Chapter 28

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"Grams said we should call her again after we've checked into our hotel," Alexis said, hanging up her cellphone.

The four of them were standing in the middle of Vancouver International Airport, having decided to take a detour on their way home to New York from their séjour abroad. Alexis – from her weekly phone calls with her grandmother – had found out that Martha was visiting the city with, well, the technical term would be Castle's new stepfather.

Kate checked her watch. "Well, it's already 8:10. Does she actually want to meet up with us tonight?" She looked at Castle, "I was thinking we could just grab something to eat on the way to the hotel and then go to sleep early."

Castle nodded. "That's sounds really good, actually. I'm exhau—Zoey, NO." He interrupted himself to pick Zoey up mid-clamber. It was his third time telling her not to climb onto the baggage carousel. "What did I say about playing on that, Zoey? It's very, very dangerous."

Zoey had been relatively well behaved for the duration of their trip but she was clearly nearing the end of her rope. The combination of the late hours and changing timezones had severely messed up her schedule and with nothing to distract or excite her, Zoey did something she hadn't done in a long time: she threw a temper tantrum.

"I want to play! PUT ME DOWN," she yelled at the top of her lungs. "You're being a meanie! Let me go, lemme go, lemme gooo!"

Castle grimaced as Zoey started kicking and writhing in his arms. "Zoey," he said, above her screams, "I'm not going to let you go until you calm down, okay? I know you must be sleepy right now but—"

"I'M. NOT. SLEEPY!"

Kate, frankly, was surprised there hadn't been a meltdown earlier. She had thought that she had won the lottery with such an agreeable toddler but she should have known better: of course Zoey's first breakdown of the trip would happen in one of the most public places possible.

"Hey Alexis," she said, "I'm going to take Zoey away from here. Do you mind hanging onto—"

Alexis shouldered Kate's carry-on, "—yeah, sure. No problem." She winced when Zoey's cries increased in volume. "Do you want dad and I to meet you somewhere?"

"How about those totem poles we passed?" Kate replied, voice a bit strained as she tried to pry Zoey's death grip off of Castle's jacket.

Castle nodded after Zoey finally made it into Kate's arms. "Thanks, Kate," he said.

"You've got the next one, right?" Kate replied dryly as she walked away, much to the relief of the entire baggage claim area.

Kate received some stares while she walked around the airport, finally finding a relatively secluded corner. She opted to sit down on the carpet, placing Zoey, still kicking and screaming, beside her. And then, Kate waited. She let Zoey cry out all of her frustration, knowing the little girl wouldn't reach the point of dehydration before she tired herself out. As she had thought, not more than ten minutes later, Zoey's cries turned into whimpers, which then turned into sniffles.

It was only then that Kate started to talk. "Zoey, I know you feel very tired and very frustrated and that's why you threw a tantrum but what you did was not good behaviour. When you feel angry or upset, you tell mommy and daddy that you're angry or upset, you do not kick and scream." Kate lifted her hand to brush some of the matted hair off of Zoey's forehead. "Do you understand?"

Zoey nodded and then launched herself onto Kate's lap.

Kate placed a kiss on her head, "Zo, mommy loves you so much."

"I know, mommy, me too," Zoey replied, voice low and raspy from her emotional outburst.

Kate looked down at Zoey's still red face, "How 'bout we go to the bathroom and then see if we can get you some juice?"

By the time Kate met up with Alexis and Castle fifteen minutes later, Zoey was already fast asleep in her arms.

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The next day, after lunch at White Spot – where Castle was more excited than Zoey about the Pirate Paks – they met Martha on Granville Island. Dressed brightly as always, she wasn't hard to spot in the Public Market Courtyard.

"Grams!" Alexis exclaimed, running up to her grandmother, "I missed you so much!"

Zoey followed right behind Alexis but stopped just short of hugging Martha as well. They had only met the few times Martha visited New York, although each time, by the end of the trip, Zoey was calling her Grams right along with Alexis.

"Don't you remember your Grams?" Castle asked, picking her up so that she was eye-level. Zoey only shrugged shyly.

"How have you been, Martha?" Kate asked, stepping forward to give Martha her own hug. "I thought your husband would be joining us today."

"Oh," Martha waved her hand dismissively, "Roman is busy doing something or other for the new pilot he's producing."

Castle grinned, "Since he's this big Hollywood producer, have you tried asking him to cast you in a role yet, mother?"

"Richard! How dare you think I would engage in nepotism?" Martha pretended to be shocked and then added, "I have a small part in his next movie."

"Come on," Kate said, stopping Castle from making another comment, "I'm sure you can find more productive ways to use up all of that energy…" Castle opened his mouth but Kate cut him off, "I already know where your mind went, Castle."

