Julia came to the doorway and smiled when she saw her parents were busy. She waited for them to stop, trying not to become impatient as they moved away from each other and then kissed once more. Luckily that was shorter, so she quickly fanned the leaves in front of her face and when she was just able to see that they were looking at her she asked, "Can I make art now?"
"Yes," Beckett said, smiling at her husband as he began to laugh. She took the plastic sheets he had and watched him scoop their daughter up before swinging her. "Thank you for stopping," she said when he spun around with her once.
"I didn't want to risk it," Castle replied. When he looked at Julia and saw she was looking at him questioningly, so he said, "I spun Alexis once too much when she was four I felt… so stupid."
"She got sick sweetie," Beckett said as their daughter still looked confused.
"Oh… but Alexis was your first baby," Julia said to her father, wrapping her arms around his neck as he moved her to his hip. "You didn't know Daddy."
"Thank you, I told him the same thing myself," Martha said.
"Were you there?" Beckett asked.
"No, no he told me about it," Martha told them. "When I went to see him later that day and I told him I had made plenty of mistakes myself; it's how you learn honestly."
"I still feel bad," Castle said before he smiled when Julia kissed his cheek.
"I came to see why Julia was standing in the doorway for so long but now I think I know," Martha said with a smile. "And Richard you should tell your wife she'll have problems with her clothing the further along she gets."
Glancing at his wife as Beckett was covering her face with her hand Castle told his mother, "She's aware, she just wants to make sure about the fit of course."
"I know… perhaps I'm just a bit annoyed I can't at least buy the baby some clothing," Martha said. "I'm sorry," she directed to her daughter in law.
"Don't worry I can understand you'd want to but not just yet," Beckett told her. "I'd like to settle more into my pregnancy before that… maybe in January when I'm nearly in my third trimester."
"Alright," Martha said though she didn't sound very happy about that.
Beckett stepped over to her and embraced her briefly before telling her, "I do appreciate that you took me."
"You're welcome," Martha said. "Now, what about this art Julia was telling me about?"
"Let's get the leaves ready," Castle told Julia as he knew she was eager to start. He led them all over to the kitchen table where he left the little girl with the leaves and hurried over to get a washcloth damp. He taught Julia to wipe the leaves very gently and then said, "Now we leave those to dry."
Getting off her chair Julia waited for him to sit down there before she climbed up onto his lap. "I don't wanna hurt the baby Mommy," she told Beckett.
"Come here," she replied immediately as she reached for her daughter. Once Beckett had Julia settled on her lap she gently kissed her temple and said, "You won't it's still very small right now."
"I wish it grew faster," Julia said.
"We all do," Castle said, running his hand over the back of her head. "But for now, what should we do?"
"Are they dry?" Julia asked hopefully.
"Let's see," Castle said as he reached for them as they were near him. He touched them carefully and nodded saying, "What do you think?"
Julia smiled; as she was aware her father knew already that they were; and did the same as he did to touch them and she nodded. "All dry Daddy," she told him.
"Awesome," Castle told her. "Hold onto those for me. Now let me get the plastic." He grabbed one sheet before he said, "Now put the leaves how you want them."
It took Julia a while before she was happy with what she had; looking up at her father once she was finished.
"Good," Beckett said before her husband could speak. She smiled at Julia's beaming smile up at her and then said, "I think your grandpapa will love the way you put them into a fan."
"Yeah 'cause he brought them from Spain," Julia explained.
"Good thinking," Martha said.
"They're right, your grandfather will love them and for the idea of the fan," Castle added as Julia looked at him expectantly. "Are you going to do the fan shape for the other pictures when you can get the leaves and twigs?"
"Yeah," Julia said quickly. She smiled when her father leaned down to her and she shared a kiss with him before looking up at her mother and pursing her lips at her.
After sharing a kiss with her Beckett said, "Where are you going to keep it?"
"I think in the office, we have space for it," Castle replied. "I'll be right back," he told them as he got up. He set the picture on a shelf in one of the cabinets under the book cases on the sides of the room and carefully put it into a plastic bag to try and keep it fresh. He stacked a few books on it until finally it was ready, and he went into the kitchen to get dinner cooking in the oven before he could rush back to the rest of his family. "Oh, we have puzzles," he said as he came into the family room and saw Beckett was sitting with Julia on the floor at the coffee table.
"Are you gonna work on them with us Daddy?" Julia asked hopefully.
