked as she moved back.
"They did," Skye replied, nodding.
"I'm wondering," Beckett told her friend as she hugged Eliza the best she could after checking on Josie who was on her grandmother's hip. "Is that it?"
"We are the first park. We're on a hill and we've seen everything," Skye said.
"Except…" Liam told his daughter.
Groaning, though she smiled soon after Skye said, "The last thing is the two shows, and I'm alright with the special effects one but WaterWorld…"
"I can pass on those," Beckett said. "I'll stay with Josie."
"I'll stay with you," Skye said quickly.
"Rick, go," Beckett said as she could see the hesitation in the expression on his face. "If the girls want to go too I'd like you to be there with them."
Though he wanted the chance to be with his wife and their baby, Castle looked at their other daughters and said, "If they want to go I'd love to."
"I'd like to see it," Julia said, glancing at her mother.
"Go," Beckett replied. "Skye and Mary say it's alright, there's some gunfire-"
"And fire," Skye interrupted.
"Can't have Universal without fire," Mary quipped.
"Alright, let's go upstairs and get to the theater," Skye said with a laugh.
Once they had reached it, near the entrance, Beckett and Skye were joined by Jim and the older McDouglas twins. They watched the rest of their group head into the theater before Skye turned to her daughters.
"Well you lot," the investigator told them with a smile on her face. "What should we do while we're waiting for the rest of them?"
"Walk around Hogsmeade?" Kathleen said after she and her twin shared a look.
"What about the games at the Simpsons?" Skye asked.
"I guess that's okay," Marie said.
"Why couldn't we walk around Hogsmeade?" Jim asked.
"Well… I guess they could," Skye said. "I mean we could. But I would hate for your sisters to get jealous."
"But we're not doing anything new," Marie pointed out to her.
"Oh, I know why Mum said the Simpsons," Kathleen said. "She wants us to say we'll stay here and that way she'll be close to Mom."
"We'll still be close," Beckett said, reaching to Josie to gently rub her stomach.
"I know, sorry just…" Skye started to say before she shook her head. "Let's go."
Beckett wasn't surprised when her father took the twins ahead of them and she said, "I don't blame you," in Russian.
"I'm surprised that Rick didn't stay out," Skye said. "Though I'm guessing he enjoyed the movie?"
"No, he just likes action," Beckett said before they both paused.
Shaking her head Skye said, "I knew what you meant but thanks for making me think of that."
"Not a problem," Beckett said before they laughed together.
"Would it be alright if we did spells?" Marie asked her mother once they'd reached the gate to Hogsmeade.
"Go on," Skye told them, smiling. She looked down at Josie as the baby was vocalizing suddenly and she said, "She's getting close."
"We noticed," Beckett said with a smile as she and Castle had noticed Josie's gums seemed to be turning a little red in a couple places. "And that means she's moving in with us."
"Martha will disagree with that," Jim told his daughter.
"We know," Beckett replied. "But there are kids in the house that'll need to get sleep and they won't be able to do that if Josie's there."
"You'll have to talk with her," Jim said.
"I don't know if she'd be that loud, the walls and doors are soundproofed," Skye pointed out to her.
Beckett sighed, looking down at the baby, before she said, "We'll talk to her."
"Mum!" the twins said at the same time.
"What is it?" Skye asked the two.
"We couldn't get more Butterbeer?" Kathleen asked first.
"Now that's too much," Skye told them, smiling at the same time. "Come back over here, there's not much time left to the show and we need to meet them at the gates to discuss what we'll do the rest of our time here."
"How much time is left?" Jim said as they went to a window with musical instruments behind it.
"Only seven minutes," Skye replied after she'd looked at her watch once her robe sleeve was out of the way. "But they'll have enjoyed it," she said to Beckett.
"Yeah, it's fun to see a couple times… in a row," Marie said before she and her twin were rolling their eyes. "Oh! Mum, where are we gonna eat?" She and Kathleen looked at each other when their mother was still looking at her watch and then exclaimed at the same time, "Mum!"
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Skye asked with a smile. "We're not eating at the park. At Citywalk."
"Cool, we wanted to," Kathleen said first.
"Good, I'm sure Julia will love it there," Skye said, smiling at Beckett.
