A/N: Little Miss Madison is a sequel to Madison Talks to Statues and remains in that version of the CSI: Miami'verse. My little girl wouldn't stay quiet!
Disclaimer: CSI: Miami and all related characters are the rightful creations of people other than me. I am making no profit on this endeavor and am writing for the sheer beauty of writing good stories about good people. Also, "Little Miss Magic" belongs to Jimmy Buffett, who would laugh to know he is my muse and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, quoted below, was written by Mark Twain and borrowed for the purpose of furthering the story and because my Dad read it to me.
Constantly amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling
The clever little glances she gives me can't help but be appealing
She loves to ride into town with the top down
Feel that warm breeze on her gentle skin
She is my next of kin
-- Little Miss Magic
On Fridays, Horatio made a point of taking a late lunch. Instead of a popular restaurant, he waited outside St. Anne's Parish Elementary School for a red-haired five-year-old kindergartener to bounce through the main doors. This Friday was no different and Horatio smiled to see his niece race through the doors with her friends. The group of children spilled over the sidewalk and out to the waiting line of cars. Parents and grandparents stepped from their vehicles to meet their children. Horatio did the same, waiting beside the Hummer designated as CSI1.
Madison's face lit up when she saw her uncle waiting and she ran to Horatio, carrying that week's project. This time it was a watercolor painting on newsprint.
"Uncle Horatio!" she cried happily. "See my picture! It's a gecko like Tim!"
Horatio picked her up and hugged Madison tightly as she collided with his arms. She giggled as he set her back down, dropping to one knee and taking off his sunglass to better see her artwork.
"Now that," he told her with his own smile, "that is a great gecko."
Madison beamed from his praise. Horatio chuckled and stood back up, opening the door of the Hummer for her. She only needed a little help to scramble up into the seat with her bookbag. Horatio helped Madison to pull the seatbelt over her small shoulder and click in safely.
He closed the door and nodded to another father as he walked around the front of the Hummer. It was the second month of school and Horatio was beginning to know the other parents on sight. Next week was open house and Horatio found he was looking forward to going with Suzie to meeting Madison's teachers.
Sitting back in the driver's seat, Horatio tilted the mirror and pulled the large vehicle out from the parking space. He glanced at his niece seated in back. "So," he asked, "what would you like to do this weekend?"
Madison bounced eagerly in her seat. "Can Janie Woods come over to play? We could go swimming in your pool."
Horatio smiled and nodded as drove. "I think that sounds like fun," he told her. "How about you ask her mother when we get to CSI?"
"Okay," Madison said brightly. He turned to see her flash him a toothy grin. "You know what, Uncle Horatio?"
"What, Madison?" he responded.
"I love you," she told him.
Horatio chuckled to himself. "I love you, too," he said easily, "and I even like you."
Madison giggled in the backseat of the Hummer.
-LMM-
As they walked through the crime lab, Madison held Horatio's hand, humming a song she had learned at school. They paused at the reception desk where Paula greeted them warmly and made a show of clipping Madison's visitor's pass to her school uniform. Ryan nodded as they cross through the trace lab below Horatio's office, frowning as he usually did to see Madison. Horatio stopped to ask Ryan a question about their current case. Madison stood about chin-level with the steel countertop and eyed Ryan with suspicion.
From there, they climbed the steps to Horatio's office. Madison settled herself on the couch, pulling out her coloring books and the picture book she liked that week. Since school began, Madison had spent three afternoons and evenings a week with Horatio and every other weekend with him. Suzie had settled into her course work at Miami University and had worked a schedule with Horatio for him to have Madison while she attended classes or did homework. Only once had Horatio left Madison with the department child care while he processed a crime scene with his team. Afterward they had gone for pizza with Calleigh and Eric, an event Madison seemed to think was "really super cool."
Horatio slid off his jacket and reviewed the pile of papers on his desk. Madison continued to sing to herself. The night-shift supervisor, Catherine Sutter, stopped in for a review of the day's events, slipping Madison a piece of candy while Horatio leafed through the blotter.
Just before five o'clock, Horatio buzzed Alexx's office.
"Medical examiner," Alexx answered, her voice tense, "and there better be a dead body."
"Alexx," Horatio said into the speaker phone, "I take it the afternoon has not gone well?"
Madison left her coloring book and climbed on the chair across from Horatio desk, leaning on the desktop. Horatio winked at her.
"You could say that," Alexx's disembodied voice said, followed by a deep sigh. "What can I do for you, sugar?"
"Madison has a question," he told her.
Alexx chuckled. "Go ahead, baby girl," she said, knowing Madison was listening.
Madison leaned down toward the speaker box. "Can Janie come over tomorrow to play? Uncle Horatio said we could go swimming."
Madison looked up at Horatio, her expression hopeful, while there was a moment of silence.
"I think Janie would like that," Alexx said at last; Horatio guessed she checked the small appointment calendar book she kept in her purse. "Dennis is taking Bryan to the hobby shop anyway; what do you say we come over about one o'clock?"
Madison's face shone eagerly and she nodded to her uncle. "That would be good, Alexx," Horatio told her, smiling to niece.
