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: Loved getting the feedback for the last chapter so I'll go into my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Happy reading you thought it was very good writing!)
Mb (Great to see you thought it was a very nice look at them all going back to the house in Mill Valley. Not surprised you mentioned more memories, I thought that would happen, lol. And I though more of the fact that since they'd met the neighbors across the street already they'd check on them and go with that option, lol, but not surprised you mentioned them still on their guard because of Tyson. And I was glad you thought it was very nice seeing them together remembering and enjoying themselves too. I wasn't surprised you thought it was a little sad that Martha wasn't a part of that in their past life and Jim only a little bit but at least they're sharing it the present with them in the house. I was really pleased to see you were happy that Josie said dada. I had to laugh at you saying good job Eliza, but I'm not surprised you saw her trying to get Josie to say that more out of her and Julia, lol, I did too. You're welcome for the first half of the chapter! Glad to see you thought the second half was a wonderfully written update too. And I'm happy you loved the connection between the siblings in the past becoming more fully formed since their memories were coming back to Skye and Nkosi too. I was pleased you could definitely see them in the Tin Lizzie, and I agree those kinds of cars are definitely something to see! I'm glad I had you laughing at Eliza trying to climb the tree, lol, but to be honest I just see her as doing that. And I'm so glad you loved the flashback/shared dream Castle and Beckett had, I'll agree with you there, lol. You're welcome for the second half!).
Thanks 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 part of the titles of the song San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) by John Phillips, from the Scott McKenzie album The Voice of Scott McKenzie.
Flowers In Your Hair
"I cannot wait for this place," Darnley was saying to Beckett.
"Already?" she asked with a smile as she turned to him behind her in the line to get tickets. Beckett laughed softly when he nodded rapidly and she asked him, "How come?"
"Do you see that T-Rex fossil in the entry there?" Darnley replied, motioning with his head to the inside of the building.
"I've seen it," Beckett said. "Twice already."
"So it's nice inside?" Darnley asked.
"You'll see," Beckett said easily before she turned ahead as they were walking down the line more. She was startled when she felt her friend's hand raising the braid her hair was in and turned back to him saying, "Are you reverting to grade school?"
Making a face at her, Darnley said, "I told you I never did that. No, just admiring your braid."
"Tell that to Julia," Castle said, standing next to his wife.
"She's the one that braided it?" Darnley asked. When the two nodded he looked for the girl and seeing her by the railing for the line, called her over.
"What's wrong?" Julia asked, jogging over to them.
"Nothing, your dad told me that you braided your mom's hair," Darnley said.
"Yeah, I did that when I was younger too," Julia replied, wondering why her parents were smiling at each other. "Why?" she then asked.
"It's really good," Darnley replied. He saw they were at the front of the line and he told her quickly, "You're really good at it."
"Thanks," Julia said with a smile before she hurried over to the other kids. "They're going to buy the tickets now," she told them.
"Oh good," Alexis said, she and her fiancé there to watch them. "I'm eager to go back in."
"You remember seeing this?" Ivy asked.
"I do," Alexis replied, smiling at her though she didn't point out that she hadn't been young the last time. She then said, "But I don't remember everything we saw then, so this'll be a great refresher."
"And you want to show Louis it right?" Eliza asked her.
"Of course," Alexis said, smiling at her fiancé.
"Don't worry," Louis was saying in a rush. "I want to see everything here since it looks quite cool already."
"It looks awesome!" Marie said with a smile. She laughed with the others before the first of their parents came over and once they were all out of the line they went to the entrance and walked inside, stopping to look at the T-Rex.
"I'm so happy you two have been here already," Skye said to Castle and Beckett when she saw they were looking at each other and holding the map in their hands.
"Let me guess, because we're leading this time?" Beckett said wryly.
"Basically," Skye replied easily. She then smiled and said, "But really, I haven't been here for years, not since before they did the refurbishment." She then looked over at Julia and commented, "You know she and Alexis could as well."
"No thanks," Alexis said first.
"Yeah, we're happy just letting you guys take care of everything," Julia added, smiling at their parents.
"Alright," Beckett said before her husband was making her take the map. "Why me?" she asked him in surprise.
"Just because I think you can pick a better route," Castle said.
"You're helping me," Beckett told him, pointing at his chest.
"Okay," Castle said so swiftly he wasn't surprised she was laughing softly. When she stopped he asked, "Are we saving that for last?" pointing to a spot on the map she had unfolded by then.
"Of course," Beckett said. She then told him, "Let's go here first."
"What is it?" Kathleen couldn't help asking.
"You'll see right now," Castle told them as they were walking to the right of the fossil. They went to the earthquake exhibit and he was about to tell his wife they should let Darnley and Nkosi know about the house when she was heading over to the men suddenly.
Listening to his friend telling them about the house they could see at the other end of the exhibit, Darnley said, "We'll have to stay out with them."
"Actually," Jim said. "I think Martha and I will stay with them."
