Looking at the yellow submarine that was underneath the sign for the museum, Julia looked around the brick building and said, "We need to go down like at the Cavern."
"I bet that was the reason they did that," Castle told her, squeezing her hand. Inside he gave their tickets and followed Julia to the first section which dealt with the childhood of the Beatles before it went to their teenage years. "I always liked that word," he said as Beckett and Eliza soon joined them.
"Skiffle?" Julia asked him.
"Yeah but it's what they got started with, what was big at that point until they got into rock and roll," Castle said.
"They didn't have rock and roll records," Julia was telling her little sister, who looked up at her, her eyes widening as she continued. "They were from America and they couldn't get them but 'cause a lot of ships came in they could get them from sailors."
"Ooh," Eliza breathed. She then asked, "Granpapa?"
"She wants to know if the rock and roll we're talking about is the kind you listen to with us," Julia told him.
Smiling at that Jim replied, "It is, that's the kind of music they liked and what influenced their music. It affected the way they played and wrote."
Eliza looked at the picture of the Beatles when they were teenagers and said, "I wanna play too."
"The guitar?" Julia asked as her little sister had never really held much interest in playing what she herself was learning.
At Eliza's nod Beckett said, "You need to grow up just a little more for the guitar." They continued to walk then, coming to some exhibits about The Quarry Men, John's band when Paul met him and she said, "But we can see if you'd like to learn the piano."
"Kay," Eliza said before she followed her big sisters to some guitars and a picture of John playing with his band at the fete where he'd met Paul. "I like that one," she said firmly, pointing to the red colored guitar.
"Yeah that's nice," Alexis said. "These were way before they began though."
"You mean before the electric guitars?" Castle said. When his daughter nodded he smiled and said, "Yeah there's something about electric guitars that lend them an artistic feel but acoustics can be very nice looking."
"Like those were," Julia suggested.
"Like those," Castle said in agreement. "Oh and we are now in Hamburg," he said as they came up to a display of a brick archway with a picture in the back of John leaning against the side.
"What's that say?" Julia said, pointing in front of a mannequin of a woman.
"The Kaiserkeller," Beckett read. "You know when they came here to perform eventually Germany sent George home."
"Why?" Eliza asked before her sister could.
Biting back a giggle as she knew her mother had said that for the toddler's benefit Julia told the story saying, "He was too young to play all night, there was a…"
"Curfew," Martha said. When her two youngest granddaughters looked to her she said, "Oh I had my share of run ins with my parents concerning my own so I know how George felt then."
"Yeah so he couldn't stay," Julia said. "And then that's when Stu Sutcliff stayed." She could tell Eliza was going to ask why and she hurriedly continued with, "He found a girlfriend, she was a photographer."
"Like Mommy," Eliza said, hugging their mother.
"Sort of," Beckett replied. "Next?" she asked as they'd been walking around the different items relating to the band's time in Germany.
"Now Ringo's in the picture," Castle said.
"Dad?" Beckett asked as they walked around the room that displayed items from the beginning of the band's popularity.
"You have a story Grandpapa?" Eliza asked hopefully as she went to him and took his hand.
"No your mom knows this is around the time I became interested in the band. Your grandmama too in fact," Jim replied.
"Before they came to America?" Martha was asking.
"You too?" Jim asked.
"How soon were you aware of them?" Castle asked in surprise as he had never heard that story from his mother before.
"This is where Jane came in for me," Martha replied. "She brought LPs of some of their hits in England, though only a few."
"My friend's brother came back from a trip to England and he had some LPs too," Jim said. "And I heard a couple songs on the radio but not many times."
Castle couldn't help laughing saying, "So it's kind of the reverse of what happened with them getting rock and roll records."
"Except they didn't get the records from sailors," Beckett said as they continued to the next section.
"Still, they got them," Julia said. "Do you still have them?"
"The LPs?" Jim asked, glancing at Alexis and surprised to see that she looked interested in hearing his answer. "I think I may."
"Really?" Beckett and Castle asked at the same time.
"I might," Jim reiterated. "I'll see when we go back home and let you know."
"I hope so Grandpapa, we can listen on my record player!" Julia cried out with a smile.
Since they'd been walking around that whole time by the time they stopped talking the family found themselves at the cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and they stopped, turning to the girls.
"Take a picture too Mommy," Eliza said eagerly, going to her and taking her hand.
