Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for sexual situations and language
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: It was great getting what I did in the end for the last chapter, so I'll go ahead and get started on my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Happy to see you thought the last chapter was very good writing. And I'm glad you like that Castle and Beckett are interested in their kids' activities, since I see them as being that way!) and
Mb (Great that you thought the last chapter was a sweet transition one. I wasn't surprised you were noting at the beginning their happiness of Darnley being released from the hospital. Or that you added the fact the house in the Hamptons was in escrow and they were going to move up there soon. I was glad reading you thought Castle and Beckett going home was sweet, loving and happy since everyone was excited to see them and were happy to be together again of course. I was really happy to see you mentioned, as you put it, it was a bonus with Josie saying her first word and that it was mama, I loved writing that and was wondering what reader's reactions would be to that. And I'm not surprised you love seeing them all together. I kind of got what you meant that they were still all together even though Alexis and Louis aren't there in a way, I feel that sometimes too writing it I think because the girls are so exuberant, lol. You're welcome for sharing the first half! Really pleased seeing you thought the second half was nicely done. And I was really happy you enjoyed the family time at the start of this one with them seeing Alexis and Louis and showing them the video of Josie saying mama. Oh and the same with them sharing the news the Darnleys were moving to the Hamptons. It was so nice to see you thought it was good that Julia has so much more detail in the journal entries she writes and that you can tell she's growing up. I really want to show that since she's nearly a teenager and since I haven't been one for… a while I worry about getting it accurate, so I was happy about that! And I'm so glad you thought Castle and Beckett's discussion with Julia about her friend and how she responded to that. I had to laugh at your reaction to Castle and Beckett together, but I was really happy you thought they were sweet, sexy and sensual since I was aiming for that! Thanks so much and I hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving too! You're welcome for sharing the second half of the chapter!).
Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song I Love This House by Paul McCartney, from the 2020 reissue of his album Flaming Pie.
It's Where I'll Stay
Watching the moving truck driving down the street, Beckett was waving to the two cars that were behind it. She was startled to see there weren't two more behind them but walked into the front of the house with her family, along with the Fosters and Davises. "I'm so glad you made it," she said as she went to Darnley who was coming out of the driver's seat of the first car. She hugged him tightly before they were parting and she said, "Welcome home."
"That's the best thing to hear," Darnley said. "Especially after that drive."
Beckett laughed briefly before she nodded and said, "I have to ask, what happened with your cars?"
Smiling at his in laws' cars, Darnley said, "We're getting new ones; electric."
"Good but first we need to move you in, right?" Beckett asked him.
"Yeah, we better say hello to everyone," Darnley replied as he saw his husband was getting Maddy out of the car he'd driven in with his father in law.
There was a lot of commotion in the front as the four families were greeting each other before David was getting everyone's attention once they had stopped and the kids were running around together.
"It's cheesy but hey, I'm the mayor so I have to say on behalf of the Hamptons; welcome," David told them. "And we hope you'll find it's home now."
"Thank you," Nkosi said with a nod. "We already feel like it's home… as…"
"Cheesy, he's right," Darnley supplied for his husband, smiling at him and then the others. "But thank you for that. Now we're going to put you to work."
The adults were laughing at that before they were gathering the kids and turning to the house.
"We are going to be painting," Darnley said first.
"Kate mentioned it to us," Rebecca said. "And good thing, I never liked the colors Mr. Ayton chose."
"And he was leaning towards a slightly more modern design inside," Castle commented.
"At least we can change that," Darnley said, not surprised when his husband was nodding rapidly. "Okay, we can head inside," he told the others.
When they were up on the porch, Beckett said, "What will you do here?"
"I'm not sure," Darnley said first.
"Chairs and a table," Nkosi said. "Maybe a bench." He turned to his mother and asked, "Would you like to sit here?"
"I would," Bethany replied with a smile. She then said, "But that will happen in time."
"Let us see the inside," Joseph told his son and son in law.
"Would you like the honors?" Darnley asked his husband.
"Hmm… I think you should othandekayo," Nkosi told him. "Not because I'm holding our son; it's your homecoming you know."
"Should I say it's sappy?" Darnley asked Beckett as he looked back at her.
