Calleigh's mother succumbs to alcohol-related cirrhosis and Horatio arrives with delicacies to handle a delicate subject-or so he thinks. Don't own CSI: Miami. Wish I did.

Tea & Sympathy

Horatio took a deep breath, steadied himself, and rang Calleigh's doorbell. Calleigh's musical "Just a minute," floated over the sound of birds singing in the early morning sunshine. He'd already rehearsed in his mind what he had to say and still it wasn't going to be easy. How many times had he delivered this speech in his career? Too many times. And this would be one more to chalk on to the list.

Calleigh opened her door gently. Hoisting the heavily laden basket in front of him, Horatio met Calleigh's grass-green eyes with a watery smile. Calleigh smiled back sleepily and took in the proffered straw basket. "Are we goin' on a picnic, Handsome?" Calleigh joked. "It must be something big for you to call so early."

Horatio chuckled quietly at Calleigh's wit. "I apologize for the hour, ma'am, but this is official. May I?" Horatio's tone was authorative as he nodded inward.

Calleigh stepped back, her slight eyebrows scrunched into a puzzled frown over her smooth forehead. "Of course, Horatio. You're always welcome."

"Thank you, ma'am." Horatio said with a slight bow and walked in briskly. He folded, whipped his sunglasses into his black suit pocket.

Still clearing her mind from sleep, Calleigh closed the door and followed Horatio into her condo's breakfast nook. "What's happened, Horatio? Is it one of the team?" Calleigh sunk onto a softly padded wicker couch and prepared herself for the worst. She sent up a silent prayer to deal with whatever was coming.

Before answering, Horatio busied himself in Calleigh's kitchen with finding teacups, saucers, spoons and napkins. Horatio served Calleigh a cup of peppermint tea. And a saucer of chocolate mudpuppies soon followed. Both were neatly set on Calleigh's white wicker table.

Calleigh giggled with glee at Horatio's deft service. "My goodness, Horatio. Are you sure you're not a Southerner? Not even a little?"

Horatio smiled and sat next to Calleigh. "Only by exposure." Horatio paused, looked at Calleigh's pale blue silk robe, took one of Calleigh's hands in his and inhaled her honeysuckle body spray. Lord, give me strength…he prayed earnestly.

Calleigh searched into Horatio's somber blue eyes. "Don't sugarcoat it, Horatio. Give it to me with both barrels." Calleigh said softly.

Horatio inhaled before speaking. Here we go… "Okay, sweetheart, here it is: your father asked me to tell you that your mother passed on last night. He wasn't capable of telling you himself." Horatio said simply and braced himself for any physical reaction.

In his experience, he knew a survivor could react several ways. It could be violent. It could be tears. It could be screaming.

Calleigh took a sip of her tea. "Her liver finally caught up to her, didn't it? Cirrhosis. I knew it would go that way." Calleigh said conversationally. "Tea?" Calleigh offered.

Speechless, Horatio nodded a yes. Calleigh wordlessly poured a cup of tea for Horatio.

…but not this. Horatio blinked in disbelief and looked into Calleigh's hard, sea-green eyes. Uh-oh… Calleigh's eyes changing shades of green usually meant a storm was brewing. "Um, Calleigh, you did hear me, right?"

"Mm-hm." Calleigh replied around a mouthful of shortbread and briefly closed her eyes to appreciate the buttery flavor even more. "Mmm. Just like Grandma's." Calleigh faced Horatio with a smile of satisfaction. "These are delicious. Where did you find them? I'll have to go to this store."

Horatio bypassed the conversational change. "Please help me out here, Calleigh. You already knew your mother was sick?" Horatio's tone was brisk.

"No family secret there. Just a matter of time." Calleigh took another sip of tea, breathed in the warmth of the peppermint leaves. Calleigh inhaled deeply.

Now Horatio accepted the cup of tea and sipped carefully, digested Calleigh's words, and continued. "So either I'm seeing the Steel Magnolia act up close and personal or you're completely unaffected."

Calleigh shook her head and set down her tea cup. Calleigh's eyes were back to their normal grass color. That was a good sign. Horatio observed.

Calleigh looked up at Horatio patiently and proceeded. "No act, Horatio. This is how Southerners deal with death. The same way we deal with life. How my mother lived hers was her option and how she died was also her option. I refused to be a codependent, and, as a result, we haven't talked in at least 15 years. There you have it."

"And yet your father couldn't tell you himself." Horatio mused aloud.

"That's my Daddy. Self-absorbed if not alcohol-absorbed." Calleigh remarked brittly but sounded as upbeat as ever. "Nice of him to make you the bearer of bad news. He couldn't find my brothers to do the dirty work for him?" Calleigh drawled.

"One's overseas on a military mission, the other's on assignment filming a documentary." Horatio stated and sipped his tea.

Calleigh nodded her head in agreement. "That makes sense. So why the basket?"

Horatio ducked his head sheepishly. "Tea and sympathy?"

Calleigh leaned over and kissed Horatio on the cheek. "Thank you." Calleigh whispered.

Horatio glowed under Calleigh's sincere comment. "It…sounds terribly trite, but I thought you'd like these better than a card."

"I do. Thank you so much." Calleigh eyed the basket appraisingly. "Now what other goodies have you brought me?"

Horatio chuckled. "That's my Cal: scan the evidence, and then ask questions."

"What would you expect from a CSI?" Getting up from the couch, Calleigh went over to the basket on the counter and rummaged through the delicacies hidden from view. "Hmm…chocolate shortbread mudpuppies, black raspberry and peach preserves, salted pecans, magnolia, peach and lemon teas. My goodness, Horatio, this is like a trip back home." Calleigh marveled.

"I'm glad to hear that, sweetheart." Horatio rose from the couch, slipped his arms around Calleigh's slim waist from behind. "'cause when I'm with you, I feel at home."

The End