157. Chapter 157

Chapter 157

After settling into their hotel rooms, everybody slept well. They had several free or partially free days coming up, and only one book signing to worry about. The family time had been built into the schedule because several family members hadn't seen Barcelona or Lisbon, Portugal. That would end the family time, and the rest of the family would be going home from Lisbon.

The group had agreed on breakfast at eight-thirty the following morning, and Martha, Rick and Kate, agreed to meet at eight. They would have Jamie with them, but they knew how to discuss things around him without giving away things they didn't want mentioned. They asked for enough space for nine, ordered coffee, and talked as they waited for the others. Kate finally asked how her mother-in-law was handling her unexpected meeting with Alex.

"I don't know about Richard, but I was reeling for the first couple of days. I'm getting my footing back now. It was a shock, but it was good to have an explanation that didn't sound like an intentional effort to avoid responsibility. And as odd and slightly creepy as it sounds, it was nice to know that he's interested in what we've accomplished and willing to help protect us. It's also good to know he won't interfere in our lives otherwise. And closure is helpful. Don't worry, Katherine. I've dealt with a lot of surprises over the years. This is just one more, and it put some other things in perspective. It served its purpose. I've had to be resilient. I'll be fine."

"I'm a day closer to it than Mother, but what she said makes sense, and I suspect I'll be in the same place soon. You and I can talk later. As long as I have you, I'll be fine, too."

"Always, Rick. You know that. Jamie and Peanut and I are right here."

At the mention of their newest addition to the family, Castle instinctively put an arm around Kate's waist and a hand over the part of her that was housing their child. "I can hardly wait to meet her."

"Me, either."

"Meet Peanut?" Jamie asked. "Is she born?"

"No," Kate told him. "She's still too little to be born. We have a long time to wait until she's that big."

"Oh," he answered, looking disappointed.

"But we can read to her so she'll be born liking books, and play music and sing to her so she'll like music, and talk to her so she'll know our voices."

"We did that while we waited for you to be born," his father assured him. "It worked on you. If you help us, it should work on your sister, too. Are you gonna help us? Alexis said she would. And Alexis and JD and Grams and Granddaddy talked to you before you were born, too."

Jamie leaned way over from his high chair next to Kate and said, "Hi, Peanut. I'm your big brother. We're gonna have breakfast, and Lexis and JD are gonna come with us." Then he sat up and asked, "How does Peanut eat?"

She's still inside Mommy right now," Castle explained. So what Mommy eats takes care of Peanut, too."

As Jamie seemed to be assimilating that information, John, JD, and Alexis joined them; and the others wandered in not far behind.

"Are we ready for another adventure?" Castle asked.

"I think I'll stay here, Gina answered.

"Me, too," Paula agreed. "Maybe the next one, though. Hi, Jamie." She reached over and tickled his middle and he smiled and curled around her hand for a second or two.

"Hi, Miss Paula," he answered as she sat down.

After coffee was ordered, Castle told the others, "I wouldn't want to try to move any of us before we have coffee, but we're going to La Rambla for breakfast. The car service should have cars waiting by now to drop us off there."

What is La Rambla?" his mother asked. "I'm hungry, and that doesn't sound like a place to eat. That sounds like a place to get hungrier."

Castle and Meagan laughed, and Castle said, "Meagan might get a chance to use her Spanish when we get there. Where did you pick up Spanish, Meagan?"

"I did a little stint in Rota in the early part of my Marine career. It's where I met Mark." Jim reached over to take her hand, not seeming jealous so much as supportive of what would be a bittersweet memory for her. She had often done the same for him when Johanna had come up in conversation with others. She squeezed his hand in return and said, "When we had some leave time, we'd travel, so I remember La Rambla and La Boqueria. There's definitely food, Martha. Just about any kind you could want. You can buy it to take it for a picnic somewhere, or there are places you can eat there. You'll be amazed. I think it's been there since the mid-eighteen hundreds."

"We were here the summer Alexis was four," Castle told them as they went to the cars with the stroller Castle had arranged before their arrival. "After we eat, we have the rest of the day to wander."

"Well, we're hungry, too," Jim said, "So if you try to wander anywhere else first, you're gonna lose us as soon as we get there."

"I'm with Jim and Meagan," Martha told him, and John agreed.