"No, more it's sweet," she told him with a smile.
"True," Darnley replied. "Okay, let's move in." He turned to the front door and unlocked it with the key he'd gotten from the realtor. They came into the foyer and he smiled as they hadn't seen pictures of that on the site they'd found the house on. The entry wasn't that large but there were two rooms off it he and his husband had seen on the site.
"Living room and sitting room?" Brad guessed.
"Yeah," Darnley replied. "If you're wondering about us talking about a library upstairs, we're going to put pictures and mementos on the shelves in there." They continued past to the family room and kitchen and he watched his mother in law hurrying to that room though Joseph was hurrying after his wife. "Remember we're changing that backsplash."
"Is it because he was a bachelor?" Lily asked.
"It could be," Beckett said. "But I just think it's what he liked. But good for you two it's easier to change; along with the paint."
"I know," Darnley replied. "And he kept the original floors," he said as he looked down at the hardwood floors. "Okay, there is an extra room here and-"
"We'll go there first," Nkosi said quickly.
Beckett stopped her husband from saying anything, smiling as she had an idea already of what the investigator was going to do. She watched as the two walked to the doors together; Keo with Joseph by then; and Nkosi opened the doors before she heard Darnley's exclamation.
"I hope-" Nkosi started to say before he was cut off as his husband cupped his face in his hands and kissed him. He could feel his husband's pleasure in that and was a little worried at first that he would keep doing that when everyone was behind them. But he finally pulled away and said, "You're welcome."
Laughing, though his lips were swollen from the kiss, Darnley said, "Thank you, I can't believe you got this for me," turning to walk into what he was aware they were going to call the billiards room. He admired the pool table his husband had given to him and looked at the cues that were hanging on the wall already. He smiled and said, "It's perfect."
"It is," Beckett said, having come over to the room.
"We have to play soon," Darnley said rapidly to her, turning to her.
"We will, don't worry," Beckett said. "Are we going on a tour of the upstairs?"
Shaking his head Darnley glanced at the table before he said, "We don't really have the time but once we get everything set, we'll do that. Let's go."
With the oldest kids taking the youngest ones to keep them out of the way, the adults started to take what was in the moving truck out to the rooms they needed to be in.
"What should we do with them?" Julia asked Eve since she was the oldest.
"I think we should take them to the backyard, but I don't know if we can," the young woman said.
"I can ask Patrick and Trevor," Jacob commented.
Watching her brother hurry to the front yard, Eve smiled when Sophie was grabbing her hair and she said, "Do you know what the yard looks like behind that fence Mr. Ayton had?"
"No," Julia and Mari said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed softly before the former said, "He never was out so all I know is that there's some kind of plants there."
"Trees?" Mari guessed.
"Maybe, Lizzy," Julia said, looking at her little sister.
"What?" Eliza asked as she'd been showing Maddy her Jive steps.
"You need to ask first if you can do that on the floors, I think they're nice ones," Julia said.
"It's okay," Nkosi told her. "We'll have a lot of children through here, running and you can dance."
Smiling, Eliza turned to Maddy and said, "Let's dance."
"Yeah," the little girl said before they were just jumping up and down together before Jacob was coming back to them.
"They said we can play in the back," he told them. "But their dads want us to go up to their rooms."
"Right now if you could," Darnley said, walking up to them then with a box that had Maddy's clothes written on it.
"Let's go!" Eliza said eagerly to the toddler. She reached out to Maddy and took her hand while Jacob was getting Keo and she told him, "We have to take all the babies up."
"It's safer for them," Jacob replied with a nod. He then smiled and said, "Good thing there's enough of us for that."
"Come upstairs you guys," Darnley called from the top of the staircase in the hallway off the entry.
Since she had a box for Keo's room, Beckett was following all the kids before she saw the layout was a lot like hers and Castle's with the master bedroom off on its own wing. She then turned to her husband as he was behind her and said, "Okay?"
"My knee is fine," Castle said with a smile, not surprised she'd said that. "Which rooms are the kids'?" he asked as he looked around the hallway and towards the master bedroom momentarily.
"Here," Nkosi said, standing in the first doorway to the left. "This will be Maddy's room."
Walking over to the room, Beckett was about to ask about Keo's room when her friend was taking the box from her hands.
