"I almost forgot what I wanted to ask you about," Julia said. "Do you think Fourth Year is too soon for them to start dating each other?"

"Yule Ball?" Mari asked. When her friend nodded, she shook her head and said, "That sounds okay, Hermione's fifteen and Harry's definitely fourteen and Hogsmeade is a good place to date. So, no mention of Cho?"

"No, Cho is just going to be a random girl who is in the year ahead of them," Julia said firmly. "Not the Ravenclaw Seeker since that's Harry and he'll like Hermione so he won't be thinking about Cho noticing him."

"I can't wait to read that," Mari said with a smile.

"Yeah, but that's going to be a while from now," Julia replied. "But for this year there won't be the super easy puzzles at the end, it'll just be Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna discovering the room at the end of the passage protected by Fluffy with the Mirror of Erised in it and that's it."

"So it won't need the Stone there or to be protected," Mari said. When her friend nodded, she said, "Cool, and that's not bad security. Since Quirrel only saw himself holding it, not actually having it. But… are you going to have them duel him?"

"I think he'll tie the four up and talk about why it's him that's the one doing it," Julia said. "And go from there. But I won't have Harry nearly falling from his broom. And I might have the confrontation with Quirrel sooner so Harry recovers to compete for the last Quidditch game."

"So they get the cup sooner?" Mari said.

Nodding Julia said, "But I am going to have them get caught sneaking Norbert out and losing the points for Ravenclaw. But their house will win the Cup at the end of the year."

"How cool, I wish I could see the Great Hall in blue and bronze," Mari said with a smile.

"Me too," Julia replied. She then glanced at the clock on her wall and said, "Oh! We need to go; I have to start dinner."

"Wait, one thing," Mari said. "Will you mention Harry and Hermione marrying?"

"An epilogue, with them about to send their twin daughters to Hogwarts for their first year. And then their twin boys who are two years younger will be saying goodbye, along with their baby sister who is four years younger than the twin girls," Julia said. She then said as they were leaving her room, "I think I'll have flower names for the girls if I can, but the boys I kind of wanted to name after Kings of England."

"Because of Harry's name?" Mari said.

"Sort of, we only hear his name is Harry, not Henry, but since his father's name was James…" Julia replied with a smile. "And if I write that far I want to write them getting a letter from the twin girls that night, both getting into Ravenclaw. I might add other years with the other kids, so you hear what houses they get sorted into."

"What will they be?" Mari asked. "All Ravenclaw?"

"I was kinda thinking of doing that," Julia said with a nod before they headed down the stairs. "Does that sound weird?"

"Weasleys?" Mari pointed out.

"That's true," Julia said. "But I'll put in they get into the house 'cause they are smart, not just because they're Potters like Ron got into Gryffindor since he was a Weasley."

"I know, how dumb that was," Mari said in agreement. She was about to ask more about her story ideas when she saw her friend's parents were coming out of the family room, Castle speaking first.

"Are you going to cook?" he said.

"Yeah, you're still going to come and watch?" Julia asked.

"Touché," Castle replied before they were walking down to the kitchen.

"Where's Josa?" Julia asked her parents when she noticed she wasn't with them.

"We're letting her stay with your grandparents," Beckett replied.

"She's playing with her blocks," Eliza told her sister.

"Oh," Julia said. When she was in the kitchen she went to the sink and washed her hands, smiling at her sister and Mari as they were standing behind her to do the same. Finishing, she dried her hands quickly and went to the fridge to start getting everything she needed onto the island. As she was setting stuff on it, she saw her parents were standing together next to the island and said, "Why don't you sit?"

"You don't need us to grab anything?" Castle said, going with her to the pantry.

"No," Julia said, slipping inside and grabbing the container of flour. "Dad," she told him as he was in the doorway still.

"No, just looking," Castle said quickly.

Sighing when her husband and their daughter were walking out to the island Beckett said, "We'll see in a second Rick."

"No, I can tell you now," Julia said quickly, smiling at her mother. "I'm going to make crêpes."

"Oh, that makes sense," Castle said, looking at all the ingredients laid out on the counter. "Wait…"

"Savory and sweet," Eliza said quickly as she was smiling at her big sister.

"You didn't think about asking permission for dessert?" Beckett asked the girls with a smile.

"Nope," Julia said while her little sister was shaking her head.

Beckett couldn't help her laughter at that and then said, "Okay, go ahead, I know you enjoy making them." As Julia and Eliza were starting to prepare what the former would need, she looked at Mari and said, "Did you want to set the table now? I can help you."

"No!" Julia and Eliza said at the same time.

"I can set the table you know," Beckett told the girls, a little amused at their protest.

"This dinner is for you," Julia said, speaking to both her parents. "You don't need to do anything for it."

