Okay, fair warning - This is a long chapter. For me, it's a *very* long chapter. I should probably break it into two chapters but I don't know where it would break well. I did warn you earlier that the epilogue would be long-winded and it is. However, it was a hell of a lot of fun to write, and I'm hoping you guys will enjoy.

"Don't start Thanksgiving dinner without me, kiddo! I'll be back with the champagne before you know it!"

The loft's front door barely had a chance to click closed behind Martha before Castle was pushing his child with great persistence. "Remember, you *promised* not to say anything that could make Mother suspect about the Guardians, me, Beckett, Lanie or Esposito, agreed?"

Alexis rolled her eyes at her father's stubbornness as she popped a couple of peanuts into her mouth. "Dad, I still don't understand why you don't just tell her."

Castle was amazed that his incredibly intelligent daughter still failed to see his logic in keeping this a secret. He basted the turkey as he talked to her about it. "This is your grandmother we're talking about here, Alexis-you know, the local rumor mill? Remember when Kate and I first started dating? I don't think we were able to get her off the phone for a month!"

"And what about your feelings for Beckett *before* you guys hooked up?" countered Alexis smoothly. "Grams kept that secret for four years, even from *you*, until you were finally ready to see it. Besides, dad, she's your *mother*, for God's sake! I mean, if I suddenly developed superpowers, wouldn't you want me to tell you?"

Castle knew he had a perfect reply to that comment. "Of *course* I'd want you to tell me, Alexis," he replied, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. "After all, I already have superpowers..."

A knock on the door stopped Alexis before she had any chance to respond with anything other than a playful slap on the arm. The girl ran to the door and opened it, smiling as she found Kate Beckett on the other side. "Hi Kate!" Alexis exclaimed, embracing her father's girlfriend as best she could. "Can I take those pies for you?"

"Sure, Lex," Kate replied, "Thanks." Alexis took the pies from Beckett's arms and delivered them to the kitchen, which allowed Beckett to hang up her coat and hat before heading there herself. She snuck up behind Castle and wrapped her arms around him as he was peeling potatoes. "Happy Thanksgiving, Rick."

Castle put down the potato and vegetable peeler, twisting around in his girlfriend's arms until they were face to face and able to give each other a more intimate greeting. He found his voice only after their lips met and separated. "Happy Thanksgiving, Kate."

The couple pulled away from their embrace so Castle could get back to work on the meal. Beckett asked, "Anything I can do to help?" As Castle handed her a potato and a second peeler, Beckett continued, "So, you guys were talking about whether or not we should tell Martha about the Guardians?"

"Yes," Castle replied automatically, then doubled back as he realized what that might have sounded like. "I mean no! There's no discussion here, we're not telling her."

Beckett simply shrugged and got to work peeling her potato as she commented, "Well, I think we should tell her."

"You *do*?"

"Rick, I've told you this before. If I've learned anything this past year, it's that hiding things from the people closest to you is a colossally bad idea. It only makes your life harder than it needs to be."

Rick stared at his girlfriend, dumbfounded. "What about you, Kate? Did you tell your dad the other night?"

"No...but believe it or not, he suspects something."

"He...what?" Rick stopped peeling mid-potato to gawk at his girlfriend. "How could he?"

Alexis heard the knock at the door again, so she went to greet their guests while the 'adults' continued to talk. "At the end of dinner, as we were saying good night...he asked me if there was anything else going on besides us," Kate told him.

"And you didn't tell him anything?"

Kate shook her head. "He discounted his own instincts as not having a good 'father's intuition'."

"About what?" asked Lanie.

Rick and Kate looked up to see that Alexis had let in Lanie and Esposito while they were talking. "We were discussing how much Martha and my dad should know about the Guardians."

"You mean she doesn't know already?" Esposito asked.

Castle hesitated for a second before answering. "I've been...careful."

"Careful? In your own house?" Esposito shook his head sadly. "That's no way to live, bro."

"But why does your dad need to find out, Kate?" asked Lanie.

Kate took a drink of her ice water before answering. "Our conversation the other night ended...strangely. He suspects something's up with me, he told me that much."

"Do you think he knows?" Lanie asked before immediately retracting the statement. "About this? Who am I kidding, there's no way in hell anyone would ever guess something like *this*."

Alexis winced as she heard another knock at the door, slightly annoyed that she had to keep pulling herself out of the conversation to keep playing doorman. All annoyance vanished, though, when she saw the surprise visitors on the other side. "Kevin!"