"It's next door," Darnley told her. "But take a look inside."
Stepping in, Beckett smiled at the sight of the kids at the windows; the older ones showing the younger ones the view that Maddy would have.
"You'll have a really nice view too Keo," Jacob was saying then to the baby. "And we'll swim in the summer when we're here."
"I think it's just as nice as our house," Eliza said, smiling at her sister. She then thought of something and said, "What kind of bed will she have?"
"You'll see soon," Darnley said.
"We're going to set their beds up after lunch," Nkosi added. "Actually all of our beds since it shouldn't take that long."
"Should we show Keo his room now?" Eve asked the two men.
"I hope you will," Nkosi said. "Since I'll be going there right now."
The group walked over to the next room before the kids were showing Keo his bedroom and bathroom as well. Nkosi set down the box he'd taken from his husband and said, "I hope you're okay."
"I am," Darnley told his husband with a smile before he watched him leaving the room. "Go ahead and ask," he told his friend, turning to her.
"No cane?" Beckett said in response.
"No… that wasn't the question I was expecting," Darnley said with a laugh.
"Neither was I," Castle said. "Are you okay?" he asked his wife. When she was playfully pushing at his shoulder he said to the carpenter, "She is."
"So am I," Darnley said watching the two. "And I'll go in after San Francisco and hopefully be on my way to getting everything off my knee. We better keep going."
"Are you guys heading to the backyard?" Castle asked the kids.
"We will, but could we look at the other bedrooms?" Julia asked hopefully.
"Yeah, go ahead," Darnley said.
"Thanks!" Eliza said eagerly. She then grew serious and looking at the other kids said, "We won't go in yours though."
"Thank you, I'll have you come see it with us before lunch," Darnley told them.
"Be careful you guys," Beckett said before she and Castle left.
"What does she think we're going to do?" Mari asked jokingly to her friend.
"To stop us from doing that," Julia said before they were laughing. They looked at Maddy and Keo as they were laughing, setting off the babies and Dani as well and she said, "At least we're funny."
"That's you two," Jacob told her with a grin.
"Let's go see the other rooms," Eve said before they were leaving the room. They were walking back to the room across from Maddy's and the one across from Keo's before she said, "I love that theirs have window seats."
"I know, that's going to be a great place to read," Julia said with a nod. "Or for their dads to read to them."
"Oh, I can see that in my head too," Jacob said. "That's a sweet picture." He saw his big sister was looking at him and rolled his eyes saying, "What other word could I use? Awesome?"
"Awesome!" Maddy said slowly before she became exuberant at the end.
With some laughter the kids were going through the rest of the bedrooms until they came to the last one and were looking out on the view of the neighborhood.
"Think they'll make this room the library?" Mari was asking the others as she turned back to the room.
"I think my mom told me this bedroom and another; they don't need ten whole ones," Julia replied. "And they're copying us."
"If they use this room and the other," Jacob said.
"I know," Julia said. "And the people before my dad made the library room."
"Okay," Eve said, looking at the others. "Let's go outside?"
"Yeah, I want to see what Maddy's gonna have to play with!" Eliza said eagerly before they were walking out into the hallway to see the others were walking to the rooms with more boxes.
"I hope it won't take them too long to get everything from that truck," Julia said before they were heading down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, she felt Mari touching her hand and looked at her as her friend was mentioning something to her about the backyard she realized she hadn't noticed.
"Did you see the box in the backyard?" Mari told her.
"What box?" Julia asked, turning to her.
"There's one outside, a really big box," Mari said, looking at Eve and Jacob as they were listening as well. "Are they sure it's okay we go out to it?"
"It is," Darnley said, he and Castle carrying the dining room table to the living room before they went to the attached dining room. "Trev," he called to his husband. "Where should this go?" He was smiling soon after seeing his mother in law behind the investigator and told them, "I was thinking in the middle of the window, so we can see the view of the beach."
"But you have the fence out there," Lily pointed out to him, she and Beckett walking in with boxes.
"Yeah, that's going down," Darnley said.
"We don't like the view blocked," Nkosi said. "Since we did move here to see the beach."
"And we want as much of the grass as we have," Darnley added. "Are we in the middle here?" he asked the two.
