"Hullo, hullo," Skye was saying to the young boys and girls as they were walking by them. She paused seeing one staring back at her before she felt her wife take her hand and shook herself to look at her.
"Hey, are you alright?" Mary asked her.
"Yes, they're cute," Skye said with a smile. "Though some of them are quite little for a walk."
"It's a lot of strollers," Mary told her. "Come on," she said, tugging her hand gently.
The two walked together up the steps of the manor and were let in before being the director of the orphanage came out to them.
"It's a pleasure to get to meet you both," the woman said, smiling at them as she shook their hands. "We use a room here to introduce the children to their parents so if you're ready I'll take you there now."
After they were in the small room alone with the door closed behind them Skye walked over to the window and looked down at the grounds where children were playing. She didn't realize that she'd been standing there for some time until her wife stepped up to her.
"Are you okay?" Mary asked.
"I am, just… a bit nervous," Skye replied.
"Me too," Mary said, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "But I'm excited too."
"So am I," Skye replied, turning to her. They kissed tenderly before they were suddenly jumping apart at the sound of the door opening behind them.
"Here we are," the director said, speaking absently as she was slowly walking into the room.
Her eyes widening as she saw the two toddlers holding the woman's hands, Skye recognized the one on the left as the girl she'd seen outside. She shook herself as her wife squeezed her arm and then said, "What are their names?"
"This is Marie," the director said, indicating the girl on the left. "And Kathleen. Marie is the elder by minutes."
"They're adorable," Mary said, watching with her wife stepping up but stopping. "Could we have some time alone with them?"
"Of course," the director said before she waited for the doctor to take the girls by their hands.
"Rose," Mary said gently once they were alone in the room.
"Yes, sorry," Skye said, shaking herself and stepping forward to her wife. She was about to sit on one of the armchairs in the middle of the room before Marie was walking to her. With a smile she shared with her wife, she took the toddler's hand and went to the chair to sit. "Hullo Marie," she said. When the child looked up at her she breathed out hard and then said, "Mary."
"I know," the doctor replied, sitting in the chair next to her and holding Kathleen on her lap.
"We're agreed then?" Skye asked as she picked Marie up and put her on her lap. She looked at the little girl as she reached out to her hair and then turned her gaze up to her. "Would you and your sister like to come home with us?" she asked, smiling.
"Mama?" Marie said.
"Mama!" Kathleen then squealed before Mary was hugging her.
"I think that decides it," the doctor commented. "Should we go?"
"If we can," Skye said as Marie was wrapping her arms around her.
"That quickly?" Beckett asked. When her friend gave her a look she said, "I know, but Julia was four, not two."
"They'd been told they might have a mother," Mary explained.
"Not mothers?" Castle asked in surprise.
"No, they weren't sure if it'd be us or another couple that would be there… in a day or two," Skye said. "I'm not sure when."
"But they took to us very quickly luckily; we learned later on that the couple after us didn't want two children," Mary said. "Just one. But we signed the papers and then took them to Dublin as we wanted to get home as soon as possible."
"How long did you stay in the city?" Beckett asked.
"I was going to tell you," Skye said with a smile. "We got tickets for the next day; towards noon; and we had that night to spend."
"We used that time to start getting used to being mothers," Mary added.
Nodding her head, Skye said, "It wasn't all that easy but we had fallen in love with them already. So we were just making sure they were okay with us."
"Here Marie," Mary was saying to the toddler. "Try a little of this avocado, I think you'll enjoy it."
"You should have told her it was guacamole grá," Skye said in amusement as the toddler was taking the spoon and eating it herself. She smiled when Marie did after eating and was about to ask Kathleen if she wanted some herself when the toddler was speaking.
"Mama?" Kathleen said.
"You need to sit in your seat," Skye told her teasingly, lightly tickling her neck and making the toddler giggle. "But we'll have a seat together back in our room."
"I want cookie!" Marie said then.
"Later, later," Mary said with a smile at her wife. "That's what you get when you mention dessert."
"All I said was that there were cookies on the menu at the hotel," Skye said before she reached over to Marie to gently wipe her mouth.
