Genre: Romance, Family, Humor, Supernatural
Rating: M for sexual situations and language
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: Loved getting the feed back for the chapter I did in the end and will go into my thank yous for them! TORONTOSUN (My family and I are doing well, thank you for asking. I hope you and yours are doing well too!) and
Mb (I was happy to see you thought the Easter celebration was beautifully written in the chapter. I thought readers might notice that Eliza went into Julia's room to wake her up so they could see what the Easter Bunny had brought them then them getting Josie and them waking up their parents since it's usually Julia waking up first. And I'm not surprised you mentioned Julia talking about Eliza looking like Beckett with her hands on her hips and later her looking like Castle, lol, it's something I could see happening so not surprised you got that too. And I loved egg hunts too, I know what you mean about that, though it's more the return of flowers since I'm not where snow is, lol, but of course that still means it's the beginning of the spring season! And I thought I should involve the Carters, I had been thinking of the previous case and had wanted to bring them back so that seemed the best place to do it, lol. I'm glad you think it was a good circle of friends for the younger of the kids with the twins joining them, and it being like the older kids being a group of friends you have for life. You're welcome for sharing the first half! And glad you thought in the second half of the Easter celebration was beautifully written as well! It was great you thought it was nice seeing them together relaxing and having fun since I enjoyed reading that. I wasn't surprised either that you thought it was nice seeing their group dynamic through the eyes of new people. And I'm so happy you think Julia's diary entries are always nice since it shows things from her eyes. I had to laugh at you mentioning it went from sweet family time to Castle and Beckett on their own hot, sexy and loving but I'm glad it read that way since it's what I was aiming for! So happy you loved the flashbacks too! You're welcome for sharing the second half! Me and my family are well, and I hope you and yours are too!).
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Birthday by The Beatles from their eponymous album.
Going To A Party, Party
Pulling herself up on the side of her crib, Josie was soon smiling at her parents as they walked into the room. "Amamam!" she squealed.
"Happy Birthday sweetie," Beckett said, walking quickly. She took her out of the crib and hugged her tightly to her before she let her lean over in her arms to her husband.
"Happy Birthday," Castle said with a smile, holding her on his hip and kissing her cheek. "Now, how do you feel being a year old?"
"Ay!" Josie cried out then, clapping her hands together.
"I think that means she feels great," Beckett said with a smile.
"You don't want to try and measure her?" Castle asked.
Beckett nearly started to speak before she paused and then said, "Alright, I'll hold her up."
Castle nodded; as his wife hadn't been sure about measuring their one year old; and hurried to go to the growth chart they had hung nearing the seventeenth of April. He had a pen ready and after his wife had set Josie down and was letting the baby hold her hands, marked the top of her head rapidly as he knew she would start moving around. When Beckett had their baby girl back in her arms, he told her, "Looks like she's about average; twenty-nine inches tall."
"Abab," Josie said, holding onto a strand of her mother's hair.
"I know, you're getting taller sweetie," Beckett told her with a smile. She then carried her to the changing table and let her husband take the baby before she went to get Josie's clothes. The weather was nice that day, so she got her a tunic top they'd bought for in her Mexico as well as leggings. She let her husband change Josie into her clothes and then took her back saying to the baby, "Your guests will be here very soon."
"I know, I'm surprised they want to go back," Castle commented as he came out from the bathroom.
"Well, Lanie's parents are coming next week remember," Beckett told him. "I just feel bad Ryan couldn't come with his family."
Nodding his head Castle said, "That's what happens when parents don't keep their kids from school while they're sick." He wasn't surprised when his wife nodded her head in agreement, their friend and his family unable to attend as Tommy had gotten ill at school the day before.
"Mommy, do you have- Happy Birthday!" Eliza was saying, standing at the bottom of the stairs and watching for her parents and sister. As soon as she'd seen Josie, she was talking to her and looked over at her sister as she was hurrying over to her.
"Happy Birthday Josa," Julia said, smiling as she and Eliza moved out of the way for their parents as they were reaching the bottom of the stairs. "How is she?"
"Good, excited though I don't really think she's sure why," Castle told them. "Everything's ready?"
"Yeah," Julia said quickly.
Going to the table, the family was sitting down together before they were eating their breakfast, the girls talking together about the plans for the party with their parents.
"Are you sure she can't play anything?" Eliza eventually asked as the meal was winding down.
"Very sure, she's a little too small still," Castle said. "But we'll let you guys play at least."
"Maybe we could help Josa do something with one of the games?" Julia asked hesitantly as they were beginning to clear the table.
"Maybe, let's see how the games go," Beckett replied. She expected Julia to respond to that but noticed her second oldest was looking out the windows and she touched her shoulder to get her attention.
"You said we're gonna have a relay race, right?" Julia asked as she looked up at her moth.
"We will," Castle said.
"Then could we have her in the race, have her hold whatever we're going to use and run with her?" Julia asked.
"Not run," Alexis said quickly.
"She's right, would you want to hurt your sister?" Louis added when Eliza was frowning.
