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 was happy to get the feedback I got for the last chapter so will get right away to my thank yous for them! vetgirlmx (I was really pleased to see that you were able to tell that they had and amazing day. And I was really glad that you mentioned them seeing Paul at Abbey Road. I had seen somewhere that people are so engrossed with the street crossing that they don't notice he's going into the studio's, lol, so I had to have that happen for Julia though I had to have her notice. It was great to see that I surprised you with that too, so I'm glad you enjoyed that. I had to laugh too at you seeing Eliza in armor and on a pony, lol, definitely a funny image. I was so, so glad that you thought it was needed Julia going alone with her parents. I wasn't surprised when you were glad that Eliza was okay with it 'cause you're right, could gone wrong of course. And I loved seeing that you had fun with their time at the museum and the Tower and well, tried to write these places interestingly and I'm glad I could manage that! It was great to see that you don't want to see the vacation end yet, since I can tell you've been enjoying all of that. The same for you wanting to know what happens next, pleased seeing that, and now you don't need to wait to see what they'll do now!) and TORONTOSUN (Glad that you like the girls are becoming themselves with their choices. And yeah, couldn't see Castle and Beckett not allowing them to do so, so I'm really pleased you like that they're doing that). Thanks so much for the reviews and I'm very grateful to you both for the time taken to write them to send them to me!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song London Town by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine, from the Wings album London Town.
Silver Rain Was Falling
"I wanna go in Mommy," Eliza nearly whined as she pulled her mother's hand that was holding onto hers tightly.
"You have to stay with us sweetie," Beckett told her firmly. "It's raining and I don't want you to get wet."
"Someone can carry her," Alexis said, watching them.
"We're almost there anyways," Beckett said, shaking her head as they went up the stairs of the impressive building of the British Museum. She smiled at her husband who shrugged at her look and she quickly brought in her umbrella when they were under some cover. She had to wonder how quickly the storm had come in but wasn't surprised they'd finally gotten some rain during their visit to the city.
When she realized they were continuing inside Julia said, "Don't we need tickets?"
"We have them already," Castle told her. "It's free."
"Oh," Julia said in surprise.
"We talked last night about how we wanted to go through all of this," Beckett was saying to everyone else. "And we figured we could not go through two sections, or at least not go through everything slowly."
"I think we have to go quickly through everything in the end love," Castle told his wife.
Nodding as she knew he was right Beckett said, "There are four floors, the bottom level is Greek and Roman and a few rooms of African things. Who wants to go?"
"We'll see that stuff here on these two levels," Castle said, gesturing to the one they were on and the one above them.
"I think we can leave those as a maybe," Jim suggested. "If we have time."
"Okay then we should get started," Beckett said when no one objected. They walked together to the first two rooms, one about the museum's history of collecting and the second a long room that was divided into seven sections that focused on the way travelers collected items. She smiled at Julia's fascination with the items there since she was walking with her; both of them taking pictures together.
"She's interested too," Castle said when his wife turned back to where he was with their youngest, having to hold her since she was too short to see.
"Mommy what's this?" Julia asked, coming to something. She smiled at her little sister as Castle joined them and then turned to Beckett who was reading the plaque.
"It's a hand axe, about three hundred and fifty thousand years old," she said.
"Is it old?" Eliza asked interestedly.
"Very," Castle said. "So old that I don't think I can make you understand how much."
"Wow," Eliza said. She looked around at the other objects they passed interestedly but didn't say anything until they came into a room with items from Mexico. "Skull!" she cried.
"That's a mask," Jim said, with her and Castle. "Of Quetzalcoatl, a god," he said quickly as he knew that the toddler wouldn't understand that.
"Pretty," Eliza said with a smile. "A lot of blue."
"It is," Julia said as she and her sister had joined them.
"Very nice," Martha said, reaching the others with Beckett. "They have a very interesting style of art in Mexico. You have to love their colors."
"We've seen it before there," Alexis then explained quickly. "But she's right; the ancient art is really nice."
"We should keep going," Castle said, looking to see how much of the room was left. "There's more you're really going to want to see."
Julia had to wonder why he said that, since he knew they were all eager to go through the collection, but when they came into a room of Ancient Egyptian art she realized why. "So this is it?" she asked with a wide smile as the entire family stood in front of a stone.
"This is the Rosetta Stone," Beckett said, looking at her husband. "Can you see the hieroglyphics?"