"Ma are you gonna help us?" Julia said.
Rick tried not to shake his head to show his shock at how abruptly the vision had ended. But he just managed to do so as Kate was walking into the room, smiling at them both. "You don't need to," he then told her. "I think she's doing a swell job."
"Thank you," Julia said with a soft giggle, smiling up at him.
"Let me help you honey," Kate said. "Rick, you can scram to that chair to let us take care of this."
Rick raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything, merely went over to the extra chair she was indicating and sat. He was partially surprised and half not when he felt the pressure again, wondering where the vision would take him next.
"I told you thank you for this right?" Castle called to his wife.
"You did," Beckett replied as she stepped out to him. "I'm going to remind you that it is getting colder," she said as she walked up to him. "Because these are not that sexy."
"It doesn't necessarily need to be," Castle told her seriously. He then smiled and stood from the armchair in front of the fireplace he was sitting on and said, "But I can tell you got these with the idea for them to last until at least… January?"
"Maybe December," Beckett replied. "Your mom wasn't sure when exactly, like I mentioned earlier we need to see." She then went over to the full length mirror in between the door to their closet and the door to the bathroom and studied her blue knit turtleneck sweater. "Okay that's just one," she told him. "I'll be back."
"You said a few?" Castle called out.
"Just a few," Beckett said with a smile, not surprised he didn't believe the idea of her only having three items of clothing.
Castle sighed and then leaned against the table behind the bed and said, "Are you sure you didn't get anything for later?"
"I'm sure," Beckett called out as she was changing with the door just slightly open. "This I have no idea I'll use but just in case."
Watching interestedly as his wife stepped out into the room Castle smiled seeing that she was wearing a white blouse and black trousers too. "This is sexy," he said once she had stepped right up to him.
"Are you sure? You've seen me wear this before and it is a little looser than I normally wear," Beckett told him with a smile. She felt his arms wrap around her, but she didn't break her gaze from him and she told him, "I should have left this one for last."
"That's okay," Castle told her. "We can get to the other clothes after."
"No," Beckett said simply. When he looked at her in surprise she smiled and told him, "I'll show you everything and then you can… express your appreciation."
"I'm looking forward to that," Castle told her seriously before he let her go, very grudgingly. He watched her go and then settled back to wait until the door started to open again and he straightened up in anticipation of seeing her which he soon did as she stepped out into the light.
Beckett shook her head at her husband's stare and said, "Now you're just humoring me."
"No I'm not, you look great," Castle said as she was wearing a dress that was a simple beige color and tied at her waist. "When would you wear that?"
"I probably would throw on some leggings," Beckett said, looking down at it. "For now."
"They don't have maternity leggings?" Castle asked her.
"I'm not sure, I didn't check," Beckett answered.
"Right, you want to wait," Castle said quickly with a nod. He then smiled and said, "That's it?"
Beckett gave him a look before she turned around and then made her way over to the closet again to change one last time.
When she came back out Castle said, "Interesting one to end on."
"It's going to be needed," Beckett said with a soft laugh. "The only issue is this is not attractive," she told him as she pulled on the loose front of her cerulean blue nightgown.
"But what you said applies to that too," Castle told her. "You're going to need that as you get bigger… how far can you wear that?"
"As far as I can," Beckett said with a shrug. She smiled when her husband reached for her and she said, "But I think it still works," teasing him.
"It does," Castle said simply before he leaned down and kissed her deeply before they held onto each other as tightly as they could. When they slowly parted he picked her up immediately and he said, "Make me stop."
"No," Beckett said simply as he carried her around the bed. She smiled when he looked at her with a startled expression on his face at her tone of voice. The second he set her down she reached for him and pulled him on top of her, feeling him following her quickly.
"I wouldn't have been able to," Castle said. When she smiled again at him he couldn't stop himself, leaning down and crushing his lips against hers as hard as he could to devour her in a way. He needed her desperately and he told her before they kissed once more and proceeded to turn their desire into something they could feel together.
"Do you know why she's changing?" Rick was asking Patrick as they stood in the entry of the house.
"For travel," the man said easily. "Takes time to get to Daly City. Why aren't you contacting the police there?"
"She's not a suspect," Rick replied. "And we need to speak to her face to face; she has no phone at least not the last time Kate's seen her. She says May lives on the outskirts south."
"She does," the woman said, coming down the stairs. She saw that Rick was looking at her, so Kate told him, "Rosie brought this from Paris."
