"Is there any reason why we didn't recall this car was so bloody bumpy?" Skye was asking Beckett.
"No," she replied before she got to the point on Vine where she needed to turn. Beckett was driving, later in the afternoon with her siblings from her past life, the three of them suddenly getting the urge to go. They had long since driven with the others or the others had gone with her husband and they were going to drive up to Blithedale to get their pizza dinner.
"I wonder if the pizzas will be okay after all of this ukuqhula," Nkosi commented in the backseat.
"Why the word jounce?" Beckett said as she stopped at the stop sign at Park. She paused suddenly and looked at the two asking, "How did I know that?"
"We were siblings," Skye said with a smile. She then glanced into the backseat and said, "And you loved using that back then. Though I suppose that came through to this life as well." She was about to tell them she was going to wave to their families when they passed as they were going through the intersection, but Nkosi was leaning over onto the seat to speak to their former sister.
"You should honk the horn when we pass by," the investigator told her. "Does it work?" Nkosi asked after he was thinking that over.
"It does," Beckett said before she was pressing on it since the kids were in the front yard with Alexis and Louis. She glanced over at Skye and Nkosi as the two were waving out the window and she smiled before she focused on making it up the street. At Blithedale she turned to the left and made a went down a little before turning into the parking lot that was next to the pizza place. She set the brake and then asked the two, "Did you decide who's staying with the car?"
"Me," Nkosi said, slightly raising his hand.
"You know I can wait here, Rick already paid for everything before we left," Beckett pointed out to them.
"It's not the last time we'll be here I'm sure," Nkosi said.
"We better go," Skye said, leaning on the window looking in at them as she'd already left the car. "Pizzas will get cold."
"We'll be right back out," Beckett said to the other investigator, not surprised he was nodding his head once before she was getting out of the car.
"I hope five pizzas is enough," Skye commented as she and Beckett were walking up to the entrance of the restaurant.
"There are twenty-six of us," Beckett said. "And I'm sure the men are going to be eating a few slices."
Skye nodded in reaction before they were entering, and she wasn't too surprised at the woman behind the counter greeting Beckett. When they were waiting for her to get their pizzas from the back she said in Russian, "How many times have you been here?"
"This is the third," Beckett responded in the same language. "And I told you, news got around about us. It's a city but apparently it was that big."
"Or you two are big enough for it to go around," Skye said.
Glancing at her Beckett said, "Don't tell Rick that."
"He might have thought of it himself," Skye commented before they were starting to laugh together before the cashier was calling to them.
"Ms. Beckett?" the woman said hesitantly. When the two looked at her she indicated the pizza boxes and said, "Your order is ready."
"Thank you," Beckett said as Skye was taking the boxes. "They're not too hot?" she asked her.
"No, I'll be fine," Skye said as they left the restaurant.
"Am I taking those in the back here?" Nkosi asked as he saw the two walking up to him.
"No, they're mine," Skye said jokingly.
"Always hogging everything," Nkosi said before they were laughing together.
As she was starting the car Beckett said, "You said that a lot too."
"I had to, until Rick came along I was the only boy," Nkosi said. He reached over the back of the front seat and squeezed Skye's shoulder saying, "It didn't help that you were a thorn in my side."
"I did that on purpose," the investigator said, smiling back at him.
"I know, all little sisters do that I suppose," Nkosi said before he was sitting back as they were reaching the house. After he was out he said, "That was a lot of blankets."
"I'm going to assume that's my husband," Beckett said wryly before they were walking to the front yard.
"Hey, good thing, the kids are getting hungry," Castle said as he took the pizzas from Skye.
"Mama!" Josie was squealing.
"And I think she wanted to see you," Castle added.
"Probably," Beckett said. "We'll be back," she told him.
Nodding, Castle walked the three go up to the front door before they had disappeared inside and then turned to the others at the blankets. "Here's dinner," he said.
"We're waiting for them?" David asked.
"That would be preferable," Castle replied, setting out the boxes. "They won't take that long."
"Eliza, Julia," Beckett said as she was leaving the house once she had washed her hands. "Come on, it's time to eat," she told them before they were hurrying to her from the side of the house. When they hurried ahead of her to the blankets she said to her husband, "Why so many?"
"For Josie to crawl around," Castle said. "So she won't be in the grass."
