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: Really happy getting the feedback for the last chapter that I did so I'll go ahead and start on my thank you for that! TORONTOSUN (Great to see you thought the last chapter was very good writing!).
Thanks for the review, I loved reading it as usual and appreciate the time taken to write it out and send it my way!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Pisces Fish written by George Harrison, from his album Brainwashed.
Shouting His Instructions
"Oh good, we made it," Julia breathed in relief as she and Mari were hurrying to the end of the short line at the cafeteria.
"Just barely," Mari said, looking back at the crowd of people who were approaching behind them.
"I think I'm going to get a cup of tomato soup too," Julia said.
"Oh, that sounds good," Mari said, looking at her money.
"Split it with me?" Julia asked her.
"You're sure?" Mari asked in surprise.
"Yeah, a cup is going to be a little too much for me with the potato, but I want the warmth," Julia said.
"Okay, we'll split the price," Mari said.
"Na-uh," Julia replied. "My treat." She wasn't surprised when her friend opened her mouth to speak and said, "I'm serious."
Frowning for a moment, Mari looked ahead of them before she said, "Then I'll buy a brownie for us to split."
"Sure," Julia replied. They continued through the line a short time later and were soon getting their trays. They both got a baked potato with ham and cheese on it before some bacon pieces and she grabbed a cup of tomato soup. She smiled as Mari picked out a wrapped brownie and they went to a free register to pay. Outside the line as they were getting ranch onto their potatoes she said, "We're going to be stuffed."
"We can go outside, right?" Mari asked.
"I hope so," Julia replied, glancing to the windows. It wasn't snowing, but she wasn't sure exactly how the temperature was, deciding to wait until they were finished eating to worry about it. As they were walking to the tables once they finished, she wasn't surprised to find she and Mari were the first there and they picked a table where they could sit on the end nearest the windows.
"Should we wait for the others?" Mari asked, looking down at her potato and feeling her stomach grumble in her hunger.
"There's Peter and Tristan," Julia said, waving so the two would see them. "We can start with splitting the soup."
"Are you pouring that?" Tristan asked with a smile as he and Peter were sitting next to them at the table.
"I was going to, but maybe I should just scoop it with my spoon," Julia said.
"Hey Peter," Tristan then said as the girl was doing that. "Eve's here."
"Whew, I'm glad she made it," Peter breathed.
"Who's that girl?" Mari asked.
Turning around, Julia smiled when she saw the familiar face and said, "That's Chloe."
"She's right, Eve's best friend," Peter said.
"Does she like you?" Clive asked.
Smiling at his brother while he was sitting with them, Peter nodded and said, "Luckily," before Julia was frowning. He was going to ask her what was wrong when she was speaking hurriedly to them all.
"Who's the man behind her?" Julia asked. When no one said anything, she looked at the others and said, "What?"
"What're you talking about?" Tristan asked with a slight frown.
"Julia!" Mari whispered, taking her arm. "It got cold!"
"Shh," Julia said though her friend was whispering. "I just realized."
"What?" Peter asked his partner in concern.
Since the two girls were walking up to them, Julia shook her head before she smiled at them and greeted them with the others. "Looks like we all got a potato," she said quickly since she didn't want her friends mentioning what had happened.
"I know, it's great weather for it," Eve said as she sat on the other side of her boyfriend. "Everybody, this is my friend Chloe. Chloe this is Peter, you know him already. Then there's Julia, Mari, Peter's brother Clive and Tristan. Oh, there are Dawn, Ava and Natalie."
"That's a lot of people," Chloe said, smiling at everyone. "But nice to meet you, I've heard about you three. I saw you on TV too." She then looked at her friend who urged her to continue and said, "I've read your books."
"Oh… I'm glad to hear that. I hope you liked them," Julia said, trying not to blush.
"I did, they were great," Chloe replied. When her friend nudged her, she then said, "Um… would you sign my copy of your newest one?"