"Yeah they're small but I can see here," Julia said as she'd already started to zoom in on the writing with her camera. "So all of it helped them learn what the pictures said?"
"It did," Alexis said, smiling as she watched her grandmother hold back Eliza's hand as the toddler was reaching to the stone.
"You can't touch it kiddo," Martha told her firmly. "I would love to touch it myself but if everyone did you wouldn't be able to see the writing on it."
Stopping then Eliza looked at her grandmother with wide eyes and said, "No?"
"She's right sweetheart," Castle said, looking over at her. "They'd wear out, so better that we leave it like it is."
"Kay," Eliza said as they continued on to a large bust of a pharaoh.
When they had finished with the Egyptian room the family walked through rooms with items from Assyria before they came to more Greek and Roman items. After going quickly through the main part of the collection they came to the final one of it, Castle looking to his wife and their daughters.
"This is what I was telling you about," he told his wife in particular.
"Why is it special?" Julia said as they walked inside and she saw a number of sculptures and reliefs.
"You know the Parthenon in Greece," Castle said, looking at his phone before showing the girls a picture of the building. "These are from there."
"Look at the horsie," Eliza said eagerly, seeing the head of one on a shelf of sculptures.
"There'll be a lot of those," Beckett told her as they began to walk through.
"But they are works of art," Martha commented, looking at a statue of Dionysus.
"The Greeks were really great at that," Castle said in agreement with a nod.
"I wish they couldn't fall apart," Julia said as they went to the reliefs.
"I think that's why Indiana Jones wants things to be in museums," Castle told her as he stood with her in front of one which had a chariot racer with his horses. "To protect them." He then hesitated and said, "You know the Greek people aren't happy they're here."
"I thought so," Julia said. She looked up at her father and said, "But would they put these things in a museum?"
"Or try to protect them," Beckett said, walking after them. She smiled at the two when they looked at her and said, "But that's between them and the museum of course."
"We need to go?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded she followed her parents back through some rooms before they reached another long room with Asian works. "Will they have things from Hindu?" she asked her big sister.
"They should, I remember one figure from this room," Alexis replied.
"Look!" Eliza called suddenly, trying not to be too loud as she looked back at her family waving to them.
Hurrying over to what Martha, her father and Eliza were standing in front of Beckett couldn't help smile at the object in the display saying, "I'm not surprised you noticed this sweetie."
"No?" Eliza asked, glancing up from the jade phoenix ornament that was white.
"No because you do like phoenixes," Castle said, agreeing with his wife as he knew their daughter's preference for the mythical animal. "And this one is pretty."
"But it has no color," Eliza said, frowning.
"That's because the stone has no color," Jim explained to her. "It's just white jade."
"Oh," Eliza replied. She looked at Julia and asked, "Do you like it?"
"I do it's really pretty," the little girl replied as they continued on. When they came to a display she said to Alexis, "Is this it?"
"Shiva Nataraja? That's it," the young woman replied with a smile. 'What do you think?"
"It looks like he's dancing," Julia said.
"Because he's portrayed as the god of dance here," Castle read from the plaque. "And those things on his shoulders are his hair; it's supposed to be flying out around him."
"What's in his hair?" Beckett asked, looking closer at it.
"The goddess Ganga, she fell to Earth through his hair and is the personification of the Ganges," Castle said. "There's also a crescent moon and the datura flower. Eliza? Your verdict?"
Looking at her mother and grandfather who were looking at Castle the toddler said, "Do I say the law?"
"No he's wondering what you think of it," Jim said as Beckett rolled her eyes at her husband for confusing the toddler.
"I like it," Eliza said firmly. "But look," she added, pointing over to the next display.
"Good eye," Beckett said with a murmur as she saw it was two figures; of Shiva and Parvati.
"She's holding a lotus," Castle said to his wife, looking at her.
Beckett glanced up at him and then watched their family continue on ahead them before she said, "I had a feeling that somewhere we'd see them."
"So did I," Castle said. "After all, what is Shiva without Parvati?"
"I don't think he'll need to find out," Beckett said, knowing that they were talking about themselves in that. She shared a quick kiss with him before taking a picture of the pair of deities before they continued on after their family.
Seeing a number of items from across the South Asia region Julia was disappointed when they went back out to some stairs before she said, "Are there more rooms like that?"