"And if she goes in the pizzas?" Beckett asked. She watched her husband consider that very obviously before he was suddenly grabbing her and kissing her. She laughed when they parted soon after and she was going to tease him about doing that when Darnley was doing it for her since he spoke first.
"You know we do want to eat guys," the carpenter said in amusement.
"Yeah, and I'd say the same thing if you were doing that with Trevor," Castle said, reluctantly letting his wife go. When she squeezed his hand he smiled at her, knowing that was her way of telling him she'd enjoyed the kiss as brief as it was, but turned his attention to the food as Skye was opening the boxes of pizza.
"Here's the four cheese," the investigator told all the others. "A veggie one, sausage and olive, Hawaiian. Thank you for that one. And last is pepperoni for you Yorkers."
"Hey," David said in mock annoyance.
"Should we include ourselves in that?" Darnley asked with a smile.
"If you're going to live in the Hamptons permanently then I think you should," Martha said.
"That's okay with you guys?" Darnley asked.
"It is," Beckett said as he was looking at her last.
"Oh, well that's all I need," Darnley said swiftly. He smiled when some of the others were laughing and then said, "But we should turn our attention to the meal; the kids are taking all of our pizza."
The children were laughing before their parents were getting slices as well and they were focusing on eating. After a while though Marie stopped and she said to the adults, "Can we know about the trip now?"
"Oh, you told them already?" David asked his oldest.
"Of course I did Dad," Mari said simply, smiling widely at him. "But really, can we know now?"
"You can," Castle said.
Surprised when he looked at her, Julia hurried to finish her bite of Hawaiian pizza before she said, "Tomorrow we're going to the Academy of Sciences." She smiled when Marie and Kathleen exclaimed over that and nodded before adding, "And if we have time after we're going to walk through the park?"
"And go to the Japanese Tea Garden; if we have enough time," Beckett said. "And then we'll take you all out to dinner at the Buckeye Roadhouse."
"The one we passed coming in?" David asked. When both Beckett and Castle nodded in response he said, "It seemed familiar. I'm guessing it's been there for a while?"
"Since 1937, so we went there a lot," Castle commented. "And if you said it's familiar then we probably took you guys there too."
"Too bad Brad and Lily couldn't come," Rebecca then said. "I think they were with us."
"They were," Beckett said. "But I'm sure they'll get the chance to come and see the house."
"It's why we decided to go with three bedrooms in the guesthouse," Castle said.
"I'm surprised the city agreed to that," Nkosi couldn't help saying.
"So were we," Beckett said, smiling. "But it should be finished and we'll have more than enough room for Christmas." She then grew serious and looked at the Fosters before saying, "I-"
"No, it's okay," Rebecca told her hurriedly. "We told you we might be having our parents over, so we would need to stay at home. And you did invite us this weekend."
"The least we could do," Castle said.
"Hey, what about the rest of the visit?" Mari said in mock protest before they were laughing together.
Glancing at her parents, Julia said when they nodded, "Saturday we're going to go into the city and straight to Chrissy Field."
"They told me," Skye said with a smile as the girl was looking at her. "And I can't wait though there won't be any flying this trip except to come and go home."
"Me too," Julia said, nodding her head in agreement. "And after that we're going to Fisherman's Wharf where-"
"I can't wait!" Ivy said. She then saw everyone was looking at her and cringed slightly before saying, "Sorry, Marie and Kath told us about it there and we really want to see it," motioning between herself, her twin and Fleur.
"We're gonna go there," Julia said with a nod. "So you'll get to see it and have lunch there before we go over to the cable cars and go down to Union Square." She turned her attention to Skye and Mary, though she looked at their daughters as well, and told them, "We want to get a smoothie in the Centre."
"Your mom told us about that," Mary said in amusement. "You enjoyed it?"
"We did," Eliza said eagerly.
Julia laughed with the others at her little sister's tone before she looked back at everyone and then said, "We'll walk over to Chinatown and go around there before we have dinner there."
"At that Dim Sum restaurant we used to eat at?" Darnley asked.
"We will," Beckett said with a nod.
"Awesome," Darnley replied, smiling as his friend laughed briefly.
"What's next sweetie?" Beckett said to her daughter.