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"I feel like we should have sushi tonight," Alexis remarked from the passenger seat, "Every other block has a Japanese restaurant – they're definitely trying to tell us something."

"I could do sushi," Castle replied, turning around in the driver's seat at a red light to look at Kate, "How's she doing?"

Zoey was sprawled across the back seat of the rental car, head resting on Kate's lap. "She'll be out for the next hour, at least," Kate answered, gently stroking Zoey's hair.

"Do you want to head back to the hotel, then?" he asked.

"What time are we supposed to meet Martha?"

Martha had opted out of going to Stanley Park with them. Biking the seawall was not 'her thing', she had declared.

"She's with Roman at the studio," Alexis answered, "She told us to join her whenever we were done so we could discuss dinner plans."

"Well, it's way too early for dinner," Castle said, "But we could hang around the studio for a bit – and Kate, they could probably find a quiet room for us to let Zo nap."

"Sounds good," Kate replied.

"Besides," Castle continued, giving Alexis a faux pained expression, "I think your grandmother wants us to get to know your new grandfather a little better."

Kate shook her head, amused, "Why do you say it like that?"

She found out a couple of hours later. Walking out of a dressing room with a re-energised Zoey in tow, she met up with the four of them on one of the sound stages. Roman, it turned out, was just as melodramatic as Martha except with an extra sprinkling of loud and imposing. It was a match made in heaven.

"This is Kate," Castle introduced, "And—" he ruffled Zoey's hair, "—our little girl, Zoey."

"My dear!" Roman exclaimed, engulfing Kate in an unexpected hug, "I've heard so much about you!"

"You have?" Kate asked, looking to Martha who was grinning widely.

"Yes, of course! Martha talks about her family in New York all the time; she was so happy with the addition of a beautiful daughter-in-law and another precious grandchild!"

Castle shook her head at Kate, indicating it was pointless to argue the facts. So, Kate just smiled and responded with a polite "thank you."

"Roman was just telling us that he has to finish up with a casting session," Alexis said.

"Just down the hall," Roman pointed out, "But feel free to wander around the set; they're not filming here today."

The set was actually of a hospital and they were currently standing in the operating room.

"Zoey and I are going to explore," Alexis said after Roman had walked away.

"I think I'll join you," said Martha. She winked at Kate, "We have a lot to catch up on."

"Why do I suspect they'll be talking about us?" Kate asked.

"Probably because they are," Castle replied. He picked up a scalpel off of the prop tray, "I think this is real… it's shiny."

Kate rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, Castle," she said, "I need some coffee."

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Zoey was standing in the middle of a long hallway by herself. She wandered first one way, where there were glass doors leading into small offices – some with people sitting at their desks though most were empty – and large rooms that had a lot of chairs. She turned back around to where she had come from, her eyes starting to fill up with tears.

Down the hallway, a petite woman with pixie-cut blonde hair exited from one of the doors. She did a double take when she spotted Zoey and walked towards her. "Hey sweetheart," she said, crouching down to Zoey's level, "Are you lost?"

"I—I lost L—Le—Lexi." It was then that the tears started to flow freely down Zoey's cheeks even as she blinked furiously to try and stop them.

The woman patted Zoey on the shoulder, "Don't worry, honey. I'll help you find Lexi. My name is Arielle, can you tell me your name?"

"Z…Zo..ey."

"Okay, Zoey," Arielle repeated, standing up and holding out her hand, "Now, who is Lexi? Do you remember what her last name is?"

Arielle Zielinski was a talent agent. She knew they were holding auditions today for children between the ages of two and four and she suspected that Zoey – with her porcelain face and bright grey eyes – was one of those kids.

After a beat, Zoey took a hold of Arielle's proferred hand. "Lexi is my big sister," she answered.

"And where did you last see her? Was it in a big room with toys and lots of other boys and girls?" Arielle asked, referring to the waiting room.

Zoey shook her head. "No. Bathroom. I had to go very bad."

"Hm. Maybe we should go back to the bathroom and see if Lexi is still waiting for you," Arielle replied.

Arielle led the way to the only two women's restrooms in that area. Nobody was frantically looking for a lost child at either of them.

Zoey started getting more and more distressed. "I want my mommy and daddy," she sniffled.

Arielle looked down at the little girl. "Did you come here with them, too?" she asked. They were making their way back to the casting office; Arielle hoped that somebody there would recognise Zoey.

Zoey nodded. "My mommy and daddy and Lexi and Grams."

'That's a lot of people to accompany her to an audition,' Arielle thought. She pushed open one side of the glass double doors and let Zoey slip underneath her arm.