"Sure," Julia said, smiling then so the girl wouldn't be embarrassed. She waited for her to hand her the tome and took the pen Chloe had. Signing it rapidly she said, "If you're wondering there'll be another one in the fall."
"That's a long time," Chloe said. "But you have a lot of stuff going on."
"A little," Julia said. "Like all of us do," she added before she was startled when Dawn and Natalie were playfully protesting at the same time.
"You four have a lot." "You have dancing you know," they said in turn.
"That's true… but at least my parents help me," Julia said.
"Not for this one," Mari said firmly as she nodded to the book Chloe was putting away in her bag.
About to speak, Julia paused and then said, "Well… I guess but they did read it over and fixed it."
When Mari snorted, Chloe smiled and asked, "They didn't do that much?"
"No, it should be just Julia's name on there," Mari said firmly.
"Okay, so how's your potato?" Julia asked. She blushed when the others teased her about changing the subject before she said, "It's embarrassing to talk about me."
"You're so much like your mom," Clive said.
"You've met her?" Chloe asked.
"Her parents just let her start reading your parents books," Eve told Julia.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just read their first Moor and Green book; I loved that one," Chloe said.
"I'm glad to hear that too," Julia said.
"Have you read their books?" Chloe asked.
Before she answered, Julia looked at the others around the table to see if they minded the conversation at all. But no one said anything, so she turned back to Chloe and said, "Not yet, they won't let me read them until I'm fifteen at least. So you're lucky you got the chance to now."
"You'll like them," Chloe said. "I just started on their twenties story though," she then said, startled when Mari was responding to that first.
"I've wanted to read that one so badly, how is it?" the girl asked.
"Good, I'm only a couple chapters in," Chloe said. "But yeah, so far it's great."
After they'd been eating for a while, Julia was relieved they moved on to another subject. She finished her food before Mari was getting her attention and she said, "Could we wait? I'm stuffed."
"I was going to say," the girl said with a smile. Mari then watched as the others were starting to gather their things and said, "Think we can still walk outside?"
"I see others heading to the playground," Clive said, looking outside.
"You guys are going to play?" Chloe asked.
"Basketball?" Tristan asked Clive. When he nodded, he turned to the girl and said, "We're going to play basketball."
"We're going to walk," Julia said.
"I'm not surprised," Chloe said with a smile while they were leaving the cafeteria after returning their trays. "Eve told me she'd be doing that with Peter."
"We do too," Mari said. "If you'd want to walk with us," she added, not surprised Julia squeezed her hand firmly.
"That would be nice," Chloe replied. She followed the two girls while they were going after Eve and Peter, and they paused at the start of the field to let the pair go first. She was going to ask what the two usually did on those walks when Julia was commenting suddenly about them.
"We were supposed to give Peter advice," the girl said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Mari said laughingly.
"Advice about Eve?" Chloe asked slowly.
Shaking her head Julia explained the couple's date for Valentine's Day and their plans. "I was going to bring it up, but I forgot about it," she finished. "I suggested the family fun place but…"
"They've gone there a lot," Chloe replied. She smiled a little and said, "Eve told me she's frustrated they're so limited, but I think she'd want to go to the center." She laughed out loud at the looks the two girls gave her and explained to them, "She explained to me they can spend longer together going through everything there."
"Too bad it's not actually everything right now," Mari commented.
"I know, they'd have fun with the bumper boats and rides outside," Julia said. When Chloe nodded in agreement, she wanted to speak about the man she'd seen at lunch but held back before they finished their first lap. "Chloe," she finally said, glancing at Mari who was turning to her rapidly.
"Yeah?" the girl asked in surprise at Julia's tone of voice.
