"Life Goes On" - Chapter 2
Author’s Notes: I am so dying… I’ve been battling this sore throat crap all weekend and the meds aren’t kicking in, and then I think that the allergies are acting up. It’s also 96 degrees…summer is approaching Southern California, which means torturing of me… There’s also still class.
*~*~*
“You’re coming in today?” Horatio asked a bit surprised to see Calleigh in more of a work outfit, rather than something more casual. Calleigh had been taking some leave to get stuff ready for the wedding. Though, having her back at work would be nice, too, he had missed having a lunch partner. Sometimes they both worked too hard that one of them had to drag the other away just to get something to eat.
Calleigh smiled brightly, “I got a call yesterday that if I could make it in, that they could use some help to get caught up in ballistics.” She set Emma in her highchair and buckled her in, “Plus, it’ll give me time to talk to Alexx about the weddin’…and Emma’s birthday is comin’ up… I was thinkin’ about invitin’ everyone from work includin’ Alexx’s kids…”
“It is?” he asked a bit surprised. The last year they’d been working more on keeping their lives going and blending their family together. Holidays and birthdays hadn’t really been a primary thing to go off of. “She’s going to be…three, right?” he asked wanting to make sure he had it correct.
“Yes,” Calleigh answered by kissing his cheek. “Sheryl should be here in fifteen. Madison’s finishin’ up getting’ ready. I was thinkin’ that we could drive together and drop off Madison on the way…” She just had a really good feeling about the day. She felt like she was going to get all the things that needed to be done…done. She had already pulled out milk and cereal along with a bowl and spoon and set it on the table in Sheryl’s spot. Sometimes their nanny came a bit early, and it was just easier to have her spot set up. She had started to make scrambled eggs for Emma and Madison, when she turned and looked over her shoulder, “What do you want for breakfast?”
“I’m fine, Sweetheart. Thank you, though.”
“Horatio,” Calleigh said sweetly and set Emma’s plate with eggs on the main table to cool for a couple minutes and then set Madison’s in her seat. She turned to get the toast from the toaster so she could butter them and put strawberry jam on them, “I am not lettin’ you go to work without at least somethin’ in your stomach. You can’t just have coffee.” She set the pieces of toasts on the plates and then got Madison a glass of orange juice.
“Toast?” Horatio offered with a small smile. Calleigh had been a lot more insistent on breakfast on the past several months.
Calleigh shook her head as she poured Horatio a cup of coffee and handed it to him and then got herself a cup and went back to the stove to make some more eggs and toast. “So, I’m goin’ to look into getting’ the invitations today… You want anythin’ specific on it? Middle name? That sort of thing?”
“No,” he told her with a small smile. “We never discussed how many people we were going to invite.”
Turning around to let the eggs cook for a minute, “I was thinking just our immediate family and friends…”
“That is a short list, isn’t it?” Horatio pushed. “I haven’t met the rest of your family yet…”
Calleigh sat down at the table for a minute and put the plate on Emma’s highchair tray for her. “What about Yelina? Have you told her about us? Or about the weddin’?” She got up again to tend to the eggs, but stood sideways, so she could have a good line of sight with Horatio.
He smiled, Calleigh had been really good with the fact that Yelina had just disappeared when he had put her on a plane to Brazil with Raymond and Ray Jr. and when he and Eric had to go to Brazil to help Marisol…and Yelina had ended up coming back with them. Calleigh had never been one to ask questions, but he had a feeling that she knew that he had feelings for Yelina. He would always have those feelings, but they were nowhere as deep as his feelings for Calleigh. “No, I haven’t talked to her for a while…” Horatio admitted. “Ray Jr.’s been big on e-mail, so I’ve been in contact via e-mail. But I haven’t talked to Yelina since probably we had hope of finding you…”
Smiling a bit, Calleigh spoke up, “I didn’t mean to keep you from talkin’ to your family…” She took the eggs off the stove and put them between two plates and then put the toast on the plates as well. She put the utensils on the plates and gently carried them to the table before sitting down and watching as Madison skipped in and sat at her seat. “Mornin’ Darlin’,” she greeted with a smile.
“Morning,” Madison said cheerfully.
“I’ll call Yelina later,” Horatio told Calleigh before picking up his fork and starting to eat his breakfast. He had other calls to make, like to find out about Suzie. He was planning on telling Calleigh about that once he found out more information. He was going to call over to the county department Suzie was in and try to find out what charges they were bringing against her and if in fact she had been found on drugs. He didn’t want to upset Calleigh’s obviously bright morning by bringing her down by news she didn’t need to hear quite yet when he didn’t have all the facts.