"You are," Bethany said. "I did not imagine this home would be so beautiful," she said to Beckett as she was setting a box down on the table.
"It is really nice," she said. "Will you be okay with how big the house is?"
"We will," Bethany said. "I am glad to see that the children will have larger rooms; they are growing so fast."
"I know what you mean," Beckett said with a soft laugh before she looked over to see the men were bringing in the credenza that had a hutch at the top of it. She watched as they set it next to the doorway leading into the kitchen and she said to her friend, "It fits perfectly."
"We saw it when we were coming in," Darnley told her with a smile. "Luckily."
"Are you going to need to get more furniture?" Castle asked as they were pausing before getting the furniture which was left.
"For the extra bedrooms and for the family room; our couch we had at the house is way too small," Darnley said. "But we'll leave that for after Memorial Day. Okay, now we have to bring the beds in and get them set up." He was about to leave the dining room before he paused and looked at the others asking, "Why haven't you gone out yet?"
"Are you sure it's okay?" Eve asked as she and the other oldest kids had still been uncertain.
"Can we go out really quickly?" Rebecca asked the two men.
"We can," Nkosi said, smiling at his husband. He went to Keo and picked up his son while his husband was getting their daughter. They led everyone to the backyard and when they stepped outside, he said to their children, "We have bought you a little playground."
"How cute," Lily said.
"She's right, and that's a good one; sturdy," David said. When the others were looking at him, he said simply, "The playset we have for Dani is the same company."
"Nice," Brad said. "Are we setting this up today?"
Seeing the two men sharing a glance, Castle said, "It wouldn't be a problem."
"Later though, much later," Darnley said. "We have the stuff in the house we want to get for them."
"You mean the beds?" Beckett asked him. When he nodded slowly, pretending to look serious she laughed and playfully pushed him before they were walking inside the house. She glanced back at the kids before her husband was putting his hand on her back and they were walking together after the others to the front of the house.
"Dad's right, and they got like… the deluxe playground they have I think," Mari said as she and the other kids were looking at the picture of the box together. She was going to comment they'd be able to use it for years when Keo was suddenly squealing and talking as he patted the picture.
"My play, my play!" the toddler was saying.
"For you and Maddy," Eliza told him. She giggled when Keo stopped and was staring at her and she nodded saying seriously, "You have to share with your sister."
"Maddy?" Keo asked.
"He says that really well," Jacob commented.
"I think Mom and Dad told us it was one of the first words he said," Julia replied. "Which would make sense she's always around him."
"Are we going to play now?" Eliza asked.
"Tag? Or should we play hide and seek?" Jacob asked his sister.
"Tag imagine if one of the babies got lost," Eve said.
"Especially since they just moved in," Eliza said, holding both Maddy and Keo's hands.
"What about the babies though?" Mari asked since Jacob was holding Sophie and Julia had Josie.
"I think we can-" Eve said slowly before her father was coming outside with a play pen.
"Are you guys going to run around?" Brad asked them.
"We were going to play tag," Jacob told his father.
"We thought you were, we brought this," Brad replied. "But if they want out let them."
"Hopefully they'll just watch us play," Julia said, knowing the playpen was Sophie's since she could crawl as well. "How's she doing talking?" she asked as Brad set it on the grass near the house.
"We're teaching her to say mama first," Jacob said, smiling at his baby sister as he was putting her in the playpen.
"That was their choice," Brad commented. "I'll be in the house and the screen door is open so just call if you need help."
"We will Dad, thanks," Eve called before he was leaving in a rush.
"Now we need to see who's gonna be first," Julia said. "Though what do we do about Maddy, Keo and Dani?"
"I can run with them," Eliza asked, holding Dani as she was leaning against her.
"No, it's better if we just let them run around anywhere," Jacob said.
"Maybe we should just let them run with one of us and then another with whoever's it," Eve suggested.
"That's a better idea," Julia said, the other two agreeing with that. "But Keo?"
"See if he can run a little," Jacob suggested.
"You try it," Eliza told him. She smiled when she watched him doing so and said, "He's gonna be easy to tag."
"Then whoever is with Keo is safe," Mari said. "I mean… this is just to distract them, right?"