"Don't worry there will be," Castle promised her, not surprised she'd enjoyed it. "For now we've been here for two hours straight I think we deserve a break."
"I am hungry Daddy," Eliza said before anyone else could reply to that.
With laughter between them the family went up to the first floor and the Great Court where they got some lunch from a café and then sat under a cover from the sun coming in from the ceiling at that moment.
"Girls," Beckett said, smiling at the two who were looking up at the ceiling from the edge of the eating area.
"Oh Mommy, I was taking pictures," Julia said when her mother came over to lead them back to their table.
"I know but you can do that after we finish eating," Beckett told the two as Eliza tried to get out of her hold.
Watching the girls eating once they were sitting at the table with them Castle couldn't help saying, "What did you like the most so far today?"
"We didn't finish everything," Julia protested. "But I can say what I wanna see."
"And what is that?" Martha asked her.
A wide smile on her face Julia replied, "The Egyptian and the Asian art."
"Okay," Castle said. "Not surprised that you are."
"You're not?" Beckett asked him, getting some of her salad onto her fork.
"I am, I'm just wondering if we can slow down a little," Castle replied.
Looking down at the map he was studying Beckett nodded and said, "We could since we're not going through the Prehistory section. Does anyone else want to go through there?"
"We can split up," Castle added.
"I think we'll stay with you," Martha said.
"I agree, I looked at the map and I don't think I want to miss out on what you'll be going through," Jim added.
"So now that we're agreed we're following each other," Castle commented. "I'd like to ask about Harrods."
"What, you changed your mind about going Dad?" Alexis asked him.
"No," Castle said, seeing the girls and Beckett glancing at him. Smiling he continued saying, "I'm wondering if you want to go Jim."
"Oh of course," Beckett's father replied easily with a nod. "I've heard of it before, so I would like to see it too." He then smiled at his granddaughters saying, "And it would be nice to see if they have anything concerning Rupert."
"I hope so!" Julia said.
"And Paddington," Eliza said quickly.
"They most likely will," Martha told them. "Keep eating or we'll never be able to go."
With quick nods the girls went back to their food and they ate as slowly as they could until they were finally leaving with their family. They ended up seeing some of the coin collections as they had to walk through there until they reached the Greek and Roman collections again. With their parents they headed to the first display of some vases and jugs they soon peered at.
"What is she doing?" Eliza said, seeing the woman on it.
"She's making thread," Beckett answered after taking a picture of the woman using what looked like a drop spindle. "In those days they needed to," she added to the toddler's wide eyes.
"For clothes?" Eliza asked, looking over at her grandmother.
"Oh I'm afraid I can't really say darling," Martha replied. "But perhaps she is since they did of course make their own clothes."
"Would that be decoration?" Julia said suddenly as they started to walk over to some vases.
"It would," Castle said. "Remember they were a lot different from us."
"I know," Julia replied with a smile. "But I just wonder why they would use that when they have things like this," she said, looking at the vases in front of them.
"They probably put them into different rooms," Beckett said, a little absently since she was watching Eliza studying it. She took a picture and then ran her hand over the toddler's hair asking, "What is it Eliza?"
"What is it?" the toddler asked, not intending to echo her mother.
"It's a water jug," Beckett said. "If you look really closely at the heads in front of the people there, water is coming out of it." When she watched Eliza lean in and narrow her eyes she laughed softly and said, "Here look through this."
Looking at the screen of her mother's camera Eliza nodded and said, "Pretty."
"It is," Beckett said, leaning over and kissing her temple before Martha took her to the next vase.
"Mommy!" Julia laughed softly, jerking slightly in surprise at her mother's kiss to her cheek. "Thank you," she told her then.
"You're welcome, we need to keep going though," Beckett said before they walked on to the next room.
With Beckett next to him around the middle of the room Castle bent down to look at a silver cup and he froze for a second once he had comprehended the figures carved on it. "Why don't we go back and get the girls ourselves and run?" he told his wife.
"Why?" Beckett asked, looking down then. She then realized what he was reacting to, two men having intercourse etched on the cup, and she said, "That might be a good idea but not run, we'll just distract them."
"I almost thought you were going to take a picture of it," Castle said as they went back to their daughters. "Why do they have that in a museum?" he said.
"You saw the cup?" Alexis said, stepping in front of the two so they would stop. When her father nodded she told him, "I looked at the site before we left home and saw they had themed sections, one of them was about sexuality."
