Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: Loved getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so let me get to my thanks for them right away! TORONTOSUN (Was nice seeing you thought the last chapter was great. And I'm glad you think it's great to read how Castle and Beckett are adventurous. Had to laugh at what you said about it rubbing off on the children but I can see what you mean considering what happened. I was definitely trying to convey that they still want to be a part of the case even though they're consultants so I was happy reading you caught that!),
Guest (It was great to read that you still think this is a fantastic series. You're welcome for posting!) and
vetgirlmx (I was pleased to read first off that you thought it was a very exciting chapter; I wanted it to be so great I could manage that! Not surprised you were able to figure out that Julia would be involved with the field trip happening that day but glad I could surprise you when she met Rudy first thing. And I wouldn't say Julia's gotten used to them getting punched and bleeding, more she knew they were okay afterwards enough not to worry about them… for the time being; that'll be explained later in this chapter, lol. I wasn't surprised that you weren't surprised Mrs. Radcliff was one of the killers, but was when you mentioned you hadn't thought of her I thought I was going to be too obvious concerning her. And very glad you think she's despicable for not loving her children still, I wanted to make sure that she was. And I think jail and then hell are both possible, in that order. Great you want to see what happens at dinner, now you won't have to wait for that! And not surprised you think the kids deserve family time after all that!).
Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them as usual and am grateful for the time taken to write and send them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song When the Night by Paul and Linda McCartney, from the Paul McCartney and Wings album Red Rose Speedway.

Light Of The Night

When they reached the door of her classroom Julia turned to the school proctor who had escorted her and said, "Thank you Mike."

"No problem Julia, pay attention," the tall man said before bumping her fist.

"I will," the girl replied with a smile. She opened the door and slipped inside the room, startled when there was no teacher and everyone turned to her at the same time. Julia nearly jumped as they almost talked all together and she said, "Where's-"

"She went downstairs, Mr. Walsey is watching us from next door," Peter said, closest to her and the only one not talking. He looked at their classmates in annoyance and nearly yelled, "Shut up!"

"Thanks," Julia told him in relief as the others calmed down. But when she looked at the others she could see they were looking at her interestedly so she sighed. "What're we supposed to be doing?" she asked her partner.

"Reading," Peter said.

"Pages thirty to forty," a girl called Caroline said.

"You finished that already though huh?" a boy named Kevin said.

"What about you guys?" Julia asked. "And Mr. Walsey? He's-"

"He's busy," Dawn said. "Tell us, did you arrest someone?"

"What? No, Chief Davis did," Julia said, startled by the question. "I just went over to see what was going on."

"Did your mom kill someone?" Nick asked.

"No," Julia said vehemently, shaking her head back and forth.

"What about your dad?" another girl asked.

Breathing out hard Julia then told the others what had happened, leaving out the conversation she'd had with Rudolph as she knew he wouldn't want her to tell anyone besides her parents. When she had finished she was more than a little relieved when the teacher returned and they rushed to sit down to go back to their lessons. She glanced at the clock as they were switching from reading to history and groaned inwardly at how much longer she had to wait until her dancing class. She looked at Peter who was next to her and she smiled as he rolled his eyes before they turned their attention to the board in front of them.


"Julia!" Mari cried out, trying to push through the students leaving their classrooms. She finally made it to her friend and hugged her tightly saying, "I heard at lunch that someone shot at you!"

"Oh no, they told the story wrong… again," Julia groaned. "Come on, let's walk to the studio and I'll tell you."

Mari let Julia loop her arm through her own and listened to the story before her friend finished. "Oh I'm so glad you're okay," she said softly. She was startled when she then pulled her over to the side, away from their classmates heading to the high school. "You are okay," she stated.

"Yeah I'm gonna tell you something you have to keep secret," Julia said to Mari seriously. When her friend nodded she told her about what Rudolph had told her, knowing she could trust her but still feeling slightly guilty. But she reminded herself she could tell the young man later at dinner and hope he wouldn't be mad at her.

"So… he likes both," Mari said slowly. "Did you ever meet someone like that?"

"No," Julia answered as she shook her head in response. "But it wasn't like he was different."

"I know… you couldn't tell?" Mari then asked.

"How can you?" Julia asked. She glanced around the quad and said, "We better go, everyone's inside."

"Oh! They are," Mari said as she realized her friend was right. She took her hand and they ran inside together until they had reached the girls' changing room. "I wish I could meet him," she said as they were one of the last ones in the room.

"Maybe you will," Julia said. She had spoken absently and when her friend asked her what was wrong she said honestly, "I think my parents were talking about him moving to the city, I don't know for sure though."

"If you see him again you should ask him," Mari told her. "Ready?"

"Yep, hope my parents are out there," Julia replied. "So they finished with the case." She went out to the dance floor first and smiled when she saw that both her parents were in fact there. Since she had the chance she hurried to them and wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's neck since she was sitting. "You're all finished?" she whispered to her.

