"Rick," Beckett said with a soft laugh as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Why?"
"Do I really need a reason for this?" Castle asked.
"No," Beckett said. "But there isn't much we can do."
"No, but this is enough," Castle said before he froze.
"Is that your phone?" Beckett asked, hearing the ring tone.
"It is," Castle said. When he had it out of his pocket he said, "It's Skye."
Though she wanted to tell him to answer because it was his phone, Beckett knew there was a reason he was giving it to her and she took it before answering. "Hello?" she said.
"Kate, oh thank god," the investigator said in relief.
"What happened?" Beckett asked at her friend's tone.
"Nothing," Skye replied. "I've been trying to call you, but you never answered your phone. Are you on speaker?"
"No, hold on," Beckett answered before she was quickly pressing the button for it. "Rick's here."
"Hey, what's wrong?" Castle said.
"There's someone here you need to talk to," Skye said simply.
"Kate, Rick," a voice said then.
"Patrick? You're in LA?" Beckett asked, startled.
"He isn't," Nkosi said.
"On Mother's Day?" Castle said in surprise.
"We left Friday afternoon," Mary said.
"You're all… what is going on?" Beckett said.
"We need your help," Skye said.
"She's right," Darnley added. "I have a case and Trev and Skye have an investigation and we think they're connected but our superiors aren't really buying it."
"And you think we could help," Castle stated instead of asking.
"Yes," Skye and Darnley said at the same time and seriously.
"I can get you tickets for tomorrow morning, not that early but to get here at least by nine, nine-thirty," Skye replied. "But it's up to you guys."
"We'll come," Beckett said after she'd looked at her husband and saw he was nodding at her. "And we'll stay at the Mandarin again."
"Great, we are too," Skye said. "We'll be there to pick you up; I'll e-mail you the tickets. And we promise to give you more information; we're just spending the afternoon off."
"Thank you," Beckett said.
"Thank you," Darnley said firmly. "I hate that you're going to have to leave your kids too."
"They might not mind if it's a case," Castle said.
"Speaking of the kids we need to talk to them about this," Beckett said. "But we'll see you tomorrow."
"Even though it's for a case, I can't wait," Darnley told his friend.
"I know," Beckett said before she and Castle were saying goodbye to them. "I feel a little guilty already."
"I do too," Castle said. "But something is telling me they'll see it as a trip for us too."
Smiling slightly, as she easily remembered talking with Julia about that while they'd been in Mill Valley, Beckett said, "Let's see if you're right."
Castle took his wife's hand before they were heading down to the sand where the rest of their family was and said, "Girls, come here. You too Louis; sorry."
"It's not a problem," the young man said. Louis then realized that his fiancée's parents looked a little serious and asked, "What's the craic?"
"We just got a call from Skye," Beckett said, looking at her husband.
"And Mary, Patrick and Trevor," Castle finished. "Skye and Mary are in DC; Skye has an investigation." He turned to his wife and said, "She never mentioned what Mary was there for."
Shaking her head Beckett said, "It's still May."
"Right," Castle said, recalling the anniversary of the crash Skye had lost her father in. "Well, Darnley has a case himself and he wants our help."
"Did he say why?" Julia asked in surprise.
"We don't know, he's going to tell us tomorrow," Beckett said.
"So we're going to go," Castle said. "If we have permission from all of you."
"I don't think you need it," Martha said before Jim was touching her arm. She glanced at him before looking at their children and seeing the two were facing their three oldest daughters.
"Yeah that's fine," Julia said, Eliza squeezing her hand to let her know she should talk. "You're going to help Patrick out and also you get to go on a kind of trip on your own."
"Do we need to move in while you're gone?" Alexis asked her parents with a smile when their attention turned to her.
"I'm staying," Martha said as her son and daughter in law looked at her.
"Still, could you stay and help them?" Castle asked his daughter.
"Rich-" Martha began to say.
"It's not that we don't think you can't handle the three of them," Beckett told her mother in law, squeezing her arm gently to stop her. "We'd like them to be here too to distract the girls." She looked at her middle daughters, waiting for them to say something in protest but they were just looking at their big sister.
"We'll stay, but we need to get our things after dinner to move in," Alexis replied.
"How long do you think you need to stay?" Jim asked.
"I really have no idea," Beckett said, her husband looking at her. "But we'll call you and come home as soon as possible."
"Good," Eliza said, going to her mother and hugging her tightly.
Watching her little sister, Julia smiled before she turned to their parents and was about to speak when her father was talking first and surprising her with his question.
"You're thinking of San Francisco, aren't you?" Castle said to her.
Shaking her head Julia was about to answer him when she saw the doubtful look on his face. She smiled and said, "Okay, I am but first I'm wondering about when you're in DC."
"If we can go anywhere to sightsee?" Beckett asked. She smiled when Julia nodded and said, "I'm not sure," as she looked at her husband.