"You don't mind?" Nkosi asked in surprise.
"Not really," Martha answered first. "Since of course we've been told what's at the end of the exhibit in the house. I'd like to stay on solid ground, and we were planning to take Josie already."
"Alright, hopefully they'll be calm while we're going through this," Darnley said. "Thank you though," he told the two while they were getting Maddy and Keo.
"Wait," Jim said, going over to them quickly. "Dani?" he asked David and Rebecca.
"Oh, please take her," the mayor said, taking his youngest from his wife and letting Beckett's father take her. "We'll see you when we finish."
"Be a good girl," Rebecca said to the little girl. She smiled at the others and said, "She was looking at the emu there."
"At least she doesn't seem to mind she has to go," Mary commented before they were looking over at the kids with Jim and Martha.
"I thought Maddy or Keo would fuss," Darnley said. "Luckily they're being good." They continued through the line and before they were going inside a dome ahead, he went over to Beckett. "You're not worried about Eliza?" he asked her.
"No, she knows what's here," Beckett replied. "Julia's told her about it, and she'll fuss if we have her go with the younger kids."
"That makes sense," Darnley said after he nodded in understanding.
After they had gone into the dome to watch the movie on earthquakes, Castle wasn't surprised when their entire group was taking up the house. "Hold on tight to the railing, okay?" he told Eliza.
"I will," the little girl said. "I don't want to fall down." She smiled when her father playfully tickled her and then turned to her mother as the demonstration was starting. When the first earthquake started, she couldn't help letting out a short scream before she was nearly scrambling to hold onto the railing. When it stopped, Eliza assured her parents as they were getting ready for the next one, she tried holding tighter though she wasn't sure how it could get worse.
When the 1906 earthquake demonstration began, Julia was worried about her best friend as she had let out a scream. She wanted to hug her to comfort her, but the shaking was too rough, and she waited until it had stopped to do so. "Are you okay?" she asked her as she wrapped her arms around her.
"Yeah, I didn't think the earthquake was that big," Mari said. "Thanks," she then told her friend as they were leaving the mock house.
"It was," Marie told her. "Look at the pictures out here," she then said, pointing to the ones on the wall.
"Oh… this is of the other bridge, right?" Mari asked Julia as they came to one picture.
"It is, the Bay Bridge," she replied. "That picture scared me a lot when I was a little kid," Julia added. "Since it would be so scary if you were on that bridge when that happened."
"Definitely," Mari said.
"Hey," Beckett said to the two girls as they had lingered at the picture while the others had left. "Come on, we're going to go to another exhibit now."
"Okay," Julia said, taking her friend's hand before they walked next to her mother. "What's… I remember this!" she started to ask before she stopped when they were joining the others at the albino alligator. "He's still here," she said to her mother as she and Mari had let go of each other's hands to take pictures of Claude below them.
"He is, they live a long time," Castle replied. "But this wasn't where we were heading, it's just a pause."
Eliza smiled at her father and said, "I like the pause."
"Is it because he reminds you of Carlow?" Castle asked.
"Yeah," Eliza replied. She then sighed and said, "I miss him."
"I know sweetie, but Jacob and Brad promised they'd go to make sure he gets his meals," Beckett told her as she had been expecting Eliza to say that.
"I still miss him," the little girl said firmly. Eliza smiled when her mother did and hugged her tightly before she kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Mommy."
"You're welcome," Beckett said. "Are we ready to go though?" she directed to the others.
"I am," Eliza said, raising her hand up high.
Beckett smiled down at her and said, "Alright, apparently only Eliza and I are going."
"No, we're following," Darnley said in mock annoyance. As they were walking around the piazza he said, "Does anyone else feel like they sort of remember this place?"
"I do," Mary said.
"But of course it looked far different back then," Skye pointed out. They came to the beginning of the African Hall, seeing the first two displays with animals, and she smiled saying, "A lot different."
Once the kids had gotten their fill of the two, they made their way to the Human Odyssey exhibit, the older ones looking at the different skulls on display in awe before they were walking down.
"Are those real?" Fleur asked as she could see the end of the hall.
"Wait until we're there sweetheart," Mary told her with a smile. "We have a lot of animals to see still."
As they were walking past all the different dioramas, Maddy was tugging at Nkosi's hand and asking him, "Are those at home Tata?"
"They are at a park," Nkosi said with a nod. "And we'll see them some day," as she was pointing to the antelope like animals at the diorama they had reached. "Come and see these," he said as they were nearing the last part of the hall.
"Now can we see the real animals?" Fleur asked the adults when they'd seen the last diorama.
"You can," Castle said with a nod. "Though really, why did you look at us to answer that?" he said since the others had turned to him and his wife.
"Making sure there wasn't a secret door or something," Skye said.
"I'm glad to know you're kidding," Beckett said wryly to her.
"Oh…" Skye started to say before her friend was pushing at her lightly. She laughed and said, "Don't hurt your sister."
