Genre: 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: I loved getting the reviews I did so want to get to my thanks for them straight away! vetgirlmx (It was nice to see right off you thought both halves of the chapter were very good, I had wanted it to be, lol. And yes I did have a lot of fun, lol, I have never been to Liverpool but I have always wanted to go so I guess the idea of how much fun I'd have spilled into that. But it was so awesome to see that it was kinda infectious in the end! I was glad that you could tell that Julia had a great day, or an ultimate fan girl day as you put it, since I wanted her to have that since they were where they were. And in my mind, though I've never written it, I've seen Julia and Eliza listening to the Beatles' music so I have her getting to be a fan too. And since they have albums of their songs for kids I figure it's gotta appeal to kids that young, lol, or Eliza's age. But yeah, I see her becoming a big fan too. I was really happy to see you liked how Castle and Beckett found Martha's friend. And yeah, I wanted her to have something for the trip and that seemed the best plus it could have a bit of a Beatles connection too, lol. But was glad to see your reaction to all of that! And now I really hope that what there is left of the vacation will be a keep getting better, lol, but have to see what you'll think of what they're going to do next. Really happy you're eager to see more of the vacation and now you can go ahead and do that!) and Guest (It was nice to see that you thought both halves of the last chapter were great! And I'm not surprised you could get a feeling that Julia was likely over the moon, as you put it, with what they did that day. And I imagined the same with Jim and Julia, so it was nice to see that you did too!). Thanks so much for the reviews, really loved reading them and am grateful as I know it takes time to write it out!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Beautiful Night by Paul McCartney, from his album Flaming Pie.

Vision Of A Castle

When they had passed through the entrance to the castle Beckett looked at the courtyard and said to her father, "Was this what you expected?"

"Not really," Jim admitted, looking around himself. "But since Warwick was around in the 1400's then this would be how it looked."

Beckett nodded with a slight smile on her face and went to her husband as they walked along the side of the grass to head to the main part of Warwick castle. "What're you thinking?" she asked him as she took his hand. "If it has to deal with a book I don't think it'll work."

"Could be a case," Castle started to say before he shook his head. "I'm kidding. No I'm wondering if they'll have fun."

"They did yesterday and we weren't sure they'd enjoy it either," Beckett reminded him as they'd gone through Stratford-upon-Avon where they were staying.

"True and they seem to enjoy the castles," he said thoughtfully. He looked ahead at their daughters and smiled as they were talking to Alexis, pointing at the building head. "So what'll be first?" he asked since she had the map.

"The Great Hall," Beckett read. They followed their family inside until they came to the large room and she looked at her husband in amusement as there were suits of armor and weapons. She then remembered their girls and looked at them, seeing that they were pointing to the amor against the wall. Her attention was taken by her husband then, looking over at him as he walked away from her. She smiled as he went to the carved wood that was against the wall, looking at the items that were on it and also hanging on the wall.

Looking at the checkered floor Eliza hopped from a dark square to another before she felt someone was next to her. She glanced up to find it was her mother and she smiled widely saying, "Can I hop?"

"Well you might run into someone," Beckett told her, holding her hand out to her. "But you can do that a few more times." She smiled as her daughter quickly did so, watching her until they joined Alexis and Julia in front of a suit of armor.

"I wouldn't want to wear one of these," the little girl was saying. "How can you ride a horse?"

"Not very well," Alexis said, smiling at her little sister and Beckett when she noticed them. "What do you think?" she asked the toddler.

"The horsie has… armor," Eliza said quickly, pronouncing the last word slowly.

"It probably wasn't comfortable for it either," Julia said, frowning at that.

"Come on, we need to get your daddy and continue," Beckett said to the girls, leading them around to where he still was though her father and his mother had joined him.

"Oh we have your help now in continuing," Martha said when she saw them approaching her.

"Daddy doesn't want to go?" Julia asked with a smile.

"I'm waiting for you," Castle said, taking his youngest's hand as she ran over to him. "Let's go."

"What's there to see next?" Julia asked her mother.

"The State Rooms," Beckett said as they walked into one. She wasn't surprised when the girls looked around in awe at the rich, wood paneled room with the lavish furniture and paintings on the wall. "Too much," she couldn't help saying to her husband in a low tone.

"That adage that less is more is definitely a good one," Castle said before he realized that Jim was glancing at them. "Offensive?" he guessed.

"No remember this is how it was back then," Beckett's father replied. "Though I'll agree, it's too much."

"Look at the fireplace," Julia said. "And the mirror."

"I like home more," Eliza said finally, nodding. She then turned to the painting to their right and said, "I like that."

"Hard not to like a painting like that," Alexis said in agreement. "Should we keep going?"

"Yeah," the toddler replied, nodding again. She held her sister's hand tightly before they came into a room with red walls and numerous paintings. "Mommy, Daddy, look!" she cried when she saw them.

"We see," Castle assured her.

"This is better," Martha said jokingly. "A very nice, rich red. It holds with the fact this is a castle."

