"Okay, dinner is going to be ready for us shortly," Lily told the others. "I mean all of us."

"Who had the tiny grill?" Stella asked the chef.

Smiling, since she had been given that to grill the vegetable kabobs and Hasselback caprese tomatoes Skye and Mary had provided, Lily said, "Thank them."

"We've taken it to the beach," the investigator said swiftly since the chef had indicated herself and her wife.

"They smell sick," Reiley said.

"They do," Jacob said. "And you guys say sick?"

"Well, we're in America, aren't we?" Reiley asked with a beaming smile. She laughed when the young man held out his fist to bump with hers and she couldn't help saying, "This has been a great vacation."

"I know, where are we going next?" Bailey asked.

"When we start eating, I'll tell you," Castle said. He laughed with the other adults when the kids were groaning playfully and he asked his wife, "Is it ready?"

"Not yet, you should tell them love," Beckett replied as she was turning a chicken kabob for Lily on the barbeque next to the picnic table.

"Okay, so these next three days we changed a little," Castle started with.

"Oh sure, make me be the bearer of bad news," Skye said in mock annoyance since he'd stopped there and was looking at her.

"You're the one who suggested the changes to us," David told her.

"Grá," Mary said simply when her wife pretended to look exasperated. "And to be honest it was the both of us."

"And tomorrow we're going to be heading to the Birch Aquarium," Skye said.

"I've heard of that one," Alasdhair said immediately. "It's supposed to be one of the most prestigious."

"I'm glad it has that reputation," Liam said.

"Me too," Skye added, Mary nodding with her before they were looking at Brad when he made a scoffing sound before he spoke to them.

"Californians," the chief said though he was smiling at them shortly after.

"You can't blame us," Mary said.

"Not really," Brad replied before he inclined his head briefly.

"Is there more?" Miller asked Skye.

"There is, after the aquarium we're going to take lunch to Scripps Beach which is nearby and spend the rest of the day there," the investigator replied. "After that I was thinking of heading to the Gaslamp for dinner, but I don't really have any restaurant in mind."

"We can decide tomorrow," Martha said.

"After we have lunch?" Bethany asked though it was also a suggestion.

"That's what I was thinking," Skye said.

"And the next two days?" Julia asked.

"I'm not surprised you asked that," Mary commented, smiling at the teen.

"Should we tell them?" Skye asked the other adults.

"It's only two days," Eliza said.

"She is right, there is next week too," Castle told the investigator. "And we're keeping that a surprise."

"Okay," Skye said, spotting the other parents nodding in agreement. "Thursday we're going to Legoland."

"Really?" Miller asked.

"Yeah, I heard that some of you like Legos," Skye said with a smile at him. "Plus, we have some younger kids who'll enjoy it there of course."

"And Friday?" Mari asked.

"That one we're going to Julian," Mary answered.

"Julian?" Bobby asked in confusion.

"It's in the mountains," Mary explained. "Like Oak Glen."

"Or Apple Canyon where we live?" Eve asked.

"Exactly," Skye replied. "Now I know that it's not the season for apples, but we've gone to Oak Glen back at home during the summer-"

"They still have apple pies," Kathleen interrupted her mother. "Sorry," she told her.

"Don't worry," Skye said, smiling at her before Lily was calling to them that the food was ready. It took some time before they were sitting around the picnic table and the one they'd brought with them. After they'd eaten a little, she said, "Does anyone not want to do that?"

"I'd like to, though I'm still hoping we can go to Oak Glen," Paul said.

When the others agreed to that, Maddy raised her hand and when Darnley asked her what was wrong, she said, "What about the rest of the time."

"Well, remember we're heading back on Saturday," the carpenter told her. "Back to LA," Darnley added swiftly.

"And we will go to Disneyland then," Skye replied. "And after that we'll go around the city still, see Paul's concert on Friday and then two of us will be leaving for Adare."

"It's okay," Eliza said swiftly.

"We know," Beckett said quickly. "And we're still going but we don't know what you'll be doing."

"We don't even know yet," Skye commented. "We're just going to go day by day. And I have to say this food is delicious."

