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: I was really happy getting the feedback for the last chapter, so I'll go into my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Great to see you like where I'm going with this story!) and
Mb (Happy to read you thought the last chapter was a great filler update. I'm so glad that you felt like you were there seeing everything with them. And I wasn't surprised that you loved seeing the Academy through different pairs of eyes or you said especially Eliza's since of course she's so young still. You're welcome for sharing the first half of the chapter! I was pleased you thought the second half was wonderfully written too. Nice to see you thought it was sweet with Julia writing in her diary and the girls after were talking about school and about what girls that age talk about. Glad I got that because I don't remember that age that well now, so I was kind of guessing, lol. And I was relieved you thought the expansion of the guest house being bigger made sense since I wasn't sure what readers would think of that. But I figured it looking better with the house bigger and being more room for their guests would work and I'm so happy that I was right! I wasn't surprised at you saying it then went bam to Castle and Beckett being their quintessential and sexy selves! You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).
Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them as usual and I'm grateful for 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 Left My Heart in San Francisco written by Douglas Cross, from Tony Bennett's single.
Cable Cars Climb
"What do you think?" Julia asked, standing next to Skye.
"It's like we were here just yesterday," the investigator said, shaking her head in awe though it looked nothing like it had before. Skye shook herself and then looked at Julia and said, "This is your first time here as well; I forgot. What do you think?"
Smiling, the girl looked back out onto Chrissy Field where they had gone to first driving into the city before speaking. "I remember it a lot… the buildings over there, the ones over there. The view when we would take off," Julia said.
"I know," Skye replied in understanding. "That was the most beautiful thing." She then turned back to the others and said, "I suppose we should share this with them."
"And Mari," Julia blurted out when they had turned to walk back to the others.
"Me what?" the girl said in surprise.
"I just realized you flew here too," Julia replied. She went over to her and took her hand, pulling her back to where she and Skye had been standing earlier. "Think, do you remember?" she asked.
Closing her eyes tightly, Mari relaxed; as Julia had recommended for recalling memories; and it didn't take her long to suddenly see a landing strip and old airplanes before her eyes opened rapidly. "I remember!" she told her friend eagerly and with a smile. "I flew here too!"
"Of course you did," Skye told her with a smile. "You were a pilot remember."
Mari smiled at Julia before she said to the others, "We remember being roommates near Long Beach." She then frowned and asked, "Why can't we remember more?"
"Not time for you to yet," Nkosi said. When the girls looked at him, he smiled at them and said, "I think it's the same. We haven't seen Maddy and Keo in our memories yet… Patrick hasn't."
Seeing Darnley hugging his husband briefly, Beckett then said, "Should we head to Fisherman's Wharf?"
"Let's walk a little bit!" Eliza said eagerly, giggling when Dani and Maddy said the same and jumped up and down.
"Alright, but not that far since we have to walk back to the cars," Skye commented.
"Are you okay?" Beckett asked her friend as she started to walk with him.
"Yeah, it's frustrating being reminded all the time that he was murdered," Darnley answered. He then glanced at Beckett and said, "I don't know how you and Rose… Skye, sorry, got through it after your dad passed away."
"Don't worry," the investigator said, walking with them by then. "And we were a close family. Plus, Kate and I had our sweethearts."
"I wasn't yet," Castle said from behind them.
"You were close," Skye told him. "You slept with her not that long after Junior was killed."
Wincing, and glad the investigator had spoken in Irish; Castle was about to speak when his wife was doing so before him to her former twin sister.
"You do know it was what I wanted right? I explained to you how he was hesitating and I wouldn't let him say no," Beckett replied, speaking the same language as Skye had.
"I'm not surprised," the investigator said in amusement.
"Tata!" Keo suddenly exclaimed.
"Yes?" Nkosi said, picking up his son who had been walking in between himself and Darnley.
"Fly!" Keo cried.
"Fa!" Josie vocalized.
Laughing with the others at the baby, Nkosi calmed down and said, "Alright, but only for a little, we have much more to see."
Going to stand next to Darnley as his husband was holding their son by the hands and spinning him, Beckett squeezed his shoulder and said, "I told you you'd find someone."
"I'm so glad I remembered when you said that," Darnley told her with a smile. He hugged her tightly before telling her, "You were such an awesome friend then."
"Just then?" Nkosi asked his husband with a smile as he was walking back to him with Keo in his arms.
"Now too, she knows that," Darnley said in mock annoyance before he took their son from him.
"Is that it?" Eliza asked when the adults were stopping then and telling them to as well.
"It is," Beckett replied. "We need to go over to the Wharf remember."
"When can we have lunch?" Eliza asked.
"Are you hungry already?" Castle responded in surprise.
"No, but I wanna know," Eliza told him.
Laughing briefly Castle said, "Around eleven so we have a little more time to walk around."