"But the dishes," Eliza whispered to her sister.

"I can wash them," Julia said firmly, measuring the flour and butter.

"We'll take care of that," Castle told them. When the girls looked at him, he said, "Really, it's not that big of a deal."

"I think they're serious," Julia told her sister as she was looking at her.

"We are," Beckett said, smiling when Eliza pouted for a moment before going back to cutting some ham. She was about to ask what Julia was going to put in them when she was telling them eagerly about it herself.

"I decided to try and experiment," Julia said. "Ham and spinach, Swiss cheese too, and then some with turkey, tomatoes and provolone cheese."

"It sounds great," Castle said. "But what about dessert?"

"I'm going to put chocolate sauce and peanut butter," Julia said. "And then raspberries and peaches."

"You made some good choices," Beckett said. "But that seems like a lot sweetie."

"I know, but I know what to do already," Julia replied, finishing getting the raspberries washed. "And that's why Lizzy's helping me."

Castle smiled at his wife when their second youngest beamed at them before cutting the peaches she had washed. "Well, I feel spoiled," he told his wife.

"Good," Eliza said firmly. "You do that for us," she said when they were looking at her. "So now it's our turn to do that for you."

"And you have, so thank you," Beckett said.

"Ready?" Julia asked her little sister once they had everything ready.

"Ready," Eliza said, nodding her head firmly at her big sister.

Beckett was smiling as the two were going to the stove and she couldn't help getting up to lean against the counter to watch.

"It's magic Mommy," Eliza said.

"I think she's thinking of the songs we were listening to yesterday," Julia said quickly.

"What songs were you listening to?" Castle asked, leaning on the other side of Eliza.

"They were listening to some Queen songs," Martha said as she and Jim were walking over to the kitchen with Josie.

"Do you know the set list for the concert?" Beckett asked her daughter.

"Yeah, we had to find out so we'd know the order," Julia said. "It's how we've been practicing. The songs we were listening to were random."

"But they were part of the set," Castle said. When Julia just smiled at him, he pretended to stamp his foot and then said, "But that was nice, just like your mom."

"I have to try," Julia said with a smile. She then hurried to close the first crêpe she'd made and set it aside on one of two plates ready. "Thanks," she told her mother as she'd covered the plate with a cloche.

"You're welcome," Beckett said.

"Should I have made something to go with this?" Julia asked.

"You could make a salad," Mari said, leaning against the counter next to Beckett.

"I can take care of that," Castle said. "And don't say no because you'll never get your crêpes done," he said firmly.

"Go ahead Dad," Julia told him with a smile. "Ranch?"

"I'll have it on the table," Castle replied before turning his attention to getting everything.

"How many are you making?" Beckett asked her daughter.

"Forty," Julia said. "Ten of each one."

"Julia-" Beckett started to say.

"I know it's a lot Mom, but I don't mind," Julia assured her.

"You need some help," Beckett said though she was holding up the cloche for her daughter as she'd finished her fourth crêpe.

"Maybe, maybe the dessert ones but I think I can do it," Julia said.

"Then you'll tell us, right?" Castle said from the island.

"I will," Julia said to him with a smile before she was starting the fifth one. She then focused her attention on making the rest and managed to do so since she and Eliza had gotten everything ready.

"Are you okay?" Castle asked as he was putting the dessert crêpes in the warming oven.

"Yeah, but that's super tiring," Julia replied. "I don't know how you do it."

"We have a lot of practice," Beckett said. "But it looks delicious sweetie," as she was setting the plate with the turkey crêpes on the table.

"It does," Mari told her friend.

"Thanks, I hope so!" Julia said before they were sitting down together at the table. She had a ham and spinach crêpe on her plate but waited to watch everyone taking their first bites before her friend was speaking first.

"It's really good," Mari said. "I love the cheese, you got it all melty."

"She's right," Castle said. "Very gooey."

Julia smiled when the others were telling her they were enjoying their crêpes before she started eating hers. She could see they were right, and she couldn't help feeling proud of herself. But she remembered something and thanked both her parents as they had taught her how to make crêpes.

"With results like this," Castle started to say as he was getting some salad on his fork. "You're welcome."

Julia couldn't help laughing softly with her friend and she was asking her parents what they were planning on doing before their party the next day. She tried not to eat too fast, though she couldn't help looking forward to eating the dessert crêpes.

"Take it easy," Beckett said as she was watching her daughter. "You're going to get sick. Also not be that hungry for the dessert you made." She saw Julia make a face and said, "I'm serious, but I won't stop you."

"I can have one of each right?" Julia asked.

"You can, I saw how small you made them," Beckett replied.

"I think that was the reason," Castle said.

"Yeah, that's why Jules made them so small," Eliza said. "So we could have more."