"Do you know a guy who… has really light blonde hair, it's short but a part of it goes over his forehead," Julia said, speaking faster since she was relieved to hopefully get an answer to the spirit appearing to her. "He usually wears it loose, but it's slicked back and messy," she wasn't sure why she'd said that but couldn't really control what she was saying. "He has really light brown eyes and full lips… his ears stick out a little but they're smaller than you think they would be because of that." She was nearly panting when she finished because she was speaking so rapidly, looking at Chloe a little worriedly when the girl looked almost anguished before she seemed to shake herself and spoke.
"It… it kind of sounds like you're describing my cousin, Matthias," Chloe said. "How could you have seen him?"
Julia winced and then said, "Did Eve ever tell you that I can see… spirits?"
"He's dead!" Chloe screamed, making Eve and Peter turn around before they hurried back to them.
"What did you do?" Eve asked, wrapping her arms around her best friend as she had begun crying.
Not surprised her tone was slightly accusatory, Julia explained what had happened since she'd seen the two walking to their table. "I thought… she already knew that he was dead," she finished with while Chloe was recovering. "I'm sorry," she told the girl earnestly.
Shaking her head, Chloe finished drying her cheeks before she said, "It's okay, I know you didn't mean to just tell me. To be honest I'm not surprised you're telling me and not my parents." She saw the others were sharing glances, she said, "He's my second cousin really, my mom's cousin their mothers are sisters. I wonder if she knows he's dead… Matthias is an actor and he's been busy touring, but he was just touring this summer so…"
"She hasn't kept in touch with him?" Julia said.
Shaking her head Chloe said, "Not at all, never mind she helped him act in plays when he was kid. But my mom and Matthias weren't that close, she's a lot older than he is. But I knew him, and he was always nice to me… acting for me and making me laugh."
"He was smiling when I saw him," Julia murmured. She then looked to her left and was relieved she hadn't mentioned how blue the man's obviously pale skin was. "He…" she started to say before she trailed off and turned to face Matthias' spirit head on, unaware Chloe was watching her with wide eyes and soon after speaking in a whisper to the others.
"What's wrong with her?" Chloe said.
"She's talking to your cousin," Mari said firmly. She then sighed and said, "I get the feeling; if he's here; that he might want her to help him move on." Something came to her, and she asked, "When was the last time you heard from him."
"August," Julia said, making the four turn to her. She smiled a little and then said, "I need to sit."
Watching Mari and Peter rush to the girl, Chloe's eyes went wide when Julia's legs seem to fold in on themselves, so she was on the grass. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I will be," Julia said. "And I need my phone." She tugged on Mari's arm, so she was leaning into her and then whispered into her ear, "He was murdered."
"Oh," Mari said, glancing over at Chloe. "Are you going to tell her?" she whispered back to her.
Nodding, Julia was texting her mother before she put her phone away and said, "I… I hate to tell you this but-" when Chloe herself was interrupting her to her surprise.
"He wasn't killed… was he?" she asked. When Julia nodded slightly Chloe let out a sob before she turned away from the others.
"Are you okay?" Mari asked Julia.
"Yeah, let me stand," she replied. Julia wasn't surprised when Mari held her arm while she did that and she turned to Chloe. "I'm so sorry."
Turning around, the girl said, "He didn't suffer, did he?"
"He doesn't remember," Julia replied softly. "He said he was starting the show he was performing and then he was… where he is right now."
"Can you help find who did it?" Chloe asked.
"He said he's seen my parents where he was," Julia replied. "So they're probably working on the case."
"Then can he give you any clues?" Chloe said.
Turning to glance to her left, Julia smiled briefly when Mari squeezed her arm, and then said, "Like he told me, he doesn't remember that much."
"Why did he come here?" Eve asked. "Can't your mom…?"
"No, she wouldn't be able to see him," Julia began. "Or speak to him. So he needed to come to me." She looked back to the spirit and then said to her friends, "He went to Skye, but he realized she wasn't in New York."
"Should you text her?" Mari asked her friend.