"Then walk, we can have someone holding Sophie on the other team," Julia said quickly.
"We'll see what Lily and Brad say about that," Beckett said with a smile, getting a feeling they'd be doing that. She turned her attention to getting Josie out of her highchair and handed her to Julia, going to her husband as he was about to start washing the dishes.
"Hey, I can take care of those," Castle said in protest as his wife was gently pushing him out of her way.
"No, I can take care of it," Beckett said. "Just make sure the food is ready."
Nodding Castle said, "I think you mean appetizers though." When she glanced at him, he smiled and then told her, "I'll check right now." Since they were just veggies to dip in ranch he was finished quickly after and he walked back to his wife to see if she needed any help.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Beckett said before her husband could say anything.
"Are you sure, I have nothing else to do," Castle replied with a shrug.
"I'm sure," Beckett said before he was taking the plate she was about to put into the dishwasher. "Thank you," she said, watching him.
"You're welcome," Castle replied easily before he was helping her with that until the counter was cleared. He was about to ask what she wanted to do while they were waiting for their guests when he heard the chime for the gate. "Who came this early?" he said.
"It might be everyone from the city," Beckett told him.
Opening his mouth, Castle soon after closed it as he realized she was likely right. He followed her hurriedly to the entry and he stood behind her as she was pressing the button for the intercom.
"Hello?" Beckett said.
"It's us Beckett," Esposito said.
"Alright," Beckett said with a smile as she looked at her husband. She opened the door as a car was coming down their driveway and they looked on from the porch as it went around the tree to face back towards the gate. Smiling again when Lanie was the first one out from the backseat she walked over to her to embrace her. "How are you?" she asked.
"Good, Miles is… thriving," Lanie said, pausing when her son let out a sound inside the car. "As you can tell," she added as they let go of each other.
"I can," Beckett said. She watched her friend getting her nearly two-month-old son from the back of the car. "He's gotten so big," she said with a smile.
"I know," Lanie said, watching as Castle walked over to look with his wife. "I'm assuming you two are doing good."
"We are," he replied first. "Though really you still check with her about that?" Castle asked.
"She does, usually by e-mail," Beckett said in amusement. "You can head inside," she said as her husband quickly hugged Lanie. She then turned to Dylan and hugged him saying, "She looks happy."
"Fantastic," Dylan replied. "I'll head back now."
Beckett laughed and went to Esposito and embraced him too before they let go of one another. "How're things?" she asked.
"Good," Esposito replied before he switched to Spanish. "There's only been one case…"
"We heard, the McKenna murder," Beckett said, unable to help recalling him calling her and Castle to tell them the man responsible for the murder had been one of Tyson's followers. But the man had immediately killed himself so there hadn't been anything from that case to help find 3XK. Shaking herself of her thoughts as she knew the kids were inside ready for the party she said, "Thanks for trying though."
"How are my sobrinas?" Esposito asked as they were walking to the front door.
"Good, you'll see them… right now," Beckett said, smiling as she could see that Julia and Eliza were looking in on Miles before they were running to their uncle.
"Hey, I'm glad to see you guys too," Esposito said, laughing as they pushed him back slightly once they'd reached him.
"See Josa? She's starting to stand up now," Eliza said eagerly after they had let him go. "Well, she's holding onto stuff but she's standing that way!"
"Already?" Esposito said, looking at Castle and Beckett.
"It's about the time they start doing that," Lanie answered before the couple could. She smiled and then said to Beckett who came over to her, "Have fun."
"Why is he going to spit up on her?" Castle asked.
Shooting him a brief look Lanie then turned back to her friend and said, "He's been iffy with strangers though I'm hoping we'll see more of you guys."
"We'll try," Beckett replied as the baby appeared to be fine and was staring up at her for a moment before he looked to the side. "So we have a little bit still before everyone else comes."
"Should we just head outside love?" Castle asked his wife.
"I think so," Beckett said. "Though we need to keep an ear out for the others."
"I can do that," Martha said. "Once the Davises are here we'll join you."
"Just the Davises?" Lanie asked in surprise.
"The Fosters are probably going to just walk over on the beach," Beckett answered. "They usually go that way since it's a lot easier."
"Okay, let's go," Lanie said.
"Miles?" Castle asked.
"Do you have shade?" Lanie asked.
"We got a couple of popup covers and put tables and chairs under them," Beckett explained. "You can sit there if you want to."
"That would be nice," Lanie said before she looked at Eliza as the little girl was hurrying over to her.
"Has Miles seen the ocean?" Eliza asked.
"He has, we went to the beach one day last week," Lanie replied with a smile.
"I think he enjoyed it," Dylan commented as they were stepping outside.
"He did, he smiled for the first time," Lanie said.
"He's smiling now?" Beckett asked. After her friend nodded, she smiled and then said, "Hopefully he'll do that while he's here. I'd love to see it. Dad."
"Yeah… oh, you should have told me they were here," Jim said as he'd been outside with Josie.
"Oh my god she looks so much bigger," Lanie said, seeing the baby on his hip.
"That's because you're used to Miles," Castle commented.