"We're all finished," Beckett replied, hugging her back. "How're you doing?"

"Good," Julia said, pulling away from her and then hugging her father and sister. "But people know what happened," she told her mother. "I explained but I don't know if they believed me."

"It's alright," Beckett told her. "You know what happened."

Julia nodded, having to leave it at that as Ms. Grey was starting to walk out to the dance floor. She hugged her mother one more time and then rushed over to her partner as the class began.

"Good afternoon everyone," Grey said with a smile at her students. "Today we're going to go over the Samba once more and after we'll work on the Paso Doble."

As the students were beginning to dance together Castle watched Julia and Peter beginning their steps and he knew it was meant for the performance the next month. He winced when Peter slipped as they made their way across the floor with the other students before he and Julia tried their best to recover.

"Sorry," the boy said hurriedly when they'd stopped. "My shoelace is untied."

"That's alright, we'll try it again," Grey said, smiling at him.

After Peter had his shoes set the teacher started them through the dance again and they went through the steps once more until she called for the others to take a break.

As soon as she could Julia went to her family and said, "I forgot to say hi to Sydney."

"Mommy, Daddy!" Mari exclaimed when she saw her parents walking in then. "Hey Dani."

"You guys are a little late," Beckett said as she and Castle stood and then went over to their friends.

"We just got a call from Lily," Rebecca said. She smiled when Beckett looked at her in surprise and she said, "We're invited for dinner."

"You… I'm assuming they have a number of tables," Castle said after he and his wife looked at each other in surprise.

"I would hope so, there'll be nineteen of us tonight," David said.

"Did she say why she invited you?" Beckett then asked her friend.

"The Radcliffs wanted to see us," David answered first.

"Since we helped you out with Sydney yesterday," Rebecca finished before she went over to the baby.

"Okay, sounds like a great reason to me," Castle said before his wife rolled her eyes.

"Class," Grey called to them then. "Let's finish so you can all head home."

"Do you have homework sweetie?" Beckett suddenly asked her oldest.

"Yeah, why?" Julia said in response.

"Nothing, go back to work on your Paso," Beckett said, shaking her head.

"Does that mean we can't go?" Castle asked his wife as they made their way back to their seats.

"No we just can't take too long there," Beckett replied.

"Where are you going?" Rebecca asked as they sat down to watch their daughters begin to dance.

"The family center," Beckett said. "He wants to try it out."

"Oh and you don't either?" Castle shot back. When his wife merely looked at him he sighed and said, "I don't know why I bothered to ask."

Beckett wanted to say something to that but the class then began and she watched it with the others as Ms. Grey began to take her students through the dance that Julia and Peter would be performing at the competition.


Walking into the garage as soon as they'd reached home and greeted the dogs Eliza said, "Are we gonna go now?"

"To dinner?" Castle asked her.

"No to…" Eliza began to say before she trailed off, confused.

"We'll tell you now," Beckett said, smiling at her father and mother in law who were standing in the doorway to the house, Martha holding Sydney. "We're heading over to the family fun center."

"To play?" Eliza gasped with her sister.

"To play miniature golf," Castle told the girls. He smiled at his wife as their daughters gasped in amazement before he then said, "But just that since we don't have much time before our special dinner."

"That's okay," Julia said quickly, her sister nodding in agreement with her. She then looked over at their grandparents and said, "You're not coming?"

"We'll stay with the baby," Jim answered first.

"But we will be going to dinner with you," Martha said quickly. "We'll see you before we go to the Davis home and I'm sure you'll tell us about how it is."

"We will," the girls said at the same time.

"We'll call when we're on the way," Castle told his mother and Jim as they were going to walk to their friends' home together. "Have fun with her."

"We will," Martha told them with a smile, waving to them. She watched them go and said to Jim, "I wonder if the girls will want to leave."

"I'm sure they will," Beckett's father said. "An unofficial dinner party with their friends?" He smiled as Martha laughed and they waved to their kids and granddaughters as the car pulled out of the garage before the door lowered and they went back into the house.

After they'd pulled up to the building Julia asked, "What's in there?'

"You'll see," Castle said.

"We have to walk through there to go golfing," Beckett explained, rolling her eyes at her husband. She got out of the car then and went back to the girls, helping Eliza out of her car seat before she said, "But please stay with us while we walk through."

"What about when we golf?" Julia asked as they were walking over to the entrance.

Beckett glanced down at her and said, "You're learning too much from your daddy."

"I don't think she's as bad as I am," Castle said defensively, holding their oldest's hand.

"Yeah Mommy," Eliza said a little sternly.

"I'm kidding sweetie," Beckett said, smiling at her. She was relieved when the little girl nodded once before they went inside and she watched as she looked around in awe at the arcade games.

"Mommy," Julia said after she saw what they were coming up to.

"A little," Castle answered for his wife. He wasn't surprised when she looked at him and he smiled saying, "There's no way we can't let them."

"True," Beckett said. "Alright we'll get five dollars and go through if we have the time."