"I don't know either," Castle told them. "To be honest it depends on the case." He glanced at his wife and then told their daughters, "And I think your mom would want to spend as much time with Patrick as possible."
"There is the trip in summer," Beckett started to say. She smiled when her daughters were looking at her unbelievingly and she said, "I do want to spend time with him, but we want to come back as soon as possible."
"She's right, we will," Castle said. "And that reminds me, let me call the hotel."
"You don't have to get the same suite," Beckett called to him before he was waving over his shoulder as he was getting closer to the house.
"He will," Alexis said.
"I realize, but I had to let him know it'd be okay if he couldn't," Beckett said before turning to the girls.
"What about San Francisco?" Julia asked.
"We need to wait for him," Jim said.
"Yeah, I knew that but can we talk about it when he comes back to us?" Julia said.
"Let's save it for dinner," Beckett replied with a smile, laughing as she was checking her watch since her daughter was groaning. "What about dinner by the way?"
"Richard didn't mention anything to me," Martha said, shaking her head.
"I thought he was going to cook," Louis commented.
"Did he tell you girls anything?" Beckett asked her daughters.
"No, he said it was going to be a surprise," Julia said before sharing a look with her big sister.
"Don't worry, I'm very sure I know what he'll be ordering," Beckett said with a smile as she was watching them. "It's Dim Sum."
"Do you mind?" Julia asked her, watching Eliza taking their mother's hand and leaning against her.
"Of course not," Beckett said. "But go ahead and keep playing you two," she told the girls. "We don't have that much time until we need to eat."
Going to his daughter Jim said, "It's alright?"
"It is," Beckett replied. "Were you thinking we should go out?"
"The girls were talking about that," Jim explained. "They thought Richard should take you."
"They'll tell him to do that now in DC," Beckett said with a slight smile. She sighed and said, "We didn't really want to go."
"I can tell, but the girls do seem to be alright with it," Jim pointed out to her.
"Luckily you and Martha are staying," Beckett told him.
"If I can I'll move in sooner," Castle's mother suddenly said. Martha smiled when her daughter in law and Jim looked at her and said, "It depends on the woman I'll be talking to next week."
"Who is she?" Beckett asked.
"You wouldn't know her; Richard either," Martha said. "She was with me in acting school when we were starting out and we were friends though we lost touch when we left. It was a shame; she was a wonderful friend; but she was a great actress and if she still is today she'll have the job."
Nodding, knowing her mother in law wanted the school to have the same method she herself had learned with, Beckett said, "Hopefully she will."
"I'm still flattered you don't mind," Martha told her as Jim was going down to Eliza who was calling to him to look at a shell she'd found.
Beckett merely smiled, as she was thinking of how she wanted to word that, before she finally said, "My mother would have loved being in laws with you; I've told you."
"You have," Martha said.
"She dated an actor before she met Dad," Beckett said, looking down at the water.
"What?" Martha said, touching her arm.
"I didn't want to tell you, because Dad told me the name of his school and it was the same you'd gone to," Beckett replied.
"Tell me he didn't mistreat her," Martha said.
"No, but he was self-centered," Beckett explained. "And it nearly killed Mom's self-confidence. But the relationship wasn't that long, and she met Dad and… he worshiped her while they dated."
"Hmm, I wouldn't know the man luckily," Martha said. "How much older was he than your mother?"
"Four years," Beckett said. "So my grandparents were happy about Dad being only three weeks older than Mom."
"I would agree," Martha said. She then looked at her daughter in law and said, "Kate, please."
"What's wrong?" Beckett asked in surprise.
Shaking her head Martha waited for her to take Josie and then told her, "You looked like you needed her kiddo."
"Thank you," Beckett said, holding the baby a little tighter. She kissed her temple before she felt her mother in law gently embracing her. She did the same back with her free arm and said when they let go of each other, "I'd say it again, but I don't want to repeat myself."
"You're welcome," Martha said. "Now, my son seems to be taking a little too long. Would you find out what he's doing? We do need to know when dinner will be here."
"We'll be right back," Beckett said, unable to help smiling at her mother in law's less than subtle hint. She started to walk up to the house and gently bounced the baby as she watched her. "What're you thinking sweetie?" she said to the baby before Josie was staring at her. "Do you want to talk?"
"Ab-am…" the baby said before she seemed to look frustrated.
"You'll get there soon, don't worry," Beckett reassured her, standing on the patio by then. She hugged her tightly and murmured against her temple, "I love you so much sweetie." She smiled, feeling Josie's arm around her neck before she turned her attention to the door to walk inside. As soon as they'd stepped in, she could smell freshly made food and smiling at the baby told her, "I think we have dinner sweetie." She laughed softly when Josie made a sound of exclamation before she was walking around to the hallway down to the kitchen. She could see her husband was standing at the island, looking at something flat there. She was about to call to him to let him know they were there when he was looking up in slight surprise before he smiled and hurried up to them as he told her what he'd been doing.
