Chapter 27
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After London, they travelled to Geneva where Castle took part in the International Book Fair. He had company for the first day but was quickly abandoned on the second when Kate and Alexis were told by some other tourists that the Montreux Jazz Festival had just started.
It was an hour out of their way but well worth it. The city lay on the shores of Lake Geneva and the light breeze coming off the water made for a perfect stroll along the walkway. Weaving their way through the myriad of artisan booths and streetside vendors, they ended up lying down on a grassy knoll to enjoy a free concert.
Alexis got momentarily distracted from the music when she heard some people behind her mention New York. She turned around to see a group of students – American, now that she was paying closer attention – taking advantage of the legal drinking age in Switzerland being sixteen. She was about to point them out to Kate when her cellphone rang. She took one look at the caller and handed the phone to Kate.
"Hey Castle," Kate answered, still lying down as Zoey had fallen asleep draped across her stomach, "I hope you're having as much fun as we are." Alexis chuckled beside her. "Yes," Kate continued, "We'll make our way back tonight… no, you don't have to come out here to meet us… yeah, the water's beautiful… right, I'm sure… Castle, tell me you're not serious… Castle! Do not rent a boat—"
Alexis looked down at Kate when it sounded like she had gotten cut off. Kate rolled her eyes and handed the cellphone back to Alexis. "Your dad wants to have dinner on a boat."
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They celebrated the Fourth of July in sweltering Italian heat.
"I think my goal of trying every flavour of gelato was a little ambitious," said Alexis on their last night in Venice. She was currently trying zabaione while the four of them strolled through the Piazza San Marco after dinner, the music from a live string quartet filling their ears. "I don't think I even got through half of them."
"There's always next time," said Castle. He paused while Kate let Zoey try a little bit of her frutti di bosco. Castle was carrying the little girl because she was petrified of the pigeons that literally outnumbered the humans in the square.
A man carrying roses took that opportunity to approach them, "Tre rose rosse per tre donne bellissime?" he asked.
Before Kate could shake her head, no – which, he knew she would do – Castle asked, in English, "How much?"
Kate rolled her eyes but she still smiled widely when he handed her the rose, even giving him a quick kiss. Alexis beamed and took out her camera to capture the moment before accepting her own flower. "Thanks, dad," she said.
"And last but not least," Castle said, handing Zoey the last one. The rose was dethorned so he let her hold it herself. "Do you remember how they say 'thank you' here, Zo?"
Zoey tilted her head to ponder for a second before replying happily, "Grazie!"
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Their last week was spent in Paris where the weather was near perfect. Once again, Castle had to work most days, so beyond having meals with them, it was often just Kate exploring the city with Zoey and Alexis. During their outings, Kate let Alexis – who was nearly fluent in French – do the talking. Castle had a working knowledge of the language but beyond asking where the washrooms were, Kate's grasp of the language was tenuous at best.
The three of them weren't too concerned with hitting all of the tourist attractions, preferring instead to go where their feet took them, making sure to stop in as many pastry shops as they could.
On their third warm and sunny day, Kate thought it would be fun to spend the afternoon in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
"Let's buy our lunch now so we can have a picnic," Alexis exclaimed.
"Yay! Picnic!" Zoey shouted in response.
Kate laughed at their enthusiasm. "Sure," she agreed easily.
They were looking for a grocery store when they passed a deli-café & bakery. The smell drifting out drew them in immediately.
Kate knew they were in trouble as soon as they stepped inside Bread & Roses. Personally, she wanted to try everything and by the look on Alexis' face, so did she.
"Okay," said Alexis, "We have to get a macaron basilic aux framboises. We can't come all the way to France without eating macarons."
After deciding on three more tartelettes, Kate interjected with, "We can't just eat dessert for lunch."
"Why not?" asked Alexis.
Kate gave her a look that couldn't be interpreted as anything besides 'disapproving parent'.
"Alright, alright," said Alexis.
They ended up getting San Danielle proscuitto with toast, two different slices of quiche, une tarte feuilletée au chèvre et courgettes, and an assortment of salads. All to go.
"We are going to have so much left over," Kate said as they walked through the park, looking for a good spot.
"We can bring some back for dad," Alexis replied.
They had a peaceful afternoon eating and watching marionette theatre. The only trouble came when Zoey caught sight of the pony rides – on real ponies.
"Mommy, look," she pointed, "Horsies! I want to go."
Kate didn't have to check the sign to know that Zoey was too young. Though Kate wouldn't have trusted her daughter's ability to hang on even if she had been allowed. She crouched down to Zoey's level to break the news. "I'm sorry, Zo but you're still too little to go on those ponies."
"Not little," Zoey shot back stubbornly, "I three years old."
Kate shook her head, "Even though you're almost three, you still have to wait."
Zoey stomped her feet. "I want to go on the horsie!"
"Zoey," Kate said, a bit more sternly this time, "The sign for the pony rides says you're not allowed and I am telling you 'no'. Crying won't change that."
Zoey pouted and crossed her arms.
"I have an idea," said Alexis, who had been looking at a map of the park, "I think there might be some different kinds of horsies you can ride, Zo."
Needless to say, Zoey forgot all about the ponies (and the fact that she had been mad at Kate) when she caught sight of the old-fashioned merry-go-round.
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On their last full day in the city, Castle was finally able to join them. They were walking down a street lined with high-end stores when Castle suddenly stopped in front of one.
"Let's go in here," he said.
Kate glanced at the displays. It was a jewelry store. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I need to get something for Grams' birthday," Alexis chimed in from Castle's other side, "And she loves the necklaces here."