Smiling when the others were quickly agreeing and thanking her, Lily said, "It's not a problem, but I didn't get the food."

"We wanted the dinner to be good too," Mary said at the others thanking her and her wife.

"Since we had so much fun today," Skye added. She scratched her cheek before she said, "And we are just using you lot to travel," though her tone was teasing.

"I'm glad we got to travel," Iris said after the others had stopped laughing.

"What do you want little one?" Mary asked her.

Giggling, Iris said, "Our sweets from yesterday!"

"We will tomorrow," Skye said. "On the beach though-"

"Does that mean we're going to have dessert at the Gaslamp too?" Marie interrupted.

"We'll see," Skye told her firmly. "Now, today we did bring things for s'mores, we forgot about the candy when we bought everything," she added.

"I don't think the kids are complaining," Jim pointed out.

"I'm not," Castle said, smiling when his wife rolled her eyes. He reached for her hand and squeezed it before they turned to Josie who was speaking.

"I want mores," the toddler said.

"You'll get one later, don't worry," Beckett said. "But you need to finish your food first." She wasn't surprised when the toddler shook her head and said, "You need to eat sweetie."

"Dessert," Josie said with a frown on her face.

"I didn't teach her that," Julia said quickly when her father looked at her.

"I didn't," Eliza echoed in a rush after Castle turned to her.

"Rick, she picked it up from them," Beckett told him firmly before he spoke to their middle daughters.

"Thanks a lot," Castle said, though he was smiling after Eliza was sticking her tongue out at him. He laughed when the little girl began to and told her, "It was going to happen of course."

"Are we finished?" Eve asked suddenly.

"We're not having dessert yet," Lily told her daughter.

"No, I wanted to go back into the water," Eve replied. She paused and then asked, "We can, right?"

"You two can," Brad said once he looked at his wife. "But just wade please."

"But-" Jacob started to say.

"It's getting just the slightest bit chillier if you can't tell," Skye said.

"And windier," Mary added. She studied the others and asked, "Are we Californians again?"

"We are," Pablo said with a smile. "They're in negative temperatures sometimes."

"But the wind is something that you're not exclusive to," Lily said. "So just wade."

"Or no dessert," Brad said. He couldn't help laughing hard at the way the kids were immediately protesting and he hurried to stop them before he said, "I'm a little serious, we can't have chaos."

"Also, someone would call the San Diego police," Rebecca said in amusement. "We are in a public park."

"We'll go wading," Eve said.

"What about our kites?" Mari asked suddenly. "We could fly them one more time."

"Actually," David said. "Why don't we play some baseball?"

"Baseball?" Skye asked.

"We have a bat and ball," the mayor told her. "No soccer ball though."

"Fine," Skye replied.

"We're going to play," Mari told her father while they were getting up and clearing their things from the meal.

"Yeah, there's a lot of us already," Julia said.

"I'm taking Josie for a walk," Beckett said.

"I'll join you," Martha said.

"I'll take pictures of the game," Jim said.

"What about us?" Ivy asked suddenly. "We can't play baseball too."

"We could fly our kites," Eliza said. She smiled when the other younger kids looked at her and told them, "We can."

"Shouldn't you ask permission first?" Martha asked. She laughed briefly at the way the little girl opened her mouth before she paused and then frowned. "I'll stay with you kiddo," she told her.

Skipping to her grandmother, Eliza hugged her and said, "Thanks Gram, we can go on the grass."

"I was going to insist," Martha said.

"Everything cleaned up?" Paul asked. After the younger kids had answered his question with yeses nearly in unison, he clapped and said, "Great, I'm ready to play ball."

"You're going to play?" Julia asked in slight surprise.

"I have before," Paul said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "And no not just while we were taking a break filming Help!" smiling when she laughed.

"Grandude can play," Bobby said. "What about you?" he directed to Nancy.

"I'll watch with Jim," she replied before they were hurrying to the space of grass next to them.

"Did you want to watch a little?" Castle asked his wife.

"We can when we come back," Beckett replied before she saw Brad and Lily were walking down the beach in the opposite direction with their youngest.