"Here," Beckett said to her husband, handing him her camera. She went with the girls to the fence in front of the display, holding them both to her as they smiled at the camera. "Now one of you two," she said, hurrying back to get her camera and take one of the girls as they slung their arms around each other.
After his wife had taken a picture of the two with their big sister Castle was drawn over with them. "Should we keep on going?" he asked the two.
"Yes," Julia said insistently as they then went over to the display for Yellow Submarine with the bow of the submarine coming into the room. She took a few pictures before she started to hum the song that was playing and then giggled as her little sister tried to sing it herself.
Beckett; when their daughters started to sing together as they swayed back and forth; pressed her lips to her husband's shoulder, trying not to laugh at how adorable the two were. She took some quick pictures of them when she calmed down a little bit and saw that hers and Castle's parents were trying not to let their amusement at the girls show. But Alexis, she soon saw, was snapping pictures a little frantically and she smiled again though that time a little sadly as she knew why her stepdaughter was doing that. "We should keep going," she finally said.
Walking through the rest of the rooms they came to the discovery zone section of the museum where the girls ran together to the table to color a Beatles related picture as the workers there in the room told them they could do. They looked up as their family joined them, a little surprised to see their grandparents getting some papers as well to start.
"I think I know what you two are going to draw," Castle began. When the two glanced up at him he pointed to Eliza saying, "The submarine and you're going to try and draw Strawberry Fields."
Giggling Julia said, "You'll have to wait until we're done Daddy." At his nod she went back to her picture until she had finished, glancing at her sister to see she was finished too. "Okay now you can see," she said to their family.
"Interesting," Beckett said as Eliza handed her her picture. "Tell me about it sweetie."
"A garden," Eliza said simply.
"Octopus' Garden?" Alexis said in amusement, leaning over to see.
Nodding the toddler then said, "There are rocks and shells. And a octo…"
"Octopus," Beckett supplied, not surprised when Eliza nodded again.
"I made mine look like the submarine," Julia said, smiling at her dad. "Those are the whales and that's supposed to be Jeremy and some Blue Meanies… I can't draw that good."
"I think it looks nice," Martha replied.
"She's right, I knew that these were Blue Meanies," Jim said.
"Show us what you drew," Julia said then to the others. She and her sister smiled at their family's attempts to draw different songs and then said, "We can take them with us right?"
"We can," Beckett replied. "Let's keep going and then we'll check out the gift shop." She took Eliza's hand as they then walked into a room that was made up to look like Brian Epstein's NEMS store, looking at the different albums that were on the shelves.
"If Brian were here I would tell him that he should go see The Beatles," Julia said firmly to her grandfather.
"So would I," Jim replied, squeezing her shoulder. "But there's a lot of great music here. Roy Orbison; he was a favorite of mine. Have you listened to the Traveling Wilburys?" he asked his granddaughter.
"She hasn't," Beckett said, joining them. "I forgot that George was in there."
"He was in another band?" Julia asked in surprise.
"He was, with Roy, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan," Jim said. "They had some great songs; we'll have to listen to those."
"Okay I can't wait," Julia said eagerly. "There's Elvis and there's Little Richard, Fats Domino?" she read carefully.
"He's another favorite of mine," Jim said. "From well before you were born, before your mother was born and before I met your grandmama."
"Did she like him too?" Julia asked carefully.
"She did, we enjoyed that music," Jim said. "And because of that we both started to like the Beatles too."
"I'm glad," Julia said, hugging him tightly.
Eliza, seeing that, broke off from Alexis and Castle and ran over, hugging them too. "Love you Grandpapa!" she cried.
"I love you both too," Jim said, feeling his daughter's hand on his back. He quickly kissed his granddaughters before they moved on next to a piano on the floor and he stood back with the others as Alexis and Castle joined the two in playing Beatles songs on it.
"Is that it for the museum?" Martha asked once they were able to get the girls to move so others could have a chance to try the piano out.
"It is, we do have Sunday dinner of course," Castle replied.
"And what's so special about that?" Alexis asked.
"You'll see," Castle said easily. "Okay the gift shop…" he began before trailing off. "Love?" he asked as he saw the wealth of merchandise there.
"Let's see," Beckett said easily, glancing at Julia who looked dismayed.
"I… I can get something?" the little girl said, looking slightly hopeful.
"Yes but don't go too crazy," Beckett told her. "In fact we should split up and I'll go with you."