"I managed to get the hotel suite love," Castle told her. "We can check in tomorrow once we get there."
"In the morning or at three?" Beckett replied.
"At three, I just hope we'll have a place for our luggage until we go," Castle said.
"We'll figure something out," Beckett said. "And I forgot we need to pack," she said in exasperation.
Looking at her, Castle recalled they'd had plans for that night, and he wanted to bring it up before she was nodding to the trays on the island.
"I see you have dinner," Beckett said with a smile.
"You're not surprised?" Castle asked. When his wife shook her head he leaned over, kissing her lightly on the lips. "I thought you love it, Mother does like Dim Sum so why not?"
Beckett was smiling again and told him, "And luckily everyone else likes it." When he nodded his head rapidly, she leaned over to him before they were kissing and lingering before they heard the door down the hall opening. Parting from him she said in Irish quickly, "We need to talk about tonight later."
"I was going to bring it up," Castle said in a rush before they were turning their attention to the others. "Are you finished outside?"
"No, but Gram and Grandpapa said we should come in for dinner," Julia replied.
"It is time," Beckett said, checking her watch. "Come and set the table girls," she told them. She went to Julia's highchair as the girls were washing their hands at the kitchen sink and set the baby there. She took the Tigger and albino alligator stuffed dolls her husband was giving her and turned to him. "Rick," she said simply with the way he was staring at her.
"Yeah, would you like some wine?" Castle asked her after he'd shaken himself.
"Yes, some rose wine," Beckett replied, watching him going to their wine cooler fridge. She shook herself and walked to the kitchen where Julia was getting the dishes as Eliza took a few in her arms.
"Are we using chopsticks?" Julia asked her mother.
"We are," Beckett said. "But wait until you get the napkins over there."
"We will, I was just wondering," Julia said, taking the rest of the plates to the island.
"What's Josa going to eat?" Eliza asked her mother as they were putting the napkins down next.
"I'll give her a bao and she'll have some veggies too," Beckett explained, setting down the glasses.
"Mommy!" Eliza said, making her mother jump.
"What?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"You're not supposed to do that," Eliza said firmly, taking the glass she was holding.
"Since it's Mother's Day," Julia said with a smile as she went to the table and grabbed the last glass. She got some chopsticks too and hurried to the table before it was fully set.
"Wait," Castle said as the others were walking to the island to start getting their food.
"What-" Martha started to say.
"The last touch for the table," Castle called before he was leaving his and Beckett's office. He was carrying two vases and then set them down saying, "For the mothers."
"They're beautiful," Martha said with a smile as they were white tulips though she knew the vase meant for her was the deep red one.
"She's right, it was a great choice love," Beckett told her husband, touching a tulip in the cerulean blue vase. "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you Richard," Martha said. "They do complete the table."
"You're welcome," Castle said with a brief laugh before he was going to the island with them.
When they'd all gotten their food, the family sat down together before Alexis was saying, "We got our first RSVP yesterday; we forgot to tell you."
"Good, I put the right amount of postage," Castle said, since he'd insisted the couple send them an invitation so they'd have it as a memento.
"Yes, thank you Dad," Alexis said in amusement. "We're expecting to get more tomorrow."
"You likely will," Beckett said before she glanced at Julia. She was about to tell her husband what their second oldest had said while they'd been outside when the girl spoke before that in a rush.
"Whenarewegoingtotalkabout San Francisco?" Julia was saying.
"I'm guessing our schedule for the trip?" Castle asked his wife.
"Yes, she was wondering about it outside," Beckett said, fighting her laughter.
"I wanted to make sure we talked about it," Julia said, smiling at her parents.
"Well… does anyone else mind?" Castle said as he was getting some of his lo mein with his chopstick.
"No, with her talking about it I feel like I want to know as well," Martha said.
"What about you?" Castle said to Eliza.
"I wanna know," the little girl replied eagerly.
"Are we the only ones deciding?" Jim asked.
"We did talk about it with the McDouglases and Fosters," Beckett began after she cleaned Josie's chin, the baby having gotten the sauce from inside her bao there. "And they had suggestions; especially Skye and Mary; but they left everything to us for certain."
"Why would they do that?" Alexis asked in surprise.
"Because they're our guests," Castle said. He shrugged when his oldest's brow furrowed and said, "That's what they said. I get the feeling it's because we got to go back there first. At least in Skye and Mary's case; their reasoning."
"Rebecca and David might remember stuff," Julia said softly.
Smiling at her Beckett said, "We know they're getting flashes themselves; it might take them a little bit to recall things. Mari too."
"Mari remembered when my plane crashed," Julia said. "Seeing me in the hospital. Oh, and us meeting at our boarding house too. But just the parts where we see each other, she can't remember on her own yet. She wants to remember though."
"She will," Martha said. She smiled when the others looked at her and said, "It's what happened when I was in San Francisco as well."
"Oh… I'm sorry Gram," Julia said.