"Good," Castle said. He noticed his wife looking at him out of the corner of his eye and said, "I'm not intending anything," not surprised she responded with a laugh before she took his hand and began to tease him.

"You might not but I know you're thinking of it," Beckett said.

"Of course I am," Castle said, not surprised when she laughed. They'd been walking the opposite direction from Lily and Brad and were on their own before he said, "Should I be holding her other hand."

"I think she's fine," Beckett replied, looking down at Josie. She saw the toddler was looking at the sand and she stopped them asking her, "What're you looking for sweetie?"

"Shell," Josie said immediately. "Mama, shell!" she suddenly squealed before her parents could respond.

"Wait," Castle said in a rush, moving to pick her up. "That's not a shell."

"No?" Josie asked. "I want it."

"They taught her that," Castle told his wife seriously.

Rolling her eyes Beckett squeezed his arm before she knelt into the sand to see what her husband had.

"Mama?" Josie asked worriedly.

"It's a crab," Beckett said. "A tiny one." She stood up fully and asked her husband, "You could see that?"

"Yeah, it is white on darker sand," Castle replied. He turned his attention to their daughter and asked her, "Do you want to go in the water a little?'

"Eh! Eh!" Josie said happily.

"Let's keep going to that peninsula," Beckett told him, pointing out the little spit of sand by them. They led their daughter over, and she laughed when Josie squealed at the almost muck consistency of the sand before they were looking across the bay to the Sea World tower.

"Are you serious about going there love?" Castle eventually asked her.

"Yes, I know what's been said about the company," Beckett said. "So do Skye and Mary but they've told me that they still rescue animals. And they said they're leaning more towards rides now."

"Are we going to see the shows?" Castle asked.

"I'd like to," Beckett replied slowly. "Skye and Mary did take their twins."

Nodding Castle said, "For now we'll go," not surprised when she was nodding. He reached for Josie and picked her up, holding her in front of him and said, "Your feet are filthy."

"Feefee," Josie said, giggling.

Laughing with his wife, Castle held their youngest close and shared a kiss with her before he said, "I'm glad you agree, now we need to wash up."

"We're heading back already?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Castle said simply.

"Rick," Beckett told him.

"We have fruit," Castle replied quickly, aware that her tone meant he wouldn't be able to answer her.

"Oh, the watermelon? I saw that already," Beckett said.

"And you don't want any?" Castle asked.

"Let's go sweetie," Beckett said with a smile at her husband.

Watching her walking away from him, Castle couldn't stop himself and he rushed after her, putting Josie on his hip while she was laughing in reaction. He reached Beckett shortly after and grabbed her hand, making her turn to him before he was leaning down to her, kissing her deeply though he wasn't lingering. When he had pulled away, he pressed his forehead to hers and murmured her name before she brushed her lips to his and was responding.

"I love you Rick," Beckett said intently.

"I love you too," Castle said in the same tone of voice. He kissed her again, lingering for as long as he dared before he was slowly pulling away. "We're going back?" he asked her.

"Eh," Josie answered before her mother could speak. She was smiling when her parents laughed and then said, "Mama!"

"Yes sweetie?" Beckett asked, kissing her temple.

"Nooo Mama, here," Josie said, patting her lips with her hand.

"I taught her that?" Castle asked while his wife was sharing a kiss with their youngest.

Beckett couldn't help laughing briefly before she said, "She picked it up. We need to clean her feet."

"And ours," Castle said. "But first…"

Beckett was slightly surprised before he was leaning over and sharing a kiss with Josie. She smiled before setting the toddler down and leading her down the sand before they went into the water ankle deep.

"Hey Mommy," Eliza said since the three were near them.

"Having fun?" Castle asked, seeing the younger kids didn't have their kites.

"Yeah, did you?" Eliza said.

"We did, but we have something to eat, don't we?" Castle asked. "And no, it's not dessert," he added in a rush, realizing the little girl was going to think it was that.

"Fruit?" Eliza asked.

"Watermelon," Skye said, smiling when her three youngest hurried up to her while she was cutting the fruit into slices.

"Kids," Rebecca called to the older ones playing baseball with Paul and Jim still.

