The following morning, Meredeth awoke feeling far less hungover than she should have. Then again, before she went to bed, she'd downed her own body weight in Gatorade; she'd been climbing around with the brass monkeys and had such a grand old time when they'd swapped her hard liquor for electrolytes she hadn't really noticed.

She rolled to her back, and saw that she'd been tucked into Castle's bed beside her maid of honour, who'd found a stuffed giraffe and tucked it under her arm. Grinning she poked Lanie in the shoulder and wasn't surprised when the petite woman curled up like a boiled shrimp, clutching the toy close to her chest.

'Go away baby,' she mumbled, blindly swatting at Meredeth's hand. 'Lemme sleep.'

'Pretty as you are, I'm way taken and not into girls.'

Lanie's eyes popped open, then squinted. 'Sorry, Mere, thought you were Dave.'

'I'm sure he's still out partying with the guys in Vegas, it's only-' Meredeth looked at the clock, calculated the time '-five thirty in the morning there.'

'He didn't go. Castle invited him, but he said it should be just the wedding party going, plus he had to pick up an extra two shifts this weekend to trade for the time off for the wedding.'

'Fair enough, though is he going to be jealous of your cuddle-buddy there?' Meredeth pointed to the giraffe.

'Oh, this is Twigs, he actually belongs to Alexis. How'd he even get in here?'

'You got me, I don't even remember coming upstairs last night.'

Lanie snorted, then stretched. 'Considering how much we drank last night, if we're all in one piece we're lucky.'

Just then, Lili appeared in the doorway, a breakfast tray in her hands, and far too chipper a grin on her face to be hanging out with a bunch of recovering lushes. She set the tray on the little sideboard that had been set up as an in-room breakfast nook. 'Morning casi cunada and maid of honour. How are we feeling today?'

'Shut up,' was Lanie's automatic response. 'And vamanos unless you have coffee.'

'Castle's private stash, along with fresh baked croissants, brie and Gouda, mixed berry salad, fresh raspberry jam, and orange juice since the lady of honour this weekend isn't a coffee drinker.'

'You're a saint. Santa Lucita.' Lanie set Twigs aside, swung her feet over the side of the bed. 'Are they here yet?'

'Who?' Meredeth asked, going over to select a croissant and scooping fruit into a small bowl.

'No, no, nosy one. More surprises today.'

'Come on, I played along when you brought the Avon lady of vibrators around last night.' Meredeth coloured in the cheeks a little at the memory of seeing her fellow professional women actually making purchases. Oh the stories she could write on that hour and a half alone.

'It still surprises me a little, Mere, that for all your naughtiness with my brother, you never actually owned anything like that,' Lili commented casually.

'Are you kidding me? I don't even like using tampons. No, unless it has a chance of getting me pregnant it's not going anywhere near my southern smile. Doctor's office is different, 'cause there's nothing sexy about cold jelly on a metal-'

'Okay, okay, I got it.' Lili giggled, glanced over when she saw Honey-Milk at the door. 'Hey, look who's up and around.'

'Coffee. Hit me.'

'Come and get it.'

Honey-Milk staggered into the room, plunked herself on the end of the bed as Lili placed a steaming mug of cream-dosed coffee into her waiting hands. 'Meredeth, I should have followed your lead, I shoulda switched off last night when I couldn't tell the difference between sting-rays and straight sours mix.'

'What were the sting-rays again?' Lanie asked, popping a blackberry in her mouth.

'Tequila, gin, blue curacao, green sour puss.'

'Oh yeah.'

They kept the conversation minimal for the next twenty minutes as they let the food and caffeine do its magic, then filed off for showers two at a time - one to Castle's ensuite, the other to the guest bath. By the time they were dressed and somewhat perkier, they made their way downstairs; Meredeth stopped on the landing as she looked around Castle's living room: the remnants of their drunken night before had been cleared away as if by magic, and replaced with four padded chairs and a masseuse's table. The attendants were setting up their stations under Beckett's orders, as she stood amongst the various rolling-foot carts.

'Yes, let's keep hands and toes together, and the facials near the island, since there's more space.'

