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: Just wanted to note the Dear Canada books I mention in this chapter I completely made up since the series as of right now hasn't been continued since 2016 so I took artistic license and continued it myself, lol, to a degree.
A/N #2: The title of this story is a lyric from the song California Calling written by Al Jardine and Brian Wilson, from The Beach Boys' self titled album. The title of this prologue is a lyric from the song The Vancouver Song written by Grant Mckinnon, Matt Kelly, Matt Lockhart and Steve Lockhart, from the Treelines' album Courage.
Shadow Of Snow-Capped Mountains
"Mama," Josie said. "Look!"
"What do you see sweetie?" Beckett asked with a smile, walking over to where the baby was standing at the floor to ceiling window next to the bed.
"Cars!" Josie cried.
"Skye said that was a busy street," Castle commented, walking out of the closet.
"She was right," Beckett said in amusement before she heard footsteps walking down to the room.
"What?" Julia asked, Mari behind her.
"Did you two finish unpacking?" Castle asked.
"Yeah," Julia said easily. "We didn't have that much Dad."
"No but I have to make sure," Castle said easily. "Is the room good?"
"It's really nice," Julia said, looking at her friend slightly behind her still and smiling when she nodded. "You can come inside you know."
"She's right," Beckett told the girl with a smile to put her at ease.
"Thanks," Mari said. "Are you sure it's okay that I'm here too?"
"You heard what Lizzy said," Julia reminded her friend. When Mari nodded in agreement she asked, "Could we go out to the terrace?" She saw the hesitation on her mother's face and told her in a rush, "We'll just look out and down at the street, we won't go in the pool."
"Alright," Beckett said with a nod. She watched them go and told her husband, "I feel like it's too much."
Smiling, since he had gotten the Rosewood suite at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver for their visit to the city, Castle said, "I can cancel if you want." He couldn't help laughing when she gave him a mock look and he took Josie to the living room of the suite to let her finish unpacking. As he looked out at the girls on the terrace he told Josie, "Well sweetheart, it's the twelfth of June and we're finally in Canada."
"Can… da?" Josie asked.
"Exactly," Castle said with a smile, kissing her temple.
"Go out," Josie then said firmly.
"We will soon," Castle assured her. "Want to take a peek at your sister and Mari's room?" He couldn't help laughing when Josie nodded and carried her to the second bedroom in the suite while the toddler was talking to him.
"I think he went to show your sister our room," Mari said.
"I told you," Julia said with a smile. "And he'll just stand in the doorway," she added, her friend responding rapidly.
"Luckily we don't have anything bad out," Mari said.
"No," Julia said with a smile.
Glancing at her friend Mari asked, "Are you sad?"
"No," Julia said. "Why would I be sad?"
Smiling Mari told her, "All we can see is the city."
"I don't care," Julia replied firmly. "I think it's great." She glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye and asked, "Do you mind sharing the suite with my parents?"
"No," Mari said. She then smiled and said, "It's huge so it'd be a waste if we weren't here."
"I know," Julia said.
"And it's a beautiful place," Mari said. "Like a little apartment."
Nodding rapidly Julia then said with a smile, "I hope we can go in that pool soon."
"Who's going to go in? We can't all fit," Mari said.
"When it's just us," Castle said, having come outside with Josie. "Stay with me ceann beag," he said when the toddler was trying to pull at his hand.
"Wanna go swim Dada," Josie told him.
"Later, later we will I promise," Castle assured her.
"Are we going to have lunch at all?" Julia asked.
"A snack," Beckett said, stepping out herself. "With the others."
Seeing they were all there, Julia smiled and greeted her sister while she rushed over to look out at the street below them. "How's your room?" she asked.
"Good," Eliza said before she spotted the plunge pool a second before Iris began exclaiming over it.
"A pool! Oh Mummy, Mommy! Can't we go swimming?" the youngest McDouglas said eagerly.
"Easy lass," Skye said with a smile. "We will but not here."
"But we will after dinner," Castle commented.
"Somehow," Nkosi commented.
"I think it might be just the kids," Liam said.
"More than likely," Mary agreed with her father-in-law.
"How many of us are there?" Eve asked.
"Did you not count?" Beckett asked in amusement when her husband looked startled at the question for a moment.
"No," Castle said with a brief laugh. He was startled again when the kids were asking him to do so and he said, "Actually let me see if you guys can add everyone up." He waited for some kind of protest but when there was none he said, "I'm surprised."
"Hurry," Beckett told him.
"Right," Castle said. "So, there are nine of us, four of the Fosters, six of the Darnleys, five Davises and nine McDouglases… That's everyone right?"
"It is," Pablo answered in amusement. "And seems like a lot."
