Happy Birthday, Lou! I hope you like this birthday present from the other side of the world.

Disclaimers:

I am not Greek, I do not speak Greek: Google Translate is my friend.

I am not Andrew Marlowe, I do not even live within five thousand miles of Los Angeles: Castle does not belong to me.

Όμορφο Φεγγάρι

Ómorfo Fengári

Beautiful Moon

It had been happening so regularly that Eduardo had started leaving the stepladder in the roof lobby permanently. Since Mr Castle's little daughter was born, the exuberant man had come down to borrow the steps almost every week, and, after a few months, Eduardo and the other doormen had gotten more than curious. But it wasn't until Grace Castle was almost two years old that the building staff found out what Mr Castle was using the stepladder for.

On a particularly clear and warm evening, Eduardo happened to be checking something in the service hatch on the roof when he heard voices. He poked his head around the corner to see the stepladder set out on the roof as it often was, and Mr Castle holding Grace's hand as she toddled across the space. He saw Mr Castle wave his arm in a large sweep of the sky as he spoke to his younger daughter.

"I put the moon up for you again, Grace. Looks good tonight, huh?"

"Daddy! So pretty moon, Daddy."

"It is, poppet. So pretty."

"Thank you for the moon, Daddy." Mr Castle picked the little girl up, cuddling her to him and kissing her cheek.

"You're welcome, poppet." They stood a moment longer before he turned to go back to the elevator. "Bedtime now." Grace didn't take her eyes off the moon until the doors shut, and Eduardo couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.

"Daddy, can you put the moon up tonight, please? It's dark in my bedroom."

Rick smiled indulgently as he tucked his daughter into her soft, warm bed. "Sorry poppet, I can't tonight because of the storm. Wouldn't want it to get dirty in the rain, would we?" Grace shook her head but still looked apprehensive.

"Maybe you could leave a light on in here instead..." Rick tucked a stray curl behind his little five year old's ear, still smiling like he knew the secret she was trying not to tell him.

"How about I check under your bed for monsters?" Grace giggled quietly.

"No Daddy, there's no monsters under my bed! I checked already." Rick raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh. Well then. In that case, how about a story?" She shrugged. "No story?" She shook her head, and Rick frowned. He lay down on his side next to Grace and she copied him so they were facing each other across her pillow, with her teddy bear watching Rick carefully.

"Gracie, are you worried about starting school tomorrow?" She bit her bottom lip and he had to force back the smile at seeing her so like her mother. She confirmed his suspicion with the barest of nods, and that was all he needed to wrap her up in a hug. "What are you most worried about?"

She snuggled into his chest with a sigh. "What if no one wants to be my friend?" He gave her a squeeze while he tried to figure out how to answer her, but she carried on, apparently on a roll. Clearly she'd been over-thinking this for some time. "What if the teachers think I'm stupid? What if you aren't there to pick me up afterwards?"

"Oh poppet, you are not stupid, plenty of people will want to be your friend, and if I'm not there to pick you up, then Mommy will be, or Grams, or Alexis, or maybe even Aunt Lanie or Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javi." He released her from his grip and tipped up her chin so he could see her face. "The most important thing is that you keep smiling tomorrow, because then every nice person will like you. If anyone sees your beautiful smile and thinks you're stupid then they aren't worth worrying over."

Rick stroked Grace's hair gently, soothing her with his warm touch. Her eyelids began to droop as she calmed down and began to fall asleep. "Daddy?" She whispered through her weariness.

"Yes poppet?"

"Please can you stay until I fall asleep?" He wrapped his arm around her again, drawing slow, lazy circles across her back with his palm.

"Of course I can, Gracie." He kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams."

She whispered her goodnight into his shirt and dropped off to sleep after a few minutes. Rick stayed with her until he saw Kate's shadow darken the room as she peeped in about an hour later. He lifted his head to acknowledge her, and slowly extricated himself from Grace's skinny limbs to meet Kate outside the door.

"Is she okay?" He nodded to his whispering wife. "Are you okay?" He smiled and drew her into his embrace.