Shaking her head Martha said, "I was a different person of course. But I enjoy hearing your memories after the earthquake greatly."
"Julia," Beckett said as her middle daughters were nodding to what their grandmother had said.
"What?" Julia asked in surprise.
"You forgot what we were talking about in the first place," Beckett reminded her.
Opening her mouth, Julia paused and then said, "That's okay… we're going to talk about it now right?"
Castle laughed with the others before he said, "We will. Now that brings us to day one; when we get there and meet the McDouglases at the airport."
"Are we going to do what we did the first day?" Eliza asked.
"We were thinking it'd be best so we're not exhausted," Beckett replied, nodding. "And it would give them the chance to explore Mill Valley before we start making trips into the city."
"I like the idea," Julia said with a nod. She then smiled and said, "Mari's wanted to look around. I bet Marie and her sisters do too."
"They likely do," Beckett said with a nod.
"How are you dividing everyone?" Martha asked.
"Well, you two are moving from the guest house and downstairs bedroom," Castle said. "You're okay sharing Josie's room together?"
"I'm fine with it," Jim said as the others looked at him. Because they needed the space he was going to be using an air mattress and he told them, "I don't mind, I've slept on air mattresses before."
"As long as you don't mind," Beckett said, her father nodding firmly.
"Mari, Marie and Kath will be with me," Julia said.
"Dani's gonna stay with me on the bed," Eliza said happily. "Fleur, Ivy and Iris will be on an air mattress."
"I'm assuming Mari's sharing your bed," Martha said to Julia with a smile.
"Yeah, like we did in our suite in Mexico City," the girl replied. "And the twins won't mind the air mattress."
"At least we all fit," Martha said.
"We're lucky," Beckett agreed, nodding and smiling. She then noticed Eliza had her hand raised and said, "Yes sweetie?"
"What're we gonna eat there?" the little girl asked.
Laughing with the others Beckett said, "We'll figure that out once we're there. Now that brings us to Friday and since I don't want to wait anymore, we'll go to the Academy and maybe the Japanese Garden."
"Cool," Julia said. "Are we taking them to the Buckeye at all?"
"That night," Castle said. "I got us reservations already. Saturday we're not exactly-"
"Fisherman's Wharf!" Eliza cried out eagerly.
"During the day or at night like we did last time?" Beckett asked her.
"What if we reversed what we did?" Alexis said.
"That would work," Beckett said with a nod. "We did want to go to Chrissy Field of course." She looked at her husband and asked, "Should we go on the bridge?" She watched him thinking that over and just as it looked like he was about to speak, Julia was asking them about their last day already to her surprise.
"Are we going into the city at all?" the girl asked.
"We can, but that we don't have anything in mind for," Beckett said.
"There is the Conservatory, but we'd like you guys to decide," Castle told the two girls.
Looking at her sister, Julia wasn't surprised when Eliza nodded to her and she said to their parents, "That would be nice."
"Are you sure?" Castle asked. "You wouldn't want to go to the garden that day and to the playground?"
Thinking about that, as Julia had turned to her, Eliza shook her head and said, "We can play back at the house. We can play the games we have right?"
"You can," Beckett said with a smile. "Then we have everything set."
"We do," Alexis said with a nod as her parents were looking around at them all to check.
"What about the Alamo Square home?" Louis asked.
"That we can do on Sunday," Castle said. "Naomi and Nicholas told us to let them know but they wanted it to be on the weekend; they had to work." He stood up to take his plate and they were clearing the table before setting the leftovers into the fridge once he and Beckett had packed the girls' lunch.
"You two can take food too," Beckett said.
"We'll do it after dessert," Alexis replied.
"Speaking of that," Beckett said, looking at her daughters as they were pulling her by her hands. She couldn't help smiling as Julia was soon letting her go but was glad she had since her second oldest was carrying Josie. When they walked into the family room she paused for a moment and then said, "I'm surprised," as there were only four gifts.
"They're from us and then one from Daddy," Eliza said.
"Don't open the presents yet," Castle said as he was waiting for the others to walk inside ahead of them. Once they were ready, he walked in and said, "Happy Mother's Day Kate, Mother," setting a cake on a cake stand on the coffee table in front of his wife and mother where they were sitting on the couch.
"It's beautiful," Martha said, studying the cake which was covered in fondant flowers in light to dark shades of blue.
"It is," Beckett said with a smile, squeezing her husband's hand as he was taking pictures of the cake with his phone. When he started cutting slices for them, she asked, "What're we having?"
"We weren't sure if we could put your favorites," Castle said, pausing before he could take the slice out from the cake. "But decided to try and combine them."
"How?" Martha asked.
"Show them Daddy!" Eliza said eagerly.
Castle smiled; since his wife was looking at him expectantly; and he took the slice out before he said, "We discovered they could do Neapolitan."
"Do you like it?" Eliza asked hopefully.
"I do," Beckett said, looking at her mother in law.