"You'll need to watch that," Mary said. "And I suppose I will as well," she said before she took the bill from their waiter. After they'd paid she and Skye got their daughters in the stroller they had for them and they walked to the street before heading back to their hotel which was nearby.
"Should we give them a bath?" Skye asked before they were walking into the lobby. She smiled when her wife nodded and they headed up to their room before they got the girls out and started preparing them for a bath in their bathroom.
"Kath, please," Mary said as the toddler started to run around the bedroom once her clothes were off.
"Yeah, remember Deidre mentioned kids will do that," Skye said in amusement as she grabbed Marie before she could run off after her twin. When Kathleen stopped directly in front of her and looked up at her she smiled and told her, "It's time for a bath little one."
"Mama don't wanna," Kathleen said.
"Of course not, but you need to," Mary said as she came up behind the toddler and picked her up. She had expected her to scream but when she was quiet she said, "Huh, I thought we'd have more difficulty there."
"Don't jinx it, let's go," Skye told her quickly before they walked inside the bathroom to get to the tub. She set it to fill quickly, smiling when her older daughter squealed when she bent over. As she straightened up she said to her wife, "It's interesting isn't it?"
"Well, the fact we've got two of them makes it even more so," Mary replied, kissing Kathleen's temple to her giggle. "But I love them already," she said in Irish.
"I know," Skye said. She had to turn off the water and then set Marie inside the warm water, getting on her knees while her wife was getting Kathleen in with her twin. They washed the girls' hair and then bodies, finding the two were sleepier as time went on and they were quick to get them out and changed for bed.
Going to the bedroom, Skye and Mary set their daughters on the two cots they'd gotten from the hotel, making sure the mesh sides were secure.
"Goodnight loves," Skye told the two as they were laying down. "We'll see you in the morning and we'll go back home."
"Cafornia?" Kathleen asked before she yawned.
"Exactly, you'll love it," Skye replied. She wasn't sure how the girls would take it before she couldn't help herself and she kissed them both on the cheek. She smiled when Marie wrapped her arms around her neck and she kissed her forehead tenderly before doing the same with her twin. "Sweet dreams girls," she told them. "I love you both."
"Mama," Marie said with a smile.
"I love you two as well," Mary said. She kissed them both quickly and said, "Tomorrow you'll be home and meet your grandda."
"Tomorrow, let them sleep grá," Skye told her wife in amusement. She watched her kissing their daughters' foreheads as she'd done before they made sure the two were tucked in. Once they were standing they stayed next to the beds, not moving until they were sure the twins were asleep. She let her wife lead her into the bathroom after they had their pajamas and they quickly changed before they brushed their teeth.
"Well grá," Mary said, stepping up to her wife and wrapping her arms around her neck once they'd finished. "We're mothers now for sure," she told her as her wife was holding her.
"I know," Skye said before they were leaning into each other to kiss. They did so deeply, their tongues very shortly after meeting and when they parted she said, "I thought we'd have to stop that."
Rolling her eyes Mary said, "We'll manage." She kissed her wife quickly on the lips before telling her, "But for now we need to sleep so we can continue being mothers."
"I love you," Skye told her wife.
"I love you too Skye," Mary replied quickly. They shared another deep kiss before they were parting and then letting go of one another as well. They walked hand in hand to the bedroom and checked on the girls before they were satisfied they were fine.
Once they'd climbed into bed, Skye grabbed her wife's hand and squeezed it before she leaned over and kissed Mary on the lips.
"Goodnight grá," the doctor told her wife with a smile, keeping her voice low.
"Night grá," Skye murmured gently before they shared another kiss and then settled down to the bed, holding one another and falling asleep as they listened to the light breathing of their daughters.
Skye, pausing after ending their day, looked at Beckett and said in Irish, "I'm sure you can relate."
"I can," Beckett said in the same language. She then sighed and said, "The next day," speaking in English.
"Is fairly self-explanatory," Skye began with a smile at the prompt. "We got up and got the girls up. We had breakfast in our room and got them to the airport."
"What about clothes?" Castle asked.
"The orphanage had two changes of clothes besides their standard uniform they had them wear," Mary said. At the surprise on the couples faces she explained, "They had school there too and they thought it was easier doing that too with all the kids they had. So we took those two changes and pajamas with us in our suitcases but got rid of them back at home."