"Thirty-three?" Jacob asked, having been recalling the numbers.
"Yeah," Castle said before looking at his wife.
"What?" Beckett asked with a laugh at his expression. "We're all here."
"What about the extra number?" Martha asked, smiling at Alexis before her oldest granddaughter was answering.
"I wanted to tell everyone at dinner," the young woman protested slightly. A little taken aback when the adults were telling her to let them know the baby's gender, Alexis shared a look with her husband before they were laughing together. She then felt him squeeze her hand and turned to the others, recalling when they'd told her family after they had found out the gender of their baby the week before.
"When are we going to find out?" Eliza asked her sister.
"Soon… at least I hope so," Julia commented, looking at the doorway to the hall. It was after dinner, and she had just opened the windows in the family room so they'd have some breeze. She looked at Josie who was standing with her and said with a smile, "What's wrong with you?"
"My baby?" the toddler replied with a question.
"She-" Eliza said in obvious confusion.
"No," Julia interrupted her little sister. "I think she's wondering why we're talking about a baby." She studied the toddler a little and then said with a smile, "You think we're talking about you."
Giggling, though she didn't mean to, Eliza said, "You're not the baby anymore. 'lexis' is now."
"It's still a while until it gets here," Alexis said. She saw the way her sisters were looking at her and laughed saying, "I'm not going to say until we're all here."
"We are now," Martha said. "Richard."
"Mother," Castle said immediately. "I'm not pushing."
"Sit," Louis said. "We'll tell you as soon as we're all settled."
"Now we are," Beckett said once she saw everyone was sitting though Josie was going to her sister and speaking while Alexis put her on her lap.
"Me 'lexis?" Josie said.
"My baby," Alexis replied, kissing the side of her head. She wasn't surprised when the baby pointed to her mother and set her down before she looked at the others.
"I've been watching them too," Louis said in amusement. "I'm surprised they're still on their seats."
"Not in the air?" Alexis asked.
"I think you need to tell us," Beckett said then in amusement.
"Did I hurt you?" Castle asked in obvious concern when he realized he'd been holding his wife's hand.
"No, but your family isn't known for patience," Beckett said teasingly, laughing with the others when her husband, Alexis and Martha all said, "Hey!" at the same time in protest.
"Okay, okay," Alexis said, not surprised when everyone immediately calmed down. "First off everything is going fine, I'm fine. And after that checkup we started the ultrasound and found out something about the baby."
"You said everything was fine," Jim said immediately and in obvious concern.
"It is," Alexis said before her husband reached over to her and took her hand. She shared a brief smile with him and then turned to the others saying, "We're having twins."
"What?" nearly everyone said at the same time.
"You're sure you're okay?" Castle asked in obvious concern.
"I am," Alexis replied. "And that's why I was getting tired still."
"Has that eased up?" Beckett asked.
"A lot," Alexis replied with a nod. She then saw Eliza had her hand raised high and said with a smile, "I think I need to finish."
"I hope you will," Martha said.
Though she knew her grandmother was still concerned about her carrying twins, Alexis said, "After that we had to find out and the doctor told us we're having a girl and a boy."
"Both!" Eliza exclaimed happily.
Alexis stood up when her parents hurried over to her and hugged her at the same time before she was embracing them back. "The December birthday might be a little late."
"A little," Beckett said. "Did you discuss your birthing options, what you'll need to do in the last month…"
"You're thinking of May," Alexis said while they let each other go.
"I am," Beckett replied.
"We stayed a little longer talking with the doctor," Louis said, laughing briefly when his mother-in-law stepped up to him and embraced him. "And I made sure I was paying close attention."
"Good," Castle said before shaking his son in law's hand. "Congratulations. Now we'll have to talk about sharing what you have to do for both babies."
"Of course," Louis said before he was turning his attention to Martha while she was congratulating him after saying the same to his wife.
"'lexis?" Eliza asked when the adults had calmed down. When her sister was looking at her, she said, "Do you know what you're going to call the babies now?"
"We'll discuss it once we're closer to them being born," Alexis said. "But like Mom and Dad did for you, we'll wait until they're born to name them."
"That's too long," Eliza said.
"It was the same for us waiting for you," Castle said with a smile.
"We're so happy though," Eliza said hurriedly.
"So am I," Julia said swiftly when she realized the others were looking at her. She realized suddenly she hadn't spoken, and she went to Alexis, embracing her tightly before she said, "A niece and nephew."
"I know, don't do the same when you're older," Alexis said.
Bursting out laughing Julia said, "I can't promise that."
"True, then just promise you'll come and see them once they're born," Alexis said.
"Duh," Julia said with a smile before they were laughing.
"Okay, who wants some tea?" Castle asked.