Shaking her head Lanie turned to her husband and handed him their son before she went to her friend as she was holding Josie by then. "She'll let me take her?" she asked.
"I think so," Beckett replied before she watched her youngest staring at Lanie as she was given to her.
"She's adorable," Lanie said with a wide smile. "And her eyes!"
"I know," Beckett replied, smiling herself at her friend's tone. She then said, "Okay, girls, if you want to fly your kites you should."
"Yeah, we'll go get them now," Julia said, hurrying to the patio and not realizing her little sister wasn't with her.
"You don't want to go fly your kite?" Alexis said to Eliza.
"I will," the little girl replied. "But what about Josa?" Eliza asked their parents.
"What about her?" Castle asked.
"Could she maybe go on the grass?" Eliza said.
"See the way the chairs as turned away from the table in front of it?" Beckett pointed out to her.
"I have a blanket," Louis said. "I suppose that means we'll be allowing her to crawl around."
"Here Lizzy," Julia said to her sister as she handed her her kite.
"Thanks," Eliza said. "Miles can't go on the blanket can he?"
"He could," Dylan said. "For a bit."
"We'll let him soon, for now go fly your kite before everyone else gets here," Lanie said with a smile as Eliza was looking at her.
"That's supposed to be my line," Beckett told her friend teasingly.
Laughing, Lanie said, "I have to get used to that don't I?"
"You have time," Beckett said though she was smiling as soon as she said that. She then went to the blanket with Josie and set her down, not surprised the baby was staring at the kites her sisters had just started to fly in front of them. She was going to sit on the blanket with the baby but her oldest was touching her arm.
"I'll join her," Alexis said.
"Are you sure?" Beckett asked with a smile.
"Yeah, we'll be fine Mom," Alexis replied before she was sitting with her baby sister.
"Mom?" Esposito said in surprise.
"I forgot we need to explain to you guys too," Beckett said.
"I asked her while we were in Mexico City if I could call her that," Alexis explained from the blanket where she was watching Josie as the baby had started to crawl around near her.
"How come?" Lanie asked, glancing at her friend and hoping she wouldn't be offended by the question.
"Because I was getting annoyed with calling her Ma," Alexis replied. "I called her that in our past life. Jules calls her Mom, so will Lizzy and Josa when they're older so I didn't want to be the odd one out."
"What about… Meredith?" Lanie asked.
"I'll call Mom Ma again," Alexis replied. "But it's unlikely she'll be around us much when we're all together."
"Your wedding?" Lanie asked before Castle was suddenly starting to laugh.
"What?" Alexis asked her father in surprise.
"You know she's just bringing that up now," Castle answered.
"I know and it doesn't matter at the wedding, I'll call her Mom when I can," Alexis was saying then. She then proceeded to tell her about the plans she and Louis had so far and added, "I just hope the leaves will be changing by then."
"They said they would by then," Beckett told her oldest as she and Louis had changed their wedding date to the eighteenth since the groom was going to be with the stable owner on a trip to deliver a stallion to a buyer in Illinois their original date.
"Though I hate having to delay," the young man said. "I do look forward to seeing Chicago… only for a day but still."
"Have you told him about it?" Esposito asked, knowing the young woman had been there already.
"I have," Alexis said.
"You're not going?" Jim asked.
"I'm going to try but I need to see how work is since they're leaving that Thursday," Alexis replied.
"The only things I would like to do are see the Sears Tower, have a Chicago dog for lunch and some deep dish for dinner," Louis said.
"Alexis and I did that," Castle said as the others looked at him. "One day, the other day dinner was fancier."
"It was a request from me," Martha said suddenly behind them. She smiled when everyone turned to her and said, "The Davises are here."
"Great," Beckett said, standing up before she heard Eliza crying out from the sand. "And the Fosters; everyone's here," she added with a smile before they were moving to start greeting the two families once they were both at the tables and chair.
"Here's the birthday girl," Castle said, showing them Josie after he'd picked her up from the blanket. He laughed when she grabbed his lower lip and then carefully had her let it go. "Thank you, sweetheart," he told the baby.
"She looks so cute," Rebecca said. "Mexico?"
"Yeah," Beckett replied. "The same as the ones the girls wore last weekend," she added. "We had dinner together last Saturday," she said to the others.
"And Sophie looks cute too," Julia commented.
"She does," Brad said with a nod, smiling when the girl laughed in response to that. "And Miles too… handsome?"
"No, cute works out now," Dylan responded.
"I think we should go ahead and start the games," Beckett said, smiling when the kids were looking at the adults by then. "We have a relay race first," she said. "The girls had the idea of letting Josie join in, and Sophie."
"I hope you mean someone holding them," Lily commented.
"Of course," Castle said. "I'm not really sure how else we can have them join in."
"Crawling," Esposito commented.
"That would take ages," Beckett said. "So we have these bouncy balls for the babies to hold in their hands and they'll be carried by someone walking."
"I'll take her," Julia said.