This was the truth. It was also true that Castle had been trying to find the perfect engagement ring and he had conspired with his daughter to help him figure out what Kate liked.
"Well, why don't you two find something while I take Zoey to the toy store I saw back there?"
"No!" said Alexis, a little too adamantly, "I mean, dad is hopeless at picking out jewelry. I need your opinion."
Kate looked back and forth between father and daughter. "All right," she said, slowly, still unsure about their motives.
"Great!" Alexis said, dragging Kate into the store before she could change her mind.
"Bonjour," greeted a sales associate. At these places, the customer service never drifted away from impeccable and the employees were always extremely accommodating. "Je m'appelle Gilles. Puis-je vous aider?" he asked, directing the question at Castle and Kate.
Alexis was the one who answered. "Oui, je veux acheter un collier pour ma grand-mère. Ça sera son anniversaire en août et je voudrais lui donner quelque chose de spécial." (Yes, I would like to buy a necklace for my grandmother. Her birthday is in August and I would like to give her something special).
Gilles smiled, "Votre grand-mère est chanceuse d'avoir une petite-fille comme vous," he said, "Venez avec moi. Je vous montrerai notre nouvelle collection." (Your grandmother is lucky to have a granddaughter like you. Come with me. I'll show you our newest collection).
While they were looking through display cases, checking out various pieces, Gilles asked questions about their family. He figured out pretty quickly that they were American and that Kate didn't understand a word he was saying. He politely switched over to a heavily accented English.
"She is your sister?" he asked Alexis who was carrying Zoey in her arms so that she could see all of the shiny necklaces as well.
"Yes," Alexis answered.
"But, you are not married?" Gilles asked Castle and Kate.
Kate shook her head, answering "No" while Castle answered "Pas encore". (Not yet).
Kate shot him a look. "I hope you were just answering 'no' in French," she said, poking his chest.
"Absolutely," said Castle in a way that made Kate not believe him. "Tell you what, since you clearly don't trust me in here with you, how about I take Zoey to the toy store?"
"That's a good idea, dad," said Alexis, winking at him when Kate wasn't looking, "Zo is getting just as bored as you are anyway."
Kate nodded. "We'll call you when Alexis decides on a necklace for Martha."
"Come on, Zo," said Castle, reaching out for Zoey's hand. He turned to Gilles, making it seem like he was merely informing the sales associate that he would be back to pay. Instead, what he really said was: "Ma copine ignore absolument que j'ai l'intention de lui acheter une bague de fiançailles. Pourriez-vous aider ma fille à en trouver une qu'elle adore? Si vous pouvez en garder aussi jusqu'au demain matin, Je vais revenir pour rêgler la facture." (My girlfriend has no idea that I want to buy her an engagement ring. Could you help my daughter find one that she loves? If you can also keep it until tomorrow morning, I'll come back to settle the bill).
Castle had said all of this rather rapidly so he hoped that Kate hadn't caught on to any words that might have tipped her off.
Gilles gave Castle a knowing, conspiratorial smile, "Avec plaisir."
So, for the next hour, even though Gilles kept pushing her to try on different kinds of rings (interspersed with the occasional necklace and bracelet so as to minimize suspicion), Kate assumed that he was merely trying to earn commission. She didn't seem to suspect anything.
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They saved their visit to the Eiffel Tower for that night, as a way to see the entire city one last time and say goodbye before they had to leave it tomorrow.
On their way up to the third observation level, the suspicions that Kate had felt that afternoon in the jewelry store came back to her. Even though they had decided, as a family, to visit on this particular night, the pure movie romance that was felt as they walked out of the elevator made Kate glance at Castle.
She couldn't help thinking that this was exactly the sort of thing Castle would do: get down on one knee at the top of the Eiffel Tower with the moon and the sparkling city lights as the perfect backdrop. She clearly remembered him saying, when Ryan was thinking up ways to propose to Jenny, that he thought proposals should be big. And if his last two marriages were any indication, he tended to enjoy coming up with the craziest, most elaborate ideas.
Kate jumped when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"What're you thinking?" he asked, smiling innocently as if she couldn't read him just as well as he read her.
If he was going to play it cool, then so was she. Kate walked over to the edge, resting her arms on the railing. "Nothing," she replied.
"Oh really?" he said, mimicking her stance. He made sure to stand close enough that their upper arms touched.
Kate turned her head and gave him a smile that looked almost like a dare. "What are you thinking?"
"I was thinking," he said, stretching out his fingers to grasp for hers before continuing, "That it's very romantic up here."
Kate tried to hide the catch in her breath when she responded, "Yes, it is."
"And wouldn't it be the perfect place to propose to somebody?"
Kate stared at him. Was he actually going to—
"That's all," he finished.
Kate blinked. And then rolled her eyes.
He tugged at her hand and drew her towards him. She inhaled deeply when he kissed her, taking in a scent that was an equal mix of Castle and cool night air.
When he pulled back, his eyes had a mischievous glint to them. Just before he went to go find Alexis and Zoey, his hot breath caressed her ear. "Soon," he whispered.
A/N: I know Stana Katic speaks French but I don't remember if it was ever mentioned that Beckett spoke French – I think she's spoken Spanish a few times? – anyway, for the purpose of this story, I'm going to say she doesn't...makes life more fun. And, yeah... I speak French but not Italian so if I butchered the language in those few words, I apologise profusely!
P.S. So, did I effectively psych you guys out (re: a proposal)? I apologise for that as well but you have to know that in everyday life, I am not a fan of clichés so there was absolutely no way I would have written in a proposal scene atop the Eiffel Tower. Still, it was fun to tease right? (Please don't kill the writer!) ;)