"It does," Beckett said, walking around the table in the middle of the room with them. When they'd come to the next room she smiled and said, "I think this might be their favorite room," to her husband.

"Horsie!" Eliza cried as she was first to see the enormous painting at the end of the room.

"Who is that?" Julia asked.

"Charles I," Jim said. He was relieved when his granddaughter didn't ask him to elaborate on the king's story; since the man had been executed; and followed the others inside before Eliza cried out in surprise.

"It's a figure," Castle said quickly, realizing what she was reacting to quickly. "It's supposed to be the queen."

Beckett wasn't surprised when Eliza held onto her father tightly and she watched him pick her up so they would be able to continue. "Sweetie," she said as they were soon leaving the room. "There are going to be other figures just like that here."

"Do they move?" Eliza asked worriedly.

"No they're not robots, just figures," Castle said. "It's so you know what the castle was like back in those days."

"What days?" Alexis asked, motioning back to the dining room.

"Last year?" Castle asked before his daughter rolled her eyes. "When we get to the other rooms that'll make more sense."

The next room Julia saw first and she turned back to the others saying, "There are more here."

Stepping up to the doorway Castle saw that she was right and he said, "These are queens you know," to Eliza.

"They are?" the toddler asked.

"Yep, these are all the wives of Henry VIII," Castle explained.

Eliza frowned a little at the figures, studying them for a moment before she turned her attention to the walls and the paintings that were hanging there.

"I thought she would ask," Beckett murmured to her husband.

"So did I," Castle replied.

Hearing that; and able to translate enough of it to make sense of what her parents were saying; Julia went to her grandfather and said, "Why are there so many queens?"

Jim waited for the others to walk back towards the doorway as he and Julia remained by the figures and he told her, "That's a really long story but the shorter one is that he had bad luck with his wives."

"You can tell her Dad," Beckett said, coming over with Castle. "Martha wants to look at the dining room again so they'll meet us in the doorway here when we're done."

"You're sure Katie?" Jim asked.

"She's going to learn about English history at some point," Castle said. "So it'll be a good starter course for her to hear from her grandfather."

"Please Grandpapa I want to know," Julia then said. "And who had this castle."

"That question he can answer later," Beckett replied before her father could say anything.

"She's right," Jim said. "But with Henry VIII he thought that he needed to have a son to follow him as king."

"But there are queens," Julia replied.

"There are but back then the last queen had caused some trouble and they didn't think men would fight in an army for a queen," Jim said. "And he and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon were unable to have a son."

"Why?" Julia asked.

Since her father was looking at her at that Beckett easily told her, "To have a boy the father needs to give the y chromosome to the baby and that doesn't always happen."

"For me and Lizzy," Julia replied. When all three adults nodded she then said, "The king didn't do that?"

"It's hard to explain," Castle said, sharing a look with his wife. "But you have no control over that."

"Did he know?" Julia asked, looking alarmed.

"Unfortunately no," Jim said. "And after one daughter he fell in love with Anne Boleyn," he told her as he motioned to another figure. "He tried to divorce Catherine but she wouldn't allow him to so he broke with the church to make himself the head of it in England. And he declared the marriage was never legal and married Anne."

"She had Elizabeth," Julia said quickly. She felt proud knowing that but then she realized what that meant. "Did he do the same thing to her?"

"Sweetie, he decided that it had been a mistake to marry her," Beckett said, putting her arm around her shoulders. "Since she couldn't have a son either and he couldn't really divorce her like he had his first wife."

Hearing her mother's tone of voice Julia swallowed and whispered, "Did he kill her?"

"I'm afraid so," Jim said with a nod. "He made up charges against her and she couldn't fight them." He frowned and said, "It was a travesty of justice."

"What did he say?" Julia asked, curious at why her grandfather was so mad.

"That she was in love with other men and talked about when the king would die," Castle told her. "Which was treason."

"So… what happened after that?" Julia asked.

"He married; shortly after; Jane Seymour who'd been a lady in waiting to Anne, who had been a lady in waiting to Catherine actually," Jim said. "And she had a son, Edward VI. Should I tell her?"

"I will, sweetie she passed away after she had her son," Beckett told her. "But remember, back then giving birth was not like it is now."

Nodding Julia asked, "And after her?"

"He decided to marry Anne of Cleves, which was in what is Germany and Holland today," Jim continued, pointing to a fourth figure. "But he claimed she was ugly and they couldn't be husband and wife."

"Never mind the fact he weighed… was really overweight and wasn't exactly young in those days," Castle said. He saw his father in law looking at him and said, "I know the story."

"From the show?" Jim asked. When his son in law shook his head and nodded to Beckett he smiled before saying, "So they divorced but he made Anne his sister and gave her a palace, so she made it out of the marriage really well. Next was Catherine Howard, who was Anne Boleyn's cousin. She was young and said to be beautiful but she had enemies who told the king that she was in love with someone else."