"We took them out to the Promenade," Skye said. She saw the smile on Beckett's face and asked her, "That doesn't surprise you?"
"Not at all," Beckett said. "And I see why they love it as much as they do."
"And you both," Castle said. He smiled when the two women looked at him and told them, "You loved them instantly. At that age they'd want that."
"Not always," Mary said, holding up her finger to stop him. "We were told before we made our way to Ireland that sometimes the younger children had problems with strangers."
"We were lucky," Skye replied. "And we love them still of course." She and her wife were quiet then and they shared a look before she asked, "What is it?"
"When you took them home?" Beckett asked.
Looking at her watch and then glancing to where they could see Basil playing still, Skye nodded and said, "Alright then. We landed in the afternoon and we waited to leave until after we'd had lunch since there are some good places there. Plus we wanted to see how they'd like a bit of American food."
"What did you give them?" Castle said in surprise.
"We had Mexican; there was a place at the time in Bradley Terminal," Mary said with a smile. "And we let them have a quesadilla and some beans. And of course guacamole which they loved already."
"It was a wonderful meal," Skye said, smiling herself. "When we'd finished we left and went to our car we'd parked there for the time we were gone and drove straight to home."
"We're home girls," Mary said, looking into the back of the car. "Are you awake?"
"Me Mama," Marie said quickly.
"Okay, Dad should be here," Skye said, driving around the house to the garage. "There he is," she said when she saw that he was coming away from the patio. "Your grandda is here girls." She stopped outside the garage and then got out at the same time as her wife, going with her to the girls in the back. Once they had Marie on her hip she told her, "He's really excited to meet you two."
"Dada?" Kathleen asked, on Mary's hip.
"Grandda," Skye corrected her gently. She turned to her dad and said with a smile, "Hullo Dad."
"Hullo," Liam said, smiling at the little girl on her hip. "Is this Marie?"
"She is," Skye replied with a nod.
"Hullo there Marie," Liam then said to his granddaughter.
Skye watched a little anxiously as the toddler was staring at her dad though she soon giggled and turned away.
"What are they calling me?" Liam asked the two women.
"We're not sure yet," Mary said, hugging her father in law after her wife had done so.
"Gamda!" Kathleen said.
"Oh, thank you," Liam said as they were laughing. He looked down at Marie and seeing she was starting at him he reached down and gently moved her hair off her forehead. "Well," he said as the toddler smiled at him in reaction. "Should we go inside?"
"I think so," Skye replied before they walked up to the house. She set Marie down inside and took her hand before saying, "We'll take you two to see the house now. But we need to go shopping for you both."
"They don't have anything to wear besides what they have on?" Liam asked his daughter and daughter in law.
"Another outfit," Mary answered. "And pajamas but we're not keeping those. So we're heading out to the Promenade."
"You're coming along too Dad," Skye said, not making that a question as he smiled at her.
"I'm more than glad to hear it," Liam said before he was walking with the four over to the stairs.
Carrying their daughters while they went up the staircase, Skye smiled at Marie as the toddler was looking around them with wide eyes. At the top of the stairs she carried Marie to the room she and Mary had set aside for her and she said, "Here you are sweetling. Your room." Seeing the smile shortly after on the toddler's face she looked at her wife and said, "I think she likes it."
"It looks like it," Mary said, setting down Kathleen after her wife had put Marie down.
"Are you sure about the beds?" Liam asked.
"They were in cots last night," Skye said, watching with her dad and wife as the twins went to the bed. "The orphanage had them in them for a month now." When her dad nodded she then said to her wife, "We'll have to watch out tonight."
"Did they share a bed back at the orphanage?" Liam asked.
"No, but the change in circumstances…" Mary began before she looked down as Marie came over to her. "What is it honey?"
"Toys Mama," the toddler said.
"Yes, those are for you," Mary said, smiling when she saw where Marie was pointing.
"We should see your sister's room now," Skye said, going to Kathleen and taking her hand before they walked together down the hall to the next bedroom. "This is yours honey," she told the toddler once they'd entered it.
"I think she likes it," Liam said when the twins rushed for the bed again.
