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: It was great getting the feedback for the last chapter that I did so I'll go ahead and get started on my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Really pleased reading you thought it was very good writing again with the last chapter!) and
Mb (I was glad to see that you thought the motive for the killings was interesting, I thought it would be myself since it's a crazy one of course. And you're right, them going after Castle and Beckett was their flaw and luckily how they got caught. Not surprised you were glad that everyone was okay and they found the killers. I also wasn't really surprised to see you're wondering if Beckett's mother and grandmother will do something to protect them if Tyson makes his move. And I can answer your question, no Tyson won't be connected to Julia's birth mother, though that was an interesting idea. I'm glad that you mentioned the vacation since it's definitely going to be for relaxation now! You're welcome for sharing the first half of the chapter! I was glad that you liked the second half of the chapter with them relaxing. And I wasn't surprised that you were mentioning Eliza wanting to know what happened and Julia being careful about what she asked concerning the case. I was really happy seeing that you loved how playful and competitive Castle and Beckett are since I really want them to have that kind of relationship where they can be a healthy competitive with each other, makes them very close. Pleased reading you thought the second half of the chapter was nicely done. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).
Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them both and I appreciate 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'm Only Sleeping by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, from The Beatles album Revolver.
Waiting For A Sleepy Feeling
"'lexisdoyouwanttogoswimmingorplayinthegameroom?" Eliza greeted her big sister when she was first to step in the house.
"I'm glad to see you too Lizzy," Alexis said, laughing when her little sister was hugging her after that.
"Sorry, but Mommy and Daddy wanted us to decide with you," Eliza replied, moving to share a quick hug with Louis.
"I'm a little tired," Alexis said when the little girl looked at her. "So, I vote for the game room."
"I do too; we'll have plenty of time for swimming this weekend," Louis said. He looked down the hall and asked, "Did your parents finish with their case?"
"They did," Julia said, walking up to them. "They're cooking right now; pizza."
"Oh really?" Alexis asked before she was hugging her sister. Once Julia had shared a brief one with Louis she said, "We can go see them, right?"
"They wanted to talk to you," Julia answered.
"Talk to me?" Alexis asked in surprise. When her sister nodded again, she followed her with the others down to the kitchen. She greeted the rest of her family with her husband, petting the dogs as they'd gone to them for attention before she said, "What's going on?"
"Pizza," Castle said firmly.
"I can see that," Alexis said.
"We'll explain at dinner," Beckett said gently.
"What happened to your hands!" Louis exclaimed at the sight of his mother in law's knuckles.
"They had to punch the killers," Eliza said. "To get free when they got kidnapped."
"She's right," Castle said when his oldest and the vet turned to him and Beckett. He let Alexis take his hand and said, "It's fine and that bruising will go away fast."
"And you're okay," Alexis said, looking between them both.
"We are," Beckett replied firmly. She then smiled and said, "But the case has been solved and we have our vacation." At her oldest's nod she then asked, "How're you feeling?"
"Tired," Alexis said, rolling her eyes and going to the sink to wash her hands quickly. "One of my clients pulled a tantrum before they went into my room, so I had to help their mother before I could talk to them," she explained before her grandmother was questioning her.
"You were alright for that?" Martha asked.
"Yes, surprisingly," Alexis said. "It was a later appointment so that probably helped. And the girls didn't tell you, but I vote for the game room."
"So did I," Louis replied. "Since we're going to be at the beach a lot this weekend," he added.
"I agree," Martha said.
"Would you have gone swimming Gram?" Julia asked her.
"Don't sass me," Martha told her jokingly, playfully pinching her cheek. "And no, I wouldn't have," she added before she was laughing with her family.
"Then we're in agreement?" Castle asked everyone, looking around the room. When they nodded, he said, "Okay, we'll play in the game room tonight."
"How much longer until dinner's ready?" Alexis asked.
"Probably twenty minutes," Castle replied.
"Could we eat in the game room?" Eliza asked eagerly.
"There isn't enough room," Castle replied. "We'll think about getting a table," he told them.
"We're going to unpack," Alexis said.
"Where are your suitcases?" Castle asked with a slight frown.
"In the entry, I rolled them into the closet for tomorrow," Louis replied.
