Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
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: The title of this story is a lyric from the song Thriller written by Rod Temperton, from the Michael Jackson album of the same name. The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Autumn in New York written by Vernon Duke.
Greet Autumn In New York
"Good Julia, that's perfect," Derek Hough said.
"Really?" Julia asked.
"Yeah, you'll do great dancing with the hologram," Derek replied.
"Even though we haven't seen it yet?" Peter asked, dancing with them.
"Even though," Derek replied with a nod. "Now," he said. "That's all we can work on together, so I hope that's enough for today and you'll be able to practice when I leave."
"I've taken in everything," Ms. Grey said with a smile and a nod as the dancer looked at her. "But thank you so much for coming in today."
"And you since you'll need take over for me," Derek replied with a smile.
Waving to Julia as she and Peter were hurrying to the changing rooms, Beckett turned to her husband and said, "She's more confident."
"Good thing," Castle said.
"You didn't think she'd be good?" Eliza asked them.
"Not that," Castle said quickly. "Because your sister was so worried about this and dancing with the hologram."
"Will she be okay with it when it's on the stage?" Eliza then said.
"I think so," Beckett said firmly. "She will." She smiled when Eliza nodded and then took Josie in her arms when the baby walked from Martha to her. She then turned her attention to Derek as he was walking up to them and she said with a smile, "Are you still staying?"
"You invited me," Derek said, shaking her hand and then Castle's since he hadn't had a chance to greet them. "Who's this?" he asked, playfully pinching Josie's cheek.
"Aba… Mama," the baby said.
"She remembers you," Eliza said, beaming at the dancer.
"I guess so," Derek said slightly laughingly while he held the baby on his hip when she leaned over to him. "She's grown… a lot."
"We haven't seen you since last November," Castle commented with a smile.
"Jules did," Eliza said.
"We meant the rest of us," Castle said quickly as Julia and Peter had been practicing with the dancer via Skype.
"I better head out to change," Derek then said while Peter was coming out of the changing room.
Watching the dancer greeting the boy when they passed each other, Beckett said to Genevieve, "Are you okay to come with us?"
"Of course," the young woman said with a smile. "I've been looking forward to this trip. Are you two still going to the haunted complex thing?"
"We are," Beckett replied. "Did you want to come?"
"Oh no, I hate that," Genevieve said quickly. "But I hope you guys have fun."
"Hopefully," Castle said.
"I think we will," Beckett replied. She then turned to the girls' changing room and smiled at Julia when she was walking back to them. "How're you feeling sweetie?" she asked once her second oldest was close to them.
"Good," Julia said with a nod. "I just need to keep practicing." She then looked over at her partner and said with a smile, "We do."
"Yeah, yeah," Peter said in a mock complaining tone. He then laughed with her and said, "Are we leaving?"
"We need to wait for Derek," Julia said quickly. She then sighed and said, "I hope he doesn't mind going with us."
Shaking her head Beckett told her, "You heard when we invited him. He does want to go."
"I'm sure he'll say it's great exercise," Castle told their daughter reassuringly. He then said with a smile, "Are you worried about tiring him out?"
"No," Julia said in confusion before she then laughed a little. "I thought a hike would be boring."
"It won't be," Peter said reassuringly. He then looked with the others at the changing rooms and saw Derek was walking out to them and asked, "Can we go now?"
"Yes, we're going right now," Castle said as they left the dance studio. After they were outside, he looked at his phone and said, "They're ready to meet us."
"Are they there?" Beckett asked in surprise as she glanced at him.
"They're on their way," Castle told her.
"How many texts did you get?" Beckett said while she looked down at his phone.
"A couple," Castle said simply before they reached their cars. After they were set between them, he helped his wife get their daughters in them until they were standing together before she spoke quickly, asking him a question he wasn't surprised by.
"Did Patrick send you a message?" Beckett asked him.
"He did," Castle said. "He said they'd go with us." He then realized why his wife had asked him that and told her, "He'll be okay."
"Not really," Beckett said.
"That's true," Castle replied with a nod. He then smiled a little and said, "It's too bad for him and Mary."
"They try to get used to it," Beckett commented. She then said, "But I'm going straight to him as soon as I see him."
"I'm not surprised," Castle said before they were getting into the car. Once they were set, he drove them to the hiking trails outside of town west of their home and when they parked, he looked back at Josie. "Are you ready sweetheart? You're hiking with me," he told her.