"It is, then we should just run away," Jacob said.
"That's fun too," Eliza told them. "And I'm going with Maddy."
"We could do races too," Julia said.
"Let's do that!" Eliza exclaimed. "We can do that with the babies."
"Okay, let's find something to mark the finish line," Eve said.
Julia was smiling as Maddy was following the young woman and she looked at the babies, seeing them both standing up as they watched too. She hoped they'd be entertained as well since they had a while to go before the tour of the master bedroom and lunch.
"Good thing we got everything out in time," Darnley said to Beckett as they were watching the moving truck leaving, the gate closing behind it.
"I know, but you don't have much and there are a lot of us here," she told him. Beckett smiled at her friend as she turned with him and said, "How much more are you getting?"
"I don't know yet, we have to take a look at everything," Darnley replied. "And go from there."
"Is the trip going to mess you up?" Beckett asked him.
"No, and Spain won't either since we will have time between that and Mill Valley to get everything we might need," Darnley said. "What we're going to need help with is places around here." He then grinned at her widely and said, "But luckily we can rely on you guys for that."
"We'll show you," Beckett said, squeezing her friend's hand before they went into the house. "And painting?"
"While we're in Spain," Darnley replied. "It's a long time to wait but at least we won't have to be here. And we haven't picked out our colors yet, so we have time for that too."
Beckett started to speak when she was interrupted by a soft chime and she said, "They must be back." Going outside with him to the porch, she saw she'd been correct, and they were watching as their husbands in Joseph's car drove into the garage. When the two were outside she was going to tease them about being so fast when her husband was speaking first to her.
"I know you're thinking that we didn't get everything," Castle said, holding up the box in his hands a little more. "But we got there just before the lunch rush."
"I couldn't believe how many people were starting to arrive," Nkosi said as he and the writers were stepping onto the porch. "But it did smell delicious, so I think that's why."
"It is, I told him," Castle replied, letting Darnley take the box he held before he and Beckett watched the two men going inside. He turned to his wife and said, "How're the kids doing?"
"Good, their racing in the back tired them out," Beckett said with a smile. "The younger three I mean. And they had a lot of fun going around the downstairs here but they're wondering about the master bedroom."
"They don't mind us waiting?" Castle asked.
"No, we're hungry!" Eliza said, coming to them. "They're getting the food and you're gonna miss lunch," she said with a smile as her mother wrapped her arm around her to run her hand over the back of her head.
"We're coming right now," Beckett told her. "Did you wash your hands?"
Castle laughed briefly with his wife as their second youngest ran into the house suddenly and he reached for the door, closing it slightly before he reached for his wife.
"They're going to look for us," Beckett said.
"And yet you're wrapping your arms around me too," Castle replied.
"I don't want to be rude," Beckett said simply.
"You're such a liar," Castle said in amusement.
"You're mad?" Beckett asked.
"No," Castle said swiftly before he leaned over and kissed her. He knew he couldn't get that out of control, but it was difficult once he had taken her lips with his own. He made it a little rough since it was brief and once they had parted he said, "I'm only doing that-"
"It's okay," Beckett said with a smile as she stopped him. "I didn't mind."
"I'm so glad to hear that," Castle replied. "Let's go?"
"We should," Beckett said as they hesitantly let go of each other. She took her husband's hand once they had and entwined their fingers before they went into the house. When the door closed behind them, she saw Darnley was heading over to them and she said, "We were discussing what to do for dinner."
"Before lunch? A little too soon," the carpenter said with a smile. "We're sitting in the family room."
"Luckily you have those tables," Castle commented. When his wife looked at him, he said, "I'm assuming we're going to use the poker table you have?"
"Yes, but we're going to get rid of it," Darnley said. When the two looked at him in surprise he said, "I told you we never use it, we'll get other tables for times like this. But for now, let's go and eat because the kids see the fries."
Beckett smiled at that comment and she walked with her husband before they came to the three tables set up. She went quickly over to their middle daughters and kissed their cheeks saying, "Make sure you eat the lettuce and tomatoes," since they were already starting on their cheeseburgers from a local place they frequented.
"We will," Julia said, smiling at her little sister as she wrinkled her nose.