"And the pregnant lady and her son are going with them," Kate chimed in, pointing in her father's direction. Alexis and JD were just pointing in the same direction as Kate.

"Got it," Castle answered, laughing. "We eat first. Get in the cars."

When they were dropped off at La Rambla, an entirely pedestrian area, Alexis looked around and asked, "Is this the place with the human statues?"

"Yeah, it is. I think you wavered between absolutely fascinated and totally creeped out. I think it was something about statues with human eyes."

"I think I remember that. I wasn't quite five, but it apparently left an impression."

When they reached La Boqueria, they were all appropriately impressed by the sight and smells of the colorful fruits and vegetables, the various meats, cheeses, sweets, nuts, and seafoods; and it worked on their appetites. Several groups saw places they wanted to eat and veered away from the the others, promising to meet at the front door in about forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes later, everyone was fed, and agreed they'd stop again on their way back to the hotel for things they could take back for snacks later on. Then they were ready for La Rambla.

Castle and Meagan both warned everybody to keep a close watch on their valuables.

"This early it might not be so bad," Meagan said, "but people always warned us the later in the day, the more careful you should be."

There was a large, open pedestrian space with shops and street performers and artists working here and there. And scattered throughout there were the human statues, all kinds of statues. Alexis had been right. Seeing the very convincing looking statues with the very human eyes was a little creepy, especially if one of them followed your movement with its eyes. Alexis and JD found a painting they liked and bought it for their apartment. Martha found a display of handmade jewelry and Castle bought the necklace she was admiring and a ring that Kate tried on and put back.

"It looked like it belonged on your finger," he explained with a shrug. "And I'm allowed while you aren't working, remember? You can wear it with your slinky purple dress after the baby. We'll go to dinner and go dancing."

"Yes, father of three. Because we'll have so much extra time and energy then," she teased.

"We'll figure it out." he assured her as she pushed the stroller, and he put his arm around her waist as they walked.

Castle pointed out the Erotica Museum and whispered to Kate, "If we're ever here without the kids, that's on our list."

She giggled, elbowed him in the ribs, and whispered back, "Okay."

Before the day was over, Castle had talked a caricature artist into trying to get all nine of them into one drawing. When he agreed to pay for nine caricatures, the artist was very cooperative. The young man identified the members of the group first. Since he had only two chairs, he put Castle and Kate in them, Kate propping her bent arm on Castle's shoulder with her chin on her arm, and Alexis and JD were behind them, arms around each other's waists, their other hands on Rick and Kate's shoulders, and JD's head resting on Alexis's. The artist suggested that Jamie sit in his father's lap, but Jamie had a hard time sitting still and kept reaching up to get his father's attention. John stood next to his grandson, and Martha stood beside him, her left arm across her waist, her right elbow resting on her left hand, and her chin on the back of her right hand. Jim and Meagan stood next to Kate. His arm was around Meagan's shoulders, but they still looked a little more proper than the folks at the other side of the picture. The young man worked as quickly and diligently as possible with so many subjects, then he told them they could all relax while he gave it the finishing touches. When he turned it toward them so they could see, everybody, including Jamie laughed out loud.

Martha had a slightly shady look about her, with big eyes and long lashes, slightly larger than normal pouty lips, and even more bangle bracelets than she usually wore. John had a goofy smile, Jim and Meagan were looking at each other with raised eyebrows and somewhat stiffer looking posture than the others. Alexis's red hair was prominent and the little point of her chin was emphasized by a wider forehead. JD's big, brown eyes and thick sandy hair were dramatized, and they were looking at each other. Castle had been given a longer, sloping nose, Kate's legs were crossed and emphasized and she was looking doe eyed and slightly wild haired at Castle from where she leaned on his shoulder. Jamie was reaching up with lines around him looking like wiggling and holding onto Castle's nose. There were sparkly eyes for the two women in the middle, and red hearts floating up and around the two couples in the center.

Looking at her picture, Martha snorted a little laugh and said, "There are probably women on the street corners here at night who look a lot like this."

Jamie giggled and said, "Daddy, look. I'm holding your nose."

Castle laughed as the drawing was passed around among them, paid the artist, and thanked him, shaking his hand. They were given a tag board cover to protect the drawing before they left, and they stopped to put it in place before moving on.

As they intended, they went back to La Boqueria and each of them left with some of their favorite snacks to take back to the hotel.

