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: The lyrics in this chapter are a little verse I wrote myself (it's not that great), and from the songs Tempted written by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, from the Squeeze album East Side Story and You and I written by John Deacon, from the Queen album A Day at the Races.

A/N #2: I was really pleased to get the feedback I did for the last chapter so I'll go ahead and get started on my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Great to see you thought the last chapter was very good writing for everyone!) and

Mb (I was happy to see you thought it was a great day for everyone at the zoo. I wasn't surprised you were saying it good to see Josie and Sophie showing their personalities and their friendship here more. I was glad you thought it was nice for Skye to remember that happy time with her dad though it was sad too since she lost him of course. Great reading you thought it was nicely done! You're welcome for the first half of the chapter! And I was pleased to read you thought the second half of the chapter was nicely done. I had to laugh at you saying who didn't like going to a good restaurant and the having some fresh ice cream. I've been to the ice cream place (actually the restaurant too) and the chocolate covered strawberry flavor is awesome. I was really glad you enjoyed the older kids being together in the suite they had. And yeah I figured since they're older they'd have more freedom and responsibility since they have their parents' trust. It was really nice to read you saying it was a testament to how their parents raised them and their kids recognizing they have loving parents, along with wanting to be like their parents too. I had to laugh at you saying it went boom to the couples having a different version of dessert as you put but you're definitely right! You're welcome for sharing the second half of the chapter!).

Thanks for the reviews, I enjoyed reading them and am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Santa Monica written by Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones, from Savage Garden's self-titled album.

In Santa Monica, On The Boulevard

Waving to Mary, Skye looked at Beckett next to her and said, "You're hating this."

"Don't assume," she replied after giving her friend a mock glare. Beckett then smiled and said, "You don't have to worry, I'm not."

"Though you've been falling more?" Skye asked.

"I expected that," Beckett replied firmly before she watched the investigator turn immediately to her wife while Mary was swimming on her surfboard up to them.

"Are we finished?" the doctor asked the two once she was sitting as they were.

"I think so," Skye replied after they had glanced at the beach where Rebecca and Lily were sitting. "It's going to get crowded soon anyway."

"Were you serious about that?" Beckett asked while she and Skye were turning their boards.

"Believe me," the investigator replied. "It does and the girls didn't want to try it."

"And they want to finally use your pool," Beckett added.

Snorting Mary said, "Of course they do. And I'm wondering if they're really going to keep away from that wing."

"They will," Skye said simply.

"You told them we're going to Raging Waters tomorrow?" Beckett asked.

"No, but I get the feeling they have their suspicions," Skye replied with a smile before they were swimming together back to shore.

"We were just debating which of us should get you guys," Rebecca told the three jokingly while they handed them their towels.

"I guess you guys think they're going to do that badly with the kids," Skye commented in amusement.

"Remember the grandparents aren't there," Lily said before Beckett was speaking to the McDouglas women.

"Luckily they didn't mind having them over," she told them.

"They have the room," Skye said easily. "And we're a bit full," she added before she rubbed at her hair as hard as she could.

"We're still set on having breakfast on our own?" Lily asked.

"I am," Mary said.

"Me too," Skye added while her wife was brushing her hair. "I've-" she started to say, turning around.

"Oh no, I've got it," Mary told her firmly.

"You can't pretend you don't enjoy that," Rebecca said in amusement when the investigator was rolling her eyes.

"She does," Mary told them. "Look forward Rose," she then said to her wife since she'd begun to turn her head.

"Do you three have an objection to heading to the Promenade?" Skye asked.

"We told you here on the beach was fine," Beckett reminded her. "Are we still going to rinse off?"

"Yes, but this is just to help her hair later," Mary commented.

"And you have, let's go," Skye said in mock annoyance before they were walking to the showers.

"You didn't want to go swimming?" Rebecca asked the chef as they trailed their friends with the fresh towels they'd need.

"I'm good, I'd prefer waiting for later," Lily said.

"It's not that cold," Skye said turning to the two women to rinse her hair quickly.

"And it's too late now," Lily added.

"True," Skye said. "But again, you're that concerned?"

"Your daughters were left with the men too," Rebecca added before Beckett was laughing and talking to her and Lily in amusement.

"You two can stop talking about my husband as if he's incompetent," she told them. "And it doesn't really show you're that confident in yours," Beckett added after she'd turned off the water.

"Oh, we are," Lily said. "We just want to tease them."

"Thank you for the towels," Skye said, drying herself off again. "Just to be sure, we're not going home, right?"

"No," Rebecca answered with a smile. "But it's not going to be crowded?"

