'Oh that smells so good!'

'It does. I was expecting fire extinguisher fumes.'

Alexis rolled her eyes as she dragged her suitcase into the loft and raced over to her grandmother, giving her a python squeezing hug and babbling away about what happened with the plane while Castle attended to RJ and Beckett helped Shane take his suitcase into the loft.

'Really, Kate, it's okay, I was going to head home,' he started to protest.

'You're coming here for dinner anyways, just go crash with Alexis.'

Relief was sweet as the pressure of it lifted from his chest, and the handsome doctor headed for the stairs with a polite hello to Martha; Alexis followed him up and a few minutes later, they heard her bedroom door close. Beckett smiled, then made a beeline for the open bottle of merlot Martha had on the kitchen counter.

'You want the 'thank God my baby's home safely' or the 'I'm ignoring the upstairs romance' size glass?' Martha asked with a grin.

'How 'bout something in the middle?'

'We can do that.'

Martha found an appropriate sized glass for her daughter-in-law, let Becket pour while she sighed at Castle as he checked the roasting bird in the oven. 'Darling, I can assure you, I baby-sat the turkey like it was own of my own turkeys. Namely, you.'

'Katie, make sure we have poison control on stand-by,' Castle deadpanned, earning a swat to the arm. 'Dare I trust you to peel potatoes or should you continue to be a decorative kitchen accessory?'

'I'll will continue to be decorative while the babies, and Shane, finish their nap.' Martha looked around, confused. 'Kate, isn't your father coming?'

'No, sadly not, he'll be coming for dinner tomorrow. He had to drive to Pittsburgh to deliver a wedding gift of handmade dining room set so it would be in the couple's house before they returned from their honeymoon.' Beckett sipped her wine. 'I'll take care of the potatoes, Richard, you worry about the sweet potatoes and Martha, you just be you.'

A couple of hours later, the turkey was still roasting away when Alexis wandered downstairs. Though her brain was still in park, her stomach was in the mood to sample what her nose was scenting.

'Smells like the holidays,' she yawned. 'Is there any wine?'

'Red or white?' Castle offered.

'Whatever's open.'

'Now there's my genes coming out.' Martha poured her granddaughter a glass of red, passed it to her with a wink. 'Lover boy's not awake yet?'

Alexis flushed red as the wine in her glass. 'No, Grams, he's still getting it together after the flight.'

'Always a good test of a relationship to travel together,' Beckett commented as she poked at the potatoes, deemed them ready to come off the stove while she looked at her husband. 'Shows you how well you get along outside your comfort zone.'

'Poor Shane, he kept on apologizing for being such a suck, and I think if you really hard,' Alexis held up her left hand, 'you can see the impression of his finger-prints on my skin from when we took off out of Orly. I felt so bad for him, so I'm letting him sleep it off.'

Castle smiled, thought of when he was on his honeymoon with Beckett in Monaco. After a couple of very late nights taking in the sights and hitting the night spots, Beckett had taken pity on him and suggested they go to the beach, where she had let him get a nice Mediterranean tan while he slept the day away. He'd never been so thankful to have a wife who not only let him play but made sure he powered down when necessary.

'You feel up to making the potatoes?'

'Always.'

Beckett heard RJ stir in his nursery through the monitor, went upstairs to collect him. She pushed open the door and saw him sitting up in his crib, babbling to his stuffed bunny.

'Less home, Less home, Less, Less Less,' he sang, then turned his sunny expression to his mother. 'Mumum, Less home!'

'Yes she is, my prince. You want to come downstairs?'

RJ bobbed his head vigorously. 'Less moosh?'

'You want to give Alexis a kiss?'

'No.' He shook his head. 'Less moosh?'

'I don't understand, sweetheart.'

RJ wriggled against her, so Beckett set him on his feet and he wandered towards Alexis' door, shoved it open in. She watched as he marched right up to Alexis' bed where Shane was asleep, shirtless and poked him in the arm.

'You.'

'Wha-?' Shane lifted his head off the pillow, looked around. He gave RJ a bleary smile. 'Hey buddy, you finish your nap, too?'

'You moosh Less,' RJ scowled at him. 'Why moosh?'

Beckett had to choke back the snicker as RJ stared down his big sister's boyfriend, who was old enough to be his father. The toddler looked so much like Castle it was a little spooky. With his dark blue eyes and the same crease to his brow, he was more than his father's son, he was his own little Mini-Me.

Shane on his part, sat up and swung his legs over the side of Alexis' bed. 'Why moosh?'

'He means kiss,' Beckett explained from the doorway. 'He was watching on Skype with Rick and I when you surprised Alexis last week at her apartment, and wasn't too impressed.'

'Why moosh?' RJ demanded again.

'Because I love her, and that's one of the ways I show it,' Shane explained as he felt his palms go damp; he'd given testimony on multiple homicides and been less uncomfortable. 'Just like how your mommy and daddy kiss each other because they love each other.'

'Less fowers?'

'Have I bought Alexis flowers? Not today.' When Shane shook his head, RJ's scowl deepened.

'Less fowers.'

'Okay, I'll get her some flowers.'

RJ gave him a nod, then went back to his mother while Shane tugged on his sweater with his jeans. 'He doo.'

'He's cool?' Beckett verified, laughed when RJ nodded once more. 'Man, I hope you don't have any little sisters. They'll never have dates.'

When dinner was ready and the table was set for everyone, Beckett smiled as she watched Castle bring over the plate of carved turkey. Despite the fact she was combat trained with a knife, which came in handy for slicing dinner roasts, Castle had insisted on doing the honours.

'Where'd Shane disappear to?' he asked, surveying the table and making sure they had everything on the table.

'Oh, haha, RJ sent him on a mission.' She explained what happened when RJ had woken from his nap, and how the toddler had given him righteous shit over kissing Alexis, which had Castle laughing.

'Not even a year old and he's protecting big sister from the boys.'

The door to the loft opened and Shane returned, one hand behind his back just as Alexis came out of the ladies' room. 'Hey, where'd you go?' she asked, kissing his cheek.

'Your little bro said I had to get you flowers before it'd be okay with him to kiss you, so...' Shane drew his hand from behind his back and handed her a small clutch of mixed-colour blooms. 'Here.'

'Aw thanks.' It wasn't the first time he'd given her flowers but the idea that she had a little brother vetting her boyfriend and making him buy her a bouquet was too sweet. 'Ready for turkey?'

'Oh yeah.'

Beckett and Castle watched them, and she elbowed him in the ribs. 'Five bucks says we'll be wedding planning for our girl and the doctor.'

R&R&Enjoy