"She has a good eye," Rick said, trying to recover from his amazement seeing her. She was wearing a men's style double breasted suit blazer and skirt in white, the tie that went with it was deeper blue with white stripes in it. Over that she was putting on a cape that matched the blue of her tie and he said, "I had wondered at the new cloche," holding her white hat with the brim that angled to her right.
"I gave Mommy the feather," Julia said since there was a short white one tucked into the dark blue brim.
"She bought it for me," Kate explained, taking the hat and placing it on her head. She checked her dark blue heels finally and then said, "I'm ready."
"Be careful," Johanna told her daughter, smoothing her cloak at her shoulders.
"I'll still watch out for her," Rick assured the woman. "We'll try to be back, but we might be late."
"I thought so, from lunch," Johanna said as Patrick handed him a picnic basket. "Please eat on the way back."
"We just want Kate home," Rose said.
"If we need to stay I will call… somehow," Rick said, putting the basket on his arm.
"I'll kiss you goodnight as soon as I'm home honey," Beckett told her daughter. She hugged her tightly and shared a kiss with her before telling her, "Go ahead and say goodbye to your uncle."
Hurrying across the room Julia hugged Rick as tightly as she could and said, "Will you come for breakfast?"
"At some point I'll need to eat on my own," Rick said, looking around at the others.
"Why?" Johanna said firmly. "You're family Rick, please come whatever happens on your jaunt."
"We'll come back Ma," Kate assured her. She gave a last hug to her sister and then followed Rick outside to the car.
"Didn't say it before," he told her when they were at the passenger door. "But you're the bee's knees Kate."
"I'll thank Rosie for thinking of me again," she replied, a slight smile on her face.
Opening the door for her Castle waited until she was set before he got the crank and started the car. Driving west he soon made it to the ocean where he would take the road along it down to Daly City. Glancing at her quickly once they were on their way south after passing the Blue Bay he couldn't help recalling what he'd seen in the vision before eating lunch. He was convinced in that world he and Kate had more than one child and he knew why that was exactly seeing yet again their passion for one another. He wished it would come to him in real life, but he tried to ignore that as something else came to mind.
He thought of how Julia had been in the first part of the vision, trying not to smile at how she had called him daddy. 'Though if it came to that now I would want her to call me Da,' he thought to himself. He hadn't called the senior O'Brien that but had thought of the man as it in his mind. But he could see he and Kate had a good family together; though it wasn't quite complete yet. He glanced at her next to him briefly, unable to help imagine her again showing the evidence of carrying their child. He held back on a sigh and told himself to stop considering that anything he saw in his visions would come true. 'She's your friend, your childhood playmate and that is all she'll want,' he told himself. But he couldn't still hope she could want what he assumed the visions were trying to tell him; though he already knew what he wanted and had for some time already. But he tried not to think of that and instead turned his attention to another part of his vision, one that was troubling him.
Rick couldn't remember his mother very well since it'd been almost twenty-one years since he'd seen her the night before the great earthquake. She had kissed him goodnight and when he'd woken up and slipped out of their apartment to fish for the day he hadn't known he would never see her again. After the shaking had stopped he'd returned, injured, to their building to find it leveled, everyone that had still been inside it dead and the fires already starting. He had no way to get to his mother and since he didn't know who his father was he was alone. So he'd wandered the city, trying to get away from the fires and ending up in Golden Gate Park with other refugees. Luckily the O'Briens had discovered him and taken him in when they found out he had no one in the city; though it had been Kate who'd found him before the three O'Brien children had brought him to their parents. After they found another apartment in the city near the Presidio area he was the second O'Brien son, unofficial but still part of the family.
"Rick?" Kate said, gently placing her hand on his arm.
"Sorry," he quickly said, shaking himself from his thoughts. He looked at her and said, "Why do you think he wanted to talk to May?"
Thinking about that for a moment Kate then said, "You know she owns a club, right?"
"I'm aware but it's all legal," Rick replied. "Do you think he went to see it?"
"It has something to do with the club. She doesn't really live there either," Kate told him.
"I know," Rick nodded. "She'll speak to us, won't she?"
"You mean with you," Kate replied. When he glanced at her she smiled for a moment and then said, "She will, I've told her about you."
"You have?" Rick asked in surprise.
"Of course, we write letters," Kate answered. "But not very often, she's busy."