"We're just throwing stuff on and heading in," Mary said. "But if you two want to go and get us a table you could."

"The chairs?" Lily asked.

"We can pack them right now," Skye said before they were going to their things. She, Mary and Beckett were drying off before they went to the car where they put on their clothes after getting everything else put away. "Okay, you two didn't go," she said, walking back to them in a tunic top and Capri pants.

"No," Rebecca said. "I feel kind of weird doing that."

"Yes, they do know us," Mary said in amusement. "And now we can go."

At the restaurant Skye spoke to the woman at the front and they were shortly after being led outside to a table in the sand. "I wonder if the kids will be alright with our dinner plans," she said after they'd ordered some orange juice and were left to their menus.

"I think you mean your dinner plans," Beckett told her.

"True," Skye said with a nod before her wife was speaking slightly laughingly.

"They'll be fine with it, as long as we're near the pool and game rooms…" Mary said.

"You two didn't even look at your menus," Lily said.

"They don't need to," Beckett said with a smile. "They've been here…"

"Too many times to count," Skye continued when her friend looked at her. She spotted their waiter and told the others, "I hope you guys are ready." Ordering first, she wasn't surprised when Beckett was choosing the same thing she'd gotten the last time she was there. When they were alone, she said, "I know what you three want to say."

"So do I," Mary commented with a brief smirk before she reached for her wife's hand.

"Yes, but you realize we're not saying it," Rebecca said. She then smiled and told the pair, "We know you're not going to say what you have on the new wing."

"And what a wing," Lily said before they were laughing together.

"She is right, it's… larger than I expected," Beckett added.

"We had a few things we wanted to put in," Skye said.

"And a few we needed," Mary said. She saw the way her wife was looking at her and said, "Yes, all of them were."

"You don't mind adding onto the house," Beckett then asked. "Liam?" she said when the two women shook their heads. She was about to ask what her dad had thought before Skye was speaking first.

"Dad let me know before I asked that I didn't need to ask," the investigator said. Skye smiled a little before she told the other women, "He let me know that Da did want to add to the house."

"Really?" Beckett asked.

Nodding Mary said, "Liam told us he'd been tempted to put in a bowling alley, but at that time he didn't have a way to do it."

"How many of our plans did you copy?" Beckett inquired of the two women.

Smiling Skye answered, "I never said we did."

"The pool room would be hard not to copy," Lily said, laughing when Beckett glanced at her.

"I do know one thing for sure, the theater room," Beckett said.

"You'll have to see," Skye said.

"And now we sound like the kids I hope you guys know," Rebecca pointed out to them.

"There isn't much else to talk about," Skye replied easily. "Though I'm guessing one of you wants to talk about San Diego." She laughed when the others were laughing before she said, "Go ahead, Kate knows already what we're going to do."

"You don't mind Alexis and Louis aren't going to be here, do you?" Mary asked the writer before the others could respond to her wife.

"No, I don't blame them for wanting to go see his family," Beckett answered. She then said with a smile, "It'll be Brennan and Clara's first grandchildren too."

"They'll miss San Diego," Lily said.

"They know, but they want to visit them before they need to head back to work," Beckett explained.

"Or else it'll cut into their maternity leave," Mary said. She frowned and then said, "Paternity too," before Beckett was nodding and responding.

"They almost had to leave sooner," she told them before she saw the food arriving. When they'd eaten their breakfasts a little, she wasn't surprised Lily brought up San Diego, and they discussed the places she and Castle had thought of with the McDouglas women. That made her think of her husband, wondering how he was with the other fathers and the kids before she was discussing Point Loma with the other women.


"Dada," Josie said, going to her father. When he looked at her, she said, "Where is Mama?"

"Good sentence structure," Castle told her.

"How mean," Brad commented. He laughed when his friend glared at him, though there wasn't much anger there, and he said, "Just saying."

"And I was about to answer her if someone hadn't interrupted me," Castle told his friend. He rolled his eyes when Brad merely inclined his head toward him and he turned to his daughter. "Your mom went to have breakfast, but I know she'll be back soon. Very soon," he told her.

"You don't think Mom went surfing?" Julia asked, having walked by in time to hear that.

"Most likely, but it was quicker to just mention breakfast," Castle explained. "And speaking of that, we need to start eating."

"Breakfast is ready?" Eliza asked eagerly, rushing over.

"It is," David said when he saw Castle was looking at him. He dished the scrambled eggs he'd made into a bowl and took it to the dining room table where the other kids were gathering at Alexis and Louis' urging. "You two will make great parents," he told the pair.

