Prologue

Horatio and Calleigh had gotten together, and then had gotten married, and had had a little girl, whom they called Ciara Taylor Caine. The little family spent one year together, and then the unthinkable happened. Ciara was at Calleigh's dad's house for the week, as her dad had stopped drinking when Ciara was born, for which Calleigh was extremely grateful for. Horatio and Calleigh got up for work, and Horatio went to get the mail. He gave Calleigh her mail, and they sat down to breakfast to read the mail. Then, Horatio opened his last envelope, and breathed,

"Oh no,"

"What?" Calleigh said, and took the paper out of his hands. She scanned it, and figured out that it was a draft letter. They were sending him to war, after they trained him. Calleigh crumbled up the letter, tears forming in her eyes.

"C'mere," Horatio said quietly, and he pulled her to her feet and wrapped her up in his arms. She leaned against him and cried softly.

"It'll be all right, Calleigh, we'll get through this, I promise," She nodded, and backed away a little. He wiped her tears away, and she smiled at him. He smiled back, took her hand and said,

"Ready for work?"

"Yeah, let's go," She said softly, and walked outside with Horatio. They drove to work in silence, with her holding his hand the whole ride there. When they got there, they found out that Eric and Frank had been drafted too, and only Ryan and Speed would be the only ones left. Speed wasn't going because of a bad foot he had, and Ryan wasn't going because of his eye. They men weren't due to leave for a couple months, so they all spent it wisely, spending as much time together as they could. Then, it was time for Frank, Eric and Horatio to leave. They drove to the airfield, and Calleigh suddenly left, saying that she'd be back. She squealed up a few moments later, and bounded out. Horatio, Alexx, Frank, Eric, Natalia, Ryan and Speed looked at her, and she grinned as she swung Ciara into her arms. Horatio grinned at her, and jogged over to them. He swung Ciara up into his arms and hugged her tight. Alexx came over and hugged Horatio, then Frank and Eric, as she had to go say goodbye to her husband who was leaving too. Frank said goodbye, and then left too. Eric and Natalia hugged, as they were dating, and then he hugged Ryan, and then Speed. He went back to Natalie, and she clung to him. Horatio put Ciara down for a moment, and told her to go to her Uncle Speed and Uncle Ryan. She toddled off, and Horatio wrapped his arms around Calleigh's waist, and she clung to him. He pulled back a little, and kissed her softly.

"Come back, Horatio, please," Calleigh said quietly, and Horatio said,

"I can't promise that, you know that, but I will do my best, all right? Oh and when you get home, look in the spare bedroom closet, all right?" Calleigh nodded, and then threw her arms around his neck and started crying. He held her tightly, and whispered,

"It's all right, Calleigh, you're gonna be okay, sweetheart," She wiped her eyes and nodded. She said,

"I love you, Horatio; never ever forget that, okay?"

"I won't, and I love you too, and don't you dare forget that. I'll never, ever stop loving you." She nodded, and then bit her lip, saying,

"I don't want to think about this, but if you, don't come home, wait for me, okay? Please?"

"I will wait forever for you, Calleigh, all right?"

"Thank you," She said softly, and kissed him. The bells sounded, and Horatio knew he had to go. He grabbed Calleigh's hand and they went over to Ciara, and Horatio said goodbye to his little girl. Then, he straightened, and kissed Calleigh, and hugged her. She whispered, emotion almost constricting her throat,

"How much do I love thee?"

"Let me count the ways," He whispered back, as that had been their way of saying goodbye the past few years. He walked away, and just before he walked through the gate, he turned back and held up his hand in farewell. Calleigh and Ciara raised their hands, and then Calleigh and Horatio saluted each other. She blew him a kiss and mouthed,

"I love you," He mouthed back,

"I love you too," She smiled, he smiled, and then turned away to walk onto the plane. Calleigh clung to Ciara and they waved, as the plane took off. Speed put his arm around Calleigh in a friendly way, and said,

"He'll come home, Calleigh," Calleigh nodded, and said,

"He'd better," Ryan went over to Natalia, and comforted her. Alexx came over with her kids, and all of them went out to dinner together.