"Do we have to wash our hands?" Kathleen asked once they had stopped and walked over to the others.

"Yes, you're about to eat with your hands," Mary said firmly.

"We'll take them," Paul told the others.

"My father was playing?" Beckett asked Nancy.

"He was," the singer's wife replied with a smile. "He said he couldn't resist."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said with a smile, sitting and getting Josie.

"No Mama," the toddler said. "I go with Dada."

"I'm going," Castle automatically corrected.

"I'm," Josie said.

"Now say going," Castle told her before he jerked back slightly at a slice of watermelon appearing in front of him.

"No lessons Rick, we're on vacation," Beckett told him, giving the other slice she held to their youngest.

"Thank you, Mama," Josie said, biting the top of the slice and chewing before she was smiling. "Jules!" she cried, seeing the kids returning to them.

"We're ready," Marie told her mothers before they were getting a slice each.

Going to where her family was gathered Julia said, "Grandpapa wanted to play," not surprised when he was speaking before her mother could.

"I couldn't really help myself," Jim said.

"And Paul told him to play too," Julia commented.

"Hey!" the singer said jokingly.

"I have to tell the truth," Julia said with a smile.

"I have a question," Liam said before anyone else could speak. "Are we finishing this?"

"It would be preferable if we did," Skye said. "I don't know where we're going to take it."

"We should be able to," Lily said.

"And then we won't be hungry for dessert," Jacob told his mother. He looked with her at his baby sister and Josie when they were crying out the last word he'd said. "Did I say the magic word?" he asked his parents, trying not to laugh.

"Wrong word," Castle said, having been able to calm Josie down.

"We're going to need to wait though," Eve said.

"Yes," Brad said before he was looking at the other parents.

"They can walk around the sand," Mary suggested.

"And they don't need to go for that long," Skye said, raising her wrist where her watch was.

Watching his wife grabbing his arm to look at his watch Castle said, "We don't have much time?"

"Not really," Beckett replied before she handed him a napkin.

"You're only eating this slice," Castle told the toddler while he was doing his best to clean her mouth.

"No Dada," Josie said in complaint before he was stopping.

"Is Josa gonna get to have… have the thing too?" Eliza asked.

"The-" Castle started to say.

Grabbing his arm to stop him, Beckett said, "She will, it's why we're going to have it a little sooner."

"And after?" Julia asked, walking over with her second slice.

"We'll have to talk about that with the others," Beckett replied when her husband was looking at her.

Nodding, Julia went to Mari who was by herself, and she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just wondering where the fireworks are going to be," the girl asked. Looking at her friend she said with a smile, "Are you?"

"Yes… why?" Julia asked in confusion.

"Paul's not going to be with us when we go to Disneyland," Mari said.

"He might go with you next time you go to Disney World," Reiley said.

"Us? You mean take you guys," Julia said swiftly.

"That's what Grandude said," Bobby commented, backing up his sister. "And he's serious."

"But I don't know when we're going to go there next," Julia said with a frown before Eve was speaking as she and the rest of the older kids were joining them.

"Maybe he'll have us go with him," the young woman stated. She turned quickly and then said, "Julia? He and Nancy are talking to your parents."

"They could be talking about anything," Julia replied. She paused and then said, "Weird we're not going to Sea World now."

"We know why," Miller said. When the others turned to him and his siblings he explained, "Skye said something to Mum and Dad about testing it."

"But we've been before," Kathleen said.

"That was six years ago," Marie reminded her sister. She then looked at the others and said, "But I get the feeling they're going to want us all to try it."

"Why are you looking at me?" Julia asked in surprise when Marie started to, the others following her shortly after.

"Who else is going to test for Grandude's sake?" Reiley said first.

"And the rest of us," Bobby added swiftly.

"Well… it's not going to happen for a while," Julia said hesitantly before she went back to the table. "Do we need to have another slice?" she asked her mother after she'd thrown away her rind.

"Are you hungry?" Beckett asked.

"Yes," Julia said though she'd spoken hesitantly.

"We'll have s'mores soon," Castle said, aware of what she wasn't saying. "But the moms want- ow," he started to say before he was interrupted by his wife slapping at his arm with the back of her hand.