"Oh believe me, it looks delicious," Martha said. She and her daughter in law started to eat their slices before Eliza was picking up one of the gifts.
"Open them now," the little girl said softly.
"Eliza-" Castle started to say.
"No, it's alright," Beckett told her husband. Since the gift was hers, she took it and started to unwrap it, smiling when Martha was doing the same with her gift that Julia had given her. "You got it already?" she asked once she had taken out a framed picture from the box under the paper.
"In the nick of time," Castle said with a nod.
Looking at her mother in law Beckett smiled and said, "I thought it was going to be the same picture."
"I wouldn't mind a copy though," Martha told her son.
"There'll be one for you," Beckett said before her husband could say anything.
"But I do love this picture," Martha said, since it was of her with her granddaughters the day of Josie's birthday.
"Where will you put yours?" Julia asked her mother.
"In our office," Beckett said, giving Julia the frame with the picture of her, Castle and their daughters. They had decided to take that picture just after Josie's birthday and she was touched her husband had made sure she'd gotten it for her gift.
"Your other gift Mommy," Julia said, giving it to her.
"Hold on," Beckett said as she was taking off some of the cake from her slice. She unwrapped it before revealing it was a photo book and opened it, flipping through the pages. She was quick to notice the book was divided into different sections, one for each of her daughters. "Rick," she said, reaching for him. "Thank you."
"It wasn't just me," Castle said as they were holding hands. "The girls helped pick them out; even Josie."
"She did," Alexis said with a smile. "Though it was more which of two pictures she didn't let go of."
Laughing Beckett said, "Then thank you and for the picture that was from all of you." She looked at her mother in law and asked, "What did you get?"
"A book as well," Martha said, showing her. "And it appears that it's the same as your book."
"It looks great," Beckett said, smiling since the pictures were of her mother in law with her granddaughters in sections as her own book was. "Can we eat our cake now?"
"Yeah! You gotta eat your cake!" Eliza said eagerly.
The family was laughing before the little girl was doing the same and they turned to their slices of cake so they could play before the girls would need to go to bed for school the next day.
May 9th, 2021
It's Mother's Day Evangeline and we did a lot, but this might be short since I'm later tonight.
AJ and EJ went into Mom and Dad's room to wake up Mom and she was of course awake before we got to her, but she can pretend she isn't really well. Dad came in with breakfast for all of us once he had talked to her, but I forgot something. We all kissed Mom for Mother's Day, even 'lexis though she hasn't done that a ton. But it was really nice to see since that makes us more and more like sisters, besides the adoption.
After we had breakfast, we got ready and then went to the family fun center; Mom, Rebecca and Lily decided to do that since they wanted us kids to have fun (and something else I'll say later). It was fun, the rides and the bumper boats (Dad was with Lizzy and he knows where the water gun is since he was trying to squirt everyone) before we had a little party. Tomorrow is going to be Sophie's first birthday and that was the other reason they wanted to go to the family fun center. See, Brad and Lily had Eve and Jake's first birthdays at a family fun center in Albany and they wanted to continue the tradition. None of us kids minded of course, and Mom and Dad didn't either, I thought Mom might think it was weird, but she said the place is for families and it was what she wanted to celebrate.
We had pizza and sat all together at tables pushed together like we always do when we're together. I know I'm saying together again and again Evangeline, but I like the word since we were celebrating both our moms and the youngest of us so far (our moms aren't gonna have kids, I'm kinda thinking of if 'lexis and Louis have kids eventually). It was a great lunch and after we gave Sophie her gifts and she loved them… well, what she understood she loved which was the stuffed penguin we gave her.
After was mini-golf and we decided to see who'd do the best (we kids asked our parents since they didn't want to compete). And we didn't compete, just seeing who was the best and it was David. But we weren't surprised at all, he does play golf a lot and Dad came in second. We went through the arcade and oh that was the best thing ever! We had five dollars each on a card and we were going in pairs, I was with Mari of course and we went all over.
We left after the arcade and said goodbye to each other before we came back home. We played outside and then had dinner and I'm hurrying this so I can finally put something about our next Mill Valley trip! We planned it out and I can finally, finally write out the schedule here.
Thursday- Arrive at San Francisco and drive up to the beach where the club was (we didn't talk about it then, but I asked Mom about showing it to Skye and Mary and they decided to do a quick stop there on the way).
-Go to Mill Valley and show the McDouglases and Fosters the house and the car. Mom wants to drive Skye around a little in the Model-T since she did that in the past when they were over from San Francisco.
-We're going to walk around the town again, definitely to the supermarket since Dad reminded us later on that we needed to get food for the visit and of course for the dinner Sunday but I need to keep going
-Mom and Dad said we'd get pizza and gelato (to show the two families of course) but they're going to wait until we're there to see what meal that will be and the other will be something we all agree on.
Friday- We're going for sure to the Academy and I can't wait at all for that! I want to show Mari everything and I just know she'll love it there as much as I did. I can't wait now but I do hope Josa likes it!