"Does anyone else want to stay longer?" Beckett asked, looking at the others.
"You don't want to stay longer Mum?" Kathleen asked.
"I'm fine, there isn't all that much to see," Skye replied. "Though I'm glad we came."
"You've never been here?" Rebecca asked while they walked back to their cars.
"No, we never had a reason to," Skye said. She then smiled and added, "Though I've known the airfield of course; just not its connection to our past lives."
"Or course, that wasn't going to come to you yet," Castle commented.
"Of course," Skye deliberately echoed him. She smiled when he rolled his eyes before they were splitting up at the cars and she asked him and Beckett, "We're going to follow you for parking?"
"Yeah, we'll find a place," Castle said.
"We're not going to our usual?" Beckett asked, letting him put Josie into the backseat of their car.
"I'm hoping that it's not full," Castle said.
"We'll find out," Beckett said, watching him stand up again before they watched their middle daughters get in on either side of their baby sister. She turned to her husband and when they were facing each other she wasn't surprised when he leaned into her then. Their lips only brushed against each other and she asked him with a smile, "Will you be okay?"
"I will," Castle said.
Since her husband had then opened the passenger door for her, Beckett cupped his cheek before she turned her attention to getting in. She checked on their daughters while he was going around the car and saw Julia and Eliza were talking about the Wharf and what they wanted to show their friends the most. When her husband was in the driver's seat next to her, she squeezed his hand briefly before sitting back as they pulled away from Chrissy Field to head further into the city for their next destination.
"We're almost there," Castle was telling the others. "It's the next street up."
"I hope you're right," David said in mock annoyance.
"Hey, not my fault we needed to park so far down," Castle replied.
"You realize you told us already you had parked there before," Mary reminded him.
"And you told us about the parking lot," Beckett said before they were finally reaching Jefferson Street before Ivy was exclaiming in joy.
"It's the sign! The one you showed us isn't it?" the little girl was saying eagerly.
"It is," Marie told her little sister with a wide smile. "It's cool isn't it?"
"Yeah," Iris said before her twin could. She smiled and then said, "Where are we going to go first?"
"Pier 39," Beckett said, looking at Skye.
"We've taken them," Mary answered before her wife could. "I'm not sure how much Marie and Kath remember though."
"Stuff," the former said slowly, looking at her twin.
"We'll walk there right now," Castle told them quickly as he knew they didn't want to give anything away. He glanced at Eliza, seeing she was smiling widely, and he then said, "Once the light changes."
"How's Josa doing Mom?" Julia asked as she walked over to her.
"Good," Beckett said, checking on the baby at the same time as her.
"Do you think she remembers it here?" Julia asked as they straightened up.
"I don't know," Beckett told her honestly. "She might remember what we're going to see in a little," she began, smiling when her second oldest nodded rapidly. She knew that was to let her know Julia had understood she was talking about the sea lions, and she then added, "But I'm sure she'll enjoy it. Let's go."
Julia nodded and hurried to go across the street before they were walking along Jefferson, recalling something and going to Mari. "Were you able to take a picture of the sign?" she asked her friend once they were walking to Boudin.
"I did, a couple," the girl replied quickly. Mari looked at the building they were passing and asked, "This is where we'll have lunch?"
"Yep, I can't wait for you to have it," Julia said. She saw they had walked down to the bakery window and she pointed out the animal shaped loaves of sourdough bread.
"Those are so cute!" Iris said. "Can you still eat them?"
"I don't think they're art," Ivy told her sister. "But yeah, it'd be really hard to eat those."
"Yeah," the rest of the older kids said at the same time.
The group laughed together, even Josie joining them, before they walked down the street again until they were coming to the sea lion statues and Maddy was squealing before talking to her fathers eagerly while she was pointing at it.
"Dada, can I hug them?" the toddler asked eagerly.
"I think so," Darnley said, smiling at his husband.
"Dada!" Keo said immediately.
"We're all going to go to it," Darnley assured him. "Family photos?"
"We already took a picture here," Beckett replied easily. "So I can take them for you guys," she told the other three families. She wasn't surprised when Nkosi handed her his phone and she took pictures of the three families before they continued onto the pier.
"What's that sound?" David commented as they were going down to the end of it.
Looking ahead of them, Mari could see something in the distance before she suddenly realized what it was and cried out, "It's the sea lions!"
"Those are dogs Mari," Dani told her sister.
Laughing softly, Mari shook her head and said, "No, those are them. I remember Julia told me a long time ago that they sounded like dogs. And I remember them at the zoo in LA."
"They are," Julia said with a smile as her friend as looking at her. "You're going to love it," she said, though she was hoping there were enough sea lions there as she recalled the numbers would change sometimes. They finally reached them, and she was relieved to see there were more than a few floating docks that had the sea lions on them.