"Let's keep going," she said before they went to the last of the spells. Beckett was relieved when the investigator let them know they could head to the front gate and she pushed Josie's stroller, spotting her husband and their daughters first in the group. She smiled at the three of them, not surprised when the latter two ran up to her and were telling her about the show together and excitedly to her amusement while she listened closely.
"There were jet skis, but they were all dark and they were riding around to get the people wet in the front-" Julia began.
"We weren't there but we saw the water and there was fire-" Eliza then took up.
"And there were guns and stuff, but the set was really tall and there was a ship that even went around in the water-"
"Oh! Don't forget the plane that flew in and there were big exposions," Eliza said before she was smiling as her big sister laughed.
"Explosions," Beckett gently corrected her. "So you liked it?"
"Yeah, it was… cool," Julia said slowly.
"I don't know if you would have liked it love," Castle told his wife. "But it was fun to watch."
"Did you have fun?" Eliza asked.
"I did, but we don't have that much time left until the park closes so we can go on the rides again," Beckett said. "But," she said when the girls looked at each other in excitement. "I hope you'll let your grandparents go with you."
"On all the rides?" Julia asked, looking at her grandfather.
"You want me to go on Jurassic World with you?" Jim asked. When the girl nodded he laughed and said, "Alright, I'm sure Skye will want to go on it again. Should we start now?"
"We need to," David said. "There isn't that much time left."
"Really not a lot of time left," Derek said, holding up his arm where his watch was.
"Enough for the rides one more time," Skye said.
"Are we going on the tour again?" Sasha asked.
Shaking her head Mary said, "We usually just go on it once when we're here. Unless anyone wanted to split off from us and do that."
Skye looked around at everyone and then said with a smile, "Let's go."
Castle took Josie's stroller when they were walking again and said to Beckett, "If you want to go on any of the rides I'll take her."
Shaking her head Beckett said, "We've been on these in Orlando, so I'll let our parents go."
"Chaill mé tú," Castle murmured to her though he was telling her he missed her in Irish.
Beckett smiled and then said, "Rinne mé freisin," which meant the phrase I did too. She squeezed his arm and kept it looped through his until they reached the roller coaster in the Harry Potter section and then moved to find a bench to watch the ride.
"Is there anything you'd like to do before we leave?" Castle asked his wife once they were settled and he was looked in on Josie who was moving her Tigger doll around.
"One more ride with the girls," Beckett replied.
"Which?" Castle asked.
"I'll let them choose," Beckett said simply.
"Good idea," Castle said, nodding his head before he leaned over and kissed her temple. "This has been fun."
"It has," Beckett replied. "But I'm eager to go to Disneyland more."
"For Eliza?" Castle asked. He was startled when his wife merely smiled in response to that and he asked, "What?"
"We're taking her on the Dumbo ride," Beckett said, nodding to the baby.
"Oh, really?" Castle asked.
"Yeah, I want that to be her first ride at the park," Beckett explained. She wasn't surprised when her husband looked a little confused and she told him, "Skye and Mary took the girls to that ride their first time at Disneyland; their older girls."
"But the younger three-" Castle started to say.
"Will be going on that first too," Beckett said. She smiled and added, "We're going to detour from their normal route to the Jungle Cruise for that reason."
"Okay," Castle said. "I just hope the older kids won't mind."
"I don't think so," Beckett replied. "We'll be heading to the Jungle Cruise after," she ended swiftly as their family and friends were coming over to them.
"With this last bit," Skye said to the pair still sitting on the bench. "We're going to split up and meet at the Studio Store at the front before the park closes. It's large so text us once you're there; they're going to do the same," she told them, gesturing behind her with her friend. "And after we'll head out to the Citywalk and dinner."
"And dessert!" Kathleen said.
"And that, but after we shop a bit," Mary said, shaking her head as she was smiling.
"What can we go on now Mom?" Julia asked as they remained where they were while the others left.
"That's your pick," Beckett said. "Though I think we should go on the rides down at the bottom first before we come back up to leave."
"What about the Mummy ride?" Julia said, turning her attention to her grandparents.
"I'll go," Jim said. "Since I've been on it already…?"
"It's different," Beckett said first.
