The night before Alexis flew back to England, Beckett decided to throw a little going away party for her at the loft before she spent the night at Shane's. Since Alexis taking a red-eye the next night, it wasn't so tough for Castle or Beckett to be comfortable with her spending the night over at her boyfriend's place. Martha and Jim were there, and as Castle helped Shane put the finishing touches on one of Alexis' favourite meals - Southern-style chicken with biscuits, mashed potatoes and dandelion green salad - the grandparents were playing with the newly-talking baby in the living room.

'Can you say 'dramatis personae', RJ?' Martha asked him. 'It's Latin. Never too young to learn a second language.'

'How about 'carpenter' or 'cabinet', RJ,' Jim smiled. 'That's one of the family businesses.'

'Less,' RJ said, blinking his big blue eyes. 'Less?'

Jim smiled, took a sip of his Coke. 'Your big sister will be back soon with Mommy.'

'Mumum.' At the mention of the word, RJ was on his hands and knees and scooting around the edge of the couch, looking for Beckett. 'Mumum?'

'She'll be home soon, there champ.' Jim grabbed his grandson before he could sneak up on Castle and Shane around the hot pans, and stood up with him in his arms. 'You getting hungry? It's almost time for dinner, isn't it?'

'Yum-yum.' RJ patted his tummy. 'Bahs?'

'No berries for now,' Castle told him as he stirred milk and roux together for his gravy to put on the chicken and biscuits. He had no idea where Alexis' love of southern comfort food came from but he wasn't about to nit-pick such a detail on their last night with her. 'Shane, how are the potatoes coming?'

'Good, they are just about to be drained and mashed.'

'You know to put-'

'Butter in first, yeah, it's not my first time making a meal for Lex,' Shane teased Castle, who just shook his head. 'I know, I'm going to miss her a lot too, but she'll be back in time for Thanksgiving.'

The door to the loft opened and Alexis and Beckett walked in, both carrying the trademark neon green boxes of The Salamander Bakery and both with the evidence of a good cry on their faces. 'Everything okay?' Shane asked, leaving his potato-pot and going to help the girls.

'Yeah. Esposito's mom knows how to make anyone cry like a child, that's all,' Alexis said in a shaky voice. 'Besides, think of it this way, this is the last time we'll have to do this, I'm going to be two and a half hours away.'

'In Jersey,' Castle hollered, knowing his scoffing would break the mood. 'What self-respecting New Yorker goes to school in Jersey?'

'This one, so she can come back to New York and profile all the badasses Mom's going to catch once she's back to work,' Alexis replied.

'No swearing in front of RJ, not now that he's learning to talk,' Jim reminded her, taking him over to his high chair and settling him in.

'Bahs?'

'Soon, baby,' Beckett told him, putting the bakery boxes on the island. 'You guys ready to eat?'

'Five minutes,' the men chorused.

It was closer to fifteen, but again, there was no squabbling about it since it was Alexis' last night at home before her last semester in England. The smell of crispy chicken along with creamy, steaming potatoes and country gravy had everyone drooling and singing Shane's praises as a chef.

'Can we call that chicken fried chicken since it's not fried but baked?' Martha queried as the plates were passed around the table.

'I think it's more about the spirit of it. You still call any brand of cola Coke, right?' Castle pointed out, chasing his biscuit around in a puddle of gravy. 'And all ice-pops on a stick are still called Popsicles.'

'I just can't believe that you're a doctor and know how to cook like this,' Beckett commented. 'Most guys I know live on instant food and takeout, especially working the hours we do.'

'Contrary to what modern mythology would have society believe, most men can cook beyond Swanson and Michelina's.'

'No, we're just used to being around Esposito who can actually say he's burned a pot of boiling water. Meredeth's been teaching him, though and he's gotten pretty good.'

'Meredeth told me on the holiday weekend in the Hampton's that's because he doesn't want her overdoing it while she's baking those babies in her oven,' Martha said, reaching for the decanter to refill her wineglass. 'And a man who is willing to be that vulnerable for his girl is a man worth keeping.'

'Vulnerable?' Alexis asked. 'How is that being vulnerable?'

'It's pushed him outside of his comfort zone to do something he knows will be appreciated by the woman,' Jim said. 'He's willing to take a risk to make her happy that might put a few holes in the hyper-fragile organ known as the male ego.'

'Amen.' Castle clinked his glass against his father-in-law's, then stood up. 'I'd like to make a little toast here. It's been a hell of a trip the last four years watching you grow up, Alexis, and especially in the last year since you've had two new men come into your life, and I know when we watch your graduation next June in London, it's going to be the proudest moment of my life to call you my daughter.'

'Daddy.' Alexis sniffled, gripped Shane's hand tightly.

'I love you so much, Alexis, and I can't wait until you're back state-side to watch you grow into a doctor. Cheers.'

The only sound around the dinner table was the clinking of glasses and a few little sniffles here and there; fortunately, RJ had a showman's master timing and clapped loudly as he bellowed, 'Less! Yea!'

'Trust you to cheer us all up, just like your daddy,' Martha said, dabbing at her eyes with her napkin. 'Enough being maudlin, this is the last time we have to take Alexis to the airport to leave us, we should think on that part instead of being miserable.'

'Yeah. We should also think about what's in those boxes,' Shane mused, craning his neck to the island. 'Took you guys long enough to get them.'

'We had to go up to Spanish Harlem.'

'All the way uptown for cookies?'

'Oh yes, trust me.' Alexis patted his hand as she shoveled in the last bite of her biscuit and chicken. 'They are the best,' she said around her mouthful.

'Such a lady. You certainly didn't get that one from me,' Martha laughed.

Beckett watched Shane just laugh, then take Alexis' plate over to the sink when she was finished eating. A true gentleman, and it a sense, he reminded her of Dave; there was something very old fashioned about them both. She sat back as Castle began to help clear the plates and swirled the wine in her glass. 'What are you two planning for your last night together?' she asked Alexis.

'He said he's got some kind of surprise for me, so I honestly don't know.'

'Mumum, bahs?' RJ babbled from his high chair. 'Bahs?'

'Man, you aren't giving up on those things tonight are you?' But when she went to rise, her father waved his hand.

'Sit, sit, Katie-Lou, let me spoil my grandson.'

Jim went to the fridge, which let the girls have a moment for themselves. 'Okay, now that the boys and your Grams are gone, what are you really planning with him tonight?'

'The surprise and...not a lot of sleep,' Alexis said with a satisfied, sly feminine smile. 'Plenty for the next time Lili digs up a magazine to share.'

R&R&Enjoy