"So we can't run around," Julia told her little sister seriously as they came to the counter to get their mini-golf game.

"I want to go look," Eliza said, tugging on her mother's hand as she was speaking to the worker.

"I'll go with them," Castle said to his wife quickly. He wasn't surprised when she nodded quickly and he took the girls over to the games near the counter. "Make sure you look at how many coins they take," he told them as they were looking at a racing video game.

"Can I play this one?" Eliza asked him.

"Maybe," Castle replied, watching the screen. He then shook himself and said, "We better keep going or your mom's going to be coming over with our clubs."

"Do I get to play?" Eliza then said.

"Of course," Julia answered before their father could reply. "Mommy wouldn't come here if you couldn't play too."

Eliza thought that over and then nodded before she said, "Daddy?"

"Yes, we need to go back your mom finished," Castle said, looking over at Beckett then who was waving to him.

"Are you kay?" Eliza asked as he then picked her up since she'd held her arms up to him.

"Oh I'm fine," Castle said, relieved slightly that she had finally asked. "Just got into a little bit of a struggle trying to help arrest someone."

"Did you?" Eliza asked.

"Brad did," Julia told her quickly before they reached their mother.

"Here are your golf clubs," Beckett said. "And this is yours sweetie," she said to Eliza.

"Cute," Castle said when he saw the shorter club. "Don't swing it yet though," he told the little girl quickly when she tried to do so. "Wait until we're outside and at the first tee."

When they were out Julia saw they'd come to two courses and she said, "Which one?"

"One is pirates," Beckett read for them. "The other is tropical."

"Let's go on that one," Eliza said, pointing to the tropical course to their left.

Beckett took her hand before they went to the first hole and she helped the little girl set her bright blue golf ball down on the ground on one of the three holes. "Am I explaining this or are you?" she asked her husband.

"Go ahead, if I tell her she might be hitting it into the parking lot," Castle joked.

"Don't do that," Beckett said, smiling at him. "Okay sweetie, see how the hole is over there," she said as she pointed ahead.

"Yeah," Eliza said, seeing the turf went in a slightly winding path ahead of them.

"Try to hit it straight to there," Beckett said. When she saw the little girl looked unsure she said to her husband and Julia, "We'll practice first since no one's behind us." She then taught Eliza how to stand and hold the club before helping her hit it. "See?" she said after the ball went down and just barely went in. "Make sure you watch the ball so you hit it."

"I think we should take that as a hit love," Castle told his wife.

"Okay," Beckett said, checking the time. "Your turn Julia." She watched with her husband as their oldest hit the ball and she ended up knocking her sister's golf ball at the end out of the way.

"Hey!" Eliza said, stomping her foot though she was giggling as she spoke.

"It's alright," Castle told her as he waited for Beckett to hit her green ball. "We're not keeping score so who cares how many times you have to hit it?"

"Luck Mommy," Eliza said quickly.

"Thank you," Beckett said, smiling at her daughter before she then looked back down and hit the ball. She smiled when the girls both covered their mouths as the ball got close to the hole but didn't go in.

"Might as well hit it in love," Castle said as she walked away from him. He waited for her to do that and said, "Watch this," to the girls.

Beckett wasn't surprised when he managed to get a hole in one and she told him, "You're too confident sometimes."

"Doesn't he play golf Mommy?" Eliza asked as they waited for Castle to walk over to them.

"Yes but still," Beckett said teasingly to him.

"Let's keep going," Castle told them, kissing his wife on her cheek.

The family then began to make their way over the course the girls soon paying more attention to the décor as they walked around masks and even a zebra striped boat in a pond.

"This is really nice," Beckett told her husband as they came to the very last hole eventually which was next to a waterfall.

"I know we'll have to see the pirate themed one next time," Beckett told him with a slight smile before he went to help Eliza if she needed it.

After Castle had hit his golf ball in Julia said, "That was great, we can come back right?"

"We can," Beckett said in amusement. "But not for a while."

"What about the games?" Eliza asked hopefully as they were walking back to the building.

"We have time," Castle said, holding up his watch towards his wife.

"I know," Beckett replied easily. "And we have time for five dollars worth of games but no more."

Eliza looked over at her sister, her eyes widening slightly in surprise when she shook her head.

"Don't you want to go see Eve and Jacob's house?" Julia asked her.

"Oh yeah," Eliza said, recalling that they still hadn't had the chance to see the home. "And will Dani be there?"

"Sydney's going too," Beckett told her as she nodded.

"Kay," Eliza said instantly.

"I feel sorry for her," Castle said after they'd returned their golf clubs and were following their daughters over to the racing video game they'd seen earlier.

"I don't think she cares no one's her age," Beckett told him as she took his hand.

Castle shrugged before he said, "Oh I need to help?" as their youngest was taking him by the hand.

"I don't drive," Eliza told him seriously.

"Also I don't think she can sit high enough to look at the screen," Beckett said in amusement as Castle sat down and placed the toddler on his lap.