"Dada," the eighteen-month-old said with a smile.
"That means she's ready," Julia said.
"Jules!" Josie cried eagerly.
"Here," Julia told her as Eliza got out of her car seat on the other side of her.
"Is Josa gonna have that much fun?" the little girl asked her mother as she stood with her.
"I think so," Beckett replied with a smile. She then looked over at the parking lot and said, "Will you stay with your daddy?"
"Yeah" Eliza said with a nod, watching her mother leaving them. She looked at her father and said, "Is she going to Patrick."
"She is, will you help me with the food?" Castle asked.
"Don't start Kate," Darnley said teasingly to his friend with a smile while he watched her walking up to him. "I'm fine."
"I'm just making sure," Beckett replied. "Are you okay right now?"
"Yeah, Maddy and Keo are a big help," Darnley said. "I did try to get Joseph and Bethany over with us, but they didn't want to hike in the cold."
"You did tell them the trails aren't that extreme right?" Beckett asked.
"Yeah, I think they wanted some time alone," Darnley explained.
"Oh, well in that case are you two ready?" Beckett said, smiling at his kids.
"I wanna walk," the nearly three-year-old said.
"You will Keo," Darnley told his son with a smile. He then said to his friend, "I have nothing to carry them with so they're walking with us."
"Dani is too," Beckett said.
Looking at the Fosters, Darnley saw he was right and then said, "I see that… so how far are we walking?"
"We're going down one path before we get to a clearing," Beckett said, watching as Maddy and Keo were rushing over to the other kids. She was about to walk to them when her friend grabbed her arm and she looked at him in concern.
"I miss him… more than I thought I would but he's not that far away," Darnley replied to her expression.
"I thought you would," Beckett replied gently as she turned fully to him, wrapping her arm around him. "And I'm not going to say he'll be back soon or that you shouldn't miss him, but you didn't have to come if you didn't want to."
"It's not really me trying to distract myself," Darnley said. "But I did want to spend time with you and see this."
"Did you tell Trevor you came here?" Beckett asked him.
"I did, he urged me to bring the kids," Darnley explained. "And I'm glad now that we did."
Beckett smiled when she followed his gaze and saw Maddy was holding Josie's hand with Julia holding the baby's other and she said to him, "That was a fun party."
Laughing, Darnley nodded before he told her, "I know, and I'm so glad the incident didn't happen before her birthday." He then said, "We better go though, your husband needs help I think."
Glancing at him, Beckett went quickly to her husband before she said, "Sorry, I-" she started to say before her husband was interrupting her.
"Don't worry, I figured you'd talk to him," Castle said. "I just need help getting Josie set."
Beckett nodded and leaned over to help him with putting the carrier on his back with the baby in it. She checked to make sure Josie was secured before she told her husband, "You're all set."
"Okay," Castle said, looking over at Lily who had Sophie on her back in another carrier. "We can start," he then told the others. "But how're we going?"
"We don't have to go single file," Darnley mentioned.
"Then we'll just go as we can," Beckett said quickly, and they started walking down the trail they were at the end of. While they were going, Derek was walking next to her and she smiled saying, "I'm surprised you wanted to come."
"I like hiking," the dancer said. "And this is different from back in LA."
"What do you want to know?" Beckett asked him.
"I'm just wondering," Derek replied. "Why you keep looking at your friend."
"His husband is with the NTSB too and he caught a case last week," Beckett explained. "We're not sure if he'll be able to make it back for Halloween. We're hoping since he's missing his husband." They walked in silence for a little and she took some pictures before she said, "Have you seen Skye lately?"
"They invited me over just before I flew out here," Derek answered. "And she just made it."
"She let me know she had a case," Beckett said. "But is she stressing about the concert?"
Derek laughed for a moment before he said, "I'm not surprised you're worried about her. But as far as I could tell she's ready. She did tell me she's glad she's singing and not dancing."
"That doesn't surprise me," Beckett said with a smile. "But at least she's ready to sing." She then considered the dancer and asked, "What about you?"
"I'm good, luckily dancing with the celebrities I have in the past cuts the nerves," Derek said. "Not all the way but enough for me."
"You'll help Julia?" Beckett asked.
Smiling, as he wasn't surprised she was asking about her daughter, Derek nodded and said, "I'll do the same for Peter of course but they'll do well. Very dedicated."
"They are," Beckett said with a smile. She turned to Julia ahead of them and she said, "But that's all I'll talk about dancing."
