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 song Millionaire Waltz written by Freddie Mercury, from the Queen album A Day at the Races.
A/N #2: The title of this story is a lyric from the song Thriller written by Rod Temperton, from the Michael Jackson album with the same name. The title of this chapter is the name of a song sung by Arthur Lewis and that's all the information I could find out about it.
London A Rose
"Guys, stay with us," Beckett said, watching her daughter with Mari and Peter.
"Sorry, just… looking at everything," Peter said first.
"Are we going to swim at all?" Julia asked.
"We will, later," Beckett replied.
"Where's Ms. Grey?" Julia said.
"There," Mari commented.
Whirling around to where her friend was pointing, Julia saw their dance teacher walking straight to them and she waved before she was standing with them.
"Are you all set?" Grey asked them.
"Not yet," Beckett replied. "My husband is checking us in. But I did want to ask when you're expecting to practice with them."
"I think after you're set in your rooms," Grey replied. "Were you planning on doing anything? I know you travel a lot."
Smiling, since she wasn't surprised the woman had guessed that Beckett said, "We wanted to head to Harrods at the very least."
"I've never been," Peter commented. "I've never been here anyway."
"That's fine, we'll just do a quick run through here at the hotel and head to the venue so we can check in," Grey said. "That should take until lunch and then you're free to do what you'd like but please be careful."
Hearing the three kids saying at the same time that they would, Castle greeted the dance teacher and said, "We're all set, when do you need them?"
"Is twenty minutes going to be enough?" Beckett asked, checking her watch after her husband had looked at her.
"It will be," Grey said. "I'm not sure where we'll be able to go but I'll let you know in twenty minutes."
After they'd said goodbye to the dance teacher, Castle and Beckett led the three up to their suite in the Savoy Hotel. It was the sixth of October and they'd arrived the day before the Rothschild Dance Competition to allow Julia, Peter and Mari to get used to being in the city and to do a little sightseeing and practicing.
While they were going up the elevator with a bellman who had their luggage, Beckett wasn't surprised when Julia was leaning against her and she said, "You're tired," surprised at her daughter's immediate response.
"No, I just know you miss Lizzy and Josa," Julia said, smiling.
"I do, but Eliza needed to go to school today and it's a little too much for Josie," Beckett said.
"But that's not to say we're not missing them," Castle said before they were stepping out onto the sixth floor. "Should we still go to Tahiti next month love?" he then directed to his wife. He wasn't surprised when she gave him a brief look before they'd reached the suite and they were let inside.
Her mouth dropping open at the sight of the first room they were walking into, Julia heard the bellman taking their suitcases off the cart though she couldn't help hurrying to the window with her friends when they saw their view.
"Awesome, that's the Ferris wheel, isn't it?" Peter asked.
"The London Eye," Mari said. She looked at Julia and said, "Think we could go?"
"We will," Beckett said, standing behind them. She smiled when the three whirled around to her and said, "But that's later."
"We need to unpack," Julia said to her friends.
"Okay," Castle said when he'd locked the door after tipping the departing bellman. "This is our home for the weekend."
"Why is it so fancy?" Julia couldn't help asking.
"It's Gucci," Castle said. When he saw his wife rolling her eyes and the kids looking confused, he told them, "I'm serious, they redesigned it for their anniversary… Gucci's I mean. I asked and he worked here as a porter and elevator boy."
"Where are we going to sleep?" Peter asked.
"You're going to sleep here," Castle said. "If you don't mind."
"The couch?" Peter said slowly.
"It folds out," Beckett said.
"That's fine," Peter said.
"And no going out to the balcony in the middle of the night," Beckett told him. "We'll go outside to see the lights before we go to bed," she added, when she saw her daughter frowning.
"Thanks," Julia said.
"You two are going to be in this bedroom," Castle then said.
"It's okay," Peter said with a laugh when the others were looking at him after the writer had spoken. "There's only one bed isn't there?"
"There is," Castle replied.
"Yeah, I don't want to explain to Eve that I shared a bed with a girl," Peter said. "Even a friend," he added before he frowned. "Did I just insult you?" he asked Julia and Mari.
"No," Julia said first and laughingly before they were walking into the bedroom. "It's nice," she said.
"We're only staying here," Beckett said in amusement since the décor was a little darker than they liked.
"I know, I just don't like wallpaper," Julia said. She then turned to her parents and said, "But I do like the room."
"It's okay," Castle assured her quickly. "Now you're going to need to share the closet with Peter," he directed to both girls.