"And it goes backwards but no drops or anything," Castle said.
"I'll go," Jim said. "But what about you two?" he directed to Martha and Eliza.
"Do you want to go on that Transformers ride?" the little girl asked her big sister.
"You can go on that," Julia said. "You'll like it Gram."
"Alright," Martha said with a slight laugh. She took the stroller, as her son and daughter in law were taking their daughters by their hands and took Josie over to the elevator down to the lower level of the park. When they were stepping out at the bottom she was about to ask the pair where they would wait with Josie when her son was speaking first.
"We'll be by the drop for Jurassic World," Castle said. "Do you mind staying here while they go on that ride?" he asked as they stopped by the entrance of Revenge of the Mummy.
"No, I like to see the boats," Eliza said with a smile.
"I'll stay with Josie so you can watch," Martha said with a smile.
"Have fun," Beckett told them, taking their robes to put them away. Once they were set in a bag under the carrier she and her husband went to the railing at the ride, watching as one boat came out of the drop once they stepped up to it. "You can go on this if you want to," she told him.
Shaking his head, Castle waited for her to take Josie out of her carrier before he kissed them both on the cheek. "I'd like to stay with you guys," he told her. "Let Julia and your dad have time together."
Beckett smiled at him, wanting to kiss him, but she needed to wipe some drool that was going down Josie's chin. She wasn't surprised when the baby made a slightly distressed sound and she leaned down, kissing the top of her head before she let Castle take her. She watched him lightly bounce the baby before he nuzzled her temple, realizing he was telling her something.
"I know you're still too little to go on this ride but it's a lot of fun. The dinosaurs look so real and not all of them want to attack," Castle said. "Now, at five years old you're tall enough-"
"Rick," Beckett said simply.
"But that's too young so you'll be older like Eliza will. What?" Castle asked, looking at her.
Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, Beckett was about to speak when another boat came down the drop and they watched before she heard Josie vocalizing.
"Can she see that?" Castle asked in surprise as they turned to their baby.
"Maybe," Beckett said. "Her eyesight is nearly twenty-twenty," she added.
"And it looks like she might want to go on this ride," Castle said.
"More than likely," Beckett said.
"How old?" Castle asked.
Looking at the drop as she let Josie wave her index finger back and forth, Beckett said, "Maybe six or seven, it depends on how they are," indicating both Eliza and the baby. "And how much they'd want to go on this."
Castle nodded before he and Beckett took turns holding Josie and watching the boats before the rest of their family came over to them. Once Jim and Julia were heading for the line they turned their attention to Eliza who was standing in between them.
"It looks very tall," the little girl said suddenly, after a boat had gone.
"It is, eighty-five feet," Castle commented.
"Jules says I'm tall enough to go on the ride," Eliza said, looking up at them.
"You are but I really want you to be a little older for this," Beckett said.
"We do," Castle corrected her.
"Really?" Eliza asked, glancing up at him.
"Of course, it's a big drop," Castle said seriously. "You've only just started going on Splash Mountain. So we want you to grow up just a little more before you get to these rides." He was surprised when she suddenly frowned, and he was going to ask her what was wrong when his wife beat him to it.
"Did you want to go?" Beckett asked her.
Shaking her head Eliza said, "Will Josa get to go?"
"One day, but not for a while," Beckett told her. They watched another boat and she said, "We'll go back up after this."
Eliza, not hearing her father reply to that, looked up at her mother and said, "Did you talk to me?"
"I was talking to you," Beckett told her. "And I'm letting you know this is the last chance for the rides here."
"I went on them," Eliza said before she paused. "The Transformers ride."
"What do you want to go to upstairs first?" Castle asked.
Shaking her head Eliza said, "I wanna ask Jules."
Looking at the next boat that was coming down the drop, Beckett smiled and said, "There they are," as she quickly spotted Julia in her grey shirt.
"Did she go there on purpose?" Eliza asked her parents after they'd been waving to Julia and Jim, the pair on the furthest two right seats of the first row.
"Probably," Castle said, turning around to lean against the railing.
"What is it Daddy?" Eliza asked him, a wide smile on her face.
"I'm trying to think of the ride you two will pick," Castle said.