Shaking her head Julia watched as Matthias suddenly disappeared and she told her friends that before she said, "I need to text my parents." She was startled when Chloe suddenly hugged her briefly and said, "Why-"
"For telling me," Chloe replied. "You didn't have to; I could have not believed you. Or made fun of you."
"She heard about what you can do," Eve said.
"I saw those two episodes of Ghost Adventures you were on," Chloe added in a rush. She was about to speak again but hesitated before Mari was speaking to her almost sharply.
"She really can see spirits," the girl said.
"I believe her, don't worry," Chloe assured Mari. She then said, "What-" before Julia's phone made its text alert sound.
"Mom just said we'd talk back at home," Julia said. "And that's that," she told the others. Seeing the surprise on Chloe's face she told the girl, "Mom and Dad won't talk to me about it until later; since I'm at school."
"They're at lunch right now, aren't they?" Peter asked her.
"Probably," Julia said with a nod. "It depends on the case." She slipped her phone into her pocket and said, "Let's keep going, we're going to waste the rest of the time left for lunch." She watched Eve start talking to Chloe, so she was walking with her best friend and Peter before she turned to Mari.
"I'm not going to ask," the girl said quickly. "I'm just making sure you're okay."
"Come on," Julia said, slipping her arm through her friend's. As they were continuing to walk laps around the field behind the other three, she wondered if the spirit would return. But there was no sign of Matthias and though she had wanted to talk with him again she was grateful he was giving her time to spend with her friend before the bell rang.
"Another spirit?" Darnley asked.
"Yeah," Beckett said, looking at her husband.
"Once we're back home we'll talk to her," Castle said reassuringly, knowing what she was thinking and not surprised she was bringing it up when he stopped speaking.
"I don't want her to have to go through that," Beckett said firmly.
"Go through what?" Darnley asked as they got out of the car at the restaurant.
"Helping the spirit of the vic pass on," Castle said quickly. He then turned his attention back to his wife and told her reassuringly, "We'll talk with her about that. You need to talk to Skye too."
Breathing out briefly as he squeezed her hand gently, Beckett said, "Okay, but I still don't want her to go through the process."
"We'll see what happens," Castle said. When his wife nodded, he squeezed her hand a second time and they turned to a car that was driving up to the parking lot before turning in. "I almost thought they were going to come together," he said in amusement, spotting his father in law's car behind Nkosi's.
"I'm not surprised," Darnley commented. "Hold on you two," he said with a laugh since he could tell Maddy was trying to open the door. He hurried over to it and opened it for her before helping her out. "I'm guessing it was a fun ride?" he asked his husband while he was getting out of the car.
"Very, when they found out we were going out to lunch and Josie would be here," Nkosi started to say, walking around to Keo. "They were very excited."
"Hopefully they'll eat lunch," Darnley said before looking across the car at Castle and Beckett while they were greeting Josie.
"Mama miss," the baby said, putting her hands on her mother's face.
"I missed you too sweetie. But I hope you had fun with your grandpapa," Beckett told her with a smile.
"Eh," Josie said, laughing after.
"She's been fine," Jim said. "She was sad when Martha left, but we played with the dogs and she was distracted."
"Good, hopefully she'll be okay after lunch," Castle commented. He turned to the Darnleys and said, "Are they hungry?"
"Very, we better go inside," Darnley said before his daughter was going over to Beckett and speaking to her eagerly.
"I told Josie we were gonna go to Germany," Maddy began with. "And she said eh so that means she wants to eat here huh?"
"I think it does," Beckett said in amusement. "But we'll see once we have our food if she likes it." They were stepping inside the entrance of the restaurant, which had been built to look like a beer hall in Germany, and she watched Maddy as she was pointing out the decorations to Josie. She kissed the baby's temple since Josie was looking around at what Maddy was pointing to.
When they were seated at their table, Castle said to his wife, "I'm glad we came at this time," since there weren't many people.
"I know, but we need to bring the girls," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband squeezed her hand and she told him, "Alexis and Louis too."
"Next week," Castle commented.