"Thank you, Dad," Alexis said, not surprised he'd guessed that. She turned to her grandmother when Martha was getting her attention, sitting with her on the couch before she began to speak with her about the twins.
"Don't ask how I'm doing," Alexis told her father while he was sitting next to her.
"I wasn't going to," Castle said simply. When his oldest gave him a look he said, "Just making sure you don't want anything else to drink."
"Or eat?" Alexis asked, startled when her father burst out laughing.
"Oh… sorry about that," Castle said, trying to calm down quickly. "But I learned not to do that when your mom was pregnant with your sisters."
"Good, because I'm good," Alexis replied. She looked out the window and said, "Are we still going to Robson?"
"I would hope," Skye said, walking by them.
"Right now," Castle said to the investigator. "If everyone's finished." He smiled when the kids were clamoring that they were and he calmed them down saying, "Okay, then let's go because I'm more than ready."
"We're still going to Chapters, right?" Skye asked. She saw the way her wife was looking at her and sighed saying, "Fine, Indigo but I met it as Chapters so that it will be."
"You didn't think that was funny?" Liam asked his daughter in law when Mary was putting her hand to her face.
"Yes, but no one else will get it," the doctor said.
"Let's go before we have to go to dinner instead," Skye said to the others, knowing they were watching them. She smiled at the younger kids cheering before she followed everyone to the door out.
"You spent a lot of time there?" Beckett was asking as they waited to take their turn to leave.
"I did, to relax," Skye said simply before she smiled. "And I was going to bring Mary here but the case in New York happened."
"Really," Beckett said in surprise.
"Yeah," Skye said simply. "But don't worry, we got to come here with all the girls."
"Good outlook," Beckett said.
"Though I'm wondering about you," Skye commented.
"I'm assuming this is because of the announcement?" Beckett asked with a smile.
"Basically," Skye said before her friend was speaking slightly laughingly.
"Oh, we're fine," Beckett said pointedly.
"I had thought of what he thought," Skye said. "But I can tell he's happy about it."
Nodding Beckett then said, "He is, just worried about Alexis' well being."
"She'll be fine," Skye said. When she saw the way her friend was looking at her, she explained, "She has a lot of people looking out for her; Louis for starters." She paused and then asked, "He hasn't been hovering, has he?"
Snorting Castle said, "Of course he has, but he's trying to be careful."
"At his advice," Beckett said in amusement.
"Ah," Skye said before they looked down the hall when Fleur was calling to her. "I better go."
"I'm fine," Castle said in a rush when he and his wife were looking at each other.
"I know, I'm just waiting for November now," Beckett said.
Castle couldn't help smiling as he took her hand and they left the room before he told her, "What if they're born on your birthday?"
"I don't know," Beckett said simply. "I would say wait until they're born but I know how you can be." When he made a face at her she couldn't help laughing before saying, "But we'll still go to Tahiti, don't worry."
"I figured," Castle said before they were turning their attention to their family and friends at the elevators. Going down to the lobby he was holding Josie and said to her, "Are you excited now ceann beag?"
"Eh," the toddler replied, smiling widely.
"Where are we Josa?" Julia asked her.
"Vava," Josie replied immediately before she was laughing with her sisters.
"At some point you'll be able to say that sweetie," Beckett told her when they stepped out and she was getting the stroller ready. She let her husband put their youngest in before her mother-in-law was stepping over to them. "Martha-" she started to say with a slight frown.
"No, no, I know you'll want to take pictures, so I don't mind," Castle's mother replied. She smiled and then said, "Bethany is going to push Sophie in her stroller, so we'll go together."
"Alright, but if you need a break let me know," Beckett told her.
"We'll be fine," Martha assured her before she saw they were all in the lobby.
"Who knows how to get there?" Brad asked.
"I do," Skye said. "But don't look to me for all the directions," she added in amusement. After they were outside, she took Ivy's hand and said, "All the kids are going with someone."
"But-" the little girl said with a frown before her mother interrupted her.
"The older kids are staying with us too," Skye said.
"Then can I go with Marie and Kath?" Ivy asked.
"Alright," Skye said, watching her go once she let go of her hand. "She's growing up," she told her wife when she stood with her. She then glanced at Mary and said, "All of them are."
"What building is that?" Maddy suddenly asked.
"The Vancouver Art Gallery," Castle answered. "I knew already," he told the investigator.
"Don't worry, I figured," Skye said in amusement.
"Are we going there?" Eliza asked her grandfather, walking with him.
"I'm not sure," Jim replied. He couldn't help chuckling when she frowned and said, "I'm letting your parents surprise us."
"They'll tell us about tomorrow, right?" Eliza asked him.
"I'm sure they will," Jim said.