"I've been thinking of that too," Beckett said, taking Eliza's hand when she came to her. She squeezed it gently and told her, "Is it the roller coaster?"
"No, we went on that already," Eliza replied. "The minions."
"I thought it might be that one," Castle said, looking at his wife.
"Me too," Beckett said with a smile before their daughter was hugging her around the waist.
"Hi!" Julia said, jogging up to her family once she could see them. "That was a lot of fun. Are we going back up?"
"Yeah," Eliza said before their parents could say anything. "I said the minions."
"Cool, me too," Julia said before she and her sister laughed together, wrapping their arms around each other.
"Let's go you two," Castle said, smiling at them before he looked at his wife. He wasn't surprised when she was lowering her camera from her face and murmured, "Got it?"
"I did," Beckett replied. She walked with him while they were watching their daughters in front of them, surprised when the two paused by the elevator. "What's wrong?" she asked the two.
"Could we go up the Starway?" Julia asked, her sister squeezing her hand.
"Did you tell them?" Beckett asked her husband.
"Tell- the name?" Castle asked to say in surprise. At her nod he quickly said, "No, that was probably Marie or Kath, right?"
"They both said," Eliza replied.
"Just this once?" Julia asked.
Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband looked at her and she sighed before saying, "Okay, since we're going up. "But once we start I don't think we can get the elevator, it goes straight to the top."
"It does," Jim said. When the others looked at him he said, "I asked Mary about it. She said there used to be a shuttle for people who were in wheelchairs and since their older twins weren't they had to go on this until they built the elevator last summer."
"It scares them both," Julia said. "Going down the most."
"Then we have to ask are you sure about going?" Castle said to the girls.
"I want to go," Julia said. She was surprised when her little sister tugged her hand and she looked down at her. "You don't want to now?" She smiled when Eliza shook her head and she said, "That's okay, it's really steep."
"But you still want to go," Beckett stated.
"Yeah," Julia replied. "Just once."
"Then we need to take off our robes, so we'll be okay," Beckett told her daughter and her husband.
Though she wanted to protest, Julia looked up at the first escalator and saw why her mother wanted them to do that. Since she wasn't wearing them; after the Jurassic World ride; she waited for her parents to get theirs off. She smiled and waved goodbye to the rest of their family before they made their way up the first set of escalators.
When they were halfway through Castle said, "Are you doing okay?"
"I am," Julia said. "I'm not going to look up."
"Good idea," Beckett told her as they made it to the third escalators. She wasn't looking anywhere but right in front of her; as Skye had advised her to do that if they were going up the escalators that day; but wanted to see the view so she told the two to stop.
"It's pretty," Julia said with a smile as they were looking out on everything.
"It is, but I like it back at home," Castle commented, standing with his arm around her shoulders while Beckett was taking pictures.
"The city home or the Hamptons?" Julia asked.
"The Hamptons," Castle said.
Wrinkling her nose Julia said, "But you grew up in the city."
"I did, but I've come to appreciate the Hamptons," Castle said.
Julia nodded, though she wasn't sure if that counted as being more out in the country, but her mother got their attention and they went together to the last set of escalators. Seeing her sister waiting with Jim near where they stepped off she hurried to her and cried, "I made it!"
"Me too!" Eliza said before they held hands and started to jump up and down.
"Girls," Beckett said before she had to stop as she couldn't keep herself from laughing.
"You're going to wear yourselves out for the rest of the rides," Castle said when he'd managed to get control of himself enough to speak.
"We can go to the minions?" Eliza asked eagerly when she and her sister stopped.
"Yes," Beckett said. "But before we do…" she said before she waved to her father and mother in law.
Castle, knowing what she wanted to do, flagged down an employee who was walking by to ask if he would take a picture of them. He then hurried to get Beckett's camera and once he was with his family at the railing they stood with the girls in front and Josie in his arms. After his wife had her camera back he kept the baby with him, carrying her over to the Despicable Me area with their daughters laughing and skipping together in front of them while he held Beckett's hand tightly in his own.
"Where are we going?" Eddie asked Skye as they were led up the stairs to the second floor of the Hard Rock Café.
"Up," the investigator said. Skye smiled when the actor gave her a look before she felt a hand tugging on the sleeve of her robes. She glanced over her shoulder at Julia and was about to ask what she wanted when the girl was speaking a moment later rapidly.