“Sheryl!” Madison proclaimed happily the moment she saw their nanny. She hurried pushed the last bite of her food, so that she could chat with Sheryl before she left.
“Helloooouuuu family,” Sheryl said as she headed for her seat and set her messenger bag down on the extra chair next to hers. She started to pour her cereal as she looked around, “So, what’s up for today? Any special plans? Am I taking the kidlet to school this morning?”
“Uncle H is taking me,” Madison said happily, “And Calleigh.”
“Good plan,” Sheryl said as she took a bite of her cereal.
*~*~*
As Horatio and Calleigh walked into the Crime Lab, Calleigh was absolutely glowing with happiness. She and Horatio had talked about the wedding and Horatio had loved every minute of it. He loved seeing her eyes lit up and her smile simply contagious. She was beautiful every minute of it.
“Mornin’, Claudia,” Calleigh greeted the desk sergeant. “Do we have any messages?”
“Good morning,” the woman greeted with a smile, “I believe you both do. Just a second,” she told them. “How’s the baby doing?”
“Emma’s doing just fine, she’s going to be three in just a couple weeks,” Calleigh said with great pride. She took her messages from Claudia and then looked over at Horatio, who was receiving his.
“And Miss Madison? We haven’t seen her down here for a while.”
“Madison is just fine,” Horatio told her with a bright smile. “Thank you, Ma’am,” Horatio responded and put his arm around Calleigh’s back leading her into the main Crime Lab area and saw Frank approaching. Their relationship was something that was very open in the lab, which made things a lot easier for all of them, Horatio thought. He and Calleigh were free to have family pictures and to talk about it without being afraid of saying something that was secretive. Once in a while, they’d have an IAB investigation that was more of a check…but they always cleared.
“Mornin’ Frank,” Calleigh greeted brightly.
Frank stopped as he came upon the couple, “Hey…I needed to talk to you, Horatio.”
“About?” Horatio asked figuring that whatever Frank wanted to discuss could be discussed in front of Calleigh, after all, she knew everything about all the cases…and they didn’t have secrets.
He looked at Calleigh and then Horatio, “Suzie Barnham, she’s at Monroe County? I got a call from the Sheriff over there saying that she has your card and is saying that you’d vouch for her. Do you know anything about that?” Frank knew that Suzie Barnham was Madison’s mother, but he also knew that she abandoned her daughter at the Crime Lab and that Horatio and Calleigh had been taking care of Madison for a year. He wasn’t ready to talk for Horatio when he wasn’t sure what Horatio’s answer would be.
“Suzie called me in the middle of the night,” Horatio admitted and knew that Calleigh would not be happy that he’d kept it from her. “I told her that I wasn’t going to bail her out…not this time.”
“You mean that she called and you didn’t tell me?” Calleigh asked crossing her arms over her chest.
Frank decided that was his cue to leave, “Well, I’ll let you two talk…” he said before making a quick exit.
“Calleigh,” Horatio started and then sighed, “I was going to tell you after I found out more information…”
Calleigh let her head drop a bit as she took a minute to think. “You can’t let her take Madison,” Calleigh finally said. She lifted her head, “We promised that we’d take care of her, Horatio…and Suzie can’t do that…” She rubbed her forehead, “I’ll see you later,” she said giving him a small smile before heading for ballistics.
The look on her face had Horatio feeling horrible; she had lost her glow and her giddiness. He hated knowing that he was the one who had taken the happiness that she had been radiating from her… He had tried to protect her, but obviously it seemed that it had done more harm than good. Horatio just knew that he’d have to try to make it up to her at lunch later…
*~*~*
“Calleigh,” Horatio said as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His head found her shoulder and his lips found her exposed neck. She’d been quiet all day, and even at lunch…which had made him feel even worse. “Did you go and find out about the invitations?” he asked trying to bring up a happy subject.
She had been washing the dinner dishes, but Calleigh couldn’t help, but relax in Horatio’s arms. Even though she wasn’t exactly happy with him, she still couldn’t resist him. She turned off the water and turned around in his arms. “I have the invitations…they printed them for me in the shop, so we just need to address and mail them.” She let her forehead fall against his chest, “Please tell me that Suzie isn’t going to take Madison away…” Not only had they promised Madison that they’d make sure she was cared for, but Madison had also become a part of their family.