Watching as the others did that Julia turned to her mother and said, "You told Alexis to take Daddy didn't you?"
"I may have hinted to her," Beckett said as she took her daughter's hand and they started to laugh. "So I think we need to start out with shirts and see what we can find there."
Julia nodded, looking at the different choices before she watched her mother hold out a t-shirt to her. "Can I?" she asked.
"Yes sweetie," Beckett said, laughter in her voice. "You can pick two t-shirts from here okay? But only two I'm not budging from that."
"But why?" Julia couldn't help asking.
"Because who knows if we're going to come back here again, so we'll let you take the chance to get some very nice Beatles shirts," Beckett told her. She took Julia in her arms when she threw herself at her, thanking her repeatedly. "You're welcome," she told her lovingly as she leaned down to kiss her forehead before she straightened up. "Remember to tell your daddy that when we meet up with him again. Now let's hurry and go through the store before they have to kick us out so they can close."
Laughing softly Julia looked down at the shirt she held and said, "I like this one."
"Okay, one more," Beckett told her as she took the white shirt that said I love The Beatles, a heart taking place for the word love. She followed the little girl around the rest of the children's shirts until she picked out a lighter blue one with a silhouette of the band from the cover of their album Help! on it. "Nice choice," she told her, making sure the size was the right one.
"You should get another shirt too Mommy," Julia told her seriously.
"I had my eye on one," Beckett told her, leading her to the women's shirts and showing her a simple black one that said The Beatles. "What do you think?"
"I think you'll look great in that one love," Castle said as he and Alexis reached them with Eliza having joined them at some point.
"You picked out a shirt?" Beckett asked her with a smile as she took her from her father.
"Two," Castle said, showing her the first which was red with the phrase A is for Apple, B is for Beatles.
"Nice," Beckett said to that. The other shirt was blue with the picture of the Abbey Road cover on it and she said, "Alexis?"
"Just one shirt," the young woman replied, showing them her black shirt with an Apple apple and The Beatles text in it. "I think it suits me."
"It does," Julia replied. "Did you get something Daddy?"
Castle nodded and showed them the black shirt with a rectangle Union Jack with The Beatles text on it. "So is that enough?" he asked his wife.
"We can keep walking around but easy on what you ask us for," Beckett told the girls. "And we should probably meet up with our parents," she said to her husband.
"I'm sure we will," Castle replied as they started to walk around. After the t-shirts they saw a number of different items but he was surprised when the girls didn't ask for something until Eliza was grabbing a teddy bear with a Yellow Submarine t-shirt on it. "I think this will be fine," he said before he was looking over at his wife.
Beckett nodded before she went after Julia who had walked ahead of them, seeing her picking out a jigsaw puzzle of the Abbey Road cover. "You think you'll be able to do that one?" she asked.
"I don't know but you and Daddy will help right?" Julia asked.
"We will," Castle answered before his wife could. "So she's getting that?"
"Yes and that will be enough," Beckett said as she took the puzzle box. "Alexis, want to get Martha and my dad?"
"We'll get them," the young woman said before taking her sisters' hands and walking away.
Watching them go Castle said to his wife, "So things are set."
"I hope so," Beckett replied as they went to pay quickly since it was later in the afternoon by then. "What time are we eating?"
"Six," Castle reminded her. "We'll get there just in time." When their things were in bags they walked together to where the rest of their family was waiting at the doors out. "So since it's Sunday-"
"Why are you repeating that?" Jim asked, really curious as to why they kept mentioning it as if to constantly remind them.
"I promise you'll see soon Dad," Beckett said. "But what he was going to say was that we're going out for a special dinner."
"Where?" Julia asked immediately as her parents took them to the side of the docks and started to walk to the northwest.
"You'll find out," Castle said. "The reason we're saying this and not going to it right now though is we almost forgot to take you to the Royal Liver."
"Oh yeah, my shirt!" Julia said.
"You can compare it later," Beckett told her as the little girl was looking up at her pleadingly. "For now we'll go up and take a picture and then come back." She looked at the others and said, "It's about a ten minute walk."
"The sea air is nice and bracing," Martha said, smiling at Eliza as the toddler's eyes widened at what she was saying. "And it will make us hungry for our special dinner won't it?"
"Yeah," Eliza replied with a giggle. She watched the river as she held her grandparents' hands then but eventually became tired. At that point she stopped walking and said, "Daddy!"
