Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
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: Yet again, I loved getting the reviews that I did for the last chapter, and I very much need to get some thank yous out! wendykw (I was pretty happy to see you thought the last chapter had an interesting twist, was hoping to get that from readers and I did!), pcol22 (As always, was glad to see you read and also that you liked the chapter. Was nice to see your reaction with Julia being involved, nice to see you use the word complicated, means more depth to the case, which is what I was aiming for! And not surprised to your reaction to the babies, I figured I'd get that too. Also glad to see that you can't wait to read more of this story!), TORONTOSUN (I loved reading that you liked the banter Castle and Beckett had in the last chapter so much, I try to write that, but it can be difficult, so glad I managed to achieve it there! And of course, was very pleased that having Julia and Martha included was such a twist, what I was going for!), vetgirlmx (And again, was really, really glad that you found the pregnancy and the fact it was twins such a twist. Glad I could appease your dark side with the murder now that there are more details about it, thought you might like that. And you shall see what happens with Julia now, and yep, this is a drama story, so not surprised you mentioned Julia regressing. But like I said, you'll see how that'll all work out. And now your long wait is over, but I am sooo happy that you want to read more of this story too!) and sammysgirl78 (Really am glad that so many reviewers saw the pregnancy and twins as such a twist, and you included too! You'll see what happens with Julia too. Not surprised at you again calling Castle and Beckett her parents again, lol, just wanted to point that out to say it's interesting to see my reviewers doing that already. And interesting to see your theorizing about the case. And now the day has finally come, and you can read this next chapter finally!). So thanks so much to all of you for your taking the time to send me what you did. Love reading it and big appreciation for all that was said in your feedback to me!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Nikita written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, from Elton John's album Ice on Fire.
Your Little Corner Of The World
Standing on the steps to the Precinct, Beckett watched the taxi cabs passing by, glancing at her partners who were waiting with her. After she had apprised Ryan of the situation, Esposito had returned after sending a DNA sample to Lanie and she'd informed him of the new development and possible suspect. All while she was doing that, she had become more and more concerned about what was going to happen once Julia arrived. After she'd talked to Ryan and Esposito about what to ask Castle's mother; as they were handling the interview; Castle had come up with a sudden idea, and once she'd asked permission from Captain Gates, they were waiting outside.
At that moment a cab pulled up to the curb and Castle hurried down the steps as he could see it was his mother. He paid the cabbie, glancing back as Martha stepped out and looking worried before he took the receipt to sign from the driver.
"Sweetie," Beckett said worriedly as she ran down the steps once she could hear her daughter was crying. Taking Julia from Martha she looked at the woman questioningly, trying to calm her daughter by rocking her slightly back and forth.
"Apparently a girl in Julia's class heard two teachers talking about what had happened, and ran into the classroom screaming about their teacher being killed which upset all the girls. By the time I reached the school, they had gathered the students of the ballet classes to the cafeteria and a psychologist told them about Madam Claude," Martha said, stroking Julia's hair. "She's been crying since I picked her up."
"Thank you Martha," Beckett said simply. "I'll be at the park around the corner," she told Ryan and Esposito before walking down the sidewalk.
"Where are you going bro?" Esposito asked as Castle hesitated.
"Are you worried how we're going to question your mom?" Ryan asked.
"No, just, do you need me in there?" Castle asked, straining not to go after Beckett and Julia; worried about the little girl.
"I think we're good," Ryan said, keeping Esposito from answering then.
"I'll see you after," Castle told his mother, who nodded in understanding before she headed inside the station with Esposito and Ryan. Once he was sure they were gone, he turned and tried not to start running down the sidewalk. Luckily Beckett was right at the corner, and had managed to get Julia calmed down. "Hey," he said gently to the little girl, kissing her cheek.