"And the same thing happened to her too?" Julia asked hesitantly.

"It did," Jim replied. "Do you want me to finish?" When his granddaughter nodded he then said, "For a few years he didn't remarry until he married Katherine Parr and she was lucky, he passed away while they were still married."

"Wow… now I see why you like history so much," Julia said, looking at the six women. "Can I learn it too?" she asked eagerly.

"You already are," Castle replied. "Some of the books you have are history."

"There is one book we could maybe get you," Beckett said. "But not now, your sisters and grandmother are back," she told her as she was looking at the doorway to the room. She watched Julia walk with her father before she and Castle followed them hand in hand.

"Next will be…?" Castle asked, trailing off at the end.

"The Queen Anne bedroom," Beckett told him. She smiled at their youngest who waved to them happily and saw that she looked a little happier than she had before. "Do you mind the figures now?" she asked her as they were walking.

"No Gram says they are…" Eliza started to say, looking over her.

"Important," Martha said with a smile as they came into the bedroom. "There's a lot of queens we've seen so far."

"And we'll be seeing more than that," Castle replied, nodding to the painting on the side wall.

"That's a queen?" Julia asked, though she was looking at her grandfather.

"Queen Anne I believe," Jim answered.

"I wanna go on the bed Mommy," Eliza said seriously.

"I don't think you can," Castle said for his wife. "See the rope going across?" he told her, nodding to it.

"We're lucky we can see it," Julia said. "Right?"

"Very," Jim replied. "Let's keep going and see what we can see next."

Beckett knew that Castle was looking at her but she didn't reply to the unasked question she knew he had. When they entered the chapel she smiled and said, "You should have expected it."

"Maybe," Castle said simply. He smiled as ahead of them Eliza was trying to hop between squares on the checkered aisle on the floor before he called her back to them. "This is a church sweetheart," he told her. "So we should calm down and then go ahead and take a look at the stained glass windows."

"Kay," Eliza said, having seen those windows ahead of them. She took her parents' hands and looked around the stone archways they walked through to come to the pews. When she looked at the other end of the room she saw the windows that her father had been talking about. She squeezed their hands tightly as she started to sway back and forth but stopped when they started to walk ahead again. "It is pretty," she whispered.

"It is," Beckett said in a low tone. She watched Castle then pick up their daughter so she could have a better look at everything. She reminded herself to take pictures and hurriedly did so before they were leaving. Once they were enough away she took Julia's hand and said to her, "What did you think of that?"

"It was nice," Julia told her. She smiled and then said, "I do like seeing the stained glass windows and those carvings on the stone arches?" When her mother nodded at her guess of the word she continued saying, "That stuff is really nice, how did they do that?"

"They had people who trained for it," Beckett replied. "And did a lot of practice."

"A lot," Julia said with a firm nod. "So now what?"

"The Royal Weekend Party," Castle said, having been walking with them.

"It's about a weekend in 1898 where the Duchess of Warwick had the Prince of Wales over for a party," Jim explained quickly as they were coming to the first room.

Looking at the wood paneled wall Julia asked, "Is that a butler?" pointing to the man in the back of the room.

"Or a manservant," Jim replied since they were standing together.

"What does he do?" Eliza asked.

"He helped his boss dress or got the water for his bath or like he's doing now, pouring his tea," Martha answered. "And women had maids to help them too, I'm sure we'll see as we go along."

"Definitely a man's room," Castle said, having been looking at the architectural aspects of the room.

"The bed especially," Beckett said as their family was walking ahead of them.

"Would you?" Castle asked her.

"What want a bed like that?" Beckett asked in response. "Get a boxy, four poster bed?"

"I think I have my answer for that don't I?" Castle asked her in amusement.

"You do, come on," Beckett told him, taking his hand before they went after their family. She took pictures then with one hand as she wouldn't let go of his. When they reached one room where there was a white bed with a pink bedspread and a figure of a woman trying on a gown with a maid on the floor in front of her. "Don't ask them," she told Castle.

"I wasn't going to," he said in amusement again, looking at her. He squeezed her hand gently once before letting it go and watching her walk up to the girls who were standing at the line.

"Too much pink," Julia said as soon as she felt her mother behind them. She then said, "But that was what they had in their rooms huh?"

"A lot possibly did but not everyone," Beckett said. "How do you like her dress?"

"Is it a wedding?" Eliza asked.

"It looks like it could be," Alexis commented next to them. "But that's a dress for the weekend. Dressing up."

When the girls looked at their mother at the same time at that Castle couldn't stop himself form laughing heavily and he had to try to smother it when his wife turned to him. "Sorry… just a little creepy the way they looked at you," he tried to explain.

"You know this was over a hundred years ago right?" Beckett asked them as she turned back to their daughters.

"We don't want you to wear that," Julia said, sharing a look with her sister. "You don't have to wear a full dress to the play tonight?"

"It's not that formal," Martha said before her daughter in law could try to explain. "And what your mother is going to wear will be more than enough. I can guess," she added at the end for Beckett who was looking at her slightly questioningly.