"Good idea," Beckett said. "Go ahead and unpack for tonight if you still want to," she told the two.
"We'll be back," Alexis said with a smile.
"What can I do now Mommy?" Eliza asked when the two had made their way upstairs.
"Help your sister set the table," Beckett said with a smile.
"Already?" Eliza asked with a frown.
"Yes," Castle said firmly. "You want to go to the game room, don't you?"
"Yeah," Eliza replied before she turned to hurry and help Julia with the plates.
"Mama!" Josie said from her highchair that had been placed in the kitchen.
"Yes sweetie," Beckett replied, drying her hands and going to the toddler.
"Wanna go too," Josie said.
"Will you be careful?" Castle asked.
"Eh," Josie said, nodding her head. She smiled up at her mother when she took the tray off and once in her arms kissed her cheek.
"Thank you," Beckett said with a smile before setting her on the ground. "Don't run," she said firmly when Josie left them to go to the dining room.
"Do you want me to go with her?" Martha asked.
"That's okay," Beckett said.
"Though would you take this bowl Mother?" Castle asked, finishing mixing the salad he'd made for them all to share.
"Alright," Martha said.
"I'll go see how the girls are," Jim said, moving to follow her.
"Well… we could have let them play," Castle said when he looked around and realized he was done until the pizzas had baked. Leaning against the counter across from his wife at the island he said, "I'm bored," not surprised when she laughed before she responded.
"Don't start love, they'll come back before you can move," Beckett said.
Glancing past her and seeing that she was right, Castle said, "How did you do that?"
"Intuition," Beckett replied with a smile. She turned around and said, "Do you two want to go play?"
Grabbing her little sister's arm before she could speak, Julia said, "That's okay. We'll wait for after dinner. Help me get the napkins," directing the last to Eliza.
Though she wanted to protest what her sister had said, Eliza found she couldn't, and she got the napkins while Julia grabbed the forks they needed for the salads. "Why did you say that?" she asked her as soon as she saw they were alone in the dining room.
"Because there's not that much time," Julia replied.
"Why do you have to answer for me too?" Eliza asked.
Stopping her sister Julia had her put down the napkins and she set the forks on top of them saying, "I wasn't answering for you, I was saying that we needed to wait."
"Then why didn't you just say that?" Eliza said in exasperation.
"Because that's how you have to talk to grownups," Julia said. "They expect me to be a little mature. After we finish this, we should be with the family, not by ourselves and playing so we might not listen to them and be late for dinner."
"Oh," Eliza said. She made a face and said, "I don't want to be a grownup if that's what I have to do all the time."
"Not yet, when you actually get older you will," Julia said. She glanced to the doorway and said, "We should finish and go back; they're going to wonder where we are."
"Also, if we're setting the table or playing," Eliza said. She glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye and seeing Julia frowning at her she laughed and said, "I have to practice, don't I?"
"Let's keep going," Julia replied though she was speaking laughingly. After they'd finished, they walked back to the kitchen, finding their big sister and Louis were there.
"So how was school?" Alexis asked them.
"We can't say while we eat?" Eliza said.
"True," Alexis said before their father was talking to her surprise.
"I think you guys need to mention one thing before we eat," Castle commented.
"What?" Julia asked in surprise.
"You know what he's talking about," Beckett said.
"Oh," the two girls said at the same time.
Sighing when her sister looked at her pointedly, Eliza explained what had happened to her that had made her leave her class before Julia finished. "We didn't get caught," she said. "But I promised I wouldn't do it again."
"Glad to hear that," Louis said.
Seeing her sisters appeared to be surprised Alexis said, "He played hooky once at his school, got into trouble there and at home."
"It was before Da and Mam got married," Louis said. "So I had a bit of a rebellious streak early," jumping with the others when the oven timer rang, and Castle was yelling.
"The pizzas!" he said.
Laughing with the girls Martha said, "You're too dramatic Richard."
"I wonder where I learned that from," Castle commented.
Smiling as her mother-in-law waved her hand at her son, Beckett helped him in getting the pizzas out before they waited a moment to cut them. "Go to the table, we'll be there in a second," she said to everyone else. Watching them go with her husband, she began to smile when he wrapped his arms around her and said, "What did I tell you?"
