12. It's A Sunny Day(1)

"Look the Easter bunny came!"

"Shh you're gonna wake up someone," Julia quieted her sister down when they saw their Easter baskets on the kitchen table.

"Are they empty?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Yep," Julia said, looking down inside of them. She took the basket with a rabbit's face and ears on it; the ears having blue on them; and handed it to her sister. Her own basket was plain but had a lining of blue and green plaid and she said, "There's a note."

"Read it!" Eliza said earnestly.

"Julia and Eliza your eggs are all over," the girl began. "But wait for your parents and sister so they can join in on the fun to look too! It has the exclamation point," Julia told her sister, showing the note to her.

"I see… can we wake everyone up?" Eliza asked, hopping from foot to foot in her excitement.

"Well… we can go to Mom and Dad and see if they're up yet," Julia said slowly, reaching for her sister's hand so they could head upstairs.

When they were at the door to their parents' room Eliza said, "Why did they close it?"

"Dad does that so Mom can get as much sleep as she can," Julia said as she knocked at it. When her sister looked unsure she assured her saying, "It's not early, early."

"But they're still asleep," Eliza whispered as her sister was opening the door when there was no answer to the knock.

Shaking her head at her Julia pushed the door open the rest of the way and looked at the bed. She was startled when she saw it was empty and then gulped before she backed up a little.

"What's wrong?" Eliza asked worriedly at the way her sister looked.

"Mom, Dad?" Julia called into the room after knocking again, louder. She frowned when she didn't hear anything in response, so she went back inside looking to the closet door and then the bathroom door. "They must be getting ready, stay there and I'll see if they're taking a shower." She started to walk further and realized her sister was right behind her, making her glance over her shoulder at Eliza. She wanted to make her stay but realized it would be pointless. So she turned her attention back to the room and the closed bathroom door. "Mom, Dad?" she called as she knocked on that door.

"Hey," Beckett said after opening the door only a second after Julia had spoken and knocked. She smiled at the slightly shocked expressions on the girls' faces before they seemed to shake themselves and then stepped up to her. She knew that if she hadn't been pregnant they would have thrown themselves at her but she didn't mind, wrapping her arms around them as they were doing to her. "Good morning and Happy Easter you two."

"Happy Easter, see the baskets we got?" Eliza asked, holding up hers she still had in her hand.

"Very nice," Beckett said, cupping her cheek. She was surprised when Eliza didn't say anything else, merely pressed her cheek against her stomach. "She's kicking on the other side," she told the little girl.

"Oh…" Eliza said slowly, looking at her big sister.

"Here," Julia said quickly as she moved out of the way when her mother looked at her. She watched her sister feeling their little sister kicking and then looked into the bathroom to see where their father was. "Morning Dad," she said to him once she saw he was walking over to them. "Happy Easter."

"Happy Easter," Castle said. "And good morning Julia, Eliza."

Beckett watched the girls hugging him tightly together before they turned to her and she asked, "Is anyone else up?"

"No, should we-" Julia started to say.

"Katie?" Jim called into the room.

"Come in," Beckett said as the girls turned towards the doorway where he was calling from. She followed them out into the room and went to her father; there for the weekend and the holiday along with her mother in law; before she embraced him tightly.

"How are you?" Jim asked his daughter.

"I'm fine," Beckett said reassuringly. She let him go to let the girls greet him and then went to Alexis squeezing her arm saying, "Happy Easter."

"Happy Easter Kate," the young woman told her with a smile as the girls were rushing to her.

"Happy Easter," Martha said to everyone as she embraced Beckett quickly. "I see the Easter bunny stopped by."

"Oh! He left a note too," Eliza said eagerly, holding Alexis's hand. "Jules read it and it said…"

"There's stuff inside and outside and we needed to wait for you guys to find the eggs," Julia said, recalling the note as best she could. She glanced at her mother; she had figured out there was no Easter bunny soon after realizing there was no Santa; since she'd known that was her handwriting. "So… can we start?" she asked.

"I think so," Beckett said. "After we eat."

"What do we get? Carrots?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"That's more for when we have lunch with everyone," Castle commented as they walked together over to the stairs. "Which will be at twelve so we have a lot of time to find the eggs that are inside."

"Think they're going to be inside the cars?" Eliza asked.

Julia shrugged and then asked their father; once they were at the kitchen or kitchen table; "Can I help?"

"You can," Castle told her with a nod. "Though just scrambled eggs again."

"Okay," Julia said eagerly before she hurried with him to start.

"Okay… I guess we're finished here," Beckett said in amusement a short time later to Eliza as they had finished setting the table.

"Now what?" the little girl asked, looking at her mother's stomach.

"I'm fine," Beckett assured her, seeing her glance. "Now we can feed the dogs their breakfast."

"I can help!" Eliza gasped happily as that was usually Julia's job.

"Of course, you can," Beckett told her as she walked over to the fridge to pick out the food they would give the dogs for a breakfast instead of their regular dog food. She set it down on the counter next to the fridge and looked at Eliza to see she and Alexis were bringing over the dogs' bowls. "Hold on," she told them. "Sit," she said as the dogs had seen her grab the container. When they were still she then motioned to Alexis and Eliza and then spooned out the sweet potatoes, squash, corn and pumpkins.

"Will they be alright with everyone here?" Martha asked as she watched the little girl watching the dogs while they ate.

"Of course," Beckett replied.

"Yeah, the Davises and Fosters aren't bringing their dogs," Castle added. He glanced behind him and was startled to find Eliza running up to him saying, "What can I help you with sweetheart?"

"What are you doing?" the little girl asked, looking at his pan. Eliza gasped when she was picked up before seeing it was her grandfather. "Thank you," she told him with a smile. She kissed his cheek and then looked down at the pan gasping again when she saw her father was using a mold to make pancakes. "A bunny!" she cried out.

"Yep," Castle said. "In honor of our visitor this morning."

Julia, finishing the scrambled eggs, was going to spoon them out when her mother squeezed her hand. "Thank you, Mom," she said in relief as she took the pan she had been using off the stove. She smiled as Beckett put the eggs onto a plate and then handed her the shredded cheese. She quickly sprinkled it onto the eggs, feeling like a chef before she then said, "Are you gonna make lunch with Dad?"

"Change of plans," Castle said as he'd heard that since he was so close to them. "Lily and Brad made lunch, big enough so the three families have leftovers for dinner."

"Brad cooks?" Jim asked.

"He does," Castle said with a smile. "She taught him, and he's kept it up though usually to help her since she's far better at it."

"How much longer love?" Beckett asked her husband.

"Go ahead and sit, everything is ready," Castle said as he was finishing the last pancake. After getting it onto the plate with the others he joined his family at the table and then served them all while Alexis was handing out the scrambled eggs.

"You have a wonderful hand for this kiddo," Martha was telling Julia after they'd been eating for a bit.

"Thanks, Mom taught me," the girl said with a smile.

"Don't take all the credit," Castle said. "She suggested using rosemary and a tiny little bit of sage too."

"He's right," Beckett said with a smile at their oldest who was blushing slightly. "We tried those out."

"Me too," Eliza said.

"She allowed herself to be the guinea pig," Castle said in amusement.

Eliza laughed with the others before she went back to her pancake she was working on, listening to the others talking. When they eventually finished up their food she sighed and said, "I wish we had a bunny."

"I do too," Julia said. "But the dogs wouldn't really like it if we did."

Making a face Eliza handed her empty plate to her grandfather as he was washing the dishes with Alexis' help. "Can we get our baskets now?" she asked, hopping to her mother who was still sitting at the table.

"Go ahead," Beckett told her, directing that to both girls. She watched them hurrying to grab them on the shelf that the division between the kitchen and the hallway made. "I'll be going with you two; your dad too," she told them when they walked back to her.

"That's why you're sitting here now?" Julia asked with a smile.

"Exactly," Beckett said, hugging Eliza to her, kissing her temple.

"We can share what we get with you right?" the little girl asked after she'd kissed her mother's cheek.

"If you'd like to," Castle said, coming back to them.

"You're finished?" Beckett said in slight surprise.

"I helped them out," Castle replied. "We're eager to get started."

"Are you all going with us?" Julia asked interestedly.

"Actually," Beckett began as she stood up carefully. "Just your sister and the dogs upstairs."

"We'll wait for you downstairs," Jim told them.

"Better to let you have room to look," Martha said.