-Go to the Japanese Tea Garden if there's time after the Academy but that we're not sure yet 'cause it closes pretty early too. But I'm crossing my fingers since I want to show Mari that too!
-Have dinner at the Buckeye again, that's going to be interesting since there are so many of us this time, but it will be fun. That I already know!
Saturday- Go first to Chrissy Field, I'm eager to see it 'cause of course Skye will be there and it'll be interesting to see what she remembers.
-Go to Fisherman's Wharf and walk around the different things there, Pier 39, the sea lions, the shops, Boudin (we're eating lunch there which I know for sure), Musée Mécanique and Ghirardelli (we debated about it and eventually we decided to go for dessert after dinner).
-Go on the cable cars down to the San Francisco Centre and we get to get another smoothie since I told Mari about it and she wants to try it.
-Walk from the Centre to Union Square and of course up more to Chinatown where we'll walk around the shops there until we have dinner at the Dim Sum place (I forgot, Dad got Mom that dinner for tonight and it was delicious as always).
-When we go back to Fisherman's Wharf after that we'll have ice cream at Ghirardelli before we go back to Mill Valley.
Sunday- Go into the city and to Golden Gate Park and this time go through the Conservatory. This time we will, I won't say anything even if we don't go to the garden on Friday.
-Get lunch on the way to the Alamo Square house, Naomi and Nicholas are being super nice and letting us show the Fosters the house too (I think they want to meet Skye and Mary since they know them from their band and DWTS).
-Go to the Golden Gate Bridge to walk on it, I kinda want to go further but Mom and Dad said we need to see how we'll do once we're there.
-Back at Mill Valley start getting dinner ready which is gonna be BBQ that Mom and Dad will take care of, but I get to help and so will 'lexis and Louis. We're having guests over, the Dorseys and the Modrics again but this time Annabella's mom is going to be there too. We have to bring out the dining room table there's so many of us but that'll be a lot of fun. And it's going to be great to get to have so many kids to play games with. Mom and Dad promised we'll have more outside games so I can't wait!
Back to tonight now (it's so hard not to think of what we can do in San Francisco, oh and I know the trip is basically the same Evangeline but Mom and Dad said they asked the McDouglases and Fosters and the adults said it was A-Okay with them if they saw what we saw last time. They were worried we'd be bored but Lizzy and I told Mom and Dad we didn't care if we did before we planned the trip) we finished up our yummy Dim Sum (there are leftovers to take to school tomorrow and I can feel my mouth watering getting to have the bao, dumplings and sesame ball again) and Lizzy, Josa and I took Mom to the family room where we were giving her and Gram their cake. It turned out to be super pretty, and delicious since it was Neapolitan flavored (Mom likes chocolate and strawberry and Gram likes vanilla and strawberry). While they were eating Lizzy insisted they open their presents and they loved their new pictures with us and then the books with pictures of us with them from back when we were little to now. After that it was games and then Josa and Lizzy needed to go to bed before I came here and wrote way more than I thought I would.
So goodnight… oh no, I forgot something else! While we were on the beach before dinner, Mom and Dad got a call from Skye, Mary, Patrick and Trevor. They want them to go to DC to help them with a case (I heard Dad say something about two cases, but I don't know how that works). They're leaving super early so I gotta say goodnight and bye until tomorrow afternoon when they'll call us. And Mom and Dad are here so goodnight and until tomorrow Evangeline!
Finishing her entry with a scribble of an exclamation point, Julia turned to her parents and said, "I know, I need to go to bed."
"You do," Beckett said with a nod. "But did you finish?"
"Yeah, was I writing for a lot?" Julia asked.
"You were," Castle said, hugging her when she was doing so to him once she reached him. "You'll help out while we're gone right?" he asked her.
"I will, Lizzy too," Julia said, looking up at him. "Taking care of Josa."
"I figured," Castle said before he shared a kiss with her. "We'll miss you tons."
"We'll miss you but have fun together just a little," Julia said. She smiled when her father laughed and then said, "I love you Dad."
"I love you too sweetheart," Castle said. "Night."
Julia was startled when he left after squeezing her mother's arm and then turned to her, smiling saying, "We get to talk alone?"
"For a little," Beckett said. "I'll do the same when it's Father's Day." She took her daughter's hand before they sat together on the side of the bed and she asked as she put her arm around her daughter's shoulders, "Anything you want to talk about?"
"Well… yeah," Julia said slowly. "Did Dad say something about two cases?"
"He did," Beckett said. "I don't want you to say anything to Eliza."
"I won't," Julia said quickly.
"Okay, well Skye and Trevor have an investigation themselves and they're thinking that it's connected to whatever case Patrick has," Beckett explained as her daughter was listening closely.
"Whatever?" Julia asked in confusion.
"We have no idea what the cases are," Beckett said. "They're not telling us until tomorrow." She saw her second daughter looked a little unsure and said, "I know, but they might not want to really talk about it over the phone. We're fine with that since we did want to spend the rest of the day with you three."