Before they went looking for food, Castle called his driver to have the cars meet them where they were dropped off, and they returned to the hotel with their goodies. They had dinner in the hotel's restaurant and called it a day.

Later that night, Kate whispered something to Jamie, and he went to his father and asked, "Can I have a tangerine?"

"May I have a tangerine?" he corrected. "Sure. I'll peel it for you."

"It isn't for me."

"No?"

"Mommy said Peanut wants one."

"With a little grin, he said, "Oh, Peanut wants a tangerine, does she?"

Kate looked innocently over the arm she had stretched across the back of the sofa and nodded.

"Would Peanut like me to peel it for her, too?"

She just smiled and nodded.

Castle chuckled, peeled the tangerine, and handed it to Jamie wrapped in a few paper towels. "Want to take this to Mommy and Peanut? Maybe they'll share."

Jamie nodded and went back to his mother, who did share with him…and thanked her husband. After their snack, Kate suggested that they read Jamie and Peanut a book before everybody went to bed. She and Castle took turns reading, got Jamie cleaned up and ready for bed, and tucked him in. They were tired enough that they just snuggled together and fell asleep.

xxxxx

Castle had a signing starting right after the store opened that morning, so he was gone relatively early, but the other two members of the household slept late. They had a plan for the afternoon and evening. It would be past Jamie's bedtime again when they got back, but they thought it would be worth it.

Kate took Jamie to the pool while Castle was gone, and Alexis and JD joined them, allowing Kate to swim some laps a couple of times. The signing went well and ended on time for a change, and by the time Castle was back, all of them were dressed and ready to go. Paula decided she would go this time when Martha fell to the always strong pull toward shopping. Martha and Gina planned an afternoon of shopping and then dinner at a highly recommended upscale restaurant. Shopping always made it easier for them to tolerate one another.

Castle suggested lunch at the hotel before they left, and while they were talking at lunch, Alexis looked at JD, and he nodded.

"Dad, you and Mom haven't really had any time to yourselves for almost a month, and you've given all of us this terrific trip to Europe. Would it be okay with you if we change Jamie's plane ticket to tomorrow and take him home with us? We'd have all his luggage, so he'd have everything we'd need, and he already has his own bed and toys at our apartment. That way you and Mom would have a few days on your own. You could reschedule your own tickets and have an extra day to yourselves. You've already given us medical POA in case he gets sick or something. I think we'd have everything covered."

"What do you think?" Castle asked his wife.

"You're sure?" Kate asked. "That's a lot of travelling with a little guy."

"I've been watching. He's a good little traveler. And we've been paying attention to your methods of working through it with him."

"What do you think, Jamie?" JD asked. "Would you like to come home with Alexis and me? Mommy and Daddy would have to stay here a few more days without you, but you could sleep in your bed at our apartment, and we'll take you to the park every day until they get back."

"Can I go home with Lexis and JD?" Jamie asked.

"Do you want to?" Kate asked, and Jamie nodded.

"If he gets lonesome for the loft, we can move into my old room until you get home," Alexis told them.

"And the rest of us will all be on the plane if they need help with him," Martha assured the couple. "You should take advantage of having some time for just the two of you…enjoy it."

"You understand that Mommy and Daddy will have to stay here for three or four more days while you stay with Alexis and JD?" Castle asked Jamie.

"This many days?" He held up four fingers.

"That's right."

"Okay. Can I go with them?"

"Yeah. You can go with them." Turning to Alexis and JD, he said, "Thank you. He's getting tired earlier in the day more often, and we've pretty well destroyed any kind of sleep schedule this week. Maybe it won't be too bad to get him settled back into some kind of New York time schedule when you get him home. I'll call about tickets when we get back tonight and see how much it's possible to change on such short notice."

"Consider it a thank you for the trip."

"We've enjoyed all of it," JD added. "And it's going to be fun to have the little guy around for a few days."

"Well we appreciate it, we're glad you've enjoyed it, and we hope you feel the same way about the visit when we get back," Castle answered. "Now, I'd better call our drivers."