"I'll be okay, when she gets back safe and sound from school tomorrow. There will probably be some ugly crying after we drop her off though." Kate shook her head with a wide smile and a chuckle.

"Maybe I can distract you from the heartbreak of sending another daughter off to school for the first time..."

"Maybe I need distracting tonight, Detective... Will you help me take my mind off it tonight?" Rick flicked a lascivious eyebrow up. "Perhaps we could make a start on practising for making another beautiful baby to send to school in a few years time." Kate's smile dropped abruptly but he blundered on. "I won't take it back, Kate, I want so much to have another baby with you."

She took a deep breath and leaned her forehead to his. "I know you do. But Rick, we nearly lost Grace, I can't... I just don't think I'd be able to live with myself if our baby didn't make it." He pressed his lips to her hair and gave himself a moment to ride the disappointment out until it no longer showed.

"Let's go downstairs and open that bottle of wine Lanie brought last time she came over." Kate nodded in agreement and twined her fingers with his before they headed to the stairs together.

"Are you still doing that?" Kate passed him his glass of wine from the kitchen counter before reaching up to run her fingers through the greying hair at his temples.

"Of course I am," he smiled. "Why would I not?"

"Because she's eight years old, Rick. She knows you didn't really get the moon out of a box on the roof and climb up the steps that you stole from Eduardo to hang it in the sky."

"Hey, I didn't steal the stepladder!"

"They had to buy a new set."

"Did they?"

"Yes, you left them outside when it snowed once and the joints seized. Didn't you ever wonder why they don't close anymore, or why they're always just by the door?"

"Um... no, not really?" Of course, he had noticed, he just wanted to earn a Beckett eye-roll. When it appeared, he grinned. "When do you think she first knew it wasn't really me?"

"I think the science class on the planets in kindergarten was the confirmation, but she definitely had an idea a year or so earlier. She asked me if her daddy could really put the moon in the sky," Kate smiled indulgently. "I just said it was magic."

Rick couldn't contain his grin at that, and Kate tickled the creases that formed at the corners of his eyes. "Smart and believes in magic. Definitely our kid. Why did we stop at one, Beckett?"

Kate's smile faltered before she could stop it, and let her hand drop from his face. "You know why, Rick." He put his wine glass down and went to grab her hand before she walked away from him, and from this conversation again.

"I know Grace was a complicated birth, and I wouldn't want you to go through that ever again, but... one difficult birth doesn't mean that the next would be the same." Kate just shook her head.

"We've had this talk before, Rick, and it won't go any differently this time." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Besides, I'm too old to have any more now. Grace is..."

"Grace is beautiful, smart, perfect, kind, and has me wrapped around her little finger." Kate grinned into Rick's hair. "I just..."

"You would have liked to have a son." He sighed and nodded in response, his head drooping guiltily.

"Is it that obvious?"

Kate lifted his chin to make him meet her smiling eyes, "Only to me."

They stood together for a few minutes in a contented silence before Rick piped up. "Maybe we could get a dog..."

"Alright, we'll see you and the kids tomorrow, pumpkin..." Rick smiled as he spoke to his elder daughter on his phone from his lookout by the front door. "Yeah, can't wait. Love you. Bye."

A car pulled up on the gravel drive. "Is that them?" Kate called down from upstairs, but Rick was already opening the door and rushing out to greet their guests.

"Grandpa!" The two boys shouted as they scrambled up the steps and into Rick's arms.

"Careful guys," Grace called to her sons with a shake of her head. Kate came out and the boys ran over to her next, happy to be free of the car after their long drive. Rick stepped down to help Grace with their cases. "Hey Dad," she whispered with a smile and he gathered her into a hug.

"Hey poppet. Missed you."

"I missed you too. How's the new knee?" She bent down to peer at the neat pink scar along her dad's left knee, lifting up the hem of his shorts to get a good look.

"It's great! Better than the old one." She laughed and picked up the two heaviest bags, letting him take the others.