Beckett laughed softly and said, "We'll see." She was surprised when he raised her hand, kissing the back of it, and they turned their attention back to the others before their waiter took their drink order. The restaurant had a buffet lunch that day, so she and Castle went together since he'd offered to get her food for her. "You're angling for something," she told him.
"Oh no," Castle said, pretending to be hurrying to get their plates from the stack. "Just trying to help you since Josie isn't going to let you go," he continued before the baby was speaking to her mother.
"Mama down," Josie told her.
"Hold onto my hand," Beckett said when she was putting the baby down. She was relieved Josie immediately held her hand and turned her attention to her husband. "I can use one hand," she teased him.
"Yes, but why risk spilling something?" Castle asked. He glanced down at Josie and said, "Or drop something onto her head."
"Now you make me sound like a klutz," Beckett said laughingly while she playfully pushed his shoulder.
Smiling at her, Castle started to get the food at her direction, adding to his own plate when he wanted. "These plates are full," he said to Josie when he had finished, and they were going back to their table.
"My plate Dada," Josie said.
"You're sharing with your mom," Castle assured her. He set Beckett's plate down and was about to go to his place when she was squeezing his hand. Glancing at her, he was relieved to see her smile as he'd been worried she would be concerned for Julia. He squeezed her hand and then sat down before they began to eat, helping her in getting food onto a smaller plate for Josie.
"Does she like it?" Maddy asked eventually.
"She does," Beckett said with a smile. She then turned back to the baby and saw her mouth was messy after she had just cleaned it. "Sweetie," she said in amusement, gently cleaning her mouth. She leaned over and kissed her temple before she said, "You have to eat, not play."
"Play Mama," Josie said.
"Here," Beckett said, having her pick up the fork so she would eat the piece of knackwurst she'd cut for her. Once she was sure she was eating, she turned to her father who'd touched her arm before he was asking her about the case.
"Are you going back after this?" Jim said.
"We have to," Beckett replied. "We don't really have that much right now." She smiled and said, "Are you that worried about Josie?"
"Slightly," Jim replied. "Since she needs to take a nap."
"You'll be fine Dad," Beckett said, gently squeezing his arm. "We'll talk to her before we leave."
"Daddy, Daddy," Keo said. "Dessert, let's have dessert!"
"I don't think so," Darnley said. "Sorry," he added as the boy looked disappointed. "We might have something after dinner; your grandmother said she'd be baking."
"Can I help?" Maddy asked.
"We'll see what she's making when we go home," Nkosi assured her.
"Mama, want play," Josie said.
"You need to take a nap sweetie," Beckett said.
"No Mama," Josie said before she was eating more.
"I'll play with her afterwards," Jim said in amusement.
"Why don't you come over with Maddy and Keo?" Castle asked.
"For a half hour?" Nkosi asked.
"You should head to the dance class too; they'll enjoy seeing Julia and Eliza," Beckett told the two men.
"You think we'd make it?" Darnley asked.
"We might not, but they can," Beckett said.
"She's right," Castle commented. "Just to watch." He thought Nkosi would respond first when Maddy was speaking eagerly to her fathers.
"Can we go?" the little girl asked.
"Let's wait and see once it's time for the class," Nkosi said. "Are you going to drive there?" he said to Jim.
"If it were warmer, I'd walk with Josie," Beckett's father replied. "So you'll meet us there?"
"We might end up following you," Nkosi said laughingly. "I don't think we can say no to them," he told his husband.
"I realized that," Darnley replied in amusement. He looked at his watch and said, "Well… we're finished, and we still have a lot of time left until Brad's on his way back."
"You guys didn't want seconds?" Beckett asked them.
"I'm good," Darnley commented. He was about to finish his glass of water before he paused and laughed shortly before telling everyone, "I don't believe it."
Beckett was startled, turning quickly before her eyes widened and she got up rapidly to head to the entry of the restaurant.