"And you looked?" Castle whispered in surprise.
Alexis didn't say anything and looked back to Julia before she said, "She'll need to know it isn't something new. And I wanted to see if there was more to it than just the practice in Ancient Greece."
"So you could tell too?" Beckett asked, letting Castle go ahead to get Julia and Eliza.
"Yeah but I'm not sure," Alexis told her.
"Neither are we but it's a possibility," Beckett said. She was a little surprised when Alexis looked relieved and she told the young woman, "You didn't think we'd be… disgusted did you?"
Looking over at Castle who was bringing her sisters over Alexis said, "I didn't know, you know people that are gay but when it's in the family…"
"I know but I think things have come to a point where we will all accept her," Beckett told her. "And that includes your grandmother and my father."
"What about us Kate?" Martha asked.
Smiling at her mother in law Beckett shook her head slightly saying, "Alexis was telling me a little about Harrods."
"I told her the clothes were spectacular; according to you," Alexis said as they were walking into the next room together. She wasn't lying as she had told her stepmother that; just not at that moment. She shared a brief smile with Beckett before turning her attention to a kylix with her sisters.
The next room over Julia was asking, "Where's Cyprus?"
"Hold on," Castle said, getting his phone out of his pocket. "I'll show you too sweetheart," he told Eliza who was jumping at him.
"No wanna go up Daddy," the toddler replied.
"Give me a second," Castle said. "Okay there's where we are now," he said, showing both girls and getting his youngest to stop jumping at the same time. "There's Spain, then the country that looks like a lot of your mom's very nice boots-"
"Castle," Beckett said to him a mock warning tone.
"A boot," Castle continued, looking up at her. He then tore his gaze from her eyes to the map on his phone and said, "That's Italy, there's Greece where we've seen a lot of stuff is from and then here, there's Cyprus."
"A big island," Eliza pronounced after studying the map.
"It is, so how about we look around and see what they have?" Castle asked her. When both girls nodded he bent down to pick up Eliza and swung her legs out since he had the space to do so. He couldn't help kiss her forehead after he had her against his hip, loving her laughter at his picking her up. They walked after the others and he was surprised to see them stopping in front of coins. "What is it?" he asked them.
"It's Cleopatra," Alexis said. "With her son Cesarion. But you can't really see him."
"No and you can't see much of her either," Jim said. "A shame but you know no one is really sure of what she looked like."
"I heard she wasn't exactly beautiful," Martha commented. "Which worked out well for me since that awful wig I put on for the play did not suit me."
"You were in Antony and Cleopatra?" Beckett asked her as they moved on to look at some heads.
"I was, not my best work but I learned what I could of her, to better understand her," Martha said. They came to a figurine of a woman in a Greek dress and she added, "Titania I had to compile myself since there was no one to study."
"Of course," Beckett said with a slight laugh. She let her go on before she turned to her husband and said, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Are you?" Castle asked, since he knew she was aware of the answer he'd give her already.
"I am, just wondering what else Alexis saw…" Beckett said. "That we would need to look out for."
"Not much," the young woman herself said, making the two jump. "If you paid attention more…" she said in a mock exasperated tone. She smiled at them as they looked at her and continued with, "I checked, everything else they have like that cup isn't on display."
"Are you going to keep going?" Julia said, suddenly hurrying back to them. "Grandpapa says next is the Greeks in Rome… why are they there?"
"Sometimes they'd stay there," Castle told her. "And live, so they influenced the art."
"Oh well you should come, Lizzy sees a horse up ahead," Julia replied. She took her mother's outstretched hand until they had made it to the statue of a man riding a horse. She studied it and said, "It looks funny."
"Yeah," Eliza agreed.
"I think they made the back a little too long," Beckett told them. "But it's still a horse."
Coming to another display Castle said, "That's a nice vase. See, what I love about some ancient art is that it could easily be used as decorations today."
"Do people buy stuff like this and use it as decoration?" Julia asked him just before they continued to the next room.
"I'll refer you to the start of the third Indiana Jones movie we watched," Castle said, smiling when she laughed softly at his tone. "But yeah, they do. And I guess it's okay as long as they didn't steal it."
"I hope they didn't," Julia said.
When they had gone through the next series of rooms; about ancient cultures like Mesopotamia and Ancient Levant; they turned around in the Ancient Iran room to head to the first of a row of rooms with the Egyptian collection.
