Chapter One:

Ryan Wolfe was staring at himself hard in the mirror.

5 months pregnant with twins and he was showing a lot. Definitely more-so than when he was pregnant with Alana. But of course, that was to be expected.

The babies inside his stomach were moving so much, it was sometimes painful for Ryan. Which was why he was awake at 3:00am instead of sleeping, to be ready for work a while later. The twins were just doing backflips and kicking and punching at Ryan's poor stomach, ribs, and his bladder. Really, he was just thankful that the bedroom was close to the bathroom.

He walked out of the bedroom and into the dark hallway. Everyone should have been sleeping. Alana had school later, so she definitely should have been in bed. But there she was, standing in the hallway in front of Ryan, startling him. He didn't even think she noticed him, since she continued rubbing her eyes and going into the bathroom that was next to the bedroom. Ryan tried to remain quiet, because he knew that if Alana saw him, she would immediately wake herself up and try to tag along down to the kitchen.

Because that's exactly what she always did with Horatio.

Ryan went downstairs into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator wondering what to eat. His doctor had told him that he needed to intake more iron in his diet, as people having twins were more prone to anemia. So Ryan started eating more fish and green vegetables. He even cut out coffee completely, which was hard for him. Ryan loved his coffee. But they seemed to be out of green vegetables.

Grabbing and orange from the fridge, he sat down at the table and started peeling it. Throwing the peels the 3 feet away to the already opened trashcan lid.

He could hear quiet footsteps coming down the stairs. They were soft, so he knew they just had to be Alana's. When she saw Ryan, she smiled, her sleepiness very apparent to him and sat down next to him. Ryan started to divide the orange, giving two pieces to his daughter. She ate them groggily, as her straight red hair started to fall in her face. Sometimes, landing in her mouth as she tried to eat. Ryan chuckled, moving the hair from her face for her, seeing as she couldn't be too bothered to do it herself.

Ryan kissed her forehead lightly and rubbed her arm. No words were said. No words were needed. She could stay up for a little while. He even decided to let her sleep in the room with him. She hadn't asked, but since she followed Ryan back into his room, he was sure that was what she wanted. He lifted the bedsheet, letting her crawl in and then tucked her in. Ryan then lay back down and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. This was hard, because the babies were just so restless tonight.

Alana had already closed her eyes and turned on her side. She had reached out so that she was holding onto Ryan's arm. He didn't mind it. Usually if she slept in the bed with him or Horatio, she would completely cuddle up with one of them. But since Ryan was pregnant, she knew not to do that.

And since Horatio wasn't in the bed with them, she couldn't do it to him.

Because Horatio was sleeping in the guest bedroom, just as he had for the last month.

Ryan felt like he was living in purgatory. Not as bad as Hell and not as perfect as Heaven. He and Horatio were still living together, but they didn't acknowledge each other really. Not unless Kyle or Alana were around. Kyle had obviously picked up on the fact that something was wrong, but he didn't really voice his concerns. Alana on the other hand was different. She didn't seem to know that something was up. Why were Horatio and Ryan sleeping in different beds? Well, because Horatio is still hurt and Ryan doesn't want to hurt him more. And Alana believed that without a second thought.

He didn't like the thought of lying to her. But he didn't even know how to even tell her that they were having problems either. How do you tell a child that?

Around Kyle and Alana, Horatio and Ryan spoke, sometimes smiled and cracked small jokes. But when neither of the kids were around there was nothing. Horatio didn't talk to Ryan unless he was asking about the babies. Well, that was a bit of a understatement. Horatio did speak to Ryan- he talked about the weather, news and work. He did occasionally scold Ryan when he felt that Ryan wasn't getting enough sleep or relaxing enough or eating enough vegetables. Ryan was a busy body who didn't want vegetables all the time. Horatio knew that but he wanted Ryan to lay around all day when he wasn't working.

In front of the others at the lab, they remained exactly how they usually were- professional, cordial and just a little bit personal. Even when people figured they were in a relationship, they weren't surprised when they didn't fawn over each other. That was for home and in private. So there was no difference.

Ryan shifted, trying to keep his arm still to not wake the now softly snoring Alana.

He turned his head and studied his daughter. He thought she was the most beautiful girl. Her hair was just a little bit longer than her shoulders. Ryan also swore that her hair got more and more red with each year that went by. It was more red than Horatio's had been. Her hair was getting so dark that in the right lighting, her hair looked brown. She had freckles going from her cheek to her nose, to her other cheek. Not a whole lot, but still noticeable. Her eyes were just like Horatio's. Just like her nose. Ryan thought she had his lips and not Horatio's so that was something.

He smiled at her sleeping before closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep again. That only took him another hour to do.

When Ryan woke up, he could smell food. Of course Horatio was making breakfast. He did so at least twice a week. Ryan looked to his side and saw Alana was already watching him. She quickly leaned forward, careful not to lean against Ryan's stomach and kissed Ryan on the cheek.

"Morning, daddy."

"Good morning, Alana. Are you hungry?"

She nodded and got up out of the bed. Ryan swung his feet over the edge of the bed, wiped his eyes and then stood up. Alana had her hand out for him to take, so he did and let her lead the way downstairs. When they got downstairs, Horatio seemed to be finishing up.