In the kitchen, Kate had corralled her grandsons to the table for a drink and snack. "Hey Mom."

"Hi kiddo," she stepped over to hug Grace with a big smile on her face. "How was the journey from Quantico?"

"Pretty good really, my clinic finished early and our flight left on time." She glanced at her watch, "Andy should be here later this evening, he's on duty for another hour."

"When will Baba be here, Mama?" The older boy, with blue eyes and fine sandy hair asked.

"About ten o'clock, John," Grace replied, and the boy nodded.

"When's that?" His younger brother piped up.

"Way after your bedtime, baby," Kate answered.

"I'm not a baby!" Kate hid her smile from the four-year-old.

"Sorry, Nico, I know you're not. You're a big boy now, right?"

"Right." He went back to eating his yoghurt.

The adults all shook their heads with silent laughter.

Having sent the boys down to the beach, the girls sat out on the porch to take in the view and catch up. Phone calls were never the same as a proper chat sitting next to one another, glass of wine in hand. One of the phones on the table began to buzz loudly against the wood. Kate reached for it, "Oh, it's yours." She handed it to Grace who answered without looking at the screen.

"Doctor Leandros. Oh, hey Andy." She put it on speakerphone.

"Hi Gracie, are you at your mom's yet?" There was a loud noise in the background, and he was having to speak loudly to be heard above it

"Hi Andy," Kate butted in.

"Oh, hi! Great, you're there. I was just calling to say I'm on my way."

"Already? I thought your flight didn't leave till six?"

"Yeah, well I called in a couple of favours, and I just wanted to check no one's out on the lawn."

Kate and Grace exchanged a glance before Grace answered him, "The boys are on the beach with Dad, why?"

"Wouldn't want to land on anyone, you know, since Evans is letting me have a go with his chopper."

"...his what?!" Kate nudged Grace's elbow and pointed to the left of the house, and they both saw a glint in the sky. "You've borrowed a helicopter?!"

"Not borrowed, just getting a lift. See you in a minute!" The connection dropped and Grace laughed.

"I cannot believe him sometimes."

"Well, you've gotta admit Gracie, it's certainly a perk of being a naval aviator." Kate spotted Rick and the boys starting to head in from the beach and she shouted to get her husband's attention but he was too far away to hear.

"It's okay, Mom, they've spotted it." They saw John pointing and waving to the helicopter as it bore down towards them, Rick keeping a steady hand on each boy's shoulder.

After the UH-1Y Venom sank to an easy landing on the lawn, the cab door nearest the house swung open and Grace grinned at her husband as he hopped out with his rucksack. He pulled off his helmet and stowed it away, giving Evans a wave before shutting the door and clearing the blades. Evans lifted the helicopter back up into the air and took a large sweep around before heading back east to Newport.

"Dad! Baba that was so cool!" The boys were sprinting from the beach, their shouts giving Andy plenty of warning before they could tackle him. He picked John up over his shoulder and carried Nico under his other arm.

John didn't stop his line of questioning, "That was awesome! Was that a Super Huey, Baba? Did you fly it?"

"Yeah it was, and Evans did let me have a go."

"But you still like planes more, right?"

"I'm a jet all the way, son." Rick caught up and started to click his fingers, and Andy grinned at him, "Hi Dad."

Rick grinned right back.

While the boys were distracted by their gram and a bucket of foam letters that stuck to the tiles above the bath, Rick disappeared into the garage. He lifted the old stepladder off its pegs on the wall and carried it out into the garden, placing it right in the middle of the lawn. Grace watched him from one of the upstairs window with a fond smile on her face.

"Is he still doing that?" She nodded at her husband.

"I don't think we will ever be able to stop him from putting the moon in the sky for us." Andy stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, his chin on her shoulder as they watched Rick together.

"He's a pretty great dad, you know."

"As if he'd let us forget it." She turned her face to kiss him gently. "Let's go help Mom to get the boys ready for bed before we all go down to the porch."

