24. One Lucky Day(2)

Castle and Beckett went on one of the 'flying' ships with Eliza, their parents ahead of them with Josie. They watched their second youngest as they were going through the ride, not surprised she was looking at every scene they were passing closely though they'd been on the ride already. After they had gotten off they could see Martha was holding Josie, and the baby was asleep.

"Mother," Castle said after he and his wife said goodnight to the baby last, walking with everyone to Tomorrowland. "If you need to sleep the-"

"I'll be fine on the couch," Martha assured him. "Have fun and Happy Birthday again Kate."

"Thank you," Beckett said. "And for taking her and Dani."

"It's not a problem, have a wonderful night," Martha replied.

Watching as his mother made her way up to the Monorail platform to go to the hotel with the stroller and toddler, Castle said to everyone else, "We can split up now."

"Is anyone going to California Adventure?" Mary asked the others.

"For the rest of the night?" Genevieve asked in surprise.

"No, there's five hours left until the park closes here," Skye said. "We ourselves were thinking of heading there now and ride until at least two hours before we come back."

"I'm game," Isaac said.

"I think we all want to go back," Beckett said in amusement as some of the kids were asking to go on the Cars ride.

Since no one had any objections to that, the group turned together for the exit of the park and they headed across the plaza to California Adventure. Going into the Cars Land section they split up into groups of sixes though Genevieve and Isaac offered to go on their own with their sons.

When they were waiting for their own car Julia said to Paul, who was going with the Fosters and Derek, "Have you been on this?"

"I have, it's been a bit though," the singer said.

"Have you?" Julia asked Nancy.

"No," she replied. "But I forgot about this park."

"Oh, I'm glad that we came here," Julia said before she watched the pair go with the family and the dancer. Feeling her mother touch her shoulder she smiled up at her before they got into their car. She couldn't help feeling excited for the ride, hoping that her idea would work when they did it later as their car started to move forward.

"How did we let that happen?" Castle asked his wife as they watched their daughter walk off with Mari, the boys, the oldest McDouglas twins, Genevieve, Isaac, Paul, Nancy and Derek.

"I don't know," Beckett said, unable to help her smile as she thought of how Julia had managed to get the married couples on their own. "But… I'm just glad there aren't too many kids for Paul."

"And he isn't the only adult," Castle pointed out to her as they were walking from the hub in the center of Disneyland to Frontierland. He took his wife's hand and said, "It's only until eleven."

"I know," Beckett said, as they'd agreed to spend the last hour together going through the biggest rides in the park. "But this isn't too bad."

"Oh, now you like it," Castle said teasingly. He wasn't surprised when his wife gave him a look and he stopped her so they could share a quick kiss. When they parted he looked into her eyes, debating if he wanted to do more than that. But she decided for them and with a gentle tug on his hand they were walking together to Thunder Mountain.

When they were in the last row of their train, Beckett smiled as her husband was taking a selfie of them before he was hurrying to put his phone away. "Proof we went on the rides?" she asked him.

"Sure," Castle replied after pretending to think that over for a moment. He laughed when she pushed his shoulder; not hard; and he squeezed her hand quickly before they were focusing on the ride. Going through it, he yelled while his wife was crying out as they went over the different turns and dips and they came off the ride laughing as he told her, "I'm so glad I don't scream like a girl for these."

"It's because you can control it," Beckett said. She was surprised when her husband stopped walking and she turned to him asking, "What?"

Castle didn't respond, instead he took her hand and pulled her over to the path between Frontierland and Fantasyland. When he was sure they had a moment, he pulled her against him and he kissed her deeply. He was pleased feeling her arms sliding around his neck and he held her closer before they were parting for a quick breath of air. As soon as they had done that he was meeting her for another kiss and they were rubbing their tongues together until they had to breathe again.

While her husband pressed his forehead to hers Beckett smiled and said, "You're lucky there aren't many people right here."

"Before this point," Castle said as they let go of each other since they could hear people approaching. "So," he then said, holding her hand. "What would you like to go on next?"

"Let's go to the Matterhorn," Beckett said. When she saw the slight face her husband pulled she smiled a little and asked, "I thought you liked the ride?"

"Yeah…" Castle said slowly. He saw his wife was looking at him questioningly and he said, "I don't like not getting to sit with you."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Then we'll have to go on another ride where we do afterwards."

Castle nodded and reached for his wife's hand, holding it while they were walking together through Fantasyland and making their way to the mountain. Though he'd told her that he didn't like the idea of not sitting with her, he still felt a sense of excitement once he was in his seat. Looking ahead of him at his wife while they were waiting for the train to go, he then turned his head to the line and saw that Julia was there with the McCartneys and Derek. "Hey, we'll wait for you," he called to his and Beckett's daughter.

Waving to Julia after they were going, Beckett smiled at the girl crying, "Watch out for the Yeti!" She turned the best she could in her seat to look at her husband while he was calling, "Wrong ride!"

"What?" Castle said to his wife when he saw that she was looking at him. He had to pause in continuing to speak as they came to a rough stop for their seatbelt check, but he then said, "It is, it's the Abominable Snowman."

Beckett could only shake her head as they were moving again and going through the tunnel to the lift hill. But she turned her attention from that to the ride as they were going up towards the light on the side and she held onto the handles next to her when they got to the top and made their way down the track. She was crying out and hearing her husband yelling behind her she laughed when she could until they reached the pool of water and they were slowing down. "Are we joining them?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, also ask where everyone else is," Castle commented.

"They might have gone on the other side," Beckett told him.

"Maybe," Castle said before they had reached the exit and got out. "How long?" he asked.

"It won't be that much," Beckett said, taking his hand so he would stop looking at his watch before they went to a bench nearby to watch for their daughter and friends.

"How was it?" Castle asked a few minutes later when their second oldest rushed over to them ahead of the others with her.

"Fun," Julia said with a smile. "The Abominable Snowman said that his cousin is the Yeti, so I was half right."

Castle started to laugh and then hugged her tightly saying, "I stand corrected. Where's everyone else?"

"They wanted to go on the other side," Julia said. "And- there's Skye and Mary."

"And Rebecca and David," Beckett said with a smile as she and her husband stood up together.

Once everyone was there Castle said, "Are we forgetting about the idea of the couples going off on their own?"

"Yeah, let's just make sure we go on everything as many times as we can," David said.

"Great, who wants to head to Space Mountain?" Skye asked.

When everyone; especially the kids; started to say they did the group walked further into Tomorrowland for the ride.

Castle held back his wife a bit and wrapped his arm around her while she was looking at him. "How was it?" he asked her.

"It's not over yet," Beckett said with a smile, knowing he was talking about her birthday. "But it's been amazing." She moved to take his hand and while she was entwining their fingers she told him, "Like I said it's not over yet though, so let's catch up and keep going on these rides with our daughter."

"After you," Castle said, kissing the back of her hand.

Smiling again at her husband, Becket walked with him so they could catch up just as they were going through the exit of the ride. She called Julia to them and with her family surrounding her they approached the loading platform, eager herself to go through the rest of what had been an enjoyable and memorable birthday with everyone she loved.