"Thanks," the former said. "Luckily we're not having this many kids."

"I wonder if Skye and Mary would tell us twins would be the same," Louis couldn't help commenting.

"They wouldn't know," Darnley said.

"Yeah, they didn't have us here when we were babies," Marie said.

"But twins shouldn't be too bad," Kathleen added.

"We don't think so either," Alexis said with a smile. She began serving the pancakes her father had made while her husband and Nkosi were serving the eggs and bacon.

When they were beginning to eat, Julia said, "We're still going to the wing of the house right?"

"We better," Marie said firmly, not surprised when her twin was giggling before Ivy was talking to them both.

"What about Grandda?" the little girl was asking.

"He'll be coming soon," Kathleen said.

"Probably the same time Mum and Mom get back," Marie added.

"We can't go inside there without them," Fleur commented.

"We weren't going to allow you to," Nkosi added.

"We'd get in so much trouble," Castle said, not surprised when Eliza was giggling with her friends.

"Mum and Mom did say they really wanted to take all of us to the wing," Marie said once they had calmed down. "So they should be back soon."

"Think they're okay with swimming in the ocean first?" Ivy asked.

Smiling Kathleen assured her sister by saying, "Yeah, they're practicing for the Olympics remember?"

"I think you mean the trials before that," Julia said.

"Yep," Marie said before they were laughing with the other older kids. She was about to speak before Maddy down the table with her fathers was speaking rapidly.

"Are we gonna swim?" the little girl said.

"Of course," Darnley said. "Unless Skye and Mary change their minds."

"We wouldn't let them," Iris said with a smile before she was looking with the other kids at the dads all laughing suddenly. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Castle said, hurrying to calm himself down.

"Dada," Josie said.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Castle asked her, carefully wiping at her mouth.

"Juice," Josie replied.

"You know how to ask," Castle said with a smile.

"I want juice," Josie said slowly. She smiled since her father still was and she said, "Please."

"A little more," Castle said, kissing the side of her head as he stood up. "Watch her?" he asked Darnley who was on the other side of him. At the carpenter's nod he went into the kitchen, glancing outside though he knew it was too soon for the women to be back yet. Shaking himself, he hurriedly poured out the juice into Josie's sippy cup before he was returning to the table and giving it to the toddler.

"Thank you, Dada," Josie said, smiling widely at him before she was drinking.

"What're we going to do before everyone comes back?" Fleur asked suddenly.

"The grandparents should be here soon," Brad said. "They said they would after breakfast."

"And we are too," Louis said, standing up. He wasn't surprised when the kids were looking at him in confusion and he explained, "We're finished."

"And we should clean up," David added.

Getting up, Castle took Josie out from her highchair and said, "Can you watch your sister while we clean up?"

"Sure," Julia said since her father was talking to her and Eliza. "Could we go outside?"

"I was about to suggest you guys all do that," Brad said, walking by Castle then.

"Mayor Foster," Castle said.

Laughing David said, "You know I agree already, just don't go out to the front yard or the driveway."

"We won't," Marie said.

"Yeah, Mum and Mom would be furious," Kathleen added. "It's what they added the fence for," she said.

"Since we were going over to it too much," Ivy added. "While we played."

"Thank you for clearing the table," Castle said. "And you can head out like we said but please stay away from the pool room."

"We will," the kids said at the same time, except for Josie and Sophie.

"Are you going to set her down Dad?" Alexis asked, walking up to him.

Smiling, Castle kissed Josie's cheek and put her down telling his oldest, "You don't need to help us."

"I-" Alexis started to say with a slight frown.

"We're not saying that because we're babying you," Brad said.

"He's right," Nkosi said. "There's enough of us here."

"Along with me," Louis said. He then turned to his wife and said, "I am babying you."

"I kind of had a feeling," Alexis said, kissing him briefly. "Come on," she told the kids before she watched with them as Keo hurried to his father and held his hand. "I guess you don't want to play," she said in a gentle voice, not surprised when he shook his head before he spoke.

"I stay and help to clean," Keo replied.

"I guess that means I need to too," Jacob said.

"You don't," Nkosi said before turning his attention to his son. "Keo, you don't have to help us, you can go out and play. The adults will help clean."

"Oh… okay," Keo said with a smile before he hurried to the other kids.

"We're going to watch you guys play so please no roughhousing," Brad told them while they were heading out.

"What're we going to do now?" Julia asked the others once they were on the grass.

"Should we get a game?" Kathleen asked her twin.

"I think we should," Marie said. "Though there are a lot of us to play."