Ryan scooped up into an embrace the girl he had started to think of as his little Guardian 'sister'. "Happy Thanksgiving, Lex!" It was then that he remembered a somewhat crucial oversight on his part. "My God, I just realized that you two haven't met yet..." Kevin stepped around Alexis so the two women could look at each other. "Jenny, this is Alexis. Alexis, I'd like you to meet my wife, Jenny."

Alexis held out her hand for a polite handshake. "It's nice to finally meet you, Jenny. Ryan's told me so much about you."

Jenny took one look at the red-haired girl in front of her and flushed briefly with embarrassment about her clearly mistaken set of previous assumptions. It was obvious to Jenny, even from this brief meeting, that Alexis was a smart, sweet and polite young woman...but that there was nothing between this girl and her husband but family. Jenny returned the handshake and pulled Alexis into a warm hug. "He's told me a lot about you, too. It's such a relief to finally put a face to the name."

"What are you guys doing here?" Alexis asked the couple, taking their coats and hats as she ushered them both into the loft. "I thought you were doing the Tour de family today."

"We are," Ryan replied as the couple walked with Alexis to the kitchen. He frowned at Alexis' continued puzzled expression. "What, you didn't think that included you guys?"

Alexis beamed as the conversation in the kitchen ceased so everyone could greet Ryan and Jenny. It didn't escape Alexis' notice that the full set of Guardians were now, unexpectedly, sitting in her kitchen. She turned to her father and teased, "Wow, it seems the universe is ganging up on you today, dad."

"Really?" asked Ryan. "About what?"

"Castle's trying to talk us out of letting a couple more people into the clubhouse," said Lanie.

Ryan could only shake his head, marveling at his friend's impressive stubborn streak. "This is still about your mom, isn't it? Wait, you guys said a couple of people. So your dad then, too, Beckett?" When the couple nodded, Ryan went on, "I don't understand the hesitation, guys. I thought immediate family would be a gimme, especially since your mother lives here."

"Apparently Castle's mom has a fondness for gossip," said Esposito.

"Yeah, but this is your *mother*, Castle," insisted Jenny. "I don't know any half-decent parent who wouldn't walk over hot coals if that's what it took to keep their child safe. Remember Sonam and Nazia? I'm sure your mother would do no less for you."

Castle was starting to see that this was an argument he was never going to win. "All right," he relented with a loud sigh, "We'll tell them as soon as both of them get here."

"Tell us what, dears?"

The group looked up to find Martha and Jim standing in the entryway, Martha carrying a bag with both champagne and sparkling cider. "I ran into Jim in the hallway as I was coming back from the liquor store. It was such a lovely surprise, since we weren't expecting him until much closer to dinner time..."

Castle could only shake is head in disbelief.
Alexis was right.
The universe *was* ganging up on him.

"Mother, let me take the drinks. You're going to want to sit down for this," said Castle.

"You too, Dad," Beckett agreed.

Jim and Martha took seats together on the couch, and they were soon surrounded by the rest of the group. Kate decided to begin the conversation. "Do you remember the other night at the diner? When you asked if there was something going on besides my relationship with Rick?" As Jim nodded, Kate continued, "There is something going on, Dad. But it involves all of us, so I couldn't tell you about it until now."

Jim looked to Castle's mother to see if she was any less confused than he was...only to find the look on Martha's face did indeed mirror his own. He turned back to his daughter for answers. "What's this about, Katie?"

Castle began telling the story. "About six weeks ago I invited Ryan, Esposito and Lanie over for a poker night with Kate and I while you were out of town, mother. That evening, the loft got struck by lightning."

Martha was having trouble believing her ears. "Oh Richard, darling, this is starting to sound like one of those god-awful superhero movies I did back in the 70s. Next you're going to tell me you all woke up the next morning with superpowers..."

Her eyes widened as Martha saw the looks the five people in question were giving each other in response to her last statement. "Have you lost your minds? *This* is what you're trying to tell us?" The older woman got up from the couch, determined to get out of this crazy conversation. "I've heard some wild tales from you in the past, Richard Alexander Rodgers, but this one, well, this takes it. And to think you've roped your friends into it as well..."

Jim was having his own doubts. "I mean, you gotta admit, Katie, this all does sound pretty bizarre..."

"I know, Dad," Kate was trying her best to be reassuring. "And if I was in your shoes I wouldn't have believed it either. But it's the truth."

"So what are these superpowers you all 'supposedly' have?" Martha demanded, her voice dripping with the sarcasm of unbelief.