"Closets," Julia said, walking to the doorway between the bathroom and bedroom. "I just saw there are two of them here."
Walking after her daughter Beckett saw she was right and said, "Luckily there's a door to the bathroom." She turned and then said, "You can come in Peter."
Stepping inside, Peter saw a dresser before he turned to the closets on opposite sides of a short hallway. "Um, is this going to be enough for the three of us? We have our costumes too," he said.
"It should be," Beckett replied. "I'll help you once I unpack."
"And the dresser?" Peter asked.
"Divide the drawers," Castle said, walking inside after he'd brought the suitcases into the room. "Luckily there's three."
"Alright, we need to unpack," Beckett said, checking the time. "I'm sure Ms. Grey is in her room and you three need to meet her."
"We can unpack," Julia said.
"She's right, we will," Mari added swiftly.
"Alright, we're on the other end of the living room," Castle said, he and his wife leaving them. He led her into their bedroom though they were passing a dining room and then entering their room. They were walking by the bathroom first before they passed the large closet and were entering the bedroom last.
"Don't look at me like that," Beckett said in amusement since her husband had turned to her. "It's somewhere to sleep for the kids." When he was frowning for a moment, she reached up to him and cupped his cheek telling him, "And it is beautiful." After he'd nodded, she told him, "And I have noticed the bed."
"Do we need to test?" Castle asked.
"When I check on the kids," Beckett replied easily before they were walking back to their suitcases they'd left at the closet. She unpacked swiftly, since they were leaving on Sunday morning in three days she didn't have much to put in the closet and she said, "Are you all set with our plans?"
"Our plans?" Castle asked exaggeratedly.
"Fine, your plans," Beckett replied, glaring at him though she was laughing when he was pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply.
When he'd pulled away from her, Castle said, "The kids aren't here are they?"
"No," Beckett said in amusement. "They won't come in… at least Peter and Mari." She took his gentle kiss and then told him, "I think I should check on them."
"Of course," Castle said before they were leaning into each other and kissing again.
"Okay," Julia said, nodding as she looked back and forth between their closets. "At least all the costumes fit."
"Yeah," Peter said. "And our street clothes." He frowned for a moment and asked the two, "Should we change?"
"You should," Beckett said, standing in the doorway. "That twenty minutes is almost up."
"I'll wait," Peter said quickly before he was leaving to the bedroom.
"How's your room?" Julia asked her mother.
"Good, hurry or else we won't be able to go out after lunch," Beckett said. She smiled when her daughter made a face at her before she was leaving and walking over to the living room where Peter was standing at the door out to the balcony.
"Oh, I wasn't going to go outside," the teen said in a rush.
"I know," Beckett said, glancing back to see her husband walking out from the room. "But are you doing okay?"
"I'm not homesick," Peter replied. "If that's what you're thinking."
"A little," Castle said.
"Oh, my mom asked you to make sure I'd be okay, didn't she?" Peter then asked.
"And your dad," Castle said quickly before the teen was responding with a smile.
"I'm not surprised," Peter replied. "But at least they have Clive and Emily."
"We're finished," Julia said, walking into the living room with Mari.
"How did you change that… never mind," Peter said before he was hurrying into the bedroom.
"Did you go outside yet?" Julia asked her parents once she was standing with them.
"No, but we will once Peter-" Castle started to say before his wife was placing her hand on his arm and stopping him.
"We won't have time, but we'll go later," Beckett told him.
"What're we doing for lunch?" Julia asked.
"You'll see," Castle replied. When she looked him, he said, "I'll tell you once we're finished with practice… or you guys are, and we're done watching."
Seeing the girls sharing a look, Beckett said, "We can't go and watch."
"No, you'll see tomorrow though I promise," Julia said. "But… what're you going to do while we practice?"
Looking at his watch Castle said, "I think just make sure we get lunch and dinner reservations."
"We're doing something special?" Julia asked.
"We are," Castle. "But don't ask."
"I wasn't going to," Julia said in amusement.
"Good," Castle said when there was a knock on the door. "That's probably your teacher," he said, hurrying to answer it.
"I'm ready," Peter said, walking out from the bedroom.
"Good," Ms. Grey said, smiling when the teen looked at her in surprise. "Do you have your shoes, your skirts?"
"Here," Julia and Mari said at the same time, holding their bags up.
"I have your shoes," Julia told Peter.
"Thanks," he said quickly before Julia was saying goodbye to her parents.
"Hope you have fun by yourselves," the teen was telling them.
"Don't worry about us," Beckett assured her. "And you're coming here right after."