“She’s in jail, Calleigh… I promise that I don’t intend on bailing her out,” Horatio told his fiancée as he kissed the top of her head. “She doesn’t get another chance…”
“Can I have ice cream?” Madison asked as she wandered into the kitchen.
“Not tonight,” Horatio told her. “It’s late…you need to sleep…you have school in the morning. Remember? You’re going on a field trip to the museum.”
“Oh yeah,” Madison said.
The sound of glass breaking was enough to get Horatio to usher Calleigh and Madison towards the bedroom. The sound had come from the front of the house, but Emma was in the nursery and he wanted to keep his girls safe from harm. “Take the girls to our room, I’ll be right back,” he told Calleigh, who just nodded slowly and wrapped her arms around Madison. Turning, Horatio went to investigate the disturbance. His gun though was not on his person. One of the things that he and Calleigh agreed to was to put their guns in the gun safe, which was in the closet in their room. Walking cautiously through the house, he picked up a mag-light figuring that the heavy flashlight could come in handy if he had to go outside not only for its light, but for the fact that it could double as a weapon. As he came upon the front door, he could clearly see what was broken. The window in their front door had been shattered by a rock, and on the inside of the door, bloody smudges appeared on the white paint and Horatio could only guess were after the door knob.
Heading back to the side door, through the kitchen, Horatio checked it to make sure it was locked before heading outside to investigate. He stopped when he could make out who was outside peeking in through windows. “Suzie…what are you doing?” he asked partially relieved that it wasn’t someone potentially dangerous to his family. Suzie, he could handle.
“Horatio…Horatio, I just wanted to get Madison,” Suzie told him trying to rationalize what she had done.
“Madison is happy here with me, Suzie,” Horatio told her and started to wonder if she even cared about her daughter’s happiness. “She WANTS to stay here…”
Suzie shook her head, “You’re not her father, Horatio. I’m her mother, I have rights! She’s my daughter! I can take care of her! Give her to me!” she said starting to get loud and upset and hit her hands against the glass windows leaving bloody smudges. Her hand had been cut up when she had reached through the window to try to get the door unlocked.
“Suzie, you gave up those rights when you left her at the Crime Lab…” Horatio said trying to stay calm.
Looking through the next window, she stopped when she saw Madison. She didn’t like the fact that the woman who was with her was holding her daughter… Suzie could see the woman’s own baby through the window, and wondered why she would want her daughter, too. Wasn’t she happy with the baby that she had? Getting upset she started to scream and pound on the window. “She’s not YOUR daughter!!! She’s MINE!!!” She felt herself being dragged away from the window and screamed louder as she started to kick and flail her arms.
Sounds of sirens alerted Horatio that either one of his neighbors or Calleigh had called the police. Though, at least he wouldn’t have to do it, and wait around. “Suzie…you need to calm down,” he tried to say rationally as he moved Suzie away from between his house and the neighbor’s and towards the front. He was sure that whoever was on duty would hear her screaming. Horatio had always thought that the only person who would ever threaten or cause major upset to his family would be Miller Lewis if he ever got out of jail and made his way to Miami. One of the burdens he had taken on for his little brother hadn’t been something he thought would come back later and haunt him.
The officers quickly found them and came forward and helped him with Suzie. “What are we taking her in for?” the officer asked as the female officer handcuffed Suzie and kept her under control.
“Check with Monroe Sheriff’s Department, she was there yesterday for drug possession and possibly distribution. As for Miami-Dade County…vandalizing property and abandoning her child,” Horatio said, his heart feeling heavy. He hated doing it, he’d much rather make her go to rehab, but Suzie didn’t seem like a person who would be able to stay clean long enough…not even for Madison…
They nodded and headed to the car with her, when the female officer stopped and turned to him, “And the child…”
“Has been safe and happy with me for a year… Child protective services are informed that she has been under my care,” Horatio informed her. When he got another nod, he sighed, he needed to clean things up and check up on his girls. The sound of another siren caught his attention, and when he looked up he saw that it was a Hummer…one of his… He saw Eric get out and figured that he must have been working a lot longer than he should have been on a case, and had heard the call over the scanner.
“H, is everything okay?” Eric asked as he jogged up the lawn towards the house.
Horatio nodded, “Yeah…front door’s window is busted…but I think that’s the extent of the physical damage… Calleigh’s inside with Emma and Madison, though…they might be shaken up…”
“Want me to stick around and help you clean up?” Eric offered.