"Hold on," Castle told them. "We can't start unless you guys have teams." He watched in amusement as the kids were splitting up until there were two teams with four on both. "Now you can start," he said with a smile as Julia was holding Josie and Eve had Sophie, both babies holding the balls.
After her husband had told them to start 'racing' from the edge of the shade of the tents to the chairs down the yard, Beckett watched as Julia and Eve were walking. She was surprised both girls were doing so slowly; especially Eve since she had a few inches more of height over her daughter. She laughed seeing both babies were laughing and then felt Lanie touching her arm. Turning she saw Miles, cradled in her friend's arms, was smiling and she reached down, touching the baby's cheek before looking back as the two girls and babies were returning.
"Go! Go Julia!" Mari cried as her friend had handed her Josie and had taken the ball from the baby. She gave the baby to Castle; Jacob giving his sister to Brad; and waited to take her turn next.
After they had gone through everyone, the team with all three Davis kids won but the other team didn't seem to mind as they congratulated them.
"Okay, we have a special game for you guys today," Castle said once the kids had all caught their breath.
"What is it?" Mari asked.
"Hold on," Castle replied before he and Louis were going to the gazebo.
"Do you know what it is?" Jacob asked Julia and Eliza.
Shaking their heads Julia spoke first and said, "They must have bought it this past week. While we were at school." She was surprised when her father was inflating something, but as it soon blew up her mouth dropped open and she asked, "Darts?"
"Kick darts," Beckett said with a smile. "We thought you guys might like it."
"I do, that looks really cool," Eve said with a smile.
"Okay, but we'll go in order of age," Beckett said.
"Katie," Jim called to his daughter after he'd looked at the box for the game. "It says seven and up."
"We know, but we'll let her play," Beckett said, not surprised he'd spotted that. "And we're going to keep people well away from the board when it's someone's turn."
"Thank you, Mommy," Eliza said happily as she hugged her mother tightly.
"You're welcome, come on," Beckett told her. "It's ready."
Smiling widely, Eliza took her mother's hand and they were going over to the 'dartboard' which was tall. "Wow, I hope I can make it," she said as her father was throwing two red balls to her mother.
"They're not that heavy," Beckett told her, letting her take one.
"No, but I hope I make it," Eliza said, repeating herself on purpose.
"Here," Beckett said, making her put one of the balls down in front of her.
Breathing out, Eliza looked at the board before she aimed and then kicked it, holding her breath for a moment before she cried out as it landed on the very edge of the bottom, on the 7. "Mommy look!" she said happily.
"I saw," Beckett replied.
"How do I kick it up?" Eliza asked her then.
"Try and get your foot underneath the ball before you kick it up," Beckett replied.
"You'll be able to do it," Castle told her.
"Okay," Eliza said.
Julia applauded for her sister when she got a tiny bit higher on the board and managed to score a 29. "Great job," she told her.
"Yeah… wait, what about Dani?" Eliza asked as she realized she'd forgotten her friend.
"She's a little too small to kick it," Beckett said.
"She could throw it," Eliza told her as Mari was getting the first of the four balls ready to kick.
"I think it's better if we let her play other games we have," Beckett told her calmly. She stood with her husband as they watched the kids taking turns, laughing when they insisted Alexis and Louis took their turns as well.
"Now it's time for the adults," Eve said firmly.
"I don't know," Esposito said slowly as Eliza had grabbed his hand.
"You don't play soccer still?" Beckett asked him with a smile.
"Yeah…" Esposito said slowly before he was laughing and following the little girl. Once they were where the kids had been kicking, he said, "I think I need to back up a little."
"Why?" Eliza asked in confusion.
"I'm a little more powerful; like your mom said I do play soccer," Esposito said.
Eliza was standing behind the detective, watching as he kicked the first ball and she cried out saying, "You almost got the bullseye!"
"Thanks," Esposito said laughingly. He kicked the rest and said, "The score doesn't count does it?"
"No, it didn't for them," Castle said before Jim was going next to his two middle granddaughters' insistence. "Your dad will be okay right?"
"He will, he played soccer too," Beckett answered, watching the kids getting the balls off the board for her father. She then looked at her husband and saw his surprise before she was about to speak when Lanie was beating her to it.
"He did, way back when he was younger but he did," the doctor commented.
Watching his father in law as he was kicking, Castle could see he had with the way his foot connected with the ball and when he'd finished with the four, he said to his wife, "You should go last."
"What, to embarrass myself?" Beckett asked him.
"No… you told me you played soccer too," Castle said in surprise.
"I did," Beckett said before she let Eliza pull her up to the game. She took her turn, laughing as she was almost too powerful on the first kick and just managed to get to the board. "Okay, keep going you guys," she told the kids as they were watching her. Going over to the chairs where the others were, she picked Josie up and set her on her lap before she started to talk with Lanie until Miles started to fuss.
"Is there a room where I can go?" the doctor asked her friend.
"The parlor," Castle said first.
"He's right," Beckett said with a slight smile on her face as her friend was looking at the windows. "But sit at one of the two armchairs that are next to each other, you're not going to be seen from there."
"The…" Lanie started to say.