Nodding, Julia left after her friends and Ms. Grey, smiling and waving at them before they were outside in the hall.
"Well, I need to make some phone calls," Castle told his wife after he walked back to her once the door was locked.
Nodding, Beckett said, "I'll take some pictures outside," before they were sharing a kiss and then parting. She went back into their bedroom and grabbed her camera before she was heading to the balcony, squeezing her husband's shoulder where he was sitting in the living room on the way. Looking out on the Thames, she smiled at the traffic on the river and the bright blue sky before she was beginning to take pictures.
Opening the door once he had finished Castle said, "Chilly," since his wife had turned to him.
"I know," Beckett said before he was wrapping his arm around her waist since she was standing at the railing. "Rick," she said warningly.
"Hey, we're alone and are going to be for…" Castle started to say as he looked at his watch swiftly. "Another half hour."
"Why did you take so long?" Beckett asked him suspiciously.
"I had to get dinner set," Castle replied easily.
"Then you got a hold of Paul, or Nancy," Beckett said. When her husband hesitated, she said, "Rick."
"Right, I'm just thinking of how to keep this from Julia," Castle said.
"We have before," Beckett told him firmly.
"Okay, I talked to Paul and Nancy, and they said Mary is in town too," Castle explained.
"And now I understand the other reason why you hesitated to tell me," Beckett said. "I have wanted to meet her; I just hope she'll be alright with me having taken pictures of her father."
"They told me to tell you she's been wanting to meet you," Castle said swiftly.
Nodding Beckett said, "And what're we doing tonight?"
"You know Stella has a house in Cadogan Square," Castle said.
"We're invited?" Beckett asked in amusement.
"For dinner if we don't mind veggie," Castle replied.
Smirking then Beckett told him, "You told them we would go."
"Ms. Grey too, they want them all over to relax before the competition," Castle explained.
"Good, I'm glad you did," Beckett said. "But I feel like we should take something."
"They said don't, they even have dessert," Castle said. "Though Paul said Stella and Mary aren't sure Ms. Grey will be okay with it."
Nodding Beckett said, "She knows some really great fruit desserts so I'm not worried."
"Okay, great, now we'll have to tell them once we meet them," Castle said. He paused in leaning into his wife to kiss her before he said, "I included Ms. Grey for lunch… why don't we ever call her by her first name."
"To be honest she does prefer being called by her last name," Beckett answered. "So we should probably drop the Ms."
"If she says it's alright," Castle said.
"Exactly," Beckett said before she was reaching for her husband and pulling him to her for a kiss.
"And you say I'm invited," Ms. Grey said slowly.
"Yeah, it's for us all," Castle replied.
"Okay, I guess I'll join you for that," Grey said. She smiled and said, "But I might stay in my room after lunch. Thank you for the invitation by the way."
"Not a problem," Castle said.
"Hopefully you won't mind having tea," Beckett commented
"I love tea," Grey replied. She glanced at the bedroom when the writers were and asked, "You're surprising them."
"Trying to," Castle said before Peter was stepping outside from the other bedroom.
"All set," he told the three adults. "Do I need to bring my camera and money?"
"We're going to head out as soon as we finish," Beckett said with a nod.
"Cool," Peter said before he went to his backpack next to his couch.
"We're ready," Julia said, leaving from her parents' bedroom with Mari. "Not so fast?" she asked Peter teasingly.
"Not really," he said. "We can go right?"
"Yes, and we're letting you know now we're going to have afternoon tea," Beckett said, not surprised when the girls were gasping in joy though she was looking at Peter.
"Great, let's go eat," the teen said jokingly before they were leaving the room.
"You have the key, right Dad?" Julia asked him.
"I do, we're coming back to the room," Castle assured her in amusement since he wasn't surprised she was making sure.
With a quick nod, Julia turned back to Mari and Peter, chatting with them before she realized the three adults were quiet. She was going to ask them what was wrong when the car stopped, and they were walking out into the lobby before her father led them to the Thames Foyer. "I almost thought we were going to sit at the coffee table one," she said once they were gathered around a table.
"Way too hard for you kids to eat at that," Castle said.
"Not to mention us," Beckett told him wryly before they watched him ordering for them.
"Is the tea alright?" Castle asked Grey once the waiter had left them.
"It is, you want something lighter than black tea," the teacher replied with a nod.
"Dad, tell us what we're going to do," Julia said then.
"You know our plans now," Castle commented.
"Just today and the Tower," Julia replied.
"No surprises?" Castle asked her.
"I think there is one," Mari said softly. She blushed when the others were looking at her and told them, "We didn't talk about going to the London Eye."