"Is this it?" Julia asked interestedly when they'd gone a block.
"I see it says Robson," Mari told her friend, laughing when she nudged her slightly.
"Which way now?" Keo asked.
"Why are you so excited?" Jacob said to the boy since he was standing by him.
"I get a book!" Keo replied happily.
"Just one though," Darnley said swiftly.
"We told our kids that," David said.
"Us too," Brad and Castle ended up saying at the same time before Mary was speaking in amusement.
"I think we all said that to our kids," the doctor said. "And we're here," she added.
"Already?" Jim asked, looking at the store.
"Luckily Rick picked a hotel nearby," Skye said jokingly.
"That's why I picked it," Castle said in the same tone before they were going inside. He looked around, impressed with the contemporary décor before he could tell how big the store was. "Nice," he said under his breath before he looked down at Josie when she grabbed his hand.
"Dada, I want books," Josie said, pronouncing the last word slowly since her sisters had taught her that one.
"We'll get one for you," Castle assured her, kissing her temple after he'd picked her up.
"Did you want to go to the kids books first?" Beckett asked.
"Yes," Castle replied.
"We'll take her," Jim said, holding his arms out to his youngest granddaughter.
"Actually, we'll take her before we come back down," Castle said.
"We don't mind," Beckett said, smiling at her father before they were heading to the escalators they could see.
"Good thing they have parking for the strollers," Brad said while they were heading to the second floor.
"Look at the forest," Maddy said with a gasp, pictures of it on either side of the atrium where they were going up.
"That's likely Stanley Park," Skye said. "And before you fans ask, I have no idea if they filmed The X-Files there. I'd say no because it's a little too small for that but I really don't know."
"Too bad," Julia said, looking at the pictures once they'd gotten off the rising stairs. She turned and said to Mari, "I wonder," before she was speaking hurriedly and smiling while they went to the young adult books.
"Wonder what?" she asked swiftly.
Smirking at her friend Julia then said, "How you're feeling."
"I'm fine, it's still six days until my birthday," Mari replied. She looked at the shelves of their section and asked, "What're you going to get?"
"Are you ser… you're not," Julia started to say in shock when she saw her friend was smiling. She then turned to Marie and Kathleen standing by them and said, "You guys want to get the books too."
"There are new ones, right?" Marie asked.
"A ton I haven't gotten yet," Julia said with a nod. "I was waiting to get them."
"Me too," Mari said. "Let's go I've been dreaming of getting my hands on them."
"So have I," Julia said before the four of them were laughing and they were rushing without running the best they could to find them.
"Where- here!" Kathleen whispered when they searched, and she finally spotted them.
"Yes! I wanted to get this one badly," Marie said, grabbing the deep red book.
"She said that just because the girl has the same name," Kathleen said.
"I don't blame you," Julia said.
"Isn't there one with your name?" Mari asked.
"The newest one," Julia said, feeling her cheeks heating up slightly. "Hopefully they have four copies of the four." She wasn't surprised when her friends nodded in agreement before she turned to the shelves. She picked up the first Dear Canada book, the one Marie had gotten, and read the title Tracks Through the Wilderness and the information about the girl that had written it underneath; The Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad Diary of Marie Bellamy, La Prairie, Quebec, Lower Canada 1835.
"Look at this one," Mari said, showing her the moss green colored book.
"I'll grab a copy," Julia replied with a smile as she was doing so. She then read the title saying, "Victors of the Ice… huh."
"It might be good," Mari told her with a smile. "If it's a girl writing it, and maybe it won't be too much about the sports."
"Yeah, if she's writing it in a diary there might not be," Julia said. "The Stanley Cup Diary of Tara Matthews, Montreal, Quebec, 1893. Well either way I'm getting it," she added when she was finished, smiling widely and putting it with the first book. She took the third new book, a lavender hue, and said, "Here's one from the twenties."
"Music for a Nation," Mari said.
"I read that one," Marie said swiftly. "The back," she added in a rush. "And it sounds really cool."
"I see," Julia said after reading the back sample. She then looked at the front again and under the black and white photo of a girl that read The Roaring Twenties Diary of Serena Queen, Toronto to Vancouver, 1924. "And the last one?" she asked.
"Here, there's enough for us all," Mari told her. "And this one is the latest one I've ever seen."
"Freedom to the Great White North," Julia said, taking a copy of the blue book. "The Canada Act Diary of Julia Dorsey, Ottawa, Ontario 1982. Wow, that is the latest year," she said. "I think that's the one that came out last of the four."
"Wait," Kathleen said. "Are we going to be allowed to get all of these?"