"But the rooms aren't that small," Julia said.

"No but there are a lot of us," Martha said, gesturing to the dogs.

"We'll follow you around down here," Jim said. "Which begs the question where are you going to start?"

Eliza couldn't help giggling and she then said when she saw her family was looking at her, "Talk like you do in the court."

"Oh no," Jim said, glancing at his daughter briefly. "I'm off for the weekend."

"And the week," Beckett said. She smiled when the girls gasped and turned to him and she told them, "He's staying until next Sunday. But for now, where do you want to start?"

"Are there any eggs here?" Julia asked.

"No," Castle answered.

"Upstairs?" Eliza said to her sister. When Julia nodded they went together to the stairs, leading the way for their family before they got to the top and she looked at her to let her decide where they would go first as she knew she would have a good idea where to go. When her sister just looked at her she thought she wasn't sure and was just about to ask her that when Julia finally spoke and decided for them as she'd been hoping she'd do.

"Mom and Dad's room is first," Julia said, glancing at their parents.

"Did the Easter bunny go there?" Eliza asked in surprise.

"Oh no," Castle said. "He wouldn't want to wake up your mom."

"Does he know about the baby?" Eliza said.

"He does," Castle said, looking at his wife. "How else is he going to know to give your little sister eggs next year? But not our room Julia try another one."

"One of the guest rooms," the girl said when her sister looked at her again.

"Go ahead," Beckett said, not surprised she had figured that out. She let her husband take her hand and they walked together after their daughters down the hall to the left before they stopped at one of the two bedrooms.

"Go in," Castle told them when the girls looked back at him and Beckett.

Heading into the room first Julia said, "Go that way and I'll go over here." When her little sister nodded she went over to the side of the bed, pulling away the pillow there. She laughed when she saw an egg there saying, "I told you."

"I got one too!" Eliza said eagerly, holding up a pastel green plastic egg. She put it in her basket and then started to look through the nightstand as her sister was doing on the other side. "Look," she then called, pulling out a blue camouflage egg from the second drawer.

"I didn't find one," Julia said before she went to the low dresser that was on her side. She smiled when she found a green camouflage egg there and showed her sister before they turned to their parents.

"You don't want to try the bathroom?" Beckett asked jokingly.

"Mom," Julia said before she and her sister were laughing together.

"You don't need to wait for us," Castle then said. "Just go."

The girls hurried over to the bedroom across the hall, getting two eggs each there as well. As soon as they were done they went without a word to their parents to the library, crying out at the same time as they could see at least one egg on every bookcase before they started to grab them while Castle and Beckett watched in the entry to the room.

"They split them up," Castle commented as the girls were nearly finished.

"I noticed," Beckett said in amusement at his Irish. She then smiled at him and said, "And we planned for that. Not yet sweetie," calling to their youngest at the end who was trying to open one of her eggs.

Making a face Eliza said, "Did we finish?"

"Upstairs?" Julia added quickly as they walked over to their parents.

"You are," Beckett replied. "But you have a lot to look at downstairs," she added.

"Do we have to go together?" Eliza said as they left the room.

"Not if you don't want to," Castle commented. "Why?"

"I think she wants to split up," Beckett said in amusement.

Eliza shook her head and told them, "I wanna go with Grandpapa."

"By the way, Alexis?" Castle called as he realized his daughter had disappeared.

"Here," the young woman said, standing at her doorway. She smiled when her family looked at her and told them, "Louis called me, so I took the chance."

"Will you come with us now?" Julia said.

"Of course," Alexis replied, taking Eliza's hand. She looked down at her basket and said, "You got a lot."

"Don't you get any eggs?" the little girl asked then.

"She has some downstairs," Beckett said. "Speaking of that we should go there first."

"Where?" Castle asked, directing that to Julia.

"The living room," the girl said, going over to it as soon as they'd gotten to the bottom of the stairs. Julia and Eliza looked around the room opposite from each other until they went to their sister.

"What?" Alexis asked in slight surprise as Julia was pulling her over to the mantle of the fireplace in the room. She spotted two red eggs on either side and glanced back at their parents.

"Don't look at us," Castle said quickly. "They made those for you."

"Thank you," Alexis told them, squeezing their shoulders. She then turned her attention to the eggs, placing them in her sister's baskets saying, "Hold onto those for me."

"We will," Julia said, sharing a smile with her sister as they'd written As on them with silver markers. "Now can I get Grandpapa?" she asked her mother.

"Go ahead," Beckett told her.

"Okay?" Castle asked as she leaned against the wall after Eliza and Alexis had followed Julia out.

"It's my back," Beckett explained. She smiled a little when he hurried to her and she told him, "I just need to hold it straight."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked, having been fully prepared to whisk her up to their room so he would be able to massage her back.

"Look down at my stomach Rick," Beckett said with a smile as she was aware of what he was thinking as she studied him. "It's my being pulled down."

"I would tell you to let your mom lean back but I don't know where you'd go for that," Castle said to the baby, placing his hand on her abdomen.

With a slight laugh Beckett told her husband, "I don't either and I don't want to find out."

"Better?" Castle asked her when she pushed from the wall.

"For now," Beckett said with a smile. She then went over to the hall with him and they started looking for their family to see if they'd continued the egg hunt without them when Julia appeared in the doorway to the dining room.

"We're here," she told them. "Are their eggs here?" Julia then whispered.

"They are," Castle said with a smile. "Are you looking or waiting?"

"They're looking," Julia told them.

"Then go sweetie," Beckett urged her gently. She stepped into the room ahead of her husband, watching as the girls were looking around everything with their parents and Alexis. "Having any luck?" she called as she saw that Martha had found one of the white eggs.

"Yes, and since this has a J on it I'm guessing this is for you Jim," Castle's mother said with a smile, handing it to him.

"I guess the Easter bunny thinks we're all kids at heart here," Beckett's father said with a smile as he looked at it, knowing the J had been written by his daughter.

"We made it Grandpapa," Julia said with a smile at him. She held up her basket and said, "I'll hold it for you."

"Thank you," Jim told her as he placed it inside with the other eggs she had. He was a little surprised when she pulled him over to the credenza in the room. "Aren't you going to keep looking?"

"No, you Grandpapa," Julia told him firmly.

Though Jim wanted to tell her to look inside he decided to look at it himself, seeing a white egg soon after. "Martha," he told her as he saw the egg once he'd pulled it out and the M on it.

"Thank you very much," Castle's mother told them. "Hold this for me kiddo?" she directed to Eliza.

"Yeah," the little girl said eagerly, holding up her basket for her to put the egg in.

"We better go," Castle then said with a smile. "Or else everyone will start to arrive before we can look at your eggs."

Beckett wasn't surprised when that spurred the girls to rush over to hers and Castle's office which was the last room her husband and Alexis had put eggs into with her help the night before. She stood with her husband and their family as they watched the two, a smile on her face as they eventually started to help each other and split up the few eggs in there. "Okay," she told them once they turned to her. "I think you have all of them."

"Now we can look inside?" Eliza asked eagerly, going to her and wrapping her arm around her.

"Yes, but we need to do that at the kitchen table," Beckett said. She took Eliza's hand and went with her over to the table and sat down with the others. She wasn't surprised when the little girl got on Castle's lap and then immediately opened her first egg.

Squealing when she saw the quarters inside the egg Eliza said, "For my piggy bank!"

"I got some jelly beans," Julia said with a smile as her little sister looked over at her. "Can I have one?"

"Let's wait until after lunch," Beckett told her.

Nodding Julia turned her attention to her next eggs and opened them to reveal mostly candy, though she received some coins as well a few small papers with stickers on them. "That was nice," she said to everyone around the table. "Did you like yours?" she then directed to her grandparents and sister.

"I did," Alexis said since she had some candy herself.

"Again, thank you," Jim said with a smile since his egg had jelly beans which he loved.

"And for mine as well," Martha said since there were some Jordan almonds in her egg. "You've done very well," she said, nodding to their eggs.

"And there's more?" Jim asked, looking at his daughter and son in law.

"You'll see when they get here," Beckett said with a slight smile. She then said, "So we have some time now, would you like to play outside with the dogs?"

The girls; since that had been said to them; nodded and got up quickly before they led the dogs outside, everyone else following.

Standing with her husband as they were watching their daughters Beckett eventually touched his arm to get his attention. "I'll take him to see the room now," she murmured to him.

"Sure," Castle replied as he nodded.