"Let's head to the park," Beckett said, watching as Castle dried Julia's cheeks with a handkerchief. They walked together to the small park that she had asked Gates if she could interview her daughter there. She had explained about her fears of Julia's regression, and luckily the captain had been sympathetic and had agreed to her request. "Okay, Julia, I know you're sad right now," she said once they were sitting at a picnic table, Castle next to her as he faced them. She hugged the little girl as Julia hugged her tightly, and kissed her forehead tenderly. "What did they tell you at school?"
"That Madame Claude was in the sky," Julia explained what she understood about what she'd been told. "But someone made her go if you want to talk to Martha didn't they?"
Looking at Castle, who nodded slightly, Beckett thought for a brief second and then said, "We need to talk to you about the other day when you were at ballet class."
"Why?" Julia asked, guessing that question was a yes to her question.
"We saw that some men went to see your teacher," Castle said. "And you saw them as you were leaving with my mother."
"Oh, they were coming to see Madame Claude, because they talked to her," Julia said.
"Did you hear what they said?" Beckett asked.
"No, they spoke something else," Julia said. "Like you talk at the market we go to sometimes."
"Russian," Beckett stated. When the little girl nodded she said, "Did you recognize any words they said?"
"Just hello," Julia answered.
"We're they angry at all?" Castle then asked as Beckett was getting her phone out of her pocket.
"I don't think so, we left after they said hello. Did, Mommy did they hurt Madame Claude?" Julia asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I don't know sweetie. Martha's going to describe the man she says she saw talking to your teacher," Beckett said reading her text from Esposito. "They're going to make a drawing, so do you think you can remember what he looks like?"
"To help the picture?" Julia asked.
"To make sure that it's him," Castle corrected.
"Yeah," Julia said solemnly. She sighed deeply and then leaned against her mother and said, "Madame Claude was fighting with Miss Amy yesterday."
"She was," Beckett said, trying to hide her surprise at that as she and Castle exchanged a look.
"Why was Miss Amy there?" Castle asked.
"Miss Amber wasn't there to teach 'cause she was somewhere else so Miss Amy came, but they didn't teach 'cause they were fighting," Julia said.
"Do you remember what they were fighting about?" Beckett said.
"No, they were saying other words," Julia said after thinking for a moment.
"In Russian?" Castle said.
"French?" Beckett suggested when Julia shook her head no. "Alexis knows how to speak that one," she reminded her.
"I think so, but I don't know what they said either Mommy," Julia said apologetically.
"That's okay," Beckett said, kissing her forehead tenderly. "You definitely helped."
"I'm glad; will you find who hurt Madame Claude?" Julia asked them both.
"We will do our best," Beckett said as Castle suddenly held his arms out to Julia. She smiled slightly when the little girl wrapped her arms tightly around him and pressed her cheek to his chest.
"Will I dance ever again?" Julia whispered after they were quiet for a while.
"You will sweetie," Beckett promised, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Do you remember at all if Miss Amber and Madame Claude fought?"
"Yes, because Miss Amber knows Ballroom and Latin dances, and she wants to teach classes but Madame Claude said no," Julia said, frowning a little. "She only wants to dance ballet." She then looked worried and said, "I don't wanna be mean Mommy-" in a rush.
"It's okay," Beckett soothed her, stroking her hair.
"It is," Castle said when Julia looked at him. "That's not being mean; we know how much you want to dance Ballroom too."
"Do I have to go back to school now?" the little girl asked after another few minutes of silence.
"No, I'm letting you go back to Castle's place with Martha," Beckett said. "Do you have any homework?"
Shaking her head, Julia said, "What do I do until you come back?"
"You have things to do at his place remember," Beckett said, a little surprised by the question. She was startled when tears fell from Julia's eyes and asked, "What is it sweetie?"
"Can you come home? Both of you?" Julia asked tearfully.
"Your mom still needs to work, but I can come home with you both if you really want me to," Castle said.
"You have to work with Mommy," Julia said, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. "But will you come home?"