"Mother, if you'll just sit back down, I'll tell you," insisted Castle.

"Not until I get myself a drink, first," Martha replied with equal speed.

Castle seized upon the opportunity. He turned around and knelt on the couch so he could still see his mother from the semi-seated position. "It's still early yet, mother. Would you care for a bloody mary, perhaps?"

The drink instantly appeared in Martha's hand, celery stick and all. Martha stared at the beverage in disbelief. Tasting it, she only half-realized the drink tasted as if she had made it herself: fresh lemons, pepper-infused vodka and all.

"Do you believe me now, Mother?" Castle replied.

"Nice t-trick there, kid," Martha responded, a little nervous and defensive. "Next you'll give me some aspirin to go with my breakfast here."

Castle nonchalantly waved through the request. "If you'd like."

Martha felt something in her closed left hand. She opened it to find two aspirin in the hand that had been empty not a second earlier. The world seemed to be suddenly spinning a little too fast for her. "I think I need to sit down," Martha exclaimed.

Jim watched the whole exchange in disbelief. He turned and asked his daughter, "So all of you can do things like that, now?"

Kate shook her head. "Each one of us has a different ability."

Jim asked her warily, "So what's yours?"

"My senses are all...enhanced, you could say," Kate replied. She had been thinking of a way to prove her ability when she noticed something interesting in the air around her dad. "Is that a new cologne, Dad? It smells kinda, well, girly..."

Jim's mouth dropped open in shock. "I was in Macy's and got assaulted by this over zealous perfume girl...but that was three days ago, Katie. You can still smell it?"

Kate nodded. "There's just a trace amount of it left, but it's still there."

"And all your senses are enhanced that strongly?" Kate nodded again. "My God..."

Martha listened carefully to the exchange between Kate and her father. It was as if the connection between the two demonstrations pulled the curtain of disbelief away from her eyes. "So it...it's true...all five of you?" The other three Guardians nodded their heads in support. Martha then noticed that the third member of the Rodgers clan was not nearly as shocked by the day's events as she was. "Alexis? Don't tell me you knew about this all along?"

Alexis blushed under her grandmother's accusatory glare. "I was out in the Hamptons when everybody dropped in looking for a place to get used to their new abilities the day after it happened. I kinda caught Dad in the act, you could say."

"You and I are going to have a talk about being honest with your family, young lady..." A new realization dawned on Martha as she reprimanded her granddaughter. "Come to think of it, why *are* you telling us this now?"

"Like you said, you're family," Ryan replied simply...which reminded him of where else he needed to be that day. "Speaking of family," he added, nudging his wife, "we should probably go, if we're not going to be late for our *other* family."

"Want me to drop you guys somewhere?" Castle volunteered.

Ryan looked to his wife. You okay with taking the wizard train? he asked her.

Wizard train? Jenny asked, her eyebrow raised at her husband's choice of words.

It's Castle's form of teleportation, replied Ryan.

Ryan heard his wife chuckle through the mind link. I take it you've done this before?

Yeah, a few times. It's a little disorienting, but we'd get to your parents in under a minute instead of an hour and a half on the subway.

I could definitely go for that, replied Jenny.

Ryan told his friend, "I just got the okay from the wife. Thanks, Castle."

Martha watched the exchange, totally confused. She let out a nervous chuckle as she asked the couple in front of her, "I'm sorry, I must be going deaf over here. Were you two talking to each other just now?"

It took Ryan a second to remember how little they had actually told Martha beyond Castle and Beckett's abilities. "My...'gift' is telepathy, Mrs. Rodgers. Once I connect with someone's mind, we no longer have to speak to communicate."

"Ah," Martha was trying to take the increasingly surreal revelations in stride, but it was proving to be next to impossible. She held her head in her hands, trying to 'process' everything she had seen and heard.

A feeling of peace and tranquility like nothing Martha had ever experienced filled her soul and eased the edge of fear and panic from her emotions. She looked over to see that Ryan had sat down on the couch next to her, with an expression that she could only describe as concerned, but serene. "This...feeling, I take it that's not coming from me?"

Ryan shook his head. "You looked overwhelmed, Mrs. Rodgers. And I know it's a hell of a lot to take in all at once. I just figured I'd try to help take the edge off of that, even if only for a little while."

"Please, dear, call me Martha. And you're right, it did help. Thank you."

"Then call me Kevin. And my wife over there is Jenny." Ryan stood up. "Now, as much as I would like to stay and spend Thanksgiving with everyone here, we *have* to go."

