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 from the songs Frank Sinatra's Party written by Paul McCartney, from his album Egypt Station and It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, from the R.E.M. album Document.
A/N #2: It was great getting feedback for the last chapter so I'll go ahead and get started on my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (I was pleased to see you thought the last chapter was very good writing. And also really nice that you like the fact that even after so many years they still love each other since it's how I see it happening between them myself!) and
Mb (It was great to see you thought the chapter was another fantastic day in San Francisco with everything they did with the McCartneys. I wasn't surprised you laughed at the adults being jumping not being able to be with their spouses for so long, lol. And I was glad to see that you thought the bit with Julia and Bobby was sweet, and yeah, that kind of relationship is a little too much long distance, lol, especially for two teens to keep up like you said. I was really happy that you enjoyed their time at the pier since they've gone there before, but it is fun seeing everything. I had to laugh again at you saying Josie has her priorities in the right order, but as I've said she is her mother's daughter. Great you thought the first half of the chapter was nicely done. You're welcome for the first half too! It was really nice you thought the second half of the chapter was wonderfully written. And I was glad that you thought it was nice they went to the Musée Mécanique and surprise Stella's kids with that too. I was really surprised you were happy they're going to see May and her family but it was great too since I did want to bring them back in. I'm not surprised you're impressed with the description of the house that May and her family has, I did base it on an actual house in that row of homes on Zillow, though a little loosely, lol. And I was really pleased you thought the memory from 1909 was sweet, that one was fun to write though it was short. I was glad you enjoyed them on the rooftop along with the memory of them doing that. I had to laugh at you saying it went to warp speed from them on the rooftop to them exploring each other and being them in passion and love as you put it. You're welcome for sharing the second half of the chapter!).
Thanks for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!
A/N #3: The title of this chapter are two lyrics from the song I Love You, California written by Francis Beatty Silverwood.
Grand Old Ocean, Her Rugged Shore
"You weren't kidding about the entry," Beckett said to her friend.
"I sent you a picture," May French replied with a smile.
"I know, but it didn't do it justice," Beckett said easily.
"She's right, she showed it to me and I agreed with her," Castle said.
"Which you just did twice," Beckett told her husband.
"Come into the foyer," Luke, May's husband, said with a laugh.
"This isn't it?" Brad asked in confusion since they were by the front door.
"We call it the entry hall," May said, shaking her head. "This is technically the foyer," she added while they were walking further into the room they'd been looking at with the curved staircase.
"Look at the bay!" Iris cried joyfully.
"That's the ocean," Shannon, the oldest of the triplets said.
"Oh," Iris said in disappointment.
"It's still pretty," Clare said, not surprised when the little girl was nodding in agreement with her.
"And the beach is really nice," George said.
"Definitely," Virginia said in agreement with her little brother. "Could we go now?"
"We wanted to show the house first," Luke said. "But we won't take too long," he added hurriedly when some of the kids were groaning.
"I think you want to see this home," Paul commented.
"I think he wants to see it," Castle said with a smile.
"And we will right now with the bottom floors," Luke said though he was looking at his wife.
Laughing briefly May said, "There are three of them."
"Easy," David said swiftly when the kids were exclaiming and asking about what was there.
"Don't tell them yet," Luke told his and his wife's kids.
"We won't, we want them to be surprised too," Clare said with a smile.
"Wait, we can't start with the bottom levels Luke," May said to her husband. "We're leaving out the bottom one."
Nodding the architect said, "True, I'm used to leaving that for last."
"We've been showing people the house in the winter," George said to the others.
"Leave your bags with your beach stuff here," May instructed everyone. "We'll grab it on the way to the stairs down."
"Do you have an elevator?" Skye asked.
"Do any of you need that?" Luke said in concern.
"I'm afraid I will," Liam answered.
"Don't worry," May told him. "It's over here, this doorway."
"I'll go with him… unless there is something special about it," Pablo said to the couple.