"Hold on," Castle said, going back to her quickly as he could tell by her slightly teary voice she could easily slip into a tantrum. He picked her up and put her on top of his shoulders, feeling her slump against the back of his head. "Someone's going to sleep insanely well tonight," he commented.
"Someone might fall asleep during their bath tonight so we'll have to watch her," Beckett told him. At his nod she let him take her hand before they walked the rest of the way to the building and when they were standing in front of it she pointed to the very top of the tower with a clock on it and told them all, "There's a Liver Bird."
"Is it real?" Julia asked, zooming in as close as she could to get a picture of it.
"It's a cormorant with seaweed in its mouth," Castle said, trying his best to recall what their travel book said about it. "A cormorant is real," he assured her.
"Cool," Julia replied absently as she was getting a few more pictures. She was reluctant to leave after they'd stayed for at least ten minutes but finally allowed her sister to take her hand for the walk back to the car. Once they were in it and driving away from the museum she looked out the window, thinking they'd be having their dinner at the hotel. But instead they headed east and north a little, stopping in a quiet neighborhood and looking at her sisters in confusion before they got out.
"Where on earth are you taking us?" Martha asked her son and daughter in law as they headed down the sidewalk.
Not saying a word Castle stopped at one home and opened the gate leading up to the front door as his wife moved around so his mother would walk behind him. Ringing the doorbell he stepped to the side and smiled at the older woman who opened the door.
"Jane!" Martha said in surprise.
"Martha, I almost didn't think they would be able to convince you to come," Jane French said as she stepped out and hugged her old friend tightly for a moment. "How are you?"
"I'm doing great but you? You live here?" Martha asked.
"I have a restaurant here," Jane said. She then looked at everyone else with her friend and said, "But please, come inside dinner is nearly ready."
"So I suppose some introductions are in order," Martha said once they were in the entry, the door closed behind them. "You know my son?"
"And your daughter in law," Jane said, shaking their hands warmly. "It's wonderful to see you in person Richard, Kate."
"Likewise," Castle replied with a smile back at her.
"This is Kate's father, Jim Beckett," Martha said next. "And last but not least girls," she said to them. "My granddaughters, Alexis, Julia and Eliza."
"It's nice to meet you," Alexis said first, shaking the woman's hand.
"Are you really George's cousin?" Julia blurted out before she could stop herself as Jane took her hand. When then others laughed a little she then said, "Sorry, it's nice to meet you."
"Don't worry and I am," Jane said, smiling. "I have some stories I would guess you'll like hearing during dinner. And Eliza, it's wonderful to meet you," she said, shaking her hand as the toddler was blushing slightly. "Well since you have the time let me take you to see the garden in the back."
"Did we come too early?" Castle asked.
"Slightly," Jane said. "But it's not a problem," she assured them. "I would give you a tour of the house too but that will need to wait. For now you can see the garden." She led them into the kitchen, smiling as a few of them commented on the smell of the food still cooking. "It's small," she said when they were standing out in the yard. "But as you can see I enjoy flowers."
Not surprised that the woman had caught the excitement of Julia and Eliza when she'd mentioned the garden Beckett said, "Is it alright to walk around?"
"Of course, I need to go the vegetables are ready!" Jane exclaimed before she hurried back inside.
"Richard," Martha said as soon as her friend was inside the kitchen.
"I remembered the name when we were talking about Liverpool," Castle said quickly before she could continue. "Just you, me and Kate. So I decided to ask the PI to check in England and if he couldn't find her, look back in the states."
"It was only a passing mention," Martha said. "And I never told you about her slight connection to George."
"It was enough," Beckett commented, smiling at her husband. "For him to decide to look so you could see her again and of course…"
"For Julia to meet her," Martha said, watching the girls looking at some large hydrangeas. "Well it was very nice of you to do that Richard."
"I just hope you might have enough time to reconnect," Castle said. "Think you'd like to do that tomorrow?"
"I'll ask Jane and see what she says," Martha replied. "But you should know that whatever we're having will be very good."
"If she has a restaurant then I'm guessing she's a great cook," Jim commented as he had stayed with them.
"A phenomenal one," Martha said firmly. "The dinners her mother whipped up when I went over…"
"Look at all the roses," Alexis said to her sisters. She watched Julia take a picture of one before frowning slightly and she asked her, "What's wrong?"