"Something we can play in teams," Jacob suggested.

"We have something," Ivy told her sisters.

"We do, I'll go get it," Marie said, she and Kathleen looking at each other before they were hurrying over to the patio.

"What kind of game is it?" Eliza asked.

"They have to get it first," Iris said.

"You're not gonna say?" Eliza asked.

"Jules," Josie said, tugging at her sister's hand.

"You have to stay with us," Julia said firmly, already aware of what her sister wanted to do.

"I want Mama," Josie said.

"She'll be here soon," Maddy said.

Shaking her head, Josie then said, "I want Dada."

"Why don't you go to 'lexis," Julia suggested though she was already leading her sister over to their big sister.

"What's wrong?" Alexis asked them with a smile.

"She wants Mom," Julia explained. "And then Dad."

"Eh," Josie said, tugging her sister's hand again.

Just when she was about to respond to that, Alexis looked to the driveway where a car was pulling in. "Looks like it's the grandparents," she said, smiling at Josie.

"Mama?" the toddler asked hopefully.

"Not yet," Julia said before they heard honking. "What's-" she started to say to her big sister with a frown.

"I think they're letting each other know they're here," Alexis replied before turning to the house since the men were exiting.

"Great timing," Darnley said.

"I know, I don't know what we would have done with you kids," Castle said.

"They were going to get a game," Alexis told her father before they needed to turn their attention to everyone arriving.

When she had managed to make her way to her husband, Beckett shared a kiss with Josie before turning to him. "How was it?" she asked.

"Good, we're lucky so many of them are older," Castle told her before he leaned into her. They shared a brief kiss before they were looking at Skye when she was getting their attention and speaking swiftly.

"Okay, I just want to make sure we're completely set on what we're doing today," the investigator said. "The new wing, swimming and last the Promenade."

"You're sure you don't want to go to the pier today?" Mary asked her wife.

"Yeah, they're going tomorrow," Skye said. "Unless the rest of you want to join them?" She wasn't surprised when some of the kids were shaking their heads and she laughed telling them, "Don't worry, you'll go on your own."

"Now we can go?" Fleur asked hopefully.

"Yes, we're all ready so let's go and finally see the new part of our house," Skye said before they were walking into the house. When they reached the family room, she and Mary took them to the doorway leading into the addition. She stopped at a door and said, "Here we have the first room."

"How many are there?" Pablo asked. When his stepdaughter and daughter in law looked at him, he smiled and told them, "They would ask."

"Of course," Mary said. "And besides the pool room we have two of them."

"Now I'm really interested," Darnley said.

Laughing with the other adults when the kids were agreeing, Skye slid the barn door open before she said, "I'm sure this isn't a surprise."

"I knew it," Julia said before anyone else did. She looked around at the others before she was laughing. "Could we go in?" she then asked.

"I hope so!" Marie exclaimed.

"Yes, you're allowed to but no going inside and playing with the consoles," Skye said as they were walking inside the control room of the studio.

"I thought you weren't sure about putting one in," Beckett said while the investigator opened the door for the kids to go inside the actual recording studio.

"To be honest I wasn't," Skye replied, leaning against the wall just past the door. She then said, "But Mary mentioned we'd have a nice time recording right down the hall from home."

"What did the band say to that?" Lily asked.

"They were overjoyed," Mary answered. "It's less intimidating."

"I agree," Skye said, smiling when her wife was nodding as well.

"One question," Castle said.

"One answer," Skye replied before their wives were laughing. She then said, "If you're wondering about who's going to control everything in there, we'd have producers."

"Or me," Liam suddenly said.

"You know how to control all of this?" Martha asked him.

"I do, I learned for Skye," Liam explained. "But it was on a very small console."

"You've recorded something already," Nkosi stated.

Laughing briefly, Skye said, "No, it was an old console and I just messed around."

"She's serious," Mary said. "All of it was instrumental."

"Do you still have it?" Pablo asked her.

"No, I got rid of it because it was awful," Skye said, shaking her head. "I was only sixteen at the time," she added before they were turning to Jim when he spoke.

"Were you planning on trying out the room?" he asked.

"I… suppose we could," Skye said though she was looking at her wife as she spoke.

"We should," Mary said.

"We don't have anything," Skye told her.

"Yes, you do," Ivy said in a rush before she covered her mouth with her hand when her mothers looked at her.

"You're supposed to be asleep," Mary commented, smiling at her wife.

"Sorry," Ivy said before she went to Mary when her mother motioned to her. She hugged her tightly when her mother did the same to her and she said, "I thought it was good."