Walking over to her father Beckett pulled him aside with her and said, "There's something I wanted to show you."

"By the pool?" Jim asked as she was taking him in that direction.

"It is," Beckett said with a smile. "Though it's not going to be ready for a while."

Very curious about that Jim went with her without another word before they came to the room to the left of the TV. He was startled when she opened the door and stepped aside for him to enter first. He saw the room was large but a bit narrow and he stood in the middle before he said to his daughter, "This isn't my room, is it?"

"No," Beckett said, unable to help a slight laugh. "What would you say to this being our darkroom?"

"Really?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, I told Rick I'd like one after I told him about you coming at the end of June," Beckett said.

"And he agreed?" Jim said.

"He did," Beckett replied. "After he knew that you know how to handle the darkroom. But while we'll get it ready I don't want to use it until the baby is a bit older."

"That's fine," Jim said. "And let me take care of everything."

"Okay," Beckett said with a smile as she could hear the excitement in his voice. "Will you be alright on your own though?"

"I will be," Jim assured her.

"Great, now can I ask something?" Beckett inquired.

"Of course," Jim replied, wondering what she'd say.

"Would you teach the girls; if they want to learn," Beckett said. "And Alexis."

"I'd be happy to," Jim said firmly. "What about your husband."

With a slight smile Beckett told her father, "He's asked me already."

"Which isn't a surprise," Jim said, smiling himself. He squeezed her arm and then told her, "How are you after the egg hunt?"

"I was sitting while they were looking at their eggs," Beckett said simply.

"Too bad you both don't get an egg," Jim said as his daughter looped her arm through his and they began to walk back to the others.

"I think Rick has something in mind for me," Beckett said wryly. "Maybe not eggs but something."

"And for him?" Jim asked her.

Beckett told him, "He told me not to do anything for him; he just wants to share with the girls which they're going to do of course. For now though they're going to be here soon." When her father nodded they continued down the grass to the beach where the rest of their family was. She went straight to her husband and took his hand, holding it tightly before he kissed her temple and then spoke to her in Irish.

"How did he like it?" Castle asked.

"He said he'll take care of it," Beckett said with a smile.

"Well… I should tell him I can help him-" Castle began to say before she set her hand on his arm.

"Let him," Beckett said gently. "If he needs any extra help he'll ask."

"Okay," Castle said before he jumped slightly as his phone was vibrating. "They're here," he said before running off.

Stopping when she spotted her father running Julia was about to say the Davises had arrived when she heard a familiar voice calling her. Turning around she smiled widely when she saw it was Mari coming down the beach with her family and she hurried over to her to hug her tightly. "Did you get eggs?" she asked.

"Yep, Dani too and she didn't try to eat the fake grass in her basket this time," Mari replied with a smile as her friend laughed.

"Good thing," Julia said before she turned her attention to Rebecca and David who were walking up to them.

In the house at that moment Castle and Beckett opened the front door after he'd opened the gate for the Fosters. They stood on the porch while the family's car came down the driveway before turning around to face back.

"He's going to say something," Beckett commented.

"Of course he will," Castle said easily before he walked out to the car as his friend was stepping out.

"You're doing the same?" Brad asked, shaking his hand.

"She's a month more along than your wife," Castle said with a slight smile as he'd begun parking one of their cars in the driveway facing towards the gate after the snow from the storm before had melted completely.

"Still, I'm not taking any chances," Brad shot back as he went around to see if Lily needed any help out of the car.

"Let's hope it doesn't snow again," she said wryly. Looking over at their kids Lily said, "Take one thing each before you go join everyone else."

Beckett wasn't surprised when her friend was only allowed to take what she guessed were a basket of rolls while she wasn't given a thing. "I'm not going to ask," she told her friend once they were alone in the kitchen while their husbands were going back to the car.

"Oh, I'm fine," Lily said.

"So am I… tired but I'm fine," Beckett said. She was about to ask how their Easter morning had been; since she was aware the Davis kids didn't believe in the Easter bunny anymore; when everyone from outside was coming in including their husbands with the last of the food that had been in the trunk of the car.

"Did we get everything?" Brad asked his wife.

Turning from the quick hug she'd given Alexis, Lily looked at everything that was set out on the island and nodded her head saying, "That's it so I'd better get started."

"Lils," Brad said simply.

"Bradley," Lily replied. She glanced at the kids and said to those that weren't their daughter and son, "That's not his real name; I just say that to tease him."

"Why don't we go back outside?" Martha asked the kids as she had a feeling there would be some sort of discussion the two didn't want them to hear.

"Look," Brad said as soon as all the kids were gone with Alexis, Martha and Jim. "I know you're tired, you definitely Kate and-"

"I'm not," Rebecca commented.

"That and you don't need to all work on it," Castle added.

"And yet I made it," Lily protested.

"Okay," Beckett said. "We should get started as I'm sure our kids will be getting hungry very soon and since I know I'll get some protest if I'm here I'll go out with everyone. But we need two men to get the table… or one guy and Rebecca."

"We'll get the table," Castle said, gesturing between himself and Brad as he had the feeling that Lily wouldn't want him hovering as she worked.

"I'll help them out," David said, looking at the chief.

"Okay," Brad said, holding back his wanting to thank the man as he knew he would watch out for his wife while he was doing that.

"Nice of you to do that for Lily," Beckett said as her husband walked up to her.

"Well…" Castle started to say.

"I know," Beckett replied with a slight smile before they walked out into the backyard. "Oh, before you say anything I'll sit on one of the chairs."

"Thank you," Castle replied. He squeezed her hand as they needed to separate at that point and then watched her make her way down the grass before he turned to Brad who was waiting next to him.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" the man asked.

"Were you like this before?" Castle said.

"I told you yes," Brad said

"Then no," Castle replied, shaking his head. "And remember I'm the same way."

Brad nodded and then said, "We went on Friday."

"How's she doing?" Castle asked as they walked over to the pool. "And I mean both of them."

"They're good, she's a lot bigger," Brad replied. "Lils has the ultrasound picture we got, we'll pass it around."

"We look forward to seeing her," Castle said absently as he unlocked the storage room at the pool. He took out the large picnic table he and Beckett had bought the summer after moving in with Brad's help and they took it to the middle of the grass part of the yard before they began to go back and forth between the house and grass to get everything to get it ready for the meal.

Standing with Eve and Jacob in the water as their fathers were at the table Julia saw she had the chance to talk to them and said, "So when your sister is born are you going to believe in Santa and the Easter bunny again?"

"Not for real," Jacob said first.

"Yeah, we'll just make sure that she doesn't find out yet," Eve said. "Our parents talked to us about that. And that means we get to look for eggs still."

"Did you today?" Julia asked with a smile.

"Just a little bit since we're looking with everyone after lunch here," Eve told her. "And you're gonna have to do the same thing."

"Yep," Julia said with a smile. "I don't care though 'cause it's still fun to look for eggs."

"Yeah," Jacob said with a laugh before he tossed the stick that they were throwing to the dogs in the water.

Since he'd walked away from them Julia then asked Eve, "Think he'll be like your dad?"

"If he ever gets married and has a baby?" Eve replied. When Julia nodded she laughed with her and said, "Yeah, he sees how our dad is. Is your dad really worried still?"

"Yep," Julia said again. "We all are," she added, looking over to where her mother was, sitting with Eliza next to her.

"I'm gonna go see how my mom is," Eve said suddenly.

Julia smiled as her friend left her and then walked up to the chairs before Mari ran up to her. "What?" she asked in surprise as her friend was smiling widely at her.

"The dads are doing something, and we need to help," Mari replied.

"Just us?" Julia asked.

"No, Eve too," Mari replied.

"What-" Beckett started to say as her daughter and Mari ran past. When they didn't bother to even look at her she looked back over her shoulder and called, "Be careful!" Shaking her head, she looked at her youngest and said, "You're not going to go play with them?"

"I did already Mommy," Eliza replied. She put her hand on her mother's stomach and asked, "Is the baby hungry?"

"No," Beckett replied. "She's just moving around a little. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," Eliza replied.

"I think lunch is just about ready," Jim said as he had been walking up to them in time to hear that.

Standing up Beckett turned her attention to the table and quickly spotted some flowers on it. When she then discerned there were just three vases of them she said to her father, "I told you he had something for me."

"I see," Jim said.

Studying her father as they were walking up the grass Beckett said, "You knew?"