"That's Sunday," Julia said. "And we're going to go back to Golden Gate Park, walk around and go to the Conservatory of Flowers hopefully. And then go see the Alamo Square house and meet the Dorseys there since they're gonna let us in there. We'll leave after that?" When her parents nodded, she continued and said, "We'll stop at the Golden Gate Bridge and walk on it before we come back here and get ready for the barbeque."
"That sounds like a fun trip," Ivy said with a smile.
Nodding her head rapidly Eliza said, "It does, wait 'till you get to see everything!" She finished her last slice of pizza and then jumped up since Ivy was doing the same as they were moving to the grass to start running around together.
Watching the other kids; except for Josie; joining in, Beckett took the baby onto her lap and kissed her temple as she was watching them running. She looked at her husband as he was playfully tickling their youngest's neck before turning back to the others and smiling as he touched her arm and spoke.
"Should we head into the back or stay here?" Castle asked her.
Beckett opened her mouth to reply when her husband reached up and tucked her hair gently behind her left ear. She smiled at him and said, "We should go into the back, they're going to remember the gelato."
"Gelato?" Julia said. She looked at the other kids as they all froze, and they playfully screamed before running to the blankets as the adults were laughing at the same time they were trying to get them to stop.
"We did that on purpose," Mari said with a smile. "We thought it'd be funny."
"It was, thank you for not overwhelming us," Skye commented.
"And you two for not joining in," Darnley said with a grin at Alexis and Louis as they were walking up after the kids.
"We weren't included," Louis said.
"You're grownups," Fleur said teasingly.
"Yeah, you're going to be married soon!" Kathleen exclaimed before she smiled. "We can't wait to see that."
"Me too," Louis said, playfully nudging her arm.
"So what about the gelato?" Julia asked.
"We need to move into the backyard if we're going to have that," Beckett said.
"Cool, let's go," Julia said. When her mother looked at her in surprise; and she saw Josie was smiling at her; she laughed briefly and then said, "Skye said she'd perform."
"Why you little…" the investigator said teasingly, pointing at her. Skye laughed as Julia crossed her arms over her chest and squeezed her shoulder before she turned back to getting the blankets folded with the others. "Luckily I do have a song if the rest of you don't mind that," she said as they were going into the house through the front and setting the blankets in the entry closet. She laughed when all the others said they didn't, and she said to her wife; as she'd been one of them; "I need you help me."
Castle watched Skye whisper into her wife's ear before Mary was nodding and he couldn't help commenting, "We can't know the song?"
"Not until we're outside," Skye replied easily.
"What about the gelato?" Ivy asked.
"We'll get that first before we go out so your mum-" Mary started to say in response.
"We," Skye interrupted her.
"We can sing," Mary said. "I am on backup, right?"
"Do you really think I could get you to sing lead?" Skye said wryly.
"We're leaving," Castle said as most of the others had started to walk into the dining room.
"We're following," Mary said.
"What are we doing here exactly?" Darnley asked the other parents.
"Sundaes," Castle said as he was getting some items from the pantry. "Just tonight though, Sunday we'll have the gelato with cookies."
"I can't wait for Sunday," Marie said to her sister and Julia, both nodding in agreement with her.
"Neither can I," Mary said to the girls. "Head outside with the other kids and watch the youngest okay?"
"Sure," Julia said before she was racing to her grandfather. Once she had Josie on her hip, she followed the others to the lean-to and then down the steps into the backyard. She had to watch the other kids playing but didn't mind as she watched her baby sister looking on at the others. Eventually she glanced over at the yard and saw Eliza moving up the tree trunk which made her hurry over to it saying, "Lizzy."
"What?" Eliza asked, glancing down at her.
"Get down, you might miss out on a sundae if Mom or Dad see you," Julia said, knowing that would get her down.
Making a frustrated sound, Eliza slid back down and brushed off her hands before she said, "I was only going to go up the trunk, Fleur wanted to see."
"Still," Julia said as she glanced back at the windows that were for the lean-to. Their parents were coming outside first then with trays of cups and she said, "Looks like you get one," teasingly to her sister.
Sticking her tongue out at her, Eliza jogged to the table and asked, "Which one is mine?"
"You're lucky your mom let you have one," Castle said.
"You saw me?" Eliza whispered.
"We did," Beckett replied. "And I'm glad you listened to your sister. This one is for you and don't climb up the tree anymore tonight."
"I can do it again later?" Eliza asked, taking her bowl.