"I don't think anyone will go in, we have another game for them," Castle said as he was getting up to take his turn last. When he'd finished, he said, "You guys want to keep playing?"
"Another game," Julia said.
"Yeah, we have a lot more," Eliza said seriously.
"Okay, let me grab it," Castle replied with a smile. He went back to the patio and to the bench where he and Kate had placed everything. He was looking at the choices for a moment before he picked up two and carried them down to the lawn.
"Is that a cooler?" Jacob asked.
"No," Castle replied before setting down the bags he had. He opened them and stepped back as the kids were hurrying up to him to take a look.
"It's dominoes," Mari said. "Really big ones."
"Yep," Castle said, smiling as Eliza and Dani giggled. "We have more than enough for everyone so let's get these on the lawn and mix them before you pick what your pieces will be." With their help they soon had the larger domino pieces flat on the ground and mixed around before the kids were picking out six tiles each.
"You're not going to play?" Julia asked her father.
"No, we'll just watch," Castle replied.
Though she wanted to tell him he could, Julia knew he meant what he'd said, and she turned back in time to see Eve setting one random domino from the pile a little further down. "What order?" she asked her mother.
"Of age," Beckett said.
"I wish you could play," Eliza said to Dani as the little girl was standing with her.
"Why don't you just play together?" David asked them.
"Okay, I'll help you," Eliza was saying to Dani.
"Dominoes?" Lanie asked, returning then with Miles.
"Yeah, we bought a bunch of yard games," Beckett said with a smile.
"And pool room games," Castle reminded her.
"I remember," Lanie said quickly when Beckett started to open her mouth to speak.
"Me too, so how is it going?" Esposito asked.
"They demolished the darkroom and storage room we had," Castle said first as they looked on while the domino game was going. "And filled in the pool. Next is making the new darkroom and storage room."
"The bathrooms that'll be part of it are next," Beckett said, smiling when the detective looked confused.
"Bathrooms? You said just one when you e-mailed me," Lanie said.
"I think we've been saying that because it'll have one entrance but be two separate half bathrooms," Castle said.
"It was his idea," Beckett said with a smile. "But it was a good one really."
"I figured if there were a lot of us, we'd have to have at least two bathrooms," Castle said. "Luckily they can do that. And we'll have you guys over to try it out next year," he said.
"When?" Esposito asked.
"Maybe we can have something around spring," Castle suggested to his wife.
"I think so," Beckett said, smiling. She then grew serious and said, "We'll see how things go around then."
"How long are you two going on your honeymoon?" Esposito said to Alexis and Louis.
"Three weeks now," the former said. She couldn't help laughing slightly as the detective looked startled and Alexis explained telling him, "Our mothers are giving us that," glancing at Beckett.
"Technically it's all of us but since they're getting the house from us too, we're saying that so they feel better accepting it," she explained.
"We still feel bad you're spending that much," Louis commented.
"And I'll remind you two that we do owe you a trip to Paris," Castle said. "Don't!" he told his oldest as she was about to speak. "I know that was a week but the fact that you'll be newlyweds means you deserve a little more time exploring Paris together. I tried to give them a month," he said, addressing the others at the end.
"We have work to do Dad, we need to keep our new house," Alexis said in amusement before she was looking over at the kids with the others.
"I won," Jacob said with a smile. "We'd like to play another game."
"Did you have to say that since you won?" Castle asked with a smile as he got up with Esposito to help the kids put the dominoes away.
"No, we just agreed on it," Jacob said. When the two men were taking the game back he turned to Julia and Eliza and asked them, "How many do you have?"
"A lot now, Mom and Dad bought some since we are here during the summer a little bit," Julia said first.
"And we're gonna take some to Spain with us," Eliza said.
"Cool," Jacob said.
"Hey look," Eve said, slightly laughingly. "It's a pop and catch game," seeing the two men coming back with cone like items.
Taking hers, Julia saw the white ping pong ball was inside and she started to pop it up pressing the trigger. She scrambled to catch it and laughed when her friend was grabbing it first. "Hey, we're not playing yet!" she said jokingly.
"You can now," Castle said, catching the ball when Mari had popped it. "And please notice Dani's got one too; she can play so help her learn."
"We will," Julia promised with a smile. She watched her father putting the ball in Dani's basket before David was coming over to show her how to do it. She was laughing with everyone else as the toddler was squealing loudly at the ball flying up above her. "Good catch," she said as Dani's father was helping her.
"Are you ready?" the mayor asked his youngest daughter. When she nodded rapidly, he stepped away from her and they were all encouraging their kids though Dani was having trouble.
"It's okay Dad," Mari said. "We'll just have to take longer to play."
Smiling as David was reluctantly walking away, Alexis felt a hand on her arm and turned to Lanie saying, "I know you're wondering about it already."
"Are you talking about your honeymoon?" the doctor asked. When the young woman nodded, she smiled and then shook her head saying, "I'm hoping you'll tell me what you do after you come back. No, I was going to tell you we stopped in front of what'll be your house."
"Oh, then what do you think?" Alexis asked.