"This is interesting," Castle said. "Looks like we're not in Ancient Egypt with this," pointing to a religious picture.
"No but it's still cool Daddy," Julia told him.
"I know, I'm just saying," Castle said, smiling when she looked at him. "Let's keep looking so we can hopefully see some hieroglyphics."
"I wanna see!" Eliza cried. She then noticed people looking over at them and she cringed, murmuring an apology.
"It's okay Eliza, just hold on and we'll get there," Beckett told her in assurance.
"Why are these people so small?" Julia asked as they came to a carving on a wall with two large figures and numerous small ones in front of them.
"More than likely they're deities," Jim told her since he was with her. "And these are the people."
"Oh," Julia said in understanding. "And that's why there are so many, 'cause that many worship them."
"That's a good guess," Jim replied with a smile. They walked to the next item and looked over at Eliza when she exclaimed at the statue of a hawk-headed sphinx.
"It's different," Castle said. "You usually see the one with the human head."
"Since that's what the biggest one on Earth looks like," Beckett told him teasingly. "But it doesn't surprise me they had different ones."
"Still no hieroglyphs," Castle said under his breath as they kept looking around.
"Don't remind them," Beckett said, glancing back at him.
In the next room Alexis brought her sisters over to an object saying, "Look, here are your hieroglyphs you two."
"Hey! I wanted to see them too," Castle said in mock protest though he looked at the limestone relief slab. "This is from the tomb of Rehotep," he said in response to Eliza's question of who the man in a chair amidst the pictures was. "And that's him, in front of some bread."
"Why Daddy?" the toddler asked him with wide eyes.
Pausing a moment as he saw so much of her mother in those eyes that were the same color and shape Castle glanced at Julia standing just behind her and he almost couldn't speak seeing Beckett in the little girl too. The shape of her eyes was so close to being the exact double of his wife's he almost wasn't able to answer. "I'm not sure but it probably has to do with bread being life. But that's a guess," he finally was able to tell them.
"Cool," Julia said. She smiled when her family laughed a little and said, "It is and how those pictures are words."
"Yeah that's why I've always loved hieroglyphs," Castle commented as they looked at a group of sculpted cattle next. "The pictures make a story."
"Oh, Rick," Beckett said as they came to the next two rooms that she could see into.
"Ah of course," Castle said. "We come to the most interesting rooms."
"Dad," Alexis said. "You're not the tour guide."
"Yeah Daddy, even Eliza can see over there," Julia pointed out.
Castle looked at the little girl to find that she was in fact looking at the mummies in the rooms and he sighed, "I was going to do a big reveal."
"Why did you leave that for him?" Alexis asked her stepmother.
"I don't know," Beckett said in mock exasperation. She smiled at her husband and went to their youngest telling her, "Sweetie, these are the same kind of things we saw at the museum back at home. Mummies from Egypt okay?"
"Yeah," Eliza said. "I see the kitty."
"We'll check out that one first," Castle commented before they went over to it.
"Poor kitty," Eliza said as they looked at the head of the cat on the mummy form. "But he goes to the sky?"
"Yeah they made sure the mummies did," Julia said, since her parents had always allowed her to tell her sister that about that.
"Look, more hieroglyphics," Alexis said as they came to the next mummy that had a false beard on its chin.
"There's so much gold," Julia said. "No wonder people stole from there."
"I wonder what we would see if they hadn't stolen so much from them," Jim said, walking with her to the next mummy that was completely gold except for the hair.
"Daddy why is there a birdie?" Eliza asked as they came to the inner coffin of the priest Hor.
"That's a goddess, Nut," Beckett said instead. When she saw her husband was looking at her in surprise she told him in amusement, "I read it faster than you."
"I guess so," Castle said, kissing her cheek.
Glancing at him quickly Beckett then turned back to their youngest telling her, "It says she was the goddess of the sky and it was for protection but also as a link for the tomb to the vault of heaven. So he would go there."
"Good," Eliza said. She smiled when her father kissed her temple and said, "Wanna see more."
"We're going right now," Martha said.
Going to the coffin and mummy of the priest next Castle handed Eliza to his mother as Eliza was leaning over to her and calling her name. He read the plaque that was on it as the others continued saying, "Huh."
"You didn't think they did that in those days?" Beckett asked, having read at the same time as him.