"I… I never told my parents," Julia said slowly, able to tell from her friends' expressions they hadn't either. She was about to suggest they should go and ask when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"We could see you girls," Castle told them. He smiled when they turned around to him and he said, "Your mothers are busy with your sisters. Mari your parents are with Dani-"
"And Mom?" Julia asked.
"Reading a book to Josie, she's picked the one she wanted," Castle answered. "And we'll buy one of those books for you; the rest you need to buy with your allowance."
"Thank you," Julia said happily, she looked at them and handed the newest of the series to her father. "It's in the eighties."
"Do you remember that at all?" Marie asked.
Smiling Castle said, "I was only eight and I was in another country."
"I remember," Martha said while she walked over to them. She couldn't help laughing when the four were asking at the same time what she remembered before she said to her son, "I was on Broadway and my understudy was from Toronto."
"Right, Agnes of God," Castle said.
"What's so funny?" Julia asked, surprised her father was fighting a smile.
"My character's name was my own," Martha replied.
"You played someone named Martha?" Mari asked in surprise. When Castle's mother nodded, she then said, "Was it a nice play? Plot?"
"You four wouldn't be able to see it," Martha said. "So, it's not funny."
"You never told me the plot," Castle said in protest.
"Guys," Beckett said. When they turned to her, she told them, "We're all ready except for you."
"We're ready," Julia said rapidly before her friends were leaving them to go back to their parents. "Want to see what I'm getting?" she asked her mother while they made their way over to the escalators.
"Of course," Beckett said, looking at the titles on the way down. "The eighties," she said, seeing the one she and Castle were going to buy for their second oldest.
"I saw, but that's when it happened," he replied.
Rolling her eyes, though she was smiling, Beckett said, "We're not going to take that long."
"I don't know, the kids did," Castle said, checking the time. "Wait, what time are we eating?"
"No idea," Beckett said, pausing then so they could step away from the moving staircase. "But Skye knows where we're going for dinner."
"Oh good, the pressure's off of us for a change," Castle said.
Beckett smiled and told him, "Come on love."
"Sure," Castle said swiftly, following her to the fiction books. They walked around them, and he picked out one from an author he wasn't aware of before he rejoined his wife. "Nothing?" he asked her in surprise seeing she was empty handed.
"No, but you got something," Beckett replied with a smile. She took the tome, pausing when her husband brushed her hair past her shoulder and she then said, "Not here love."
"But later," Castle said in Irish. When she looked up at him, he said, "No," slightly disappointed before she spoke.
"Don't answer for me," Beckett said in English before she switched to Irish. "And I didn't say no."
"Okay," Castle said slowly since he could guess what she wasn't saying. He leaned down to her and brushed his lips to hers before they were walking to the registers. Though he'd wanted to go with his wife, he went to where Eliza was looking at some items for sale.
"Hi," the little girl said with a smile up at him.
"Hey, you didn't want another book, did you?" Castle asked.
"No, I'm just looking at what they have," Eliza replied. She smiled when she felt her father caress the back of her head and looked up at him asking, "Are you happy?"
"Happy that we started vacation?" Castle guessed. When she nodded, he said, "Of course, I hope you are too."
"When we start going around places," Eliza said firmly.
Castle couldn't help laughing and said, "When we go to dinner, I'll tell everyone what we're going to do; Skye said we'll sit family style."
"Then she knows where we're going already," Eliza said.
"Of course she does," Darnley said, walking up to them with Maddy.
"Did you find a book?" the little girl asked.
"Yeah," Eliza said, smiling. "Is yours about Canada?"
"Yep," Maddy said with a wide smile. "You too?"
"Of course, I thought it was a good idea; a Canada book from Canada," Eliza replied.
"I wish Skye wasn't paying right now," Darnley commented.
"Why not?" Castle asked, following his line of sight.
"I wanted to ask how much longer we're going to walk," Darnley replied.
"It'll be for at least a half hour," Pablo said.
"Depending on the stores we might stop in," Liam added.
"Is that how she usually is?" Castle asked.
"They," Liam corrected. "It's for the girls."
"I figured," Darnley said, glancing at the registers. "I think that's everyone," he commented since Skye was approaching them.
"Judging by the way you're staring at me," the investigator commented. "You're wondering where we're going now."
"A little," Brad said, the others agreeing with him.
Laughing Skye calmed herself down quickly before she said, "To be honest there were no plans, just walking the way we were going and stopping until we got to the restaurant or the time."
"Could we go to a place with souvenirs?" Eve asked.
"That's right, postcards," Julia said immediately in agreement.
"We'll pass one," Skye said.
Beckett couldn't help smiling when the kids were asking them eagerly about going before they stepped back out to Robson. Her husband was with her, and they walked together while she was still taking pictures of the architecture they could see.
"I wonder if we should be disappointed," Jacob was saying, looking around at the others.