"They're trés magnifique," Fleur breathed out.
"They are," Skye said, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. When she smiled up at her she leaned down and kissed the top of her head asking her, "Do you like them?"
"Mais oui!" Fleur cried out before she laughed as her mother hugged her.
"You wouldn't tell us what was here," Iris said teasingly to Eliza.
"Nope," the little girl said, shaking her head firmly. Eliza then smiled at her friends and told them, "I wanted you to be surprised. Jules never told me what was there before we came last time so I was surprised too. It was a lot of fun."
The group lingered at the animals for a while, the kids too entranced by the sea lions' movements and antics to want to leave. But eventually the adults managed to usher them over to the end of the pier where they went around and stood at the railing there, looking out at Alcatraz.
"I'm sorry we didn't ask if you guys wanted to go," Beckett said softly.
"It's alright," Darnley was quick to tell her. "I can imagine you'd never want to go back again."
"I wouldn't say never exactly," Beckett said hesitantly, feeling a hand on her back. She glanced to her side and saw that it was her husband before she asked him, "We should let Eliza and Josie see it once?"
"Can I?" the little girl asked, looking back at her parents.
"What kind of feeling do you get looking at it?" Skye asked in concern as she was going over to her.
Pursing her lips, Eliza looked over at it and finally turned back to the investigator saying, "It's not good, but there's a lot of buildings I want to see."
"Are your grandmother and great-grandmother here?" Skye said.
"Yeah, they're here," Julia said when her little sister looked at her. She smiled when Eliza reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly before saying, "They didn't want Lizzy to really pay attention to the island, but they couldn't stop her." She looked down to her right slightly before she nodded and then said, "They told me that we should wait for Lizzy and Josa to be older before we go back there. Josa at least seven or eight." She looked up at Skye and asked, "Is that too young?"
"A bit, but I'm assuming they want her to be with you and Eliza?" the investigator asked her.
Nodding her head Julia said, "Grandmama just told me that. Our abilities all together?"
"Your grandmothers," Skye said, smiling to the side of their group.
"You can see them?" Beckett asked her.
"Oh of course," Skye said. "But they're leaving… I think they want us to continue."
"Really?" Rebecca asked.
"Really," Julia answered before the investigator could. She smiled at Skye and said, "Grandmama told me that we should keep going and stop looking at the island."
"Then we need to go," Skye told them, making them turn to walk down the middle of the pier where they started to look at the stores they passed until they reached the carousel. "Still here," she couldn't help commenting.
"Did you expect them to take it away?" Castle asked her.
"You never know," Skye said.
"Are we going to go on it?" Nkosi asked.
"I think you'll have to," Martha said, smiling at Keo who was wriggling in the investigator's arms.
"I was going to say that our family would if you guys didn't go," Darnley said as he was holding Maddy's hand and she was moving around as well.
"Anyone that wants to go get your ticket," Castle said as they started walking over to the admission stall for the carousel. He was slightly surprised when all of them were going but he knew his mother and father in law wanted to go with Josie which they did on the lower level in one of the round cars. He and his wife went with their parents since Beckett was holding their youngest on her lap and while they were going around, he said, "You look like you're happy."
"Richard," Martha said with a smile at her son as he'd been talking to her. "You know I want to spend time with my grandchildren."
"Am… ma ba birrr," Josie vocalized before she laughed.
Beckett was laughing herself before she leaned over and kissed the top of her head before saying, "They'll teach her to say Gram and Grandpapa soon."
"I'm sure they will," Jim replied. "But she can take her time after saying dada that quickly."
"Again, that's her sisters," Beckett said. She looked at her husband and said, "Though I'm wondering now were you teaching her to say mama?"
"And were you teaching her to say dada?" Castle replied instead of answering. When his wife merely smiled at him, he laughed briefly before leaning over and kissing her temple as the carousel was beginning to slow down. After they had regrouped with everyone they were continuing down the pier before they were at the end and David was asking them about lunch.
"It's after eleven now," the mayor was saying. "Should we head over to Boudin?"
"Probably," Castle said.
Beckett rolled her eyes, before she was smiling, and she then said, "He means yes, we're going right now."
Laughing, Julia was walking with Mari as they were heading back the way they'd come when she suddenly said, "I wish we wouldn't have to leave here."
"We're doing that right after lunch?" Mari asked her.
"Yeah," Julia said. She then realized what she'd told her friend before saying, "Oh… no, I meant not yet. Sorry."
"Where are we going to go?" Mari asked.
"You'll see," Julia said before they were reaching the building and they walked inside the restaurant.
"Would you do us a favor?" Castle asked his oldest.
"Okay," Alexis replied.
"Would you and Louis take the kids out and get tables ready?" Castle said.
"We can," Louis said since he was standing next to his fiancée. "And we'll do that right now."