"Are we going to sit by Beatles stuff?" Julia said eagerly.
"I think we are," Eddie said, reaching to her to help her up the last step so she was first.
Beckett hurried the last few steps at the cry she heard before she saw that her daughter was standing in front of a Hofner Violin Bass that was hanging on the wall. She looked at Skye with a smile and asked, "Where is he right now?" in Russian.
"He has one last pair of concerts in San Francisco this Friday and Saturday," Skye replied in the same language, speaking in a low tone as they got out of the way of the others coming up the stairs behind them. "And then he has the next two weeks off before he's performing the last concerts in Anaheim and LA."
Nodding, Beckett went to her family who was sitting at the table closest to the Beatles items and she said, "Are you sure no one else wanted to sit here?"
"I think they were expecting her to," Jim told his daughter with a smile as Julia was giving them a slight pout of her lips.
"Look at the menu you guys," Beckett told the girls while they were laughing. Before she sat down she quickly unclasped her robe and let her husband hold it while she got her arms out of the sleeves. "Thank you," she told him before she sat on one of the two empty chairs together. Josie was to her right and she leaned over, kissing the baby's forehead before she said, "Skye said once we order you and the other kids can walk around. But just on this floor, I don't want you going around downstairs where all the other people are."
"How did we get tables up here?" Emma asked.
"That was me," Skye said. "Which was a surprise, but they gave me the tables here."
"I'm glad it worked," Eddie said. "Would have been difficult to move around downstairs. And it's only a Wednesday."
"It's popular here?" Rebecca asked.
"It can be," Mary said. "Obviously it is tonight."
"Are we ready to order?" Skye asked as their waitresses were coming over to the table.
Beckett, after making a quick look at the entrees, was able to order and she helped Eliza as well before they were left alone again. "Go ahead," she told both girls when she saw they were looking at her and Castle.
"You don't want to go?" he asked when he noticed the girls weren't getting up.
"We do, but come with us," Julia said as her sister looked at her, waiting to see what their parents would say to that request.
"We'll be back," Castle said to his mother and father in law while he and Beckett were getting up from their chairs.
"They have a lot of stuff here," Peter said as they were walking, looking around at the different items.
"I don't know who these singers or bands are though," Mari was saying. "Well… most of them."
"I'm not surprised," David said to his daughter. "Most of them are from before you all were born," as they were looking at some outfits in a glass case. "But they're good music."
"I'm glad you got to sit by the Beatles stuff," Marie was saying to Julia.
"Me too," Mari said quickly.
"I know," Julia said, smiling at her friends.
"Mum and Mom said they used to have a lot of different things downstairs, but they took it off," Marie then continued.
"Oh… at least they have the stuff up here," Julia commented. She wasn't surprised when the two she was walking with nodded in agreement and they made their way back around to their table.
"How was everything?" Martha asked them.
"Cool, there's an outfit over there with fringe," Julia said. "Is it from the seventies?" she asked her parents.
"Yes," Castle said slowly.
"What?" Julia asked since he'd been looking at her.
"I was waiting to see if you'd ask if I'd worn anything like that when I was a kid," Castle commented.
"Dad," Julia said with a sigh though she soon smiled. "Did you wear fringe at all?"
"No," Castle said quickly.
"He didn't," Martha said, her voice heavily tinged with amusement as the girls had both turned to look at her. "His costumes never were fringe related."
"Not even regular clothes?" Beckett asked.
"Hey!" Castle said. He was slightly mollified when his wife kissed his cheek and he told them all, "No, it was a lot of itchy sweaters in the winter and polyester shirts with very big collars and polo shirts for spring and summer."
"Here comes our food," Beckett then told them as the waiters were coming over to them. "Please eat but slowly."
"Mum-" Kathleen started to say.
"After dinner lass," Skye told her firmly.
Once they had their food, the group started to eat, talking about the park and then the upcoming episode of the show until they were finishing the meal.
"You're not going to stay and walk around?" Julia was asking Derek as they were getting up from the table.
"I'm afraid not," the dancer replied. "And remember you need to get some rest too for practice… actually get the others, I want you to show me your steps really quick."