"I told you she'd get it," Castle commented. Not surprised when his wife gave him a look before he said, "Don't run around and eat that." Smiling at her as she nodded, he watched her walking to the grass with the youngest McDouglas girls before he glanced at Skye as she was standing next to his wife. "You get a break," he commented.
"I know, but I'm also aware," the investigator said, getting some of her sundae on her spoon. "That as soon as we finish then we're singing."
"At least you're prepared for it," Beckett told her.
"That's what I was thinking too," Skye said before they laughed together.
Sitting at the table, Beckett set Josie on her lap and fed her a little of her sundae to her before she stopped her husband from trying to give her a spoonful from his. "I would like her to sleep," she told him teasingly.
"She will, Skye will put her to sleep," Castle said.
"And Mary," the investigator said, speaking as if she were far away from them, dragging out the words. Skye smiled as the others were laughing and said, "I know, we've finished but we do need to clean up first."
Julia was a little frustrated, since she was wondering what song exactly Skye wanted to sing, and she did her best to focus on playing a short game of tag with the other kids before the parents were coming back outside. She went swiftly to the investigator before Skye was stopping her and talking before she could.
"We'll sing right now," the investigator said, smiling as the girl frowned. "What, now you don't want us to?"
"No, I do," Julia told her hurriedly. "I was wondering more what the song was going to be."
"Are you ready?" Skye asked her wife instead of responding to the girl who was still watching her.
"I am if everyone else is," Mary said.
"We are," Castle said, mimicking the tone that Skye had used earlier.
"Wanker," Skye said, laughing when Castle winked at her and Beckett shook her head. "Okay, it's Flying to My Home and we'll just have the music."
"What about your guitars?" Fleur asked.
"We'll save that for another night," Skye assured her. "We're ready?" she asked Mary as she'd been going on her phone.
"Ready," the doctor replied.
Making sure Josie was settled on her lap, Beckett was surprised when the pair were singing the opening two lyrics nearly acapella as had been on the original recording. When the main music started and Skye was singing with Mary on backup with her, her attention was drawn to Julia as she and Mari were starting to dance together, and the other kids were doing so as well but on their own.
I'm, I'm flying to my home, home
Flying to my home, home, home, home
The sun is fading in the west
Out where the cattle roam
I'm like a bird at the end of the day
Flying to my home
I'm flying to my home sweet majesty
I'm flying to my home
The sky is like a painted flag above a sea of chrome
I've got a woman living in my life
Living in my home
I'm flying to my home sweet majesty
I'm flying to my home
Skye looked at Mary pointedly as she was getting to the chorus and once they had she smiled as the kids had stopped dancing and were clapping in time with them, some of the adults as well she quickly noticed. She saw Castle was playfully making Josie clap her hands and she smiled before looking at her wife so she could focus on the lyrics.
I haven't been back for so long
I don't know if I'm going to recognize it, ooh
They gave the old place a new face
And I'm going to take some time
To size the situation up
Julia turned back to Mari and they danced again during the instrumental before they quickly stopped at the second instance of the chorus being sung. She was surprised when Mary sang back up again; as in the recording she knew it had just been Paul the first time; but she saw it worked better for the two women though she was soon just listening to the rest of the song eagerly as she continued to dance with her friend.
I haven't been back for so long
I don't know if I'm going to recognize it, ooh
They gave the old place a new face
And I'm going to take some time
To size the situation up
The sun is fading in the west
Out where the cattle roam
I've got a woman living in my life
Living in my home
I'm flying to my home sweet majesty
I'm flying to my home
I'm flying to my home (I'm flying to my home)
I'm flying to my home (I'm flying to my home)
I'm flying to my home (I'm flying to my home)
I'm flying to my home sweet majesty
I'm flying to my home
I'm flying to my home
I'm flying to my home
"Oh, thank you," Skye said, nodding to the others as they were applauding.
"That song seems very appropriate," Martha said.
"It was chosen deliberately," Skye said with a smile. "Luckily you all enjoyed it. Now we can continue to play," looking pointedly at Beckett to answer that and smiling when the writer soon after did as she was speaking wryly and looking at her.
"Go ahead, for some reason I'm saying what you can do," Beckett said. She shook her head when the kids cheered together before they were running around the grass. She turned Josie to her, feeling the baby wriggling on her lap, holding her closer while she waited for Josie to sleep as she kept an eye on the kids playing in front of them while dusk was slowly starting to approach.