"I had to pick them up," Jim said simply.

"Hey," Castle said when his wife had reached where he was standing next to the table.

"This is where I'm sitting?" Beckett asked as she glanced at the red and yellow variegated tulips at the place setting where he was standing.

"It is," Castle replied. He wasn't surprised when she squeezed his hand but was slightly when she tugged it so he would bend over slightly. Taking the kiss to his cheek he hurriedly brushed his against her own before he said, "I love you."

"I love you too Rick," Beckett said with a slight smile. She squeezed his hand again and let him go, seeing Lily coming down the steps from the house.

"Here," Brad said, jumping to take the basket she held of rolls. "And you can sit here," he told her, leading her to where there were some cream and red colored tulips.

Though she knew she could protest having to sit instead of helping Lily knew it would be pointless, so she just kissed her husband quickly and murmured a thank you to him for the flowers before she was sitting and he left as David brought Rebecca to the table.

After kissing her husband; for the vase of red tulips in front of where she was going to sit; Rebecca said to Beckett and Lily that she was close to, "You get the feeling there's something later on."

"Most likely," Beckett said in amusement. "I'm interested to see what my husband will want."

"Me too, but with my husband," Lily said. She laughed when Beckett glanced at her and then said, "We'll find out," quickly as the older kids were coming with some plates of food to put in the middle of the long table.

"We're fine," David said as his wife stood. "And we're almost done."

"They are," Lily said with a smile. "I didn't make that much."

"I'm amazed you did," Rebecca commented.

"Me too," Lily replied with a soft laugh. "Because Brad wanted to try to stop me."

"That doesn't surprise me," Rebecca said with a slight laugh.

"How much did Brad help you with?" Beckett asked when they'd calmed down.

"A lot of these," Lily said as she gestured to the plates in front of them. The others were coming with the rest and she said, "Do I need to explain anything here?"

"I think we can tell what everything is," Castle commented.

"Okay, then bon appétit," Lily told them.

It took a little time for everyone to get all the food they wanted but once they had Castle quickly got everyone's attention as he intended on giving a toast for the meal with them all together.

"Here's to all of us getting together again," he said at first once they were all quiet. "Though of course we're missing the McDouglases, McColloughs and Darnleys. Let's hope we'll have the chance to do that this summer in DC with all of us there."

"Too vague Richard," Martha told her son jokingly after they'd tapped glasses and drank to the toast.

"Okay then here's to the two girls we're expecting to join us," Castle said.

Beckett laughed softly but tapped her glass to her husband's before they began to eat. She saw quickly that Lily across from her was looking around the table and she told her friend, "You haven't lost your touch."

"It's not that I thought I lost it but my sense of smell…" Lily replied.

"That's why I was there," Brad said jokingly.

"Just your nose?" David asked with a slight laugh. "I was the same when she was cooking both her pregnancies," nodding to his wife.

"We usually cook together," Castle said quickly when his friends looked at him.

"Or he would cook on his own," Beckett said wryly. "And when I did cook it was usually a salad or something less strenuous."

"I-" Castle started to say as he knew how that sounded.

"It's alright," Beckett was swift to interrupt him. "It's nice of you to worry."

"Like we say," Lily commented.

"But they're not made of glass right now," Rebecca added.

"It can be hard to remember," Brad said defensively.

"Which is why we're still talking about this," Lily said in laughter. "And probably will until we both have the babies. Now since we're speaking about them I hope you don't mind if I pass-" she started to say.

"Wait," Jim said, stopping her. "I have some news myself I need to announce so let me do that so we can focus on your baby after."

"Alright," Lily said, smiling at his wanting to do that in that order.

"What is it?" Alexis asked as she and the kids had heard that and were looking at him to see what he'd say.

"I think Katie told you I'd be retiring in November," Jim began.

"I did," Beckett assured him quickly.

"Well that date moved up a bit," Jim said.

"You're gonna move in sooner?" Julia gasped in joy.

"I am; the thirtieth of June," Jim said. "Though it's more the official date. Whenever I finish a case before that I'm finished with work."

"Are you gonna go with us to Florida?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Of course," Jim said reassuringly. "And I'll join you in LA."

"I called Skye," Beckett said with a smile when her father looked at her. "And she said it's fine and you and Louis could even come and stay too. Though," she added quickly when her stepdaughter was about to speak. "I let her know you two might be busy with jobs or looking for some."

"And I'll be able to help teach you three while we're over there," Jim told the girls.

"And Peter," Julia added.

"And him as well," Jim said with a nod.

"Is there a reason why you waited for now?" David asked when no one else said anything for a bit. "You could have told your family privately."

"I could have but Katie and Richard already know," Jim said, nodding over to them. "I decided my granddaughters wouldn't mind if I told you as well."

"We don't," the girls and Alexis said at the same time.

"And if you're telling us because you're wondering at our reactions," Lily said. "We don't mind at all, you've been at group dinners or gatherings or whatever so it's not like this is new. And it'll be nice to see you more often."

After thanking the woman Jim reminded her about the ultrasound picture and Lily was soon passing it around, everyone looking at it before the conversation turned to the babies and if the two families were really ready as they worked their way through the Easter meal.

"I can't wait for you to come here Grandpapa," Eliza said to Jim as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I can't either," Beckett's father replied. "Are they ready to start yet?"

"No, they're gonna bring some fruit," Eliza answered.

"Fruit salad," Julia said as she stood at the top of the steps.

"Be careful," Jim said, going with Eliza over to watch her descend.

"I'm fine Grandpapa," Julia said once she was off the steps. She went straight to the table and set the large bowl in her hands there saying, "Mari's parents made this," to her grandfather and sister.

"And we made this," Alexis said jokingly as she walked outside to them.

"Daddy bought that," Eliza told Jim seriously.

"Good of him to do," Beckett's father said in amusement as he watched the young woman set the can of whipped cream next to the bowl. "So," he said. "I haven't told your mother this, but I'll tell you now since I told them about me coming here before you. I'm staying until the last week of May now."

"You are?" Julia asked. When he nodded she then asked, "How come?"

"I have the chance," Jim replied."Great!" Julia exclaimed. "I hope we can…"

"Let's wait to see how things are before we plan," Jim said.

"We didn't even finish with this weekend," Alexis said. "I don't want to finish it yet."

"Me too," Julia said before the others were coming out to them.

"Are we still going to have dessert?" Jacob was asking his father as they were gathering around the table.

"Later," Brad said firmly. "For now just please eat some fruit."

"We'll be lucky if they do," Beckett said slightly jokingly.

"We will," Eve said quickly.

"But not too fast," Rebecca said, speaking to her daughter as Mari was starting to eat her fruit a little quickly.

"Hey, the whipped-" Jacob started to say when he realized Castle; who'd served the fruit; hadn't used it.

"That's for something else," Castle quickly told the boy. "Don't worry," he told Alexis as he saw she looked startled hearing that. "It does need to be out here."

"For what?" Eliza asked.

"You'll find out," Beckett told her with a smile. She leaned over; since the little girl was standing next to her; kissing her cheek. "And I think these fruits are good enough without them."

Eve sighed; when all the adults said almost the same thing; and she told the other kids, "They don't want us to be mad we didn't get to have the whipped cream… yet."

"Smart aleck," Lily told her daughter teasingly.

"Yep," Eve replied before they started to laugh.

When the bowls of fruit were finished the kids were allowed to go with their baskets over to the trees as Alexis told them she'd spied a yellow plastic egg there. The parents stayed at the table, the young woman taking Dani on her hip as Jim and Martha followed the others.

"This was nice," Rebecca said.

"The food was great," David added.

"Luckily I did make enough for us all to take home," Lily said, nodding her thanks to his compliment. She rubbed her stomach slightly and then saw Beckett was leaning her elbows on the table her head in her hands. "Tired?" she asked Castle as he was rubbing his wife's back gently.

"Yes," Beckett answered before he could.

"You should get some rest love," Castle told her.

"I can sleep tonight," Beckett sighed, forcing herself to sit up. She cursed her need to yawn and then mumbled, "I should go in. But," telling the last to Castle as he stood with her. "Only a half hour… or when they look at their eggs," she continued, pointing at him. "And please do not make them wait for the half hour if they finish sooner than that."

"I'll make sure he doesn't," Lily called. She glanced at Rebecca; who'd cleared her throat; and said, "We will."

"Thank you," Beckett said before she kissed her husband's cheek and then headed into the house.