After they had gathered the kids, including Josie, Alexis followed them with Louis leading the way as he carried Keo. They were getting enough tables together with the older kids and once they were ready, they were sitting and she said, "How are you liking it here?"
"It's so much fun," Ivy said.
"She's right," Mari said. "But how far are we going to go after this."
"I said we weren't going to leave right away," Julia explained as her sister and Louis looked a little confused. "But I didn't tell her where."
"Of course you didn't," Louis commented. He then smiled and said, "I think we'll find out soon enough really."
"Is the bread really good?" Iris asked then.
"She's picky about bread," Marie told the others.
"You don't have to eat the bread bowl," Julia said. "You can try the bread by dipping some at the start and see if you like it."
"But it's super good," Eliza commented.
Giggling Iris said, "Marie and Kath said the same thing. And I'll try it, I promise."
"I hope you want to," Alexis said.
"I do," Iris said with a firm nod.
"How's everyone doing?" Darnley said as he walked outside with Martha and Jim.
"Good, are you sitting with us?" Louis asked.
"No, I just came to make sure Maddy and Keo were okay," Darnley explained, smiling at his son on Alexis' lap and Maddy sitting in between Eliza and Dani's chairs. "And since she is, I'll head back inside and help the others with the trays."
"Are they okay?" Rebecca asked Darnley when he was back inside with them.
"Yeah, talking like good friends," Darnley said.
"Stop it," Skye said, exaggerating her accent as the carpenter was looking at her. "We're not leaving California."
"That reminds me," Castle said before looking at his wife. "Did you let them know they can stay at the house any time they want?"
"I did," Beckett replied with a smile.
"Yes, and I said thank you right?" Skye asked.
Smiling as Beckett was playfully rolling her eyes, Mary then said, "It does mean a lot to us though. We love the house already."
"When do you think you'll stay there again?" Beckett asked the couple.
"The construction?" Skye said. She then looked at her wife; as they'd already discussed going for Labor Day weekend; but had forgotten the extension of the guest house that needed to be built. "After it's ready."
"Liar," Beckett said with a smile.
Sighing Skye admitted, "Labor Day weekend."
"Go," Beckett said firmly as their numbers were being called. "Stay inside the house, the girls won't mind and my dad won't mind you two taking his room."
"Thank you," Skye said. "We wanted to go back then, see it in the fall."
"We'll have to try that ourselves," Castle told his wife.
"Another year," Beckett replied as they were reaching the tables.
After they had passed out all the bread bowls, the group started to eat though they watched Iris to see if she was going to enjoy the sourdough bread. She ended up doing so, but only when it was dipped into the soup and the kids were telling her they knew she would like it before they were eating.
"I'm surprised she enjoys that," Darnley said, watching Beckett feeding Josie some soup she'd gotten for the baby in a cup on the side. "The bread?"
"You should give her a little Katie," Jim said.
Beckett smiled at her father before she dipped only the inside of part of the top of her bread and gave it to the baby. "I was hoping to avoid that," she said as Josie was smearing the soup on her mouth and chin.
"I don't think that's going to happen," Castle said in amusement. He cleaned the baby's face; since she was sitting in between them; and said, "Though I should wait?"
"It's too late now," Darnley told him teasingly.
"Really late," Julia said, unable to help laughing as her baby sister was getting her face dirty with another piece of bread dipped in soup. She returned to her own bowl and finished it before she was going hurriedly to her mother to ask her about the Musée Mécanique when she was making her lean over to whisper in her ear about it.
"We're going there last," Beckett began. "You can take Mari ahead but don't go too far."
"Really?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded, she hugged her tightly and said, "Thanks! Now?" As soon as her mother nodded in response she was rushing over to Mari while the others were getting up from their chairs. "Come on," she told her, taking her hand.
"Where are we going?" Mari asked in surprise at her friend's actions.
"This way," Julia replied before they were walking together behind the restaurant. "Let's pretend to run," she whispered before they were doing so.
"Julia Beckett Castle," Beckett said when the two were starting to run.
"Oh, that was my whole name, let's go!" Julia said, having paused when her mother started to scold her.
Shaking her head in amusement when the pair only did that for a moment, Beckett looked over at her husband and told him, "She learned that from you."
"Probably," Castle said, nodding his head. He smiled when his wife laughed, and he squeezed her hand before they were continuing after the two girls to the building.
"Oh!" Mari said when she read the sign above the doorway. "It's the arcade you told me about."
"It is," Julia said, nodding her head rapidly. "I can't wait to show you all the games."
"Me neither," Mari said before they were laughing together and walking inside.
"Hold on," Castle called to the kids as they were starting to walk faster. "We need to get money and then we'll play."
"And you need to stay with adults," Beckett said.
"We wanted to go on our own," Julia said slowly.
"I'll go with them," Martha told her son and daughter in law as the two were sharing a look.