"All of them?" Mari asked as she hurried over with the boys.
"Let's say the first two verses," Derek replied. He then waited for the pairs to get into hold in an empty space between the tables and chairs, proceeding to count them off. He watched them with the others, nodding when they stopped at what would be the end of the second verse. He was about to speak when the others started to applaud, and he smiled before he told them, "Great job. But you're both having problems getting back up after the boys dip you," directing the last to the girls.
"Oh… sorry," Mari said, her cheeks red.
"That's okay, we'll work on that tomorrow," Derek said, and he moved to say goodbye to everyone before they went downstairs and out of the restaurant.
Watching the three dancers, Daisy and Eddie leave, Eliza spun around to her mother and grabbed her hand, about to tell her she wanted dessert when Skye was getting everyone's attention.
"Okay, we didn't really have dessert earlier after lunch because there's something out here we thought you might like to try," the investigator was saying.
"It must be some dessert," Isaac said suddenly.
"Why?" Mary asked in surprise.
When the man nodded to their oldest, Skye looked with her wife to find the two were crossing their fingers, their eyes closed tightly. "Girls," she said simply to get their attention. When they looked up at her she said, "What are you doing?"
"We're hoping," Kathleen said first.
Laughing softly Mary said, "You better tell them grá," to her wife.
"Alright," Skye replied. "It's Voodoo Donuts."
"I know that place," Genevieve said as they were walking to the right of the restaurant. "I've never been," she then said quickly. "But in Seattle I saw some ads for it in the paper."
"It's in Portland," Skye said. "Well, the first one I should have said. But they've opened here and the girls love it."
"You will too," Marie said, speaking to Julia and Ivy.
Hurrying over to her mother, Julia said, "We can get one, right?"
"We usually get two each," Skye began when Beckett looked at her. "But since we're eight of us now we'll have to adjust a bit."
"One for tomorrow?" Castle asked as they approached the bakery that was pink outside with a tall donut statue shaped like a voodoo doll outside it.
"That's the plan," Skye replied before they were heading inside. "They have the donuts in the front there, in the display, but here's a menu."
Looking at all the choices, Beckett wasn't sure the girls could be able to pick when she realized something. "Do you two want the Voodoo Doll donut?"
"Yeah!" "Yes please," Eliza and then Julia told them.
"They can split it," Castle said, seeing his wife looked hesitant.
"I think the four of us should split it," Beckett replied. "But that makes it a little uneven-"
"I'll only take one donut," Martha said.
"And a piece of the doll one too," Julia was quick to remind her.
"Are you sure?" Castle asked her. When she nodded he then said, "What would you like?" to his father in law.
"Yeah, what're you gonna get Grandpapa?" Eliza asked him eagerly, looking at the menu.
"A… Chuckles Donut I suppose," Jim said, frowning slightly at the name. "And the apple fritter."
"Okay," Castle said, putting that on his phone so they wouldn't forget. "Mother?"
"The Double Chocolate," Martha replied quickly. "And I'll take Josie for you."
"Just outside," Beckett told her. "I think we're going to be eating one donut outside."
"Eliza, what do you want for your donuts?"
"The M&Ms one," the little girl said eagerly. "And the peanut butter and jelly one."
"Sounds good," Castle said. "Julia?"
"The M&Ms one too," she replied quickly. "And the Grape Ape."
"I'll take the Blueberry Cake and the apple fritter one too," Beckett said.
"What're you gonna get Daddy?" Eliza asked quickly before the two could move to get in line.
"I know," Julia said before she smiled at her parents.
"Oh really? Which one?" Castle said with a smile.
"The one with bacon," Julia said easily.
"She knows you well," Beckett said with a smile.
"She does," Castle said. He felt Eliza tugging on his hand and he said, "And the Memphis Mafia one."
"We'll be outside," Martha said, going with the girls.
"Dad?" Beckett said to her father.
"I'll join you," Jim said simply.
"Dad-" Beckett began.
"My treat," Jim interrupted her before she could continue. "But you two share one and we'll share with our granddaughters."
"I had a feeling that's how it was going to go," Beckett said before she heard a baby crying. She turned with the two men and saw that Julia was jogging in to them. "Her diaper?" she asked once the girl had stopped.