"And you," Rick said.
"Yes," Kate replied. They drove on a little bit longer before she said, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," Rick said, looking at her but only momentarily.
"If Junior left me the Blue Bay-" Kate began to say.
"I'm sure he did," Rick interrupted her.
"Then would you help me run it?" Kate finished.
Looking at her in shock Rick could only do so for a moment before he was facing back to the road. "I… I don't know," he told her honestly. "Would you really want me to?"
"Of course," Kate replied. "Why not? And don't say it's because you're a bull."
"No," Rick said slowly. "But I don't know how to run a club."
"You could learn with me," Kate told him.
"From you," Rick corrected her. When she just stared at him he sighed and said, "I don't know. But if it came to pass you were the owner I could help you, I would need to think about it first."
With a smile Kate squeezed his hand gently on the steering wheel and said, "Thank you."
Nodding Castle then said, "What about Julia?"
"Ma would help me, and Julia will start school soon," Kate answered.
"She's growing up," Rick said. He then started to speak before he hesitated and said, "Do you ever wonder what you would have done if she hadn't liked me?"
"Horsefeathers Rick, why wouldn't she? She's known you all her life," Kate said. When he merely shrugged she frowned and said, "Are you alright?"
"This case is making me… balled up," Rick said.
Kate wanted to protest that, but they were reaching Daly City finally and she needed to tell Rick how to get to her friend's home. After he was on his way she was surprised when he asked her a question though it didn't surprise her after she thought about it.
"Does she have any kids?" Rick said.
"No," Kate said, shaking her head quickly. "Probably for the best, I don't think Wesley would be jake as a father." She glanced at him and then said, "I think you could."
"I hardly know the Jane," Rick replied.
Letting out a sigh Kate didn't say anything to that as they were driving through the city and she looked around as she hadn't been there for a few years. It took another twenty minutes to reach the address she had from her letters and when he stopped she said, "This isn't it."
"You said this number," Rick told her.
Breathing out in amazement at the size of the house Kate got out of the car and waited for Rick to join her on the path in front of the home. "I haven't seen her for a year," she said.
"How did she get the club?" Rick asked and scolding himself in his mind for not asking that in the first place.
"She got some money from Wesley," Kate replied, stepping past the gate that he'd opened for her. "And from her father too who passed away, she used that to buy the old tea building. She said she learned from Da and bought on the coast since everyone loves the beach. It's exotic."
Making a sound in agreement Rick stayed slightly behind her as she used the knocker on the front door. He had his gun with him and murmured, "I hope she's here."
"Me too," Kate replied before she turned.
"Kate!" the young woman said when she opened the door.
"May, I was hoping you'd be here," Kate said happily as they embraced tightly.
"What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" May asked her. She spotted Rick and asked her friend, "Finally?"
"This is Detective O'Donovan," Kate replied, using her left hand to gesture to Rick.
"What happened?" May asked.
"I'm from San Francisco ma'am," Rick said, taking off his hat.
"May," she replied.
"May," Rick said. "Do you think we can speak inside?"
"Of course," May said, ushering them inside. "You must have had a drive in that Tin, let me get you some tea," she told them. "We can speak in the kitchen."
Waiting until they were inside the room Rick said, "Before you pick up anything I should ask have you heard from Junior recently?"
"No, not for a month when he came down here," May said, turning from a tea pot on a shelf to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Someone killed him May," Kate said softly.
"Oh… no," the woman said, going over to her and embracing her tightly. "I'm so sorry Kate, I didn't know."
"Thank you," she said softly. "But we need to know why Junior came here."
"He didn't tell you the good news?" May asked in surprise. When her friend shook her head she told her, "He came because I offered to buy the club."
Sharing a startled look with Kate, Rick said to the woman, "And he agreed?"
"Oh no, he just said that he had someone much better to take over in mind," May answered before looking at Kate with a smile.
"Me?" she said.
"Yes you," May said before she got the tea pot full and took it to the stove. Once it was on the fire she went over to a cabinet and said to Rick, "Detective? I have a safe here if you'd like to see me open it."
Nodding Rick walked over to her and looked on while she opened the safe. He wasn't surprised when she opened the door and gestured for him to look before he did so. Pulling some papers out he said with a frown, "He gave you his actual will?"
"What?" Kate asked in shock, walking over to them.
"It is," Rick said. "He wrote us a note," he said, holding up a piece of paper.