"I'm going to stick with the kids," Castle said before he left the others and walked towards the trees. He saw his mother was standing at the edge of them and told her, "If you want to go back to the table go ahead." She opened her mouth to reply and he quickly told her, "Don't go in the house though; Kate's going to sleep for about a half hour."

"I wouldn't go in and stomp around," Martha said wryly though she knew her son wasn't thinking that. "I'm surprised you didn't follow her."

"Better I didn't," Castle said. "How are they doing?"

"They're going slowly," Martha said. When her son glanced at her in surprise she smiled and explained, "Alexis told them this was the last time they'd be able to find eggs until next year; she must have known Kate was going to want to sleep."

"No, she just guessed," the young woman herself said, smiling at them as she walked up to them. "Dani wants her mother," she explained to them. "And I noticed Kate was looking tired."

"She did sleep luckily," Castle said, watching as his mother took the toddler and went back to the table. "Are they going slowly?" he asked his daughter.

"They are," Alexis said. "I didn't tell them about Kate though."

Nodding Castle said, "Think they're doing alright."

"They are, let them spend the time on their own," Alexis replied.

"I will," Castle said. He then said, "What was Jim talking to you about earlier?"

"Is Katie inside?" Beckett's father asked as he walked up to them.

"She is, asleep," Castle said.

"I should wait to tell you and her at the same time," Jim said.

"I'll tell him; you can blame me if Kate gets mad," Alexis told him.

"She wouldn't," Castle said quickly.

Smiling at her father Alexis then told him, "Jim's staying until the last week of May."

"I only managed to find out last night," the man said when his son in law looked at him.

"Great to hear that," Castle said. "And I know Kate will be very happy."

"I'm aware as well," Jim said, smiling slightly.

Turning to look into the shadows of the trees Castle tried not to glance at his watch to make sure the kids would give Beckett a little more time. Luckily, they seemed to be talking about their eggs from that morning and that delayed things a little longer he was glad to see. Finally they were walking over to him and he breathed out as she'd had at least twenty-eight minutes to sleep as he took his daughters' hands and told them he was going to wake up their mother before they pushed him to get her so she could see what they'd gotten from the Easter bunny outside.

Opening her eyes Beckett looked at the blank TV screen that was in her point of view and wondered how long exactly she had slept. She heard footsteps in the distance and pushed herself up enough to see her husband walking inside. "How long?" she asked.

"The full half hour," Castle answered as he walked straight to her.

"Were they even bothering to look for the eggs?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"Alexis convinced them to take their time," Castle replied, holding her hand as she stood up. "She had a feeling you'd probably take a nap."

"Nice of her to do," Beckett said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "What surprises me is that the kids listened to her."

"Me too," Castle said with a slight laugh. "But they're ready to look at their eggs."

"Let's go," Beckett said simply as they were nearly at the door to the backyard. When she could see outside she wasn't surprised that almost all the kids were looking into their baskets and called, "Thank you for letting me sleep."

"I thought you would be Mom," Julia said, rushing her to her mother and hugging her gently. "Do you feel better?"

"I do, ready to see what you guys found," Beckett told her as she wrapped her arm around her tightly. When she was sitting at her chair she watched Julia and Eliza stand on either side of her with their baskets. As they began to open their eggs she knew what would be in them; as she and her husband had discussed with the other parents what they would use for those eggs. But she acted surprised too even though Julia would glance at her for her reactions. She then kissed her temple gently and said, "You got a good haul this year," as they were soon finishing.

"We did," Julia agreed. "And you got some pretty flowers."

"I did," Beckett said, smiling at her husband. She then said, "Now you can play."

"What about dessert?" Eliza asked.

Laughing Brad said, "I think we better get that out first and then let them play."

"Help me get everything," Castle said, laughing himself as well. They went over to the kitchen and then started to get the things they'd need for sundaes which they would be making with the remainder of the fruit they had. Going back outside he and Brad put everything into a line until it was ready, and he helped Eliza with hers first before watching Julia make her own. He went last out of his family and sat at the end of the table before they were starting to eat.

"It'll be great to have spring really here," Rebecca eventually commented after they'd been eating their desserts for a while.

"Agreed," Beckett said firmly. "I feel tired bundling up."

"So do I," Lily said. "But I get the feeling that blizzard last week was it." At groans from some of the kids she told them with a smile, "If there were more you guys wouldn't be able to play."

"Then could we play now?" Jacob asked her.

"Rinse off your things and go," Brad said.

"I'll help them," Alexis said.

"We're coming too," David said for himself and his wife.

Once the table was cleared and everything in the kitchen was clean the kids were allowed to play on the grass with their toys and kites they all had at the house. The parents and grandparents sat watching them, calling out encouragement for their games before they joined their children; or granddaughters in Jim and Martha's case; to help them fly their kites in the balmy spring skies as afternoon wound down into evening.

"I'm so glad you're staying you know," Beckett told her father as he sat next to her on the family room couch.

"Your husband and I were talking about that earlier," Jim said.

"I have to ask, are they trying to kick you out sooner?" Beckett said.

With a slight smile Jim told his daughter, "I requested it; in case the baby decides to join us sooner than your due date." When his daughter shifted slightly next to him he said, "Your mother and I did the same thing before you were born." At her surprised look he said, "We thought if we kept quiet about the idea of you coming early you'd stay until your due date. And of course, you came about a week and a half early."

Beckett smiled and said, "It's hard to see you and Mom doing that."

"We were first time parents," Jim reminded her. "And very concerned to do everything we could the best we could. Luckily you're alright."

With a slight laugh Beckett said, "I am." She then glanced over to the doorway and said, "I better go see what they're doing."

Jim followed his daughter over to the hallway before they walked down to the kitchen and he said, "How many cups of tea are you making?"

"I'm making them individually," Castle commented, smiling at his wife when she came over to him. "It takes longer but I didn't think you'd mind."

"I don't," Beckett replied with a slight smile before she gently squeezed his arm. She looked around for their daughters and asked, "Did they go to the darkroom?"

"Alexis is with them," Martha commented as she was with her son. "They'll be back."

"I don't mind, I just wish they would have let us go with them," Beckett said before she went to the door near the end of the counter to lean against the railing to wait for them to come back to the house.

"Love," Castle said, walking out to her. When she turned to him he handed her a mug and said, "Just honey and a squeeze of lemon."

"Thank you," Beckett said, kissing his cheek. She suddenly grabbed for him with her free hand and pulled him to her by the front of his shirt, kissing him roughly on the lips before she could realize what she was doing.

Coughing slightly but trying to keep the noise down Jim turned away from the doorway with Martha and said, "That's normal…"

"I've heard it is," Castle's mother said. "Though you should recall it is them," she then added as her son was kissing his wife back as hard as Beckett was doing to him. "And a good sign." Martha furrowed her brow and then asked Beckett's father, "Did her mother ever have mood swings?"

"No," Jim said, shaking his head. "It was more fatigue like Katie has now and slight dizziness every once in a while."

"Crying?" Martha asked. When he shook his head she then said, "She's lucky; I sobbed at nothing and had mood swings." She glanced over her shoulder then since it had been a while as the kiss between her son and daughter in law had started and she saw that they were still doing so. "This is what will happen you know," she said, keeping her voice low still.

"I'm aware," Jim said with a slight smile as he'd fully turned around, thinking the two would be finished. "And they usually don't do this in front of us."

"That would be the pregnancy," Martha said, Beckett's father nodding in agreement. She was going to speak again when she heard the girls faintly and said, "Hopefully they can hear them."

Outside Beckett pulled away from her husband as she had heard their daughters just before her mother in law inside had. "Thank you," she murmured.

"You're welcome and I'll return your thank you with one of my own," Castle said quickly.

Beckett had a smile on her face as she looked down the path in front of them to see when their daughters would appear. "Hey," she said when they finally did. "You like the room?"

"Yeah but it's empty," Eliza said.

"It'll have some things in there soon," Jim said with a smile. "Does anyone want to learn how to develop their own pictures?"

"I do," Julia said, Eliza nodding next to her.

"So would I," Alexis said.

"I'll teach you all when I can," Jim promised them.

"For now…" Castle said. He and Beckett waited then for their daughters to walk around until they were finally with them. "You two need to take a bath and a shower," he told the girls.

"I'm helping her with her bath," Alexis said with a smile as Eliza took her hand tightly.