With linked hands, they arrived in the family bathroom just in time to see Kate swaddling the boys in enormous fluffy towels. The kids cheered and ran straight for their parents for limpet-style hugs, clinging to waists and legs as if they'd never let go. Andy ruffled both the boys' damp hair, "Come on guys, get dry so you can get your jim-jams on. Then we'll go see what Grandpa's up to outside."

Nico gasped excitedly with wide eyes, "Is Grandpa putting the moon up for us, Baba?"

"Of course!" Andy grinned.

Kate chuckled and stood up slowly from where she'd been kneeling, taking a moment to stretch her limbs out. "I'll go see if he needs help, don't want him to over-stretch that new titanium knee he won't shut up about."

"Mama, what's tie-tay-num?" Grace grinned and fluffed Nico's nose with his towel.

"It's a type of metal. Remember how grandpa had to go to the hospital for a few days a while ago and we went to visit him?" The young boy nodded. "He had a new knee made of titanium put in his leg."

"Like a robot?"

"Um... not really. But I bet he'd like that you thought of that." She smiled at Andy, John, and Nico in turn before pulling them all to her for a group hug. Andy nuzzled his nose to his wife's neck and snaked his hand around her waist. "All my boys," she sighed happily.

"Let's get you boys into jim-jams so we can go downstairs," Andy suggested, and the boys broke away from their parents, streaking into their bedrooms with delighted yells. He turned to Grace and smiled as he whispered, "Kali̱spéra, Doctor Leandros."

She chuckled and shook her head with a grin, "Good evening to you too, Lieutenant Commander Leandros, you sap."

He barked a laugh and squeezed her waist to his body with his arm, "Love you too."

"Come on Baba! Come on Mama!" Nico called as he hopped from foot to foot by the door. "Stop being silly, let's go!"

"Well, you heard your son, let's go!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Rick and Kate were waiting for them by the doors out to the back porch. "Did you put the moon up, Grandpa? Did you?"

"Of course, Nico." He smoothed his hand over the boy's damp hair, cupping the back of his head to see him stare up in amazement. Nico grabbed Rick's hand and dragged him outside, excited to see the moon. John, old enough to know better than to ruin it for his little brother, reached out and got his grandpa's other hand, and the three of them hustled out onto the grass towards the stepladder. The rest of the adults wandered out onto the deck, content to watch from a distance.

Rick released John's hand and waved his arm in a large sweep of the sky as he always had with Grace. "I put the moon up for you while you were in the bath. It's waxing at the moment, that's why it's shaped like a bow. Think we'll find an arrow?" John grabbed Rick's hand to get his attention before giving him a raised eyebrow that reminded him so much of Kate he forgot what he was about to say.

"Grandpa, what if the archer shoots at us?" Nico asked.

"It's okay, Nico, Artemis won't shoot at us. She shoots the stars up into the sky." He looked down at his younger grandson with a smile that crinkled his eyes. Nico looked up in total adoration and replied with an 'oooh' of such wonder that Rick had to look away to take a deep shaky breath. John squeezed his hand again and the touch grounded him. "It's bedtime, boys," he whispered. They turned around slowly and headed back to the porch. "Who's going to read your bedtime story tonight?"

"Baba!" Nico replied instantly, but John was more thoughtful before making his choice.

"Grams, please." The boys said goodnight to their mom before John reached his hand out to Kate and Andy picked Nico up, the four of them slowly heading upstairs.

Grace waited until they were out of sight before she took her dad's hand and tugged on it for him to follow her. They walked down onto the lawn and up to the stepladder. He smiled and spoke quietly, "I put the moon up for you, Gracie. Looks good tonight, huh?"

She stood silently but couldn't stop the happy tears that fell onto her cheeks. He swiped them away with his thumb and pulled her into a hug. "You make magic, Dad. You always have." He took a breath as if to reply but she carried on before he could, "Thank you for the moon, Daddy."

He kissed the top of his daughter's head and held her tight until her tears had abated.

"You're welcome, poppet."

I've fallen in love with this family. Don't be surprised if I start writing stories to fill the gaps of this one. But hopefully after finishing the unfinished fics.