"Oh no, go ahead, the next floor is labeled two," May said swiftly before she was leading the rest of the group up the stairs.
Once they were there stepping away from the stairs Julia said, "What a view," since she could see a little in one bedroom.
"Wait until you see the other rooms," Shannon said.
"What do you mean?" Mari asked.
"The ones the parents will be staying in," Clare said quickly.
"Shh, Dad said not to give it away," Virginia told her sisters.
"And we should start walking around," Liam said, stepping out of the elevator with his husband.
"Alright, there are five bedrooms here," May told everyone.
"All the others…" Rebecca started to say. "Never mind," she said quickly. "I forgot you're keeping it a secret."
"Not a secret," May said swiftly. "But you'll see very soon."
"This is my bedroom," George said when they stepped up to the one closest to the stairs before Keo was walking inside and exclaiming happily.
"I can see the bridge!" the little boy was saying eagerly.
"And the ocean," George replied.
"Yeah, I can see the ocean from my room too," Keo said.
After they'd gotten the two boys out of the room May and Luke were showing the rest of the bedrooms, leaving theirs for last.
"Nice," Castle commented at the sight of the view the couple had.
"When it's raining across in Marin it's really interesting," May was telling Beckett.
Nodding she said with a smile, "I think it's great. And you're lucky you could position your bed facing it."
"We thought the same when we were given the tour," May replied.
"Tour?" Beckett and Castle said at the same time.
"We'd been in this house already before we bought it," Luke replied. "And not the open house."
Rolling her eyes briefly May said, "There was no open house."
"You knew the owners already," Stella stated.
"Friends of mine," Luke said. "Well… I should say he's the son of my parents' friends. Anyway, they were moving to Oahu and needed to sell their house."
"So, you got a deal," Joseph said.
"A little, but they have it in great shape and it's near work for me," May said.
"That's right, your buildings are in the Presidio too," Castle said.
"It's not exactly the Presidio but we're close enough," Mary corrected. "I usually ride my bike if the weather is nice."
"Is it okay the kids are walking around?" Lily asked.
"Oh yeah, we've got four of them that do the same thing," Luke said, not surprised his four were glancing at him.
"How long is it to drive for you?" Beckett asked her friend.
"Eleven or ten minutes, it's about a half hour on my bike," May said. "Forty minutes depending on the weather," she added. "But luckily Luke isn't too far either."
"It works out," the architect said with a smile.
"I think we should head upstairs now," May said then.
"You're showing them the room now?" Shannon asked her parents.
"It's where they're sleeping isn't it?" May replied.
"Who is?" Eliza couldn't help asking.
"Your parents," Luke said though he and his wife were looking at the other couples that were planning to stay.
"We…" Beckett started to say, obviously startled while she was looking at everyone.
"You are the reason we were invited," Nancy said.
"She's right, I'd feel weird in this room," Mary added.
"I think we're taking it love," Castle told his wife.
"I take Mama," Josie said, wrapping her arms around her mother's leg tightly.
"We will sweetie," Beckett said with a smile, slightly laughing at the same time when the others were. "And I guess we're seeing it now," she stated though she was looking at her friend before she was speaking hurriedly in response.
"The elevator doesn't go up to it so I hope you won't mind not getting to see it," May said, looking at Skye's father.
"That's alright," Liam said. "Would you mind if we look at the view through your doorway while you wait." He paused and then looked at his husband saying, "If you want to stay with me."
"Don't worry, I do," Pablo said, squeezing his husband's hand gently.
"You can go into the room, sit on the couch we have," Luke told them. "And rest a little since we have more of the house."
After they'd left the couple at the loveseat at the windows looking out on the ocean and Golden Gate Bridge, the group made their way to a set of stairs they paused at.
"The builders put this in," May said with a smile.
"1913 if you're going to ask," Luke then told the others. "And I think the owner of some trade ships built the room to watch for their ships and keep an eye on the weather."