"When you talk like that…" Beckett teased her before she stopped as they went over to the African penguins' habitat. She was holding onto Josie by then, watching as the baby was following the penguin that was swimming in the water in front of them at that point.
"What do you think about those sweetheart?" Castle asked her and he gently brushed her hair off her forehead.
"Bir, ba… Mama!" Josie squealed, bouncing in her mother's arms.
"She almost said bird!" Eliza said eagerly.
"I know," Alexis said, since her sister was holding her hand tightly for a moment. "She might learn to talk quickly."
"It's good progress," Beckett said with a smile as Castle was kissing the baby's cheek lovingly to her giggle. She then said, "But I'm just glad she's enjoying herself."
"You thought the dioramas would scare her?" Jim asked.
"I did," Beckett told him with a nod. She smiled as her youngest leaned over to her father and she watched him take her, talking to her gently before he pointed back to the penguins so she would watch as one jumped out of the water and onto the rocks.
"She's amused," Skye could help saying.
"I think we all are," Mary said. She then glanced at Castle and said, "What's on your mind?"
"You sounded like Queen Victoria saying that," Castle commented, smiling at the investigator.
"Not surprised you said that, but I didn't know you were aware of what she sounded like," Skye told him teasingly.
Smiling, Castle said, "How I imagine she'd sound."
"Nice cheat," Skye said. She was laughing with the other adults before she asked the writers, "Where exactly are we going to head to next?"
"We'll head up to the top of the building," Castle said simply as he and Beckett had spoken about where they'd go swiftly together as the others had been looking at the Human Odyssey exhibit.
"Then what is next?" Julia asked her parents as they were going back down the hall to leave it.
"You'll see it," Beckett said, not surprised when her second oldest looked annoyed. "We'll get there soon sweetie, don't worry."
"I know, I just can't remember what's up the building besides…" Julia said, trailing off as she wanted the others to be surprised by the roof. When they headed up to the third floor, she still couldn't recall what was there until they stepped inside the room and gasped saying, "I sort of remember this."
"They've expanded on this collection," Skye suddenly said before Castle or Beckett could reply to their daughter. She saw the others looking at her and told them, "I do remember that since I can't resist gemstones. We better start though; we've only scratched the surface here of course."
With some laughter, and eagerness from the kids, the group started to walk through the different displays, Julia lingering at the gemstones the most with Mari next to her.
"They're so pretty," Julia breathed, staring at the blue topaz stones in front of them.
"You like these?" Mari asked.
Hearing her friend's tone of voice, Julia turned her head to her and said, "You didn't think I would?"
"I thought you'd like the sapphires better," Mari explained to her.
"Oh, I do," Julia said with a nod. "But I think I love the colors of the topaz."
"What about aquamarines?" Mari asked.
Smiling, Julia shook her head and told her friend, "That's my mom's gemstone, I'd feel weird really wearing it when I've seen her with it since I was four."
"They are pretty though," Mari said, seeing what her friend meant. She then smiled and said, "You should tell your parents."
Shaking her head yet again, Julia said, "I'd feel bad, my dad did buy me my emerald."
"That's true," Mari said simply. She then giggled with her friend before she said, "But… oh, everyone's leaving."
Turning from the display, Julia saw her friend was right and said, "At least my gram waited."
"I was just about to call you girls," Martha said.
"Did you volunteer?" Mari couldn't help asking.
"Of course," Martha said firmly. "I can't resist these gems; I'm surprised you're the only two girls that couldn't either."
"Yeah," Julia said, realizing that all the other girls had left too. "Why?"
"Who really knows?" Martha said with a smile. "But it means you take after me Julia."
"Good," she replied. Julia smiled when her grandmother looked surprised and she hugged her with one arm saying to Mari, "She loves jewelry."
"I remember you told me," the girl said, following them to the others outside. "Sorry," Mari said to her parents. "We liked the gemstones too much to stop looking."
"I hope you took a lot of pictures," David told his oldest.
"Yep, a ton," Mari assured them before they were heading up the stairs together.
Julia had stayed by her friend as they were going up and when they had reached the living roof, she turned to her and said, "What do you think?"
"Oh wow, this is cool," Mari breathed before she smiled at her friend.
"Really cool," Kathleen said. "Why did they do this though?"
"It's better for the environment," Alexis answered, smiling at the girl's honest interest. "And it might be how things go in the future."
"For homes?" Ivy asked.
"And buildings in the city," Alexis said.
"There are some in LA," Mary said, knowing what the young woman was wondering. She looked out at the plants and said, "This was the best addition."
"Second best," Beckett said. She smiled when the doctor looked at her in surprise and told her, "We saw it walking by," speaking in Irish.
"I forgot about that already," Mary said.
Looking at his watch then, Castle went to his wife, having to let Josie go to her before he told her, "It's about time for lunch."
"Already?" Darnley said in surprise, looking at his watch. "Oh… wait… what?"