"So do I," Mary said.

"Alright, alright," Skye said in mock annoyance. "Though I'll mention now that it's only one verse, we just started writing… she did."

"You helped grá, I needed a good final line," Mary said before she brushed her lips to her wife's swiftly.

"Do you want to record this?" Liam asked his daughter.

"Yes," Mary told her father-in-law firmly before she turned to her wife.

"Can we go inside the room?" Ivy asked.

"Some of you need to, you're not going to fit in this room," Skye said, about to go inside the studio before her arm was being held gently. Turning she asked with a smile, "You want to take pictures?"

"Shouldn't I?" Beckett asked.

"If you're ready," Skye said, though she turned to look down at the bag her friend was holding.

"For the pool room," Beckett explained. She wasn't surprised when Skye and Mary allowed the kids inside the studio, except for Josie and Sophie, and she was entering as well after kissing her youngest and squeezing her husband's hand. While the two women were warming up, she couldn't help telling them, "You're keeping all of those here?"

"Yeah, you remember we had these in the office's closet," Skye answered with a smile.

"They weren't in the way, but we had them open that closet and it's a bookcase now," Mary added, looking at their guitars.

"Bookcases," Skye corrected her wife.

"And are we going to be allowed to see that at all?" Castle said on the PA between the rooms.

Smiling, Skye said, "Later," before she turned to her wife. "Would you like to take the lead?"

"I think we agreed grá," Mary said firmly. "You're the vocalist of the two of us."

Rolling her eyes Skye said, "Alright, I'll count us… in," talking slowly at the end when she noticed their youngest raising her hand. "Yes Iris?" she asked with a smile.

"You don't need to practice the music?" the little girl asked while she was blushing slightly.

"No, we already have," Skye said.

"In our office," Mary said wryly.

"Let's just start," Skye said before she strummed her guitar and then counted them in.

Watching the pair playing at the same time, Julia shared a smile with Mari as they were playing for a while. She wasn't surprised when the music went on since they had mentioned it was short before Skye began to sing, using the music stand in front of her where she'd put the lyrics.

Driving roads highway to highway
What you find every time
You never need to say
You never need to find
Traveling through my home, my California way

After she and Mary had played out, Skye smiled at the applause they were getting and said, "If you can't tell we're aiming for a sort of love song about home."

"I'm aiming for PCH," Mary said with a smile while they were removing their guitars. "Did you get pictures?"

"I did," Beckett said. "I'll send the ones that came out to you," she added before Skye and Mary were ushering the kids out.

"So next is… the room, right?" Fleur asked.

"It is," Mary said laughingly.

"Theater room?" Joseph asked.

"No," Skye said after she looked at her father and he'd nodded to her. "We decided we prefer the family room for movies."

Making their way to the room across the hall, Mary opened the barn door that time, revealing the completed game room.

"We sort of copied you," Skye told Castle and Beckett as the kids were hurrying inside and crying out happily.

"I'm not surprised," the former said. "I mean really, since our daughters told yours about our room."

"Are the games the same?" Marie asked Julia.

"Close," Julia said. "I mean we don't have everything yet, only a month or so left. But we have the skeeball; we're getting two since it's better if two want to play together, we don't have the cannonball one to hit the clowns or that one."

"Fleur and Ivy like this one," Skye said with a smile since she was near them.

"They like playing soccer?" Castle asked, since the game was The Simpsons soccer game.

"No, just scoring goals on Homer," Skye corrected him before she was looking at her dad and stepfather.

"Just checking this out," Liam commented, the video game a plane one.

"I think you'll be playing it first," Skye said.

"Oh no, no, no," Liam said firmly. "Though I'm surprised you went for a full… chair and controls and everything."

"That was me," Mary said with a smirk at her wife before she responded.

"I didn't have to be convinced for that long," Skye said. "But it's done."

"I want to go see the pool," Iris said swiftly.

"Wait," Kathleen said before their mothers could say anything. "Are we going to get to play here at all?"

"Yeah, I want to play this one," Ivy said, standing at the airline simulator game.

"We'll come after dinner if everyone's alright with that," Skye said, looking at their guests. She laughed with the other adults when the kids were agreeing to what she'd said first and she told everyone, "Great, now let's look at the pool because I'm ready to see it finally."

"You did see it already Mummy," Fleur said, going to her and taking her hand.

"We kind of had to," Mary said. "Since we had to make sure everything was finished the way we wanted it."

"And it was?" Darnley asked.

"Cheeky," Skye shot to him before they were leaving the room.