"Ready Julia?" he asked once he was ready to start the game.

"I'm ready," the girl said with a firm nod. "Get ready to lose."

"No," Eliza said, shaking her head before her father took her attention and she looked ahead at the screen to pick out her car and she and her sister decided where they'd race.

Beckett stood next to Julia, watching the race and she tried not to laugh as her youngest was a little wild with her steering before Castle helped her straighten out.

"Okay," he said when things had stopped. "Looks like you beat us."

"I was lucky," Julia giggled. She then looked at her little sister and asked, "Wanna play with the air hockey?"

"Yeah!" Eliza exclaimed eagerly before they got up. She went with her mother to one end of the table and Julia went with their father to the other. Since she was standing on a stool Castle had found she was able to play as well though it ended up being more her mother that was hitting the puck back to the other two.

"Try and hit it sweetie," Beckett told her with a smile.

Making a sweeping motion Eliza managed to hit the puck but she also ended up sending her mallet over to the others too. "That's mine!" she cried out, climbing down carefully from the stool.

"Stay there," Julia said before she hit the mallet with her own.

"Here it comes," Castle said in a warning as soon as Eliza was ready again. He hit the puck and soon just he and Beckett were playing as Eliza and then Julia stood back to watch them hit it back and forth. He nearly scored before Beckett had the puck and shot it back to him which he tried to catch but missed before it went into the goal. "Nice shot," he told his wife as the game shut off then.

"I was lucky," Beckett said with a smile. "What do you two want to play now?"

"How much do we have left?" Julia asked, going to her mother.

"Enough," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the girls looked at each other and then rushed over to the skeeball games. Glancing at her husband she was the first to follow them and said when she reached them, "Do you want to play with us too?"

"I do," Eliza said, waiting for her mother to put the quarter in the slot on the game she was standing in front of. As soon as the balls had rolled down the chute she reached over for one and handed it to her.

"You can play with me Daddy," Julia told him.

"I'll be glad to but you go first," Castle said with a smile as he motioned to the game.

Playing the game with the rest of their quarters the girls waited for their parents to count the tickets they'd managed to get.

"How many?" Julia asked first.

"You got twenty," Beckett said. "All together."

"Want to see what prize you can get?" Castle asked them. He wasn't surprised when they nodded and he and his wife followed them over to the prize counter.

After some discussion Julia and Eliza picked out a set of jacks to play with after dinner that night and they walked with their parents out of the building after making sure they promised they'd come back another day.

"That was the best ever," Eliza said as her father buckled her into her car seat.

"It was fun," Castle said in agreement. He kissed her cheek and then said, "Something wrong sweetheart?" directing that to Julia.

"No something I forgot to tell you," the girl said quickly. "Nothing bad," she then added as rapidly.

"So what happened?" Beckett asked while texting her father that they were on their way after Castle had started the car.

"When I went back into my classroom everyone started to ask me what happened," Julia said before she stopped and looked at her little sister.

"What happened Jules?" Eliza asked, almost as if on cue as she'd been listening to her closely.

"We arrested the killers in our case at the gardens earlier this morning," Beckett explained after she looked back at Julia and saw her uncertainty. "And your sister saw us having to try to do that."

"Oh, Daddy said," Eliza replied.

"She asked me about my eye," Castle hurried to explain to his wife when she looked at him.

"And since Julia was gone from her class," Beckett said, pretending to end that sternly as she looked behind her at the girl. "Her classmates probably were trying to figure out where she went, why and what happened."

"It was so dumb," Julia said then. "They thought you killed someone or something."
"Ah the gossip at school," Castle said in amusement. "You did tell them what had happened right?"

"Of course," Julia said.

"Then that worked out," Castle said simply before he opened the gate at their house.

"I guess we took a while to get back," Beckett said in amusement as their parents and Sydney in her carrier were on one of the benches. After the car was parked in the garage and the girls were out of it she watched them rush to their grandparents, Eliza holding up the game of jacks. "Do you want to go back this weekend?" she asked her husband as they walked hand in hand over to the others.

"We could," Castle began slowly. "But I'm wondering if maybe we can spend… not all day but once we get back on Father's Day?"

"Is that what you want to do?" Beckett asked in amusement. When he nodded she said, "I think we can manage that."

Castle squeezed his wife's hand firmly as a way of saying thanks and said, "For now let's get to Brad and Lily's."

Since the girls were still talking about their time on the miniature golf course the family left the house and walked down the street to the Davis home. After the door to the side of their gate was unlocked they went up, the girls looking at the house.

"It's nice," Julia said as it had columns at the front.

"It's about as big as ours though they have two less rooms," Castle told the girls. "And they don't have a library upstairs, just bigger bedrooms."

"Do they have a library?" Eliza asked.

"She means downstairs," Julia said hurriedly.

"They do," Beckett replied. "A lot of cookbooks." They were at the door then and knocked, smiling as her friend answered the door.