"It was nice?" Julia said. When her mother nodded, she smiled and said, "Good, we wanted it to be." After her mother hugged her, she said, "Time for bed."
"It is, come on sweetie," Beckett told her before they were getting up from the bed. They were embracing each other tightly before Julia was pulling back and she was about to ask what was wrong when her daughter was speaking carefully.
"I'm just wondering, you really couldn't do something special while you're there?" Julia asked her.
Beckett was about to say no immediately when she paused and said, "I'll have to talk with your dad. But we would like to spend time with our friends." She saw Julia was opening her mouth to speak when she told her, "Outside of the case. But we'll see what we might be able to do."
"Dinner?" Julia asked as her mother picked up the sheets and she hurried to climb underneath.
"We'll try," Beckett said. She leaned over and shared a kiss with her before saying, "I love you Julia."
"Love you too Mom," the girl said. Julia hugged her mother tightly and then said, "I hope you can have a little fun with Dad."
"I may," Beckett said with a smile as she knew her daughter had been wanting to say that. "Don't worry about us though," she continued, gently running her hand over her hair.
"We're not worrying," Julia told her. "Just making sure."
Beckett laughed softly and then leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead saying, "Thank you. Now you need to go to bed."
"You too," Julia said as they embraced one more time.
"We will," Beckett said in amusement, getting off the bed once they'd let go of each other. She tucked Julia in and kissed her forehead again before her daughter was taking her hand.
"Are you still happy being a mom?" Julia asked her.
"Of course," Beckett said firmly. "And I'll continue to. I love my girls." She smiled when Julia was and said, "Good?"
"Yeah, night Mom," Julia said, letting her go.
Petting the dogs as she passed, Beckett went to the light switch and looked back at Julia, seeing her waving slightly. She smiled and did the same to her before turning off the lights and going down the hall to hers and Castle's room. She wasn't surprised to see him on one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace, looking at her phone. "Did I get a message?" she asked.
"Yeah," Castle said, looking up at his wife. "But I didn't read it, all I know is that it's from Skye."
Taking it, Beckett read the message and was about to speak when she frowned before her husband was standing up.
"What is it?" Castle asked.
"It's Mary, she wanted to know my dress size for something," Beckett said. "Actually to make sure about my size," she corrected herself. She frowned and then said, "I'll ask her, but I get the feeling she won't answer me."
"Think it's for the Queen concert?" Castle asked as he watched her typing out the message.
"Maybe," Beckett said absently. She waited for a response before she said, "She said we'll find out later. They've got something."
"Ask her tomorrow," Castle told her.
"I will," Beckett said, turning off her phone. "We need to pack."
"Yeah," Castle said before they were going to their suitcases he'd brought to the room. They packed enough for a week, doing so silently so they could be quick before they were going into the bathroom for their toiletries. "Are you set?" he asked.
"Clothes wise?" Beckett asked in response. When he nodded, she did herself and said, "I'm not anticipating the need for dressier clothes." She paused for a moment and at her husband's questioning told him about what Julia had told her and she said, "I was thinking we'd have dinner with them but… we could leave the possibility open."
"We should," Castle said with a quick nod. They walked back out to put their bags inside the suitcases. Once they'd put them on the armchairs he said, "Okay so…"
Studying him Beckett asked, "I'm assuming you want to talk; not get ready for bed like we should be?"
"Not so much talk," Castle said. "I just want to do something but I'm not sure really what we can do."
Beckett was watching him as he spoke and seeing his eyes continuously going to the bed said, "We can."
"Great… what?" Castle asked.
Laughing, Beckett stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck before she told him, "Anything you want," before they were kissing.
Holding her closely to him, Castle slipped his tongue into her mouth before they were rolling around each other for a while. When they'd parted, he told her, "It seems a little weird, this is supposed to be about…" before he trailed off. "You want to switch for Father's Day," he said.
"Yes," Beckett said simply as she knew her husband was going to kiss her again. She couldn't help letting out a gasp as he was nearly lifting her up and his lips crushed against her. When he started to kiss her neck, she closed her eyes and said, "What do you want Rick?" As he moved to her lips, she forgot her question and was soon fighting with his tongue in her mouth before they were just rubbing against each other. Breathing hard when he ended the kiss, she was about to repeat the question she had suddenly remembered when her husband was speaking first.
"I want you Kate," Castle said before he was bending down a little to kiss at her neck. He found her pulse and sucked on it gently for a bit before he pulled back and told her, "I need you."
"I need you too love," Beckett told him before he pulled her to the bed. She wrapped her arms around him and then said, "How?"
Breathing out roughly, Castle said, "I'll show you," before he was reaching for her blouse. Once it was off, he was about to go to the fly of her trousers when she stopped him by reaching for his shirt. He helped her unbutton it and once it was off, he said, "We're going to hurry?"