“I’d appreciate that, Eric…” Horatio said quietly as he bent down and picked up the mag-light he had dropped when Suzie had started to attack the bedroom window. “Would you mind checking out here while I check on Calleigh and the girls?” Horatio asked holding out the mag-light to his friend.
“No problem,” Eric said quickly taking the flashlight and flipping it on.
Horatio gave him a nod before walking back into the house, glass crunched under his feet as he re-entered and started down the hall towards the bedrooms. When he didn’t see the girls in his and Calleigh’s room, which was where he knew they had been when Suzie had started yelling at Calleigh, he moved on to Madison and Emma’s rooms…when he still didn’t find them, he started to panic. He checked the bathroom, and then headed back down the hall. He stopped outside his room again and entered. “Calleigh? Sweetheart?” he called out and then slowly approached the closet. He hated to think that Calleigh was in there, he knew that Miller Lewis had locked her in one on many occasions and they had normally left theirs open…but it was closed. Reaching out, he slowly opened it and found Madison sitting on top of the gun safe and Calleigh huddled in the corner with Emma in her arms. It broke his heart, all his girls had tears running down their faces and Emma was still crying.
“Uncle Horatio, I’m sorry,” Madison said getting up and flinging her arms around him. She felt somewhat responsible for her mother being there and acting crazy.
“Madison, Honey,” he said gently as he picked her up, “It’s not your fault… Why don’t we put you in bed?”
“I want to sleep in here,” Madison told him squirming to get down and when he let her down, she hurried and got into the big bed against the wall.
Horatio didn’t feel like he needed to or even could argue with that. “Calleigh,” he said softly kneeling in front of her right outside of the closet. “Come on, Sweetheart…time for you and Emma to come out of the closet.” When she shook her head, his heart felt like someone was squeezing it and not letting up. “Alright…I’m going to go check on Eric…he’s going to help me clean up… I’ll be back soon.”
He hated leaving Calleigh like that, but he also needed to make sure that they’d be okay for the night. He saw Eric sweeping up the glass and walked over. He stopped when he saw the rock bagged and a swab sitting on his table. “Eric, thank you for cleaning that up.”
“I figured we might as well keep evidence of this just in case, and I took some pictures, too,” he caught Horatio up. “How are Calleigh and the girls?”
“Madison thinks it’s her fault, and Calleigh’s in the corner of the closet with Emma and won’t come out,” he said sadly as he went over to the closet to retrieve the vacuum to make sure all the glass was picked up. He didn’t want anyone stepping on it the next day.
After things were cleaned up, Eric walked to the bedroom with Horatio and they found Calleigh and the girls all asleep. Though Calleigh and Emma were still in the closet. “Why don’t you pull back the covers, I’ll get Emma, and then you move Calleigh to the bed?” When Horatio nodded, Eric gently took the toddler from Calleigh’s arms and held her close. He watched as Horatio moved Calleigh to the bed before he placed Emma back in her arms. He watched as Horatio pulled the covers up and made sure they were all safely in before standing back to the door and shutting off the lights. “Thank you, Eric,” he said again.
“You going to be okay with the window just taped up?”
“I think I’m going to try to get someone out here to fix it tonight…” he said as they walked to the kitchen. “This is Miami, right? There’s has to be somewhere that offers a twenty four hours a day glass replacement.” He found the yellow book and put it on the table before walking Eric to the door.
“If you guys need anything, let me know,” he told Horatio.
*~*~*
“What do you mean, they let her go?” Calleigh demanded and started to pace about the room. “How could they let her go? She broke in our window, Horatio…”
“I know,” he said trying to be the calm one. He knew that normally Calleigh wouldn’t be so upset, but this meant their family. She had woken up in the middle of the night crying the night before afraid that someone was going to take not only Madison, but Emma from them… He had been sitting by the bed in a chair just watching them sleep, and had ended up soothing her back to sleep. He hadn’t labeled Suzie as dangerous, but he was starting to think that it was time to think of her that way. “There was a problem when they were booking her…she ended up getting released when she wasn’t supposed to.” He had already been down at the holding area, going on and on to the officers that had been there last night about it, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it at the moment. Suzie had managed to talk her way out of Monroe County, and Horatio was wondering if Suzie was doing more than talking to get out of her imprisonment sentences.
Calleigh shook her head, “We’re supposed to be concentratin’ on our weddin’ and how our little girl is turnin’ three and how we actually get to celebrate holidays as a family this year… What about the girls? She could go back to the house and try to get Madison again…” Calleigh brought up worriedly.