"And don't eat that fast," Castle said. He couldn't help laughing when the two girls looked up at him in confusion and explained, "We haven't started eating yet."
Beckett was doing her best not to laugh at the way their daughters groaned and to keep from doing that she put her hand on his arm. "We'll start right now." She led him over to the kitchen table where the adults were sitting and said, "Are you enjoying it?" as Bethany and Joseph had started eating already.
"It is very nice," the latter said first. Joseph then said, "You have this often?"
"Not often," Castle said. "But if we're in the mood for a hamburger we head to Stanislaus'."
"We told them about it," Rebecca said with a smile.
"That's right," Darnley said. "You two are the originals here."
"Not sure how I feel about that," David said in amusement. "But Rick and Kate can show you the same that we could."
"They've lived here long enough," Nkosi said, smiling at the couple.
Shaking her head Beckett said, "Any of us could."
"Are we staying together through the rest of the day?" Bethany suddenly said after they'd been eating in silence for a little.
"We'd like to," Beckett said immediately.
"I wouldn't mind," Rebecca said.
"Neither would I," Lily added.
"I think we all agree with our wives," Brad said as Darnley and the Nkosis were looking to him and the other husbands.
"We do," Castle added. "But… you guys are going to unpack right?"
"I thought you would want to go back," Nkosi said.
"Not that," Beckett said. "We do want to help you with what we can. At least I do," she ended with, looking at the others as she said that.
Laughing when the others were agreeing with Beckett, Darnley said, "That's up to you guys. We just wanted you to help us a little with the stuff in the truck and you did. Thank you for that," raising his glass to them.
"We'll stay," David said. "But I'm worrying about the kids."
"Five of them are going to take naps," Nkosi said. "And the others…"
"Could we walk on the beach?" Eliza asked.
"Why don't you go out and stay in front of the backyard?" Castle suggested.
"We can do that; we can wade right?" Julia asked.
"That's fine, just don't go that far," Beckett said. When she saw the kids looked confused, she smiled and said, "I can't say a certain point since you're all different heights now but don't go up to your knees."
When the kids all said, "Okay," at the same time, Castle laughed and said, "I get the feeling they would have said anything to go."
"Hey!" the four oldest said at nearly the same time before they were all laughing together. After they had returned to their food they were talking together at the tables before they finished and were clearing up the trash.
"Our first meal in our new home," Darnley said to his husband with a smile as they were taking the bags to throw away in the bins outside the garage.
"I know, I was thinking the same," Nkosi said with a smile. He then said, "I am looking forward to having it just be us as well."
"Don't worry," Darnley assured him. "I know what you mean, but we'll have it tomorrow… in the kitchen though."
"What will we save the dining room table for?" Nkosi asked as they were walking to the porch.
"Whenever we'd like to," Darnley said, smiling at his husband as he looked over at the front door as Beckett was in the doorway. "I get the feeling we'll be spending a lot of holidays with you," he told her as she and Castle had invited him and his family to their home for Thanksgiving and to Mill Valley for Christmas that year.
"Not all of them, but at the very least Thanksgiving," Beckett said with a smile.
"We'll celebrate here as well," Nkosi said. "Some years."
"How're we going to do that?" Castle asked, having walked up behind his wife. "We have four- five homes now… we will have five after this summer," he said, having to correct himself rapidly.
"We'll take turns," Nkosi said.
"Usually we go to Rick and Kate's," Brad said, coming up to them as well. "Their house is biggest out of all of us."
"Not by that much," Beckett said quickly.
"Slightly," Brad commented.
Shaking her head, Beckett said, "We'll decide that when we can… would you want to host it?"
"Next year," Darnley said firmly. "Why'd you come out?"
"The kids… the youngest," Brad explained as the carpenter had been speaking to her.
"That's right, their naps," Castle said before he was taking his wife's hand. They went together inside with the other three men following them and he squeezed her hand firmly before she smiled at him and they hurried to get their youngest down for her nap to return to the unpacking.
Hearing the knock on the doorway, Darnley turned around to see that it was Beckett and he said, "Come in."
"Are you okay?" Beckett asked him in slight concern.