"I'm just wondering if they circumcised him around this time or when he was an adult…" Castle said.
"When he was a baby?" Beckett suggested.
"Oh, you mean like me," Castle said.
"Thank you for using Irish," Beckett said in slight embarrassment, looking around. "Wait, your fans don't know that do they?"
"They shouldn't," Castle said, making his voice rise in pitch deliberately.
"Come on," Beckett said, shaking her head as she could see that their family was going further away from them. She was smiling though as she then said, "The artificial eyes are a little creepy to imagine."
"I'm sure it was easier to do that," Castle said, though he was nodding in agreement with her.
"Mommy, Daddy come and look at this Mummy," Julia was saying to them then. "Her name is Cleopatra."
"She's from Thebes though," Alexis told them as they approached. "But you know the saddest thing about her?"
"Besides her being a mummy?" Castle asked. When his daughter narrowed her eyes for a moment he hurried to say, "I'd like to know."
"The bandages were wrapped so tightly around her her hip was dislocated," Alexis said. "And she was seventeen."
"Times were far more dangerous girls," Martha told them quickly as she could see they were a little concerned at that age. "But they made sure she was ready to go to the afterlife so we can hope she sees all of us admiring her. She looks like she was a beautiful girl."
"Yeah," Julia said, looking at the face at the top of the coffin.
"Come on, we have more rooms still before we go on to…" Castle started to say as they moved again.
"I think it's going to be the upper floor," Alexis replied. "Oh look, a tomb."
"Like the museum at home," Julia exclaimed in joy to her little sister her looked at the painted walls in the room. "Well, a little."
"Do you want to go in?" Beckett asked the toddler. When she nodded she handed the camera to her husband and picked up Eliza saying, "I want to walk with you," to the toddler's shocked expression.
Exploring the different wall paintings of the Nebamun tomb the family was relieved when Eliza soon asked to be set down so she could walk with her sisters. After they had gone through one last room in the Egyptian section they headed up and to the room with Korean items.
"Should I explain North and South love?" Castle asked his wife.
"It would take too long to do that," Beckett said. "We'll just look around."
"There's a North Korea and South Korea," Castle told the girls who were looking at him in confusion. "But look at this, this is from before that."
Looking at what seemed to be a painting of a man Eliza asked, "What does he play?"
"It looks almost like a lute," Martha answered. "But I don't think they had those."
"It's a guitar like instrument," Jim said.
"Wait, it is," Castle said. "It's Dhratarastra, Guardian King of the East. And it says here it is a lute."
"Wow… what does he do?" Eliza then said.
"He defends the religion of Buddha," Beckett said. She smiled at her husband and told him, "I read fast remember."
"I am now," Castle pretended to grumble.
"Ooh look there's a dragon," Julia said eagerly as they came to a pot with the mythical creature on it in blue. "It looks like it's flying in the clouds."
"That's really pretty," Alexis said. She smiled when her sisters looked at her at that and told them, "I'd love to have this as a decoration in my room."
"Me too," Eliza said.
"It doesn't go though," Julia said as they walked up the stairs to the upper floors and to the last three rooms they would be looking at. "Your room is ocean stuff."
"Stop," Beckett said quickly to her husband as he snorted slightly in amusement at that. "And you two might want to pay attention to what's here."
"Japan?" Alexis asked. She then realized why her stepmother had said that and she said quietly so the girls wouldn't hear, "We're going?"
"That's the plan, likely for a Spring Break," Castle said.
"Great, tell me when to pack," Alexis said. She smiled as her dad put his arm around her and hugged her to his side before they looked to the girls to see they were looking at two brightly painted elephants.
"Ooh, scary!" Eliza said in mock fear as they came to a model of armor. "Does he fight?"
"He does," Jim said. "Remember how we saw knights yesterday from here in England? These are what their fighters looked like. Is the mask scary?" He smiled when Eliza nodded; but was smiling widely at him; and he continued saying, "They're meant to intimidate the enemy."
"The fake mustache alone…" Castle began.
"Look at this painting," Julia said then. "The houses are up in the air."
"They have hair," Eliza said, looking at another painting in the series.
"They're Ainu and they're fishing," Beckett said, pointing to the spear the one in the front of the boat was holding.
"Maybe they're the precursor to Moby Dick… maybe what Melville heard never happened," Castle said. "Okay maybe not but still," he said when Alexis turned to him. "And the last painting?"