"No it's just; did I sound dumb when I asked her about George?" Julia said slowly, taking a picture of a very white bloom.
"I don't think so," Alexis said. She smiled and then said with a soft laugh, "I don't think Eliza does either. And you know she was likely going to figure out we were fans."
"Yeah," Julia said, looking down at her shirt. She sighed and said, "I want to know all about George, and if she met Paul… and John and Ringo. But should I let her say?"
"I think she mentioned she was going to tell us," Beckett said, coming to them then. "Your gram just called out that dinner's ready."
"And Jane said I could do this," Castle replied, coming over with some gardening shears.
"You're going to trim the roses?" Jim said, coming over as he'd wondered what his son in law had in mind.
"Not exactly," Martha said, holding out a vase so her son could see it.
"Wouldn't be a Sunday meal without some English roses…" Castle began to say before he trimmed the red and white roses that Jane grew. "Okay," he then said as he followed them back to the kitchen door. "I would have cut one for you love but decided that they wouldn't have worked for you." He saw his daughter turning at the doorway and he said, "She needs a blue flower."
Seeing the look her stepmother was giving her father, Alexis said, "The hydrangeas are blue."
"That's alright," Beckett said quickly. "I get the feeling he'd make me put it behind my ear and I don't really want that big of a flower for that."
"Go on into the dining room," Jane was saying, leading the way through the kitchen and then the hall to the front room. "I'll be in shortly."
"I think she's a bit lonely," Martha said. "Talking to her now she's never been married and works with a nephew at the restaurant." After they'd sat down; leaving the head chair open for Jane; she added, "I hope you don't mind if I spend tomorrow with Jane." She couldn't help smile as everyone; even Jim; assured her it was fine and she told them, "She needs to help with the breakfast rush but after I'll see Liverpool from her eyes."
"A native's eyes?" Castle suggested.
Nodding as she could hear Jane coming to the room Martha turned with the others to watch her bring two plates before her son and Jim stood up.
"We'll help," Beckett's father said first as she set them down in front of Eliza and Julia.
"If we'd known you were doing this by plates we would have volunteered earlier," Castle said in agreement before they followed her to the kitchen. "It looks great," he said, seeing everything for the Sunday roast out on the counter.
"Ask your mother," Jane directed to him. "She had this when she came over a few Sundays and when I knew you were coming on a Sunday I had to make it to see if she remembers it."
"She'll say," Castle said as they took the rest of the plates back to the dining room.
"Alright you have your traditional British roast," Jane said as she sat down at her chair, speaking to Julia and Eliza who were peering at what was on their plates. "Roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes and vegetables with some Yorkshire pudding. Bon appetit."
"Thank you," Beckett said as the others echoed her. Since she was sitting with Eliza to her left she quickly cut her meat and told her to eat slowly before she looked at the pudding and decided to cut that up for her.
"What is it Mommy?" the toddler asked, looking at the only thing on the plate she couldn't recognize.
"It's bread… I think," Julia said from across the table.
"Flour, eggs and milk," Jane said, since Eliza hadn't been able to be too quiet in her question. "It's very good with the gravy. I hope I haven't given her too much food."
"No this is a perfect plate," Beckett said in assurance. She smiled and said, "We had an earlier, small lunch and we were doing a lot of walking today. And this is very good."
Waiting until the rest of her family had added their compliments to Jane, Martha told her, "It's as if it's sixty-four and we're trying not to laugh at your father's paper starting to drop into the gravy."
"So you do remember," Jane said before taking a sip of wine.
"I remember well those evenings when we'd try to listen to your records one last time before my father called for me to come home," Martha said. "I never imagined you back here. And I know I said that earlier but I can't."
"I'm a Scouse and I think I always will be," Jane replied. She smiled at the others who were listening as they ate and continued saying, "My granddad left this restaurant to me and I had to come and continue the family tradition."
"Your restaurant will be open tomorrow right?" Castle then said when there was a pause in the conversation. When Jane nodded he then said, "We could head over for dinner," looking around to see that the others were nodding themselves at that idea.
"There's more than roast," Jane said, sounding pleased. "And we'd love to have you there." She then looked at Julia, who was eating a piece of pudding, and she said, "Now you must have had a fun day. I would imagine you've been looking around at the Beatles' sites."