"Are you going to complete a sentence?" Nkosi asked teasingly.
"I will at some point," Darnley replied. "Hey," he said jokingly, pointing to his mouth. "I just did." He laughed when his husband playfully socked his shoulder and wrapped his arm around him for a moment to squeeze him in a sideways hug. They left the roof with the others at that point and went down to the main floor before he asked, "Where exactly are we going to eat?"
"Where we usually eat here," Beckett said quickly. "The Academy Café."
"Sounds good," Darnley said quickly.
Shaking her head as she was laughing, Beckett told him, "You do realize that tells you nothing about it."
"Café?" Darnley pointed out to her. He smiled at her rolling her eyes before they were walking into the restaurant and started to walk around the food before they had it on trays and went to the seating area.
"Fishies!" Keo cried out when the kids caught sight of the fish tank.
"I want to sit there Mommy," Dani was saying to Rebecca.
"Let's see if we can first," the lawyer told her daughter.
"Could Mari and I sit with Marie and Kath?" Julia asked her parents quickly.
"Go ahead, we'll sit at the table next to you," Beckett answered as her husband was looking at her.
"Thanks," Julia said eagerly before she headed over to one of the empty ones with her friends. As they were sitting together, she wanted to ask if they liked the place, but they were soon starting to eat their food and she realized she was hungry. She wasn't sure how long she was eating her sandwich but finally couldn't wait anymore and set the half-finished half of it before Mari was speaking just before she could about the entire museum they'd seen so far.
"I wish I knew about this place before," the girl said. Mari then smiled and said, "Even though I wouldn't have come until now. It's so cool, even though we're not finished all the way."
"I saw the dome thing," Kathleen said.
Laughing softly Julia said, "You'll see it, my mom and dad are saving it for last."
"You better believe we are," Castle told them, he and Beckett with Eliza and Josie at the table behind Julia and Mari. "It's the best part."
"Dad," Julia said laughingly.
"What? It's a spoiler alert?" Castle asked, smiling at his wife across from him.
Shaking her head and trying not to laugh at the expression on his face Beckett said, "No, but it might make things worse."
"It doesn't," Marie said. "Unless that's all there's left?"
"There's more," Skye said on the other side of the girls' table. "But you'll see it soon enough if you go back to your food."
After they stopped laughing, the four girls at the table went back to eating though they talked a little bit about the rest of their trip. When they'd finished, they picked up their trash before they were leaving and Mari went with Julia to the latter's parents.
"Are we going downstairs?" Julia asked them as they were walking.
"We are," Beckett said, glancing at her friend.
"To see the alligator closer?" Mari asked.
"You'll see right now," Julia told her, smiling widely before they were heading down a flight of stairs they'd come to by the Swamp habitat.
"An aquarium!" Iris said happily.
"Fishies!" Keo squealed in Nkosi's arms.
"Now you know," Julia said with a smile to her friend.
"How're we going?" Skye called to Castle and Beckett.
"This way," he said, motioning for them to follow him and his wife to the California Coast section. As they were looking at the aquariums there were, including the large tank meant to resemble the sanctuaries off the coast of the state, Castle went over to his wife as she was gently rocking Josie since their baby had started to cry. "Come on sweetheart," he told her as she looked at him. He gently dried off her cheeks carefully with his thumbs and said, "We're leaving the biggest thing for last just so you can see it ceann beag."
"Dada," Josie said with a whimper.
"I know, but sleep and then you'll have a chance to see everything once you're awake," Castle replied, leaning over and kissing her forehead. He watched Beckett continue trying to get her to sleep and once she was and in her stroller he said in a low voice against her ear, "Are we coming back to the tidepool again?"
"Of course," Beckett said, smiling at him. She wasn't surprised when he gave her a brief kiss and once they parted, she said, "You're going to have to watch that," speaking in Irish.
"Just the one," Castle said. He couldn't help chuckling briefly when his wife looked at him in obvious doubt and said, "I had to try."
"Let me take her Kate," Martha said, coming over to them.
"Are you tired?" Beckett asked her mother in law in slight concern.
"Oh no, I'd just like to mind her until she's awake," Martha said.
Looking at the others to see where her father was, Beckett smiled when she spotted him with Eliza, Julia and Mari at the large tank. "Alright, but if you want to sit and wait for us at all let us know," she told her.
"I will, go with the girls," Martha replied before she took hold of her youngest granddaughter's stroller and walked after the others as they were going away from the tank.
Letting out a playful gasp Darnley told Maddy that he was holding, "I see a pool up ahead honey."
"A pool?" the toddler asked eagerly.
"Not to swim, but for starfish," Darnley explained as they reached it then.
"Ooh… Keo!" Maddy said, looking for her brother when she saw them in the pool.
"Fishies!" the baby said with a smile.
"Can we touch these Mommy, Mummy?" Ivy asked, trying not to sound impatient.
"You may, but make sure that you'll wash your hands," Skye said first.