"I wanted to see what the weather was going to be," Castle explained when his wife turned to him pointedly. "And now it's a great day we can go."
"What about tomorrow? You said it was going to rain," Grey said.
Castle was about to respond to that but needed to pause when their fennel, ginger and peppermint tea was served to them, their food arriving shortly after that. Once they were ready with their tea prepared and food on the plates in front of them, he said, "Okay, so I guess I'm revealing everything."
"Revealing," Beckett said laughingly.
"I want to hear," Mari said with a smile.
"Me too," Peter added.
"Me too, but I don't have my diary to write it all down in Dad," Julia teased him.
Laughing, Castle said, "Let's eat a little and I'll say what the plans are for today… after." He expected that to elicit a reaction and it did though he was a little surprised when Julia was speaking with a smile after finishing her first small sandwich.
"We'll tell you about practice right now," Julia said. "We practiced our dances and it went really good… well." She saw her parents share a look and she added in a rush, "And don't ask Ms. Grey."
"I wasn't going to tell them anything," the teacher said with a smile at the kids.
"Good," Julia said, smiling at her friends before they were returning to their sandwiches.
Once they had finished and were moving onto the small scones that were offered Castle said, "I'm going to tell you right now so don't worry." He took the scone his wife offered him and said, "Hold it for you?" When she merely looked at him with her eyebrow raised, he told her, "Thank you." He then looked at the kids and said, "After this we have to go get you checked in of course but once we're done, we're going to Harrods to look around. And after ride the London Eye before we come back and get ready to go out for dinner."
"Please tell us what that is," Julia said.
Glancing around them to make sure no one would overhear him, Castle said, "I got a call from Paul, and he said Stella and Alasdhair invited us to their house for dinner."
"Awesome," Julia said, her smile wide.
"There is one more thing," Beckett added. When the three kids were looking at her, a little startled, she said, "Paul's daughter Mary is going to be there too."
"Isn't she married?" Julia said with a slight frown.
"He's out of town with their sons," Castle said swiftly when his wife turned to him questioningly. "And Paul invited her to come."
"Cool," Julia said.
"She knows…" Mari started to say before she trailed off in confusion.
"I would imagine her father mentioned it was a dance competition," Grey said, putting down her cup of tea.
"I don't know if she's going to be there tomorrow," Castle said. "We can invite her, but she may be busy of course."
"I think we should ask at least; it'd be rude since…" Julia started to say before she realized something. "Stella and her family are coming too, right?"
"They said they would," Beckett commented with a smile before they were dividing the desserts which were small.
"Don't worry," Grey said with a smile when the three kids were looking at her as they were holding the desserts they'd gotten. "You'll be walking today which will help."
"What about tonight at dinner? What if they have dessert?" Peter asked.
"They probably will," Beckett said.
Julia nodded and said with a smile, "At least we get to have it," turning her attention to her tartlet. She couldn't help feeling excited for that night to see her British friends again with her Hamptons friends and she smiled at Mari before they were talking about the rest of the trip she had nearly forgotten.
"Welcome, come in," Stella said with a smile after she had opened the door to the group. "Welcome to London."
"Thank you for having us over," Beckett said after she had hugged the designer briefly. "We're going to return the favor."
"The kids will be happy to hear that," Alasdhair said with a smile, standing in the foyer behind his wife. He greeted their guests before he said, "Everyone's waiting…" trailing off when they were leaving the entry and found his youngest daughter peeking out from the drawing room as she cried out happily.
"Julia! Mari!" Reiley said before she hurried to them, hugging them both. "I'm so glad to see you, but I'm writing back to you right now Mari."
While the three girls were chatting together, Peter walked slowly after them into the drawing room and smiled seeing Bobby before he saw a familiar face. "Skye!" he exclaimed in shock.
"Skye?" Beckett asked, walking inside the room a little faster. "What- you finished the investigation though," she said, hurrying to her friend and embracing her tightly.
"Just yesterday," the investigator said, smiling at her once they parted. "I'm staying for the competition and leaving the same day as you… not the same flight though."
"I didn't think you would," Castle said. "But that's a long time away."
"Mary's using it to spend the weekend with the girls," Skye said. "But there's more here than just me."
"Don't worry, the kids greeted us," Paul said exaggeratedly.
"Where's Miller?" Castle asked after he'd shaken the singer's hand.
"In the kitchen with his auntie," Stella said. "Come and see," she said.
"But we should warn you that the kitchen is small… very small," Alasdhair said before his wife was calling to their youngest.