"Shouldn't you not touch it? What about fingerprints?" Kate asked.
"I've touched it already," May said. "And he said his lawyer did too."
"It would be useless," Rick said. "But look," he said, showing her one of Junior's signatures.
"That's his," Kate said, nodding her head. "What does the note say?"
"Kate and Rick," he began to read.
"Both of us?" Kate asked with a whisper. When he tried to hand her the note she shook her head, looking over his shoulder as he continued reading.
"I hope you're not reading this together because I want to get out of the mess the club is in right now," Rick said. "And I need to make sure that if anything happens to me you have the club. It's yours Kate but on one condition and one only…"
"What?" May asked, having been listening to them.
"Only if you take Rick on as partner," he read, looking at Kate. "Tell him to stop acting like a sap and work with you. You have my blessings." He swallowed a little hard and then flipped through the pages before he read, "I, James Patrick O'Brien Junior do hereby give the Blue Bay Club to Katherine Marie O'Brien." He stopped there and then looked at May asking, "Did he say why this needed to stay with you?"
"He promised the club to someone he shouldn't have, took it back and he was afraid they were going to hurt him though nothing about the promise was legal," she answered somberly.
"Did he give you a name?" Rick asked.
"No but he said it was someone who worked for him," May replied. "He told me they worked for him, but he nearly fired them twice for stuff they said to him about his sister."
Shaking her head Kate reminded Rick, "I never had any problems with the workers."
"Then it was said without you around," Rick stated though he knew they were all thinking that. "But that could help us a bit."
"It can?" Kate asked.
"We have fingerprints," Rick reminded her as she'd heard while he was talking to Brad. "If we get some from everyone at the club… Do you have a phone," he started to say before he looked at May.
"I do now," May said, looking at her friend. "This way," she told Rick.
"I'll contact Brad and ask her one last question before we can go back," he told Kate. He saw her hesitating and he said, "You'd want to stay?"
Hearing the tea kettle whistling Kate said, "Does he need you this second?"
"I'll ask," Rick replied. "He might not because we'll need to find everyone of course before we start getting fingerprints. I'll suggest he wait for tomorrow it'll be hell to look at everyone on the list tonight."
Nodding, as it was already past sunset, just at five in the afternoon Kate followed him to the phone, listening to his half of the conversation.
"Yeah, I know," Rick was saying after he'd told his partner what he and Kate had found out. "I don't know why he wants me there but if he does… Well yeah I know it's… no I wouldn't have to actually I could stay only two nights a week." He nodded and then said, "Yeah, we'll stay for a bit and then head back, I would say start getting the names ready and we'll start on that tomorrow. But you know if you see if anyone working with the club is in the military, you can get those prints faster. Yeah, thank you, bye."
"Thank you," Kate said when he looked at her.
"It was a rough drive down," Rick replied. He was about to follow her to the kitchen when he grabbed her hand, pulling her around to look at him, "We have to take the will back with us."
"Right," Kate said. She then paused and said, "What about Patrick? He thought the will was at his bank." When she saw the realization in his face she said, "You don't think-"
"May," Rick said as they hurried into the kitchen.
"Yes," the woman said, looking startled at the serious expression on his face.
"Did he ever mention a man named Patrick to you?" Rick asked her.
"Yes," May replied. "It's why you have the will right now; he didn't want his friend to know that he was only putting a fake one in Patrick's bank. He was afraid for his life and didn't want to bring Patrick into it. He said he would never forgive himself if he got him hurt or killed for it."
"And you weren't afraid the same would happen to you?" Kate asked.
"Who would know me? I'm never in the city and he said the person he was afraid of didn't have a car," May answered. "The tea is ready."
"We should have a quick drink and then go," Rick said to Kate before she could ask him about their dinner that was in the car.
"Of course, I need to get back to my little girl," Kate said, smiling over at May.
"How is she?" the woman asked with a smile.
As Kate was telling her friend about Julia, Rick stood up as he'd explained he wanted to stand since he'd be sitting for the drive back north. He kept his eyes on Kate while she spoke though he could only see the side of her face, though he didn't really mind. His mind began to wander as there wasn't all that much he could say about Julia and Kate was taking care of that enough. He thought over the condition Junior had set for her to take over the club. Though he was giving the appearance of thinking it over he knew he needed to join her there. And though she didn't need it he knew he'd have peace of mind being able to keep an eye on her, especially since no woman in the city had owned a respectable club before. That and he would be able to just stay close to her though he would have to keep away from her in a way.