"Yes, we'll try not to be too late okay," Beckett said when her phone rang again. "Okay, Julia, was this one of the men you saw?" seeing the attachment to the text from Esposito. She showed her daughter the sketch of their newest suspect and wasn't too surprised when Julia nodded. "Let's go back, Martha's leaving right now and we need to get back to work," she told the two, standing up.
"I'll see you tonight sweetheart," Castle said as he stood and hugged Julia tightly. He shared a kiss with her before handing her to her mother.
Walking back to the Precinct, Beckett rubbed her daughter's back gently as she told her, "I love you Julia."
"I love you too Mommy, I wish you could come home," the little girl whispered to her.
"I know, but why don't you draw a picture for us while we're still working? You can give it to us when we get home," Beckett said.
"Okay, what do I draw?" Julia asked.
"Whatever you want," Castle said as they were nearing the steps and he saw his mother with Ryan standing at the base of them. "Thanks for talking to us Mother."
"Oh, anything to help your case," Martha said, watching as Beckett and Julia exchanged a kiss.
"You can take her back to my place, I called Mrs. Parker, she'll be waiting at her apartment for Julia," Beckett said, though she had told Martha she would be saying that in case they were in front of Esposito or Ryan.
"Of course," Martha said simply. "I'll see you later at home Richard."
"Thank you for your help," Ryan said as Castle hailed a cab. When Martha and Julia were on their way he asked Beckett, "What did she say?"
"She confirmed the sketch was one of the men that walked with the vic. But she also said both her daughters fought with her during school. Which is fantastic to hear," she said as they went back inside. "But that doesn't really help us out. But about the man, he's Russian; did Martha say anything else besides that basic information?"
"Not really, but she did mention he was polite, they both were," Ryan said. "And that they were dressed very well, and the more burly man in the footage was likely a bodyguard."
"Alright, then why don't we try to look at Russian embassies; not just the one here," Beckett said. "Is Espo looking for the father of the vic's daughters?"
"Right now," Ryan said with a nod.
"Okay, then what Castle and I can do is try and see if we can get in touch with his contact in the CIA and get as much information as possible from him," Beckett said, looking at her fiancé as the elevator stopped at the fourth floor.
"Give me a second to make the call," Castle said simply as he walked over to the break room.
"Espo," Beckett said as she went to his desk. "I'd like you to contact Amber Holsten first before you get too much further into your search and after Amy Holsten."
"Why not the older sister first?" Esposito asked, getting his phone.
"I get the feeling she'd be more open," Beckett said simply.
"Heard the older sister insulted Julia, how is she?" Esposito asked, holding off on dialing then as he remembered what he'd wanted to ask.
"She's alright, she understands though that someone killed her teacher and she asked me to find who that was," Beckett said. "So we need to do that."
"We will," Esposito said firmly before he put the phone to his ear.
"Do you need the picture?" Beckett asked Ryan.
Taking a picture with his phone, the detective shook his head saying, "Sure she was okay?"
"She will be," Beckett said, taking the sketch he was holding and going over to the break room. "Well?" she asked Castle.
"If he's got something pertinent he'll be here," he answered. "Oh, I should have mentioned, it's someone new."
"Why do you still need a CIA contact?" Beckett asked.
"I've kept in touch, just in case," Castle said. "I had the idea once of Nikki working with a CIA agent, but not sure that'll pan out really."
"Right," Beckett said, starting to get some coffee.
"I can handle that," Castle said easily, taking the cup she'd held from her. "You know, I was thinking about the vic's family, would her daughters know him?"
"Oh god," Beckett said. "I'm an idiot," she said before she turned and went to her desk.
Leaving the cup of coffee only partially filled, Castle ran after her and asked, "What is it?"
"There's only way to get into the ballet class," Beckett explained. "Ryan," she called as he was looking at his computer screen. "Remember?"
"Yeah, you… you sign in," Castle said in remembrance then. "What if he didn't sign in his real name?"
"It didn't seem like a clandestine meeting to me, especially since he went three days in a row to the same place," Beckett said.