Derek was surprised she'd said that until he looked ahead at the girl and saw Julia was glancing at them both. "I guess so, but I'll talk with the two before I leave since I won't be able to make it out here until the day before the concert."
Nodding Beckett said, "She'll be there and ready." She watched him walk ahead to Genevieve, knowing he was telling Peter's mother what he'd told her, and she looked at her husband when he'd paused for her. She held up her finger before he could say anything and told him what she and Derek had spoken about. "I was just making sure," she told him.
"Are you still going to try and go backstage?" Castle asked her. When his wife shook her head, he asked in surprise, "You're not?"
"No," Beckett said firmly. "She's twelve and a half years old now, she doesn't need me to do that for her. I'll help her get ready but after that I'll have to let her take care of herself."
"You hate that don't you?" Castle asked.
"Yes," Beckett said, shaking her head. She then said with a slight laugh, "But I won't push her to ask me to help her. She probably won't."
"You don't think?" Castle asked.
"No," Beckett replied. "Just at the beginning. But it's too soon, I'll have to ask her when we're closer to the concert." She was focusing on taking pictures again before she turned her attention to Josie to make sure the baby was okay. She was about to ask her if she was enjoying the trail when the baby was speaking and laughing at the sudden gust of wind.
"Leaf Mama," Josie began with. "Go!"
"I can't go any faster sweetheart," Castle said with a laugh. "But at least she's enjoying it."
"Wait," Beckett said, reaching up and gently getting a leaf that had fallen on her husband's shoulder and Josie had grabbed. She kissed the back of her hand and then said, "You can't eat that sweetie."
"Mama," Josie said with a smile.
"When are we letting her walk?" Castle asked his wife as they started to walk again.
"While we have lunch," Beckett said simply.
"Not that much further Josie," Castle called to the baby before they could hear her laughing.
"Are we going to go around the whole trail?" Mari asked her friend towards the front of their group.
"I don't know," Julia replied. "I'd say yes," she added. "Just because it's a nice day today." She looked at Derek who walked up to them and said, "We're not dancing at lunch are we?"
"No," the dancer said in amusement. "I wasn't about to make you." He studied her and asked, "Did you want to?"
"Not really," Julia said in amusement. "It is the weekend."
"What else are you doing?" Derek asked.
"Going to the haunted house thing," Julia said.
"Both of us are going," Mari added with a smile.
"Really," Derek said in surprise.
"Yeah, my parents said I was old enough and could go," Julia said. "Mari's too. They're all going to be with us and we're going to be a few years older before we go on our own."
Laughing briefly Derek asked, "That was the only way they'd let you go?"
"We didn't care," Mari said as she and Julia were nodding. "As long as we get to check it out."
"It doesn't scare you though?" Derek said. "Some of those places can get a little intense."
"We know," Julia and Mari said at the exact same time. They shared a smile before the former said, "It can't be that scary, we've been on an island in the dark with no one around for miles."
"That's way scarier," Mari said, nodding in agreement to what her friend was saying. "I can't wait though."
"Lunch time," Brad called suddenly when they were reaching a clearing.
"Great," Castle said before he turned to get his wife to help him with Josie. Once the baby was on the ground he said, "Someone get her!" as she was walking away rapidly.
"I have her Daddy," Eliza said.
"I have them," Alexis then said, reaching for the two since Eliza was having trouble with their baby sister. "Josa," she said gently, picking her up. She held her over her for a moment before kissing her cheek and said, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Wa-wa," Josie said.
"I don't think you can go in there," Castle said, walking up to them.
"I have her Dad," Alexis told their father with a smile.
"You're sure?" Castle asked her. When she nodded, he went back to where the other men were laying out blankets for them all to sit on and weighing them down with stones before they were sitting, and his wife was speaking to the chief.
"What're we doing now?" Beckett asked Brad.
"I don't care," he said, shrugging.
"We should just eat," Lily said. "Most of the kids are already," she added, nodding to her two oldest who were biting into their sandwiches.
Beckett smiled as the kids were laughing and she was turning her attention to her family's food, giving the sandwiches to the others while her husband handed out the chips for the meal. "Do you girls want to go all the way around?" she asked eventually after they'd been eating for a while.
"That would be nice," Julia said. "We weren't going to really do anything until after dinner right?"
"No," Castle said first. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah," Julia said simply but with a firm tone of voice.
"Just making sure," Castle said.