"You didn't put any other rooms in?" Martha asked.

"We thought about it," Mary said first.

"But after we discussed options, we really just wanted all the space we were going to be able to get for these three. So far," Skye continued before they were at the end of the hall. "Okay, here is our pool room," she said before she slid the door open.

"Don't say we copied you," Mary said as they were walking inside.

"No," Beckett said with a laugh. "We didn't put that much greenery in."

"This is a more Grecian look than ours too," Castle said.

"Or tropical," Skye said jokingly since they had palm trees in the corners of the room along with blue accents.

"Yeah, it's great," Castle said with a nod. "Though I'm surprised you went with wainscotting."

"It's tile," Mary said. When the couple looked at her, she said, "We did want it beachy; not so much Greek; so we thought of it and luckily there was a company that made it out of tile."

"And you don't have a lot of the features we do," Castle added.

"A grotto didn't work for us," Skye commented. "Also, your room is about thirty square feet bigger than ours."

"But you managed a slide," Beckett said in amusement. "And some rocks."

"Your diving board is way too high," Mary said. "Your slide too."

"But you still have a sort of… indentation," Castle told the women.

"Yeah, there's a bench there; a long one in case the seven of us want to sit," Skye was explaining. "But we didn't want a grotto, so we kept it shallow."

"It works," Beckett said.

"I just realized something," Castle said, turning to them. "This reminds me of your home in Ireland."

"Former home," Skye said.

"You sold it?" Beckett asked.

"We did, to some tech CEO in Silicon Valley," Skye replied. "Her name is Amanda Olyphant."

"You spoke with her," Beckett stated.

"She talked to Skye," Mary said before they were turning to Darnley when he suddenly exclaimed.

"Now I know why that name sounded so familiar," the carpenter said. "She was just in the news; her girlfriend broke up with her in San Francisco this past spring… in a restaurant."

"She wanted to talk to you for that reason, didn't she?" Nkosi said to the investigator.

"If I had shown any interest… never mind," Skye started to say before she cut herself off. "So, what do you five think," she said while she walked to where the kids were with the grandparents at the side of the pool.

"I love the plants," Marie said happily since there were raised planters on either side of the long room.

"Do we need to water them?" Iris asked.

"I hope you won't mind if that's one of your chores now," Skye said before Mary was squeezing her hand and talking to their daughters.

"It's only going to be for two of you," the doctor explained.

"And the rest of us?" Marie asked, glancing at her two youngest sisters since she knew already that chore would go to them.

"Help us in the game room, to clean the games when they need it," Skye responded. She shared a smile with her wife when their three oldest daughters agreed to that before they were heading to lounge chairs. "Now we'd debated a second floor in the room, but we decided we enjoyed everything on the same floor."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said, getting Josie's sundress off her. "But I'm surprised you had enough room for the tables and chairs."

"We had to add a little," Mary said.

Since her wife had been looking pointedly at her, Skye smiled briefly before she said, "We cut into the rose garden. But the flowers got hit really hard by frost this past winter so we're lucky there're any roses left. And really Mary, we moved everything that was still alive but in the way."

"Your da wouldn't have minded that," Liam called from where he'd already occupied a lounge chair.

"We took that into account," Skye said.

"You could go in Mum," Marie told her since she was waiting for them to finish getting ready.

"One thing I really like," David said. "Sorry," he then directed to Castle and Beckett. "Are the skylights."

"That one was because we don't need to worry about snow," Mary explained while the kids were looking up at the roof which was mostly skylights.

"And with our positioning the sun won't be a bother for too long," Skye added. "In the winter it'll be wonderful."

"Could we go on the slide now?" Maddy asked. "Please?"

"Try the water first," Mary said, watching her wife going to the wall of collapsing windows. She wasn't surprised Skye went down to everyone, only needing to push them for them to slide open.

"Alright, we're open to the elements," Skye said, walking back around to the entry for the pool. "Now we can swim."

Watching with the others as the older kids were hurrying into the water, Beckett turned to her husband and said, "You can go ahead."

Shaking his head Castle said, "I'll stay with you."

"You're sure? There is a new slide," Beckett told him teasingly.

"I hope you'll let me take her," Jim said. "Eventually."

"Of course," Beckett replied when her husband was looking at her. "We'll let her swim with us before we head to the other end," she added before Josie was beginning to squirm and speaking in slight distress.

"Mama, I go swim," Josie said.

"Don't correct her," Beckett told her husband firmly before she was setting the toddler down. Once she was sure she had Josie's hand she led her into the water, her husband following.

"It's almost like being at home," Castle commented.

