It was Lanie's day off and Beckett was thrilled, as she was going to spend part of it with her, just her and Lanie catching up on some good old-fashioned one-on-one time. Since Lanie had been back to work, her friend's time was considerably more occupied with getting on that routine, and for the first two months or so, she'd been focused on her family which Beckett didn't fault her for at all. Lanie was understanding of it as well since Beckett was getting herself ready to go back to work and unlike Lanie's job as the pathologist, being a cop had a requisite fitness component that she had to prepare for, and Beckett needed the time to get herself back into fighting form after having her baby. But after a good heart-to-heart at the sleepover they'd had with their other girls, they realized that their friendship wasn't falling apart or that they were growing apart, they were just trying to take care of their families so they could have their girl-time together without feeling guilty.

Secure in the knowledge they were not facing any kind of friendship crisis, they'd decided to go shopping for Hallowe'en decorations for the upcoming annual Castle Hallowe'en haunt; the theme this year was cartoon characters.

'I think Meredeth is going as Missus Potts, since she's so close to popping,' Lanie commented as they went through the party supply store. 'Poor thing is so tired, I can't imagine what it'd be like to have two babies at once like that.'

'Hard to think of her and Javi as parents of three.'

'What about me and Dave?'

The casualness of Lanie's tone had Beckett's head whipping around so fast she gave herself a crick in the neck. 'What?'

'Oh, no, don't worry, I'm not knocked up. Well, not yet. We decided we want one more,' Lanie told her, 'and it be the only one we've actually tried to have instead of the little surprises that are my first two babies. So after Christmas, we're hoping we have another baby shower to plan.'

'Lanie!' Beckett pulled her in for an excited hug. 'That's fantastic! Are you hoping for another boy or girl?'

'Just like Carey and Violet, I don't care as long as it's healthy.'

'Yea! You with another baby!' The news had any clouds hanging over Beckett's head vanishing. 'That's definitely put me in a party mood.'

Lanie looked up and down row after row of supplies. 'What kind of decorations are we supposed to be getting anyways?'

'Lots of bright colours. Since we've got all the little kids coming to do trick-or-treating we want to keep it friendly and not give them any nightmares. The last time, Lili and Honey-Milk both said their babies barely slept last year when we had some really spooky decor.'

'Makes sense, I mean the oldest one is only five and Violet and RJ are pretty young for black and orange. Oh, check these out!' Lanie zeroed in on a display of plastic pumpkins in psychedelic colours. 'Think they'd like these for doing their door-to-door candy-grab?'

'I think so.'

They debated the colours and dumped decorations into their shopping cart and when they went into the next aisle, Lanie froze beside Beckett. 'Oh no,' she drew the words out, like a rookie pitcher facing the best batter in the game. 'Why? Why of all the people did it have to be them?'

'What?'

'Those two.' Lanie nodded towards the two women at the opposite end of the aisle - one a petite brunette, the other a towering California blonde. 'The Barbie doll is Cassie Gavra, Shane's ex-girlfriend, and the extra from The Vampire Diaries is Diana Pierce, her best friend. Diana's the one who called Alexis a preschooler before Castle went all brain-ninja on her.'

'Oh I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end her.' The mother-bear instinct to protect her cub flared brightly in Beckett's heart and would have started down the aisle if not for Lanie's iron-firm grip grabbing her bicep. 'Lemme at her.'

'Easy, tiger,' Lanie giggled.

'No one talks about my girl like that.'

'And it's so adorable that you feel like that sweetie, I'm just saying perhaps instead of picking a fight we take the high road.'

'So let them stir shit up and then we have the last word.'

'Exactly.'

The women kept on filling their shopping cart up, looking like they were innocently making their way down the aisle, and as they drew closer they could hear the other two women talking; while it was indeed the subject of their conversation was Alexis and Shane, it was of a far different nature than either of them thought it would be.

'Dee, please let it go. I have.'

'But it's just not right, I mean she's so much younger. She's too young for him, don't you think? I can't imagine what you're feeling watching him toss you over for the beta-model.'

'This might surprise you, Diana, but I broke up with Shane because things were just not working for us anymore. He didn't toss me aside for anyone, and I'm sincerely happy for him. Besides, have you met Alexis? She's a complete darling and she just lights him up in a way I know I never did.'

'Cassie, hey!' Lanie wandered up, smiling politely. 'Nice to see you.'

The blonde turned to the doctor . 'Oh, hey, Lanie. You remember my friend Diana?'

Diana flicked her eyebrows in acknowledgement. 'Lanie.'

'And I don't think we've met.' Cassie held out her hand, smiled winningly at Beckett. 'I'm Cassie Gavra, I used to date one of the doctors Lanie works with, you probably know him too, Shane Weaver?'

'You might say that. I'm Detective Kate Beckett, I'm Alexis' stepmother.'

'Oh!' Cassie watery-green eyes sparkled in delight, and if she felt uncomfortable, she didn't show it by the flicker of an eyelash. 'She's a wonderful girl and she's a perfect fit for Shane. You should be proud of her.'

'Yeah, sure,' Diana muttered, folding her arms over her chest and earned a stare from Cassie. 'What?'

'You really have no manners.' Cassie rolled her eyes, then gave Beckett and Lanie an apologetic look. 'I hope everything's going well for them. I remember him saying something about her only having a few months more We've got party supplies to shop for, take care Lanie.'

Cassie all but shoved Diana down the aisle, hissing indignantly at her to grow up and be gracious, making Beckett and Lanie giggle. 'I saw that going a lot differently in my mind,' Lanie commented.

'What you thought I'd strangle her with decorative orange and shiny black beads?'

'Something like that.'

'I remember her from a couple of office Christmas parties. Nice girl, if a little flaky. She's not the type to hold a grudge, so if you're concerned about Shane and Alexis dealing with their own version of Valencia Morales, I don't think that's the case.'

Beckett nodded. It was nice to hear it from someone who knew Shane well that there wouldn't be any external people causing issues for her girl. Then, it was all she could do to keep a straight face when Lanie began to sputter with laughter.

'Where in the blue hell did 'I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you' come from?'

'Castle is a nut about that show, Firefly, and the captain was a real smart-ass just like Rick. We were watching it last night in bed, and Captain Reynolds was in disguising as a female pioneer. It requires viewing to fully get it,' she added off of Lanie's utterly bewildered look.

'I'll take your word. What else do we need?'

'I think we're good for the moment. We can go pay for this stuff.'

R&R&Enjoy