"They're not coming out love," Castle said, merely bowing his head against hers.
"But they're hungry," Beckett said, turning at the same time and wrapping her arms around his neck. They kissed gently and briefly before they turned their attention to the pizzas and began to cut before they were walking together to the dining room.
"Now you two can talk about school," Castle said to Julia and Eliza once they all had slices and were beginning to eat. "Except for the part where you were bad and snuck out," he added, not surprised when both gave him looks.
"Go first Jules," Eliza said.
Shaking her head Julia said, "You because I have more with more classes."
"And you won't need to tell us about lunch," Louis said.
"Okay," Eliza said before she was quickly talking about her day, skipping over what they'd told them already. After they had both finished, she was going to ask her big sister if she wanted to talk about her day at work before her father was tapping his fork against his glass.
"Sorry, but we have two announcements," Castle said. "Well, not so much an announcement but one announcement and a family meeting. But we're here so it's been called which means-"
"Rick, you might want to stop there, you're confusing our kids," Beckett said, interrupting him by placing her hand on his arm. She glanced around the table and then said, "And our parents too."
"Right, so the announcement first," Castle said after nodding to her words.
"But…" Julia started to say when her father was looking at her. She was confused at first but realized why he'd said that, and she turned to Alexis and Louis with a smile saying, "I found out yesterday that Peter and I were invited to the Rothschild Competition."
"Oh great," Alexis said, Louis agreeing with her.
"Have you heard of it?" Jim asked his grandson in-law.
"I have, especially after I met you all," Louis said, smiling. "And found out Julia was a dancer. When is it?"
"The beginning of October," Julia answered. "So we have time, but we finally got what we were going to dance… except for the Cha-Cha."
"Cha-Cha? Are you sure you should be dancing that?" Alexis asked in surprise.
Shaking her head Julia explained Ms. Grey wanting to change it to the Samba and their songs for the dances before she said, "And if we do the Samba, she wants to dance to the Madonna song La Isla Bonita."
"That reminds me," Alexis said. "Are you ready for your Spanish final?"
Laughing Julia said, "Yes, but that's not for a couple weeks."
"Is that it for the announcement?" Louis asked when the teen didn't continue.
"Yeah," Julia replied.
"Okay, now that family meeting I was talking about," Castle commented. "Kate and I have discussed it and we want all your opinions on what you'd think if in the parlor room we took down the wall between it and the game room. Made all of that into a huge game room," he explained, startled when everyone but his wife and Josie were talking at once, Beckett speaking quickly to stop them.
"We can't hear what you're saying," she said to the girls. "So we'll have you talk one at a time."
"You first Josie," Castle told the baby. "Do you want us to make the game room bigger?"
"Eh," Josie replied with a smile.
"That's one vote for yes," Castle said. "Now you can speak Eliza."
Nodding the little girl said, "I want to, we can get more games, right?"
"Yes," Beckett said with a laugh before she turned with the others to Julia.
"I definitely want to make that room bigger," the teen said. "But what about the aquarium?"
"We can move it," Castle reassured her.
"Then could we put it by the bar?" Julia asked.
"We'll ask Linoy about it," Beckett said, referencing the man who had installed their ATM aquarium since the men from the show hadn't been able to come themselves.
"Then yeah, I vote yes" Julia said in a rush.
"I'm all for it," Alexis said with a smile when her father motioned to her. "But what about the games?"
"What about them?" Castle asked in surprise.
"Can we pick one?" Alexis asked.
"The four of them," Louis said. He smiled when his wife looked at him and said, "Your choice is mine."
"You can," Castle said. "But we need to finish this vote," he said. "So that's four for the bigger room. Mother?"
"I'll vote for it," Martha said quickly.
"Do you want to?" Julia asked her.
"Of course kiddo, I've enjoyed it myself," Martha said with a smile at her granddaughter's seeking her reassurance.
"Will you pick a game?" Castle asked her.
"No," Martha said. "Let the girls."
"Dad?" Beckett asked her father.
"I'm voting the same," Jim said. "But when are you going to do that?"
"Wait, Mommy and Daddy didn't vote," Eliza said. "And they're the most important ones!"
"We're with you," Castle said.