"My parents mentioned it was going to be colder than back at home," Julia said.
"They weren't kidding," Marie said, glancing over at the inside of the suite.
Smiling Julia said, "At least we got to do this," since they were sitting on the sides of the plunge pool outside her parents' suite. They only had their feet in and had been lucky doing that because the younger kids hadn't been allowed to. "Though I hope we get to go to that pool… tomorrow."
"Your dad never said what we were doing tomorrow," Mari told her friend.
"Kids," Lily called outside then.
"We can find out now luckily," Eve said as they were getting up.
After the kids were inside Castle asked them, "You got your legs and feet dried?"
"Yes, now we want to know what we're going to do tomorrow," Julia told him firmly.
"I was waiting for you to come back in," Castle said in obvious amusement. He ushered them further inside the room before he got everyone's attention. "Since we couldn't sit all together at dinner in the end, I'll have to tell you what we're going to do tomorrow. It's Chinatown and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden… and Park. The whole complex," he told them.
"Are we going to eat there?" Julia asked him.
"If there's a Dim Sum place, yes," Castle replied.
"There will be," Skye said since the writer was looking at her. "I know one place, but I haven't been here in so long, I don't know if it's open."
"After that," Castle said. "We'll walk to Science World."
"Great," Skye was first to respond. "You kids will love that place."
"Experiments?" Kathleen asked.
"There are," Skye said, laughing when the younger kids were exclaiming.
"Is that it?" Jacob asked when Castle didn't say anything else.
"It might take a while," he replied. "Though if there's time, I was going to suggest we try the pool here," Castle added, looking around at the other parents. When they agreed to that in turn, he wasn't surprised when Eliza raised her hand.
"Is it inside?" the little girl asked.
"It is," Castle replied. "But we're probably not going to spend a ton of time there."
"What makes you so sure?" David asked.
"The only reason would be the weather," Castle said.
"I hope it isn't going to rain tomorrow," Martha said. "You said we were going to walk," she reminded her son before he was responding swiftly.
"Not until the evening," Castle said. "Luckily."
"Are we going somewhere for dinner tomorrow?" Beckett asked him.
"I would say wait for the weather," Mary commented before the writer could answer.
"We couldn't just eat here in this suite?" Julia suggested.
"We should wait and see," Brad said.
"He's right, maybe we should eat separately tomorrow night if it's raining," Nkosi said in agreement.
"I think we should do that anyway," Skye said.
"Then I think we have the day all set," Rebecca said.
"Are we finished?" Joseph asked in surprise.
"I think so," Bethany said. "At least the two of us," she was quick to add.
"She's right," Darnley said when Maddy and Keo turned to him and his husband. "It's your bedtime you know," he told the two.
"But-" Maddy started to say, her brother frowning at their fathers.
"Hold on you two," Joseph said. "We are not going to bed right away, just back to our room for now."
"I guess that was enough," Pablo said in amusement as they were all watching the conversation.
Julia went to her grandparents, sister and brother-in-law to say goodnight to them while Mari was saying the same. After the others had left to return to their rooms she turned to her mother and asked, "We don't have to go to bed yet, do we?"
"You think Eve and Jacob are?" Castle asked.
"Did you both want to write in your diaries?" Beckett asked them.
Nodding with Julia, Mari said, "But we have time after that."
"What did you want to do?" Castle asked them.
"Watch the TV in our room," Julia said. "Just for a little," she said in a rush when her parents were exchanging a look. "To see how different it is."
"Why don't we play something together?" Castle suggested, seeing Beckett looking at him and realizing she wanted him to comment.
"They have something in here to do?" Mari asked in surprise.
"I was looking," Castle replied, going to a cabinet. After he'd pulled out a deck of cards and a chess set, he told them, "Your choice. I know it's not much but it's better than watching TV."
"You don't want to see it, Dad?" Julia asked.
"Another time," Castle said. "I've seen it already."
"You did?" Julia said in surprise.
"There was a sports bar at Michipicoten," Beckett said with a smile. "And we were there for a little so he's right, we have watched Canadian TV."
Though she wanted to point out it had been sports, Julia decided not to argue the point and turned to her friend. "What do you think?" she asked.
"Maybe cards," Mari said.
"Then go ahead and get ready for that, we'll wait for you here," Castle said.
"And do what?" Julia couldn't help asking.
"Play cards," Beckett answered before her husband could though he was adding to that shortly after.
"You don't need to rush but we'll have breakfast together and go," Castle said.
"Rick?" Beckett asked him.
"I didn't say the time, did I?" Castle said, responding to her with his own question.
"No," Beckett replied, unable to help smiling.
"Okay, we'll need to get up a little early because we need time to go through Chinatown, the gardens and Science World," Castle said.