"That didn't hurt," Beckett told him, one eyebrow raised. When he inclined his head once she rolled her eyes and then turned back to their second oldest telling her, "We all decided to wait a little bit more."

"Sure," Julia said, having been doing her best not to laugh at her parents' exchange. She turned and hurried back to her friends, hearing Mari mentioning Adare when she was close. "Why're you talking about there?" she asked.

"I told them they'll probably get invited to the ceremony your parents are going to have there in two summers," Mari explained.

"Is she right?" Bailey asked.

Unable to help smiling widely, Julia said, "Of course, since their song is one your grandude sang and your mom is making my mom's dress," not surprised when Reiley was asking about that first.

"Have you seen it?" the girl asked.

Shaking her head Julia said, "Mom's going to try it on when we go to London and then keep it at home."

"Where?" Mari inquired in obvious confusion.

"I have no clue," Julia said honestly. "She's not telling us." She frowned for a moment and said, "I think in the secret compartment she has in her closet." When she saw the looks she was getting from her friends she said, "Seriously, but my dad didn't put it there. The people he bought the house from did."

"I wonder why," Jacob said.

"Mom told me when I asked that the wife of the couple had a collection…" Julia started to say before she trailed off, making a face.

"Fur coats?" Bailey suggested.

"Yeah," Julia said with a sigh. "We don't have any though."

"I'm not surprised," Miller said. "But at least your mum will be using it for something better."

"Definitely," Julia replied with a nod.

"Does anyone feel like a s'more right now?" Marie asked them all before they were turning at her mother calling to them. "Weird," she said.

"You're psychic," Kathleen teased her twin while they were walking back to the others.

"Hey, no fighting you two," Mary said in amusement when she saw the twins chasing each other.

"Just teasing Mom," Marie said before they stopped.

"Now we're having dessert," Castle said when he saw Eliza was about to speak. "But just one, okay?"

"What if they're tiny?" Julia asked.

"Then you won't get dessert tomorrow," Beckett said simply. She wasn't surprised when the older kids were laughing and she asked Eliza, "Do you need any help?"

"I'm good," Eliza said. "What about Josa?"

"I'll make hers," Castle answered before he was putting two marshmallows on the skewer he'd been given. "Are we doing this in stages?"

"We have to," Skye said.

"Yeah, the ones with the youngest are first," Lily then said.

"I was about to suggest that," Skye replied with a smile before they were turning their attention to the smaller grill she and Mary had built up a fire in to begin toasting the marshmallows in turn.

"It's not going to be that much longer, is it?" Ivy asked her older sisters.

"I don't know what time it is," Kathleen answered. "Do you?" she directed to her twin.

"I'll go see on my daddy's watch," Eliza said before Marie could respond to that.

"It's starting!" Mari cried happily when there was a distant boom.

Eliza, skidding to a stop on the transition from the sand to the grass, fell to the ground before she laughed and picked herself up. She ran back to the others and said, "I'm okay," before oohing at the fireworks they could see around the Sea World Tower.

"Nice end to the night," Paul said. When he realized shortly after the other adults were looking at him, including his wife, he said, "I'm not singing."

"I'm not either," Skye said quickly.

"You're taking the Mickey out of me, aren't you?" Paul asked before he shook his head, while smiling, at the others laughing.

"I think the plan is to head back to the hotel," David said. "Right?"

"We need to, going to be a long day at the beach tomorrow," Skye said.

"Are we taking everything we had today?" Brad asked because they'd long since taken down the popup.
"Have to, there's no shade on the beach," Mary told him. She was about to say more, but the fireworks were speeding up and she contented herself with holding her wife's hand.

When the grand finale eventually began, Beckett was watching Eliza to make sure she'd be alright. But she was quickly reassured when she spotted the little girl was jumping up and down with the youngest McDouglas girls. She smiled at the sight before her husband was leaning into her and murmuring in her ear.

"I think she's past that point," Castle said.

"Were you watching her too?" Beckett asked in amusement. She laughed briefly when her husband was nodding and she entwined their fingers, watching the rest of the fireworks display before it ended and the kids in front of them were cheering.