"It's beautiful, but it really needs to be painted," Laine said.
Laughing for a moment Alexis said, "Yeah Louis and I are narrowing it down between two colors."
"What two?" Castle asked though he was still watching the children. "Last you told us it was four of them."
"We got rid of the two darkest," Alexis said. "Either Open Seas or Porch Ceiling, I'm leaning towards the second one."
"I know, Open Seas is a little darker than I'd like it," Louis said.
"It does sound like you made a decision," Beckett commented.
"As soon as we can get the keys to the house, I'll call the company we used to paint our house," Castle said. He then turned to his daughter and said, "If you want to paint the inside too just let us know."
"We will," Alexis said as Beckett was standing up and walking to the kids.
"Oh… do we need to stop?" Eliza asked as she saw her mother.
"Yeah, let's play something else," Beckett said.
"What can we do? What about something else with Josa?" Julia asked.
"We need to eat lunch really soon," Beckett replied. "But we have one more new thing for you."
Looking around for Castle, Eliza spotted him soon after and cried out when she saw how big the game was that he was holding and she asked, "What is it?"
"Hold on," Beckett said, giving Josie to Julia. She helped her husband in setting up the game and wasn't surprised when they kids were exclaiming over the giant Connect Four game. "I thought you'd like this one," she said, smiling as Eliza had hurried over to it and was touching the spaces for the game pieces.
"Yeah, we can take it inside too right?" the little girl asked.
"We will once it's winter," Castle said. "Now though you need to split into two teams again."
"You guys don't want to play?" Julia asked as she let her father take Josie.
"We're good, we will with you in the winter," Castle said before he and Beckett went to sit in the shade again.
"Will everything be ready?" Lily asked her friend, sitting next to her as Castle was helping Josie stand on his lap.
"Yeah, he made the sandwiches already," Beckett replied, smiling as she wasn't surprised the chef was asking that though they had the vegetables out by then. "And we're ready for when dinner's going to get here."
"Did you make that?" Dylan asked.
Shaking her head Lily said, "They're getting something else. But I would have happily made it for them."
"We knew that," Beckett said, smiling as Josie was laughing next to her.
"Ababab," Josie vocalized before she was reaching out to her mother.
Taking the baby into her arms, Beckett hugged her close before Josie was trying to tangle her fingers through her hair. She kissed her temple as she carefully stopped her and then cuddled her close so they could watch the other kids playing their game before they paused for lunch.
"You weren't kidding," Lanie said with a smile as she was watching Josie eating her food.
"I think she loves avocadoes," Eliza said.
"I think so," Lanie said, trying not to laugh at the baby putting her last piece of avocado in her mouth and smearing some on her chin as she moved away her fingers.
"That was a really good lunch," Esposito said as they'd all finished by then. "What's left for the party?"
"We have the games," Beckett said, not surprised he was wondering. "But that'll be after her gifts and of course dessert."
"Which ones are first?" Eliza asked.
"Probably her gifts," Beckett said before she and her husband were taking their plates and their parents' to the kitchen.
Outside under the cover Martha was carefully cleaning Josie's face off as the baby was making protesting noises. "I know kiddo, but you need to be nice and clean for your presents."
"Po," Josie said.
Laughing with Martha, Jim said, "She'll be talking soon."
"I know, Richard did the same thing," Martha replied. "There, you're all finished." She sat down in time to see that Julia and Eliza were coming out of the house with presents in their arms.
"These are all of them," Eliza said with a smile.
"I can tell," Jim said, going to her and taking all but two of the presents. "You didn't try to shake them, did you?"
Laughing, Eliza shook her head firmly and said, "No, that's for Josa."
"I don't think she's supposed to," Martha said, getting Josie out of her highchair and handing her to Julia.
"Wait," the girl said, laughing as her little sister was grabbing her lower lip. "The presents are over there. And we need to wait for everyone else too."
"Ooo!" Josie exclaimed before she was laughing as her sisters were.
"I'm guessing she's ready?" Castle asked as they were going to the tables.
"She is, can we start?" Eliza asked eagerly.
With a laugh Beckett took Josie from her second oldest and then said, "Then let's start with the smallest."
"Should we read the tags?" Julia asked as she brought that gift to her mother.
"Go ahead," Beckett said with a smile.
"This one is from Aunt Lanie, Uncle Dylan and Miles," Julia read off the tag.
Smiling at them Beckett turned her attention to Josie as she had grabbed at the paper and she was quick to help her. "Here sweetie," she told her as she put the end of torn paper in Josie's hand. When the baby stopped after pulling at it, she called Julia and Eliza over to help her.
Since the box was so small it was unwrapped quickly, and the two girls were telling their sister what it might be as their mother was taking the top off the box.
"Look, they're shoes," Julia said happily as their mother was taking them out. "And pretty too," she said, looking over at the others.
"I thought you might like those," Lanie said, talking to the girl herself. "They remind me of your shoes you have for dancing."
"They do look like that, mine and Lizzy's," Julia said with a smile.
"Thank you," Beckett said as she took back the shoe her husband had looked at.