Nodding her head Julia said, "Gram is taking her, Lizzy's going too to help."
"You'll stay with us?" Castle asked as they moved forward in line. "Make sure the donuts get to us okay?"
Beckett smiled when Julia laughed and said, "And don't eat any of them yet."
Laughing again, Julia made herself stop before she said, "I won't, I know you won't let me."
Squeezing her hand, Beckett pulled her with her down the line until they were at a register and she let Castle tell the worker their choices. She looked at her father, who'd remained in line behind them and then said to her husband, "We'll be outside."
Castle nodded, focusing on paying before he waited for their donuts to be ready. He looked over at the entrance and could see his wife and their daughter standing next to a table. He couldn't tell if they were with his mother and their other two daughters, but he had to turn to the worker who was holding two pink boxes out to him.
"She'll get to sleep soon," Beckett was telling her mother in law. "It's been a busy day for her."
"Here are the donuts," Castle said as he and Jim walked out to them.
"So many boxes?" Martha said.
"Yeah… I'm not sure why," Castle said slowly.
"We should check," Beckett told him. "Make sure the right donuts are there."
Castle nodded and then opened the larger of the two boxes he'd been given before he paused. "I think…" he started to say slowly before he stepped aside so his wife could look at the donuts.
Looking inside Beckett paused for a moment and said, "Now I see why," to him.
"What's wrong with the donuts?" Eliza asked, trying to go in between her parents.
"Here," Castle said, leaning it over to her so she could see.
Her eyes widening the little girl said, "The donuts are big!"
"Very," Skye said with a smile as she and her family went to the table next to them. "Those should last for a while. But we're going to eat at least one now."
"So are we," Beckett said.
"The Voodoo Doll ones, right?" Julia asked.
"Exactly, I'll get us some napkins and some knives," Beckett told them before she headed inside. She wasn't sure if they had plates but still asked for them, relieved when they did. "Here," she said as she handed the knives and plates to her husband. "Eat your half slowly okay?" she told the girls.
"Kay," Eliza said eagerly as her father was getting ready to cut one of the donuts.
"Should we be worried?" Martha asked.
"She seems to want him to be cut," Jim pointed out.
"It's just a donut," Julia said.
Beckett squeezed her husband's arm tightly as he began cutting the donut in half, hoping he'd get her unspoken message not to make any noises or comments. He luckily had and she watched him get it split before he handed it to his mother and Eliza. "It's jelly filled," she said to the others.
"Cool," Julia said. She watched her father cut the second donut for herself and her grandfather and she asked him, "What half do you want?"
"You can pick yours," Jim told her.
Julia took the half with the face and said, "I can't help it, I love the arms too."
"I'm not surprised," Jim said with a smile before he took his first bite of donut since his daughter and son in law were eating their own.
"Well… I see why they wanted to come here," Martha said. "Marie and Kath."
"I like it too," Eliza said quickly. "It has chocolate."
"I'm not surprised you enjoy that," Beckett said to the little girl with a smile. She watched Eliza turn back to her piece and then ate another bite of her own. They were watching the people walking around and listening to the music coming from the large TV screen on the other side of the Hard Rock before she realized Eliza was coming over to her and Castle. "What is it sweetie?" she asked the little girl, getting a napkin and wiping some of the chocolate off her lips.
"Daddy feed her the arms," the little girl said eagerly.
Castle was going to say he didn't need to when he saw the expression on her face. That made him pause and look at his wife before Julia was talking to her little sister.
"It's not their wedding Lizzy," the girl said.
"I know," Eliza said firmly before she looked at their parents again.
When his wife shrugged Castle then said, "What about just one arm?"
"Kay. Do it now," Eliza told him.
Beckett wasn't sure how exactly they should be feeling about her comments, but she was turning her attention to her husband as he was taking one of the arms off her half of the donut. She opened her mouth for him and once she was chewing looked at Eliza with him though she let him speak.
"Was that okay?" Castle asked jokingly.
"Yes," Eliza said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. She shared a kiss with her mother and went back around the table to finish her piece.
"Which one did you get?" Peter said, coming over to the table when they were getting up from the tables.