"Don't say we have to go now," Eliza said, going to her parents.

"We need to pack up the cars," Skye said. "With what we still have."

"Do you think we should let them stay here?" Darnley asked.

"It won't take us that long," Skye said. "And I'm sure the older ones will watch the kiddies."

"I don't think they liked that," Paul commented with a smile when some of the younger kids were protesting.

"I'm not surprised," Skye said simply.

While their families were getting everything from the picnic table, Julia walked with her sister and friends down to the water though they didn't go in. "Hopefully the beach will be nice," she said.

"We told you Mum and Mom have been," Marie said. She then smiled and said, "Not together, so they're going to think it's special."

"Think they'll surf?" Miller asked.

"Of course, they said the waves should be good," Kathleen replied.

"Didn't Mummy say winter was better?" Iris asked.

"Mommy did," Fleur corrected her. "But she said it would be good for us to learn." She smiled at the oldest Willis kid and asked him, "Did you want to learn?"

"I wanted to try," Miller said. "Beckett too."

"I do," Bobby said.

"I'll see," Bailey replied when her brothers were looking at her.

"I want to," Reiley said firmly.

"And you'll get the chance if they say the water is safe enough," Stella said, walking up to them.

"We're ready to go?" Eve asked.

"We are, we have a lot to do the next few days remember," Stella told them.

After they had nodded to what the designer had said, the kids went to the cars and split up before they were driving back to the hotel.

"I think they're asleep," Castle told his wife when he was on the freeway.

"No, we're not," Eliza said in protest.

"Why are you so quiet?" Beckett asked, looking back at them.

"Because we thought you were going to talk," Eliza answered.

"I was looking at the view," Julia said, turning from the window. "But are you excited now?"

"How long until their anniversary?" Eliza asked her sister.

"Two weeks tomorrow," Julia said with a smile.

"You know it's a little weird you two are so excited for us to be going on our own," Castle said.

"And not calling you the entire week we're there," Beckett said.

"Gram and Grandpapa said with the time it's going to be in Adare it'd be hard for us to talk to each other," Julia reminded them, not surprised when her mother was responding wryly as soon as she'd finished speaking.

"And you two pushed them to say that," Beckett told them.

"We didn't," Eliza said swiftly.

"She's right, Gram talked to us about it," Julia said.

"And your grandfather?" Castle asked in obvious confusion.

"He said after we asked him about it that he agreed with Gram," Julia explained. "And that way you don't need to worry about your dinners or anything to talk to us."

"Plus, we're going to have the week before school starts," Eliza said eagerly. "Sorry," she then told her big sister.

"I'm not scared," Julia said, unable to help rolling her eyes.

"If you were a little nervous, we wouldn't blame you," Castle said.

"I'm not," Julia assured them. She saw her parents were exchanging a glance and she asked, "Did my schedule come?" annoyed when her voice sounded a little trembly.

"It did, we didn't want to tell you and ruin your day," Castle said.

"We were going to try and work it in while we were going back to the hotel," Beckett said.

"You mean now?" Julia asked with a smile. When her mother nodded, she said, "Okay, read it for me?"

"Sure," Beckett said, opening the e-mail she'd gotten from the high school. "First period is going to be English with Mrs. Cobb."

"Jacob had her last year," Julia said quickly. "He said she was nice… and she had your book on her desk one day."

"Does that mean she'll give you a good grade?" Eliza asked.

"I hope not," Castle said.

"It doesn't," Julia replied. "I'll make sure she doesn't." She turned back to her mother and said, "Keep going."

"Next is Algebra I with Ms. Cecil," Beckett continued. "After is French I with Monsieur Labelle, then World History with Mrs. Evers. Your lunch period is there-"

Breathing out heavily in relief and interrupting her mother, Julia said, "Sorry, I was worried my lunch was going to be sooner than Mari's."

"You're going to walk over there?" Castle asked with a smile.

"Of course," Julia said before she turned back to her mother.

"Your last three are Science with Miss Winter, Spanish I with Señora Del Bosque and your P.E. course is going to be Dance I," Beckett finished. "With Ms. Grey."