"Let's keep going, we still have more to see," Castle said then as he ushered the girls to the next room.

After making their way through the rest of that section the family went to the Kingmaker part of the castle Julia and Eliza turning to their grandfather for an explanation.

"That's an even longer story," Jim said as he looked again to his daughter and son in law. When they nodded slightly he understood what they wanted him to say and he began with, "There were two factions the Lancasters and Yorks, the red roses and the whites, who wanted to rule England. There was a lot of fighting about this through the years and eventually Edward of York wanted to be king because the current one, Henry VI had some kind of mental problems and his queen ruled essentially for him which some men did not like. The Earl of Warwick; Richard Neville; helped him to become king. But when Edward IV started to rule without him he helped Henry back to the throne before Edward…"

"Hurt him?" Eliza asked, her brown eyes even wider than they normally were at that.

"Yes but because he helped Edward to the throne they called him the…" Jim continued.

"Kingmaker," Julia said. "I get it," she then added. "But… did that mean he was bad or good? And did they stop fighting and did one rose win?"

Smiling at her perception Alexis couldn't help say before Jim responded, "Hard to keep anything from her."

"Very," Jim said in agreement, nodding to her. "To answer your first question that depends on who you supported at the time; Edward or Henry. And your second question do you remember Henry VIII?" At the little girl's nod he said, "His mother was Edward's oldest daughter, Elizabeth. She married Henry Tudor who was a Lancastrian and with their children…"

"That's why there are red and white roses!" Julia exclaimed. She looked around at the other people around them who were glancing at her and blushed slightly saying, "Sorry."

"You're right though," Martha replied. "So now you know the man you're about to see."

"I wanna see the king," Eliza said firmly, so they would know that she had been listening as well.

"Kingmaker," Castle corrected her gently. "And we're going right now."

Walking through the rooms in that exhibit the family relied on Jim to explain what he could as the scenes were of medieval life while the Earl of Warwick was preparing for battle. With the end of that section they made their way out of the main building and walked to The Mound, which had the remains of the thirteen century keep.

"Do we have all that much left?" Martha asked.

"The gardens," Beckett said absently as she watched her father talking to the girls about the remains. "There is a dungeon but…"

"If you would want to go we can take them," Martha said, looking at her son as she said that.

"I think I'd rather not Rick," Beckett said, turning to him.

"You're becoming British- ow," Castle began to say before his wife pinched him. "What?" he asked her.

"I'm not, just the wording seems more natural to my tongue," Beckett said. She was relieved when Martha left them before she'd said that and grabbing the front of her husband's shirt with her hand told him, "Do not say anything about that."

"No… but, can I just… I do love your tongue," Castle couldn't help saying, putting that into Irish so she wouldn't become angry with him. He was relieved when she shot him a look but didn't move away from him at all. "I've seen dungeons before so we can skip that," he told her, reaching out for her hand.

"You'll pay for that," Beckett told him simply before she pulled him over to their family to meet up with them. From there she led the way out of the main castle and to the first garden where she told the girls, "This is the peacock garden, see if you can tell why."

Looking over at her Julia shared a glance with her sister before they came to a fountain near some peacock shaped topiary and she was crying out shortly in surprise when a peacock came over the small fence in front of the path and walked ahead of them.

Tugging on her mother's hand Eliza told her simply, "For birdies Mommy."

"Right," Beckett couldn't help say laughingly. She leaned down and shared a kiss with her before they walked around the fountain and then had someone passing by take a picture of all of them in front of it and the conservatory. "So that's a place to eat now," she told the others; except for her husband. "Is anyone hungry?"

Sharing a smile with his wife as Eliza jumped up and down with her hand in the air Castle went to pick her up and said, "Okay then it's time we eat," before they walked around to the building together, laughing as the toddler cried out in joy as her father gently bounced her up and down on his hip.

"This is the rose garden?" Martha asked.

"It is you didn't notice it when we were coming in Gram?" Alexis asked her as they were walking behind the girls and with Jim as well.

"No but I can see why Richard wanted a moment alone with Kate," Martha said, glancing back at the two who were far back under the trellis of roses. She looked ahead and said, "It will be interesting to go out to eat with them now."

"You haven't done that since they first started dating have you?" Alexis asked.

Shaking his head Jim said, "No we never did again… mainly because Julia came into our lives by then. But also because I get the feeling they were worried we'd have a repeat of that first dinner."

"I don't know why," Martha said in exasperation. "We're far better behaved now. We have grandchildren who wouldn't want to see us fight."

"Why do you fight Gram?" Eliza asked, having walked back to them.

"We don't we're just talking kiddo," Martha assured her. "What's wrong, did you get tired of the roses?"

"No where are Mommy and Daddy," Eliza said. When her sister turned and pointed she saw that her parents were talking together near the end of the climbing roses. She smiled as she could see her mother was laughing while Castle was talking to her with a smile and she was tempted to run over to them before her grandfather was grabbing her hand.