"Maybe trying to convince her to do something," Castle suggested as his fiancée was on the phone. "Talking to her in a place where she's comfortable."
"Hello? Yes this is Detective Beckett; I'm calling because I'd like to know if it's possible for me to find out who signed in to go to the dance room at five for the last three days. You can? Great, I'll hold," Beckett said, breathing out in relief when the woman on the other end switched her to some elevator music. "I thought we'd have to call- yes, I'm here, a Gleb Kolchak. Okay, thank you very much."
Looking on as Beckett searched the name on her compter; Castle glanced over at the break room and saw a shadowy figure watching him. "I'll be back," he murmured to her.
"Castle," the man said. "Are you sure you needed to see me?"
"I did, do you know who this is?" Castle asked, showing him the sketch he'd taken from Beckett's desk.
"Yeah, Gleb Kolchak," the agent said simply. "Why?"
"What do you know about him?" Beckett asked, coming up behind Castle then.
"Well, he's the bodyguard of the Russian ambassador at the moment; Nicholas Potemkin. He's suspected of being former KGB, and an unsubstantiated report on him states he's been involved in at least ten deaths," the contact replied. "But keep in mind it's unsubstantiated."
"Does he have a violent past that's more established?" Castle asked.
"No, unfortunately we're not all that aware of this man, which is probably why he was chosen by Potemkin. We're keeping an eye on him, but he's been here for two years and we haven't observed him doing anything illegal," the man said.
"What about for the past three days at around five?" Beckett asked.
"Yes, he went to your daughter's school Detective, we saw him go in with the ambassador and leave from the playground where he had spoken with your victim about fifteen minutes later, all three days," the agent said.
"Do you have any idea what the ambassador would want with her?" Beckett asked.
"I'm afraid not, she's never been a person of interest to us," the agent said simply.
Nodding at that, Beckett turned and left Castle in the room as he watched her walk away. "Would you be able to find out at all about the ambassador's possible relationship to our vic? And an alibi for last night from about twelve to two?" he asked his contact.
"I may, tell the Detective I'll be sending her an e-mail," the agent said.
"Thanks," Castle said before he turned to leave. "You…" he said as he turned back to the man but found him gone already. Going out to Beckett he said, "I asked him to find some kind of relationship between the two."
"I wonder why your mother wasn't able to ID the ambassador," she commented.
"Want me to call her?" Castle asked. When she nodded he pulled out his phone and called his mother saying, "Sorry to call you now, but I'm wondering, the other man that was there, you didn't remember him at all Mother?" He listened for a moment before saying, "Okay, could I maybe send you a picture and would that jog your memory? Great."
Beckett quickly typed the Russian ambassador's name into her computer, and when she found a picture, moved the screen for him to take a picture with his phone. She listened to him then speak with his mother again saying, "That's him, and he… yeah, okay, thank you Mother, I'll see you later, bye." "Well?" she asked after he'd hung up.
"They saw the bodyguard longer than the ambassador, since he held the door open for them," Castle said. "She said the ambassador basically brushed past him, but she does remember him smiling at Julia. So… Beckett, I'm wondering now if this man is our killer or they're the killers."
"I know, I hope your informant has that e-mail…" she started to say before she saw her inbox.
"Is this guy our killer?" Ryan asked, having been standing by Castle as they'd spoken.
"Not the ambassador, according to this, there's no relationship between the ambassador or bodyguard with our vic. And they saw the ambassador at a dinner party for the ambassador from Italy, apparently the two are friends," Beckett said, reading. "But the bodyguard was not with Mr. Potemkin last night, so we need to get a hold of him, discover where he was," she told Ryan. "Call the embassy; I'll try Kolchak's personal number and any others I can get."
While Beckett was back on her phone again, Castle went to the murder board to write out the new information they had for her. "Anything?" he asked as Esposito walked over to him.
"Not really," the detective said. "This guy's pretty much a ghost, though talking with his youngest daughter, found out that the vic kicked him out of their lives when she was too young to remember. They haven't had any contact with him since then. Here's a picture of him, about six months before he lost everything."