"Miss Zielinski!" one of the producers said to her, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I was on my way out when I saw this lit—"

"Zoey!" a loud voice boomed from behind Arielle.

"You know her?" Arielle asked Roman.

"Yes, of course," Roman said. He tried to pat Zoey on the head but she ducked away. "Zoey is my wife's granddaughter. Their family is here for a visit."

"Ohh, well, that makes more sense," said Arielle, "I found her wandering the hallways by herself."

Roman pulled out his cellphone. "I'd better call Martha," he said, "They must be worried sick."

Several minutes later, four people rushed into the waiting room, startling some of the other parents and children.

"Mommy!" Zoey yelled, jumping up from where she had been playing trains with a little boy.

"Oh my god, Zoey!" Kate picked her up and hugged her tight. "Where have you been?"

Castle bent down to kiss Zoey's cheek. "We were so worried!"

Arielle walked up to the family. "I found her wandering the second floor offices but she's absolutely fine. I thought she might have been here for the auditions – it worked out, I guess, because Roman recognised her."

"Well, thank you so much," Castle said, "I'm Rick, this is Kate—"

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Arielle."

"We're so grateful you found her," Martha chimed in, "It was my fault. Alexis took Zoey to the restrooms and I was supposed to be standing outside the door waiting…"

"Grams, you only turned around for a minute."

"It could have happened to anyone, Martha," Kate said.

Martha shook her head, "But it didn't."

"Don't blame yourself mother," Castle said, "Zoey's fine, she's okay."

Kate turned to Arielle. "We can't thank you enough," she said, with Zoey's arms still wrapped around her neck.

"I'm just glad I could help," Arielle replied. She paused for a beat and then reached into her purse, "Actually, now that everything is sorted out, I was wondering if your daughter already has representation…"

Kate looked confused. "Representation for what?"

"Well," Arielle handed Kate her card, "Have you ever considered acting or modelling for Zoey?"

"Darling!" Martha said, "What a marvellous idea. Another actress in the family."

"Oh, are you an actress?" Arielle asked.

Kate gave Castle a look as Martha started in on stories from her theatre days to the unsuspecting talent agent.

Arielle must've thought she was losing them because she only waited until Martha had gotten to the end of her sentence before continuing her pitch, "Zoey's just got this perfect combination of adorable and beautiful and she seems very bright and energetic. I think she could really have a career in the industry."

"Well, we don't live out here," Castle started, hoping Arielle would back off, "We live in New York a—"

"That's perfect! We have offices in the city, actually besides Los Angeles, our—"

"I think what Rick means to say is that we're not interested," Kate said.

Castle nodded and grinned at Martha, "One actress in the family is definitely enough."

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It was on the ferry, on their way to Victoria, that Martha finally got some time alone with Kate.

"It's windy out here," Martha said, joining Kate on the deck.

"But beautiful," Kate replied.

They both stood there for a while, leaning against the siderail and looking out at all of the tiny islands.

"This is the happiest I have seen my son in a long, long time," Martha said, finally breaking the silence, "And you are the reason."

"You know, I never thought I'd be with somebody who drove me so absolutely crazy but—" Kate shook her head with mirth "—he somehow manages to make me love him at the same time."

"Well, you complement each other," Martha said.

Kate took in a deep breath of ocean air. "You and Alexis and Castle have always had this wonderful bond… Zoey and I—"

"—you and that little girl in there are a part of that now."

Kate smiled. "Thanks, Martha."

"Richard could never settle for ordinary," Martha said, "It was always about the magic."

"Yeah, he believes in soulmates," Kate replied with a chuckle.

"And you don't?"

"I believe in family and belonging and loving one person the most for the rest of your life…"

Kate jumped when she felt an arm slide around her waist. She looked up to see Castle smiling at her. "I think that might be the same thing," he said.

A/N: Thanks to 2AM for getting my brain to think/churn out that first temper tantrum scene with Zoey! Your review for Ch. 27 inspired me to insert it and actually improve (at least, I hope!) upon the original chapter.

Also, like Stana & Nathan, I am Canadian (in case you couldn't tell by the weird spelling)! Which is why, instead of sending them to California (where I've never been…) to visit Martha, I sent them to Vancouver… I lived in British Columbia for a bit and let me just say, you should all visit – Victoria is probably my favourite city in Canada. Do that before you visit Stana and Nathan's hometowns… I've lived near Edmonton and now I live close to Hamilton and no offense, but they are just not as pretty/interesting…. (The ocean's right there, guys! The OCEAN!)

Okay, this author's note has been sufficiently pointless enough – I'm really sorry about the slight delay in updating but I had some trouble with this chapter… so, do tell me what you think…