"We should keep going honey," Jim told her. "There's a lot more to see."

"They'll follow, don't worry," Martha assured her.

"I think Eliza was going to come over here," Castle said as he and his wife finally made it to the path out from the roses.

"It looked like it," Beckett replied with a slight smile. She then looked at her husband and said, "You've enjoyed today so far?"

"Loved it," Castle replied. "But we're not too early leaving are we?"

"We got here later Rick," Beckett told him simply, taking pictures then and using both her hands though she didn't want to.

"I just hope they'll have enough to do while we're out for the night," Castle murmured absently.

"The hotel has a pool," Beckett told him with a smile at his forgetting that.

Shaking himself of his thoughts Castle turned to her and nodded saying, "You're right, sorry just… thinking."

"Of what," Beckett said in slightly mock suspicion.

"If you have to know about what you were saying earlier," Castle said after a very brief hesitation.

"Pervert," Beckett said in a low tone of voice though she was smiling at him as they caught up with their family.

"Hey Mommy, are you getting really good pictures?" Julia asked as she hurried to her, her camera held close to her chest.

"I think so, let me see yours," Beckett replied, leaning down slightly to be able to see the screen of her camera.

When they had continued walking Eliza was on her father's shoulders, having gotten tired from walking. She was pressing her cheek to the top of his head when he suddenly patted her on the leg. "Why Daddy?" she asked him.

"Don't fall asleep okay?" Castle told her. "We have one more thing to see."

"A playground," Martha said in slight surprise when they left the gardens and came to it. "That should be fun."

"It'll be a lot of fun," Beckett began as they went to a section where there were a few people with younger children. "For you Eliza."

"Why?" the toddler asked as her father put her down.

"This is for little kids," Castle answered for his wife. "Just like you."

Looking at everyone who was watching her Eliza giggled shyly before she grabbed her sister's hand and told her, "Play with me Jules."

"I will," Julia replied. "Come on, let's go to the slide!" she told her before they ran over to the wood steps up to the small slide.

"Go separately," Beckett told them as she, Castle and Alexis had followed them over while her father and Martha had gone to sit on a bench to watch them. She took pictures as Eliza went down first, squealing in joy before she lay back.

Alexis got some pictures of Eliza as she ran over the wood chips to their father, smiling as she begged Castle to throw her up in the air.

"You're tired of the playground already?" he asked the toddler teasingly.

Laughing too hard to answer Eliza wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek before they looked at the slide to see Julia going down.

"It's too short," the little girl said with a laugh as she climbed down. She then said to her little sister, "I know what you want to do next."

"Horsies!" Eliza exclaimed before she laughed.

Following Castle, Eliza and Alexis over to the rocking horses Beckett didn't stop taking pictures until she realized that Julia was leaning against her. "You don't want to try?" she asked her.

"No," the little girl replied, shaking her head. "I'll look silly; I'm too big."

"There's a playground for you," Beckett told her.

Shrugging Julia replied, "There always is but when does Lizzy get the chance?"

"She's smart," Castle said as he came over to them. "Just like her mom."

Giving him a brief look; which had no real threat as she was smiling; Beckett said, "Want to go now?"

"I can wait she's not going to be long," Julia replied as they turned to watch the toddler as Alexis was helping her rock back and forth.

"Mommy!" Eliza eventually cried as she reached out to her mother.

"Come here sweetie," Beckett said as Alexis made the horse stop. "Think you can get off by yourself?" she asked her when she was close. When the toddler hesitated a moment she instructed, "Stand up first… good now swing your leg over."

Doing so Eliza nearly caught her foot on the tail of the horse but her mother was there to hold her steady. She smiled up at her as she jumped down and giggling said, "I got it Mommy."

"I saw, fantastic," Beckett replied, picking her up. "Now it's time to see what your sister has on the other playground. But we'll let you play too if it's not too scary for you," she said as they walked over to the rest of the equipment available and where most of the kids were running around and playing.

Going around to the slide Julia paused for a moment and said, "Can she go on that?" to her parents.

"I think she'd rather go on that," Castle said, seeing that the toddler was staring at the tire swing. Walking over to it with the others he held it steady so Beckett could put Eliza on it and then helped Julia climb up. "Want to spin?" he asked.

"Don't," Beckett said immediately before the girls could reply to that. "They just had lunch."

"Then never mind," Castle said, pushing it. He smiled as Eliza squealed, holding onto the chains while Julia was trying to swing with her legs.

When the two had stopped Beckett said to her oldest, "I think that slide is a little too big for her, so go ahead."

Eliza, seeing the slide then, was startled at the twist in it and she leaned against her mother to thank her in a way for that. But she couldn't help feel a little jealous of her sister as she came out of the other side, laughing in joy at the ride.

"Come on," Julia then told her sister, reaching up to her. "We can go on the… bridge?" she said as their mother put Eliza down. "What is that?"