"We shared the Voodoo one, but I got the M&Ms one and Grape Ape," Julia said, smiling when her partner laughed.
"I like the names. I got the one that has the Fruit Loops on it," Peter replied.
"Just one?" Mari asked him.
"No, that I'm eating tomorrow. And then Friday I'm gonna eat the M&Ms one. I got that too," Peter answered.
"So did I," Mari said.
"Me too," Clive, Fleur, Ivy and Iris said at the same time.
"Come on guys," Beckett called. "We're going to go around the stores before we need to leave." She let her husband take her hand and they walked together back towards the park.
"Is there anywhere you want to go?" Castle asked her.
"Not really," Beckett said. "Let them lead us."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rebecca asked.
Beckett, looking at her friend, wondered why she'd said that when she nodded ahead of them. Turning she spotted the candy store and said with a smile, "I don't think we're going to be taking them in there."
"Not after we went to Honeydukes earlier," David said.
"We can't look around?" Clive asked his father.
"Oh no, I'd be too tempted to get you something," Isaac said.
"I'm not spoiled," Clive said quickly.
"The fountain!" Fleur said suddenly, pointing ahead of them.
"Could we run into it?" Julia asked her parents.
Beckett opened her mouth to speak before she paused and then sighed saying, "You won't let us say no, will you?"
Castle squeezed his wife's hand when their daughters shook their heads no at nearly the same time and he said, "Alright but try not to get soaked and when your mother says it's time to get out…"
"It's time to get out-"
"Time for dessert," Julia said, smiling at her little sister who'd said what their father was expecting them to say. She laughed when Eliza wrinkled her nose and then said to their parents, "It's time to get out. Sorry Dad, I know."
"Go you two," Beckett said, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice.
"Katie?" Jim said to his daughter. When she turned to him he said, "We'll walk around here with Josie."
"She's awake?" Beckett said, going to the baby. She studied her and said, "That should be enough." She pressed her lips to her forehead telling her, "I love you Josie."
Doing the same a second later Castle said, "I love you ceann beag. We'll see you tomorrow." He smiled when their baby yawned and then wrapped his arm around his wife before they turned their attention to their daughters who were with the other kids, dodging the water shooting up from the ground.
"I'm glad we came," Beckett murmured.
"Me too," Castle said, unable to stop himself from kissing her temple. He was about to ask if she wanted to walk around when one of the other parents was speaking next to them.
"How are they doing?" Isaac said.
"They're not as homesick as they were at the beginning," Beckett said, knowing that was part of what the man was asking. "And with their dancing on the show, they are enjoying it though they do have the normal nervousness about it."
"And they're having fun," Castle commented as the cries from their kids were still reaching them.
Beckett watched the other parents laugh and then leave them after thanking them for watching their kids. She and her husband said a quick your welcome before she said to him, "I'm wondering if we're doing anything next week."
"We are," Skye said, walking up to them with a smile. "Though I'm not sure how this will work, but Marie and Kath are crazy about getting their little sisters to the San Diego Zoo before winter."
"We're driving down?" Castle asked.
"Flying," Skye said. When the two looked at each other she said, "It's only forty minutes, and then to the zoo from the airport it's only fourteen. It's the quickest way."
"Who will we fly with?" Beckett said.
"Southwest, it's a new route they opened," Skye said. "But we'd need to leave at seven thirty. The zoo's open from nine to five."
"Old Town?" Castle asked.
"That or Point Loma," Skye replied. "But perhaps both."
"I was going to say," Beckett said. "They'll want to see the shops."
"I think you mean the candy store," Skye said with a laugh. "I'll tell the parents, but we'll see if they can join us."
Beckett nodded with her husband and when the investigator had left she said, "Should we tell them?"
"Not yet," Castle said as they were watching their kids. He squeezed her shoulder gently and then turned, pressing his lips to her temple. "I love you Kate," he murmured to her.
"I love you too Rick," Beckett told him with a smile though she was keeping her voice down. She shared a quick kiss with him, staying close to him though they'd parted as they were staring at each other. For a moment she thought they would kiss again when Eliza was crying out and running over to them. She squeezed her husband's hand with another smile and turned her attention with him to their daughters to continue through Citywalk and to finish their day together.