"The older daughter has his eyes," Castle commented with a slight nod. "Have you tried homeless shelters?"
"I've sent out a message to them, but he could look pretty different now, so it's a shot in the dark. What about the two men?" Esposito asked.
"They're working on it," Castle said, nodding to Beckett as she hung up her phone.
"No luck there," she said, coming over to them.
"I got a hold of the ambassador's secretary," Ryan said, walking to them. "Mr. Potemkin is right now in DC; he flew this morning; and with his second bodyguard. All they know about Kolchak is that he requested a few days off; starting last night after he took the ambassador back to the embassy."
"So he had the opportunity to kill our vic," Beckett mused. "But the motive's a little foggy, because I'm pretty sure if he was a possible father of the babies, the CIA would have known."
"I'm still wondering what these two wanted with a ballet teacher," Esposito said.
"Well, telling the secretary why I needed to know the whereabouts of the ambassador, she said she would call him and let him know he needed to get in touch with us," Ryan explained.
"I wonder if he'd know where Kolchak is," Beckett said. "Okay, so we need to look at both him and Costa, we'll take the latter."
"And what are we looking for exactly? Anything, everything?" Esposito asked.
"Pretty much, actually, I think I'd like to talk to Martine first," Beckett said. "To get some other names and call around to see if anyone else can think of another suspect." The two detectives left, and she went back to her desk telling Castle, "You can start searching."
"On it," he said quickly as he looked at the internet on his phone while she picked up her desk phone. Seeing a number of hits for the ambassador, he sighed under his breath, settling in for a long afternoon as Beckett spoke with their former suspect next to him.
"Castle! You came early," Julia said in surprise as she watched him walk inside from the couch.
"I did, and your mom is still working right now, but she's trying her hardest to get back soon," Castle explained as he hung up his coat. He picked up Julia; who'd run to him; and hugged her tightly as he carried her to the kitchen asking, "How're you doing?"
"Kay, I'm sad though," Julia answered truthfully.
"Mother, were you planning on taking her out?" Castle asked as he saw she was dressed up.
"It's why I called you," Martha said simply. "But of course the call gets dropped before I can tell you why; I got invited to Nobu for dinner, so I hope you don't mind taking her for the rest of the night."
"Of course not," Castle said. "Have fun."
"I will," Martha said as they walked to the door. "And you two too, make sure he behaves before your mother returns Julia."
Giggling a little Julia said, "I will. Bye Martha."
"Bye," Castle called as his mother left. "Okay, so are you hungry at all, it is pretty late."
"Little bit," Julia said as Castle set her down. She took his hand as they went to the kitchen and she asked, "What do we have?"
"I was thinking just some grilled cheese and tomato soup," Castle said. "Want to sit here while I'm cooking?" When she nodded he got her coloring book and crayons before he set her in the tall chair. The meal was very easy to make, and he was soon helping Julia set the table before they sat down to eat. "So," he said once they'd eaten a little of the soup and sandwiches. "Want to watch a movie once we're finished?"
"Can I?" Julia asked.
"Yes, or until your mom comes home," Castle said. He opened his mouth to continue, when he heard the sound of a key in the lock. "Or maybe not."
"Mommy!" Julia cried, running to her.
"Sweetie," Beckett said in a kind of relieved tone she had no idea where it came from. She knelt down to hug her daughter tightly, stroking her hair as Julia pressed her cheek to hers. "How are you?"
"I'm kay, Castle asked that too," Julia said. "He made dinner too Mommy."
"How did you get back so soon?" he asked as Beckett stood and he took her bag to put away.
"Ryan and Espo, they were urging me to see Julia, and I really tried to hold out a little more, but I couldn't wait anymore," Beckett replied. She leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead before she said, "Really, we're at a standstill anyways."
"I thought you might be," Castle said with a nod. "Can I get you some soup?"