Smiling at him, Beckett said, "Almost. Do you want to end the trip early?"

"No way," Castle replied, smiling with her at their youngest laughing. After they were in the water, he helped her with allowing Josie to swim back and forth between them until he was taking her on his hip. "So," he told his wife.

"I go on slide," Josie suddenly said.

"I didn't think she'd say that," Castle said.

Smiling, Beckett walked up to them and said, "Sweetie you can't go on this slide, it's too big for you."

"But at least you can swim," Castle said. He then turned to her and said, "What about that bench?"

"I thought of that," Becket replied, speaking in Irish as he had. "But let's wait until we swim," she said in English before she waved to her father who was making his way back to the shallow end.

"Are you ready for me to take her?" Jim asked once he was near them.

"If you don't mind," Castle said first. He turned to Josie and then said, "You'll spend a little time with your grandpapa, right?"

"Eh," Josie said, smiling at Jim while she was leaning over in her father's arms.

"Don't worry about her," Beckett's father told the couple. "I'm sure we'll stay here until lunch."

About to tell her father she didn't want the toddler in the water the whole time, Beckett turned to her husband when he tugged her after him. She followed and when they were resurfacing in the middle of the pool she said, "I didn't-"

"I don't either," Castle interrupted her. "But he knows already." When his wife was giving him a look he said, "But it's a good thing to make sure. Should we go to the slide?" finishing in a rush.

Rolling her eyes, though she was smiling at the same time, Beckett said, "Yes, I know how much you want to go. You've been looking at it the whole time we were with Josie."

"I can't help it," Castle said, not surprised when his wife laughed. They continued swimming then, heading to the bench on the side to climb out where they met their middle daughters.

"Hi," Eliza said, smiling widely at both while she was hugging Beckett tightly.

"Hey, I would ask if you're enjoying the pool, but I can tell already," she replied.

Smiling Eliza nodded and then said, "You should try the bench in front of the rocks."

"We will," Beckett said before Julia was talking to Castle with a slight smirk on her face.

"But first you're going to try the slide, right?" the teen asked.

"Yes, you don't need to be a smart aleck about it," Castle said before they were laughing together. He gave her a side hug swiftly and then said, "And you two are coming with us."

"Yep," Eliza said.

Going around to the steps to the slide, Beckett said, "It's not too disappointing, is it?"

"Not really," Julia said first. She wasn't surprised when her sister was nodding in agreement and said, "A slide is a slide."

"Is she being a smart aleck?" Castle asked his wife.

"No," Beckett said before she hugged Eliza to her when the little girl laughed.

"Who goes first?" the little girl asked.

"You," Castle and Beckett said at the same time.

Giggling, Eliza turned to the slide, and she was sitting quickly, pushing herself down into the water. Once she had resurfaced, she waved at her family and swam back until she was out of the way. "Hey," she said, Jacob and Brad swimming by her then.

"Are you okay on your own?" the chief said, slowing down.

"Oh yeah, I can swim by myself," Eliza said before she turned to see her mother was going down the slide. "Not anymore," she said with a smile to Brad.

"Thank you for staying with her," Beckett said to the two once she had reached Eliza.

"Not a problem," Brad said before he and his son were swimming away.

"Mommy?" Eliza asked before she smiled at Julia swimming towards them.

"Yes sweetie?" Beckett asked when her second oldest was reaching them.

"Can we go on the bench together?" Eliza asked before they were turning to Castle when he was going down the slide.

"Yes," Beckett said. "But you're going to ask your daddy if he wants to join us."

"Daddy!" Eliza exclaimed eagerly when he resurfaced near them.

"What?" Castle asked, unable to help speaking laughingly.

"Want to come and see the bench with us?" Eliza asked.

"Of course, though you two already tried it," Castle informed them.

"We couldn't help it," Julia said, smiling widely while they were making their way to it.

"Are we going to the Promenade still Mommy?" Eliza asked once they reached the bench and were sitting together.

"We are," Beckett replied. "It's where we're having dinner."

"Hopefully at the British place," Julia commented.

"You'll find out," Castle said before they turned and saw Jim was walking to the side of the pool near them.

"She's insisting," Jim told his daughter.

Going to the end of the bench, Beckett took the toddler from her father and said, "We'll take her out of the pool when we're finished here." After the girls had said goodbye to their grandfather, who walked to his lounge chair, she turned to Josie and said, "What do you think sweetie?"

Smiling, the toddler squirmed when she realized her family were all looking her before she said, "Fun Mama."

"It's fun," Julia said teasingly.