"Yeah, I will be," Darnley replied, looking around the master bedroom. "I'm just…"
"Guilt? Anger?" Beckett asked gently as she went to where he was sitting on the long window seat that ran along the windows making up the southern wall of the bedroom. She sat next to him before telling him, "You can feel both."
"I am, but you missed one," Darnley told her. When his friend raised her eyebrow slightly to question him, he explained saying, "Annoyance. So anger, then guilt for being angry at my mom and after that annoyance I'm bothering to feel the guilt. She didn't love me; the money came from Grandpa and not her and it was only because she couldn't change that that I got it."
"And you are sticking it to your father and brothers," Beckett said.
"Yep, and boy am I happy," Darnley said, shaking his head as he ran his head over his hair. "They always treated me like shit," he said bitterly.
Not commenting on his swearing, Beckett reached for his hand and said, "You should forget about them now; it's more important for you to focus on making this your home."
"That's what I was doing my best to convince myself to do," Darnley said, nodding. He looked outside and said, "I can't wait to watch the kids grow up here, be out there on the beach with them… run around…" Feeling his friend squeezing her hand, he looked to her and said, "Thank you so much Kate."
"You're welcome," Beckett replied, knowing her friend was saying that in relation to her being okay with him being next door. "But stop thinking about us hating you as neighbors."
"One last check," Darnley said. When his friend covered her face with her hand, he pulled her closer to him and they hugged each other tightly before they parted and he said, "Like our bed?"
"I like it was so simple to put it together," Beckett replied with a smile. "But strange it's Mission style."
"No slats though so we didn't copy your bed," Darnley pointed out as the bedframe for his and his husband's bed was the same style as he knew Beckett's was in Mill Valley. "I think we had something similar to that back in Alamo Square," he commented.
"You did, but I'm wondering what color you'll end up choosing for here," Beckett said as they started to look around the room that was painted in a pale yellow.
"Not this, but as soon as I know what color it is, we'll tell you," Darnley promised her.
Beckett nodded before she looked from the room to her friend as he was standing and she asked, "Any new ideas?" since he and Nkosi had talked about what they would do with the extra space in the large room.
"Think we need to change what we have?" Darnley asked her.
"No, the couch and armchairs are great," Beckett said, standing with him.
"How come you and Rick don't have one in your guys' room? You have a lot of space," Darnley asked her. When Beckett didn't say anything, instead looking towards the beach he said, "All those windows?"
Biting her lower lip as she was trying not to laugh at her friend's tone of voice, Beckett told him, "We like the view to be unobstructed."
"I hope they really are tinted," Darnley said.
"We…" Beckett started to say before looking at her friend questioningly.
"Oh, you only use it at night?" Darnley asked, realizing what she was saying.
"Yes, and we have the lights on lower then," Beckett said. "Now enough about that, what do you want to do right now?"
"Come with me to the studio," Darnley said.
"You're sure?" Beckett asked though he'd already gone with his husband into it earlier to take his tools.
"Yeah, you can come and visit me while I'm there," Darnley told her.
"If that's the case," Beckett said as they were walking to leave the room. "Then come to my darkroom."
"I will," Darnley promised. "But is it finished yet?"
"It will be before we leave for Spain," Beckett promised.
"I can't wait to see it; and that pool room too," Darnley told her.
Beckett laughed momentarily before they were going together to the stairs that went down to the family room. Once there she watched her husband as he was helping Nkosi with the items for the kitchen. She waved at him before they walked to the doorway that led to the hallway and she looked out the window seeing the view was unobstructed. She turned her attention to the doorway leading to the studio and she said, "What're you going to call it?"
"The workshop," Darnley said. "Since it's what it is," he said a little absently as he was reaching for the doorknob. Opening it he stepped out of the way of his friend and said, "Obviously it's a little sparse but…"
"It'll work for you," Beckett finished before they were walking into the room further. She went to the table that was already there and asked, "Mind if I…?"
"No, go ahead," Darnley said. "You never really saw them before."
"It's why I wanted see them now," Beckett said. She started to pick up the tools he used and had inherited from his grandfather and asked, "When was your grandfather born?"
"1919," Darnley said quickly. "October fifth, 1919," he said. "In Washington DC in the birthing room of his parents' home."
Smiling, Beckett said, "You got stories from him."
"You remember," Darnley said, not putting it into a question as she had done.