May 27th, 2021
Hello from Mill Valley again Evangeline!
I don't have my fountain pen with me, but that's okay because my room is a little fuller this time. Mari is here of course, and Marie and Kath too so we're going to talk a little bit before we have to go to bed. Luckily they have their diaries too so we're all doing that right now and I have time to write it you!
The flight was good, just sleeping and having breakfast during it before we landed in San Francisco. We drove up along the coast like we did the first time we came here and stopped at the beach where the club was. Trevor, Patrick, Skye and Mary all remembered it and they even remembered a dance that Patrick did with Skye and Mary so the two wives could dance together. We stayed there for only a little and headed to Mill Valley. I was with Mom, Dad and my little sisters so I couldn't see Mari's reaction to the bridge, but she told me later she thought it was the most beautiful bridge. Even though she's seen all the ones in NYC!
When we got to the house everyone else recognized it, even Rebecca and David. But that makes sense since they were here for dinners and parties and everything. They all loved the front, the house itself and the backyard and guesthouse, so that was a really fun tour. All the rooms and outside of the house are painted now and it feels a lot like home though I think we had wallpaper the whole time we were here in our past life.
After that we unpacked, and Rebecca and David went to the house across the street where they'll luckily be allowed to stay. We met the couple whose home it is, the Delvins and they're super nice. They have two sons but they're older, one of them is even in the Air Force! We went with them to lunch, walking from the house, and it was Mexican and super good. The biggest thing there though was Josa finally said Dada! It was so sweet, and I could Dad was really happy though he was trying to be all calm. After we stopped at the gelato shop and got some for our trip here before coming back to the house where the babies went upstairs for naps and the rest of us (except for Gram and Grandpapa) walked down Miller to show the other shops. Oh! I forgot something of course, we went to the market before the gelato place and I think the others recognized it which isn't a surprise.
After we came home from our walk, we got to take turns riding in the Tin Lizzie, and last Mom drove Trevor and Skye to the pizza place nearby. It was funny to see them go since they were siblings but I'm talking more about how it's very believable even with Trevor's skin color being dark in this life. They're still like siblings and I bet it was fun in the car together, though it was such a short trip.
We ate in the front yard, fun, and we ran around a tiny little bit before we went to the kitchen and the adults made us hot fudge sundaes. Those were the best since we had Ghirardelli fudge and whipped cream too and we ate those in the backyard before Skye and Mary sang a song for us… I guess I should say me 'cause I was asking them so we could dance. And they did and didn't get mad at me so I'm so happy about that. It was one of Paul's songs. Flying to My Home and they sang it so well, you could really tell they enjoyed it, and the rest of us did too. Mari and I were dancing together during it and the other kids were dancing too but we were the only two that partnered up. I wonder if Mari and I could ever dance at competitions or something like that in public, I think we dance really well too.
After the song we played together and then had to come inside as the younger of us kids were starting to fall asleep and needed to be put to bed. We listened to some records on the Victrola (Mom and Dad showed the others that and the Westinghouse) until Eliza, Fleur, Ivy and Iris needed to go to bed. Now we're here and writing in our diaries. I can't wait for tomorrow, but I'll have to see if I can reply tomorrow. So night Evangeline!
Closing her diary, Julia looked at the others and was relieved to see the other girls were finishing up their entries and closing the books they had. When they were done she said, "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
Laughing with the other two girls, Mari said, "I knew you were going to say that."
"Well, we have a little more time until we have to go to bed," Julia said, looking at the clock on her wall. "What else do you want to do?"
"I wish you'd tell us about the Academy," Mari said. "But maybe you two can say why you didn't go there yet."
"We've only been here twice," Kathleen said first.
"Mum and Mom wanted us to go to other places," Marie said. "Like the zoo."
"We'll go next time," Julia said. "But at least you've seen a lot of the city."
"What about me?" Mari said with a pout.
"You'll see," Julia told her firmly. She then smiled and said, "I wish that we could go to the zoo too, but there's a lot to see here." She looked at the McDouglas girls and said, "What do you think about going to Chinatown?"
"We're excited to see the Dim Sum restaurant," Marie said first.