"Phew," Julia said, smiling at her little sister. "I was worried I'd have to take regular P.E."

"I wonder who else is going to be in the class besides Peter," Castle said.

"There should be others," Julia replied with a smile. She leaned back in her seat and said, "I think Señora Del Bosque is a new teacher."

"Have you heard of the other three from Eve or Jake?" Beckett asked her.

Thinking for a moment, Julia said, "Jake had Miss Winter. He said she was Mrs. Osier who taught his Life Science class and she got a divorce," before her father was responding.

"And was she nice?" Castle asked.

"He said yes," Julia replied with a nod.

"What about my teacher?" Eliza then inquired.

"You know how that goes already," Castle told her, getting off the freeway.

Sighing Eliza asked, "Why don't they have the teachers for the elementary school on the e-mails."

"It's the way they put the students in their classes," Beckett said, looking back at the little girl. She wasn't surprised seeing Eliza pout and told her, "Don't worry sweetie, we'll go with you."

"But you can't go into the class with me," the little girl reminded her.

"But we can see who your teacher is," Castle said.

"Oh," Eliza replied. She sighed and said, "At least school isn't gonna start yet."

"I know, and we have Disneyland and everywhere else," Julia said, smiling at her.

"Is no one excited to go to Legoland?" Castle asked them in mock irritation.

"Besides you love?" Beckett replied with a smirk.

Giving her a look, Castle said, "I guess it's just me and Josie."

"Marie and Kath told us that it was more for little kids," Julia explained to them.

"Then I hope I can go on at least one ride," Castle commented when he stopped at a red light.

"I'm sure they thought of the parents on some of them," Beckett replied.

"What did they tell you?" Castle asked, looking at her.

"After we told the kids about our plans I asked them about the rides," Beckett began to say with a smile since she had expected her husband to say that. "And they mentioned a driving one, where she can take her own little car."

"Is that going to be made of Legos?" Eliza asked, looking at her sister when she literally snorted in laughter.

"I don't think so," Castle said, glancing in the rearview mirror at Julia before he moved the car when the light turned green. "But we'll have to see of course."

"Sorry, I thought of the car being Legos and them falling off while it drove," Julia told her little sister. She smiled, a little in relief, when her sister giggled and then said, "I guess it's better if it isn't."

Shaking her head, Eliza was yawning widely before she said, "At least we get to go to another park."

"You are so going to bed once we're back," Castle told the little girl.

"No way," Eliza said before she was giggling again. When she'd calmed down enough to speak, she said, "Do you and Mommy stay up while you're in Adare?"

"No, we do have plans," Beckett answered before her husband could. "Did you want us to?"

Shaking her head Eliza said, "I was just wondering."

"What kind of plans do you have?" Julia asked then.

"Is this the part where you ask us for a present?" Castle asked her in amusement.

"Yeah, but I don't know what to ask for," Julia said.

"We'll look and see what there is," Beckett replied.

"So you're going to town?" Eliza asked.

"Yes, at least once," Castle said. "There's a lot to do at the manor."

"Horseback riding?" Julia suggested.

"We're not sure yet," Castle answered when his wife looked at him. "It's supposed to rain most of the time we're there."

"Really?" Eliza asked. When her father answered with an affirmative, she said with a frown, "That's not fair."

"That's the weather though," Castle commented.

"At least you get to go swimming," Eliza said. She then smiled and asked, "Could we go swimming?"

"Of course," Beckett replied.

"What about the game room?" Julia inquired.

"Of course you can," Beckett said with a smile. "And since we've been talking about Adare, I hope you two know we want to hear about everything you do while we're there."

"Of course," Julia answered, her little sister nodding in agreement.

"But have fun," Eliza said firmly before she was laughing with her family.

Appreciating how serious the little girl was about them enjoying their own trip, Beckett reached back and squeezed Eliza's leg gently. She smiled at Julia, unable to reach her, reminding herself to thank her second youngest for promising to watch her sisters until they went home. Sitting straight in her chair again she felt her husband take her hand and was swift to squeeze it, sharing a smile with him, before they continued to talk with their daughters in the time they had left before they reached their hotel.