"Looks like an altar or perhaps what was needed for a ceremony," Martha suggested since she didn't see an explanation in the plaque. "But beautiful paintings."
Everyone else agreed with her and the continued on until they came to a mask, Eliza gasping and pointing to it.
"Lady," the toddler told everyone.
"It is, that's a Noh theater mask," Castle said. "They would wear these and perform."
"Oh no kiddo," Martha said quickly as Eliza looked to her. "I'm not a Noh actress, just a regular actress."
"Let's see what there is next," Beckett told her, surprised that the toddler seemed disappointed.
Seeing a horse bit; which the girls looked at in awe after they were told what the two star shaped pieces of metal were; an embroidered coat, necklace and writing box in the last two rooms from Japan, Castle and Beckett nearly had to drag their daughters down to the gift stop so they could go as it was later than they'd thought it was.
"Do we get anything here?" Eliza asked. She then hurriedly added, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay but when we get to Harrods you can't do that," Castle told them. He wasn't surprised when the girls nodded in agreement and said, "Books?"
"And a toy each but we need to see it first," Beckett told them. She watched Julia take her father ahead to the toys, so she went with Eliza to the books. She noticed after a while that her father was with them and she smiled as she said, "I think the Egyptian section affected them," as she could tell her youngest was looking at books about that.
"I'm not surprised… I was thinking about buying a model of the Rosetta stone," Jim told her.
"For your desk?" Beckett asked.
"After my granddaughters draw me an Egyptian picture so I can put it next to that," Jim said, catching Eliza's attention at that.
"Can I Mommy?" Eliza asked eagerly.
"Yes but that might have to wait until we get home," Beckett told her, smiling at her. "Is that what you want?" she asked, seeing that Eliza held a coloring book. "This might be a little too big for you," she warned her. "What about this? It's an activity book about Egypt too."
"Kay," Eliza said in excitement. "Can I show Jules?" she asked about the coloring book.
"Show me what?" Julia asked, coming over to them then with Castle behind her.
"She wants to get this but share it with her sister," he said, handing the box which was a 'dig' for a mummy.
"Okay but we'll have to do this all together," Beckett said. At the girls' nod she watched them look at the coloring book before Julia put it back to her surprise. "That one?" she asked, seeing it was about the mock tomb they'd went through earlier. "Okay so that just leaves your toy Eliza," she said. She watched with a smile as Julia took her little sister's hand and led her straight to the toys, pointing at rubber ducks dressed in historical costumes.
"Pick out two sweetheart," Castle said when they'd caught up with them, able to tell that the toddler wanted them.
"This," Eliza said, taking the one that looked like King Tut. "And this," she said, grabbing one that looked like a samurai. "Thank you," she told her parents as her mother took them.
"You're very welcome," Castle said.
"Yes thank you, these are so great!" Julia said happily. "I can't wait to pretend I'm digging and then I won't get sick like people did when they found King Tut."
"Come here love," Castle said, pulling on Beckett's hand gently before she could go over to the registers.
Beckett looked at her husband in confusion until she saw he'd brought her to the bookends the store had for sale. "Do we need any?" she asked him with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"I know one we need," Castle said, glancing over.
Not surprised at the slight gasps of the girls Beckett turned to her husband and murmured into his ear before she kissed him on the lips. She watched him grab the Assyrian horses and said, "They will work in the office."
"I'm glad you think so," Castle said, pleased that her father had left them since he was slightly flustered at her saying to him when she'd leaned into him that she was planning on riding him after he'd put the idea in her head with those horses. "Okay now it's off to Harrods," he said to the girls.
After the family had paid they left together and took a single cab over to the department store and Julia took a number of pictures before her family took her inside.
"Okay this place is incredibly big," Castle said. "So here we might need to split up."
"I think we should," Alexis said, looking at her grandmother who was looking around.
"Okay so we'll meet right here in… two and a half hours," Castle said. He held up his hand before his mother could voice any kind of protest telling her, "We have to get ready for dinner."
"Oh I know, I was just about to say that it was enough time," Martha said simply. "I'll see you then… we'll see you then," she told the others as she grabbed Alexis' hand and they left.
"So we should go look for the girls' dresses," Beckett said, smiling at her husband. "Dad, do you want to join us?"
"I have nothing I need really," Jim responded, smiling at the girls and reaching down to Eliza who went to him readily. "Let's go."