"He's right," Beckett said, not surprised when the kids were looking at her. "And we'll have it done while we're on vacation," she added, looking at her husband when he spoke.
"The other thing," Castle began. "Are the two doorways to the hall leading to the backyard door. Should we keep those or cover them."
"What about the entry? It's going to be off centered," Louis pointed out.
"That was after this," Castle said. "Though that one Kate and I discussed, and we figured we would just center the doorway, put in French doors."
"You wouldn't want to put in a barn door?" Alexis asked.
"I know," Beckett said when her husband deliberately turned to her. "I don't normally like them but if we're all picking games, I guess we need the space. But nothing too rustic."
"Don't worry," Castle assured her. "I don't want that either and we'll pick one together."
"Is that it?" Eliza asked.
"The doorways," Julia murmured to her sister.
"Oh… we can't leave them?" Eliza asked.
"We could," Beckett said, looking to her husband.
"She's right, it's another way to get in and out of the room," Castle said in agreement.
"And the room wouldn't feel like it was a box," Julia pointed out.
"Also true," Castle replied, nodding. He then said, "Okay, so we're enlarging the room and moving the entrance."
"The games?" Eliza asked hopefully.
"Not yet," Castle said with a smile.
"Why not?" Julia asked. "I'm not talking back," she told everyone in a rush. "Just wondering why we couldn't?"
"No, we can," Beckett said. "But let's wait until we're finished with dinner."
After they'd been eating for a while, Eliza suddenly recalled something and said, "What about London?"
"What about it?" Martha asked in surprise.
"You didn't tell them about going," Eliza told her parents.
Castle quickly related the weekend he and Beckett had discussed before he said, "You two are the only ones we haven't told about that," not surprised his oldest was responding swiftly.
"I don't know if I'm going to want to," Alexis replied. "Or can."
"Work?" Beckett asked her.
"Yeah, I need to make sure I'm ready to start my maternity leave," Alexis explained.
"The same for me," Louis said. "Paternity leave though," he added, speaking to Julia and Eliza.
"I feel bad," Alexis told her sister.
"I asked Ms. Grey since I thought you might not be able to go," Julia said quickly. "And she said they'll film it. They always do. Oh, and that's fine," she added in a rush.
"Good," Alexis said. "Now…"
"Now can we go to the room," Eliza said eagerly when she noticed everyone had finished eating.
"And plan the games?" Julia asked hopefully.
"Yes, I forgot to mention we needed to know for the layout we have to do," Castle commented with a smile.
"Can we help with that?" Eliza inquired.
"That we need to do with the architect and designer," Castle replied.
"But we'll let you know what it'll look like," Beckett assured the girls.
"When will it be ready?" Julia asked.
"Hopefully at the end of August, but we'll need to see," Beckett said. She helped the others then in clearing the table, leaving Eliza with Josie to help the baby clean her face. After they had finished, they gathered in the parlour room and she said, "Your dad already had a couple ideas of what to do."
"What games?" Eliza asked.
"The Star Wars arcade game," Castle replied with first, not surprised when Julia and Eliza gasped eagerly. "If I can get it," he hurried to tell them.
"What else?" Julia said.
"Skeeball," Eliza said before her father could respond.
"Stop reading my mind," Castle told her in mock annoyance.
"Really?" Eliza squealed. When her father nodded, she squealed and hurried to hug him before saying, "You'll get that right?"
"Most likely," Castle said with a nod. "What do you guys want now?"
"Josa can't really pick anything," Julia said.
"No, but when she's older we might want to replace a game," Beckett pointed out.
"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Julia then asked her grandparents.
"We're sure," Martha said firmly. "We just want to play with you once we have everything ready."
"You will," Eliza said firmly.
"Okay Eliza," Castle said. "What do you want to have?"
"Could we have the whack-a-mole game?" Eliza asked.
"I think we can do that," Beckett said, smiling at her husband looking at her. She set Josie down and said, "Julia?"
"The coin pusher games? Just one though," the teen said, saying the end as fast as she could.
"We'll look into it," Castle promised her. "Though you're just going to get the coins back."
"Unless we put prizes in there," Julia said. "Little candies?"
"We'll think about that," Beckett said firmly.
"Now you," Castle said, startled when his daughter looked to her husband.