"You said 'lexis was the same age when she started going to these," Julia said.
"He's right, I was," Alexis said.
"You're not helping," Castle said jokingly. "I just don't want any nightmares tonight, but I guess since Mari's staying the night then it's not a worry," he added.
"It isn't," Julia said.
"Do you want to add anything?" Castle asked his wife.
"Oh no," Beckett replied with a smile. "I think you're handling it fine."
Sighing in mock annoyance, Castle then laughed and said, "Luckily I know you feel the same as I do."
"How Daddy?" Eliza asked.
Castle glanced at his wife, and when she merely looked back at him, he turned to Julia and explained to them all what they'd been talking about concerning the concert.
"Oh no," Julia said, shaking her head. "Just stay after you help me the first time," she said to her mother. "I don't want you to really miss anything when I can take care of myself after."
"You're sure?" Beckett said.
"Yeah, Skye said she could help me… or Mary, they won't be performing then," Julia said. "It'll be Green Day I think. So they can help me out and you can just stay and watch. Are you sure Josa can't go see?"
"Yes," Beckett said with a sigh as she was feigning annoyance. She then said, "She'd be asleep to be honest so she wouldn't see much."
"Are we going to have it on a disc?" Eliza asked.
"To watch later?" Louis said to her. When the little girl nodded, he said, "I was wondering the same; be fantastic to have to watch again for the memories."
Laughing briefly, Castle said, "We will, don't worry. Skye said they'll have it for sale eventually, but we'll have a copy."
"Peter too," Beckett said, looking over at the boy with his family.
Following her mother's gaze, Julia said softly to her mother, "Are his mom and Clive's dad happy?"
"They've said they are," Beckett replied. "Keep eating Eliza."
Nodding, turning back to her sandwich, the little girl smiled and said, "I was thinking about Halloween."
"What about it?" Martha said.
Giggling, Eliza said, "I'm going to keep my costume Gram. No, I was thinking about what houses we're gonna go to."
"You do have school the next day," Beckett told her.
"I know, but I get to go to some houses," Eliza said. She smiled and then said, "But we can go for a little longer right?"
"You could," Castle said. "But the key words are a little."
"Oh," Eliza said slowly. She then said eagerly, "I can't wait!"
"Don't bounce around sweetie," Beckett told her a little sternly. Once she had calmed down it wasn't long until they were finishing the meal and putting away their trash. She watched the kids getting up and starting to run around together in the clearing and she said to the other adults, "We should stay here and just go back the way we came," before Darnley was agreeing with her.
"It looks like they're having fun so we should," he said.
"I'm fine with that," Rebecca said, the other parents agreeing.
"What about the naps?" Isaac asked.
"They'll be fine here," Castle said first.
"He's right," Brad added. "There's enough shade and the ground is soft enough under the blankets."
"The noise?" Darnley asked.
"They never really seemed to have a problem before," Beckett told him.
"True," Darnley said after pretending to think that over. He then said, "Is there any reception here?"
"Not really," Beckett told them. "Did you want to call Trevor."
Shaking his head Darnley said, "My in-laws, they could have come." He then said, "But it'll take them time coming out here and getting to where we are. Another time when Trev is back."
Touching a tree, Julia said with a laugh, "I'm safe."
"That's not fair, you tripped me," Mari said.
"Did not," Julia replied though they were soon laughing. She watched her friend chase after Eve, and she leaned against the tree seeing her parents were getting Josie settled on a blanket. She saw Sophie was being set on another and smiled to herself before she turned as Mari had managed to catch her sister. "I don't think that's really fair," she said with a smile.
"She wanted to play," Mari said with a smile before that turned into a laugh when she saw the way her little sister was glaring at her. "I don't think we're going to play anymore Dani," she told her while she hugged her. "But that was fun."
"What should we do now?" Jacob asked.
"Go to the water," Eliza said immediately. She saw her big sister was going to speak and she told her, "Not go in, just go up to it, float leaves… race leaves."
"That's not a bad idea," Eve said. "The little kids would like that."
"I think we need to just watch that they don't fall in," Julia commented.
Watching the kids going, David said in amusement, "Funny they didn't think to ask their parents for permission."
"You heard them," Castle said jokingly. "They're staying out of the water."
"Still," David said.
"My kids know we heard them," Brad said.
"What?" Beckett asked, startled when the others looked at her then. "They're all aware we were listening; we could have stopped them, so I think we're fine," she said before she looked at Darnley since he was standing up. "What're you doing?" she asked him.