Martha got up and blocked Ryan's path to his wife until he allowed the older woman to pull him into a warm hug. "Don't be a stranger, you two. With a gift like that, I might never have to see the inside of a spa ever again."

Ryan chuckled at that as he crossed the room to join his wife and Castle. "So," the wizard asked his friends, "where to?"

"If I give you an idea of a place, do you think you can get us there?" asked Ryan.

Castle recalled the night he had to pop into the warehouse to protect Alexis. "I've worked with a lot less. Shouldn't be a problem."

Martha nudged Kate as Ryan projected the desired target location into Castle's mind. "What are they doing?"

"Just wait," Kate replied, smiling expectantly.

Martha gasped as she watched her son and his friends disappear in the blink of an eye. She started to move to examine the spot where Castle had been when Kate stopped her. "We need to keep that spot clear for another minute or so, Martha."

"Whatever for..." Martha's question was answered before she had a chance to ask it as Castle returned. The older woman gawked openly at her son. "I-I thought all you could do was little things...parlor tricks come to life. But, but this...where are Kevin and Jenny?"

"Brooklyn," Castle replied, "with her family."

"My God..." Martha stared at her son in amazement...until an idea popped into her head. "Richard, darling, it has been decades since I've had the opportunity to visit Bali. Is there any chance we could possibly..."

Castle groaned as he listened to his mother's desire to fully exploit his gifts to her advantage. But deep in his heart, he also sighed with relief. For it was at that moment that he knew, with absolute confidence, that his family...his whole family...was going to be just fine.

Thanksgiving turned out to be a more interesting, entertaining and surprising holiday than any of them could have possibly imagined. Castle was thrilled to be able to use his gifts in his own home without restriction and took full advantage, turning the kitchen into something that looked straight out of the "Sorcerer's Apprentice", only with (slightly) more control. Accidents still happened, though, which allowed Martha and Jim to watch in amazement as Lanie healed the various cuts and burns Castle acquired with the touch of her hands.

At the end of the evening, Castle and his family were relaxing at the dinner table, enjoying the pies that Beckett had brought and conversation about all of the wild, wonderful and generally crazy aspects of their 'blessing'.

"I'm curious about something," Jim asked. "While this has been a really amazing day on *so* many levels, you don't play with these powers just to amuse each other, do you?"

Beckett shook her head. "We all use our gifts in different ways every day, Dad, both in the field and at home. Castle's got a couple of spells that have been particularly helpful on the job."

That sparked Martha's curiosity. "Really? How so?"

"My specialty," Castle replied, "is a head-to-toe energy shield. It's kind of like a cross between Kevlar and Star Trek. Totally bulletproof."

Martha's eyes widened. "Do you use this shield on just yourself?"

Castle shook his head. "I use it on our team all the time, not just me. Although it's a ton of energy to manage at once, so I can't add shields for more than one or two more people beyond us five yet."

Martha and Jim squeezed their children's hands and Castle and Beckett smiled in return. The Guardians all understood immediately what had been left unspoken: the greatest fear a cop's (or a pseudo-cop writer's) family had was that something terrible could happen to them on the job...especially getting shot. For the families of the Guardians, that fear was now all but gone.

Castle's mom decided to break the silence by turning the group to a different topic. "So Javier," Martha asked between a sip of coffee and a bite of pie, "you never did tell us what particular 'gift' you had been blessed with."

Esposito blushed. "To be honest, Martha, I'm not all that comfortable talking about it. Anyway, how do I word this...when I touch somebody, I guess you could say I 'acquire' their life story: their memories, skills, experiences, and what their future looks like at that point in their lives."

"Really?" Martha exclaimed, fascinated. "You're aware that I'm an actress, right?" When Esposito nodded, Martha continued, "Well, when I play a character, I try to do the same thing. Although unless I'm playing a real person, most of what I do is just making up the story from the context of the play itself. May I see how you work?"

"Sure," Esposito shrugged, "why not. Although, I gotta warn you, I'll see everything. Even stuff you may not have ever told anybody else or would ever *want* to tell anyone else."

"My life is an open book, Javier," Martha replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Read away."

She placed her hand on the table next to her, and Esposito leaned over to cover it with his own. After a trance of a few furious seconds, he pulled back, opening his eyes with a sly smile. "Ms. Rodgers," Esposito addressed her with renewed respect, "You make me wish one of us had the ability to travel back in time."