"All the… kids are here," Lily said as she and Beckett embraced. "I should say the former Radcliffs," she told her and Castle.

"They're going to change their names?" he asked.

"They are," Brad said, appearing behind his wife. "Everyone at the station was on… meth I guess," he said to Castle and Beckett's surprise at seeing him home already.

"Tight ship you run Chief Davis," Castle jokingly, shaking his hand.

"I think they were ready to be finished with the case. And Lawson and the missus are off to the tombs," Brad said rapidly before he then went over to Jim and Martha to greet them.

"She's adorable," Lily was saying before they heard the buzzer for the door. "That'll be the Fosters."

"It's just us four families right?" Castle asked.

"It is," Brad replied as they watched the Fosters coming up the driveway to them, Mari running down the path.

"Come inside," Lily said, watching with a smile as the little girl hugged her best friend. "They'll want to see their sister." She led them inside and said to the former Radcliff children gathered in the family room, "She's here."

"Sydney," Rembert breathed out, a smile on his face as his brothers and sister did the same. He stood up and took the carrier before pulling the baby out and holding her close.

Beckett, watching the scene with Castle, smiled slightly before she looked over at the girls who were standing with Mari, looking at Eve and Jacob that were standing across the room. "Go ahead," she told them. "Go and play with them and we'll call you when it's time for dinner."

"Kate," Rudolph said after Stephanie and Duncan left with the other kids. He embraced her briefly and said, "How're you doing?"

"I don't think you really need to worry about me," Beckett replied with a smile before they parted. "I'm more concerned with you."

"I'm better now all of us are together," Rudolph replied. He watched her then greet his brother by shaking his hand and said to Castle, "You?"

"Fine, there wasn't much of a… fight so…" he answered before he shrugged.

At that point Lily introduced Rebecca, David and Dani and they sat down around the couches before she said, "I hope you don't mind, I told them you were going to be changing your name."

"She's right," Rembert said quickly as the others looked at him and his brother. "We don't want the connection to the man who disowned us and we definitely don't want our parents' names."

"Any idea of what you might pick?" Castle asked, unable to help inquire since he was curious.

"We were thinking Stewart but Duncan voted against it," Rudolph said. "And then we thought Windsor but he said no."

"We got exasperated and then finally told him and Stephanie to think of something and they decided that we should take from where we used to play together outside the house when times were much better," Rembert said.

"We'll be changing our name to Beach," Rudolph said. He wasn't surprised when there were still some unsure expressions on their faces and then said, "Richard? I think you know what this means."

"It's from the old English word that means someone that lived near a beech tree or brook, which I noticed there was behind y… behind Mr. Radcliff's home," Castle answered.

"We had a swing hanging from that one," Rembert said. "And we all played on it, including Yvonne; it was a gift from our half brother when Rudy here was born."

"Are you going to contact them?" Rebecca asked.

Sighing Rembert shared a look with his brother before he said, "I doubt it, if they want to stay in… Mr. Radcliff's will they're going to need to keep away from us. Which makes sense since we're not his biological children."

"We don't blame them for that," Rudolph said, looking up at Rocco as he came over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. He grabbed it with his own and said, "We're going to start over, be our own family."

"Sydney will be alright," Dally said then as she took the baby from Rembert. "If you're concerned about her."

"We weren't," Beckett said quickly. She then looked over at Rembert and Rudolph asking, "Were you able to grab everything you needed?"

Before either of the brothers could respond to that a phone began to ring and Castle hurriedly pulled it out of his pocket. He apologized and then went back to the foyer, looking at the screen before he then saw that it was Alexis. "Hey," he said, answering.

"I wanted to call you, see how things were going really quickly," the young woman said on the other end.

"You can't talk tonight?" Castle asked, seeing his wife coming over.

"Louis and I are going out for dinner," Alexis explained. "What happened?"

Castle told her about what had happened that morning with the case until they'd left the station. "But your sister's doing alright, she was really glad to meet Rudy," he finished with.

"I'm not surprised," Alexis said. "But I'm glad that she wasn't hurt… did they really have to go to the gardens today?"

"It looks like they did," Castle said. "But right now we're at Brad and Lily's, the R… actually we just found out they're changing their name to Beach, they're here and so are the Fosters."

"You're having dinner there?" Alexis asked.

"We are," Castle replied. "A very large party but it should be enjoyable."

"It sounds like it," Alexis replied.

"Tell her to tell us about her dinner tomorrow," Beckett murmured to him as she'd been able to hear her stepdaughter on the other end.

"I will," Alexis said once her father had told her that. "Tell Jules and Lizzy that I love them for me and I hope they have a great night."

"We will," Castle assured her. "And they love you too." After he and Beckett said goodbye to his daughter he then turned to his wife as he hung up saying, "You want to tell them now or later?"

"Later," Beckett replied with a smile. "We should go back to the others."

Nodding Castle followed her over to the others before he heard the sound of laughter coming from upstairs. He smiled and said to his wife, "Definitely later."