"She's right," Kathleen said swiftly in agreement with her twin. "We've been to a regular one before, but not Dim Sum. Mom and Mum didn't remember it back then."
"Of course not," Julia said. "It took until my dad remembered," she said. "But you're going to love everywhere we go."
"I can't wait," Mari said eagerly. She laughed softly as her friend hugged her tightly and she then said, "What about your dance?" to Marie.
Julia was jolted by the sudden reminder of that and she looked at the girl to see how she would respond when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked with the others to the doorway and seeing it was their parents she groaned before her father was speaking jokingly to them.
"Well if you guys want to be exhausted tomorrow…" Castle began.
"No, we'll go to bed," Julia said as she smiled and got off the edge of her bed. She went to her parents as the others were going to theirs and exchanged I love yous before sharing a kiss with them both. She and Mari climbed onto the bed and her mother tucked them in quickly before Marie and Kathleen were set on the air mattress in the middle of the room.
"Don't stay up talking girls, Rick and I will check on you once we come up to go to our room," Beckett said in the doorway with the other parents.
"We won't," the four girls said at the same time.
"Goodnight," Beckett said laughingly with the others before they were leaving the doorway. Heading downstairs, she asked David and Rebecca, "Did the Delvins ask you to come back to the house at any time?"
"No, we told them we wouldn't be out that long," David said first. "Since we're going to be doing the tourist stuff."
"Did they give you any suggestions?" Skye asked with a smile.
"Basically where we'll go this trip," Rebecca said.
"Do you guys want some wine before we head to bed?" Castle asked them.
"I would like some whiskey," Mary said. "But only a little."
"How'd you see they had it?" Darnley asked her.
"It wasn't hard to spot," Mary replied, going to the cabinet where the pair had put a couple bottles of liquor. "I can see a bottle of Jameson's a mile away."
"Should you be worried?" Beckett asked Skye jokingly as her husband took the bottle and turned to the glasses he'd gotten out.
"No, she'll only have a bit," Skye replied.
Once he had poured out for everyone, Castle handed the glasses and they stepped outside together to sit at the patio table. "What're our first impressions?" he asked after they were settled.
"It's a great house," Mary said first.
"She's right, then and now," Nkosi added. "And I'm glad you invited us to see it as well."
"It would have been awkward to not have you here," Beckett said with a smile.
"Same for Christmas," Castle said slowly.
"Stop, we told you it was okay," Rebecca said in a mock scolding tone. "And it makes sense it'd be the three of you; it's what your families were for a long time. Though why didn't Brad and Lily join you?"
"They were in the city for a while," Beckett replied. "It wasn't until they moved to Sausalito that they joined us."
"Think we could have a Christmas with them?" Castle asked his wife then.
"We'd be packed in here," Darnley said quickly.
"It's why we went with three extra bedrooms," Castle commented. "You and Trevor could have one of them and Jim could go back to Johanna's bedroom."
"We'll think about it," David said. "Since we don't need to this year."
"What time are you guys waking up?" Rebecca asked.
"Seven-thirty," Castle answered. "Enough time to get up and have a quick breakfast before we get ready."
"What time does the Academy open?" Darnley asked.
"Nine-thirty," Beckett answered. "So we'll have time to take it easy and not have to rush."
"Well," David said, looking at his wife. "If that's the case then we should head to our room and get some sleep."
"We should probably all get some sleep," Skye said as they were getting up from the table as they'd long since finished their drinks.
"We're coming over for breakfast?" Rebecca asked then to make sure.
"Yeah, I don't want to put any pressure on the Delvins for meals," Beckett replied.
"Great, we'll see you tomorrow," Rebecca said.
After the two had said goodnight to them, leaving the backyard down the driveway to go out the front gate, Skye and Mary were next to go to the guest house. Castle and Beckett followed Darnley and Nkosi to the hall outside the room the men were going to share.
"I can't wait for Christmas later this year," Darnley told Beckett eagerly.
Smiling, she said, "I can't either, but we'll be packed here too."
"You said it'd be finished by then?" Nkosi asked.
Nodding Castle said, "The week before Christmas."
"Where will Martha stay?" Nkosi asked.
"She told us already she'll be taking one of the rooms," Castle said. "I guess the last one left if your parents are going to the guest house too."
"And again, I'm excited," Darnley said.