"I will," Iris said before they were stepping up to the pool.
"We can touch everything?" Eliza asked as she was looking into the water.
"Yeah," Julia said. "I touched the starfish and the urchins when I was here before."
"What about the shell?" Mari asked eagerly.
"Here," Julia said, reaching for the abalone shell and passing it to her friend since it was empty though she didn't take it out of the water.
"Wow," Mari breathed in awe. "It's so pretty," she said. "Dani, look," she then told her sister as she was in their father's arms next to her.
"Is it for me?" Dani asked happily.
"Keep it under the water," Rebecca told her.
"It feels so weird," Mari said with a soft laugh as they'd moved to the starfish. She brushed her fingers lightly over the sea urchin and smiled at Julia saying, "This is great."
"I know, I thought it was really cool…" the girl started to say before she trailed off. Julia turned to her parents and asked them, "What about Josa?"
"She'll get the chance to when we're finished with the last thing," Castle said.
"Oh… I forgot," Julia said before she looked over in surprise as Darnley and Nkosi were taking their kids to the nearby sink and Rebecca wasn't too far behind.
"I forgot they had to have naps too," Eliza said. "I'm so glad I don't have to take a nap anymore," she said to Fleur and Iris she was standing with.
"Me too," Fleur said. "I never liked it and you miss so much."
"At least your baby sister got to see some things here before she went to sleep," Iris told her.
Nodding Eliza said, "I wish she could see more… I'm gonna ask my mommy and daddy."
"We're not going to walk through the whole aquarium again," Beckett said as the little girl approached herself and Castle. "But we'll show her what we're going to walk to next." She was aware Eliza wanted to know what that was but was amused when she merely nodded before taking Castle's hand. They started to make their way through the aquarium once their hands were clean and the next three youngest were fast asleep. When they were looking at the jellyfish tanks, she went to her mother in law to see how Josie was doing.
"She's been fine," Martha said, smiling while her daughter in law bent over the baby. "A little shifting here and there but otherwise she's sleeping well. Will there be enough time before the very last thing you're intending us to see."
"I hope so," Beckett replied honestly. "Since I don't want to take the stroller in there." She straightened up and told her mother in law, "We did miss you while we were here."
"I'm glad to hear that, but you do recall I left you four on your own to let you become a closer family," Martha stated.
"We're aware Mother," Castle said, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders. "But Kate's right. And Julia did miss you."
Laughing softly, Martha nodded as she remembered how the only five-year-old Julia had told her about everything they'd seen and she said, "I'm very lucky in my grandchildren."
As they were following her, since the others were continuing from the jellyfish, Castle moved to take his wife's hand and he entwined their fingers before he couldn't help saying in Irish, "I did dream of you last night."
Smiling, since they'd focused on their family and guests after waking up to get into the city, Beckett then replied in the same language, "I did too, but not here okay?" When she saw the way he nodded, frowning, she said with a smile, "We'll have to try that another time."
"You knew I wanted to kiss you?" Castle asked. At her brief nod he said, "I can't really help myself. But not too much later, right?"
"We'll see how things go," Beckett said in amusement. When she saw the way he was pursing his lips, she was going to start teasing him about being impatient when Eliza was rushing back to them and he was speaking to her first swiftly though they both knew what had her so excited.
"Don't run, don't run," Castle said. "I know you saw it, but we need to walk there first."
"Could I go swimming in it?" Eliza asked as she took her parents' hands.
"If you got a job here and could scuba dive," Beckett said.
"You and Daddy can?" Eliza said to make sure.
"We do," Beckett replied.
"Do you want to learn to scuba dive?" Castle asked her.
"Maybe," Eliza said after she thought that over. She came to the acrylic window of the huge Philippine Coral Reef tank. She stepped right up to it, pressing her hands against it before she breathed out, "It's so pretty."
"The fish are too," Fleur said eagerly as she stood next to her. "Look at 'ow many!"
"I know, it would be cool to swim here," Julia said, playfully nudging her little sister.
Giggling Eliza looked up at her and asked, "Did you hear me?"
"Of course, would you really want to scuba dive?" Julia asked.
"Would you?" Eliza said after she nodded.
"I think so, if it's not too hard to learn," Julia replied before they looked up at their parents who were standing to her right.
"I think it might be a little until you two learn," Castle said before he looked at his wife questioningly.
"I was going to say the same," Beckett said with a smile. She was about to speak when she heard a gasp from one of the McDouglas girls and looked into the tank. She looked around and saw an employee was asking people to step back. She looked at her watch and then the map before she said to the others, "They're going to do a dive show right now; want to watch?"
"I want to," Iris said.
"Me too Mommy, we'll be good," Eliza said.
"Let's go get ready," Darnley said before he glanced over at the strollers to see that all four of the youngest were awake. "At least it took us long enough," he commented.
"Josa," Julia said, going over to her grandmother who'd taken the baby out of her stroller. "Look at all the fish and you get to see it now."