Starting up the spiral staircase, Castle and Beckett shared a look at one another when they saw their view of the Pacific Ocean, bridge and Marin Headlands across the bay. The walls were solely comprised of windows in the north, west and east and the bed was against the wall where they assumed the bathroom was.
"It's a stunning room," Beckett told her friend. "Why isn't it yours?"
"The bathroom isn't as spectacular as ours," Luke said, smiling when the others laughed.
"You do have a point," Castle said with a nod. "But thanks for this, we appreciate it."
"Now to get to the others," Luke said before he paused. "We forgot, the other reason we didn't make this our primary room is the weather, in winter it's chillier than ours downstairs."
"Another thing Luke," May reminded him. "There's a deck if you guys want to go outside at all."
"I noticed the door," Beckett assured her friend. They left the room, once she and Castle had taken a last look, and they went down to the main floor where they took a tour around the living room, family room, kitchen and dining room before they were taken to the library.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here," Castle commented with a smile. "We're signing these books, aren't we?"
"Mom, Dad!" Clare said with a gasp. "We forgot ours!"
"Go, take the elevator," May said with a smile as she watched the four of them rushing out. When they were gone, she turned to Julia and said, "I hope you don't mind signing books."
"No, do they all have copies?" the teen asked in surprise.
"They do, again, you don't mind?" Luke said.
Smiling, Julia shook her head and said, "I don't. I'm just glad they read them."
"I think it's your newest book," May told her before they were turning to watch the four entering the room.
"It is a really nice library," Beckett said to her friend after they were starting to sign hers and Castle's books, Julia signing her own.
"We changed the bookcases, where there wasn't a window there was a gap between them and paneling which is a no, no for me," May said, not surprised when her friend was soon after responding.
"I remember," Beckett said with a smile, handing her husband the book she'd signed. "How much of the house is left?"
"We told you three floors," May responded with a smile.
"But we'll eventually get to the beach, right?" Bobby couldn't help asking.
"We will, our kids are wondering the same thing," Luke said.
"Thanks so much," Virginia said with a wide smile when Julia had signed her book last.
"You're welcome, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it," the teen replied, handing over the pen.
"You're going to have a new one, right?" George asked.
Nodding briefly Julia said, "In the fall."
"You'll get copies," Castle commented. He wasn't surprised when the kids were turning to him and he said, "Seriously."
"Signed ones," Julia added when her father had looked at her pointedly. She smiled when the four were thanking her before the adults were urging them to leave the room and get to the staircase in the foyer. "I'm wondering what there is," she said to Mari and Eve.
"Rooms," the latter said. "That's all they let us know."
"We would have figured that one out," Mari stated.
"I know, but there's probably more," Julia added before they were starting to go over the different bedrooms and the adults that were going to stay there were dividing them and leaving their bags in them.
"This next floor," May said when they were there along with Liam and Pablo. "Doesn't have much, just one room since the last floor has taller ceilings."
"Up to this floor?" Martha asked.
After she'd nodded in response to the question, May opened the door they were at saying, "This is the theater room."
"Wow," Jacob said. "That's a huge one."
"We basically copied what our friends did," Luke explained. "With the number of chairs but we upgraded."
Going to the final floor of the house, Beckett said, "You're kidding."
"We just finished it and no we didn't copy you," May said with a smile. "This used to be a basketball court."
Not surprised when the others were exclaiming, Luke said, "They had a son that played basketball. But we didn't really want to keep it, so we repurposed it."
"It's huge," Ivy said, looking at all the games in the game room.
"I think the best thing is outside," Eliza said.
"Oooh, you're right," Fleur said, joining her.
"Hold on," Luke said to the pair with a smile. He had the two step back and collapsed the walls, opening the room to the outside. "We'll have to come up to the house for dinner and high tide is going to take out the beach at around seven so we can switch to the pool."
"We can swim after dinner?" Fleur asked hopefully.
"You can," Skye said. "Though I wonder if the wind will allow you."