Mari was laughing and squeezing her friend's arm as Julia put her face in her hands. "She was gonna say," she told her.

"Yeah, but she can keep other secrets," Julia commented. "Tattle-tell," she told her little sister.

Watching the two playfully stick their tongues out at each other, Martha said, "I'm so glad you two actually get along."

"We like to tease Gram," Julia said.

"I can tell," Martha said. "And that you picked up from your parents."

"Phew," Castle commented jokingly. "I thought she was just going to blame me," he told his daughters, smiling when they laughed.

"I can wash some dishes Mom," Julia said as they were finishing and starting to clear the table.

"Go with your sisters to the family room," Castle said before his wife could respond to that. "And play there."

"What about dessert?" Eliza asked.

"We'll have that in a little," Beckett said. "Play with your sister."

"We will," Julia said before they were heading down the hall together. "What should we play?" she asked once they were in the room.

"We played with her tea before," Eliza said. "And then she was playing with her blocks."

"They're still out," Mari said.

"Why don't we play house!" Eliza said eagerly.

"House?" Julia asked in surprise as they had things to play with.

"Yeah, you're like Skye and Mary and I'm the nanny and Josa is your baby," Eliza said.

"Okay," Julia said after looking at her friend and seeing Mari shrug. She turned to Josie and said, "I don't think she wants to play."

Turning to their baby sister, Eliza frowned when she saw Josie was stacking blocks and said, "Will she stop?"

"Try but if she cries Mom will come running," Julia told her.

Breathing out roughly Eliza said, "Okay, then we'll just stack?"

"You can play with Josa," Julia said. "I'm gonna see what's on TV."

"Mommy and Daddy are gonna get mad," Eliza said to her sister.

Shaking her head, Julia said, "Just checking, I won't watch for that long."

"What are you going to check?" Mari asked.

"Travel Channel," Julia said. She went to the guide and said, "But leave it on Food Network since it's safe."

"Yeah," Mari said with a laugh. She saw her going to the Smithsonian Channel and said, "That one?"

"Yeah, they have Air Crash Investigation on right now," Julia said. She breathed out when she read the summary and said, "It's the one with Skye."

"From when she was a girl?" Mari asked. When her friend nodded, she realized something as she studied her face and grabbed her hand telling her, "Don't."

"I want to," Julia replied before going to the channel. She put the volume down and was relieved when Eliza was still playing with their baby sister at her hurried glance. Turning back to the TV she saw it was on Skye, making her smile though she could tell the episode had been filmed a while before. She listened to the investigator talking about the pilot and then heard footsteps down the hall. Hurriedly turning off the TV, she turned and saw it was her mother, setting the remote down. "Hey Mom, Josie-" she began.

"What were you doing?" Beckett asked. When her daughter shared a look with Mari, she told her, "I know you're doing something, you called your sister Josie."

"I went to the Smithsonian Channel," Julia admitted when she realized her mother was right. "It was the Air Crash Investigation about the crash Skye was on."

"And what did you see?" Beckett said simply, taking Julia's arm gently as she went to the couch.

"It was just Skye talking," she replied. "About the pilot of the flight so I didn't see anything bad. I couldn't see the whole episode when Lizzy and Josa aren't here?"

"I'll think about it," Beckett said firmly. "But for now you guys need to think of a game for when Josie is in bed."

"I wanted to play Clue," Eliza said.

"That's fine," Julia said when their mother looked at her. "I thought you were going to say UNO," she said to her sister before she smiled while the little girl was wrinkling her nose and replying to her.

"Maybe tomorrow," Eliza said with a smile.

"Maybe," Beckett said in amusement when the girls looked at her. "But remember-"

"It's Halloween!" Eliza gasped. She laughed when Josie jumped and squealed before she was walking fast to their mother. "Are you excited for candy?" she asked her baby sister, going to her on Beckett's lap.

"Wan," Josie said.

"Candy," Eliza said firmly as the rest of their family was coming inside.

"Can," Josie said.

"Dee," Eliza then told her.

"Gram!" Josie cried.

"I told you she'd say it!" Eliza exclaimed as she and Julia had been trying to get their sister to say that and grandpapa.

"That's a weird way to say candy," Castle said.

"Richard," Martha said though she was focusing on her youngest granddaughter, taking her from Beckett and hugging her tightly. "Thank you darling, I suppose you had more to say first. Now, if you can only say your grandfather's name."

"Josa," Julia said, going over to her. "Say Grandpapa."

"Gapa!" Josie said, reaching to Jim.

"I'll take it for now," Beckett's father said with a smile, going over to Martha. Taking Josie onto his hip he kissed her cheek and said, "It's a long word for someone so little still."

"Gapa candy," Josie said.

"Oh great, now she's going to bother us about it," Castle said jokingly.

