July 4, 2018

"The Hamptons were waiting for us," Rick says as they pull up to the drive. The couple made a last minute decision to throw the annual Castle 4th of July—even though they had just gotten back. They invited Jenny, Ryan, the kids, Espo, Lanie, Jim, Martha, and Alexis. This year, Lanie was stuck with work, Jim was out of town on business, and Martha was teaching a class over the holiday.

They had arrived before anyone else because they left in the wee hours of the morning. Lily is still passed out in her car seat, clutching her stuffed bear wearing an NYPD hoodie. Esposito sent it to her while they were in London and she simply adores it.

Castle cuts the engine when Kate's phone rings from inside Lily's diaper bag. "Hang on one sec," Beckett tells Rick as she maneuvers to get her phone. Rick nods and gets out of the car to get Lily out.

Castle hears Beckett talk about Europe and work—he silently vows to stop eavesdropping as he picks up Lily. Lily rubs her eyes and nuzzles into Castle's shoulder. "Good morning," he greets her.

Lily chooses to yawn instead of respond, her little dimples pop out as she does so. "We are in the Hamptons, you've been here before, when you were just a little peanut and lots of times when you were in mommy's belly," Rick explains to her.

Lily seems to have waken up a little bit as she turns back to the car. Beckett is still on the phone, looking at Castle and Lily waving. "Mommy?" Lily asks Rick.

"She's coming in just a sec," Castle assures her.

Kate soon hangs up the phone and jumps out the car. "Mommy!" Lily laughs, pointing a finger towards Kate.

Beckett's face lights up as she swings Lily's diaper bag over her shoulder and approaches Rick and Lily. "I say we make daddy get the bags, while we get a jump start on that pool," Kate tells Lily as Kate steals Lily from Castle's arms.

"Poo!" Lily screeches.

"Oh! And don't forget!" Castle remembers as he pulls out a pair of heart sunglasses from the diaper bag for Lily. "There, now she's pool ready," he concludes.

Kate laughs, pecks his cheek before grabbing his keys and heading towards the door.

It doesn't occur to Rick to ask Kate who called until the three of them are in the pool, pushing Lily around in a floaty. "Who was on the phone?" Castle asks.

Kate looks hesitant as she keeps her eyes on their daughter. "Word has spread that I am back in New York," Kate says easily, trying to dance around the topic.

"Word has spread to who?" Castle questions, eyebrows raising as he watches Kate intently through his ray-bans. Kate can see the lines of worry form on his forehead. Of course he thinks they are in trouble—the thought hadn't occurred to Kate until now.

"No, no, no. Castle, it was nothing bad," Kate assures him as Lily giggles, her tiny hands splashing water towards Rick—clearly trying to gain her parents attention back.

"Then what was the call?" Castles wonders, he moves closer to Kate and Lily so he can splash Lily back.

Kate sighs. "It was a call from the Chief of Police's office, they wanted to me come in for an interview," she reveals.

Rick audibly gasps like a little boy on Christmas morning. "For the Chief of Police?" Castle asks, amazed.

Kate laughs at her husband's excitement. "No, not quite, it is for Deputy Chief," Kate says.

Castle smiles and gathers Kate in his arms, spinning her around in the water. Kate laughs warmly at Castle's happiness. "I don't know if I even want it yet, but I agreed to an interview," Beckett mumbles into his ear.

"Congratulations, no matter what happens, no matter what you decide I support you," Rick says sincerely.

Kate gives him a kiss and then kisses Lily's cheek. "We'll see," is all Kate says.

The next hour is spent splashing about the pool with Lily—who is adamant she can swim all by herself, always trying to escape the arms of her parents.

The rest of the party doesn't arrive until Castle is just taking the food off the grill. When the doorbell rings, Lily toddles her way to the entrance, ready to see who is waiting behind the door—clearly in hopes that it is her sister. When Beckett opens the door, Lily is screaming "Lexie!"

When Lily sees that it is just Espo, Jenny, Ryan, Nicholas, and Sarah, she is visibly disappointed. Castle picks Lily up and kisses her forehead. "She's on her way," he whispers. Lily pouts her lips and lays her head on Rick's shoulder as some sort of surrender.

Beckett greets everyone and leads them in for some food. Sarah Grace is already begging to play with Lily, which seems to cheer her up.

The party moves into the kitchen as everyone casually begins to eat. "We were starving, had to stop four times for potty breaks on the way, took an hour longer than it should've," Ryan whines. Jenny hits his chest as she wrangles Nicholas into a spare booster seat.

"I'm dreading potty training for this one," Kate admits as she looks at Lily who is sitting on the floor with Sarah Grace.

"Girls are easier, believe me," Jenny assures Kate.

"We've got time," Castle says.

"You told me Alexis was potty trained days after her second birthday!"

"She's got plenty of time," Ryan says easily.


Time passes as the group banters about parenthood, work, and relationships. Kate pours herself a glass of wine and looks at Castle, who is feeding Lily watermelon. These are the simple, mundane things that Kate always wanted with Castle. No matter how much she loved her job, she always knew, that with the right man, with Castle, she would want a family and normalcy.

Just as Kate begins to sit down, she hears the door open again. "Alexis must be here," Castle assumes as he looks to Lily who looks around anxiously.

"Hello, everyone!" Alexis greets as she steps into the kitchen. Lily throws her arms up in the air happily.

Everyone in the room laughs as Lily lets out a fit of giggles at the sight of her sister. "Lexie, Lexie, Lexie!" she says between laughs.

Kate smiles at Castle across the table who still hasn't taken his eyes off of his two girls.

Something tells Kate that nothing about raising a family with Castle will be normal; nevertheless, she's ready for anything.