"We won't take too long," Julia said. She saw the way Mari was looking at her and explained, "We didn't really do that much."
"Oh… that's true," Mari replied.
"We'll be back," Julia said, she and her friend heading to their room.
After their second oldest had closed the door behind them, Beckett turned to her husband in time to see him picking up the chess set. Watching him carry it into their room she said when he walked back into the living room, "You weren't going to ask me?"
"Did I need to?" Castle asked with a smile.
"No," Beckett said simply.
"Would you want to play a little poker before they're back out?" Castle asked her. "Straight poker," he then told her in a rush as she was studying him. "Nothing special."
"Alright," Beckett said before they were moving to the dining table, and he began to shuffle the deck.
Inside their room, Julia was sitting down at the desk before she said to her friend, "Remind me we're switching tomorrow."
"You won't remember?" Mari asked with a smile, sitting up on the bed.
"Just making sure you did," Julia said. She laughed when her friend pretended to throw her pillow at her and then said, "I'm starting right now."
"So am I," Mari replied.
Turning back to her diary, Julia uncapped the regular pen she'd brought, and she began to write the date.
June 12th, 2022
Hello from Vancouver, Canada Evangeline! I'm finally here on vacation and here in my room with Mari, in the huge suite my dad got at the Rosewood Hotel… Georgia. I'm not sure why Georgia is at the end like that but whatever, it's a beautiful hotel.
First is the flight and that was nice, we had our meal and then tried to sleep… I guess because I was so tired, I managed to do it a little bit in the end so I'm not as tired as I would be if I didn't. Good thing because once we were in the airport, I was amazed by how many pieces of art there were. And when we were going down an escalator to start leaving there was a huge disc of native tribal art. It was enormous and I couldn't stop staring at it. Luckily, I got a picture of it and everything else we saw before we were on our way here to the hotel.
At that point was unpacking which was quick since it's only for what we need here in Vancouver, and then looking around this suite. It has a terrace with a plunge pool! Though the problem with that is the weather here, it's a little chillier than at home and we're probably not going to be able to do much with swimming outside.
Pausing Julia looked at Mari and said, "I kind of wish it wasn't cooler here," smiling when she laughed before she replied.
"Are you writing about the pool?" she asked. "I am right now."
"Yeah, I was describing the suite," Julia said with a smile.
"Me too," Mari said before she went back to her diary.
Doing the same, Julia began writing underneath the paragraph she'd stopped on, beginning a new subject.
After we unpacked and looked around the suite everyone came over and we had a snack, basically yogurt but it was nice after that flight and coming to the hotel. It was then 'lexis and Louis told everyone else but our family about their big news, my niece and nephew, and wow they were really loud in congratulating… though that was the younger kids because of the excitement. I was excited again too because it's still such exciting news! And now five months is going to go so slow! Oh, and before I forget 'lexis and Louis are going to England for sure once we reach LA so they can see his family. We'll miss them for the rest of the trip, but they couldn't get an extra week off of work like they wanted to.
Back to today, after that we went outside to the street which is called… Georgia. Oh, I guess that's why they have Georgia, whoops. But anyways we went across the street and right across the hotel was the Vancouver Art Museum. Right across the street! I asked Mom and Dad about going there but they said we'll come back and go then. I thought that was weird, but he explained that he had decided for us to spend more time outside… though when I mention tomorrow it'll sound weird but most of the time we'll be outside.
We walked down to the famous shopping street here, Robson Street, and then started to walk a little bit until we reached the store called Indigo. It's a bookstore and a really nice one, two stories and everything. I can imagine you telling me now Evangeline to hurry up and tell you about the books I've been mentioning while the trip got closer. And yes, I got the four newest Dear Canada books in Canada! They look amazing and I cannot wait to read all of them though it's probably going to have to wait until we're back at home.
I just thought of something with those books, when we do go back and I'm in school I'm going to be a freshman… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope I'm not that old reading them. I mean Skye and Mary read the books with their daughters and they enjoy them too so maybe not.
Anyway, after we finished at Indigo we headed down the street more until we reached where we were going to have dinner. I completely forgot the name now, but it was the most delicious ramen soups and I loved it. We came back to the hotel, and we were in the suite all together and us older kids got the chance to go to the pool on the terrace. Though it was chilly of course, all we did in the end was dip our feet in the water which luckily was warm!
Once we finished and were back inside Dad told us what we were going to do tomorrow and first is going to the Chinatown in this city. I can't wait since I've seen three so far (NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles) and am interested in seeing what this one's like. And there we'll go to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden and Park… Dad said it was a complex and I have no idea what that means but luckily we'll see it tomorrow! After lunch (hopefully Dim Sum since Skye said there should be a place if it's not the one she went to before) we're going to walk to a place called Science World and it's a kind of science experiment place which will be a ton of fun.