"It's not supposed to be that bad," May replied. "But we really should head to the beach with breakfast."
"I'll get it," Luke said when his wife had looked at him pointedly.
After the fruit Danishes the couple had gotten for everyone, they headed out to the pool to look at it and the view. When they'd finished eating Luke and May were leading the others down the stairs to the beach where they began setting up everything they needed.
"Don't go too far out," May was saying to all the kids. "There isn't a rip tide but it's open ocean that way of course." When they were all leaving; except for the two toddlers; she said to the other parents, "Did they hear me?"
"They did," Beckett said with a smile. "They'll behave since we can make them go up to that gazebo you have."
"Previous owners," Luke said.
"It's not bad," David commented. "Now that you painted it."
"I think you improved the house," Rebecca added.
"The wallpaper wasn't that bad," May said.
"No, but you do hate wallpaper," Beckett told her friend. She laughed when she nodded and turned to head into the water with her husband and Josie.
"Cold Mama," the toddler said.
"It's not too bad," Beckett told her.
"No, I think you're right Kate," Castle said seriously though looking at his wife he couldn't help the corner of his lips from tilting up slightly. "We should go back up to the house."
"No!" Josie protested. "I go to… water," she said.
"Why did you hesitate?" Castle asked though he knew she likely wouldn't answer.
"I think she meant to say swim," Beckett replied with a smile. "Either way let's head in Rick."
"After you," Castle said, smiling when she gave him a look before they were heading into the water.
"It's so weird we just jumped right in," Miller said to his brother and sisters.
"We've swum in colder," Reiley told her brother scathingly though she was smiling at him.
"True, if you ever-" Bobby started to say before they were going under a wave together.
"Kintyre?" Julia asked once they'd recovered from that.
"Yeah," the Willis kids were saying at the same time before they were laughing together.
"Don't go in winter though," Bobby told them. He had more to say but didn't continue, going under the wave passing by then, before he was able to say, "Grandude said it's freezing, and you'll come out as-"
"Solid ice," the four kids said.
"Good advice," Julia replied. She dove under the water then and said, "My hair was starting to dry," smiling at the others when she resurfaced.
"Mine too," Mari said, doing her best to get the water off her face. She then looked at the French triplets who were with them and said, "Are you guys okay?"
"Um… we feel a little out of place," Clare said, looking at her siblings.
"You shouldn't be," Eve said reassuringly. "If you want to say anything go ahead."
"You don't mind not going around the city today?" Shannon asked.
"No way," Jacob said. "It's worth it for this house."
Laughing Virginia told him, "It is great, isn't it?"
"Definitely," Mari said.
"Where are we going to sleep?" Eve asked then.
"I was just going to say," Bailey said.
"That large room off the bedrooms the parents are going to stay in," Shannon answered. "It's supposed to be a family room, but we just call it the great room for the bedrooms."
"Cool," Julia, Jacob and Bobby said at the same time.
Laughing at that, the kids calmed down and then turned towards shore and allowed the waves to press them back to the others.
"How have you been?" May asked.
Smiling at her friend Beckett said, "Good, very good in fact the trip has been amazing."
"It better continue to be," Skye said from the blanket she was sitting on near them. "We are going through my home state now."
"Mine too," May reminded her. She laughed when the investigator held her fist out to her and bumped hers against Skye's before she then said, "Josie?"
"She's doing well," Beckett answered, nodding briefly. "I'm sure you could tell."
"Hard to believe she's two already," May said, surprised when her friend was snorting in response.
"Yours are nearly teenagers. And George?" Beckett told her.
"Don't remind me," May replied, shaking her head. "It's a shock still."
"That doesn't surprise me, though have they've been any trouble?" Skye asked.
"The triplets?" May asked. When the investigator nodded, she smiled and said, "They're fine, you realize you have two sets of twins."
"Speaking of the two sets are making their way over right now," Beckett commented.
"That was a short walk," May said before she hesitated. "They're hungry," she told the other two women that had stayed with her at their things.