Upstairs Julia was looking around Eve's room saying, "Funny we never came here before."

"I know it's so weird," Eve was telling her. She then said, "Too bad we couldn't bring the baby up here."

"My brothers wanted to hold her," Stephanie was saying, smiling at them. "What are you going do now?"

"Well, Mom said that dinner won't be here yet so we could play a game," Eve replied.

"Should we get your brother and…" Mari started to say.

"Duncan," Stephanie supplied.

"Yeah, him," Mari replied with a nod.

"I don't think they'll want to," Eve said as the other girls looked at her then. "My brother's probably showing yours his video games."

"Probably," Stephanie said. She looked around the room and said, "You don't have any?"

"Nah I don't like them," Eve said, shaking her head. "Want to see my artwork?"

"You're an artist?" Stephanie asked.

"She is but we never got to see anything," Julia told her.

"Yeah… well, just at our schools," Mari added. "But that was just a couple paintings."

"Too bad you couldn't show her the clothes you've drawn," Eve said.

"I could draw something," Mari said slowly.

"While she shows her her paintings," Julia told her.

"Here," Eve said, going over to her art supplies and grabbing a paper and a pack of colored pencils.

When she had everything in front of her Mari looked over at her friend and said, "What should I draw?"

"Maybe something really fancy," Eliza said. She smiled at her sisters when they looked at her and said, "Hi."

Laughing with Mari, Julia then said, "I guess we forgot about you but it wasn't hard to since you were so quiet."

"I was looking at the books and pictures," Eliza said with a wide smile at them.

"Think I should draw a dress for an award show?" Mari then asked, looking at Julia.

"Sure," she answered, nodding her head.

"Something your mom would wear?" Mari said with a wide smile.

Seeing her little sister nodding her head rapidly Julia laughed and said, "Sure, why not?" As Mari began to draw again she turned to her sister and said, "You didn't want to stay downstairs with everyone else? With Dani and Sydney?"

"That's kay," Eliza said before she glanced at Eve and Stephanie. "Can we see those pictures?"

"Here," Eve said, handing over one of her smaller pictures she'd been showing the other girl.

"That's the beach," Eliza said in awe. "It's perfect."

"Thanks," Eve said, seeing that Julia was nodding in agreement with her. "Should I wait to show her?" she asked, looking at Mari.

"She'll draw this really fast," Julia told her. "What else do you have for art?"

"This stained glass," Eve told her. "Even though I made it with wax between papers, my dad really likes it."

"It's nice," Stephanie said, holding it up so the others could look at it. "Have you ever done modern art?"

"I like to do paint splatters," Eve replied, pointing to one on the wall. "That was my first one and my parents liked it so much they framed it and put it here."

"It was a good idea," Julia said, nodding.

"Finished," Mari said. "It's really fast but I drew stuff for Kate before."

"You mean for your mom?" Stephanie said to Julia in surprise.

"It's just so she can practice," the girl replied. "She draws for Lily and her own mom too but so she gets ideas."

"If I know what color their hair and eyes are it helps," Mari said as she gave the picture to her best friend first.

"Awesome," Julia said, smiling at her. "You should show my mom this."

"Maybe I will," Mari replied, smiling back.

"Nice, I'm surprised you picked blue though," Eve said as she, Eliza and Stephanie looked at the picture together.

"Kate likes the color, when I draw for my mom I use black and dark green and then for Lily deep red or black," Mari explained. She took her picture back and tilted her head saying, "But I think she'd look good in sleeves that are on the shoulders at the end like this and a wider skirt 'cause her waist is narrow."

"Like all our moms," Eve said. She then realized what she'd said and whispered to Stephanie, "Sorry."

"It's okay," the girl said with a sigh. "I guess I have a mom but… not really." She then shook her head and asked the others, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

"I'd like to be an artist but I might cook too," Eve said first.

"Lily is teaching her," Eliza said seriously.

"What about you?" Stephanie said with a smile at her tone.

Shrugging Eliza then said, "Be a horsie doctor."

"A vet," Julia and Mari said at the same time.

"And you?" Eve said with a smile.

Julia rolled her eyes, since the young woman had been talking to her, and she said, "I'd like to have a dance studio and teach-"

"You compete don't you?" Stephanie interrupted.

"I do, I'd do that too but I'm not sure I still could," Julia said. "But I do want to write too."

"That's not a surprise," Stephanie said.

Raising her hand then Eliza said, "I wanna write too."

"Really not surprising," Eve said. "And I'll do art in some way, I don't know how but something."

"And I want to design clothes," Mari added. "What about you?"

"I'd like to be an architect, like my big brother Rudy," Stephanie said. "I like to draw buildings."

"That'll be cool," Julia said, not surprised when the others nodded in agreement. She looked over to the door as they heard the buzzing noise of the intercom outside the gate and said, "That's probably dinner, which is good since I'm starving." She smiled when everyone but Stephanie said, "Me too," and she turned her attention to the young woman. "What's wrong?" she asked as she was looking at her.