"She has to," Eliza said. "She's a kid!"

Laughing, Castle hugged the little girl as she hurried over to him and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Okay," he said once they'd calmed down. "What're we playing?"

October 30th, 2021

Happy Halloween Eve Evangeline!

Today was Saturday, so there's a little more to write this time and Mari's here to spend the night so I'll get started.

Getting up this morning Eliza was in my room which was funny, usually she's asleep before I get up. Anyways, she was asking to make sure today wasn't Halloween and I told her it wasn't, she had to look at her calendar. But she was glad it wasn't yet since Mom and Dad weren't back. So got up, got ready and had breakfast, all the usual stuff though this time after breakfast I was looking at everything we had to cook with.

We left the house not that long after we had eaten and then went to the stables and Mom and Dad were there with Patrick and Trevor. It was so nice to get to see them again and really nice seeing them there at the stables. I went riding with Mom, Dad, Mari, her parents, 'lexis and Louis. The ride was a quicker one and then we went to the field where I got to gallop with Queenie! She loved it I could tell and so did Mom since she loves galloping like that. After all of us had galloped that wanted to Mom and Dad practiced playing polo against Mari's parents. I kept score and they won, Mom and Dad I mean.

The littler kids went on ponies after the 'game' and while they were doing that me and Mari snuck away. I wanted to see Queenie again and she went with me to do that too, luckily Mari loves horses as much as I do! Mom came over to us (I knew she would) and she eventually told me I was like her but made me promise I wouldn't threaten to get a tattoo, get a motorcycle or cut my hair so I'd make a mohawk with what was left. I promised since I wouldn't say the first, I like horses better and I like my hair longer to put it in braids and stuff like that. It was funny but I think Mom worries I'll do what she told me she did when she was a teenager, she says she rebelled against her parents. I wouldn't want to do that, though Mom warns me I might be frustrated with them. I guess that's why I'm writing this down to you Evangeline, so I'll read it and then remember.

"Julia?" Mari said.

"What?" she asked, turning to her friend from her desk.

"Think we'll have time to play the game again?" Mari asked.

"Are you finished?" Julia replied.

Shaking her head Mari said, "Not yet, but I should be close… I think." She smiled, not surprised when her friend started to laugh before she replied.

"I have a lot too still, so I guess we'll just have to see how much time we have before bed," Julia said. When her friend nodded with a sigh she smiled at Mari and then turned back to her diary to begin a new paragraph.

We went to lunch after the stables, my family, Mari's, the Davises and the Darnley-Nkosis at The Studebaker. We hadn't been in a while so it was really great, I got my favorite the Club sandwich and the sweet potato fries were delicious. After lunch we came home, and Mari and I came up here to my room. We were talking for a while before I told her about my Harry Potter fanfiction story, and we talked a lot about that. I've told her my ideas for each book, I'm changing them slightly (I should tell you Evangeline that way I can look to remember just in case). For the Sorcerer's Stone I'm having no puzzles and then just the Mirror of Erised in a room (I forgot about telling Mari about something with the mirror, I'll have to do it in a little bit). For Chamber of Secrets everything will be the same but it's Luna (I forgot to tell Mom and Dad I fixed it so she's the same year as Harry, Hermione and Neville and in Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw so Neville won't be alone) will be the person possessed by the diary and Neville will be with Harry for the confrontation with the Basilisk. In Prisoner of Azkaban I'll have Harry know about Sirius because of his godmother, but the Firebolt won't be from him, from her since he's already living with her and Wormtail will be around the castle, not a pet. Goblet of Fire I can't wait to write since there I'll have Harry and Hermione get together 'cause of the Yule Ball. And everything will go the same as the book until the end… well, I guess first is that Harry's friends will never doubt him about his name in the goblet. And at the end I won't let Cedric be killed, instead they'll get out before Voldemort is reborn and I need that so I don't have to use the stupid Horcruxes. Order of the Phoenix I won't have the prophecy, instead it's the search for the Elder Wand. That I'll have instead so it's something powerful enough to kill Voldemort. Half-Blood Prince I'll have that be an introduction of the ideas of lords and ladies in the wizarding world (some people don't like that but it's a story so I'll put it) and with that they'll find the wand and I'll have Voldemort, possessing Bellatrix Lestrange's body, killed by Harry with the Elder Wand. And the last year I'm so going to write Harry and Hermione as Head Boy and Girl, together and then them a little after graduating before I write an epilogue covering their kids. Wow… I didn't mean to write that much but I couldn't help it! I can't wait to get to write all that and just hope I can!

So back to what I was actually doing, I was talking with Mari about my Sorcerer's Stone story and Mom came in before she looked at the game I wanted to get on Big Fish. Since it wasn't a bad once she let me get it and Mari and I started playing it. It's interesting two people playing a game like that at once but that's okay, it was super fun and we got a lot of it done.