"Or they just want to jump on the bed," Mary said in amusement as Skye was picking up Marie. "Should we show them our room and the others?" she asked her wife while she was getting Kathleen.
"Good idea," Skye said before they gave the girls a tour of the rest of the rooms on the second floor. She wasn't surprised when the girls, put on hers and Mary's bed, were jumping up and down for a bit before they grabbed the two. Once they'd finished upstairs they went back down, her dad closing the gates they had at the top and bottom of the stairs.
Showing the girls the downstairs of the house, Mary was holding Marie by the time they went outside to show them the backyard and then the front. They stayed in the front for a while, watching her father in law playfully chasing the twins as they were laughing heavily in their joy. She wrapped her arm around her wife and said, "We really need to go."
"I know," Skye said with a sigh. "But it's going to be difficult to stop them."
"Your dad too?" Mary asked her.
"Of course," Skye said, smiling at her wife. She leaned over and shared a kiss with her before they turned their attention to the girls and her dad.
Getting to their car, Mary drove them the short distance to the Promenade and they were walking outside the parking structure before they paused to put the twins into their stroller.
"I'm glad you thought to get this one," Liam said as it was a two-seater.
"Alright, alright," Skye said, rolling her eyes though she was smiling soon after as her wife was looking at her pointedly. "You were right to get it but I still think it's weird you wanted the other seat for storage."
Mary shrugged before she then said, "In the end it worked out." She smiled when her wife was rolling her eyes again before she'd buckled Kathleen into her seat. "Ready?" she asked as she was standing behind the stroller.
"Ready," Skye said, standing up with a quick smile at the girls. They walked together to the street then, Liam walking behind them until they'd gotten to 3rd Street. "We'll have to stay for dinner," she said.
"Planning on introducing them to the pub already?" Liam asked him with a smile.
"Of course, but just a bit," Skye replied. She smiled and said, "But first we buy them clothes." She glanced at her wife and said, "And perhaps some books as well."
Laughing Mary took a moment to squeeze her wife's arm before saying, "You have no argument from me. Where do you want to go first?"
"Let's try Gymboree and the Gap for anything else," Skye said, looking at the map they'd stopped at. When she looked at her dad she saw the way he was looking at them and shrugged saying, "When have we ever bought children's clothing?"
"It's a surprise," Liam said.
"They have nice clothes Dad," Skye said in amusement before they were heading down the street to the two stores listening to the girls in front reacting to the topiaries and fountains they passed.
"We started getting their clothes that day," Skye said. "And we did eat at the King's Head that night for dinner."
"They enjoyed it?" Castle asked.
"They did, they'd already been fed a little of fish and chips back at the orphanage," Mary answered. "And the chips they loved."
"We both had maternity leave after we adopted them; a month," Skye said. "And we loved every moment of it since we could swim with them and play with them and start learning their personalities."
"I've been wondering," Beckett said then. "What about what they called you then? They said mama for you both?"
"We eventually taught them mummy," Mary said, smiling at her wife. "Since it could get confusing."
"Luckily they took to it quick," Skye said. She then smiled herself and said, "And eventually learned to say grandda for my dad." Looking at Beckett she said, "I'm guessing you can relate?"
"Both of us," Beckett said, taking her husband's hand on the table. She was about to remind them about their time in the Hamptons with Julia for the first time when the music suddenly stopped. They turned together towards Basil and she whipped her head back when the investigator was getting up and rushing to the man as she called to him.
"Mr. Worths," Skye was saying as she approached the man as he was putting away his violin.
"Oh please ma'am, you can call me Basil," he said with a smile. "Might I buy you a pint?" He glanced over at the table she'd come from and said, "You and your friends."
"We…" Skye started to say before the door to the pub opened. She looked back at Beckett as she saw that it was Gerry and Palkis and then turned back to Basil saying, "We wanted to ask you something about the town we thought you might be able to answer for us."
"Oh… what about Lord Cotswold?" Basil said in confusion.
"It might be history further back," Castle said, having come over to get drinks for the three men. "Plus we're asking without Mercer knowing yet so we thought it'd be better to keep this quiet."
"Then we'll join you," Basil said, starting to turn to the bar. "Oh," he said, seeing the drinks that were there. "Thank you," he said to Castle.