"You will?" Julia asked in surprise.
Looking over at Josie since she was whimpering, Martha nodded and said, "If you don't mind her joining us."
Shaking her head, as she knew her baby sister would be taking her nap in her stroller, Julia looked at her parents hopefully knowing they needed to say if it would be okay.
"Don't make too much trouble for her," Rebecca was telling her daughter.
"I won't," Mari said, knowing she had her parents' permission.
"She's right, and don't run around the games," Castle said to Julia.
"We won't, thanks!" the girl said before she was going with Mari to get their money for their games. Once they had coins, Julia turned to her friend and asked, "What do you want to play first?"
Shaking her head Mari said, "I don't know what there is, you should pick."
"Maybe we should just walk around and decide as we go girls?" Martha suggested as she knew it was going to go back and forth between the two.
"That way I can see everything," Mari said.
Julia nodded in agreement before they started to walk and she was pointing out the games, movies and animated things they could use their quarters on. "You don't see anything yet?" she asked in surprise when they got to the huge animation with the carnival.
"Well… could we see the movies?" Mari asked.
"Sure," Julia said. She looked at her grandmother and when she nodded in response, she then told her friend, "You never saw one of these before have you?"
"No, I always wanted to," Mari said, looking at the different machines. She saw a sign on one but before she could point it out to Julia her friend was pulling her to one. They took turned watching the movie of a stagecoach robbery and she smiled when she leaned back and looked at her friend. "That's so cool," she said.
"I know, what about this one?" Julia asked, pointing to the next machine that was of the city after the 1906 earthquake.
"Sure," Mari said.
Though she wasn't sure the two should watch something a little macabre, Martha observed Mari looking through the viewfinder first before she looked away. She felt a hand on her arm and looked at her granddaughter saying, "It's strange, I suddenly felt like I shouldn't look at the picture there."
Nodding, since there was a picture of the ruins of the city above the viewfinder, Julia said, "That makes sense Gram."
"We'll continue?" Martha asked, not surprised her granddaughter figured out why she was feeling uneasy.
"Yeah, we still haven't played a game," Julia said before she watched Mari raising her head.
"I forgot about the earthquake and your family," the girl said as she got off the stool in front of the machine.
"It's okay," Julia said though she frowned after that. "I don't think Mom and Dad ever really looked at that one. I don't think they would." That made her think of something else and she asked her friend, "You didn't want to go with your parents, did you?"
"It's okay," Mari said. "They're…" she started to say, about to comment they were with her little sister when she recalled Dani would be asleep by them. She then told her, "They're with each other though."
"My parents too," Julia said with a smile as Jim had taken Eliza with him for them to go around together. She waved as she saw the two before she heard her grandmother laughing softly behind them.
"What exactly do you girls think your parents are going to be doing right now?" Martha asked them.
Julia started to speak before she paused and then said, "Maybe not kiss since there are other people here. But it's fine just spending time alone together right?"
"Right," Martha said, unable to help laughing again though she was brief. "Though I get the feeling they'll want to stay with us the rest of the day."
"Me too," Julia said as Mari pointed out the bowling game they were coming up to. "But at least they have now," she said, smiling as her grandmother laughed again before they were focusing on the game to see which of them would win while the three of them played together.
"Are we really going to get to go on these?" Ivy asked the adults as they were walking up to the cable car station south of Fisherman's Warf.
"Of course," Skye answered. "We wouldn't come here to look; they're near Union Square where we're going now."
"I can't wait," Iris said eagerly.
"Me too," Julia said. She was walking with her father and was about to ask where they could sit once they got on when he was speaking first.
"Let's sit in the front this time," Castle said. "I know you want to take Mari to the back platform, but I don't think her parents would want her to." He was surprised when Julia suddenly left him, and he shook his head before looking at his wife as she was walking to him. "What do you think?" he asked her.
"They'll allow it, but they'll want to stay with Dani to make sure she's okay," Beckett replied as they were waiting in line after getting their tickets.
"We want to stay with Josie," Castle said. "But they need an adult with them," he commented. "And the others will stay with their kids."
"I don't have a kid of mine to stay with," Alexis said. She smiled when her parents turned to her and said, "I'd stay with them, but we won't all fit on the platform remember."
"What about standing near them?" Castle suggested.
Looking at the cable car that was arriving, Alexis nodded and said, "I'll have Louis do that, I'll sit by Skye and Mary to help them."
"Okay, hopefully we get the platform," Beckett said, smiling as Julia was hurrying up the line to them.
"They said Mari can go with me," the girl said, smiling at them. "As long as Louis is nearby."
"We could hear you talking," David said as they were walking over to the cable car that had been turned around.
"Eavesdroppers," Castle told his friend teasingly.
"Please hold onto the railing," Beckett told her daughter as they were rushing to the back of the car.