Eventually we went downstairs and there I started to make dinner, almost all on my own. Of course, Lizzy helped me with mise en place and Dad made a salad to go with the crêpes I made. They were savory crêpes, one kind with sliced ham, cheese and spinach and the others had sliced turkey, cheese and tomatoes. They were both very tasty and everyone loved them, including Mari who ate with us since she was here still. I also made two kinds of dessert crêpes we had a little bit after we started playing with Josa so she could taste them too. The first was chocolate with peanut butter which was so good, the second was raspberries and peaches with honey, really tasty too and I'm sooo proud of myself. I like being able to cook 'cause if I ever get married I can take care of them and any kids too. Well, not just my own family but any nieces or nephews I might have (yes I'm thinking of 'lexis and Louis having kids though I don't know when that is) and of course for my family now. We played after Josie went to sleep and until Eliza needed to get ready herself. Now I'm finishing this so I can talk with Mari and maybe have enough time to play our game again.

I gotta go Evangeline, I'll try and write tomorrow but it's Halloween so I might be too busy! Night!

Finishing her entry in a rush, Julia blew on the ink rapidly before she moved to put everything away, trying not to drop her bottle of ink. "Are you ready?" she asked Mari, turning to her.

"Yes, but did you see the time?" the girl replied.

"Oh," Julia said, noticing it herself. "Well… I did want to talk about something about my Harry Potter story."

"Are you going to say everything again?" Mari asked teasingly as her friend was joining her on top of the bed. She laughed when her friend began to tickle her and fell back before pushing Julia away playfully. When she stopped, she said, "Go ahead and tell me," as her friend was sitting up next to her.

"You're going to fall asleep," Julia told her teasingly.

"I won't, I want to hear," Mari said eagerly as she sat up. She was surprised when her friend looked hesitant for a moment before they turned to see that her parents were walking into the room, Julia's father speaking first.

"Oh no, are we interrupting B.F.F. time?" Castle said.

"No," Julia said, playfully rolling her eyes. She then said, "I was about to tell Mari more about my Harry Potter stories."

"Do you mind if we join you?" Beckett asked.

"You want to hear?" Julia replied with her own question.

"I do," Castle said, raising his hand.

"Okay," Julia said before waiting for them to sit with her and Mari though they were on the edge of her bed. Once they were settled, she said, "I realized I forgot to tell you that I'm going to have Luna be in the same year, I went back and fixed it. She's sorted into Hufflepuff instead that way Neville's not alone there. Plus, I can see her there."

"Actually I could too," Castle said. "You're thinking of that picture of the others she had in her room in book seven, aren't you?"

Nodding Julia said, "Plus she was really loyal to Harry, if there was no Hermione they would go together I think. But not in my story."

"Okay," Beckett said slightly laughingly. "So they're going to be together in your story?"

"Yeah, they'll get together after the Yule Ball too," Julia said.

"Then what else do you have?" Castle asked.

"I forgot to tell you," Julia directed to Mari. "In the first story since I have the Mirror of Erised I'm going to change what they see."

"They?" Mari asked in confusion.

"Well, I'm going to have Hermione there since Ron won't be there for Christmas," Julia answered. "So Harry I'll have him see his parents first of course, but him and Hermione running around together around them, best friends."

"Cool," Mari said with a smile. "And Hermione?"

"Harry with her at her house for her birthday; even though she's at Hogwarts after she's eleven," Julia said before she frowned.

"You could say she celebrated early with her parents before she left," Beckett told her.

"Oh yeah, good idea," Julia said, nodding her head. She then said, "So he'll be there and either they'll be playing a party game or he's giving her a gift."

"Are you showing too that she has a best friend?" Mari asked. When her friend nodded again, she told her, "Then you should have them playing a party game and everyone happy."

"Okay," Julia said with a smile, not seeing her parents exchanging a brief look. "Actually, that's it I really have for the book. It's super short so I don't really need that much."

"Hopefully you have enough though," Beckett said.

"I'm trying," Julia promised.

"You're sure about the wands?" Mari said.

Smiling at her friend Julia told her parents, "I changed them remember."

"I remember," Beckett said first with a smile. "Unless you changed them again."

"I did," Julia said. "For Harry I'll have him have a Spruce wand with phoenix feather since it says he's a bold spell-caster with a good sense of humor. Since he's with his godmother I wouldn't have him moody and everything."

"Sounds good to me," Castle said. "He'd need to be good at spell-casting. What about Hermione?"

"Pear, since it says it goes with people who're warm-hearted, generous and wise," Julia replied. "Neville will have English Oak since plants are mentioned in the description on the site and Luna Silver Lime."