"I do, I wish I'd done that with my grandfather but…" Beckett said, shaking her head as she had told him that when they'd been in the Academy and NYPD. "They're such good quality," she told him, indicating the rasp that she was holding.
"They were his," Darnley replied. "Since his father was of course a banker."
Beckett nodded and said, "I'll be so happy for you when you can start."
"First I relax," Darnley said. "After so many years going through so many cases."
Reaching over to him at that, Beckett cupped his cheek for a moment before she pulled him into a hug. "You're okay," she assured him. "But I know how you feel."
"This isn't as bad as what you went through Kate," Darnley told her seriously. "But you've recovered."
"I have, I have my moments but… I have Rick," Beckett said seriously.
Nodding his head rapidly Darnley said, "And I have Trevor. Luckily we're not that stubborn we don't let them help."
Squeezing his arms as she was letting him go, Beckett said, "It wasn't an option."
"No," Darnley said. He hesitated and said, "Have you been to therapy?"
"A little after Rick and I moved here," Beckett said with a nod. "But it was brief because I was able to understand what I wanted most."
"A family?" Darnley asked.
"Yeah, it was so weird," Beckett told him, leaning back against the table behind her. "I went to a therapist before in the city; after I was shot." When he nodded; as she had told him that before; she continued saying, "He knew I was in love with Rick, but he never really saw that I wanted a family… even after Julia came to us."
"He might have thought you were more concerned about being a good mother to just her," Darnley told her.
"More than likely," Beckett said with a smile. "But this has gotten way too grim," she said as she stood up. "I'm so happy this works out for you," she said, looking around the room and at the windows along the southern wall. They shared a look and smiled before they walked to them to watch their kids who were all out on the beach with his in laws and her father there to help. She wanted to tell him she understood his anticipation seeing his kids grow when he was turning and speaking before she turned.
"I'm assuming she's looking for her mom?" Darnley asked Castle as he was walking to them with Josie in his arms.
"Mama," the baby said, holding her arms out.
"Come here sweetie," Beckett said, smiling at her daughter. She took her as soon as Castle was close and asked him, "Everything's finished?"
"It is," Nkosi said before Castle could respond, walking into the room behind them.
"Aren't you guys playing?" Castle asked jokingly as Eliza and Maddy were with the investigator.
"We were, but Maddy has something to tell you Patrick," Eliza said with a wide smile.
"Really?" Darnley asked in amusement as his daughter ran to him. He picked her up immediately and asked, "What is it honey?"
"Daddy," Maddy said before she giggled and hugged him around the neck.
"Thank you Maddy," Darnley told her with a smile as he hugged her back. He looked at Beckett and Castle and said, "We were wondering when she was going to start calling me that."
"Did you teach her?" Beckett asked Eliza teasingly.
"No, she was looking for her daddy," the little girl replied. "I said let's go find your daddy and we came after Trevor."
"Inadvertently?" Darnley asked his friends before he laughed as his husband was rolling his eyes.
"What does that mean?" Eliza asked. "Is that the word that means you didn't mean to do it?"
"Yes, but it's not negative," Castle told her quickly.
"We're done Patrick," Nkosi told his husband. "Everything is out of the boxes and we only have our own clothes to straighten up."
"We don't need help with that," Darnley said to his friend.
Giving him a mock look, Beckett told him, "So we need to go home?"
"It's not that early," Darnley told her.
Laughing softly, Beckett said, "What else would you like us to do?" since she knew he was thinking of what they would do for dinner.
"We should decide on dinner," Darnley said. When he saw her laughing, he said, "We should, we're eating… what time do you guys eat at?"
"Six," Castle answered before his wife could say anything. "Because of the babies, but we could go right now."
Looking at her husband in surprise, Beckett suddenly realized what he might have thought of and she said, "Let's go talk with everyone else before we decide for them." She smiled at Josie when she vocalized a little before saying, "Mama." "I know sweetie," she told her as they were walking out of the studio. "We'll see what your daddy wants to do before we tell him it was a great idea."
"Really?" Castle said in mock annoyance. When his wife smiled, he couldn't stop himself and leaned over to her, kissing her cheek before they were going through the kitchen and to the sliding door.