"I was going to come wake you." Horatio said, looking at Alana.

"I smelled food." She answered.

He chuckled as he told her to take a seat at the table. Ryan sat down next to her, Alana leaned her body against his arm. Ryan was so incredibly tired, he was certain he could close his eyes and go to sleep again right that instant if he wanted to.

He felt Alana nudge him, waking him more.

Ryan looked down and smiled at her.

"Excited for preschool today?" Ryan asked. "It's your classmate's birthday, right?"

"Right; cake!" She exclaimed. Alana always liked her cake.

Horatio had handed Alana a plate first, and then one to Ryan before he sat down across from them. "Don't forget your appointment today at 6, Ryan." Horatio told him, reminding him for the fourth time in the last 3 days. Normally Ryan would have been annoyed by this. But he wasn't. Not in the least bit. It was just good to have Horatio saying something directed at him.

"I won't." He answered. And unfortunately for him, that was it. Horatio moved on and started talking to Alana about something. Ryan wasn't sure about what, but it got her going. He had zoned out as she got more and more animated. Not intentionally but Ryan just had a lot on his mind at the moment.

Horatio had decided he wanted to take Alana to preschool today. And that was okay with Ryan. They tended to alternate between who would take Alana to school. But lately, Horatio had been volunteering to take Alana. Ryan thought it was because now, Horatio would dismiss him from work earlier now, telling him that he needed his rest. And so Ryan would be the one to pick up Alana since it was on the way home. And Alana was pretty respectable when they got home. She would quietly tend to Domino; taking him outside to use the bathroom and then feeding him. She even played with him out in the backyard while Ryan 'rested'. Which consisted of him laying in bed or on the couch and just staring at nothingness.

But today Horatio wanted to take Alana to preschool and pick her up. Ryan was unsure of the reason today. But that was still okay.

When he walked through the doors of the lab, he walked briskly past a few people.

"Good morning, Ryan." He heard their receptionist say. Ryan always made it a point to say hello back to her since she greeted him every day.

Ryan entered a room and looked around.

Then he saw his friend.

Dave was fidgeting with something on the computer screen. He would click the mouse a few times, then start furiously typing, then he'd groan in frustration and repeat the process. Ryan chuckled a little bit, watching Dave try to fix whatever was broken. Dave didn't even turn around to know that Ryan was there.

"Damn computer has a virus." He said. "I've installed and uninstalled antivirus software. I've tried to clean the system. But nothing. I don't know what's wrong with it."

"Wow, and you're the computer guy. If you can't do it, none of us can."

"I know. I really need to clear this up. What's up with you?" He turned around.

"Oh you know, the usual. Where's Rick?"

"Looking for Delko." Dave couldn't contain his grin as he spoke. Ryan too smiled and started shaking his head, leaving the room as he said "oh no". Everyone knew that Rick Stetler looking for anyone was a problem. But Rick looking for Eric? That was just a recipe for disaster. It was not going to end well.

Ryan continued on, until he spotted Valera. He had been helping her out a lot recently since he couldn't go out on the field. Being pregnant and all. He basically helped out with anyone he could. It definitely beats doing deskwork.

When Valera saw Ryan, she had a scowl on her face. he approached with caution, which caused her to shake her head and sigh. "Sorry Ryan. I'm just in a bad mood."

"Really, I hadn't noticed. What's wrong?"

"This whole case. You know, we swabbed Holly for DNA immediately. We swabbed her clothes." She threw her hands up. "But nothing. I can't find a single thing on her. I'm starting to think she did this to herself, even though I know that's impossible."

Ryan nodded as he listened. Holly. They'd been working hard on cracking her case.

During a party that was thrown to celebrate Horatio's return, Rick had invited Holly. She was a girl he was seeing for an undisclosed amount of time. She had disappeared to the bathroom, only to be found on the front lawn of Calleigh's home. She had been hurt pretty badly. Someone had punched her a few times in the chest and stabbed her multiple times, trying to kill her. Luckily the wounds were too shallow to cause major damage, leading them to think whoever did it to her wasn't experienced. And yet, they were nowhere close to solving the case.

No one at the party had any marks on their hands to connect them to her. There was no weapon found nearby and Calleigh didn't have any of her kitchen knives missing. Somebody brought it from their own home.

Rick had taken it pretty hard. He felt so guilty and responsible for what had happened to her. Of course there was no way for him to have known, but he still took responsibility. After all, he had invited her to the party with the intention of showing her off, to make Ryan jealous. And then she was hurt.

"We'll figure it out." Ryan told her. "You're great at your job. We're all great at our jobs. We will definitely figure this out."

Valera sighed. She nodded her head and then put her hands down flat on the countertop, leaning over slightly. "I know. I guess it's back to the drawing board. Sorry Ryan, I don't really have anything to do to keep you off of desk duty."

"No, it's okay. Good luck." He told her. And then he turned and leaved the room again. He was aware of someone to the left of him. He looked and saw it was Eric, walking away shaking his head while muttering under his breath. Ryan figured that he must of just finished talking to Rick. He chuckled to himself as he turned to walk. Only he ran into someone.

Ryan made a yelping noise before covering his mouth.

Rick only looked at him with his eyebrows raised.

"Rick?"

"Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Ryan nodded.