"Good choices," Beckett said. She glanced at her watch before her daughter was speaking suddenly though she wasn't surprised by what she said.

"Don't say it's time to go to bed yet!" Julia exclaimed.

"I wasn't going to," Beckett said in amusement. "We have a little more time."

"Oh, then… mind if I ask about Christmas?" Julia said, looking apologetically at her friend.

Smiling, as Mari was sighing, Castle said, "Alright."

"Are we going to spend any time at all in the city?" Julia asked.

"We told you already, we're not sure yet," Beckett said. "We need to see what we do at the house and what the others will want to do too."

"See?" Julia said.

Rolling her eyes Mari said, "I know, I know, but I told you I don't blame you for us not being close to each other this Christmas."

"I still feel bad," Julia said with a sigh before she looked at her parents. "I don't know why but I really do."

"I think it's because we were in England last year," Beckett told her. "But we can't always spend time with everyone."

"Then next Christmas could stay here?" Julia asked.

"We might be able to," Castle said. "But we wouldn't really know yet for sure if that's what we'll do," he added.

"He's right let us wait and see," Beckett told her.

Julia nodded and said, "I'll hope we can."

"Me too," Mari said, smiling at her friend.

Smiling back, Julia turned to her parents and said, "About Spring Break this year…"

"You mean next year," Castle couldn't help saying.

Wrinkling her nose briefly Julia then said, "The next Spring Break. I'm not saying anything about that."

"No you aren't," Mari said. "Are you okay?"

Julia couldn't help laughing at that before she said, "I'm fine, but I know your parents want to go to Chicago for yours."

"I know, I'm excited," Mari said. "Hopefully you can go one day," she added.

"We will," Castle said. "Another place I want to take you guys to."

"Cool," Julia said. "You'll tell me all about that right?"

"I said I would," Mari replied. She then turned her attention to Beckett and said, "It's time now isn't it?"

"It is," Beckett replied in amusement.

Julia pouted her lips but only did that for a moment before she said, "I could see the time."

"Great, we'll get out of your way," Castle said jokingly before standing up. He watched Julia get off the bed, going to Macca and JoJo at the end of it to say goodnight to them.

"Okay, night Mom, Dad," Julia said once she had finished.

"Get on the bed," Beckett said in amusement.

Smiling at her mother, Julia waited for Mari to do that first before she followed and said, "I love you Dad," as he was sitting next to her first.

"I love you too," Castle said. "And I hope you'll sleep; we have a party tomorrow."

"And trick or treating," Julia said eagerly.

"I know, I can't wait to see your costumes," Castle told the two girls. He leaned down and shared a quick kiss with Julia before he said, "Goodnight girls, sweet dreams," before Mari was responding first.

"Night Rick, thanks for letting me stay," the girl said.

"You're welcome, but that was more up to Kate," Castle said with a smile before he hugged Julia quickly.

Stepping up to her daughter, Beckett embraced her and said, "We missed you sweetie. But yes, we enjoyed our time at the B&B."

Julia smiled and said, "I have to make sure."

Beckett couldn't help laughing softly before she said, "Thank you. And I love you Julia, sweet dreams."

"Love you too Mom," Julia said. After they'd shared a quick kiss she said, "I'm glad you're both back too."

Leaning down, Beckett pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead before saying, "Good night girls." She smiled when they said the same to her and after she'd gotten them tucked in, she got up before going to her husband, taking his hand. They didn't linger in the doorway, looking back at the two before he was closing the light.

When her parents had left, Julia turned onto her side and said, "Think we have time to talk?"

"Did your parents go to check on your sisters?" Mari replied.

"Probably," Julia said. "So I guess it's just goodnight?"

"Yeah, night," Mari said.

"Goodnight," Julia said with a smile before she closed her eyes.

"Kate?" Castle said, looking for his wife as he found the bedroom was empty.

"Here love," Beckett said, smiling at her husband when he stepped up to the doorway of the closet. "I'm just checking my outfit again."

"It's an outfit now?" Castle asked her with a smile.

"Now, yes," Beckett replied.

"Awesome," Castle said. He smiled when again when his wife laughed softly and then said, "Is it alright?"

"It is," Beckett said, setting her outfit back into her closet. "And your suit is fine," she said as she walked past him out into the bedroom.

"You checked it?" Castle asked while he followed her.

"I did," Beckett replied.

"Thanks," Castle said.

"You're welcome," Beckett replied before she was taking off her robe standing at her side of the bed. She got onto the mattress and watched her husband taking off his robe which led her to ask, "Were you watching me?"

"I was," Castle admitted easily.

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smirk.

"Of course I am," Castle replied. He set his robe on the table behind the bed with his wife's and climbed under the covers with her saying, "But at the moment it's just going to be with words."