"You're welcome," Lanie said with a smile.
"Are you going to let her dance when she's older?" Esposito asked as Eliza was getting the next gift.
"If she wants to," Beckett answered, taking the present.
"That one is from Tio Javi," Julia said to Josie after she had read the tag.
"If she's like Eliza then she will," Castle commented. He watched Julia and Eliza helping their little sister with her gifts and when his wife had opened the box he took the lid from her to hear the two girls gasping in joy.
"Look, you got some books in Spanish!" Eliza said to the baby who immediately started to laugh.
"I hope you'll teach her Spanish too," Esposito said.
"We will, and this is a good start," Beckett said. "Thank you." After her husband had said the same, she watched him grabbing another gift.
"I hope you girls don't mind," Castle told them. "I think it's a lot faster this way."
"That's okay," Eliza said quickly before she was hurrying to help Julia and Josie with the paper again before her big sister stopped her.
"I have to read the tag," Julia said with a smile as her little sister looked surprised. "This one is from the Davises." When she and her sisters had gotten the paper off, she took the lid off the box inside herself that time but let her mother move the wrapping paper. "How cute!" she said as her mother was taking out a sundress. "Here," she said, taking it and showing it to everyone.
"Oh, Jules there's another one," Eliza said to her sister.
"That's cute too," Julia said, speaking absently as she was smiling while her little sister was showing that dress to everyone. The one she held was white and it had embroidery of bluebirds; she knew Lily had likely picked it for the blue since it went well with her baby sister's eyes. The dress Eliza had taken around to everyone was a bright blue color and a pattern of white leaves along the hem of it. Giving the dress back to her mother she went to the gifts and then got one that was the smallest left on the table. "That one is from the Fosters," she told her mother as she gave it to her.
"Thank you for the dresses," Beckett said.
"I hope that they'll fit her," Lily said.
"They will once we're in Spain," Beckett assured her.
"Kate the shoes-" Lanie then said.
"This fall," Beckett told her.
"How can you tell?" Lanie asked her.
"Because of Julia and Eliza," Beckett said before she looked down at the gift that the girls were opening together. Seeing what was inside she looked at David and Rebecca before she said, "Mari?"
"She helped us," Rebecca said with a smile as Julia was pulling out a bar of toys to put on Josie's stroller or car seat.
"It's really nice," Julia told her friend with a smile. "She'll love it."
"There's more girls," Beckett told the two.
"Oh neat!" Eliza said happily as Beckett was taking out some t-shirts. She grabbed the first one and said, "Look Jules."
"I saw," Julia said, taking the first one before she looked at Mari.
"Yeah, I found it," the girl said with a wide smile. Mari then went over to her friend and said, "I thought it was super cute."
"They are, I like this one," Julia said, holding the pink shirt that had a walrus on it. It had lyrics from I Am the Walrus on it and the other four shirts were the same with different colors and lyrics. "I never saw this set."
"Yeah, she won't tell us how she found it," David commented with a sigh.
"I just looked up Beatles shirts and put for babies on it," Mari said. When some of the adults looked at each other she turned to her friend and asked, "What?"
"I guess they don't want you looking at stuff on your own," Julia said.
"She's right, but The Beatles are safe luckily," Rebecca said. "And with that I hope those'll fit eventually."
"They will," Beckett replied with a smile. She and her husband were thanking them before she said, "Okay, now I think it's time for dessert."
"I'll be right back," Castle said, kissing her cheek before he stood up and then went into the house.
"Mommy," Eliza said, going to her. "What's she getting?"
"You'll see," Beckett told her with a smile before they were looking at the house as her husband was walking over with the cake they'd ordered for their youngest.
Castle, as he set down the cake, wasn't surprised when the kids were all exclaiming over it before he was setting in a candle and lighting it. He and Beckett had ordered a one tier cake in a sky-blue color with Josie's name on the side of it in a white fondant. The number one, in the same color, was underneath the name and topping the cake was a small tiger.
"You really got her a tiger?" Julia asked her mother with a smile.
"We did," Beckett said. "How much does she love them?"
"A lot," Julia said, smiling and kissing her sister's cheek before they were starting to sing Happy Birthday.
"Okay, let's help her girls," Castle said, motioning to Alexis. He let the three blow out the candle before they were all applauding and Josie was smiling at them.
"She can have a piece of cake, right?" Julia asked.
"She can," Beckett said as she stood up and then put Josie into her highchair. She kissed the top of her head and then said, "Hopefully she won't make too much of a mess," as she took the sheet of fabric Martha was handing her and tied it around the baby's neck carefully.
"You have that just for her?" Lanie asked.
"Believe me, we'll need it," Castle said, setting down the slice he'd cut for Josie. He'd taken off the fondant before that and wasn't surprised to see the baby grabbing some cake with both her hands.
"What kind of cake did you get?" Esposito asked.
"Chocolate," Julia said before her parents could speak. "She likes that."
"She's had our cakes," Eliza said before she was giggling at how her sister looked with the cake on her face.
