Convention

Castle was bored out of his mind. Beckett and the rest of the 12th; Gates included were down in Atlantic City for a law enforcement convention. Alexis and Jake were still visiting Jake's family. And Martha; well Martha was all over the place just as she always was.

So it was just Castle and the kids. They had breakfast and they played a quick game of laser tag before the twins and James Royce took their afternoon naps. While they slept; Castle worked on Johanna Martha's homework with her.

"Daddy; can I ask you a question?"

"Sure.

"Why does Lexis not have brown hair like you and Mommy?"

Castle breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lexis got her red hair from her Mommy and from Grams."

"But Mommy doesn't have red hair; Daddy."

At that was when Castle recalled that they hadn't clued Johanna Martha, the twins and James Royce in on the minor detail of Beckett not being Alexis' biological mother.

"Well sweetie; that is quite true, Mommy doesn't have red hair…."

"Then how does Lexis?"

"To put it simply; you and you little sister and brothers have a different Mommy than Alexis…"

"But Lexis calls Mommy, mom."

"That she does. You remember when Meredith came to the loft to get something from Grams the other day?"

"Yes."

"Well Meredith is Alexis' mommy just like your mommy is Alexis' mommy."

For a minute; Johann Martha processed what Castle had told her.

"Okay."

"Okay then; let's finish up your homework so we can go to the museum when you sister and brothers wake up from their naps."

Johanna Martha nodded and they resumed work on her homework.

As they worked; Castle recalled a memory.

"Oh, man. I love this place! When Alexis as little, we used to come here every Sunday. We would run around here for hours pretending like we were on safari in Africa or looking dinosaurs in China."

"You know, Castle, sometimes I forget that you have such a capacity for pure innocence in your life."

"Yeah. Plus, it was a great place to pick up chicks."

"And then you open your mouth and ruin it."

It wasn't long after the trip down memory lane for Castle; that the trip to the museum was underway.

As he chased after his kids in the museum he was relieved of the boredom that had plagued him earlier especially as he fondly remembered chasing Alexis through the same rooms he was chasing his sons and daughters through.