"It usually is love," Beckett said, cupping his cheek with her hand. She leaned into him and they exchanged a kiss before she said, "I haven't asked you yet; is everything ready for tomorrow?"

"It is, the menu, decorations, games and party bags," Castle said.

Beckett was smiling, as her husband was counting that off on his fingers, and she said, "Prizes?" before he turned to her as he replied.

"You didn't let me finish," Castle said in mock annoyance. He smiled at his wife while she cupped his cheek before they leaned into one another and he kissed her deeply. When they stopped, he said, "But I hope we can get what we have to make finished."

"We planned that," Beckett reminded him.

"True," Castle replied. "But I'm wondering if you're sure about the guacamole."

"No, it's cute," Beckett said since he'd found a recipe to shape guacamole and chips into a Frankenstein head.

"Okay," Castle said with a nod. "And that's why I checked on cooking times," he added. "As long as you and Julia help me."

"And Alexis," Beckett told him.

"And Alexis too," Castle echoed. He then smiled and said, "There might be too many cooks in the kitchen."

"I don't think so," Beckett said in amusement. "And it's a big kitchen." She moved slightly as he was wrapping his arm around her waist and she said, "Rick?"

"Yeah?" Castle asked, shaking himself since he'd been gently running his fingers through her hair.

"You didn't want to make love tomorrow night, did you?" Beckett said.

Shaking his head, since he knew she hadn't really planned on doing it, Castle told her firmly, "No, we're waiting until we're in Tahiti. Why?"

"I was thinking of our outfits," Beckett said.

"I see," Castle said, as the realization hit him suddenly. "We've done that before though, and we did it several times in our past life. To be honest I enjoyed it, but I'm thinking of Tahiti and your birthday."

Beckett smiled, since her husband was so serious, and leaned into him for another kiss. After they'd parted, she said, "I would have agreed to it."

"But you would have missed the chance to wait that long," Castle told her.

"Why do you know me so well?" Beckett asked jokingly.

"After almost eight years married? Two years before that together?" Castle said in mock annoyance. He stared into her eyes before they started laughing at the same time and leaning against each other. "I was thinking of that," he told her when they had calmed down. "Ten years next May," he said as she looked up at him.

"I thought the same," Beckett replied. She smiled a little and said, "Though to be honest I've focused more on our anniversary."

Nodding, aware she meant their wedding, Castle told her, "Do you know what I think we should do?"

"What?" Beckett asked.

"Make love," Castle said. "Simple but… really it's not something I think we could do anything else for." He studied her and said, "Though I just thought of something," before she was finishing that for him as he was smiling.

"Go out for dinner, I had a feeling," Beckett said with a smile of her own.

"Not enough?" Castle asked, studying her.

"No it is," Beckett said quickly to reassure him. "I'm not sure what else we could do. And it would be more than we did our first night together." She smiled when her husband playfully made a face before she said, "Also I didn't mind."

"Of course," Castle said, since he could tell she was serious. He leaned over to her and kissed her again before saying, "Then we'll try for that."

"Okay," Beckett said in amusement. "So we're set?" she asked him.

"I think so," Castle said, gently cupping her face with his hand. He gently rubbed his thumb along her lower lip before he said, "What did you want to do in Tahiti, Kate?"

"Besides the obvious?" Beckett replied.

"Besides that," Castle said reaching to gently caress her hair.

"You want to plan that now?" Beckett asked.

"Not plan," Castle told her. "More discuss what we might do. We can decide later," he said.

"When we're there hopefully," Beckett said wryly. She laughed softly when her husband nodded immediately and she leaned against him before telling him, "To be honest what we always do. Swim, snorkel, paddleboard since we have that now." She studied her husband for a moment and then said, "Spend time at the beach and the lagoon."

"Yes," Castle began.

Beckett smiled and said, "I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"How else would I have known you were thinking about going there?" Castle asked.

"Pervert," Beckett said, leaning into him and kissing him deeply. She gently snaked her tongue out into his mouth before he was taking over and rubbing his tongue along hers. She could feel him wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her onto his lap. Though she didn't want to she carefully pulled away and told him, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yes," Castle said before leaning into her and kissing her again. He made it as passionate as he could, clutching at her tightly before she was making him stop. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked about Tahiti," he told her.

"Maybe not," Beckett said with a smile. She got off his lap as he reluctantly let her go and said, "When we're there we can do that for longer."

"A lot longer," Castle said. He watched his wife while she was fixing the covers back over her and asked, "No?"

"I'm agreeing with you," Beckett said with a smile. She made him lean down to her before they kissed each other lightly on the lips and told him, "But for now we should discuss our books."

Breathing out lightly Castle said, "Good way to bring the mood back to normal."

Shaking her head as she laughed briefly, Beckett said, "I had to do something. But what about Moor and Green?"