"I need to grab Keo," the carpenter replied as he hurried to where his son was. "I know," he said as his son started to fuss. "But you do know you need to sleep or you're going to be tired."
"Don't wanna," Keo said firmly.
"I know, no one does," Darnley said gently. He sat back where he'd been before and said, "Hopefully he'll sleep now."
"Give him some time," Beckett said.
Laughing when the other mothers were saying that, Darnley said, "I hope you're right." He then rocked his son gently, saying to the other parents, "Do you think it's early to stop getting Maddy to sleep?"
"You said that she wasn't anymore," Beckett said. "No matter what you did."
"Yeah," Darnley said with a soft laugh. He shook his head and then said, "But for now Keo is," relieved when he soon noticed his son was fast asleep. He leaned down and kissed the top of his head before Beckett was speaking gently.
"Do you want to walk around together?" she asked him.
"Sure," Darnley said before he carefully set Keo down next to Rebecca.
"We'll watch him," the lawyer said with a smile.
"Thanks," Darnley said quickly before he was hurrying to Beckett. As they started walking down the trail past the clearing he glanced back at the others and asked her, "What about Rick?"
"He's fine watching Josie," Beckett said. She expected her husband to look at her and said with a smile, "Really, I asked him if I could take you on a short walk down the trail."
"This isn't to comfort me or anything is it?" Darnley asked.
"No," Beckett said firmly. "Now tell me how your shelf went," she told him.
"Really well," Darnley replied. "I actually managed to managed to finish it yesterday. I wanted to hurry to do that since I knew we were coming out of course."
"When can Rick take it?" Beckett asked.
"Your husband? I thought you were taking it," Darnley told her teasingly. When she smiled, he said, "I'm not your husband," in mock irritation.
Beckett laughed and hugged him tightly before she said, "When can we take it from you?"
"Soon," Darnley replied. "I just need to carve my name on it and you can have it; I'll get it to you on Monday."
"Thank you," Beckett replied. "We're still paying you." She then grabbed his arm a little tightly and said in a rush, "Don't try to tell me not to because we will either way."
"I had a feeling," Darnley said in amusement.
"What'll be next?" Beckett asked as she was taking a picture of a tree's foliage.
"The decorative carved board for Mr. Bromstead," Darnley said. "For his wife for Christmas."
"Can you make it like it was in the book?" Beckett asked, since she knew about the order and that it was like a Christmas gift described in one of the Little House books.
"Not the same pattern, but I can get it set," Darnley replied. "I just hope it won't be that long to make."
"Do you have any other Christmas gift orders?" Beckett asked.
Shaking his head, Darnley said, "There isn't enough time and I'm not that established yet so that's it this year."
"Once you finish they'll ask you," Beckett told him reassuringly.
"How else did Mr. Bromstead know to ask me?" Darnley asked.
"That was Rick, he's played golf with him and David," Beckett explained as she was smiling at him. She then turned to her friend and said, "They were talking about Christmas gifts and Rick mentioned he'd wanted to ask you to make something for Josie's room and it went from there."
Nodding Darnley said, "I'll have to thank him."
"Bromstead didn't mention it to you?" Beckett asked him in surprise. When her friend shook his head, she was smiling and then said, "I'm glad he didn't, but I'm only telling you because you mentioned it." She laughed as he rolled her eyes but was about to suggest they turn back when he was doing that first.
"Should we go back?" Darnley said. "It feels like it's getting colder."
"It does," Beckett replied, looking up at the sky but seeing it was still clear. "I was going to suggest we head back anyway." They turned together and she looked at her friend saying, "How're you doing besides your work?"
"With the house?" Darnley asked. "More settled, especially after the birthday party on Monday."
Beckett smiled, since that afternoon after school and dance class five days before the Darnleys had had a party for Maddy's birthday, the eighteenth of October. "It was a good one," she told him.
"Trev and I wanted to make sure it was," Darnley said. "Her first one at our new home."
"You did," Beckett said, squeezing his arm. They walked together down the trail talking about that night, but she couldn't help recalling his little girl's birthday since her own daughters had ended up having a lot of fun as well.
"Hey, glad to see you two made it," Darnley said with a smile as he hugged his friend first.
"Yeah, we almost thought we weren't going to," Castle said jokingly.
"Oh, I know," David said with a smile. "We had to park blocks away; do you do parking validation?"