"Yes we have," Julia said, glancing at her parents. "We went to Strawberry Field, Penny Lane, the Cavern and the museum. But I think my favorite was Paul's house."
"You were able to go inside?" Jane asked. When everyone nodded she smiled and said, "So you're a fan of Paul's then."
"Oh yes but I like George too," Julia said, sounding a little shy.
"I wondered if you'd mention that," Jane said. She then talked about knowing her cousin a little and attending family parties as they continued to eat. "I had met Paul a few times then and John as well. They would play at some of those parties but you know you never dreamed they could be so famous back then."
"You went to the US before that didn't you?" Castle asked.
"I did attempt to see them when they were here but was never able to get close," Jane said. "And I didn't see George again until… oh, the eighties I believe when he was recording less."
"Did you meet his wife and son?" Jim asked.
"I did, at Friar Park, it was a family reunion," Jane said. She wanted to comment that that was the last time she'd seen her distant cousin but decided it would be better for the children not to hear that. So she instead steered the conversation back to the sixties and knowing the Beatles as she had met Ringo too though had not known him as well as the other three Beatles since she'd moved to America shortly after. When they'd finished the meal she tried to stop Castle and Beckett from helping her clear the table but they insisted. She directed the others to the living room while they were cleaning up and she could hear the girls talking to their grandparents and sister. "They are adorable," she told them while she was putting away dry dishes.
"They are, thanks," Castle said, handing her another plate. Since that was the last one he dried his hands and said, "We didn't tell them about you, if you couldn't tell by my mother's reaction."
"I could tell," Jane said. She then led them to the living room with the others and went to a credenza saying, "Do you enjoy playing cards?" to the girls.
"Yeah," Eliza said eagerly, trusting the woman more after hearing the stories her sister had been enthralled by.
"Then let me teach you to play a game… unless you know it already. Go Fish?" Jane asked with a smile as she began to shuffle.
"Oh we know that," Julia said, her sister nodding in agreement. "We can play it with you."
With that Jane began to deal the cards out to them, beginning what would be a number of games as she and Martha began to reminisce about their time together in the early sixties in NYC while they played.
"Stop splashing," Julia laughed, grabbing her sister's hands.
"Please or else your mom is going to come in and make you two stop playing," Castle said.
"She's here now," Beckett said, standing in the doorway behind him.
"Don't say we have to get out," Julia protested.
"No I just wanted to see what you were doing," Beckett replied, sitting on her husband's lap. "Do you mind?" she asked him in a low voice.
"Not at all," Castle said quickly.
"So what are you two playing?" Beckett asked them.
"We didn't start yet," Julia was saying with a laugh. "What do you wanna play?"
Thinking Eliza looked around their small tub and then shrugged before saying, "What do you play?"
Reaching over to the washcloth that Castle handed to her Julia said, "We'll pretend they're horsies."
"I want a horsie!" Eliza replied as she watched her sister dunk the cloth under the water. When her mother had handed her one she bunched it up and pretended it was galloping across the water, making neighing noises as she bounced up and down.
Watching them Beckett said, "You took out some of the water?"
"I needed to," Castle replied. "Can't forget how boisterous she is." He smiled as their youngest talked about their horses riding in the snow before Julia protested.
"But that doesn't make any sense," the little girl told her. "They're in the water Lizzy."
"Pretend," Eliza said firmly. "See the snow? It goes up."
"Eliza," Beckett said, slightly sternly as the toddler was throwing up water with her hand.
Peering over at her and Castle while she hunched her shoulders a little Eliza then said, "And the snow goes bye-bye."
"So now it's melting?" Castle couldn't help say.
"It's spring," Julia said, catching on quickly to her sister's idea. "And the flowers come out."
"No, green, all green," Eliza said firmly.
"Are we in Ireland now?" Beckett said. She smiled when the toddler nodded and then asked, "Where are you going to go."
"The big house," Eliza replied. "And you and Daddy are there."
"Oh?" Beckett asked, glancing at her husband quickly as he was running his hand up and down her side.
"Yeah we are gonna have dinner," Eliza said. "And then go to the river."
"Wow, sounds like fun," Castle said, frustrated when his wife made him stop.
"And swim," Eliza said.
"I knew she was going to say that," Alexis said from the doorway.
"Good timing, I need to get them out," Beckett said, standing up.
"I'll grab the book," Castle said before got up and then went out into the main room.
"So tomorrow's going to be very busy," Alexis commented as she started to help Julia dry off.