Beckett let Julia take the baby as they were sitting on the steps, watching the employee calling people to see the show. She looked back and forth between the tank and Josie, pleased to see the baby was looking at the divers with wide eyes. She eventually noticed Josie was looking at the fish as well, smiling at that realization before the show finished and they were applauding with the other Academy visitors watching around them. They waited for the area to clear out before she watched in surprise as Eliza was suddenly rushing to the employee as others were asking him questions. She glanced at her husband and said, "I hope he knows how long it takes to learn," she commented with a smile.
"I think he does," Castle said as Jim was walking over to their second youngest. "What did he say?"
"He said I have to be older," Eliza said, wrinkling her nose before she laughed. "He was kidding. And he said it can take days or weeks."
"A few weeks," Jim said for his granddaughter.
"When you're old enough you can start," Beckett said as Eliza turned to her and Castle and she knew what she was going to say. "But if you still want to."
"I will," Eliza replied, smiling widely in her joy.
"Mom," Julia said, walking up to them. "Want to take Josa now?"
"Would you mind if I did?" Castle asked his wife.
"Go ahead," Beckett said with a smile.
"Thank you," Castle told her gratefully before he took their youngest, setting her on his hip. He kissed her temple and then said, "What do you think sweetheart?"
Josie was watching the fish going by them before she laughed as one turned suddenly near them. "Dada," she said before she looked up at him.
"I know, I saw them too," Castle said, nodding his head. They stood there for a little longer before he told his wife, "Should we take her now?"
"I think so," Beckett said simply. "And look at everything else before the last of it."
"Definitely," Castle said before they were going to the others to tell them what they wanted to do.
Unsurprisingly the kids clamored to do that, and they walked back to the touch pool so Josie could have a turn touching the items inside.
"What do you think Josa?" Julia asked with a smile as she and her sister were flanking their mother who'd taken the baby.
"Ab… bir… Mama!" Josie cried.
"I know sweetie," Beckett said, unable to help laughing and kissing her temple. "I'm glad to know you like them." Since the little girl had touched everything she could, she told her, "Let's go wash your hands and we can see the one thing we made everyone wait for."
"She's excited to go see it," Eliza said as Josie squealed suddenly.
"Come on," Castle said, leading the way to the sink and helping his wife washing their baby girl's hands. Once they had finished, he said to the others, "We need to go back to the main floor and that way takes us through the rest of the aquarium."
"We're ready," David said.
"More than ready, you're driving us crazy with the last thing," Darnley said jokingly.
Julia smiled when her parents laughed before they started to walk through everything until they got to where they came down the steps. They headed up them and she tried not to race before they got in line at the side of the dome. She squeezed Mari's hand, since they were standing together, and was about to look ahead when her friend was asking her something she didn't realize she was doing.
"You're not looking inside there," Mari told her.
"No," Julia replied slowly as it came to her that she was. "I guess I want to wait until we're there."
"I haven't looked either," Mari said. She laughed when Julia hugged her tightly and then said, "I promise."
"I trust you," Julia said with a smile after she'd let her go. She looked ahead and saw they were starting to move and she said, "Good thing we're not wearing jackets."
Mari looked at her, wondering why she said that, but didn't have a chance to ask as they were walking into the glass dome. As soon as they had stepped inside, she was gasping as she felt how warm it was and then looked up with another gasp.
"I agree," Skye said to the girl. "I've heard how amazing this is but never expected things to look like this."
"Wait until we keep going around," Castle commented. "And go further up."
"I can't wait," Marie said with a smile.
After they had looked around the bottom of the dome for a while, the families started their way up the ramp to the next level. When they stopped there the kids looked at the different terrariums and tanks around there and walked again. The kids were taking pictures, Beckett doing the same before she looked at Skye who was next to her.
"So you looked into this," she stated.
"Yeah, I couldn't help it," Skye answered with a smile. "But I didn't know it'd be like this as I said. You heard me, right?" She laughed when her friend playfully pushed at her shoulder and said, "I'm so glad we made it here though."
"Me too," Beckett said, glancing at her four daughters; all of them with Castle looking down at the water at the bottom of the dome. She then turned to the investigator and said, "Should you head over to your family."
"I think you're asking yourself," Skye said jokingly though she was walking away from her and going to them.
Beckett went over to the railing where her family was and put her hand on her husband's back. "Want to take a picture?" she asked him when he turned to her.
Smiling Castle said, "Sure, we need to get someone to do that though."
"Why don't we take turns taking family photos?" Nkosi said as he and his family were walking up to them.
"Great but that'll take some time to do," Skye pointed out.
"I don't care," Castle said simply.
"Neither do I," Skye then said before they were laughing together.
After they had calmed down, the adults were taking turns with the pictures until they had finished, and they made their way up to the top of the dome where the older kids were immediately noticing the butterflies flying around. They were going around the top of the dome as their parents watched before Rebecca was laughing heavily.