'What's all this?' Descending the rest of the stairs, Meredeth crossed over to Beckett, who turned and gave her a sweet, if tired, smile.

'Part two of your bachelorette weekend. Last night was Honey-Milk, this one is me and Lili. We poached some of the staff from the Waldorf's day spa for a day of total indulgence. Massages, facials, mani-pedis, the works so when we hit the town tonight, we are hitting it in top style.'

'Wow.' Meredeth felt her throat slam shut. She and Beckett had been friends, but not the kind of close friends she and Lanie were; for the detective to be this generous wasn't something she'd have expected. 'This is too much, Kate, really.'

Beckett simply shook her head. 'Meredeth, I've worked with him for a while now, seen him go through a girlfriend or two, but there wasn't anyone who lights him up like you do. He gets that goofy little smile on his face any time you text him or call, and brags about what he's going home to after he's off shift. Before you were living together, we knew every morning or night when he'd been with you because he'd be so damn cheery, or cranky that he had to leave you.'

'Aw.'

'Gil Mazzara in a dress,' Beckett added hastily when she saw the glossy sheen of tears in Meredeth's eyes; it left as quickly as it cropped up. 'That is my task on your wedding day. Funny stories so you don't cry.'

'We're all set up here.' One of the technicians came up to them, gestured to the mini salon that had been erected in the living room. 'You are the bride to be?' she asked Meredeth.

'Yes.'

'Excellent. We will begin your treatment with the massage over here, so if you could disrobe behind the partition and use one of the towels, we'll get started.'

A few minutes later, Meredeth had changed out of her clothes into the Egyptian cotton towel and was lying face down on the massage table. The same woman who'd approached Beckett earlier squeezed some thin warm liquid into her hands and began to rub it over Meredeth's tired muscles; almost immediately, Meredeth felt the zing to her blood.

'That's coconut oil, isn't it?'

'A blend along with almond and papaya extracts, why?'

'My man and I use it for massages too.'


The day of pampered relaxation was exactly the right cure for a hangover like the ones the five were sporting. Between getting her hair done - no colours, just a healthy hot oil and organic shampoo rinse - and her fingers and toes - clear coats for both to avoid obvious chips - by the time she got to the mud mask facial she was certain her feet weren't hitting the floor. Even as she'd had her feet pumiced and rubbed down, she'd heard Lili snoring away as she got her massage.

'Wonder how Cam sleeps beside that,' Lanie asked on a yawn. 'I snore, but I also bought Dave noise-canceling ear thingies so he won't be up at night.'

'According to Javi, I don't snore, I just breathe really heavily. He snores, so I think it runs in the family.'

Lanie chuckled, sighed deeply. 'I'm so excited for you, baby girl. You too are going to have so much fun being married.'

'If he survives the honey-moon. I've got quite the stock of saucy lingerie from last night and the shower too, plus some things I've gotten for myself to show off for him.'

'Okay, no more talking unless you want a mouthful of mud,' the technician chided as she smeared the hot paste onto Meredeth's skin. 'You'll look radiant.'

'Good, that gives me time to talk. We're going to be taking you out on the town tonight missy. If you don't want to do Suck-A-Buck I understand, but like it or not we're seeing gorgeous stacked men getting naked tonight.'

'Suck-A-Buck isn't really my thing, but I do like drinking games and naked men. Or at least, one naked man.'

'Drinking games and naked men it is.' Lanie looked over to see Honey-Milk and Beckett finishing up with their nail-jobs. 'You hear that? No Suck-a-Buck but drinking games and naked men are a go.'

From her place on the padded table, Lili hollered, 'Huzzah for naked men!'


By eight pm, they'd all showered and styled and primped and preened, and were ready to hit the town. As Lili couldn't drink, she was placed in charge of the camera and wallets, which were collectively put into her hand-bag; once again as the final touch, the ever popular princess crown was put on Meredeth's head.

'Okay,' Lili held up the camera to get a self-group shot. 'Everyone say naked men!'

'Naked men!'

Meredeth giggled as she blinked away the lights dancing in front of her eyes. It was going to be one hell of a party.


R&R&Enjoy!