"Your sister means you two need to get to sleep as soon as possible," Beckett told them. "But we're still going to read, don't worry," she said hurriedly as she could tell that Eliza was going to protest that.
"At least we have that," Julia said as she began to dress herself. After she and her sister had brushed their teeth she smiled when they walked out, seeing that Castle was at the window on the balcony looking in at them.
"Daddy!" Eliza cried, running to the window and reaching up to him.
"Hold on, he's coming inside now," Beckett said, saying the words slowly and deliberately as her husband was looking at her.
Gesturing over to where the door was Castle hurried around until he came into the bedroom, not surprised that the girls were hugging him tightly. "We should hurry," he said. "Come on I have the book ready, we should get started before it's time for bed."
Getting on top of the bed with their family Julia and Eliza listened to the stories their father read out loud to them about Rupert. During that time they tried not to fall asleep but found it difficult to do as it had been a busy day for them.
"Wow, you two are exhausted aren't you?" Beckett said as she stood up to take the book from her husband and neither of them protested. She couldn't help smile as they yawned widely at the same time and motioned to her husband.
"Okay I love you Julia, Eliza," Castle told them as he helped them get under the covers, Eliza in the middle and Julia on the side next to the window. "Sweet dreams."
"Night Daddy," Julia said. "I love you." She was surprised when her sister didn't say a word, looking over to see she was asleep. She smiled and then shared a kiss with her father before watching him press a kiss to Eliza's forehead. When her mother came over to her she hugged her tightly and said, "I love you too Mommy."
"Love you sweetie, see you in the morning," Beckett said, sharing a kiss with her. "I love you too Eliza," she then whispered to her youngest, kissing her forehead too.
"We'll be over in the morning," Castle said after he and Beckett left the bedroom to go to the door. "We'll have breakfast again here before heading out."
"Sounds great," Alexis told them. "Night Dad, Kate."
"Goodnight," Beckett said, watching her husband hug his daughter before he came to her and took her hand. As they walked down the hall to their room she commented, "I think I need a bath."
Glancing at her at how simply that had been spoken Castle swallowed a little roughly before saying, "I do too." He wasn't surprised when Beckett smiled at him and then pulled him the rest of the way down the hall after her, following her willingly.
Leaning back against her husband a little more Beckett sighed and said, "I feel less tired now."
"I told you a shot of espresso will do that for you," Castle replied, reaching over to get one of the two cups off the floor next to the tub they were in sipping at what was left in his. With the cup back on its saucer he reached up and started to gently stroke his wife's arm saying, "This was a great idea."
"Of course it was," Beckett said. She then smirked slightly though he couldn't see it and said, "Anything with me naked you'll think is great."
"I don't think you can blame me for thinking that," Castle said, slightly in self defense. He leaned down a little and kissed below her ear saying, "Today was actually a lot of fun."
"I know," Beckett replied with a smile. "I really never realized I enjoy their music that much."
"And what about Eliza? I wasn't expecting her to be so excited about everything," Castle replied.
"Luckily Alexis had fun, so did our parents so we all had a great time," Beckett said. "And we will tomorrow I'm sure. Though again, I'm not really all that tired."
"If you want me to agree with you then I will," Castle said hurriedly as he could tell what she was doing with that.
Beckett smiled and said, "They'll have fun again, where we're going tomorrow," wondering at his response to that as she wasn't sure he would want to focus on the next day just yet.
"Of course," Castle said absently.
"Oh no, I know that tone of voice," Beckett said, glancing back at him. "Do I want to ask what's going through your mind right now?"
Castle leaned down in response and started to kiss his way over her shoulder before he made it to her neck. He mumbled something against her skin and when she asked him what he'd said, he told her, "I love you."
Beckett began to move at that, turning around so she was on her knees in between his legs, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned down then and kissed him deeply, their tongues meeting within her mouth to duel briefly before they were parting from each other reluctantly though they had to breathe. "I love you too Rick," she told him seriously. She then smiled and leaned down again so they could kiss, moaning briefly before they seemed to clutch tighter to one another.
After they managed to pull apart to breathe Castle and Beckett stared at one another and then came together in an instant, kissing as roughly as they could as they allowed their passion to take over. The action was simple and had little hesitation from either, knowing already how they wanted to spend their night while the city outside their room slowly went to sleep as Sunday night became Monday morning.