"Rick?" Kate asked, looking up at him. When he looked questioningly at her she said, "Should we go back home?"
"Yes," Rick said as he'd by then finished his second cup of tea. "Thank you May, for all your help. But I do need one thing, your phone number in case the police in the city need to contact you."
"Of course," May said, going to where she had a piece of paper. She wrote it down quickly and then a second time before she ripped it in half and handed one each to Rick and Kate. "Call me now, I know you have a phone," she told the latter.
"Of course," Kate replied with a smile before they walked to the front door. "You have a car, come to San Francisco now so you can see Julia."
"Perhaps," May said before she embraced Kate tightly. "Detective," she told Rick.
"Thank you for your help," he replied with a nod. "You may help us crack the case."
"I hope," May commented. She then looked at Kate and with a smile said, "I also might go up see your Blue Bay Club."
"So would I," Kate said, looking at Rick as he was putting on his coat and then tucking the will into it out of the way.
"It won't take long now," May said though she looked doubtful as she realized what her friend meant.
"At least until the case is over," Rick said.
"Since you can't become my partner until it is," Kate told him.
"Of course," Rick said with a slight smile before he realized that May was studying him closely. He put on his hat and with a quick tip of it said, "Mrs. Roux."
"It's back to Miss Tyler now," May said. "Which I don't mind."
"Thank you again May," Kate said.
"Be careful," May called as the two walked down the path to the car.
After they'd said a final goodbye to May and were in the car Kate asked, "Where would you like to eat?"
"I'd like to wait until we get back into the city," Rick said as he pulled away into the street. "To be safe."
"What will you do with that?" Kate asked him.
"Keep it with me of course," Rick said in a low voice though the car was closed off to the outside. "Who would guess I had it?"
"If Junior was right and the person who was after it then I guess they won't know we're coming from here," Kate said. "I just hope you'll be safe," she added, looking at him.
"I will be, I'll sleep with my gun as usual," Rick told her. "We should have a nice stretch of road," he commented when he saw they were leaving the northern outskirts of Daly City and were near an inn that he knew was the halfway point between that city and San Francisco. He was going to speak again when he suddenly felt a jolt and Kate let out a cry of surprise. "Damn it, they're lights out," he said, looking back and just barely able to see the front of a car. "Hold on Kate they're trying to run us off." He held onto the steering wheel as tightly as he could, and he tried to make a sharp turn to get out of the way, but it wasn't enough. They were struck again, and he lost control of the car, the Tin Lizzie going over the side of the side of the road before it came to rest hard against a tall oak.
"Did there really need to be another accident?" Castle asked what he decided would be Beckett while he was wherever he was at that moment. The answer from her was so garbled that he felt like covering his ears though he had no idea if he could physically do that. "And are we going to get together?" he asked when she had stopped talking.
"You'll need to wait," Beckett replied.
Sighing Castle said, "I guess it might take a while… wait, no it won't. It can't. I have to get up do you understand?" He had no idea where to look exactly but finally he just looked in front of him where he knew if he was awake she would be.
"I know but you still need to get to City Hall," Beckett answered.
"I remember," Castle said in slight irritation. "Can I… see her… you. Kate. I want to see my wife."
"Unfortunately, no," the voice said with regret.
Resisting the urge to swear bitterly Castle then thought of something and asked, "Can I hear her?"
"Of course, but at this time your family is with her as well," the voice replied.
"I don't care," Castle said firmly. He then could hear Julia talking to him, telling him about a picture she had made and if he could have cried he would have as he hadn't heard their voices for some time. But soon he heard his wife talking to him and he groaned; her voice like music to his ears. Though as she finished speaking it broke his heart, wanting to wake up and forcing himself to do so before he felt a caress to his cheek.
"I'm sorry, it's not time," the voice said.
"I want my wife, I want to see our baby; our daughters," Castle said.
"You will," the voice promised firmly. "But for now, would you care to allow yourself in the car to come to consciousness?"
"How long have I been out there?" Castle asked.
"Only a few seconds," the voice replied.
"Okay," Castle said though he was trying to somehow tell his wife that he would return. And he wanted to let her know that it would be soon as he was desperate to get back to her and everything they had to look forward to together; though he couldn't help but wonder what would come for them next in the twenties while he was waiting to return to Beckett and their family.