"I heard Mr. Rocco and Rudy talking about you; you saw what happened with… Lawson and my mother?" Stephanie asked.

Breathing out a little harshly Julia then said, "I did, do you really want to know?" When the young woman nodded she then sighed and said, "Okay but don't get scared," directing that to her sister. She then began to tell the others what had happened when she'd left her class and up until she'd gone home with her parents. "I'm really sorry," she told Stephanie.

"It's okay," the young woman replied. "They were… evil, really evil with what they did. And at least now the rest of us are okay." She sniffed as a tear escaped her right eye and she said, "I miss Yvonne though."

"My mom said you'll never forget her," Julia said, feeling the need to comfort her. "And you won't 'cause her mom was… murdered and she's never forgotten her at all."

"No," Eliza added seriously. "We know our grandmama still."

Stephanie smiled at her and said as the little girl walked up to her, "What is it?" before she was hugging her. "Thanks," she said after they'd let go of each other as she couldn't help embrace Eliza too.

"You're welcome," the little girl said with a smile, nodding her head once.

Before anyone could say anything then they heard Lily downstairs calling to them that dinner was ready and they watched together as Jacob and Duncan rushed past the doorway. Laughing the five girls went downstairs to the kitchen and they joined their families to get their food before they gathered at the tables set for all nineteen of them.

"Will you two be okay here?" Beckett asked the girls as she and Castle made sure they were okay at what was essentially the kids' table.

"Yeah if we need help we'll ask," Julia reassured her mother, smiling at her widely.

"Make sure you do," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when the two nodded before looking over at Eve and Stephanie who were talking across the table.

"Come on," Beckett said, going to the larger dining room table; the kids in the kitchen within sight.

"Have you ever thrown a party this large before?" Rembert was asking Lily and Brad.

"No which is so weird since I'm a chef," Lily said, shaking her head before she looked pointedly at her husband.

"To be fair," David interjected. "Rick and I usually offer our places for the parties; we're used to them."

"With your guys' permission?" Dally asked with a smile as she glanced between Beckett and Rebecca.

"Sometimes," Beckett said wryly, glancing at her husband.

"I'll agree with her," Rebecca then added. "But this is very nice now. Though I have to ask why Greek?"

"They let us choose," Rudolph said. "We just picked a country," he added with a shrug. He smiled slightly when the others assured him it was a good choice and he then said, "You're wondering what we're going to do next aren't you?"

"We were but it's up to you if you tell us," Brad said as the brothers were looking at each other.

"We're going to move into the city as soon as Stephanie and Duncan's school year is over," Rembert said.

"Where are you going to live?" Castle asked with little surprise.

"At the moment we're going to split up between Lamont's apartment and Fiona's while we look around for room for the five of us," Rudolph answered.

"Do the kids know?" Beckett asked, nodding to the kitchen.

"They want to go," Rudolph said.

"They've always loved the city; luckily," Rembert added before he looked behind him at Sydney who was in a bassinet. "But they won't care if they have to share…"
"I may not be living with them," Rudolph said when his brother looked at him. "Fiona and Lamont would like me to move in with them after she moves into his apartment."

"There's time to decide that," Rocco said carefully. "Wait until you can find a place for your family first."

"Good idea," Beckett said, smiling when the young man looked at her.

"What about you?" Rudolph asked her.

"Me?" Beckett asked instead of answering.

"You have plans this summer don't you?" Rudolph asked.

"We're renewing our vows," Castle said, guessing Brad or Lily may have mentioned it to them.

"And that's it?" Rembert asked. "They just mentioned that to us."

"We're heading to Ireland," Beckett said.

"They'll be renewing their vows at Adare Manor, a beautiful… manor converted into a hotel," Martha said. "Surprisingly not next to the ocean though."

"That surprised me too," Jim said to her with a nod.

"There is a river right by where the ceremony will be," Castle pointed out. He thought of something and said, "Think you'll be able to come? It'll be August seventeenth."

"He speaks for both of us," Beckett said with a smile as the two brothers looked at her.

"I don't think we could," Rembert said. "For all five of us to go right now would be difficult. But Rudy could."

"I-" Rudolph began to say, looking at little embarrassed.

"I'll escort you," Rocco said, interrupting him.

"You can go too," Beckett said quickly to Dally, in case the three thought she and Castle wouldn't want the three to be there together.

"He'd want me to stay in case his brother and sisters are too much for Rembert," Dally replied with a smile. "And I have work… you'll be lucky to get time off," she said to her boyfriends.

"We'll put in as soon as we start," Rudolph told the couple. "So barring us being refused that time off, we'll go."

"Great," Castle and Beckett said together.

"But that's all you're doing?" Rembert asked.

"Before that we're going around Ireland," Beckett answered. "With the Fosters and our friends from California, the McDouglases."

"I remember hearing about them, Skye is a pilot right?" Rudolph asked. When the others nodded he said, "She landed that plane at JFK five years ago."