"It's tangled in my hair," the lawyer said laughingly as her husband was trying to brush the butterfly away.
"Are you traumatized now?" David asked her.
Smiling when Rebecca rolled her eyes at him and pushed him slightly, Beckett turned to her husband and was hurriedly bringing her camera up to her face so she could look at the screen. She took a picture of him with a butterfly on the back of his hand as he was holding Josie on his hip.
"I hope you got that," Castle said as the butterfly flew away.
"Don't worry, I did," Beckett said, leaning over and kissing Josie's cheek. "You're watching him, right?"
"Hey," Castle said before he was a little breathless when she smiled up at him.
"And you're watching her?" Beckett told him.
"Of course, she might be slacking though," Castle said seriously, nodding down to her.
"I wouldn't mind if she is," Beckett said, smiling at him. She then grew a little serious as they were staring into each other's eyes and she quickly shook herself before she pulled away from him. "We should see where the others are."
"Sure," Castle said, using that to shake himself as well. He followed her to the other side of the elevator where they saw Julia and Eliza were with Mari and Dani, Alexis watching them.
"Are you guys having fun?" Beckett asked.
"They are," Alexis said in amusement when the four kids didn't say anything.
"You can go and see Louis," Castle told his oldest. "If you'd like."
"I would, he was helping Skye and Mary," Alexis said. "Their daughters kind of ran off."
"Ran?" Beckett asked though the young woman was leaving them.
"Mind if we go back to our parents?" Mari asked then. "We let them go by themselves for a little."
"To be happy," Dani said.
"Go ahead," Beckett told them. After they left, she said to Eliza, "How do you like it?"
"It's so fun!" the little girl said eagerly. "I see why Julia likes it here."
"Wait until we leave," Castle said.
"To go into the park?" Eliza asked in confusion. She became even more perplexed when her big sister laughed a little and was going to ask what was going on when the others were coming over to them.
"Are we leaving now?" Castle asked them.
"I think we're ready to go," Darnley said. "Aren't they letting in so many people at a time?"
"They are," Beckett said. "I guess we better go."
"Is that it of the Academy?" Marie asked.
"Not just yet but we're almost finished," Castle explained. "You'll see." With that they were heading into the elevator, going down until they walked around into the tunnel. He wasn't surprised when the others were gasping, and he was glad he'd given Josie to his wife as Eliza was jumping up and down and pulling on his hand. "What is it sweetie?" he asked her.
"Can I go on your shoulders?" the little girl was asking eagerly.
"Sure," Castle replied. As he picked her up, he said, "I hope you're going to take pictures."
"Oh I will, I will!" Eliza said. "Thank you, Daddy," she told him once she was settled.
"You're welcome, good luck," Castle said before he saw Beckett was walking over to him. "Should I let her have a turn on my shoulders?"
"You could," Beckett replied. "But she won't be able to take pictures."
"That's fine," Castle said. He let Eliza stay on his shoulders for a little longer before he asked, "Set?"
"Yeah, are you really going to let Josa onto your shoulders?" the little girl asked.
"Yep, it's only fair," Castle said, taking her down. Before he set her on the floor, he shared a quick kiss with her and said, "Thank you for not protesting."
"I wouldn't, Josa can see everything now," Eliza said simply before she watched as her baby sister went up on their father's shoulders. She smiled when Josie did shortly after, looking up at the top of the tunnel and said, "I'm glad she got to see everything we did."
"So are we," Beckett said.
"But we are going to bring her back right?" Castle asked. "Once she's older?"
"Yes," Beckett said with a soft laugh as he was so serious. When he got Josie off his shoulders she took Eliza's hand, and they were leaving together with the other families before going to the gift shop. She and Castle let their daughters grab one thing each along with a t-shirt before they went out into the park.
Hurrying to her mother, Julia took her hand and asked eagerly, "Could we go to the garden? Do we have enough time?"
Looking at her watch, Beckett nodded and said, "We do; you're lucky." She watched as her second oldest rushed over to Mari and then said to the other adults, "The Tea Garden is this way, we have enough time to walk around but I would suggest a snack first."
"Snack?" Marie asked Julia, walking with her, her twin and Mari.
"Yeah, you'll see once we're there," Julia said. She saw the way the twins were looking at each other and she asked, "What?"
"We've been here before," Kathleen said first.
"And you don't remember?" Mari asked, startled.
"Not really, but you should tell us," Marie replied quickly.
Looking at their mothers who were behind them, Julia saw they were shaking their heads and she said, "Nope."
"Mom, Mum!" the twins said at the same time.
"What?" Skye said, exaggerating her accent. "You two are asking for too much."
"We're here," Julia whispered to the two as they were seemed to be growing angry. She shared a relieved expression with Mari as the two calmed down seeing the entrance and she watched them going with their family. She took her friend's hand and told her, "We'll walk a little bit together?"
"Yep," Mari said with a firm nod of her head.
