"Little brother!" The tall thin woman exclaimed, throwing herself at the man, her brother, before he could even get inside the house.
"Alright, alright. Mari, I can't breath." Her brother choked out, but he was smiling.
She loosened her grasp around his neck, but didn't let him go entirety. She pushed him back and took him in. He hadn't changed much since she had last seen him, about 2 months ago, but why would he. His hair had grown out a little bit more, and he was a little tanner, she had left at the beginning of the summer and returned at the end so this wasn't so surprising either, but his lopsided smile truly made her feel at home once more.
Marisol let out a contented sigh, "I missed you."
"I missed you too, both of you. Things have been slow around here while you guys were gone." He commented, moving his sister slightly and stepped inside the large houses foyer. Horatio never felt the need to spend much money on living expenses until he married Marisol.
"Because I'm so much fun to be around?" She joked, tossing her hair.
Eric bent his head slightly to be at eye level to her and said, "No, because Horatio is the best CSI the unit's ever had, and cases take longer to solve with him gone." but then he smiled and threw his arm around his sisters neck.
She playfully hit his stomach as he practically led her toward the living room, but she stopped him, turning and facing him once more, looking serious all of a sudden.
Eric peered over her head into the living room for a second, then met his sisters eyes. "What? What's wrong? Where's H?"
Marisol ignored his questions. "Eric, Horatio and I came back with a very...precious souvenir."
Eric tilted his head, reminding Marisol of her husband. "A precious souvenir? I don't follow."
"When we went to England, we were having lunch at this adorable cafe with an outdoor patio," Eric wished his sister wouldn't slip in unnecessary, girly details, but didn't rush her. "and across the street was an orphanage...We had just gotten our coffee's when there was this boom, I looked up and before I even realized the place was on fire Horatio was sprinting across the street toward the orphanage. He worked with the fire fighters like the hero he is," she smiled, not able to help herself. "I was worried, not being able to help, but things looked like they were going fine, it looked like most of the kids were out, but when the orphanage owner did a head count a little girl was missing-"
"Where's H," Eric asked again, panicked this time. "Did he get hurt in the fire?"
"Smoke inhalation," she waved her hand and dismissed it as something minor. Eric relaxed a little. "May I finish?" she looked a little bemused at her brothers devotion to his boss.
"Yeah. Yeah, go on."
"They tried to stop Horatio, the fire had gotten pretty bad, but he took off into the building again. The little girl was hiding in a closet, she was terrified, she's only 4, she wouldn't listen to them, she wouldn't come out. They were about to take her by force, but Horatio stopped them. He somehow coxed the little girl out. When they got out of the building they were both in pretty bad shape, but the little girl would notlet go of Horatio. He had to go with her in the same ambulance. When I got to the hospital, she had fallen asleep, but still holding on to Horatio...he had promised her he wouldn't leave her." Marisol smiled knowingly.
Eric started guessing what the 'precious suoviner' was, and he wasnt sure if he liked it or not yet.
"Horatio and I fell in love with her, we visited her every day in the orphanage, and we wound up staying there our whole honeymoon, completely uninterested in traveling after meeting this little girl, Ella. But Horatio needed to get back here to the lab, you guys are lost without him..so we took her with us." She finished up quickly.
"You..kidnapped a little girl from England?!" Eric exclaimed.
She quieted him. "No, of course not. We adopted her! Horatio's badge got us through a little faster then usual."
Eric stared at her. She smiled nervously. "So let me get this straight. You get married on the spur of the moment, you buy a huge house, you go to travel Europe, Horatio becomes a foreign hero, and you two come back with a child? Unbelievable, Mari. Do you ever think before you act?"
Marisol looked hurt. "I...Eric, we love this little girl."
They stood there, in the doorway between the foyer and the living room, for a long time. Gradually Eric's scowl melted and he finally sighed. "Do I get to meet my niece then?"
Marisol beamed and grabbed her brothers hand, half dragging him toward the kitchen and then out the backyard.
The Delko-Caine's backyard was beautiful, to match their beautiful home. It was all green grass and flowered, except for a small kidney shaped pool in the corner and two willow tree's in the opposite corner. It was enclosed by a high white plastic fence, except at the end where the fence was low to expose the water front view. Horatio sat on a hammock stringed between the Willow's. A small girl sat tucked under his arm, and he held a book in the opposite hand, apparently reading to her.
When Horatio noticed Marisol and Eric walking closer, he said something to the girl and stood to meet them, the girl jumped up and followed at his heels.
"Eric." Horatio greeted.
"Nice to have you back, H" Eric, reached forward and grasped Horatio's hand.
The little girl reached Horatio's side and hid behind him, peering out at the strange man. Horatio picked her up and stepped closer to Marisol and Eric.
"Eric this is Ella, our daughter. Ella, this is your Uncle Eric." He said softly, jostling the girl a little.