The drivers took them to where they could meet the cable car that would take them to the top of Montjuic. They made a stop at the Montjuic Castle, heard some of the history, and enjoyed a magnificent view of the Mediterranean Sea. Castle showed Jamie, using three year old vocabulary words as well as some of the proper terms, how the castle could be used as a fortress to fight off the enemy. They wandered through the gardens and let Jamie run off some energy in the more sparsely populated corners of the large space. Being New Yorkers, they had established rules about running in public places for everybody's safety; so he knew how to stop on cue, and usually did. But he obviously loved the freedom of a wide open space, and the family loved seeing him enjoy it…some of them helping him with that.

There was a palatial building housing a national art museum, which they were drawn to but decided not to visit in deference to a little boy who was already tired and hungry. After finding a place to eat near the museum, it was close to dark; so they lingered for a while and then went to see the Magic Fountains. A crowd was already gathering, music started, and the fountains, which were synced to the music and the colored lights, moved in varying heights and widths in streams, sprays, and clouds. At the first sight of it, the crowd responded. Jamie gasped and pointed, his eyes sparkling with excitement, and all of them commented with him. As the show went on, they handed Jamie off to each other periodically so he could see and so the last Jamie bearer could regain feeling in their arms. They enjoyed the show, but a few minutes before it was over, Castle called to have the cars meet them back at the bottom of the cable car station and they walked to the upper end to catch the next car back down. Jamie was draped over Castle's shoulder, almost asleep by then, and all of them were tired. As they walked, they could glance over their shoulders and still see the colors changing with the music.

"I remember that, too," Alexis said. "I loved it."

"Yeah, you did," Castle said, draping his arm over his eldest child's shoulders. "That was back when I was the most important man in your life." He pulled her head over to give it a quick kiss."

"And Grams and I were the only women in yours," she teased back.

On the way back down in the cable car, Paula said, "You guys are more fun than Gina. I've seen more of where we are on this trip than all the others put together, and I'm still going home with a lot of new clothes."

"You can join us any time, Paula," Kate answered as the cable car stopped at the drop off point. They met their car service and went back to the hotel to call it a day.

xxxxx

Castle, Kate and Jamie left after breakfast the next day and went to the Museu de la Xocolata.

"How could this family not go to a place called The Chocolate Museum?" Castle asked as the doorman got them a taxi. I booked us a chocolate activity where Jamie can make a chocolate masterpiece for himself, but he has to bring his parents along."

"And we're both willing to be around chocolate," Kate added. The place wasn't big, but they saw a lot of chocolate sculptures displayed in cases, and they learned a lot about the history and production of chocolate. Jamie was allowed his choice of ingredients from the ones the little workshop offered, and he left with it wrapped until they were in an appropriate place to eat it. They went back to the hotel to meet the others and let him eat part of it while they waited. Kate went and put the rest of her son's beloved treat in the small refrigerator in their room, and they set off for a cursory tour of Sagrada Familia.

"Did you know they've been working on this since 1882, and it still isn't finished?" Castle asked. "I've heard that if you go up in the tower areas, sometimes you can see the construction workers building the new spires. Antoni Gaudi took over the project the next year. I think the most recent plan is to finish it by 2026. That's the hundredth anniversary of his death. He's buried here."

"Even unfinished, this place…I don't think I have the words," Kate said as she looked.

"There's a lot of Antoni Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. This started as a gothic structure, then Gaudi took over, and it morphed into a modernistic Gothic and Art Nuevo. Let's go in. We can take Jamie to the park across the street as a reward for letting us get a look inside." The inside was nearly as towering as the facades.

Even Jamie was in awe. "It's big," he said softly.

"Those windows up there are called stained glass windows," Castle told him.

"See how the light changes when the sun shines through the glass colors?" Kate asked.

The ceiling towered above them with sleek columns to support it, and the stained glass lent to the experience. "I feel like an ant," Kate commented."

"We need to come back here someday when we have more time…and no book signings," Castle told her. Turning to his family, he said, "If you want to do the tour, we have tickets, but it might be a good idea for us to take Jamie to the park across the street to run off some energy before we move on to the next things to see. There was a playground area geared to children his age, so they let him find others to play with. There were other families who spoke other languages, and they all watched their children figure out how to converse in the universal language of play.

Their next stop was the outside of the Casa Batllo.

"Didn't we go inside when I was little?" Alexis asked. "I think I remember a stairway that looked like something out of a fantasy movie. I loved it."