"Sure," Darnley said, shaking his head though he was smiling in amusement.
"Okay David," Rebecca said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm done," Castle told his wife when she was looking at him pointedly.
"Here," Beckett said, handing the gifts they'd brought for Maddy.
"Thank you," Nkosi said as he took them with a smile. "We appreciate it."
"Where's Maddy?" Eliza asked eagerly.
"Eliza!" the little girl said happily as she rushed past her fathers.
"Happy Birthday!" Eliza said in the same tone. She hugged her friend and said, "You're four now."
"Yeah, I'm a grown up," Maddy said eagerly.
"Me too," Eliza said, hearing the adults laughing softly around them. She watched Maddy hug Julia, who also wished her a Happy Birthday, before Josie was set down and her friend was hugging her baby sister.
"Hi Josie," Maddy told the baby.
"Hi," she replied before she was laughing.
"I don't think she can say Happy Birthday yet," Beckett said to Maddy.
"That's okay," the little girl replied. She hugged Josie carefully and then asked, "Can she play with us too?"
"What were you going to do?" Beckett asked.
"I think just run around out here," Darnley said.
"We have a few games for after dinner and before we give Maddy her cake," Nkosi said.
"Is anyone else coming besides us from the neighborhood?" Rebecca asked as they let their kids go to the sand in front of the grass of the Darnley's backyard.
"Two kids in Maddy's class," Darnley said with a slight smile. "A brother and sister actually."
"Twins, interesting," Castle said.
"Their names are Casey and Chloe Banner," Nkosi said. "Their parents were divorced after they were born and they're being raised by their father, Willis."
"Are they new to the Hamptons?" David asked.
"Yeah, they moved in about the same time we did," Nkosi said with a smile. "Maddy does enjoy playing with them."
"Hopefully they won't mind the rest of us here," Castle said.
"We mentioned it to them," Darnley said before they were turning together to a familiar voice behind them.
"We were trying to find you guys," Brad said.
"It was that hard to?" Castle asked in amusement.
"Okay," Beckett said, shaking her head while her husband and the chief were sticking their tongues out at each other.
"I couldn't help it," Castle said slightly laughingly as Darnley was taking the present the Davises had brought. "But we'll stop now."
Nodding, Beckett watched Eve take Sophie from her father before they were going with their brother to the other kids.
"Is that all of us?" Lily asked.
"No," Beckett replied. "Patrick and Trevor mentioned two friends from Maddy's class are coming over." She then explained what Darnley and Nkosi had told them before saying, "I get the feeling they'll be intimidated at first."
"Likely," Brad said with a nod. "Luckily the kids will help them."
"Definitely," Castle commented.
"So you guys aren't fighting anymore?" Darnley asked when he and his husband stepped just outside the doorway. When the two glanced at him he said, "Come on, you were sticking your tongues out at each other," speaking jokingly.
"Oh, that's likely Willis," Nkosi told his husband when they heard the chime for the gate.
"There's something we should tell you," Darnley said.
"He's gay?" Lily asked immediately.
"W- oh no," Darnley said. "His ex told him the twins weren't his after they were born."
"What?" Rebecca asked.
"Don't mention it to him, but she had an affair and wanted to get rid of the pregnancy but Willis begged her not to," Darnley told them quickly.
"We nearly forgot to tell you but when you see Casey and Chloe; their father was very dark skinned," Nkosi added.
"He was from the Caribbean Willis thinks and he wanted to have them," Darnley said. "I know you're wondering why she did, but he promised her a clean divorce."
"Money," Beckett stated. When her friend nodded, she said, "And she went along just for that."
"Just that," Nkosi said. "So it's to warn you not to react."
"We won't; or mention it," David said, the others nodding in agreement with him.
At that moment the single father was walking out with Joseph and Bethany, and he was being introduced to everyone there while Maddy rushed up the grass to her friends.
Castle wasn't surprised to see the twins were darker skinned, but they were adorable in how shy they were before seeing their classmate. He watched his and Beckett's three youngest, smiling at the way the two oldest were smiling at the boy and girl. When the kids had taken them with all of them back to the sand he turned to Banner and said, "Are they four already?"
"Their birthday was in August, the twenty eighth," the man said with a nod. He smiled and said, "It's great meeting you all, but I didn't realize there were this many kids here."
"I tried to warn you," Darnley said before he was laughing, and they proceeded to talk about their kids.