"Are you sure?" Louis asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Alexis said. "Especially since I loved the game myself."
"We found it at an arcade place in Paris," Louis said, turning to the others. "It had a little air cannon like that one where you shoot the clowns over? In this one you had four holes on the front fuselage of an old plane, and you had to shoot through the propeller that spun slowly."
"That sounds fun," Eliza said eagerly.
"I can look for it," Castle told them with a nod. "And see the measurements."
"Would we be able to fit everything?" Beckett asked.
"Maybe, it's why we have to talk to everyone this coming week," Castle said. "Once we're back."
"Ooh! I can't wait for the trip!" Eliza squealed eagerly at the reminder.
"I don't think any of us can," Jim said.
"What're you looking forward to Grandpapa?" Julia asked him.
Smiling, Jim replied with, "Taking pictures of the water… being in that water."
"Me too," Julia said with a nod. She then said, "So now we're set we can go play," looking hopefully at her mother before she was laughing and responding.
"Yes," Beckett said. "Go ahead," she said to her and Eliza before the two were leading the way out of the parlour room.
"I feel weird," Alexis said to her mother when they were walking out of the room together.
"About what?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"You just finished the game room and now you're going to redo it," Alexis explained.
Smiling Beckett squeezed her arm gently and said, "Don't worry, I should have just agreed to your dad's idea of doing that in the first place."
"I'm not surprised," Martha commented. When her daughter in law looked at her, she smiled and said, "You didn't want that much at first."
"That was my thought," Beckett said, nodding while they stepped into the game room. "Plus Rick was right, we don't use either room that often."
"And it'll be fun for parties," Julia said.
"I thought you guys were going to play," Castle told the girls.
"I wanted to play the pinball machine with you Daddy," Eliza said, hurrying over to him.
"Sure," Castle said, picking her up.
"What're you going to do?" Julia asked her mother while the others were going to the games.
"I'm not sure," Beckett said. "Something with Josie," she said since she was holding the toddler.
"Why don't you play the baseball game?" Julia replied.
"Is that what you wanted to do?" Beckett asked her with a smile.
"Sort of," Julia said, smiling herself.
"Come on," Beckett said with a laugh before they headed to the game. She set Josie down and said, "Do you want to play too?"
"Eh," the toddler said happily.
"Should I help you?" Julia asked, grabbing the baseball bat of the game.
"No!" Josie said, pushing her sister's hand away. "I play."
"Josie," Beckett said, leaning down and kissing the top of her daughter's head. "Your sister is helping you. But I'm guessing you want to play by yourself."
"Yes," the toddler replied.
"I think she's serious," Julia told her mother with a smile, not surprised the question she was asking her after that.
"You don't mind?" Beckett said.
"Oh no, I figured she was going to start wanting to do things herself," Julia answered with a smile. "Lizzy did the same."
"I'm surprised you remember," Beckett said.
"It wasn't that long ago," Julia said before she and her mom applauded Josie's getting the lights on the bases to move around. "But she's doing a lot better now."
"Hey! I heard that," Eliza protested at the pinball machine.
"Sorry," Julia said, waving to her sister before Eliza playfully stuck her tongue out at her.
"Eliza," Beckett said simply. She wasn't surprised her second youngest waved at her before she turned her attention to the other two. "She let you have a turn?" she asked Julia with a smile.
"Yeah," the teen said.
"What did you tell her?" Beckett asked warningly.
"Nothing," Julia replied seriously. She was looking down at the game and taking her next turn before she said, "But I might have said we need to let you have a turn too." When she had a pause, she glanced rapidly at her mother and seeing the look on her face she couldn't help laughing before she tried to hit the pinball but missed. "Which is now," she then said.
"Thank you," Beckett replied before she stepped up to the game. She looked at Josie when she toddler grabbed onto her leg and turned to Julia when she was speaking quickly.
"Can you play with her doing that?" the teen asked.
"Yeah, don't worry," Beckett assured her.
Watching her mother play until she had three outs, Julia said, "I forgot to ask, how was it when you and Dad played?"
"Fun-" Castle said, walking over to them.
"Dada!" Josie squealed before she was reaching up to him.
"I'm glad to see you too," Castle told her in amusement, picking her up. After he'd kissed her quickly, he told Julia, "Your mom won."