That night, Alexx forced Calleigh and Ciara to move into her house, so she would have another woman to talk to. Speed and Frank offered to let Natalie move into their house so she wouldn't be alone, and she agreed, as Speed and Ryan were brothers, and Natalia's brother married their sister, so they were in laws, so to speak. Calleigh went home to see what Horatio was talking about, and found a box full of tapes he made for Ciara as she got older, two for every year until she turned 21. Calleigh found a tape for her, and a note was attached that read,

My dearest Calleigh,

This is a note, just in case I don't come home. I know you don't want to think about that, but we both have to be prepared for that. Those tapes are for Ciara, two for every year of her life, just in case. The one that is for you is just something I put together for you so you can keep it until you die, as a reminder of my never ending love for you. I love you so much that's it's hard to express how much I love you. The only thing that I can think of is that I love you forever, Calleigh, and will never, ever stop loving you.

All my love,

Horatio

Calleigh read it, and laminated it before bursting out into tears. She went to Alexx's house and showed her the letter. Alexx comforted her, and they cried together. Then, Ciara came toddling in, and Alexx watched in amazement as the misery and sadness drained away on Calleigh's face, replaced by a grin and a look of happiness as she swung her daughter up in her arms. They played together, before it was time for Ciara to go to bed.

So, a couple years passed, with Calleigh showing Ciara the videos Horatio made for her. Then, it was a week before all the soldiers were due to come back home, as the war was over. Calleigh and Ciara moved back into their house, and got it ready for Horatio to come home. Then, the day before the plane was due to come in, Calleigh got a knock at the door. She went to answer it, and it was a military official. He handed her a letter, and she opened it, confused. It read,

Dear Mrs. Caine,

This is a letter to let you know that your husband, Horatio Caine has been killed in battle. I am so sorry for your loss, but your husband has died in combat. His body is being flown back, so you can have a funeral. Once again, my condolences.

Sincerely,

Robert Adkins

Calleigh read it, and her world broke in a million pieces. She whispered,

"No,"

"Ma'am, is there anyone I can call? I don't think you should be alone now,"

"Um, Alexx, Alexx Woods, please,"

"All right ma'am," He called Alexx, who came rushing over. She wrapped Calleigh in a hug and said,

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Calleigh was in shock, not crying at all, so Alexx led her to the couch and set her down. Then, Ciara came toddling in, and she looked like Horatio, as she had red hair, and his face. She had green eyes like her mom, and her mom's mouth, but the rest of her face was all Horatio. It finally hit Calleigh, and she started sobbing. Ciara climbed on top of Calleigh, and Calleigh composed herself enough to say,

"Ciara, honey, daddy's gone."

"Gone?"

"He, he went to heaven, sweetie, and he's not coming back."

"He went to heaven to be with God?"

"Yes, baby, he went to be with God," Ciara understood, as Calleigh had explained it to her. She started crying, and together, mother and daughter cried. The next day, the plane came in, and Eric, Frank and Alexx's husband walked off together. Eric and Frank went straight to Calleigh, and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry, Calleigh,"

"Yeah, we were with him when, when it happened." Frank said, and Calleigh's eyes widened.

"What happened?"

"He was being careful, and then got a lot of the enemy out. Then, he was shot in the back by a coward shooter. Me and Eric shot the guy dead, and ran to Horatio, but he was dying, we could tell. There wasn't anything anyone could've done. He did say something, though,"

"What?" Calleigh said, and Eric said,

"H told us to tell you that he loved you, and told us to tell Ciara that he loved her. He told me to tell you that he meant everything that he said in his letter." Eric bent down to Ciara and told her. She understood, and she hugged her mom and started crying. Calleigh cried with her, and the group watched the grieving two.

"Thank you Eric, Frank. You have no idea what that means to me." She said quietly, wiping her eyes and pulling a tissue to wipe Ciara's eyes. They nodded solemnly, and Calleigh clutched her daughter close as they went home.

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So sad! I'm going to cry! The actual songfic is coming up as soon as I get it redone. I'd love to know what you thought! Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it and adios for now!!!