Laughing, Beckett went to Nkosi and hugged him tightly before she went to Darnley and embraced him as hard as she could. "It's going to be great showing you around," she told him when they'd let go of each other.
"Yeah, after what we drove through earlier I'm ecstatic," Darnley said. "Night you guys."
"Goodnight," Nkosi said, nodding to the two.
"Night," Beckett said, her husband saying the same. After the two were going into the room, she reached for her husband's hand and they went together through the kitchen and dining room before he was stopping her just past the doorway. "We need to go upstairs," she told him as she knew what he was planning on doing.
Castle was going to protest, but he knew she was right so he merely nodded his head before he brought her hand up to his lips, brushing them against the back before they were heading to the stairs and up to the second floor where they checked on the girls in both Julia's room and then Eliza's. They were all sleeping by then, so they continued up to their bedroom and he closed the door behind him. They changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth in silence before he went to get the bed ready for his wife as she was brushing her hair. When she walked out to him, he was about to ask if they needed to go straight to bed when she was answering his question before he could speak.
"I think we can do something for a little," Beckett was saying. "But I wasn't planning on taking my clothes off."
"I figured," Castled said, getting onto the bed.
"Are you disappointed?" Beckett asked.
Shaking his head quickly Castle said, "We traveled today of course."
"Of course," Beckett said, smiling at him before she got onto her side of the bed. She looked at her husband questioningly before he pulled her onto his lap, and she was smiling again at him while she wrapped her arms around his neck. They kissed gently before she said, "Now I'm wondering if this is safe."
"I think so," Castle said easily as he was running his hand up and down her side slowly.
"Rick," Beckett said gently, though slightly sternly at the same time.
"Yes," Castle said. He smiled when his wife laughed and shook her head before he told her, "I know, I'll really try to watch myself." He saw the way she was looking at him and said, "Seriously, I will."
Beckett laughed briefly and leaned down, brushing her lips against his before she pulled away saying, "You realize I was going to do that myself."
"Oh good, now I can focus on this," Castle said before he leaned over to her and kissed her as hard as he could. At the same time, he wrapped his arms around her tighter, bringing her flush against his chest. Their tongues were tangling together at that point and they were both groaning tasting each other. He let that last for some time before he needed to breathe and he pulled away from her and said, "You're watching me, right?"
"I am," Beckett assured him, leaning her forehead against his temple. "But I can only do that for so long."
"Then I have to stop kissing you?" Castle asked, pulling away to look at her.
Beckett nearly laughed at the tone of her husband's voice as he'd said that, but she was soon saying, "No, but we can't do that for very long."
Sighing Castle said, "We better stop though love… I'm going to get out of control."
"Me too," Beckett said. She saw her husband was going to speak but brushed her lips against his and told him, "I will." Getting off his lap, she waited for him to take off his glasses before he set them aside on the nightstand. She turned off the light on hers while he was doing so on his and she then said, "I'm getting a lot of déjà vu."
"That's understandable," Castle commented. "Since we did this repeatedly." He laid down on his back before she was laying against his side and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "And it never got boring."
Laughing softly Beckett said, "I don't think it'd get boring."
"No, but the repetitiveness," Castle said. He felt her tilting her head up to him and he said, "What?"
"Are you going to be alright?" Beckett asked. Her eyes had gotten more used to the darkness so she could see his expression and said, "It's not hard to notice."
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Castle said hurriedly, not surprised she had noticed him. "Let's just get some sleep."
Leaning up slightly, Beckett gently kissed his jaw before he leaned down to kiss her tenderly. When they parted, she said, "I wonder how you're going to dream."
"Oh, I know already," Castle said. "Fully sexual." He smiled when she laughed in reaction and then asked her, "The same for you?"
"Most likely," Beckett replied.
"Will you tell me tomorrow night?" Castle asked hopefully.
"Pervert," Becket told him in amusement. "And I will, since I'm sure you're going to let me know what you dream." She smiled as he nodded before they were kissing then and she said, "I love you Rick."
"I love you too Kate," Castle said quickly. "Night love."
"Night," Beckett replied. She moved to press her cheek to his shoulder and closed her eyes before letting herself fall asleep. When she had done so and was dreaming, she would remember it to tell her husband as it was also a memory of their past life though she wouldn't be able to explain why it had come to her. It was early in hers and her husband's marriage, after she had given birth to Eliza but before she was pregnant with Alexis. She and her husband were alone in their room at night and she was in the bathroom, brushing out her hair before he came up behind her.