"They're going to join us," Skye said, going back to the table. "We need more room though."
"The room?" Mary suggested.
"I'd had the thought; let me ask," Skye said.
Watching the investigator leaving them in a rush Beckett turned to the doctor and asked, "Do you know if she's like this at her investigations?"
"I've been told by her colleagues," Mary said.
Seeing the weak smile on her face Beckett was about to ask what was wrong when she saw Skye gesturing to the private room they'd had before. They went in first and she said, "What is it?"
"I know what she's thinking with this case," Mary replied. "Palkis looks a lot like her father would have if he'd been the same age."
"His eyes," Beckett said, though the revered didn't have mismatched eyes as the pilot had.
With a nod Mary said, "I'll have to stay with her; keep an eye on her to make sure she's alright."
"And it's getting closer to May," Beckett commented.
"It is," Mary said. "But she doesn't need to think about that," she added hurriedly as the three men were walking to the room and she was quick to smile at them.
"This is my wife," Skye was saying as she and Castle were close behind the three. "Mary McDouglas," adding that for Palkis' sake.
"Pleasure to meet you," the reverend said as he shook Mary's hand.
"The same," the doctor replied with a smile. "How are you doing?"
"Very well," Palkis said before they sat down together. "And relieved that there isn't anyone else hurt… right?"
"Oh no, we just found something that we wanted to ask you about," Skye said.
Not surprised when her friend looked at her, Beckett glanced at her husband pointedly before he was quickly starting to ask the men watching them expectantly.
"Has there ever been anything in this area that resembles the Hellfire Club?" Castle asked them.
The three men looked at each other before Gerry said, "Sounds like Dale."
"Dale?" Beckett asked.
"Timothy Dale," Gerry replied. "He's been writing a book about that club ten years now. It seems he's related to the Dashwoods."
"Bit distant though," Palkis said. "He… he's here," he started to say before pausing.
Hearing a man yelling for Basil outside, Castle stood and went to the door to find him. But when he opened it, he nearly ran into a man as Gerry was saying, "The very man we wanted to see," and he stepped aside to let him in.
"You're the ones I wanted to see," Dale said, sounding eager. "My book is ready."
"Speak of the devil," Gerry said. "These four are helping the rozzers find who exactly it is that's attacked us."
When Dale looked at the four of them in surprise Beckett introduced them before ending with herself so she could explain, "I'm Lord Cotswold's cousin."
"The Americans, of course," Dale said with a nod. "Pleasure to meet you. But… what do I have to do with this? I was here at the pub last night."
"You're not a suspect," Castle told him quickly to reassure him. "We found something that we think might be connected to the Hellfire Club… Dashwood's club, in some way."
"Their symbols?" Dale said, nodding to his friends. When he saw the surprise on the faces of the four he told them, "I see Palkis' and it looks like the Earl of Sandwich and the rosary in the painting of Dashwood."
"Then has there ever been any connection to this area in any way and the club?" Castle asked.
"Here," Dale replied. "This map was for possible sites for a new church… of sorts. Dashwood was looking to possibly expand and he wanted a… church."
"Do these locations have tunnels?" Skye asked.
"They do," Dale said. "You're thinking of what they call the Hellfire Caves?" At the nods all around the table he sighed and said, "It was easiest for what they did. Above it would be a church but below it would be a new place for the club." He slid a sheet of paper and told them, "They'd gotten attention of course for what they were doing but before they could move the club's popularity had waned fully."
"These are the possible locations?" Beckett asked, the paper an old map of the town with hand drawn circles over it.
"Yes, the four pubs in town are all places," Dale said. "Here's us now, the Flying Windmill and the Orchard and Hive. A few homes but those caves are all closed off so there's not much use for them."
"They're used now for storing the kegs of ales and Guinness," Basil said. "But they don't go very far, I've been down in them."
"I wonder if-" Beckett started to say before they heard a commotion outside and some yelling. She shared a look with her husband and the McDouglases before they went outside and continued out of the bar where there was a teenager yelling and pointing towards the side of town the gardens were on.
"He nearly tried to kill me. But I got him, I got the ghost!"