"Reiley, where are you going?" Stella told her daughter.
"I'm showing Julia and Mari my room," Reiley said, standing on the first step going down to the lower level.
"Not right now," Stella told her firmly before they were turning at the call of a voice down the hall as they were walking to the room.
"You were supposed to tell me when everyone got here," the woman said to Stella.
"We haven't even been introduced to everyone," the designer answered. "But I should introduce you, this is my sister Mary."
"That's it?" Skye asked jokingly.
"She knows who everyone is," Stella said jokingly.
"I do," Mary said. "And I'm happy to finally meet you," she told Castle and Beckett while she shook their hands first.
"Be nice Mary," Paul said jokingly.
"Dad," she responded immediately, looking at him.
"She is," Beckett said, trying not to laugh at the pair's exchange.
"And these are the dancers," Stella continued when her sister turned to where the three were standing with her kids. "You can show them the house but once we're finished here," she added.
Laughing briefly when her niece huffed and rolled her eyes, Mary shook Julia, Peter and Mari's hands before saying, "I've been wanting to meet you as well."
"You have?" Julia asked, straightening up while her eyes were growing wide.
"My dad has spoken about you to us," Mary said.
"Oh," Julia replied, feeling her cheeks heating up.
"Nothing negative," Paul said. "They've seen your dances to my songs."
"And I can finally introduce you," Stella said apologetically to Grey.
"That's fine, there are a lot of us here," the dance teacher said with a smile.
"This is Jane Grey, the dance teacher at the Hamptons Academy," Beckett said before she was looking at Paul when the singer was speaking.
"Now I think it's time for that tour," Paul told his daughter.
"Yes, you can take them to your room," Stella said, looking at Reiley who was standing with Julia and Mari.
"Thanks!" the girl said before leading her friends down the stairs. "I'm down here with Bobby," she said once she was off the flight and watching the two join her. "But he's usually upstairs or outside. My room has the most amazing thing."
"I'm just glad we get to see it," Mari said, since she'd been telling them that on the floor above.
"Here it is," Reiley said, smiling at them as she let them walk into the room. "I know it's an odd shape but-"
"It doesn't matter," Julia said, looking around. "It's really bright in here."
"I love your couch," Mari said, since there was one across from the bed.
"Did you look outside yet?" Reiley asked them.
"Yeah, and it's awesome," Julia said before they were giggling together.
"So is that yours?" Mari asked as they walked to the door that led out to the courtyard with two tall living walls making up the corner.
"No, I'm supposed to share it with Bobby," Reiley replied, opening the door and stepping outside after them.
"She does," the teen himself said, standing in the doorway of the sitting room. "You didn't show them my room, did you?" he asked his sister.
"No," Reiley said in annoyance.
"We wouldn't have gone anyway," Julia said quickly, wondering if they were going to argue. "Not without your permission… or if you were going to show us."
"I'm only kidding," Bobby told them. "And would you want to see it? It's tiny."
"That's because you're never in there," Reiley replied.
"At night I am," Bobby said before they were looking over at the doorway to find their other two siblings and Peter were there.
"Sorry we left you," Julia told her partner.
Shrugging Peter said, "I wasn't sure if Stella and Alasdhair would have wanted me there."
"With all of us here I don't think they'll care," Miller said.
"You're really all going to see us at the competition tomorrow," Mari said suddenly.
"I was thinking about that too," Julia said, looking at them.
"Yeah, we're having a day off from school," Bailey said. "And we've never seen you guys live."
"You've seen your grandfather, right?" Julia asked.
"Several shows," Miller said, nodding.
"Did you guys want to see their rooms too?" Reiley asked the three then.
"I did," Julia said before her friend and Peter were agreeing.
"Okay, here's Bobby's," Reiley said before they were laughing together and heading inside.
After the last of the kids had gone down the stairs, Skye said, "Alright, we have the introductions out of the way… now what?"
"How's Alexis?" Nancy asked.
Smiling, Beckett said, "Doing well."
"What?" Castle asked when everyone looked at him.
"She's your first, that's always a big thing, when your first has their own child," Paul commented.
"I'm fine, I mean I'm worrying about when she'll have to give birth but there's nothing I can do about that," Castle said. "I just want her and the babies to be alright."
"I think that's dinner," Stella said when they heard a buzzing noise.
"I'll be back," Mary said before leaving them abruptly.
"I just thought of something," Castle said. "If we're ever around your wife and Mary… what are we going to call your Mary?"
"Don't know, it'd be her decision," Skye commented. "I suppose she'd want to be called…"
"You can't think, can you?" Beckett asked her in amusement.