Waving to her mother, Julia was hurrying up the steps to the back before they were tucking themselves as far against the side as they could. "Do you have your ticket?" she asked her friend.
"Yeah," Mari said. She looked around them and said, "This is so cool."
"I know, wait until we start to go," Julia told her. They had to wait for the cable car to fill up before that happened and she laughed with her friend when the cable car started. As they were going over the track, they held onto the railing tightly while they watched the homes and scenery going by. She smiled widely at Mari whenever they would exchange a look until they were reaching Powell and she pointed out the Westin St. Francis to her friend.
Mari waited until the cable car had stopped to ask, "Your parents stayed there?"
"And me with 'lexis and Gram," Julia said quickly as they moved to get off the platform when Louis was walking out from the inside part of the car.
"Stay there," the vet said as he passed them. "Both your parents told me to have you stay."
"Why?" Julia asked in confusion.
"Because we want to get some pictures of you," Castle said, getting the girls' attention. He smiled as Beckett and Rebecca were taking a picture at the same time with their camera of the two girls and he smiled when Josie vocalized before he asked, "How was it?"
"A lot of fun," Mari said as she and Julia stepped down. "We can head back up right?"
"We will," Beckett replied. "Okay, we better get out of the way. The mall is right there."
"We're just getting smoothies?" Marie asked.
"Just that, we have a lot to see still," Mary explained to her. She then smiled and said, "But I think some of us are eager for those smoothies."
"I told Maddy," Eliza said with a wide smile as the toddler was jumping up and down next to Darnley. They started to walk over to Mason and as they were waiting for the light she said, "Wait until you see the mall."
"Why?" Maddy asked.
"There's something really cool inside it," Eliza replied.
"What?" Maddy then said.
"We'll see soon empress," Darnley said with a smile down at her. "And sooner, let's go," he told them as the light had changed and they could cross. They walked together to the entrance and when they stepped inside, he quickly noticed the escalators and was about to mention how big the mall was when Iris was asking about that before he could speak.
"How much stories does this mall have?" the little girl said in obvious awe.
"Nine," Kathleen told her little sister.
"Close your mouths guys," Beckett told Darnley and Nkosi with a smile as the two were staring up at the floors they could see.
"Hey, you can't say this is isn't impressive," Darnley said, smiling at her. He then said, "We're not really going to do that much are we?"
"Do you want to look at the shops?" Beckett asked him.
Looking up at the floors, Darnley shook his head and told her, "I don't think the kids would really enjoy shopping that much."
"There's more to see," Beckett replied with a nod. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand before saying, "There's a lot more to see."
"Where's the smoothie place?" Nkosi asked.
"This way," Skye said. She smiled when Castle and Beckett looked at her and she commented, "It's been here for quite a while."
"We should go," Darnley said. "A few of them are getting impatient."
"Come on," Skye said, going to Iris and Fleur since they were shifting back and forth on their feet before she took their hands and walked with them to the escalator down to the lower level.
After getting their smoothies, Castle and Beckett let the girls lead them to the food court to show it to their friends. They didn't want to leave so it took the parents a while before they were finally able to go back up to the main level before they were heading up Powell.
Seeing the hotel, Julia went to her parents and said, "Are you going to stay there ever again?"
"Eventually we will," Castle said. "But when exactly I'm not sure."
"Maybe not that often," Beckett said, smiling at her husband. "I think we prefer our room in Mill Valley." When he nodded, she laughed softly and then said, "But for now…"
Castle was surprised at what she'd said but looked ahead at Union Square since they were nearing it. "Should we let them run around?" he asked her as they were going up the steps to the main part of the square.
Looking down at her smoothie cup, Beckett saw Julia was finishing her drink and some of the kids were as well before she said, "I don't think it'd be the best idea."
"True," Castle said, having been watching her and knowing what she was thinking. He then said, "Then let's keep walking."
"We're heading all the way up now?" Julia asked, giving her cup to her father when she reached her parents.
"Yes," Beckett said firmly.
"What about the Scottish store?" Julia asked as they were nearing the northeast corner of the square.
"We'll see what they say when we reach it," Castle replied.
"Even the kids?" Julia quipped. She smiled when her father playfully pinched her cheek and said, "Just kidding," before she hurried ahead to Mari who was walking with the two oldest McDouglas girls.
"She's learning too much from you," Beckett teased her husband.
"Hasn't she always?" Skye said jokingly. "Even back then too. You would feign despair over that and then wink at us. Luckily you knew she was joking Rick."
"I knew," Castle said. "I always did, it's what your parents did though your dad didn't really tease that much."
Beckett laughed and squeezed her husband's hand before they were walking along Sutter until they reached the Scottish store. She watched her husband explaining the store to the others who hadn't been there before and wasn't surprised when they didn't express a desire to go inside. As they continued to Grant, she said to Skye, "No interest?"