Julia smiled and squeezed her hand quickly before they were paying and then getting inside, looking forward to seeing everyone's reaction to their snack at the tea house.
"Sorry," Castle was saying.
"You told me that already Rick," Beckett said with a smile. They were nearly finished with their visit going through the garden, the others all at the gift shop, and her husband had suddenly pulled her away from everyone down what she knew was a random path. When he stopped, she wrapped her arms around him the second he turned to her and she said, "I love you," softly in case anyone was too close.
"I love you too," Castle said hurriedly before he leaned down to her and kissed her deeply on the lips. He knew he needed to try and keep things under control, but with them kissing after spending so much time without having the chance, he couldn't stop himself. They were trying to press even closer than they were already though that didn't work, and he had to stop them as he knew they both needed to breathe. When they pressed their foreheads against each other's he said, "You should move away from me."
Beckett laughed softly and said, "You're lucky I know what you mean by that." When her husband nodded, she was smiling before she said, "But I'm not going to listen."
Castle was surprised but when she was kissing him he soon understood and he was trying to kiss her as hard as he could since she had started that. Once they calmed down, he was about to tell her he was going to kiss her again when they heard their middle daughters' voices. "Well… that stopped us," he commented.
"It did, luckily it was them and not a stranger," Beckett said with a smile before they were going back to the gift shop. They found their family and friends there, walking down to the entrance before they were back out to the park. She saw it was still early for their reservation and was going to point that out to her husband when Darnley was asking about them staying which didn't surprise her.
"Mind if we walk around until we need to go?" the carpenter asked her.
"No, it's not going to be for that long," Beckett said as she checked her watch again. "If anybody minds," she directed to the others.
"We don't," Rebecca said.
"Which direction?" Castle asked them.
"Don't make us decide," Beckett added quickly. "We spent enough time leading you in the Academy."
"Oh, so you don't like that do you?" Skye asked teasingly. She smiled when her friend rolled her eyes and then told her, "I would say we go to the west. We're supposed to try and go to the Conservatory on Sunday, aren't we?"
"It's that way?" Nkosi asked.
"It is," Mary said.
"Have you been there?" Martha asked while they were walking together to the west.
"We have, not with Marie and Kath but we went there on our own," Mary explained.
"Wait, come this way guys," Skye said suddenly to them.
"What?" Castle asked, seeing she wanted them to go off the sidewalk on the street to a path.
"This way," Skye said simply.
"Okay, I guess we're going here," Castle told the others.
"What about that though?" Julia asked, nodding across the street.
"I saw it, we'll have to take a look at it another trip," Beckett said since her daughter was indicating the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
"Cool," Julia said before she hurried up to Mari and Kathleen, Marie following her. As they were walking, she soon saw they'd come to another street and said to Skye in confusion, "Why'd we go that-"
"There's water!" Eliza said. "Did we reach Stow Lake?"
"It is," Skye said with a smile. "I recalled we weren't too far going this way."
"Can we walk around it?" Ivy asked.
"A little," Mary said. "It's not that small and we'll have to go back to the cars."
Eliza went to her big sister then and said to Alexis, "Can I walk with you?" since she was still with Louis.
"Of course," Alexis replied, smiling down at her. She took her hand and asked, "Have you been having fun?"
"Yeah," Eliza said. "I saw a lot of reptiles."
"None were like Carlow," Louis commented.
"No, but I don't care," Eliza replied.
"Good thing," Louis said in a low tone of voice though his fiancée flicked her fingers against his arm. She didn't do that too hard and he then said to her little sister, "What do you want to see the most tomorrow?"
Alexis couldn't help laughing as Eliza was pursing her lips in her obvious thought and she said, "Everything?" when she didn't talk still.
"Yeah," Eliza replied, nodding her head rapidly.
"Then you'll have a lot of fun tomorrow," Louis said.
"Yeah," Eliza said before they were stopping at the edge of the lake again, able to see more of the water from there and she said, "It's so pretty."
"I remember it too," Julia said to her parents with a smile.
"Us too," Castle said, smiling at his wife.
"I remember it," Beckett said, rolling her eyes though she was soon after smiling at her husband as he squeezed her hand.
"I'm glad we walked over here," Darnley said, smiling at them. "Brings back memories."
Glancing at the time, Castle then said, "I hate to say it…"
"No, I'm all for it now," Darnley said.
"All for it?" Nkosi asked in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm hungry," Darnley replied before he looked down at their son who was tugging the sleeve of his shirt. "Yes?" he asked with a smile.
"Me too Dada," Keo said seriously.
Laughing, Darnley kissed his temple telling him, "Good to know, we're turning back."
"Right now," Beckett said, taking a picture of the pair before they were walking together to the parking structure they'd been at. She took Eliza's hand as the little girl came over to her and she smiled down at her before Eliza was talking eagerly about the next day. She shared a smile with her husband before they turned their attention to their daughter again as she was talking to them both until they could make their way back across the Golden Gate Bridge.