It was later so the younger kids had to go to bed and the others wanted to go to their rooms, so we said goodnight. I'm here in the room with Mari but as soon as we're done we're lucky and get to play cards until our bedtime.
I'll stop here now and say goodnight, Evangeline, I'll do my best to tell you about tomorrow! Night!
Putting away everything she had, Julia turned to see her friend had gotten off the bed and was about to speak when Mari was doing so first.
"I'm ready," the girl said with a wide smile. "What're we going to play?"
"We'll have to ask my parents," Julia replied. "Hopefully poker."
"Hopefully," Mari agreed before they went outside into the living room.
"We didn't take too long, did we?" Julia asked her parents.
"No, though I was debating knocking on the door," Castle said. "I should have just opened the door," he added before the other three could speak. "Since you were only writing in your diaries."
"Thank you for not doing that," Julia said.
"You're welcome," Castle said seriously. He was smiling shortly after when they were laughing and he said, "Okay, what do you want to play because I found some really nice chips."
"Really?" Julia asked in surprise, going to the table with her friend.
"That was your dad snooping," Beckett answered with a smile, watching the two sitting. "And we're running out of time so what do you want to play?"
"Poker, since we have the chips," Julia replied. "Though I don't know what kind."
"Let's go with standard poker," Castle said with a smile. "I get the feeling you want to try and play another type, but you need to hone your skills on the basics."
"I know," Beckett said when Julia turned to her with her eyes wide. "But if you don't enjoy poker that much it's alright."
"But just in case you do…" Castle said while he was passing out chips for them.
"Alright," Julia said before she looked at her friend who was laughing.
"I wonder if you will," Mari said.
"Not sure," Julia said. "Though it is fun," she said to her father.
"Then for now we play for fun," Castle said, getting the deck and shuffling it swiftly. Once he'd dealt the cards he said to Mari, "You're good at this game, right?"
"Yeah," the girl said with a nod. Mari smiled and then said, "How long do we have?"
Looking at his watch Castle said, "About a half hour."
"It is vacation," Julia said, looking at her cards.
Shaking her head Beckett told her, "No, you're going to be at nine-fifteen. Rebecca and David insisted we make sure Mari went to bed that time too."
"I knew it," the girl said with a sigh.
"We had to try," Julia told her friend. When Mari nodded, she turned back to her cards and faltered for a moment before asking, "We… couldn't have a little help for the first game could we?"
"You can," Castle said. "Let me see what you have," he told her while she and Mari were moving to sit next to him and Beckett.
As her father was helping her with the cards Julia couldn't help smiling before she said, "You know what this reminds me of?"
"What?" Beckett asked, helping Mari with the cards she had picked up.
"Our second vacation to the Hamptons," Julia said.
"Oh yeah," Castle said with a brief laugh, turning his attention to his own hand. He discarded a card and picked up another before he said, "Though why were we playing poker?"
"She woke up," Beckett said. She looked at Mari and saw the girl appeared to be confused before she said, "Rick and I had started to play poker when someone got up," glancing at Julia when she was speaking in mock defense.
"I wasn't lying, I was thirsty," she said. "But I only watched a little bit. After we moved in though, that one I should be remembering," Julia said with a smile.
"What happened then?" Mari asked.
"Wormed her way in," Castle said. "Put down your cards," he instructed Julia since the game was finished.
"Shoot," the teen said when she saw her mother had won that hand.
"My sentiments exactly," Castle said.
"I didn't play that long," Julia then told her friend. "I fell asleep, but I remember it since I talked about Dad's cards."
"I should have had her go with you," Castle told his wife. When she gave him a look he then said, "Or maybe not."
"No," Beckett said. "And it's a little late now anyways."
Nodding in agreement, Castle handed over his cards before he said to the two, "What're you looking forward to the most?"
"Stanley Park," Julia and Mari said at the same time before they laughed.
"Is it going to be like Muir Woods?" Julia asked.
"I don't think so," Castle said. When he saw the two were looking at him questioningly, he said, "I've seen pictures, and I don't think there are redwood trees here." He picked up the cards Beckett was dealing and then said, "There are Douglas trees."
"The Christmas trees?" Mari asked.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't cut one down," Castle said. He glanced around the table and seeing the way his wife was glancing at him said, "Okay, I know we don't get that kind of tree but still."
"I'd like to get pictures of them," Mari said.
"Me too," Julia agreed. "Though when are we going there?"
"Soon," Castle said simply before they were turning back to their game. After they had finished a few more he saw his wife was looking at her phone and said, "Time or text," before she was responding.