"No," Skye said.
"We wouldn't call her something from her middle name?" Castle asked.
"No, I suppose Mar would work," Skye said. She smiled when the others looked a little confused and told the others, "Kath went through a little phase when she was four, calling her Mar instead of mommy."
"Mary was annoyed?" Beckett asked in amusement.
"A little, but she knew Kath wasn't doing it on purpose," Skye said. "So I'd talk to her about that, but Mary should be okay with it."
Beckett wasn't surprised when Paul was turning to her and she said, "They're fine."
"I was going to ask because they seem to be calm," the singer said.
"This is a distraction," Castle commented.
"A welcome one?" Alasdhair asked.
Hesitating a moment while she and Castle were sharing a look, Beckett eventually said, "I'm not sure about Peter and Mari, but Julia wants to dance this. It'll be great for her time at Julliard."
"Peter too," Castle said, his wife nodding in agreement.
"He's going to go there for sure?" Nancy asked.
"And NYU for his architect degree," Beckett said before they were looking together at the staircase since the kids were coming back up.
"We're showing… where's Mum?" Reiley asked her father.
"With your auntie," Alasdhair answered. "If you're going to show them the bedrooms on this floor then hurry."
"Can they peek in at your room?" Bobby asked.
"Of course," Alasdhair said before they were leaving. "We should head over to the table; it shouldn't be that much longer."
"They don't need any kind of help?" Grey was asking.
"We're good," Stella said, appearing down the hall with a dish.
"We went for Mexican tonight," Mary said, following her sister shortly after.
"It smells delicious," Beckett said.
"I see you all looking at me," Skye said in mock annoyance. "And I'm not an expert on Mexican food but you have the smells down pat."
"We have tacos and quesadillas," Stella said.
"They told me about the ones you had in California," Mary said.
"Skye makes a great one," Paul said.
"And Mary… I mean my wife," Skye said, looking at Paul's daughter apologetically.
"I know who you meant," Mary said with a smile.
"I think we better call the kids," Stella told her husband, smiling when he was whistling.
"Oh shoot," Reiley said, hearing her father's whistle.
"Well, we got to see everything," Peter told her immediately.
"True," Reiley replied. "But you should see what our mum and auntie made."
"It smells like Mexican food," Mari said.
"It is," Miller told her. "Veggie though."
"We've had that," Julia said before they were entering the dining room where the others were gathering around the table. She sat in between her mother and Mari and took a taco and half a quesadilla before her mother handed her a corn dish. Once she was starting to eat, she listened to the conversation, Nancy asking what they'd done that day.
"You had to check in today?" Mary asked. When the dance teacher nodded, she said, "What about school?"
"We have permission," Peter said. "Sorry," he added.
"No, it's alright, we allow kids to talk here," Alasdhair said. "Just-"
"Never with food in your mouths," the four Willis kids interrupted their father.
"That," Alasdhair said, nodding firmly once in agreement.
Laughing with the others, Grey said when things had calmed down, "You did forget about before that."
"We weren't allowed at the practice," Castle said.
"Have you not seen any of their dances?" Paul asked.
"They won't let us," Castle replied, exaggerating his offended tone.
"So it's a surprise," Julia said simply.
"Oh well if it's what the children want," Paul told the writer before they were laughing together.
"Where are you staying?" Reiley asked.
"The Savoy," Mari said. "At the Gucci suite."
"It's the Royal Suite," Castle explained swiftly before he talked about the décor of the suite.
"I'd ask you to come stay with us," Julia told Reiley. "But there's only one bed and Mari and I have it."
"I'd love to see it," Reiley said. "At least."
"We'll see if we could do that," Stella said in amusement since her youngest daughter was glancing at her surreptitiously.
"You could," Castle said before Mari was gasping and speaking rapidly.
"Don't we need to go back to the hotel after the competition?" she asked.
"We do, you three will need to shower," Beckett said. "But there is lunch and what we're going to do tomorrow."
Studying her mother, Julia then said, "They're coming with us, aren't they?"
"If they want to," Castle said. "We did invite them."
Julia couldn't help giggling at the adults agreeing to their plans, but when she'd calmed down, she noticed Paul was sharing a smile with his wife. She wanted to ask him what he had planned; guessing it was that, when Skye was asking them about what they'd done for lunch that day.
"To be honest I feel like I can guess," the investigator commented.
"We had tea at the hotel," Beckett answered.
"It was really fancy," Peter said. "Where we were sitting," he added.