"I would be shocked if they weren't," Skye said, standing up and holding her arms out to Ivy who was reaching her first. "Good walk?" she asked after she'd stopped laughing.
"Yeah, we found some seashells," Ivy said happily.
"Good, now you realize we need to have lunch," Skye said.
"It's why we turned around," Marie told her mother, having been following her sister. "Too many were complaining they were hungry."
"I wouldn't say complaining," Beckett said, standing with her friend. "I think you mean stating."
"Or are you talking about the boys?" Skye asked.
"The dads," Ivy said, smiling at the way the three women were laughing.
"The boys did a little too, but the dads were mentioning being hungry," Marie added. "Grandda too."
"No surprise, we'd better head to the coolers," Skye said.
"That's where I am," May said.
Once everyone was there, lunch was passed out and the families sat on their respective blankets and towels to begin eating.
"Are you liking the beach Grandpapa?" Julia asked after she'd eaten a little of her sandwich.
"I am," Jim said. "Though I don't know about those stairs."
"I think we're staying down here until we need to go because of the tide," Castle said, looking at his wife at the same time.
Giving him a quick nod, Beckett said, "It's easier. Especially for Liam." She glanced at her husband and said, "And likely for-"
"I'm fine," Castle said firmly. "Though I can't run up and down them like a crazy person they're not going to take me out."
Beckett merely smiled at his slightly exasperated tone and leaned over to gently kiss his cheek before they were eating again. She noticed eventually that Eliza was looking up at the cliffs behind them and she asked, "Are you alright sweetie?"
"Yeah… do the rocks fall off that?" the little girl responded with her own question.
"They might, but it'll be alright," Castle assured her. "You'll hear it before they fall," he said. He noticed his wife had a slight frown and asked, "What?"
"Don't scare her," Beckett told him.
"No, no," Castle said hurriedly, turning his attention to Eliza. "They're not going to fall right now."
"They could," Eliza said.
"Yes, but we're not going to worry about it because we'll hear it," Beckett said, watching the little girl nodding before she spoke slowly.
"Okay," Eliza replied, glancing at the cliff quickly. She turned back to the ocean and started to eat again before she was looking at her sister when she began to speak.
"We're going to have to wait after this right?" Julia asked.
"We are, we did bring games remember," Castle said.
"We're going to play with that frisbee right?" Louis asked, sitting with Alexis near them.
"You want to play with that?" Eliza asked in obvious surprise.
"He's wants to be a Californian again," Alexis replied, smiling at her husband.
"When did we play that then?" Eliza said with a frown.
"We didn't," Beckett said in amusement. "That was a little after. But you'd want to play it now, right?"
"Sure," Eliza said with a smile.
"Okay, once we're finished eating we can…" Castle started to say before he looked at his and realized he only held one more bite. He put it in his mouth quickly and then said when he'd finished eating it, "We can play."
"I'm ready!" Eliza said, jumping up since she'd finished her own sandwich by then.
"Who's taking Josie?" Beckett asked, looking at her father and mother-in-law.
"I will," Jim said. "I'm fine," he said firmly to his daughter when she was looking at him in concern. "I feel like relaxing," he added.
"I'll join you," Martha said with a smile. "I think we'll be joined by the other grandparents."
"Can I go tell Mari what we're going to do?" Julia asked her mother.
"Go ahead, stay with her though so you won't wake up your sister," Beckett replied.
Nodding rapidly, Julia rushed across the sand as fast as she could without running, reaching her friend while she was getting up from her family's blanket. "Hey, we're going to play with the frisbee we brought," she told her. "Want to join us?"
"Sure," Mari said with a smile. "What about the others?"
"I don't know, come with me to ask," Julia said. They were about to head to the Willis kids when Reiley was walking up to them.
"I heard you; we'd like to play frisbee too," the girl said.
"Can you?" Julia asked jokingly.
"Are you going to be that competitive?" Bobby replied with his own question.