"Go," Beckett said with a smile. "We'll drink our tea down here."

"Do I have to go to bed after?" Eliza asked.

"You do, tomorrow's Monday," Castle replied. He watched in amusement as the little girl pouted playfully at him before she walked with her sisters to the stairs before his and Beckett's parents followed them. "You don't need to go," he called.

"I need to check on something in my room," Jim replied.

"I'll be with Julia to make sure she's alright," Martha then said.

"Thank you," Beckett told her mother in law as she'd wanted to do that but hadn't wanted to climb up the stairs. "Let us know when they're finished," she added, hoping they'd heard that as they disappeared. She then turned to her husband and let him close the door before she went to the kitchen table to wait for him to join her so they could get started on their tea.

"Oh, good it's still warm," Castle said as he sipped at his mug. "So," he directed to his wife. "That was some kiss. And in front of our parents too."

"I couldn't stop myself," Beckett said simply. "And I didn't hear you complaining."

"Nope," Castle replied with a slight laugh as she playfully pressed on his arm. "But that was still nice."

"It was," Beckett said. She leaned over, kissing him gently on the cheek before she said, "But for now…"

"Now what?" Castle asked in slight confusion as he wasn't sure what she meant by that.

"My dad," Beckett said.

"Is going to move here soon, we're sure about that," Castle said slowly as he still had no idea what she meant.

"No, his staying over a month," Beckett replied.

"I'm fine with that," Castle replied. "I know why he's doing that." He saw the slight smile on his wife's face and he asked her, "What?"

Beckett told him about what she and her father had talked about in the family room before. "I never would have expected it of my mother… or myself. And we've been through this before," she finished with.

"I would say the time between then and now is why we're doing that again," Castle said.

"True but we really should stop; us talking about this won't make a difference," Beckett told him. When he nodded slightly she then said, "And you heard Dr. Hargrove, she said the baby should be fine if-"

Castle looked with her over at the stairs as they'd heard her father calling them and he took her hand so they could head upstairs together to see if their daughters were ready. Going to Eliza's room first he wasn't surprised when their youngest was on her bed but was at seeing that the dogs were nearly all trying to lick her face as she virtually shrieked with laughter. He wanted to call to them to get off her when his wife was doing so next to him swiftly.

"Macca," Beckett said firmly. She wasn't surprised when the Wolfhound moved away and the other dogs followed, going quickly to Eliza though Castle was able to reach her first.

"I'm kay," the little girl said with a smile at them. "We were playing."

"We could see that," Beckett said with a smile. "And since we have enough time before you need to sleep I can read you a story."

"Kay," Eliza said eagerly.

Beckett smiled, not surprised when her daughter nodded rapidly before she sat down on the bed and reached for the book that was on her nightstand. She began reading to her and everyone else as they remained there, wrapping her arm tightly around Eliza. She smiled; while still reading; as the little girl pressed her hand to her abdomen and left it there until finally she was falling asleep and slumped against her.

Castle helped his wife get off the bed as he carefully held Eliza so she wouldn't fall and wake up. He let his mother, father in law, Alexis and then Julia say goodnight before he and Beckett did the same. When they were all out in the hallway; except for Rita, Rose and Molly; he said, "You have some time," directing it to Julia.

"I want to write in my diary," the girl said firmly. "And then… I don't know."

Beckett laughed softly and said, "I think we can wait until then to think of something. But you guys don't need to go to bed."

"No but I think I'm ready for it," Martha said. "They're going back to school of course."

"Where are you going Mother?" Castle asked in amusement.

"Out," Martha said simply.

"Alright," Castle said. "Are you going to bed too Jim?"

"Right now, though I'll be reading before I sleep," Beckett's father said.

"Dad-" she started to say.

"I'd like to," Jim replied before she could continue.

"Let me get you some coffee at least," Castle said.

Jim was going to tell his son in law that he didn't need to when he left. He smiled and then turned his attention to his daughter, "He-"

"He knows you like to have a cup while you read," Beckett interrupted him. "Julia-"

"I can write while you go with Dad," the girl said, knowing what her mother was going to say. Julia then hurried to her grandfather and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could telling him, "I'm so glad you're staying Grandpapa."

"So am I," Jim said with a smile. "I love you Julia, sweet dreams."

"Love you Grandpapa," she replied with a smile before they shared a kiss. Julia hugged him tightly again and then let him go, looking at her grandmother.

"Come here kiddo," Martha told her. She embraced Julia as tightly as she could before then saying, "I love you too Julia, get some rest for tomorrow."

"I will when it's my bedtime," the girl said before she and her grandmother laughed slightly together. "I love you Gram," looking at her father as he appeared at the top of the stairs.

After saying goodnight to his mother Castle watched her say goodnight to Jim before Alexis was doing the same. "You too?" he asked when his daughter came over to him.

"I'm calling Louis early tomorrow," Alexis replied as she hugged him. "And I'm going to read before I sleep."

"Okay, goodnight Alexis," Castle told her, hugging her back. "We'll see you for breakfast."

"Love you Dad," Alexis told him.

"Love you too," Castle said, watching her going over to Beckett.

"Night Kate," Alexis said to her stepmother.

"Goodnight, I love you," Beckett told her, embracing her warmly.

"I love you too, sleep well," Alexis replied.

"Trust me I will," Beckett said slightly laughingly as she knew that was a joke. When Martha and Alexis had left them, she looked at Julia and said, "Sweetie-"

"I'll write really fast," the girl said, a little disappointed.

"No, when we come back upstairs we'll get ready for bed and then come in to see you," Beckett said. "So you might get a little longer."

"Okay," Julia said with a wide smile at her mother. She hugged her tightly and then said, "Thanks," before hurrying into her room.

"Good night Jim," Castle told his father in law before he went back downstairs to clean the mugs in the kitchen.

"Good night Katie, get some rest," Jim told his daughter as she embraced him tightly.

Beckett sighed slightly before she let him go, watching him go down to his room at the top of the stairs. When he glanced back at her at his door and then just waited she knew why he was doing that immediately. "I may walk slightly slower, but I can walk you know," she told him.

With a smile Jim said, "I'm aware but you're not tired?"

"Slightly but I'd still like to be with my husband," Beckett said before concentrating on going down the stairs as she knew he'd go inside his room. When she was at the bottom she walked carefully to the kitchen where he was washing things at the sink.

"Is everyone set up there?" Castle asked as he looked over at his wife.

"They are," Beckett told him, leaning against the counter next to him.

"Are you okay going up and down the stairs like that?" Castle asked.

"I am," Beckett reassured him. "I just really cannot do that repeatedly all at once though."

"Of course," Castle said. He paused in grabbing the very last mug and then asked her, "How long do you want to give Julia to write?"

"Since today was a holiday she's going to need more time," Beckett answered.

"Well… how much do you think she's going to write about finding eggs?" Castle said. "I'm thinking of Moor and Green doing that-"

"You would want to write that in our books?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"Why not?" Castle said before she playfully pushed him. He laughed slightly and then said, "No I just imagined how it would go writing and it doesn't seem to take that long."

"I didn't say I was going to give her hours," Beckett replied, watching him set the last mug aside to dry.

"Let's get ready?" Castle asked.

"Yes, I don't need her going to bed at ten. She may want to but not when she's got school tomorrow," Beckett said with a smile before they went together hand in hand over to the stairs to make their way up to their room.

Once she was in her room Julia hurried to her desk to get everything for her diary ready to go. After she had it set she paused and hesitated for a moment before she rushed out to the hallway. She went to the top of the stairs and listened to see where her parents were before she realized they were still together in the kitchen. Going back inside her room she closed the door slightly behind her, looking around her room as she was trying to think of what she wanted to write exactly.

Shaking herself Julia went over to the bed and hugged the dogs on it tightly in turn before she sat down again. Filling up her pen she allowed herself to pause for a moment to think about what she wanted to write one more time before she could decide and then moved to set the tip of the pen on the line for her next entry.

April 12th, 2020

Today was Easter and I had a really fun time getting to celebrate with everyone, not just my family. It started with me and Lizzy getting up and seeing if we got baskets and we did. Then we went to check on Mom and Dad, but they were already up so we went really fast downstairs but then had to eat breakfast. I got to make eggs again, but I just thought of something, when you're a kid you have to do a lot of waiting. A lot. When you're an adult… well I guess it's the same 'cause Mom and Dad are waiting for my baby sister to be born. But when you're a kid it feels like forever to wait… I think.