"Looks like a bridge made out of shields," Castle commented as they walked to it. "Don't run."

"Don't wanna," Eliza said simply as she and her sister then left them to go to the beginning of it.

"That took care of that," Castle said, looking at his wife and daughter. He watched Beckett taking pictures of the girls as they went across and then followed them to what looked to be a small zip line. "Never seen one of these before… in a playground I mean," he said.

"Neither have I," Beckett said. "Wait, Eliza."

"Why can't she go?" Julia said in protest as their family reached them in line.

"She can't hold on to it the whole way over," Beckett replied. "We'll watch."

"I wanna go," Eliza said, sounding angry.

"Wait and see what it is," Castle said, as Julia headed up some steps then. At that moment a child came down the short distance and he wasn't surprised to see the toddler's eyes go wide. "Still want to go?"

Beckett was relieved when Eliza shook her head no; feeling they could have easily headed into a tantrum then; and she said, "We'll have to see how your sister does."

Nodding the toddler waited for Julia to appear and when she did Eliza couldn't help gasping as her sister bounced a little before heading down the rest of the way. "Is it fun?" she asked once Julia had joined them again.

"It's okay, I like the slide better," the little girl said with a shrug.

At that point they split up; Castle and Beckett taking Eliza back to the smaller slide and horses while Alexis stayed with Julia to watch her.

"Did you really like it?" the young woman asked.

"I did but I don't like hanging like that," Julia said seriously. "And I thought Eliza was going to get really mad."

"Like she did in Glasgow?" Alexis asked. She wasn't surprised when her sister nodded at that; as their sister had had one of her rare full on tantrums there; and she said, "At least that doesn't happen all the time."

"Was I like that at all?" Julia then asked her.

Alexis nearly froze at that, unsure how to answer since she had only known Julia since she was four. She tried to think of a way to reply that her father and Beckett would agree with but was having a difficult time. She was saved in a way when their dad called to them that they were going to leave so she went to her sister and took her hand tightly with her own as they made their way over to their family.

"I'm not really sure why everyone had to gather here," Castle said, watching as Julia helped her sister up onto the bed he and Beckett were sharing in their room.

"They want to see us off before we go," Martha said simply.

"That would make sense," Castle replied. "So you're just going to stay here for dinner?"

"I figure it's easiest and now they know there's a pool here they want to spend more time in it," Alexis replied, sitting at the end of the bed to stop Eliza from jumping.

"Oh I thought you'd turned on the TV love," Beckett said, stepping out of the bathroom. "Are we having a party here instead?" she asked with a smile as the girls were trying to get down off the bed.

"No we wanted to say goodnight," Julia replied. "You look beautiful Mommy," she said eagerly.

"So do you two," Beckett said as she watched Eliza press her cheek against the skirt of her dress. "I promised you two I would wear this." She then glanced up at her husband and added, "But I get the feeling he urged you to say something."

Castle glanced away from her; though the girls were giggling slightly; and he then said, "Do you want to change?"

"I'm fine," Beckett said, shaking her head though she was smirking at him. "Go say goodbye to your grandparents."

"And goodnight," Castle said as he went to sit on the end of the bed with her, touching her fingers with his own. When she glanced at him he mouthed, 'I'm sorry,' surprised when she only shook her head. He realized quickly why that was and guessed that she didn't mind wearing her black off the shoulder dress again.

"Night Gram I hope you like the play," Julia was saying then to Martha as she and Eliza hugged her at the same time.

"I'm sure I will darling," Martha said. "I love you Julia, Eliza have a lot of fun with your sister," she told them.

After their grandmother had shared a kiss with them both Julia said, "I love you too Gram."

"I love you Gram," Eliza was quick to say when she had the chance.

Going over to their grandfather Julia and Eliza shared a look and then said at the same time, "I love you Grandpapa."

Unable to help laughing at how sincere they were though they were surprised at their timing Jim hugged them to him and kissed them both before saying, "I love you too Julia, Eliza, have fun at the pool and we'll see you tomorrow."

"I want you to go Mommy, Daddy," Eliza said when they had gone to their parents.

"We were able to go yesterday," Castle said as he embraced them warmly. "You'll enjoy tonight with your sister though. Sweet dreams Julia, Eliza I love you so much."

"Love you Daddy," Eliza said, kissing his cheek noisily.

"I love you too Daddy," Julia hurriedly said after her sister, kissing his cheek as well.

Sharing a kiss with them both Castle let them go and watched them go to their mother, hugging her hard.

"Have fun with your sister of course," Beckett told them. "Listen to what she says which you already know and we'll see you tomorrow morning." She smiled when they giggled and she kissed them both before she said, "I love you Eliza, Julia."

"I love you Mommy," Eliza told her seriously.

"And I love you too Mommy," Julia said. "I'm glad you wore the dress, even if Daddy didn't say anything."

"Me too," Eliza added hurriedly.