"We probably should," Beckett said with a smile before she was helping him. She let him lay her on the bed and moved to lay in the middle as he was following her. As soon as he had reached her, she had her arms around him before he was kissing her. She was startled when he only did that for a short time and he was moving leading her to say, "Rick…"
Not responding, Castle went down to her breasts and began kissing over them before he nuzzled her nipples. He paused for a moment, staring at her before he dipped his head and proceeded to suckle at her. His arousal was pushed further by the way she was moaning in reaction to him. He thought he would spend some time where he was, working over both breasts, but she was squeezing his shoulder too tightly for him to ignore.
"It's… you're taking too long," Beckett said when her husband raised his head to look at her.
"Okay," Castle said, moving to kiss her. He could feel her hands squeezing on his back and knew she wanted to protest that. But he lingered as their tongues were soon dueling and after they had parted, he went to her ear and murmured into it, "I want to fuck you love."
"Please," Beckett breathed. She was letting out a gasp when he suddenly brushed his fingers in between her legs and she was telling him, "I'm ready, you don't have to arouse me!" crying out at the end when his fingers easily found her clit.
"I know, but I can't stop," Castle said, groaning a moment later when she was grasping his erection. He moved with her until just the tip of him was inside of her and he said, "You could help a little more."
"Pervert," Beckett said, though she was speaking absently as she was trying to push him further. She had no real power over that since her husband was moving into her body, and she only did it for a moment before she let him go and said, "If you don't start fucking me right now love, we're going to sleep."
"Vixen," Castle breathed at her tone. A moment later he was moving, thrusting into her so hard she slid up towards the headboard a little. He delighted in her cry of joy and took a moment to kiss her before he proceeded to thrust. They were both groaning in reaction to the very first and he tried not to pause before he set up a rhythm. Since his wife was so amenable to the idea; and her arms and legs wrapped around him told him she wanted it; he was going as hard against her as he could. He could just feel her thrusting with him and though it wasn't that fast he was still enjoying it. His only regret when their found their climaxes within seconds of each other was that it had gone by so quickly.
Caressing her husband's back when he'd calmed down, Beckett said with a smile, "You want more don't you?"
"Yeah," Castle said. "But," he said quickly as he raised his head. "Not this second, I know we need to sleep. But we have that same suite…"
"The chez lounge?" Beckett asked.
"Yes," Castle replied easily. He smiled when she laughed; though it aroused him at the sensation around his length still sheathed in her; and he got up to grab the sheet and comforter. "I really did want to do… various things to you," he told her.
"Why do you think I left everything to you?" Beckett said, her eyebrow raised as she watched him. She smiled when he looked at her in slight surprise and then sat up, wrapping her arms around him before they kissed. They were going into a few more until they had to catch their breath and once they had she said, "But we could do that in DC."
"Once we're finished with the case?" Castle asked, though he knew the answer. He breathed out before he said, "You had that in mind already didn't you?"
"I'm calling in my chit," Beckett said simply.
"Goddess," Castle breathed, leaning over to her and kissing her deeply. When they'd parted again she said, "We're going to need that." At her nod he asked, "I'm not a pervert?"
"No," Beckett said, cupping his cheek before he leaned into her. While they kissed one another, she wrapped her arms around him before she felt him holding her to him, pressing her front against his chest. They were a little rougher that time and she was gasping out his name while he cupped her breasts and kissed her neck again. She was startled when he suddenly stopped and said, "Why… oh…" Sighing she said, "I forgot already."
"I know, I did too just then," Castle replied, shaking his head. "But we'll keep that in mind."
"We should," Beckett said before her husband's lips brushed against her own. She kissed him a little harder and when they'd parted she told him, "Lay down."
"What?" Castle asked, startled at her words and how firmly they'd been spoken.
"Lay down, if we keep doing that we'll never stop," Beckett said. She was relieved when her husband nodded but found herself disappointed when he did lay down. She moved to follow him, since she knew she would need to take away any temptation he might have, and she pressed herself against his side. "The case will probably work out for our benefit," she murmured.
"During the day," Castle said before he felt her nudging his side.
"Pervert," Beckett said a smile before he leaned down her and they kissed. They were brief and she pressed her cheek to his shoulder telling him, "I love you Rick."
"I love you too Kate," Castle said. "Are you-"
"Yes," Beckett said, knowing that he was struggling with his arousal as well. She pressed her lips to his skin and murmured, "Night love."
"Goodnight Kate," Castle told her, kissing her forehead before he kissed her lips tenderly. They lingered since they weren't that rough, and when they parted, he held her closer as he covered them, and they relaxed together.
Though she could still feel her husband in her, Beckett let her fatigue take over and she was eventually falling asleep. Before she had though, she took in the way he was holding her, how he rubbed her upper arm and kept her close. They let their intimacy and bodies pressed together take everything over while sleeping, forgetting their trip and case though the next day would be arriving for them shortly.