"After we went on the driving game," Beckett said with a smile. "And he won."
"Really?" Julia asked in surprise.
"He cut me off," Beckett said teasingly though she was looking at her husband while she spoke.
Giggling when her father pretended to grumble, Julia then said, "By accident?"
"Of course," Castle said. After Julia had finished laughing, he asked the two, "What're you going to play now?"
"Who said we were finished?" Beckett asked though Julia was leaving them while she spoke.
"Her apparently," Castle commented.
"I'd like to play the air hockey table," Julia said before her mother could speak.
"With who?" Castle asked.
"Both of you," Julia said firmly. "We can you know," she said, looking at her mother who laughed before she was talking.
"And how would you want us to split up?" Beckett asked.
"You and Dad against me," Julia said. She burst out laughing when her parents shared a stunned look before she told them, "I'm kidding, play with me Dad?"
"Sure," Castle said though he was glancing at his wife.
"It's fine," Beckett said with a smile, squeezing his arm. "What's everyone else doing though?"
"Still playing," Julia said, looking around the room. She saw Eliza was at the pinball machine with their grandparents, Alexis and Louis at the car racing game though they were just talking at that moment. She turned back to her parents and asked, "What about Josa?"
"She's fine with your gram," Castle said, checking on the toddler. He then walked with Julia and Beckett to the table and said, "Are you sure you're alright on your own?"
"Yes, get the puck Rick," Beckett said wryly.
"Oh, language," Castle said in mock exaggeration, about to reach for the puck when he realized Julia had gotten it.
"You're too slow Dad," she told him with a smile.
"We get a lot of back talk from our daughters love," Castle told his wife.
"Yes, but who do they learn that from," Beckett said teasingly.
"Both of you," Julia said firmly. She smiled when they looked at her and said, "Really, but we're not in trouble are we?"
"No, your dad might be though," Beckett said.
"What?" Castle said in protest.
Smiling Beckett told him, "Start the game."
Looking down Castle said to Julia, "Why do you do that to me?"
"Because it's funny," the teen said, wrapping her arms around him tightly and hugging him. She was careful to not hurt him with the striker she held before watching as he hit the puck across the table.
Finishing her turn on the pinball machine, Eliza looked over at the air hockey and said, "Could I go play with them?"
"You'd have to ask," Jim told her. "But wait for them to score another goal."
Nodding, Eliza hurried over to them and went to the side of the table before her mother was scoring. Letting out a whoop she went to her mother and held onto her arm asking eagerly, "Can I play with you Mommy?"
"I think you need to ask your sister; this was her idea," Beckett replied, smiling as the little girl was leaning over the table while she was calling her question across to the other two.
"Could I play the game with you too?" Eliza asked.
"Yeah, you can help Mom if you want," Julia replied with a shrug. She was pleased when her little sister was swift to move to start playing with her and they did so until the two across were winning.
"You're sure you wanted to play with me?" Castle asked her.
Nudging her father Julia said, "Very, that was fun."
"Richard," Martha whispered.
"Oh, we'll-" Beckett started to say when she saw Josie was asleep in her mother in law's arms.
"Would you mind if we took her?" Jim asked. "We want to go to our rooms; get ready for bed ourselves."
"Good idea," Castle said while his wife was nodding. He followed her to say goodnight to their youngest after the rest of their daughters and Louis had before they were saying goodnight to their parents.
"We'll be down here for breakfast," Jim said.
"And packed," Martha said.
Saying goodnight to the two, Beckett watched them leave before she turned to hers and Castle's daughters and son in law. "We don't need to go to bed yet," she said. "But we don't have too much time."
"I do want to write in my diary," Julia said.
"And I think I'd like to sleep now," Alexis said. She smiled when her family immediately turned to her and she reached out to her husband, squeezing his hand before she added, "I don't want to be exhausted tomorrow."
"That makes sense," Castle said, going to her. "But if you're tired at all then please tell us."
"I will," Alexis said firmly. She hugged her family before she watched Louis saying goodnight to them and they went hand in hand out of the room, waving back at her sisters when they were calling out goodnight to her. She smiled, hearing them talking to their parents eagerly which didn't surprise her while she and her husband started up the foyer stairs.