Castle wanted to correct them on that but decided it didn't matter their way of saying they were glad that she'd worn the dress no matter what he'd said. He kissed them a final time with his wife before they stood up and left the room all together since they were going to escort the three down to the lounge in their hotel where they'd be eating dinner.

"Bye Mommy, Daddy!" Eliza said when they were in the doorway. "Have fun."

"We will, have a wonderful dinner," Martha said, smiling as the girls then turned to her and Jim. "We want to hear all about it tomorrow."

"We'll tell you," Alexis said after hugging her grandmother and dad before she watched with her sisters as the rest of their family left. "Ready?" she asked Julia and Eliza who were looking up at her. At their simple nods she laughed and then took them by the hands so they could be seated inside what was called the Blue Lounge.

"What are we gonna have?" Julia asked eagerly once they were seated at a table near some windows and a fireplace with blue and white tiles on either side of it.

"I was thinking the tea," Alexis said. "Unless you two are sick and tired of it."

"No!" Eliza cried in a whisper.

"Okay," Alexis said slightly laughingly as she squeezed her sister's hand to calm her down. "I'll order it right now."

"But I can't have tea," Julia said. "Or Eliza either."

Alexis held her finger up to her lips before she smiled at the waiter that was coming up to them. She ordered the traditional tea for them and asked for the lemon and ginger tea with milk to go with it. When the man had left she told her sisters, "Your mom and Dad said that I could get you that tea because it has no caffeine and with milk for Eliza it'll be weak enough for her."

"Thank you," Julia said, smiling. "Do I need to put milk?"

"If you want to, your mother said only a little bit of honey," Alexis replied. "But still, we're starting our sisters night together."

"What do we do?" Eliza asked.

"First eat," Julia told her. "And then swim… right?"

Laughing softly Alexis answered, "Yes and then if it's not too late by the time we get back to our room we'll play some card games together."

Eliza clapped her hands and then said, "I wanna play all night."

"Mommy would be mad," Julia reminded her.

"Not at me," Alexis said hurriedly when her sisters looked at her. "Besides it's my job tonight to get you to bed relatively early so I will be doing that."

Eliza wanted to protest but she remained quiet as the waiter came back over to them with their tea and she watched Alexis soon pouring the liquid out into their cups. She was fascinated by the way the milk clouded the tea and then realized when Alexis merely did that with one cup that it was hers. "I want more tea… please?" she asked.

"Wait to see what you think of it like this," Alexis replied as she slid the cup in front of her sister before putting the other in front of Julia. "But wait because it's still hot."

"What play are they going to see," the little girl asked after they were quiet for a moment, watching the steam from the tea curl up into the air.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream," Alexis said. "You know Gram loves that play."

"'Cause she was in it," Julia said with a soft giggle. "I hope she likes watching it too."

"She will," Alexis assured her. "But what did you think of the castle today?"

"That was fun," Eliza replied quickly. "I liked to play."

"So did I, that was a really nice playground," Julia said. She then thought for a moment and said, "Why is it at a castle?"

"I'm sure they wanted to give the kids a place to go after walking through all those rooms," Alexis explained. Their food was served shortly after that so she was distracted with getting the sandwiches divided between them and getting Eliza to turn her attention from the desserts so she would eat. "I heard you liked the history your grandfather was telling you about," she commented once they had everything settled.

"I did, there's a lot of history in England," Julia replied. She sipped her tea and said, "I loved that Grandpapa knew all of it."

"Me too," Eliza said before patting her sister's arm so she would help her take a sip of her milk and tea.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Julia asked.

"We're staying a little later," Alexis replied, trying to recall what their parents had told her. "And then we'll start heading west."

"We're going to Wales?" Julia said eagerly.

"We're going to head in there," Alexis said with a nod. "But first we're going to Ludlow, since it's where the Prince of Wales sometimes had a court of his own… and I think her own."

"Who?" Julia asked.

"I want to say Princess Mary, Henry VIII's daughter but… I'm not sure," Alexis said as she was trying to recall. "Ask your grandfather I'm sure he'll know."

"Yeah," Julia replied, nodding her head. "But that will be fun and Grandpapa will like it I know."

"After that," Alexis said. "We'll head into Wales. Why do you want to go?"

"'Cause I don't know a lot about it," Julia replied. "Except the Prince of Wales but Ludlow is here in England. Or is that part of history too?"

"I think that's history, you're right," Alexis said. She was relieved when Julia was asking Eliza what she'd thought of the castle, not sure if she knew enough about that to tell her sisters.

The rest of the dinner saw the three talking about their day at the castle until they had finished and after their older sister had charged it to their parents' room Julia and Eliza took Alexis' hands as she led them to the swimming pool.

"How come no one's here?" Julia said in surprise when she saw the room was empty.

"I bet you anything people are going out tonight," Alexis said as she took two lounge chairs for them and started to untie the sash on Eliza's sundress since they were all already wearing their bathing suits.

"They should swim," the toddler said.

"I know but people like doing different things," Alexis said as she folded the dress and set it on a small table. "Our parents are, don't forget."