"No," Julia said laughingly. She then said, "We're going to just throw it around until the adults let us back in the water."
"You know I'm nearly a grownup," Miller said.
"Not even close," Alasdhair called to his son.
"Had to try," Miller said to the other kids, laughing when his grandfather ruffled his hair.
Going to the sand a little away from the blankets and towels, Julia looked at the Golden Gate Bridge and said, "I'm so glad we got to come here."
"I know, but I can't wait to try the pool," Mari said. She saw the way her friend was looking at her and said, "What?"
"I thought the same thing," Julia said. "It should be a really nice view from the edge of it," she added, since the French's pool had an infinity edge.
"And their game room," Mari told her friend.
"I've been thinking that too," Julia said, laughing slightly.
"They have a lot more than you do," Jacob said.
"Well… their room is bigger… a lot bigger than ours," Julia started to say before she finished speaking rapidly.
"True," Jacob said before they were falling silent at the parents walking to them.
"You're playing with us?" Julia asked with a smile when she saw Paul was among them.
"I am, since your mom is going to take pictures," the singer replied.
"I'll play a little," Beckett said, smiling at her daughter. "But for now, I want to get some pictures."
Though she didn't think it was fair, Julia nodded since she was aware her mother wouldn't change her mind. She turned to the others, and she asked her father, who was holding the frisbee, "What're we doing?"
"Just passing," Castle said. He then added firmly, "But please make sure you say the name of the person you're going to pass to," not surprised when Keo was raising his hand before he spoke.
"What if we can't throw it good?" the little boy asked.
"Then you might want to throw it to someone closer to you," Darnley suggested to his son.
"Ready?" Castle asked, though he was looking at his wife when he said that.
"Go ahead love," Beckett said with a smile before she was getting her camera ready. As Castle called to Eliza and threw the frisbee to her, she began taking pictures, taking one of everyone catching or throwing until she put her camera away. "She's alright?" she asked her father in a whisper.
When Jim nodded, Martha said, "Go and play kiddo, I could tell Eliza wanted you to."
"I am right now," Beckett replied before she made her way back over to the game, her husband smiling at her when she stood next to him.
"That went too fast," Eliza was telling her mother.
"You do get to keep swimming," Beckett replied.
"I wouldn't knock it," Castle said. He was going to continue before he paused when he saw the confusion on the little girl's face and explained, "That means don't say anything negative about it." After Eliza had nodded, he then continued with, "But at least you get to swim like your mom said, and with this view."
Eliza couldn't help giggling at her father spreading his arms wide and told him, "You're right, it's really pretty."
"Then go ahead and start," Beckett urged her. After their second youngest had left them, she turned to her husband and said, "Thanks."
"She would have swum still," Castle said with a nod. He then took her hand and said, "You've been enjoying this?"
"Of course," Beckett replied, looking at the game room that was still open to the patio. "Though I wonder when you should tell them."
"Tell them what?" May asked, walking by them.
"We usually announce our next day's plans," Castle explained to the producer.
"Oh yeah?" May replied.
"What's going on?" Brad asked, standing near them and able to hear their conversation.
"I think some others know what we're doing," Castle said slowly, looking at his wife.
"I invited them," Beckett said with a smile. "I had the feeling the others wouldn't mind."
"Not after your invitation," some of the adults were saying in response.
"Thank you," Luke said.
"So… where are we going?" Eliza asked hopefully.
"You kind of know the first part already," Castle said after glancing at Skye. "First is Alcatraz."
"We have our tickets," May said when her kids turned to her immediately.
"That's in the morning," Skye said. "After that we catch the trolley again and make our way down to Chinatown and Union Square."
"The mall?" Alexis asked.
"Uh…" Castle began to say before he was looking at the McCartneys and Willises, Stella speaking after with a smile on her face.
"I think Dad said he'd gone somewhere that was a mall," the designer said. "And that's the one?"
"It is," Paul said. "You'll enjoy it."