"I remember. You wanted me to put one like it in our loft. We'll see the inside of this next time we're here, too. All my children will be able to enjoy it a little more by then. I've told Bentley we won't be back in Europe until Peanut is at least four. We'll know her well enough to know what she can handle by then. But right now, the outside of this place is its own kind of impressive."

"Daddy, it has flowers painted on the walls." Jamie was pointing and smiling.

"Looks like it, doesn't it? It's fun to look at, isn't it?" Jamie nodded. The rest of the family commented on the roof, the colors, the shapes of the windows and balconies…there was plenty to occupy the imagination. Then Castle suggested a snack before their next stop. They found a place that looked like it could handle a group their size before the cars picked them up again.

The drivers took them to Parc del Laberint d'Horta, and Castle's driver told his passengers he rarely had anyone leave disappointed. The day was going by quickly so Castle took them straight to the hedge maze. They stayed together, laughing at being stymied now and then. When they came to places with a couple of possible turns, they sent scouts around the corners, arranged where they could keep track of each other. Sometimes someone would take Jamie with them and let him call back the report. At one point there was enough confusion, that they all held hands so they could pull the scout back if it didn't work out. Meagan laughingly protested when they stretched a little farther to help and her nose was squashed into the hedge. It took a while, but they victoriously exited at the other end without having had to call for help. There were several little victory dances involved in the process and some applause from others who had recently left feeling equally victorious. As they got their bearings and checked the time, another family left the maze laughing, and the Castle clan added considerably to the congratulatory applause.

"We have a train to catch again. We should get out of here soon," Jim reminded them.

Paula answered. "I hope Gina is in the car when it gets here." After another moment, she added, "If she's going to get anywhere with Bentley, she's going to have to learn that there's more out here than shopping. He would have loved this maze."

Castle conscientiously stayed out of that line of conversation, reminding them instead that everything but Gina and her luggage was already in the cars before they left the hotel. I asked them to pick her up before they came here for us, and I just called to tell them we're ready. Let's get something to drink, take a restroom break, and walk down to meet them.

"We get a room to sleep in on the train this time, Jamie," Alexis told him. It's gonna be awesome. We even get a bathroom in our room on the train."

Jamie looked at his parents as if he thought she was joking. "She's right," Kate told him. "We'll sleep in a bed on the train and wake up tomorrow almost in another city, and we'll have breakfast on the train, too."

They had to change trains before midnight, so they went to the dining car and had a leisurely dinner before settling into their comfortable seats until they changed trains. This time, their rooms were set up for sleeping.

"See, Jamie? A bathroom," Alexis said as she stuck her head in her parents' compartment.

"With separate bunks," Castle grumbled.

"You'll live," Alexis answered.

"You and JD get two bunks, too, Miss Smart Mouth."

Jim and Meagan laughed as they passed that conversation. And the others followed behind. Once their luggage was out of the way in the overhead racks, Jamie looked around and asked "Where's my bed?"

"You're going to sleep with Mommy tonight," Kate answered, and Jamie smiled and hugged her legs.

Castle had booked them a four berth compartment but asked that only the bottom berths be made up. They didn't want Jamie to fall out overnight or be obstinate about sleeping in an upper berth. If he didn't see them, there would be no argument. Castle adjusted himself to fit the sleeping space that was smaller than what he was used to, and Kate tucked Jamie between herself and the wall and snuggled with her contented little boy.

The train clacked along the tracks and stopped occasionally; but they were tired enough to sleep through almost all of it, and they arrived in Lisbon the next morning having had breakfast and enough sleep to get Castle through his afternoon book signing. During the time Castle was at his book signing, the family had a personal tour of Lisbon arranged through a car service. Afterward, the same small bus would pick up all their luggage from the hotel, and Kate and Castle would see them off to the airport for their flight to London. From there they would be on an overnight flight back to New York.

Castle managed to reschedule the tickets for Jamie and for Kate and himself. And without mentioning it to Kate, he arranged to change their hotel accommodations from two bedroom suites to luxury one bedroom suites, and he booked an extra day in London before they had to be at Heathrow airport to go home. They would go on to the two remaining stops in the UK and then take a full, unencumbered day for themselves in London.

As they were leaving the restaurant after dinner at the hotel, just the two of them, Castle whispered something in Kate's ear about an all nighter…any time they felt like starting it. And the smiling couple conscientiously forced themselves to walk to the elevator rather than run. They could sleep on the plane the next morning.