"And a sammich," Julia said quickly as she tugged on her mother's hand to lead her to the table. "Are you tired Mommy?"
"No, I just wanted to see you," Beckett said, sitting and pulling Julia up onto her lap. She hugged her daughter again before she realized Castle had walked up to them. "Thank you," she said as she took the glass of wine he handed her. "Do you want to talk about school before you came to see us?" she asked Julia after taking a sip and letting the warmth of the wine spread through her.
"Yeah, me and Celia read from the board, three new words we learned to read," Julia said as Castle gave Beckett a plate with a bowl and sandwich on it. She took the half of sandwich on her plate he gave to her, and after swallowing her bite said, "And then we counted with the little plastic bears."
"Sounds like fun, what about the flowers? Which one did you learn about today?" Castle asked.
"Mrs. Clayton said something different today," Julia said, suddenly eager. "She told us that we have flowers for months our birthdays are in. Like we have different stones."
"That's right, did she tell you which one you have?" Beckett asked, kissing the top of Julia's head.
"Yeah, mine are daffodils, they're pretty yellow ones," Julia said. "And the people in England have some that are different and some that are the same as ours. Oh, and we drew a picture of our flowers too. Can I go get it to show you Mommy?"
"After you eat," Beckett said, getting her bowl of soup. "Anything else today?"
Julia shook her head as she was swallowing a spoonful of soup, and after she set the spoon back in the bowl she asked, "Are you still working?"
Guessing that meant if they had solved the case, Castle quickly said, "We are, but we'll hopefully be finished soon. I was asking her before you came in if she wanted to watch a movie," he directed to Beckett.
"We can, but as soon as it's over you'll go to bed," she said to her daughter in a slightly firm tone of voice.
Making a face, Julia then nodded, and finished her sandwich as her mother and Castle talked about Easter. She looked up when they mentioned her and said, "Does the Easter bunny come here Mommy?"
"I think he will," Castle said, glancing at Beckett. "Or your house, wherever you are I know he'll go."
"Kay, do I give him cookies and milk too?" Julia asked.
"That's just Santa," Beckett said. "The Easter bunny just leaves eggs, not big presents," she further explained, hoping her daughter wasn't expecting gifts.
"Oh, that's what Celia said," Julia said with a nod as her mother set her down since they were all finished with the meal. "But I don't give him something for a thank you?"
"He knows already, and he's more about finding the eggs," Castle said. When Julia just looked up at him in slight confusion he continued saying, "He knows you're going to need to find the eggs he hides, so he has a lot of fun doing that, making sure you really have to work to see where he put them."
"I like finding better," Julia said seriously, making Castle and Beckett laugh briefly.
"That doesn't surprise me," Beckett said. "Go pick a movie while we clean up okay?"
"Anything at all?" Castle asked when Julia had disappeared into his office where her movies were.
"No, we tried to get the footage from the street where the vic's building is, but they won't have it ready until tomorrow because they have to pull it from their archives. Do you really think someone would go back though?" Beckett asked, since he'd had the idea of the killer wanting to keep tabs on the investigation at the beginning until they knew the investigators were not on his trail.
"It's a hunch," Castle said. "Nothing on Kolchak and Costa still?"
"I got desperate before I left, and called the CIA, asked them if there was anything on Kolchak," Beckett said. "Of course, I haven't heard back. And as for Costa, he's a ghost, none of his friends has seen him lately, and the homeless shelters that I had the three of us call so far never saw him. I brought what we have so far back with me. I wanted to take another look at it after a meal and spending some time with Julia."
"Good idea," Castle said. He was going to say more, but Julia came out to them and he said, "What did you pick?"
"You can see when we watch the movie," Julia said with a slight smile. "Oh! Mommy, can I show you the picture now?"
"Go ahead sweetie," Beckett said, not surprised when her daughter took her hand and pulled her to her backpack that was in the closet.
"See?" Julia said, taking a picture out.