“There’s an officer posted outside Madison’s school,” Horatio assured, “And I already talked to the school. You, Sheryl, and I are the ONLY ones that can pick her up from school… They’re really good about not releasing kids to strangers…they don’t even let them past the entry point without signing in and showing ID.” He slowly reached out and rubbed Calleigh’s shoulder before pulling her into his arms. “Sheryl’s with Emma…she’s going to take good care of her like always…”
“I don’t want to have to worry,” she whispered and looked up at him. “Worry about you, Emma, Madison…” Tears fell from her eyes as she stared up at him. The past year had been beautiful, and now it seemed like it was suddenly spiraling out of control.
He wanted to tell her that things were going to be perfect again… That Suzie would just go away… That their wedding was going to be here like it was tomorrow… But he couldn’t. He couldn’t make her those promises. “Cal-Cal-” he started, but was interrupted by his cell phone. He pulled a bit away from her and put the phone to his ear, “Sheryl, Honey…I want you to stay where you are. Don’t move. Do you hear me? I want you to just stay there…I’m calling the ambulance…Calleigh and I are on our way.” Horatio was already pulling Calleigh with him towards the elevator by the time he closed the cell phone.
“What happened? Is Emma okay?” she asked quickly.
“I don’t know,” he whispered, his worry matching hers as they stepped into the elevator together.
*~*~*
By the time Horatio and Calleigh made it to their house in the Hummer with sirens and lights, Sheryl was being loaded into the ambulance. There were others they knew already on the scene, who Horatio took as a peace of mind to know things would be handled correctly. “What happened, Frank?” Horatio asked and kept half an eye on Calleigh as she slowly headed towards Sheryl’s car. He wanted to hear what Frank had to say, so he knew where he and Calleigh needed to go.
“Found Sheryl in the gutter bleeding… There’s some blood on the car, Natalia and Eric were saying that it looked like she got thrown against the car before she hit her head on the curb. EMT says that she’s going to be fine, that they think she’s just gonna need some stitches and’ll have a concussion… They don’t think that they’ll be any swelling on her brain or anything, but said they’d take scans just to make sure.”
“Calleigh! No! You’re gonna contaminate the crime scene!” Eric yelled grabbing his friend before she had a chance to walk into the blood pooled in the gutter or get to the empty car.
“Emma! Where’s Emma?!” Calleigh screamed. No one was telling her anything.
Natalia tried to help Eric, but she motioned for Frank and Horatio to join them. “Calleigh, Emma wasn’t in the car…”
“Sheryl said that someone took her,” Frank filled in quickly. “We don’t think any harm’s come to her, but we also don’t have a description… The officers are going door to door now to try and see if anyone saw an unusual car today…”
“There’s a camera on the main light,” Horatio said pointing down the street. “I think it has a traffic camera, too.” He took a minute to keep his focus down the street before turning to Calleigh, who Eric was still trying to keep calm. “Sweetheart,” he said feeling utterly crazy for feeling the need to stay calm, but he knew it was the only way things were going to get done. His voice broke a bit as he continued, “We’re going to get Emma back…”
*~*~*
Horatio and Calleigh walked up the steps to Miami Christian Academy, and already had their badges and picture ID ready. Horatio had come to the conclusion that perhaps Suzie had taken Emma, but that Suzie wouldn’t hurt their baby. Suzie was just trying to hurt him…maybe even them. Calleigh was oddly calm and collected as they signed in and Horatio told the school director that Madison needed to be pulled from class immediately.
“Where are we going to take her that’s safe?” Calleigh asked Horatio. Sheryl obviously hadn’t been safe. They’d gotten a call letting them know that they wanted to keep Sheryl overnight and that they’d already contacted her parents as well.
“I have an idea,” Horatio told her as they nervously waited in the hall for Madison. He watched Calleigh, and he wished he could make her feel more at ease.
“What are we going to do?” she asked, and wondered if he thought it was a stupid question. She just wasn’t sure if he knew things she didn’t, and they were going to go off of that… She didn’t care. She just wanted Emma back.
Too calm, he thought. He could see the anger and worry in her eyes…and the tears that she had been holding back glazing over her green eyes. “We’re going to get Emma back, Calleigh…” he tried to be reassuring as he reached out and took her hand. He ran his fingers over hers and her ring. He stared into her eyes, and just continued until he heard footsteps behind them.
“Uncle H?” Madison said stopping a few feet behind her uncle and Calleigh as she pulled on her backpack. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe,” Horatio responded as he turned, but kept his hand with Calleigh’s and gave it a light squeeze.
*~*~*
TBC…