"Okay, who else wants a slice?" Castle asked the others. After he got some for everyone he sat down with his piece and watched Josie while they were eating, smiling as the fabric had helped immensely when they were finishing.
"Amam-p," Josie vocalized, holding her hands out to her mother.
"I see that sweetie," Beckett said, taking the fabric off.
"I'll take her," Castle said, stopping his wife before he could pick her up.
"You should both go," Martha was saying then, having noticed the look her son and daughter in law were giving one another though it was brief.
"We'll take care of everything here," Alexis added.
When the others had assured them they would help, Beckett let her husband get the baby out before they were going into the house. They went to the kitchen and she looked on as he was cleaning Josie's hands first. "It's funny," she commented, leaning against the counter.
"You didn't think you'd do this twice?" Castle asked, smiling over at her.
"Not even once to be honest," Beckett replied. When her husband glanced at her again, she said, "Thank you."
"You realize I have more of a reason to say that to you right?" Castle told her immediately.
Beckett, studying him, moved then and cupped his cheek before they kissed very gently since they were aware they'd been joined shortly. When they parted, she said, "I love you," seriously.
"I love you too Kate," Castle replied. He'd wanted to kiss her again, but Josie was wriggling in his arms and he had to finish cleaning her up. By then some of the others were coming in with plates and he gave Josie to his wife before washing his hands.
"Just set the cake on the counter," Beckett told Brad as he held it. "If anyone wants to take some home let us know," she then said before Jacob was speaking immediately.
"You'll let us take some cake?" the boy asked.
"Yeah," Castle said, smiling as the other kids were laughing and Lily was shaking her head.
"Awesome, I'll take some!" Jacob said, smiling as Eliza playfully pushed his arm before she was going to her mother. He then turned to his parents and said, "We can take some right?"
"We will, tomorrow though," Brad told his son. "What're we going to do now?"
"The babies need to be set down for their naps," Beckett commented. "And Dani too of course."
"Luckily there are more than one of us that aren't babies," Julia said before she paused and then thought that over. "That makes sense, right?"
"It does," Castle replied. "So with that the rest of you can head back but some of us will be taking these four up to Josie's room."
Watching her parents going with Brad, Lily, Lanie and Dylan, Julia turned to her grandparents and asked, "We go outside right?'
"Yes, we'll join you," Martha replied before they were going to the door out to the yard.
"What should we do now?" Eve asked as they were looking at the different games there were on the patio.
"Looks like there are a lot of games here," Jacob said.
"Dad wants to have more dinners outside," Julia said.
"Really?" Mari asked her.
"Yeah, Mom and Dad want to take out a part of the grass to put down cement and put a long patio table," Julia explained. "I think they're gonna have the company that's doing the ground in the pool room do that at the same time."
"That'll be fun to see," Mari said. "What about cover?"
"They're going to just use the tents like today," Julia said as she nodded over to them. She smiled when her friend looked surprised and explained saying, "They don't want to attach anything to the house."
"Hey," Jacob said then. "What about this game?"
"The birdies?" Eliza asked.
"Yeah, we haven't played that one in a long time," Jacob said.
"What about playing it on the sand?" Eve asked.
"I'd have to ask my grandparents," Julia said. "What about your parents?"
"We'll watch you guys," Louis said to them. When the five looked at him he smiled and said, "We can watch you. So get enough rackets for you and we'll head down."
As they were walking to the door once they were finished in Josie's room, Beckett spotted the kids on the sand. "I think they're playing badminton," she said to the others.
"On their own?" Brad asked.
"No, Alexis and Louis are with them," Castle said.
"Oh, then that's fine," Brad replied.
Laughing with the others, Beckett shook her head before she went to the table with Lanie and Lily while the others were going down to the sand. "You have to tell me how things have been going," she said to her friend.
"With Miles?" Lanie asked, smiling.
"And Dylan," Beckett said with a nod.
"Alright," Lanie replied. "Great, everything's great. I mean… of course there's the stuff that's not so great, changing diapers and everything but Dylan and I are fine and Miles is growing well."
"Good," Rebecca said. "I think she's wondering about Dylan though since you got married after she did." When Beckett looked at her, she shrugged and said, "I had friends from college that married before me. Once David and I were married they were asking about us a lot."
"You weren't that old when you got married," Lily said.
"They didn't really seem to care," Rebecca said.
"We are fine, and I've gotten used to being married now," Lanie then said to Beckett. "It's almost been a year."
"And that's why I wanted to make sure," Beckett said. She laughed when her friend rolled her eyes before she could hear Eliza calling out to her. "I think they want us to join in now," she said.
"I'm game," Esposito said, jumping up.
"You should have gone with the other guys," Beckett told him teasingly.
"I had to finish my drink," Esposito replied defensively.
Pushing his shoulder before she passed him, Beckett went to Castle and shared a quick kiss with him. Taking the racket he handed to her she said, "We're playing together."
"If that's what you'd like," Castle said. When his wife narrowed her eyes at him, playfully he knew, he smiled and they returned their attention to the game as it was starting with Alexis hitting the birdie to him.