"Are you swell?" Rick asked as his wife was smiling at him.
"Oh, I am," Kate replied. She set aside her brush and turned around to him before she was gasping as her husband had abruptly picked her up. "Rick, you sap, I could walk!" she said, though there wasn't much to her protest. When he set her down next to their bed she was about to reach for the sheets when she froze with a gasp as Rick was pulling her back to him. "You… ooh," she breathed out in joy as he reached up in front of her and cupped her breasts.
"I feel as if I'm stifling in these clothes love," Rick breathed to her huskily, nuzzling her ear with his lips through her hair. He was startled slightly when she was pulling away from him and he watched her while she was reaching for her nightgown. That pushed him to help her and once it was off her body, he was tempted to go to her bared breasts, but he paused when he realized something. "Why don't you have anything on?" he asked as she'd been naked.
Smiling at her husband, Kate gently tilted his head up so he was looking at her and she told him, "I knew what you wanted already."
"I'm that glad you do," Rick said, about to lean down to kiss her. But before he could she was unbuttoning his pajama top and he stopped so he could help her. Once they had finished with his pajamas, he was relieved when she moved to the bed and he was swift to join her.
Smiling as her husband took a moment before he was going down to her, Kate gently reached up and lightly brushed her fingertips to his lips before she asked, "What will you do to me my love?"
"For you," Rick corrected her. "And you'll see soon enough." With that he moved down to her before he was kissing her lovingly for a while until it became a lot more intense. When they parted to breathe, he smiled at her and asked, "Would you want me to please you?"
"Yes, I desire you greatly Rick," Kate told him before she watched him moving down to her breasts. She moaned in joy as her husband was moving to kiss at the mounds before suckling them eagerly. She could feel her sex throbbing heavily already and she was going to tell him to hurry when he soon pulled away from her to start kissing down her body. She was trembling in joy at the same time since he was gently flicking his tongue out to her skin as if to taste her. When he reached her sex, she was about to thank him when he was asking her a question that surprised her and slightly irritated her before she responded.
"Do you want me to?" Rick asked his wife. He was a little started to see her frown, but it was momentary as she was speaking.
"Of course, please hurry my love!" Kate told him earnestly.
Rick was doing as his wife had asked immediately and went in between her legs, licking and sucking and fondling where he needed to to make her reach her peak which she was soon after doing. He had to hold onto her to make sure she didn't move away from him and once he had finished cleaning her gently, he pulled away. He was about to speak when she was suddenly pushing him onto his back, and he was about to speak when she was kissing him as hard as she could. He was grunting at first before that became a groan and he held onto her tightly as she lay directly on top of him. Once they were parting, he raised his head slightly and brushing his lips to hers murmured, "What do we do now?"
Smiling at him leaving the decision to her, Kate sat up and straddled her husband's body. She pressed his length to her folds and moved against him as she had discovered he enjoyed her doing and feeling him gripping at her hips she knew he was then. She did that for only a little longer before slipping him within her until their skin was meeting. She sighed in pleasure at the feel of him deeply within her and told him that before her husband was grasping her derriere with both his hands. "Oh!" she cried out slightly as he was squeezing with both. "Do you want me to begin?" she asked him.
"Yes," Rick nearly growled to her. He gently slapped her, surprised when she raised herself up so much he slipped out of her. "Kate…" he started to say.
"I'm so sorry," she said in concern. Kate thought her husband was angry when he didn't say anything else, but he was suddenly turning her onto her back before he moved to thrust nearly savagely into her body. She let out a heavy cry until they were coupled again, breathing heavily before he kissed her hungrily. Once they had exhausted themselves doing that, she begged him, "Please take me Rick, I want to feel you again."
"I will my love," he told her seriously. Before he moved though Rick was kissing her deeply again and then said, "I always will, Sheba. I love you"
"Sheik," Kate told him seriously. "I love you." When her husband proceeded to thrust in her she was crying out, filled with pleasure and knowing she wasn't going to stop needing him to make her feel that. Before she could focus on what they would do after that bout, Kate's attention was drawn to her husband as he kissed her and she lost herself in him while they moved to give one another the utmost joy so intimately coupled that late spring night.