"Not really, I have scarves and the girls won't need the candy," the investigator said. "Especially with tonight of course."
"There's the gates!" Marie said eagerly. "I remember seeing them before Mum!"
"I'm glad to hear that," Skye said, smiling at Beckett before going to her daughters.
"What're we gonna do first Grandpapa?" Eliza asked, walking with Jim by then.
"I think your parents are expecting us to walk around the shops until dinner time," he replied.
"That sounds good," Eliza said with a smile. "Do you want to? We've been here before."
"I do, I came here to spend time with all of you," Jim said. Since they hadn't reached the gates yet he said, "Are you excited about meeting the others tomorrow?"
"Yeah, but I don't know about the new girl that's gonna play with us," Eliza told him honestly.
"It's okay," Jim said. "You'll be nice to her right?"
"Oh yes, she's little still so Mommy and Daddy said I have to play with the little kids," Eliza said seriously. She then paused and pursed her lips saying, "With them and the flower girls." She was startled when her grandfather started to laugh and she smiled telling him, "They call themselves that though ivy is a leaf. But we don't care." She watched him nodding and was about to ask him if he wanted to have the barbeque when he was speaking quickly.
"I'm looking forward to it," Jim told his second youngest granddaughter. "I do enjoy a party."
Eliza giggled, but they were reaching the gates to Chinatown and she went with him to the rest of their family as they were starting to take pictures in turns with the other three. After they'd finished, she went to her father and tugged at his hand saying, "Can I go on your shoulders."
"You can," Castle replied easily. "Kate?"
"I wasn't planning to take that many pictures," Beckett replied with a smile. She took Josie from him, kissing the baby before they were watching him setting Eliza on his shoulders. She smiled as the little girl immediately started taking pictures of the buildings they were passing and asked, "Is that why you wanted to go there?"
"Yeah," Eliza said shyly. She leaned over her father's head a little and said, "Sorry Daddy."
"Oh, don't worry," Castle assured her as he was smiling. "I figured. But we're going to stop soon."
"Why… oooh," Eliza said, dragging that out for a little. "I remember, I'll go down then Daddy."
Castle smiled and squeezed her leg before they were continuing and letting the others look around, though the McDouglas women had been there with their two oldest before. When they reached the store where they'd visited before he said, "We like to head into this one," so the others would stop. "Though if you guys want to see any other stores just let us know."
"This one looks big," Darnley said, peeking inside.
"And that's enough?" Beckett asked him with a smile.
"Why not?" Darnley replied. He laughed briefly when she rolled her eyes before he said, "I was wondering what you'd recommend for Maddy and Keo."
"I think the brocade slippers for Maddy," Beckett said, looking around and seeing them. "And for Keo… maybe the hat or his own brocade slippers."
"Oh, I like those," Darnley said, heading over to the display with the black brocade shoes. He picked up a pair and looked at the size before he looked for his husband, waving him over once he'd caught his eye.
Beckett, smiling as she watched them, walked over to her husband who was looking at some swords. "Not another one," she said teasingly.
"No, just admiring," Castle said, smiling at her before he was doing so a little wider at their youngest. He took her while she was vocalizing and he set her on his hip saying, "I think she's happy to be here."
"I think so," Beckett said in amusement. She was startled when he suddenly leaned down to her, kissing her firmly on the lips. When he lingered, she wasn't surprised, smiling at him once he had pulled away from her enough. "You're fresh," she told him teasingly.
"I am, but you loved that about me," Castle pointed out.
"Dada," Josie said then.
"Her too," Castle said.
Laughing, Beckett shook her head before she cupped her husband's cheek and then kissed Josie's. "We should go find her sisters," she told him.
"That's true, who knows what they're holding," Castle said.
"Holding is negative?" Beckett asked.
"To ask us to buy?" Castle replied with a question of his own.
Laughing Beckett said, "They know not to, unless they're going to buy it themselves."
"We'll see," Castle replied. Though as they got nearer to their daughters, he wasn't surprised to see they were helping the others and weren't holding anything. He saw Julia was with Mari and the two were holding a cinnabar bracelet each which made him look at his wife.
"What?" Beckett asked, surprised he'd done that.
"You're not wondering why they have them?" Castle asked.
"I think they're looking for some for Mari," Beckett said, though even as she said that the explanation didn't sound right. She looked over at their second oldest who was on her own and she waved her over, surprised when Julia shook her head before she was looking at the registers. "Is something wrong?" she asked when the girl walked up to them finally.
"No, I was just checking to see if Mary was serious about buying the bracelets for us," Julia said. "We got matching, B.F.F. ones," she explained as her parents understandably looked surprised. She smiled and told them, "It's not weird… that's what I told her."