It quickly became Martha's turn to blush as Lanie eyed her boyfriend with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. "Really Javi? And why is that?"

"Lanie, in her day, Castle's mom could have out-partied everyone at this table. Combined. Probably twice over. There was this time with Halston and Richard Burton at Studio 54-"

Castle cut off the sentence before he was potentially scarred for life. "I think my mother gets the picture, Esposito."

Martha blushed an even deeper shade of red even as she laughed at the memory and her son's reaction to it. "I most certainly do, Richard, thank you. And you are right, Javier, I actually didn't remember that day until you mentioned it. I certainly haven't mentioned it to anyone else. I trust you will keep it in confidence as well?" Esposito nodded respectfully, for which Martha was gratefully relieved. "Thank you. But, I still have one question for you, Richard," Martha asked. "Why now? After all this time, why did you choose today to tell me about all of this?"

"Partly, it was because Kate wanted to tell her dad and it would just kill two birds with one stone to tell you both..."

Martha knew that her son was dodging her question. "Richard..."

Castle finally got around to admitting the truth...even if it was at a volume where everyone but Beckett had to strain to hear it. "And mostly...mostly because I wanted to feel like I could be *me* in my own house again."

Martha's heart filled with compassion for her ever more amazing son. She crossed the room to get down on her knees next to her son, taking his hands in her own to punctuate the point. "You listen to me, Richard. I love you no matter who you are, what you do or how crazy your life gets. Don't ever, *ever* think you can't come to me about anything that's going on, you got that?"

Castle's heart softened as he realized how much of Alexis' compassion and strength she got not from him, but from his mother. "Yes, ma'am."

As mother and son embraced, Jim remembered the one thing *he* had wanted to talk with his daughter about when he walked into the loft that morning...and it had nothing to do with superpowers. "Wow...after everything that's happened today I just remembered the one thing I wanted to talk to you about, Katie...it seems kind of tiny by comparison."

Now it was Beckett's turn to squeeze her father's hand for support. "What is it, Dad?"

"I was thinking about moving back into the city. It struck me after we last talked how much I missed hearing from you. It had been so long since we talked before that, and *clearly* so much happened in that time...well, I just figured if I lived closer maybe we wouldn't grow so far apart again."

Beckett smiled, "I'd really like that, Dad. Have you found a place yet?"

Jim shrugged, "I haven't even started looking, to be honest. I wanted to see what you thought first."

Grateful beyond words that Ryan wasn't there to out him, Castle *tried* to make it look like he had just had a 'lightbulb idea' moment. "Hey, maybe you can sublet Kate's place..."

Beckett caught on immediately. "Rick, you want me to move in here, don't you?"

"Yes, Kate, I do," Castle replied matter-of-factly. "This is as much your home as your apartment is, probably more so if the amount of time you spend here is any indication. I love you, my mother loves you, my daughter loves you-"

Beckett put a finger to her boyfriend's lips to silence him while she draped her other arm over his shoulder. "You know, Castle, all you had to say was yes."

Castle's eyes widened as Beckett moved her finger away from his lips. "So yes? You'll move in with me yes?" Beckett nodded, and Castle pulled her up out of her chair into an enormous hug.

Lanie and Esposito where thrilled for their friends. "Congratulations, you guys!" Lanie exclaimed, pulling Beckett out of Castle's hug and into an embrace of their own.

As the girls pulled out of their hug, Beckett turned to her father smiling from ear to ear. "I guess the apartment's yours if you want it, Dad."

"Deal!" Jim declared, before pulling his daughter into their own embrace.

"This calls for a toast!" Martha exclaimed.

She started to walk to the kitchen for the bottle of champagne when Castle stopped her. "Mother, allow me."

Seven filled champagne flutes appeared on the table. "Jim, your glass as well as Alexis' are both filled with sparkling cider."

While Alexis pouted slightly, Jim nodded his thanks as everyone picked up their glasses. The elder Beckett raised his glass and said the two words he felt were the only appropriate words to use to toast this spectacular holiday...

"To family."

Well, that's it! Thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments about the previous chapter and all throughout the story. And yes, I know I wasn't planning on telling Martha anytime soon (and Jim possibly at all). The characters just seemed to insist on it...the only one on my side of the argument was Castle. (Anyone else ever have that happen? Or am I the only crazy one?) Aanyway...I hope you all enjoyed it. Don't forget to leave a comment if you did! While I'll probably post the first chapter of the next story soon (you guys all know how crazy I am), more comments will definitely inspire me to write faster!