"After we checked in for the competition we went to the London Eye," Mari said.
"Since Peter hasn't been," Julia said quickly. "And then we went to Harrods."
"Since I haven't been there either," Peter commented.
"You've never been here before, have you?" Miller asked him.
Shaking his head quickly Peter said, "It's interesting."
"It is a city," Paul commented.
"It reminds me a lot of NYC," Peter added.
"I'll agree with that," Nancy said with a smile.
"What're you going to do on Saturday?" Reiley asked.
"Go to the British Museum," Julia and Mari answered at the same time. They were laughing together before they calmed down and the former said, "Peter and I need to for our history class."
"You have an assignment?" Bobby asked in surprise.
"We have to pick one item at the museum from Ancient Greece or Rome and write about it," Peter said.
"Write about what?" Reiley asked in confusion.
"What it was used for," Julia said. "And we have to only use the information on the plaque with what we pick."
"How much do you need to write?" Reiley then said.
"Two feet of parchment," Julia and Mari said together. They were laughing again, and Julia said, "Sorry, but we both read Harry Potter not too long ago. Just two or three paragraphs."
"We've asked them already," Castle said swiftly when Julia leaned over the table a little to look at both him and Beckett.
"I think we're going to have to go," Stella said with a smile.
"You don't have any plans?" Skye asked.
"Not at the moment," Alasdhair said. "And judging by the look on Reiley's face we'll need to go."
"So we can?" the girl asked. When her parents both nodded Reiley said, "Thank you, we'll help Julia and Peter."
Laughing with the others at her exuberance, Julia said once she had calmed down, "You can help us find the object to write about," not surprised when Reiley nodded before her mother was speaking to Stella.
"If you and Alasdhair want to go anywhere or you have something we can take the kids with us," Beckett said.
"We kept this weekend free," Stella said before she was looking pointedly at her father.
"I had no clue what their plans were," Paul said immediately. "Are," he corrected. "But I thought the kids would enjoy going with them."
"I will too," Mary said, startled when her sister was exaggeratedly sucking in a breath of air.
"I would be careful Kate," Stella said though she soon began to smile. "My sister may want to have a competition with you with your photographs."
"Stella," Mary said in obvious annoyance. "I don't," she was quick to direct to Beckett.
"I had a feeling," she replied. "Though you've been told I'm not officially your father's photographer… at least not when he's in America," Beckett added swiftly.
"No, she's my photographer," Skye said before Mary could respond. "Well, the band I should say."
"I just happened to be there too," Paul said.
"And that one time we were at Abbey Road," Skye said. "Where were you?" she directed to Paul's daughter.
"I may have been in Paris," Mary said, thinking that over for a moment. "But they were great pictures. You haven't brought your camera, have you?"
"I did," Beckett said.
"At my insistence," Castle said. "Though I swear I wasn't going to ask for a competition."
"Then why did you?" Julia asked.
Giving her a look, Castle said, "I thought she might want to take pictures of the houses and foliage here… flowers?" trailing off and asking his wife at the end.
Laughing and shaking her head, Beckett told him, "Good enough love."
"That gives me an idea," Alasdhair said. "We should go on a walk after this around the square." He saw the way his sister-in-law was looking at him and said quickly, "I'm not saying that for some kind of competition. To show them around."
"Could we see the park in the middle?" Mari asked.
"Sure," Stella said. When she saw the way her father was looking at her, she said, "I'm serious, but what are you going to do?"
"Go with you," Nancy said before her husband could. "And we'll take the kids for you."
"I'll go with you," Grey said quickly.
"Could we go?" Peter said, looking at Castle and Beckett.
"If everyone else wants to go then yes," the former said.
"Yes, I'll take my camera," Beckett said when her husband and their daughter looked at her. She smiled when the others were laughing before she squeezed her husband's hand.
After they had calmed down, the group started to clear the table since they had finished dinner by then. Once everything was cleaned up and put away, they left the house and began walking around together.
"I really have to say," Castle told Stella and Alasdhair when they'd let the others go across the street to the park in the center. "Your house is… incredible."
"He's right, he told me after we were on our way that it's historic and I see the proof," Beckett added.
"Did you say that in Irish?" Skye asked her.
"I thought it would be better than to let the cabbie hear," Castle commented before he realized his wife and Mary had stopped walking. Turning back to them with Skye he saw that they were looking at his wife's camera and looking up at the top of the homes. "Advice?" he said under his breath to the investigator.
"Perhaps," Skye said before she turned with him to Stella and Alasdhair while the latter spoke first.