Well, we finally got to the Easter eggs though and found a lot which was really cool all over the house except for some of the bedrooms and not the kitchen either. But when we looked inside them there were candies mostly but some stickers that I'll put on my letters at the bottom that I like to do. We got to play with the dogs outside afterwards and then people started coming. We had lunch before looking for more eggs, so we had to wait again for that. But finally, we found them and got a little more candy, there weren't too many eggs. I guess Mom thought what we got in the house was enough, but it was still fun. Especially when we got to play all together, so much fun.

And now about Mom she was fine though she had to take a nap even

Julia paused there and then tried spelling the word in her head before she tried to put it onto paper.

eventualy eventually, sorry I didn't get the word right. But that's normal Dad said, and she was okay after so that was nice. But Lily didn't need to take a nap and she's pretty big now too… I guess she will soon. But after they left me and Lizzy got to keep playing and we raced with the dogs and 'lexis before we had to go in and then everything was normal.

Oh! We did go down to that empty room by the pool where Mom and Dad are gonna make it into a darkroom. Grandpapa knows how to develop pictures and so does Mom, but we have to wait for the baby to be born. But what's really cool is he's going to teach us. And that leads me to (I like that saying, Dad taught it to me) Grandpapa, he had an announcement at lunch that he was going to stop working sooner, at the end of June. He's doing that so he can come to LA with us and I'm so excited, almost all my family will be there.

And I'm still nervous, what if Skye really wants me and Peter to dance with her once? I'm gonna be on TV and that means I have to be really good so she doesn't get low scores… if we're part of the dance that gets scored too I mean. Well… I guess we have to see if her partner will be okay with us there, I hope so! Oh… I hear my parents I better go, night diary and Happy Easter!

Putting everything away as quickly as she could Julia was just getting off her desk chair when her mother walked in first. "Your robe," she said with a smile when she spotted it.

"Luckily it's just warm enough to wear it," Beckett said as she was wearing the first kimono robe she'd bought in Japan.

"Where's Dad?" Julia asked.

"He'll be here in a second," Beckett said, going to the bed. She pet Macca, then JoJo and last Max before she sat down and said to her daughter, "How're you doing sweetie?"

"Good, I was able to write a lot," Julia said. She became thoughtful and said, "What if Skye wants me to be in an actual dance of hers?"

Beckett was slightly startled at the question; as she'd thought she would be asking about the baby; but then smiled and said, "Would you want to?" Not surprised when her daughter nodded rapidly she said, "Then you can."

"Really? They always blur kids' faces… not all the time but sometimes they do that on TV," Julia said.

"They do and if it wasn't for the show your dad and I would say no," Beckett replied. "But we know how much it means to you."

"Eve asked me something earlier," Julia said, glancing at the door as her father walked into the room then. "She said if I don't be a big dancer or don't make much money with the studio I would like to have would I do something else."

"You don't have to necessarily," Castle said. When his wife glanced at him he said, "We should."

"What do you have a trust or something for me?" Julia asked.

Beckett laughed and said, "Not exactly. When you're finished with school completely we have some money set aside for you. It's not a lot but we've been saving for you-"

"For my sisters too right?" Julia interrupted.

"Yes," Beckett said. "Though we haven't been saving as long as we have for Eliza and the baby. But there is a good amount of money to help you out."

"And of course, you know that we will help you out if you might need it," Castle said.

"Except if I'm doing something against the law," Julia said. When her parents both looked startled at her pronouncement she said, "Eve and Jake said they knew their parents wouldn't want to help them if they were doing drugs or something like that. Especially Brad."

"Yeah that sounds like him," Castle said with a nod. "I mean he would help them get off the drugs if it came to that but no help to keep on doing something illegal."

"You would be the same way," Julia said, looking at her mother.

"Yes," Beckett said. "But I don't think you'll have that kind of trouble."

"Nope, I won't," Julia said firmly and with a nod. "Thank you though. But I wasn't finished, I told her… everyone I wanted to write books."

"That we can definitely help you with," Castle said firmly. He smiled when Julia giggled, and he was going to ask her if she was still writing her own twenties story when she preceded him and answered with a question of her own.

"Would you care if I got known for my twenties book? If I ever got it published?" Julia asked.

"Why would we really care?" Beckett said before her husband could reply.

"It wouldn't be crime," Julia replied, still looking at her father.

Motioning to her Castle waited for her to stand and go over to him before wrapping his arm around her to hug her tightly to his side. "I told you and your sister that if you become novelists you can write whatever you'd like," he told her firmly. "Kids books, crime, history. Even non-fiction I don't care. It would mean a lot to me-"

"Us," Beckett said.

"To us," Castle said, looking over at her with a smile. "That you'd want to write; if that's what you'd like to do."

Julia smiled and said, "I already do."

"Okay, then write whatever you want to," Castle said. "Just let us read it too along with everyone else in the world."

Laughing a little Julia nodded and then said, "You can read first."

"Thank you," Castle said, squeezing her gently before he let her go so she could sit with her mother.

"So now what will you do?" Julia asked, hugging her mother tightly as soon as she was with her.

Wrapping her arm around her daughter Beckett told her with a smile, "I think we're going to start writing thank you cards."

"She's right," Castle said when Julia looked at her. "Now while we have the chance."

"Is that why everyone sent stuff?" Julia asked.

"It wasn't a lot," Beckett replied, shaking her head. "But we still need to thank everyone."

"You know I find it weird that everyone in the city, Skye and her family and basically everyone we know sent something instead of delivering it in person," Castle said.

"That might be because I didn't want a baby shower again," Beckett said with a smile. "Also because they wanted us to have everything once she arrives. But for now, you need to get to bed."

Julia gave a mock sigh before she smiled at her mother and said, "I was looking at the clock." She then hugged her mother as tightly as she could before telling her, "Love you Mom, night."

"I love you too sweetie," Beckett told her as they embraced again. After she shared a kiss with her she told her, "Sweet dreams."

"You too," Julia replied before she gave her one last hug. She then stood and went to her father, embracing him tightly before she pulled away saying, "I love you too Daddy, have sweet dreams too."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Castle told her. "I hope you do too and I love you." He leaned down so he could share a kiss with her and then let her go back to her bed as he watched his wife stand.

Once Julia had hugged the dogs Beckett held the covers up for her to slide underneath them. She tucked her daughter in telling her, "Goodnight sweetie, we'll see you in the morning."

Telling her parents goodnight Julia watched them until they had left her room and she looked at the ceiling for a moment before she smiled and sighed as she turned onto her side to recall that day while she slowly fell asleep.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror in hers and Castle's bedroom Beckett studied her reflection before turned and went to the bed as she heard the shower turning off. She settled herself with the covers covering her lap, hoping that she wasn't showing her impatience as she waited for her husband to come out to her. "I'm not asleep," she said when she could hear the door opening.

"I didn't think you were," Castle replied, standing next to his side of the bed then. "I saw your head moving," he told her with a smile. "You don't want to take off that robe?"

"I'm fine," Beckett said simply, looking back down at her book in her hands. She felt him move the bed as he got on it next to her and waited until finally she set the tome she had aside before she moved.

"What?" Castle asked, turning back to the bed as he'd reached for his own book and found his wife on her knees, looking at him intently.

"Answer something for me," Beckett began, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. "What if I told you I was naked under this robe?" she asked him as she was untying and then opening it.

Castle's mouth nearly dropped open when he saw that she was in fact completely nude but kept it from doing that as he found he was immediately salivating at the sight of her body. "I wouldn't say anything," he told her simply.

"No?" Beckett asked, trying not to smile too widely at the way he'd reacted to her so obviously.

"No," Castle said before he grabbed her. He kissed her deeply, repeatedly, before they slowly parted and stayed apart. He gently rubbed her back through her robe with his hands and told her, "You didn't have to be naked for this."

Having to keep herself from rolling her eyes Beckett was able to do so by crushing her lips against his as hard as she could. She ran her nails over his back and his scalp before she forced herself back enough to tell him, "Me gá duit Rick. Holc," saying that she needed him and adding the word badly a little emphatically so he wouldn't doubt her.

Castle kissed her but kept it quick before saying, "Is féidir liom freisin." Pausing after telling her he did too he paused before he brushed his lips to hers saying, "Lig dom adhradh tú fós."

