Year in Time

Part 8

October 20, 2014 — Book Tour
They're settled in their seats on their nonstop flight from JFK to LAX. It's a little over a six hour flight which will get them to California by 2:00 PM pacific coast time (5:00 PM eastern time). He can tell she's nervous as she bites her bottom lip with the baby in her lap. She has her nursing cover already wrapped around herself so that when it's time to take off she can just slip Avery underneath and hopefully that will soothe the baby and distract her from the shift in pressure.
He lets one of his hands interlace with hers. "Everything's gonna be fine." He whispers and kisses her forehead. She smiles and nods. The captain comes over the intercom telling the flight attendants to prepare for take-off which signals Beckett to situate Avery at her breast. The baby begins nursing just as the plane begins to accelerate down the runway and once they're in the air, Beckett releases a sigh: it worked. Avery is content and still nursing at her breast and by the time they level out, the baby is fast asleep in her father's arms without a fuss.

October 22, 2014
This is the second day that he's signing books in LA. They landed two days ago and had a few hours of rest before he had to be up and at the venue of his first signing on the tour. However, today is his longer day of signing: 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Then tomorrow is a rest day for the little family before they fly to San Diego on the 24th. Tomorrow, they're taking Avery to Santa Monica to explore the boardwalk and the Pacific Ocean since it will most likely be the only time they're over here for a long time.
Right now, Beckett sits in the back of the car service on her way to the bookstore with Avery to visit Castle at his signing. It's his lunch break soon and she wanted to surprise him by sneaking him off to get some In-N-Out while they're here. "Thank you, Tony." Kate smiles as she slips out of the car and grabs the car seat, "I'll do a loop around and pick you and Mr. Castle up here in about ten minutes?" "Sounds good." She says before closing the door and heading inside.
Her eyes widen at the long line (mainly of women, but she lets that go). "Kate! How are you?" She turns and finds Gina. "Oh, hi Gina, im doing well. How's the book signing going?" Kate's never been fond of either of her husband's ex wives, but especially not Gina. Not since he left with her that summer. "It's going good. He's signed over 500 books already." Gina says. "Yeah, well people love him. Do you think I could snatch him away for an hour? Avery and I would like to take him out to lunch." Kate requests, though she won't take 'no' for an answer.
"Let me just go tell him you're here." Gina says and Beckett watches the blonde publisher go to her husband. She knows the moment he's informed that they're here cause his head snaps up and immediately scans the crowd for them. She smiles and waves when their gazes cross. He smiles and stands after signing one more book. "Ladies and gentlemen! Mr. Castle is taking an hour lunch break! Please be back here at 2:00 when he will resume his signing." Gina announces. Beckett smiles when Castle practically lunges towards them.
He immediately wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her in for a kiss. "Hi beautiful." "Hey handsome. Care for some lunch with your wife and daughter?" "That's the best offer I've heard all day." He says. His hand slips down to lace with hers as they walk out the back exit of the bookstore and towards the car that Tony has parked. They get settled in the car and Beckett gives Tony the address to the closest In-N-Out. "How's our girl been today?" Castle asks. "Good. I think she's still getting used to the time difference." Beckett answers. "Well, she'll get used to it and then we'll be back on the east coast." He jokes.

October 23, 2014
She watches as he dips Avery low enough so a little bit of the ocean can splash her toes. They had a wonderful dinner at a small cafe before spending an hour or two walking up and down the boardwalk. They got ice cream, played games, and even got matching crew necks and a onesie for Avery that said 'Santa Monica' on them. She's never been one for tourist traditions, but she's started to enjoy them with her husband.
"Not too much, Rick. I don't want her getting sick." Kate reminds her husband. He lifts Avery so that she's no longer near the water, "She's okay, Mama." Castle assures her as he passes the baby to her. She smiles when he leans down and kisses her. "I'm really happy you guys came with me." He tells her before pressing one more kiss to her forehead. "We are too. We couldn't be away from you for too long." Beckett tells him. "How about we go get her settled and have some Mommy and Daddy time?" He asks as he wiggles his eyebrows. She giggles as he all but leaps off the beach with the nod of her head. "Your Daddy is so crazy, Avery." She whispers in her daughter's ear.

October 28, 2014
She's fast asleep in the hotel bed. They're now in Las Vegas, Nevada. They flew in from San Diego two days ago and yesterday was another rest day which they decided to use by taking Avery to the aquarium. He had the first Vegas book signing today which was another 12 hour one before having only a 6 hour signing tomorrow before they fly to Dallas on the 30th.
She's woken up when she hears the hotel door open, but she keeps her eyes closed. She likes hearing what he does when he gets home. It's fascinated her ever since they started sleeping together. Usually, his first instinct is to make sure everything is locked. Then he kisses her forehead and will whisper who it is in her ear before her cop senses kick into overdrive. Thirdly, he'll go to the bathroom and get ready for bed before kissing the baby goodnight and cuddling into bed behind her where he'll spend a few minutes kissing her neck and cheek then falling asleep with her.
What throws her off is when the second step of this routine doesn't happen. Instead, she hears whispering. She opens her eyes so they're squinting and looks over at the bassinet where Avery sleeps. She sees him peering over, "Castle?" She mumbles. He turns, "Hey, go back to sleep. I just wanted to say goodnight to our girl since it's her first night as a three month old." He says. Beckett smiles. It blows her mind how fast time is going. Has it already been three months since their little girl entered the world? How are they already a quarter way through Avery's first year of life?
Castle leans down and presses a kiss to the top of her nose. "I'm going to go shower and then I'll come join you." He whispers. She nods against the pillow and closes her eyes once more. She is pulled from her slumber a half hour later when his arms wrap around her waist and he kisses her temple, "I love you so much." He whispers. He presses one more kiss to her temple, "Goodnight, love." And then he settles down behind her with his face tucked into her hair.

November 11, 2014
They did it. They survived a three week book tour with a baby. It was fun getting to travel as a little family, but today marks the end of their little "vacation". They're flying back to New York from Quebec today. "You excited to go home?" Castle asks as they settle into the seats on their first flight. They'll fly into Philadelphia where they'll immediately board their next flight to Boston and then wait two hours to board their flight to New York. She smiles, "I'm excited to sleep in my own bed." She says.
He smiles and nods, "I couldn't agree more." He says, "Avery and I had a lot of fun, though. Thank you for inviting us." She smiles, "No one I'd rather have go with me. It'll be fun to tell her about this when she's older." Castle says. Beckett smiles down at the baby in her arms. "She did good. She's a traveler at heart." She says, "Like her Mama." "And her Dada." He smiles and kisses her forehead as the captain tells the flight attendants to prepare for take off. "Let's go home, Mrs. Castle." She smiles. Home. Even though they haven't been in New York, she's been home for three weeks because home is wherever her husband and daughter is.
Part 8! Just a cute little fill in of Avery's first time traveling! Let me know what you think please!