"Eh," Josie said.

Laughing, Beckett kissed the side of her head before she said, "After this we'll let you jump into the water."

"That's a lot of fun," Eliza said, kissing her sister's cheek.

"Eh," Josie said again.

Laughing with his family, Castle couldn't help slipping off the bench into the water once he had calmed down and swam over to the other end. When his wife glanced at him, he couldn't help himself, leaning into her before they shared a brief kiss. He looked with her out at the water when their middle daughters were swimming around for Josie's entertainment, their youngest clapping and laughing in joy.


"You want to know something?" Skye asked her wife.

"You didn't think they'd want to leave the pool," Beckett answered instead of the doctor. "Even for the Promenade," she added, not surprised her friend was laughing before Mary was speaking.

"There's that twin thing again," the doctor said.

"You realize it wasn't difficult to recognize that?" Beckett asked her. She smiled when the doctor merely smiled before she turned to her husband when he was getting her attention.

"Are you planning on shopping any?" Castle asked once she was looking at him.

"To be honest I'm not sure," Beckett said. "I'm fine going to the bookstore of course."

"I was going to insist," Castle replied with a smile when she was laughing briefly.

"I'm not surprised, but as for other stores…" Beckett said before she trailed off, looking at the kids down the table.

"What?" Castle asked in confusion, watching her.

Before she could respond, Beckett had to wait for their food to be served and she looked at Josie on her other side. The toddler had her Tigger doll with her, playing with it while they'd been waiting, and she said, "Are you ready to eat?"

"Eh," Josie said. "I am hungry," she then added carefully.

"Good job," Beckett said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. She then helped Josie with her fish and chips, making sure she would eat slowly before she turned back to the others when the kids began asking the McDouglas girls about Raging Waters.

"We haven't been yet," Ivy explained.

"Never any time," Skye said, shaking her head.

"That and you had other places you wanted to take them," Liam told his daughter.

"That too," Skye replied before she turned to her wife in surprise when she began to talk to the other kids.

"I know you guys want to hear all about it," Mary said. "But we haven't been for a while so they may have changed what we know."

"Then what else are we supposed to talk about?" Jacob asked.

"Disneyland!" Dani cried, laughing when the others were doing so. When she could speak again, she told them, "I want to go there too."

"We'll try to," Rebecca said.

"'Lexis! You and Louis won't be able to go," Eliza cried in sudden realization.

"That's okay," Alexis was quick to assure her sister. "It might be too hot for me to walk around."

"And rides," Louis told his wife, squeezing her hand gently.

"That's true too," Alexis said. "I wouldn't want to risk it." When she saw the consternation on Eliza's face she told her, "Don't worry, I'll be able to go on the more intense rides again once I have the twins."

Though she wanted to say something about it being too long before her sister could do that, Eliza nodded and went back to her food. "But really, what do we talk about now?" she said, looking at Fleur and Iris who were sitting on either side of her.

"Maybe about where we're going after this," the latter said before they were turning to look at her mother who had suddenly laughed. "What?" Iris asked.

"I already know what you want," Skye said. "And we'll go but only if any of the other families would like to go."

"To the store next door?" Lily asked.

"I would like to go as well," Bethany said.

"She's right, it would be nice to visit," Martha said.

"Why do you want to go?" Castle asked his mother in surprise.

"They do have very nice tea," Martha replied.

"I think that means we're going too," Castle said after glancing at his wife who nodded.

"But we'll see about any candies," Beckett added swiftly when Eliza's face lit up.

"We do have the drive to San Diego," Julia said.

"We'll see," Beckett repeated firmly though she was smiling at the teen's tone. She checked on Josie then and asked, "Are you eating your fish?"

"Eh," the toddler replied with a smile. She shared a kiss with her mother and giggled before she said, "Dada?"

"I'll have to get up," Castle commented since Beckett was in between them.

"No Dada," Josie said in protest.

"Ah," Castle said before he looked at his wife.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Don't even think about it."

"I wasn't," Castle said, leaning over and gently brushing his lips to hers. After they were sitting back in their chairs, he looked at Josie and said, "I hope that was okay."

Smiling as Josie was nodding, Beckett reached over and gently smoothed down her hair before she said, "We'll have to let her walk."

"I had the same thought," Castle said. "But the store here or on the Promenade?"

"Are you volunteering to stay with her?" Beckett asked him, her eyebrow slightly raised.

"Basically," Castle said, smiling when she laughed. Before he could say anything then he turned his attention to David across the table, the mayor asking him and Beckett about their plans once they returned to the Promenade.