When he asked for her to let him worship her still Beckett kissed him deeply as she knew they would be together though she would need to be on top. "I don't care," she said, switching to English as she didn't want to have to spend too much time in translation. "I just need you." She removed her robe with her husband's help, tossing it onto her nightstand and not caring where it went as it didn't cover the lamp that was on it. She was also busy kissing him again, their tongues tangling around each other rapidly before they were gasping for air and she reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up over his head so it could be discarded.

"Wait," Castle said as he moved to get off the bed to remove his pants and boxers. "The door-"

"I locked it," Beckett said firmly.

Castle couldn't help reaching for his wife, cupping the back of her head so he could kiss her as hard as he possibly could until he slowly pulled away from her. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to stay with her and kiss her again, before he literally wrenched himself away and took off the rest of his clothes so he could rush back to her.

As soon as her husband had his arms around her Beckett was holding onto him tightly with her own about him as they began to kiss passionately once again. As they were busy doing that she soon straddled him; since he was on his knees by then; and she lowered herself onto him while their hands were together moving his erection off his stomach. She gasped slightly as she felt him entering her at first and she breathed out, "This took too long."

"I know… I won't last long," Rick nearly gasped out. "I need to-" he was trying to warn her he was going to have to stop and start while they were intimate, but she cut him off with her lips before he could finish. He found he didn't really care about the interruption and instead held onto her tighter as their heads tilted slightly. When he'd started to speak they were coupled fully and they were just feeling one another for a while until they were stopping. "You need to move love," he told her seriously.

"You can too," Beckett said before they kissed sensuously. When they soon parted she pushed herself up on her knees and cried out heavily as the sensation of them rubbing together was strong immediately. "Oh… Rick," she gasped as she continued to move, and he soon followed her. She started out slowly as she knew any faster was going to push them to the edge too quickly but soon after started to speed up with him following her. When their hips started to slap together she cried out in joy and leaned against her husband before he murmured into her ear. "Pervert," she gasped out to him before she then leaned back so she could put her hands behind her on top of his knees.

"Yes, I am," Castle said firmly before he leaned over and began to gently kiss around her breasts as he'd asked her to allow him to do. When she moaned and leaned back he moved a little faster, trying to remember to thrust with her at the same time. Placing a last kiss on her right nipple; having pressed one to her left; he took the swollen nub with his mouth, suckling hungrily at it as he couldn't stop himself. He felt her soon after beginning to falter with her body and he stopped moving, grabbing her and making her do the same. "You're…" he started to say as he'd pulled away from her breasts. "I needed to," he said seriously.

"I did too," Beckett said with a smile as she moved to sit up straight again.

"Were you okay leaning back like that?" Castle asked her in concern.

"For then yes," Beckett said. "If you're going to take anything you better do that now." She wasn't surprised when her husband paused, and she told him, "Hurry."

"Okay," Castle said, not surprised when his voice was breaking slightly. He bent his head and then took her left nipple, sucking at it gently before he then began to play with it with the very tip of his tongue. As she cried out heavily he had to hold her still since she was moving around a little bit in reaction. Luckily she remained still, and he could go between both her breasts before he moved away and said, "If I do that anymore I'm going to get off too quick."

"I could tell," Beckett said with a smile as she gently stroked the back of his neck. "Should we keep moving?" she then asked.

"Please," Castle said firmly before they were falling into another kiss. Shortly after his wife began to move and he was quick to follow though it became difficult as the friction between them was swift. But he did the best he could to keep to the rhythm she had set up and with him not needing to worry about that too much he kissed at her neck when they'd parted. He felt the way her pulse was racing there, and he groaned her name against her skin before he moved away slowly. Looking at her he told her, "You're beautiful," his voice husky.

"I was almost afraid…" Beckett started to say before she bit a little hard at her lower lip.

"I would take you up until the point you give birth if… if it didn't freak me out," Castle groaned to her before he nipped gently at her ear lobe. "You're stunning and don't kill me, b-but I want you again already."

"Why?" Beckett breathed out heavily as she was touched by the seriousness of his tone.

"Because you're sexy as hell pregnant," Castle said as she'd nibbled at his ear lobe just before he'd begun to talk, and his breath exploded out of him in reaction. She pulled back to look at him and he said, "You are."

"A f-fetish?" Beckett asked, trying to be teasing but failing as she stammered since she was too affected by what he'd said and their bodies still moving together.

Castle stopped again so he could say, "In regard to you, yes."

"So you just want me pregnant?" Beckett asked.

"I want you, you being pregnant right now is a bonus," Castle told her seriously before he paused to kiss along her shoulder and over to her neck. "But after the baby is born I'll still want you."

"Holc?" Beckett asked with a smile, repeating her word badly from before.

"Holc," Castle echoed before he kissed her on the lips, smashing them together as hard as he could. They concentrated on doing that for some time before he realized his hands had somehow reached for her ass and were cupping it firmly. "Níl mé leithscéal a ghabháil," he said, still speaking in Irish as he told her he wasn't apologizing.

"Tá mé ag baint suilt as seo. Alán," Beckett replied with a smile as she pressed a few quick kisses to his face, saying she was enjoying it and adding a lot on its own to emphasize it. She gasped when he gripped her ass a little more firmly and she smiled fleetingly before she moved a little hard.

"Do you want me to slap you?" Castle asked with a smile that took a while to appear as he wasn't unaffected by her movement.

"I can do the same to you," Beckett told him teasingly. They kissed then and continued to do so for some time until he finally could slap at her ass which made her shudder heavily against him, pressing against him as she cried out.

"Again?" Castle asked, having a hard time speaking for a moment before he pushed the word out. She gently bit at his earlobe and he had his answer before he slapped at her ass before she cried out in obvious joy. "Should we keep going?" he asked her.

Beckett had to wonder if her husband realized his expression was extremely hopeful and she leaned down enough to brush her lips against his. "Do you want my breasts anymore?" she asked.

"I think I just want you," Castle replied. They kissed again, and he was groaning heavily in pleasure as she began to move on him once more. Holding her tightly to him he tangled his tongue around hers before he ran his hands around her body as much as he could until they were stopping their kisses since she was gripping his back a little hard. "Are you…" he started to say.

"Yes," Beckett moaned softly. "Please… tell me you're going to come too love… please."

"I will just… I want to feel you Kate," Castle said, his voice strained as he was running his hands around her back for a few seconds before he just held onto her tightly.

Since she was already poised Beckett fell off the edge fully and she was a little dazed as everything within her was focused on the explosion of pleasure that spread quickly throughout her entire body. She cried out heavily trying to withstand the ecstasy that was nearly burning her body and she eventually started to call her husband's name repeatedly before he chanted hers. With that she was aware of her husband joining her and she was snapped back to herself as she paid close attention to the feeling of his release within her until she was slowing down and then stopping fully as she leaned against him. The last of his thrusts were hard and fast before he was slumping down instead of against her. "Are you okay?" she asked him in slight concern as he was holding her tightly so he wouldn't fall back.

"Yes," Castle said shortly.

"Rick-" Beckett started to say.

"No, I just… needed to recover," Castle breathed out hard to her. "God love," he said in joy as he straightened up and then looked at her. He nuzzled her neck gently and said, "I missed you but…"

Beckett smiled when she felt his hand on her abdomen and she told him, "I know, and I agree. My back is starting to hurt a little. But-"

Castle wasn't surprised when she held onto his shoulders tightly to keep him from moving and he said, "Sorry, but what?"

"I don't regret that," Beckett told him with a smile.

"Neither do I," Castle said before they began to kiss one another. They kept that up for some time until they stopped after either their fourth or fifth kiss and he pressed his forehead against hers. "I love you," he told her earnestly.

"Hmm, I love you too Rick," Beckett said with a smile. They kissed gently and kept doing that until finally they slowly parted and she said, "We should stop."

"I really don't want to move," Castle confessed.

"Neither do I," Beckett told him, a smile on her face again. "But my back..."

"Yeah," Castle said with a quick sigh. They shared yet another kiss, but he kept it short before they pulled away from each other and he waited for her to get off him before he picked her up in his arms. "I'll try to go quickly-" he began.

"You don't need to get me to bed," Beckett said quickly. When he looked at her in surprise she smiled and said, "It's only ten to ten."

"Okay," Castle said simply as he had to set her down next to the tub. He filled it as fast as he could since he didn't want her standing there before he looked at her to see she was walking around. "What?" he asked.