"We should have them talking with Berkeley," Castle said after he'd thought about that for a while. "And heading to the house to find their suspect. But…"

"Are you going to say having sex?" Beckett asked him.

Nodding quickly Castle said, "With the vic's girlfriend though. What if we had them just breaking up."

"But neither of them is the killer," Beckett stated. She couldn't help smiling when her husband immediately shook his head and told him, "Okay, but let's not be too graphic."

"And we're still having Green telling Moor she's pregnant at the end of the book, right?" Castle asked.

"That was what we planned," Beckett said with a nod.

"Great," Castle said. When they were both silent for a while, he looked around their bed and said, "So… chess?"

Beckett couldn't help laughing before she calmed herself down and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but we don't need to sleep right this second, right?" Castle replied, asking a question of his own at the end.

"No," Beckett replied before she glanced at her phone as it'd made its text alert sound. Checking the screen once she'd picked it up, she said, "Patrick said he'll come over as soon as they finish eating lunch."

"Great, that's all of them," Castle said, watching his wife responding to the message. "Are you eager at all for tomorrow?"

Raising her head at that, Beckett quickly realized what her husband was talking about and smiled saying, "Still feeling nostalgic?"

"Slightly," Castle said quickly.

"I can tell, and I am," Beckett said. "Patrick's first Halloween party with us. Him and his family."

"That's the only reason why?" Castle said in mock disappointment. He was startled when his wife didn't respond to that at first, instead set her phone down before she moved to sit on his lap. "Kate," he said simply though he was holding onto her tightly immediately when she was responding gently.

"It's alright," Beckett said gently, pressing her lips to the side of his head.

"Are you sure?" Castle asked her.

"Yes," Beckett replied with a smile. "And I do enjoy Halloween, don't worry."

"Well, I figured the best way to make sure you did was to stop pushing the sexy costumes," Castle said. He had been about to continue but stopped because his wife was laughing softly, and he kissed at her temple. "At least I'm assuming."

"Yes, that was the best thing you could have done," Beckett told him firmly. "I'm not going to wear those costumes love."

"Okay," Castle replied. "But if you want to push me into something…"

"Sexy nurse?" Beckett asked feigning surprise. She laughed again when her husband groaned and tilted his head back before she said, "Pass. You can wear what you want to Rick."

"But we're coordinating right?" Castle said immediately.

Smiling, Beckett nodded and said, "We will," before they were kissing one another gently. After they'd parted, she was leaning against her husband telling him, "It'll be nice to have a chance to wear that cape."

"And hat?" Castle asked.

"I'm surprised you want me in a hat," Beckett said in amusement as her husband was gently running his fingers through her hair again.

"It's what you wore before," Castle reminded her.

"I was very happy with that hat," Beckett said in remembrance. "And kept it for a while though eventually it was out of style."

"Yeah you didn't wear the outfit too far into the thirties," Castle said.

"That's because of the hemline," Beckett said. "The skirt was too short."

"And too loose," Castle added since he could recall the skirt. "Well, for that decade."

Nodding Beckett said, "That was your favorite part of the outfit."

"Are you going to call me pervert?" Castle asked her.

"No," Beckett replied as she leaned over and lightly brushed her lips to his. "Because I enjoyed that myself about it."

Castle laughed and then kissed her before he said, "Do you think we could use that once in a while?"

"Why do you think I'm keeping it?" Beckett said. She saw her husband's obvious hesitation before she told him, "We'll play with the outfits, I was thinking of doing that anyway."

"I love you Kate," Castle said seriously.

Beckett was laughing before she and her husband were kissing each other fervently for a while before they parted. She had to catch her breath before she gently nuzzled her lips to his and told him, "I love you too Rick."

"Not just for that," Castle told her.

"I know," Beckett said reassuringly. "And it's the same for me." Leaning against him again she watched him taking her hand and she smiled while he was gently entwining their fingers together. "We should go to sleep love."

"We should," Castle said. As she was pulling away a little, he asked, "Am I allowed to dream of you?"

"You are, and yes I'll remember that in Tahiti," Beckett said, smiling at him before she kissed him lightly. She moved to lay down though waited for her husband to do so first, pressing against his side.

"Promise to do the same?" Castle asked.

"It's a little presumptuous you know," Beckett told him teasingly.

"I'll take my chances," Castle replied.

Smiling, Beckett kissed her husband's shoulder before saying, "Night Rick."

"Night love," Castle said. They shared a gentle kiss before he watched her settling back against his side and pressed his lips to her forehead. They were quiet at that point, and he listened to her breathing before it became deep and even until he was closing his eyes himself. He was debating right before he fell asleep as to which he was looking forward to more, but decided it was the holiday the next day since they'd be spending it with their daughters while he held Beckett tightly to him.