Giggling Eliza nodded and said, "That is kay but I wanna swim." Her sister then took out her vest and she groaned saying, "I don't wanna wear."

"Lizzy," Alexis said in a very slightly warning tone of voice. "The pool isn't like the one at home; it looks deep so you need to have this on. And Dad said if you don't put it on you can't go in."

Eliza wanted to say no but knew her sister was right as she could tell the pool was deeper. So she sighed deeply and helped her put it on before she watched Alexis help Julia fold her sundress.

"Okay," Alexis said once she was ready to go as well. "We can go in now."

"Are we gonna be able to do anything?" Julia asked, looking at the pool that had a slight shelf on either side before the deeper middle.

"You can jump in," Alexis told her. "Both of you but don't forget Julia that you can't touch the bottom."

"I'll be careful," the little girl said quickly, knowing her sister was worried about them. She followed them to the edge of the pool and they stepped together on the shelf, feeling the water covering their feet was warm. "We can't jump in now huh?" she then asked.

"No but I don't blame you for wanting to," Alexis said with a slight laugh. "Let me go in first," she said as she handed Eliza's hand to Julia's.

Watching their big sister jump in the little girl looked over at Eliza as the toddler was squeezing her hand tightly. "We'll go in soon," she said, unable to help the amusement in her tone.

"Okay come on you two," Alexis told them once she was fully in. She watched them sit down on the shelf before Julia slipped into the water first and she was quick to help Eliza inside. "Ready to swim?" she asked them.

"Yeah," the toddler said. She started to go with her sisters as best she could until they were in the middle and said, "Now I wanna go down."

Alexis couldn't help smiling at that and said, "When I say three. One, two, three." With that she helped Eliza down below the water until they pushed themselves back up, laughing with her sisters before Julia started to splash them. She and Eliza responded in turn and they began to swim around the pool though she stuck close with her little sister.

Eventually Eliza started to become bored with swimming around and trying her best to jump onto her sisters' backs so she went over to the shelf and standing said, "Now 'lexis, please?"

"You can but remember to swim once you're under the water okay?" Alexis told her, glancing at Julia who was swimming over to them.

Nodding eagerly Eliza held her breath and then jumped out into the water before she felt her sister pulling her up. She giggled when she was above the water and said, "Now Jules-" before their sister was jumping out into the pool next to them, making her squeal in pleasure as they were splashed by Julia's near cannonball.

"We can't play Marco Polo can we?" the little girl asked as she swam back from the other side of the pool to where her sisters were moving to sit on the shelf.

"Not really," Alexis replied. "When we, back at home," she started to say before finishing that as quickly as she could. "You don't want to keep jumping in?"

"Okay," Julia replied and with that she started to take off into the water, going down before kicking to resurface. She waved at her little sister who was watching and she then made her way to the shelf along the other side of the pool so she could jump from there, crying out in joy as she did so.

"Are you ready to go back now?" Alexis asked Eliza, looking at her.

Looking through the glass windows that were opposite them the toddler shook her head and then asked, "Mommy and Daddy will eat dinner too?"

"They will," Alexis said, smiling at Julia who had put her arms over the shelf and proceeded to kick her legs. "Dad will make sure to take your mom out to a very nice restaurant."

"And Gram and Grandpapa," Julia said. She then said, "It's funny Daddy didn't take her out by themselves."

"I think this is where he's making an exception," Alexis replied. "Plus you know at the play he'll be able to show her off a little. You know he does that right?" she then asked her sisters.

Giggling softly Julia nodded and said, "I don't think he does it on purpose."

"Neither do I but is that why he wanted her to wear that dress?" Alexis said.

"No he likes that dress," Julia said, her sister nodding in agreement with her. "And so does Mommy so she was going to wear it anyway."

"Can I go in?" Eliza then asked, standing up.

"Sure," Alexis said, helping her into the water and making sure she could hold herself on the edge of the shelf as Julia was doing. She stayed close just in case and told her, "Now you can practice kicking your legs."

"Let's have a race!" Julia cried then.

"Not a race," Alexis told them quickly. "You're going to get tired. Just practice." She watched the two start to kick their legs at that and smiled at them trying to splash the most at the same time. When Julia called for her to join them she started to refuse but Eliza chiming in got her to change her mind. So she went into the water to do the same as them but kept close to her littlest sister just in case once more.

After they'd been doing that for a while; and after Eliza was sitting up on the shelf again and swaying back and forth to the rhythm of their kicks; Julia stopped and said in laughter, "I can't swim anymore!"

"Yay you won 'lexis!" Eliza cried, clapping her hands together.

"And tired myself out," Alexis replied, getting up on the shelf then with Julia. "Let's rest and then go for a little longer." When her sisters nodded eagerly in agreement she lay down with them in the water, smiling as Eliza started to wave her arms back and forth, pretending there were stars above them and Julia helping her name the invisible constellations before she couldn't help it, joining in with them before they went back into the pool.