"Architecturally," Luke said before anyone else could say anything.
"Oh…" Stella said before she trailed off and then started to laugh.
"The kids," Alasdhair said.
Turning, Skye couldn't help laughing herself when she saw some were waving their hands. "What is it?" she asked.
"Could we eat there?" Iris said in response, speaking in a rush.
"There's a veggie place, places with vegetarian too," Skye said.
"I'm wondering about Chinatown though," Stella said. "It seems like we're going to eat there."
"That's the plan," Castle said, not surprised when his wife glanced at him. "But Skye and I know Mandarin so we can talk with the servers at the Dim Sum place we go to and get you vegetarian options."
"Alright, but we'll need to eat separate," Stella said.
"Not a problem," Castle said.
"Great, so… we're going with them all day, right?" George asked his parents.
"You are," Beckett answered when May turned to her.
"Great, I can't wait," George said with a smile.
"How're we going to get to Fisherman's Wharf though?" Miller asked.
"Cabs, though we have two cars we can stuff with people," Luke commented, smiling when some of the younger kids were giggling.
"We'll get there, don't worry," Castle said reassuringly. "Speaking of getting there. I'd like to get to the pool if you don't mind."
"Is that the rest of the plans for tomorrow?" Bethany asked.
"That's it," Beckett said, squeezing her husband's arm before they were going to the pool. After they were slipping into the water she told him, "Do you want to get something special?"
Laughing Castle said, "Just a thought," before he was looking at her in surprise.
"You just realized what I was asking?" Beckett asked laughingly.
"Basically," Castle replied swiftly. "But I'm torn between that and Beard Papa."
"Should be the latter," Skye said, going into the pool then.
"Oh please!" Virginia said eagerly. "We love those."
"What's that?" Stella asked.
"Cream puffs," Darnley said. "They have a matcha one that's incredible."
"Where is it?" Alasdhair asked.
"At the mall, believe it or not," Mary said.
"That reminds me," Paul said. "Are we helping with dinner at all? Do we need to, because I can help I'm not very bad at it."
Laughing briefly May said, "Thank you for offering but we're having dinner catered."
"It's not here," Luke told his wife when she turned to him. "And remember we'll hear the chime for the phone," he added, not surprised their oldest was commenting about that.
"What about the special thing?" Shannon was saying.
"It'll be there," Luke said with a sigh.
"Dessert?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, hopefully you guys won't mind that," May responded.
"That depends on what it is," Nkosi said.
"Cookies, there's a cookie place next door to the restaurant we went ordered from," May explained.
"Special?" Beckett asked. When her friend merely looked at her and smiled her eyes widened for a moment before she said, "Not Benelli."
"It is, they closed in Stanford," May replied. "But they still have the original place."
"So we're having Mexican?" Beckett asked.
"Great," Skye said. "Can't help wanting a good taco," she added. "Especially here."
"Back at home?" May asked.
"We're a bit north for that," Skye said after she'd pretended to think that over. She wasn't surprised when those that were from the north of the state protested and she said, "Of course I'm joking."
"Biased too grá," Mary told her wife jokingly.
"And you aren't?" Skye shot back before they were laughing together and started to swim across the pool.
"Wait," Castle told his wife before she could swim then. "What's so great about the cookie place?"
"You can say," May told Beckett when her friend turned to her.
"She took me there once we were friends; I said my mom made better cookies," Beckett said.
"She's told me that too," Castle said to the producer.
"And she's right, Johanna was the best," Jim commented, walking into the pool with Josie. "She wants to go in with you," he told his daughter while he handed her the toddler.
"Thanks," Beckett said in amusement since Josie had immediately begun kicking her legs.
"I'm guessing when you went to the cookie place they were better than your mom's?" Castle asked his wife.
"They were, and we kept going back," Beckett said. "And took up working out to balance that."
"Her insistence," May said, smiling. "The best thing was the fact that we were able to have a movie night with cookies, instead of popcorn."