"You should have told us you were going to stop," he said. "What's going on?"
"I think they're talking shop," Castle said before he noticed something across the street and saw it was the others. "It looks like they want us to join them."
"I would guess the kids showed them the tennis court," Mary said, she and Beckett walking up to them.
"They'll want to play," Stella said, her sister nodding immediately in agreement before they were crossing the street together. "We're not going to play," she said.
"Why not?" Bobby asked.
"It's chilly," Alasdhair said. "Also we haven't a clue when you need to go back to your hotel," he directed to the Americans.
"We can leave at eight thirty," Grey said when everyone was looking at her.
"But that still means no playing," Stella said when her two youngest turned to her. "You said you wanted dessert."
"I made granola, and we have Greek yogurt and honey," Mary said with a smile when her sister looked at her. Since she was looking at Grey, she wasn't surprised the dance teacher was laughing shortly after before she responded.
"If there are oats in there then that's perfect," she said.
"It sounds really good," Bobby commented.
"Are you hungry already?" Stella asked her son.
"A little," Bobby confessed.
"Why don't we go through the park here before we go back for dessert?" Alasdhair suggested to his wife.
"Alright, Bobby, stay with us," Stella said before she directed the last to her son.
"I wasn't going anywhere," he said immediately.
"This is nice," Beckett said. When the others looked at her, she smiled and told them, "Julia's squeezing my hand."
"Sorry, that was to ask you to take pictures," the teen said a little abashedly.
"I will if you let me go," Beckett said, not surprised when her daughter immediately did so and hurried to her friends. "We were talking about the best way to take pictures here in the square," she told her husband when they were walking alone.
"I figured," Castle said quickly, not surprised when she merely smirked at him. "What's that for."
"You're not subtle sometimes," Beckett teased him.
"No, but I did wonder," Castle replied.
Squeezing his arm gently, Beckett turned her attention to the trees which still had leaves and in varying colors. When they'd reached the tennis courts she said, "Is this historic?"
"This used to be part of the Prince's Club," Alasdhair said. "They had lawn tennis so… I suppose the thought was because it's quite posh here why not?"
"And we can't play now," Reiley said, frowning since they were looking at a few people on the court.
"Mum said we couldn't anyway," Bailey said. "Though that would have been fun," she added.
"It's still fun walking around here," Mari said.
"Definitely," Julia added.
"I see you looking at me," Peter said in annoyance though he was laughing with the other kids immediately after he'd spoken.
"I almost forgot you want to be an architect," Mary told the teen. "What do you think?"
"It's a lot," Peter said immediately. "But I love the details and man did they stand the weather and other things."
"Are you talking about the smoke London's had?" Paul asked in amusement.
"Yeah, I wasn't sure what to call it," Peter replied.
"Back home we'd call that smog… terrible smog," Skye said. "Horrifying smog… Though I suppose pea soup smog works quite-"
"Okay, we get the idea," Beckett interrupted her friend. She rolled her eyes, though she was smiling at the same time, when Skye bowed exaggeratedly to her. "Have you guys played here much?" she then asked the kids.
"We let them when they'd like to," Stella said. "It's healthy."
Laughing when she saw Paul was nodding rapidly to his daughter's look, Julia said, "Thanks for letting us come here," though she realized she had blurted out the words.
"You're welcome," Stella said. "We wanted to invite you once we realized you'd be here."
"We asked Mum," Reiley said. She saw the way her older siblings were looking at her and said swiftly, "I asked Mum, but they were asking right after me."
"Again, we need to invite you guys to the house," Castle said. "Our house I mean."
"What about for Thanksgiving," Julia said before she paused. "That was the first holiday I thought of," she told her British friends.
"Actually," Castle said while they turned away from the tennis court and headed back towards the house. "I'm wondering if you're going to be busy after Christmas, we'd be happy to have you over until after New Year's."
"I'm game, they have an indoor pool," Paul reminded the others.
"We can't," Mary reminded her father. "We'll be with Simon's family." She was surprised when the Hamptons kids were groaning in obvious disappointment when Mari was speaking first, a little shyly.
"We were including you too," she explained.
"I had a feeling," Mary said. "But if your parents invite us and we're not busy then we'll visit."
"We can't say for sure yet," Stella started to say when her kids were turning to her and her husband. "But if we're available we'll go."
"What about James and Heather?" Skye said, watching Beckett while she'd spoken.
"They're invited too," Castle said swiftly.
"I'll talk to them," Paul offered before his grandchildren were talking with the three from the Hamptons about their homes as they crossed to his daughter's home.