"It isn't," Beckett said quickly as she'd easily heard the uncertainty in her daughter's voice.
"She's right, they fit the two of you," Castle said.
"We remembered," Julia said, smiling at the twin looks of realization on her parents' faces since she and Mari recalled getting matching ones in their past lives. "But our bracelets were different… and you didn't see them."
"No," Castle said quickly, knowing she was thinking of where they were exactly. "But they fit you now."
"That's what I said to Mari too," Julia said with a smile. She was about to speak again when she heard her friend calling to her and she said, "I better go."
"Are you surprised?" Castle said to his wife when they were alone.
"No, it's what they had after Mari came up here," Beckett responded. She then smiled at Josie and said to them both, "They were such good friends."
"They were," Castle said in agreement.
"Mama!" Josie exclaimed.
Beckett smiled and brushed her lips against hers before she was looking at the others and seeing they were starting to pay for what they'd chosen. "We should go," she told her husband.
"Yeah, where else would they want to go though?" Castle asked her.
"We'll just walk," Beckett said simply before they were heading to the entrance of the store.
As they were continuing to go up Grant, Darnley went to Beckett and said, "Thank you so much for the suggestions."
"They liked them?" Beckett replied with a smile.
"They loved them," Darnley said insistently and with a smile. "And Trev loved the idea too, he got a pair of slippers for his mother."
"What about for Joseph?" Beckett asked him.
"We got some a small knife he can use… however he'd like to," Darnley answered. He then smiled and said, "Look at the ones Maddy picked out for herself."
Taking one of the two slippers that her friend held out to her, Beckett was smiling herself and told him, "She loves this color," as it was a teal color.
"She does, and we're going to paint her room back at home a shade of that color," Darnley explained.
Giving him back the slipper, Beckett asked, "What about Keo?"
"There wasn't much choice," Darnley replied. "Since of course they were just black, but he was very adamant that he loved them."
"Good," Beckett said. "What color did you pick for Bethany? Red?"
"Red," Darnley said with a brief laugh. "You know her already."
"Every time I see her she wears red shoes of some kind," Beckett told him. She squeezed his arm before loosely slipping her own through it saying, "How're you enjoying the trip?"
"I'm having a ton of fun," Darnley said seriously. "And I can't…"
"What's wrong?" Beckett asked him, surprised that he'd trailed off.
"I'm wondering about tomorrow," Darnley said. "Going back to the park."
"You wouldn't want to?" Beckett asked him.
"Not really," Darnley confessed. "But we're guests here of course. It's just…"
"You'd like to stick around the house?" Beckett then inquired as she had a feeling of what he was going to ask already. She couldn't help recalling that they'd planned to see the Alamo Square house before Darnley was getting her attention.
"I want to see the house at Alamo; Trev desperately," the carpenter told her reassuringly. "What if we just did that and then the bridge and went back to Mill Valley with the others who're coming over?"
"I'll talk it over with Rick," Beckett said. "But I do like the idea… it's funny though we're going to be delaying a trip to the Conservatory again."
"Do you mind that much?" Darnley asked.
Shaking her head Beckett said, "We'll come back. And it leaves more next time."
"Could we join you another trip?" Darnley asked.
Laughing, Beckett squeezed his arm and told him firmly, "I've told you before we'll ask you over again. It was your home too." She was laughing a second time as he was stopping them to hug her and she was squeezing her arms around him tightly before she said, "Luckily we see one another back at home."
"Luckily," Darnley said.
Beckett was about to tell him she wanted to go talk to her husband when she looked ahead and saw he was walking to them as they'd fallen behind. She watched him and her friend pass, greeting each other before he reached her and she was going to tell him what they'd talked about when he was mentioning it himself to her surprise.
"I could hear you a little, I think it's a great idea to focus more on the barbeque," Castle said. "But what about coming into the city?"
"You didn't hear that?" Beckett replied.
"No," Castle said. "Eliza was asking me something about her camera."
"They want to see the Alamo Square house," Beckett said with a smile as she was moving to slide her arm through his. "And the bridge of course. I'll have to text Naomi and Nico about maybe coming a little earlier than ten, nine I think would work out better."
"I think he just wants the kids to have a chance to play," Castle commented.
"More than likely," Beckett said. She smiled when her husband made her stop and she looked at him before saying in a jokingly warning tone, "The others are right in front of us."
"For this one second, I don't care," Castle commented before he leaned down and took his wife's lips with his own. He made it an intense kiss, but didn't linger, and when they parted he was smiling at the one that appeared on his wife's face.
"That was more than one second," Beckett told him teasingly.
"Oh, don't be all technical," Castle said in mock annoyance. He brushed his lips to hers and told her, "And you enjoyed that."
"Of course," Beckett said simply. She and her husband were exchanging another short kiss before they walked after their family and friends as they continued further into Chinatown.