"And almost got sick," Beckett reminded her friend.
"Yeah, but before that point it was awesome," May said, exaggerating her voice on the end, smiling when the others laughed in response.
"They'll be good," Beckett told her husband.
"Mama, I go swim," Josie said. "Please," she added.
"We will right now," Beckett said before she was startled when her husband was taking their youngest as he spoke at the same time.
"You can go ahead and swim," Castle told her. When she started to open her mouth to speak, he quickly told her, "I know you wanted to swim so I'm letting you have the chance."
"Thank you," Beckett said, brushing her lips to his before she moved to swim across the pool.
"Okay Josie," Castle said, turning his attention to the toddler. "Would you like to look at the ocean?"
"I go," Josie said.
"You can say I do," Castle said. "Want to?" he asked her.
"I go," Josie repeated. When her father pursed his lips at her she giggled and kissed his lips before she said, "Please."
"We'll try that lesson another time," Castle said, unable to help smiling at her serious expression. He kissed her cheek and then said, "Now we can go look out at the ocean." He took her along the shelf that went around the entire pool and set her down at the infinity edge, sitting next to her.
"Dada go swim," Josie said, pointing to the water.
Kissing her cheek again Castle said, "I know, we went swimming there." He laughed when she frowned at him and he told her, "Sorry ceann beag. We can't really go down there though, there's no more beach."
"And we're not going to look down at the water at the bottom of the staircase," Beckett said, walking up to them on the shelf. She sat next to her husband and said, "Don't lean over sweetie."
Turning to the toddler, Castle grabbed her and kissed her cheek before he said, "You can't go over like that, we're staying here, okay?"
"Eh," Josie replied before she reached for her mother.
"You know if you want to go swimming now you can," Beckett told her husband, setting Josie on her lap.
"Quickly," Castle said. He kissed his wife before he pushed off the shelf, doing so roughly before he was in the water.
Shaking her head and smiling, Beckett hoped she wasn't showing her enjoyment of that brief kiss though she was relieved when no one called to her. She looked down at Josie, seeing her holding onto the top of the edge so the water was running over her hand. Kissing the top of her head she asked, "Did your daddy take you swimming at all?"
"No Mama, we see…" Josie started to say before she squirmed.
"The ocean," Beckett said. "You can say it."
"Of course she can," Julia said, swimming up. "Say it Josa," she urged her sister.
"Ocean," Josie said, smiling.
"Then would you like to swim now?" Beckett asked the toddler with a smile. She laughed briefly when Josie nodded and took her into the water since her husband hadn't gone far from the shallow end. She helped the toddler swim around and said to Julia, "You're finished swimming with your friends?"
"Just waiting," the teen said with a smile.
"For what?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"Me," Mari said, swimming to them. "We were going to watch the ocean for a little," not surprised her friend's mother was commenting about that.
"And let the water run over you," Beckett said.
"No leaning over the side," Rebecca said, swimming by with Dani.
"She's right, that's way too dangerous," Beckett told them though she was speaking mainly to her daughter.
"We were going to try and let our hair run over the side," Mari confessed.
"Try," Julia said rapidly at the look on her mother's face. "It's dangerous?" she asked, not surprised when she was responding.
"I wouldn't risk it," Beckett said. She then smiled and told her, "But I'm not surprised you wanted to try that."
"Julia, Mari," Reiley was calling to them.
"I think they want to play something," Julia said to Mari. She said goodbye to her mother before they were swimming away to the others at the deep end.
"Be careful, whatever you're planning on," Castle said while he was walking up to the shallow end. "They're not planning?" he asked his wife when he reached her.
"No," Beckett said in amusement before she helped Josie swim to him.
"See Dada," Josie said.
"I did," Castle said. "Want to jump in?" he asked her.
Smiling when the toddler was saying yes immediately, Beckett kissed her husband's cheek before they were playing with their daughter and helping her jump into the pool while the others were swimming or playing around them.