"Alright," Alexx said from her end of the line. "I have to go, Miss Madison. My two kids are going to want to have dinner."
"Okay, Dr. Alexx," Madison told her. "Thank you."
"Tell Dennis I say hello," Horatio added. "See you tomorrow."
Madison hurried back to the couch and packed up her school bag as Horatio closed down his computer and took the files he had been working on back to their proper cabinets. When they were ready, Madison again took Horatio's hand and he turned off the lights in his office.
They walked down the steps, Horatio smiling as Madison hopped from step to step. Her red braids bounced in the air and she giggled to herself. He looked over the railing and saw Ryan still at work in the lab.
"Mr. Wolf," he said amicably. "It's Friday evening. I'm surprised you're still here."
"I just wanted to finish this up, lieutenant," Ryan told him, bent over, with eyes on the microscope plate as he changed slides. "Who's the little girl?"
Horatio motioned to Madison. "Tell him your name, honey."
"Madison Kyndall Keaton," Madison said promptly. She walked closer to Ryan and tilted her head. "Who are you?"
"Investigator Ryan Wolf," Ryan told her, glancing up from his work. "Nice to meet you, Miss Keaton."
"Are you a CSI like Uncle Horatio?" Madison asked. She crept closer to where Ryan was working and stood on tip-toe to see over the table.
Ryan stood up and looked at Horatio before answering Madison. "Yes, I am," he told her, moving the clipboard away from her hands. "And I have work to do."
Horatio nodded. "Come on, Madison. Let's leave Ryan to finish up here."
Madison nodded and slipped her hand back in Horatio's waiting palm. She waved to Ryan with a cheerful grin. "'Bye, Mr. Ryan."
"Good-bye, Miss Keaton," Ryan said, again bending over his microscope.
-LMM-
Madison splashed happily in Horatio's swimming pool while he grilled hot dogs for their dinner. She chattered to her inflatable dolphin about kindergarten and her teacher, Sister Fran. He caught a snippet about her visit to Ryan's lab and winced to hear the word "cute" used to describe him.
"Madison," he called, pulling the hot dogs from the grill and stacking them on the plate. "Time to get out for dinner."
Madison swam to the side and climbed out. She took a waiting towel from the nearby chair and sniffed in the air. "I'm hungry, Uncle Horatio."
"I know," he said patiently. "Go put on your cover-up and come eat."
"Okay," Madison said happily, skipping through the sliding doors and back to her bedroom. She reappeared a minute later in an oversized t-shirt. It was decorated with two little parakeets playing beach ball. Katie had brought it over for Madison the week before on her way to a chamber of commerce meeting.
"Very nice," Horatio commented as Madison took her seat across from him. He spooned out macaroni salad for her while she reached for a hot dog bun. When she was settled he said, "Do you want to lead us in grace?"
"Uh-huh," Madison told him proudly and folded her small hands. "Bless us, Oh Lord and – and –"
"These, thy gifts," he prompted.
"Right," she bobbed her red head. "These, thy gifts, which we are about to receive, through thy bounty, through Christ our lord. Amen."
Horatio smiled at his niece as she finished the prayer. He fixed his own plate while she squirted mustard on her hot dog. Madison licked mustard from her fingers and grinned up at her uncle.
"So," he said, taking a forkful of macaroni, "tell me what you did in school since I saw you on Wednesday."
Madison took a bite of her hot dog and chewed quickly. "We had art class and Jamie spilled the blue paint all over the floor. I got to be the head of the line for lunch. And we had a field day –"
Horatio knew precisely what his question would get him. He settled back and listened to Madison talk about her world while they ate dinner. The doings of a five-year-old and her friends were a welcome change from the hectic days he lived as a CSI.
Dinner finished, he sent her for her bath as he did dishes. She returned twenty minutes later, now dressed in a pink nightgown, her long red hair damp and unbrushed. Horatio took the pro-offered hair brush from Madison. She climbed on the kitchen chair and waited for him to brush out her hair. He did so, deftly braiding the strands for the night into two pigtails.
"So, what are we reading tonight, miss?" he asked, finishing with her hair and swinging Madison from the chair.
"Tom Sawyer!" Madison cheered and darted to the bookcase on the other side of the livingroom. She stretched on tip-toe to reach his copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer from the shelf.
When she reached the book, Madison hopped her way back to Horatio, who had taken a seat on the couch. She handed him the book and climbed up beside him, curling into his arm. Horatio pulled the afghan up to her shoulders and settled back. He opened up the book.
"'Tom!'" Horatio read, stressing the name. "'No answer. 'Tom!' No answer. 'What's gone with that boy, I wonder? You Tom!'"
Horatio glanced down at Madison, snuggled in beside him.
"'No answer,'" Horatio continued. "The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for 'style,' not service -- she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear: 'Well, I lay if I get hold of you I'll –"
Madison's head rested gently against his side and her breathing was settling in sleepily. He continued reading, knowing she'd be asleep before Sidney tattled Tom out to Aunt Polly concerning the color of the thread at his collar.
When Horatio carried Madison back to her room and tucked her in her bed, he paused at her bedside.
This little one, he thought to himself, this little one is my little girl, through and through. And he lightly kissed her forehead as she slept.