"It's very yellow," Castle said, having joined them since he was finished washing everything.
"Yeah, I wanted to give it to you 'cause you have the same flower as me," Julia said, biting her lower lip a few times.
"Thanks," Castle said, taking the picture before pulling her into a tight hug. "I'll keep this in my office okay?"
"That's a good place," Julia said, nodding. "Can we watch the movie now?"
"Get it set up," Beckett said, smiling slightly at the two. "I'll make some popcorn."
"What about coffee?" Castle asked as he picked up Julia as she scrambled against him, trying to climb up.
"I can handle it, go ahead," Beckett said.
"There's the movie," Julia said, pointing to the case under the TV.
"I shouldn't be too surprised you wanted to watch this one now," Castle said, seeing she'd picked Despicable Me 2. He kissed her temple as he tried to put her down but she wouldn't let him. "I have to put the movie in," he explained to her when he tried a second time but she shook her head.
"I can help," Julia said quickly with a smile.
Beckett walked in to find Julia closing the movie case as Castle grabbed the remote with his free hand. "Are we ready?" she asked, setting the tray with the popcorn and drinks down on the desk. She then took her bag off her arm and set it aside there as well, but further down from the tray.
"Yeah, can I sit with you Mommy?" Julia asked eagerly.
"Come here," Beckett said. She took the mugs Castle handed them and the bowl of popcorn for her and Julia to share. Holding her daughter close as the movie began, she was relieved to hear her giggling from time to time as they watched. She was afraid Julia would be quiet and morose after what had happened that day. But she had to wonder if the little girl would end up having nightmares that night instead; hoping that wasn't the case.
When the movie finished, Castle turned off the TV to Julia's groan and he smiled as Beckett stood up, shaking her head. "Your mom said," he told her as they headed to the stairs.
"I wanted you to forget," Julia said, talking to them both.
"Are you going to call Alexis?" Beckett asked then.
"I wanna talk to her," Julia said eagerly.
"I'm calling her tomorrow, she has plans for tonight with Diana and Dawn in the city," Castle said. "So I'll join you to tuck her in."
"Who do you want to tuck you in?" Beckett asked her daughter.
"Castle," Julia said quickly before she was transferred to him. She giggled as he bounced her slightly against his hip and she kissed his cheek saying, "It's too late to ride a horsie."
"Are you sure?" Castle asked. He smiled when Julia nodded, kissing her temple as they stepped into Alexis' room. He set the little girl down on the bed and hugged her as she stood on the mattress. "Sweet dreams Julia, I love you," he told her as she was embracing him around the neck. He nearly sighed when she only nodded her head, slightly frustrated that she still wouldn't say the three words back. He knew that she thought them; he didn't imagine she would kiss him and want to be around him too if she didn't; but he was still not forcing her into saying anything she wasn't ready to tell him. He helped her lay down and tucked the covers up to her waist; how he and Beckett handled putting her to bed together; and then leaned down to share a kiss with her before he stepped back to let his fiancée say goodnight.
"I love you Julia," Beckett said, stroking her daughter's hair. "Sleep tight okay? And sweet dreams."
"I love you too Mommy, and I hope you have good dreams, but you will 'cause Castle's there right?" Julia asked, holding her Stitch doll up to her face.
"I think so," Beckett said with a smile before kissing her daughter. She kissed her forehead and pressed her own to it before she finally pulled away, finishing tucking her in. "Good?" she asked.
"Yeah, night Mommy, Castle," Julia said as her mother stood up.
"Night Julia," Castle said, Beckett echoing him as they went over to the doorway to watch her fall asleep. As soon as she had, he closed the door and followed his fiancée out when he heard her phone make a noise indicating she had an e-mail. "What is it?" he asked when he saw her confused expression.
"I think you were right Castle," Beckett said, growing serious. "That was an e-mail from the CIA, they just said that Kolchak is a possible spy for the Russian government; and he and the ambassador were probably trying to recruit our vic to work for them."