"She did," Castle said. "Very well all things considered. And she was here last year for that equestrian competition."

"We saw in the paper," Rembert replied. "That should be a great trip."

"You're not going to tell them about your trip to Vegas?" Lily asked teasingly.

Shaking her head at her friend as she smiled Beckett said, "Memorial Day weekend, we're taking Julia to see Love."

"She likes The Beatles?" Rocco asked.

"She loves them," Jim said. "So she'll enjoy the show."

"What're you going to do with Eliza when they go?" Rebecca asked.

"Maybe a movie," Martha answered. "But we will take her out for a special dinner since she'll be with us."

"What else will you do with kids there?" Dally asked.

"We have some places," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when the woman, Rocco and brothers looked at him in surprise and he explained, "We're going to keep that a surprise."

"That'll be fun," Rembert said. "Luckily there are things now for kids to do."

With some laughter the others agreed before they then turned their attention to finishing their food which they nearly were done with. When they had completed the meal they then began to clear up together, the kids helping them except for Dani, Sydney and Eliza; who was told to watch the two youngest for the adults.

"Do you want to play?" Eliza asked Dani since she knew she was the only one of the two who was going to understand her. She wrinkled her nose when the baby merely patted her cheek and said, "Maybe not." She looked down at Sydney when she started to whimper and she started to look to the kitchen to tell the others the baby was awake when Sydney held onto her index finger. "Oh… hold on," she then said.

"Baby," Dani said with a wide smile as she watched Eliza picking her up.

"Yeah, she's a baby," the little girl said, holding onto the back of Sydney's head. "Mommy," she said in relief when she saw that Beckett was rushing over to her.

"Do you need some help?" she asked with a smile to see her daughter holding the baby. Beckett was surprised when Eliza nodded her head as rapidly as she could as Sydney was leaning against her cheek but quickly took her from her. She checked to make sure the baby was alright and then said to Rudolph who was walking up to her, "She's protesting her time going to bed."

Laughing slightly the young man said, "Can't blame her for that." Rudolph studied her and said, "How'd you do with her last night?"

"Great, we have experience with a baby in the house," Beckett replied, motioning to hand Sydney over. When he shook his head she told him, "We took care of Dani too."

"You could open up a day care," Dally said, coming over and looping her arm through her boyfriend's.

"We'd have no time for cases," Castle said, going over to his wife after the woman. He let Sydney take his finger and said, "What're we doing next?"

"Letting the kids play," Brad said. As the others were going over to the family room after him he told Castle and Beckett, "Don't, I need you two to help consult."

"I'm sure we weren't thinking of that," Castle told him jokingly.

"Come Brad," Lily said, coming out of the kitchen first and pulling him after her.

"Wow, foul mouth," Castle said before he grunted as his wife nudged him in the side with her elbow. He smiled then at her before he let her pull him to the love seat in the room as they turned their attention to their kids.

"Did you ever play this before?" Julia was asking Stephanie as she'd showed the others the jacks she and Eliza had gotten earlier.

"No is it fun?" Duncan asked before his sister could answer.

"Sometimes it's hard to do," Mari said.

"She's right, you just have to practice," Julia added. "Want us to show you?"

"Why me?" Eve asked in annoyance before she smiled. "Because I'm the oldest, I know." She took the ball and then began to bounce it before she picked up a jack and then caught the ball.

"So you just pick up one… right?" Stephanie said slowly.

"You start out with it," Julia said. "You should try now."

"She needs more friends," Rembert said in a low tone of choice to the other adults as he watched Beckett hand Sydney to his brother. "They both do."
"We all do," Rudolph said with a sigh.

"I think you have some here," Rebecca commented. "And yes I know that sounds really corny but there you are."

After the others had calmed down from laughing Rembert said, "It's a shame though we're leaving now we know you guys."

"Better you do go," David said. "Not for you to leave but your job is there," he directed to Rudolph.

"It is," the young man said with a nod. He then looked thoughtful and said, "But we may come back; this is where we grew up."

"You're welcome to stay with us if you'd like," Beckett said after looking to her husband; who quickly nodded to her unasked question.

"We might do that, we'll see," Rembert replied. He turned his attention to the kids before he heard Sydney starting to fuss. "I think now it's time for her to go to bed," he said. "We better get going."

"You'll let us know before you leave right?" Beckett asked, directing that to the two brothers as they all stood.

"Of course," Rudolph said immediately. "We'll repay the dinner by going… somewhere."

After they'd been able to get their siblings the Beaches, Rocco and Dally began to say goodnight to everyone before they left for their hotel.

"Do we have to go too?" Mari asked her parents.

"We do, you have school tomorrow," Rebecca told her.

"And so do you," Castle said as Julia turned to him and Beckett. "So I think that's it for tonight."

"Come on," Beckett told the girls as they groaned in disappointment. "Say goodnight to everyone."

It still took some time for them to do that but soon they were leaving with the Fosters, the three girls in front of them.