Beckett was glancing at the kids while they were speaking and saw the Banner children were quickly getting settled with the others. She turned to Darnley as he walked up to her and said, "Why do you look so worried?"
"Just because I'm not sure how to tell them they need to stop," he replied.
"It's time for dinner?" Beckett asked in amusement.
"It is," Darnley said, laughing after Beckett had started to. Once they had calmed down, he headed to the kids and did his best with his husband's help, luckily the knowledge their meal was going to be pizza helped and they were hurrying inside just as those pizzas were being delivered. He and his husband told everyone what they were before he was about to tell them they were expected to split the leftovers with them when Beckett was beating him to that.
"I'm guessing you want us to take some of that home?" she asked.
"For your kids to have at school tomorrow at the very least," Darnley said.
"We're having our share tomorrow for lunch," Nkosi commented.
When they had thanked the two men, everyone proceeded to grab their slices of pizza and eat at the different tables there were downstairs. They were talking together as they ate before they were finishing and turning their attention to the games which the kids were eager to start.
"You did a great job," Beckett told her friend with a smile.
"Yeah?" Darnley asked though he didn't take his eyes off the kids while they were playing a spoon relay game.
"Of course, you have games, prizes and gift bags," Beckett said. "Everything kids like; even the two teens."
Darnley couldn't help chuckling at that and said, "Good, we had to make this a good one for Maddy since her first with us were just the five and then six of us."
Beckett smiled and squeezed her friend's arm before she said, "It's fun, just ask them if you don't believe me."
Glancing at her, Darnley was smiling before he clapped with her as the team that his daughter was on won and said, "Here's your prize," giving them plastic bags decorated with cartoonish koalas that were filled with candies.
After thanking him, Eliza asked, "What about the presents?"
"Lizzy," Julia whispered to her sister.
"No, it's okay," Nkosi said quickly. "We were going to have you stop after that anyways."
"Now it's time for the cake," Darnley added. "We'll be back," leaving with his husband.
"I get to have a snick cake," Maddy said to her friends eagerly.
"Does she mean snickerdoodle?" Jacob whispered though he did so loud enough for everyone to hear.
After he had calmed down from laughing, Joseph said, "She does, she loves those cookies and of course Bethany makes the best."
"I did not make the cake," the woman said with a smile at her husband's compliment. "We ordered it since I could not decorate it as it is."
"What does it look like?" Dani asked.
"You'll see right now," Rebecca told her daughter as Nkosi was walking in with it.
"Oh, how cute!" Mari exclaimed once they could see the small one tier cake. It was white and had a koala on the top in fondant holding branch of eucalyptus with branches going around the sides of the cake in a line.
"She's right, it is," Brad said with a smile when Sophie was squealing at the sight of it.
After he had placed four green candles into the top of the cake, Darnley was singing Happy Birthday with everyone else while Maddy was giggling and leaning against Eliza slightly. When they had finished and his daughter had blown out the candles, he was quick to cut slices for everyone and after they'd eaten them said, "Okay, time for some gifts."
"We're sorry if this party is going a little too quickly," Nkosi was saying when he and his husband put the gifts onto the coffee table in the family room.
"No, it makes sense," Banner said.
"You did the same with your childrens' party?" Jim asked him. When the man nodded, he smiled and said to Darnley and Nkosi, "You'll have longer parties as they get older."
"That is what we told them," Bethany said, smiling at her son as Maddy was opening the first gift from the Castle girls.
"I guess she likes it," Alexis said as their attention was suddenly turned to the little girl.
"I told you she loves koalas," Eliza said since she had picked the first shirt they'd given her. She was about to tell Maddy her sister had picked out the next shirt when Julia was speaking first.
"I chose that one for you," the girl said with a smile. "I thought you'd like it too."
"Yeah," Maddy said, nodding her head rapidly with a smile since it had a horse on it. There was another t-shirt and she thanked them before taking her next gift from Nkosi.
"You didn't get her a bunch of things too did you?" Darnley asked his friend.
"No," Beckett said with a smile. She nodded to his daughter as she had unwrapped the gift she and Castle had given her, a thick illustrated book of fairy tales.
"Thank you!" Maddy said happily.
"You're welcome," Castle said.
"You'll let your brother read that too right?" Beckett asked her. She smiled again at Darnley while Maddy was nodding her head rapidly before he was going over to give her another gift. She smiled at Josie on her lap at that moment, holding her close when they looked on while Maddy was opening the rest of her presents.