The day was like any other day in Miami, Florida. Hot, humid, and full of crime scenes. Lt. Horatio Caine and his team of CSIs: Tim 'Speed' Speedle, Calleigh Duquesne, and Eric Delko were becoming overwhelmed. Even with the addition of former Patrol Officer, Ryan Wolfe, and DNA analyst turned CSI, Natalia Boa Vista. It seemed like the call outs just kept coming. There was no rest for Miami-Dade's finest. The hardest case was the day that one of their own, Tim Speedle, had been shot in the line of duty a couple months back. He had survived and was now back at work.

Horatio walked into the Trace Lab and found Speed looking in one of the microscopes. Speedle's office was the trace lab; he was a trace expert, and is also skilled in impressions. "Hey Speed, do you mind being in charge for a while? I have to go pick up the kids from school and head to the airport. Virginia is coming home today," Horatio asked Speed.

Virginia Caine was his wife of twelve years. She was serving her third tour of duty in Iraq. The two were proud parents of three kids: Connor, 10, Brianna,7, and Kyle, 14. Kyle Harmon came from Horatio's previous relationship with Julia Harmon. He had fallen in love with her on an undercover job, but for Julia it was never about love. Virginia adopted him and became his mother.

"Yeah sure, H," Speed said as he rubbed his aching left shoulder.

Worried about his CSI, Horatio asked, "Speed you okay?"

"Yeah Horatio, I'm fine. My shoulder is just hurting a little bit, but I'm fine… really," Speed assured his boss.

"Speed, if you need to-"

He stopped Horatio before he could say anymore. "H, I'm fine, and if I need it I'll take a break."

"Okay... If you need me I'll have my cell." With that Horatio left the lab.

Eric Delko walked in as soon as Horatio walked out. He is the only CSI in the Miami-Dade area who could process an entire crime scene underwater. "Hey Speed, I need you to take a look at something for me. Had a drive by shooting and found some trace on our victim. Need this ASAP," Eric said setting the evidence on the table. Speed gave him an are-you-kidding-me look.
"Delko, if you want that done then you're going to have to do it yourself. I have a whole stack of evidence to test," Speed snapped at his friend and co-worker. The Trace Lab was backed up with evidence. They might have to call in some night shift techs.

"Speed, you all right?" Eric asked. Speed was normally sarcastic and hard headed, but never rude to him.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Annoyed, Speed went back to looking at the trace under his microscope.

"Speed, I'm sorry. We're all under a lot of stress right now," Eric said apologizing.

Sighing, Speed looked up at Eric. "No, I'm sorry. It's just that Horatio had to leave. Virginia is coming home, and he had to go pick up the kids from school, my shoulder is killing me from all this work, and he left me in charge," Speed apologized.

"It's okay Speed. We're all a little stressed out right now. I'll call Wolfe and send him down here. He could use a little training when it comes to trace," Eric said grinning before he turned around and left not giving Tim a chance to respond.

_

Lauren O'Connor had moved down to Miami, Florida from Detroit, Michigan when Horatio had offered her a job. She was excited and looking for a fresh start. Lauren had been in Miami for a couple of weeks now. She was finally settled in.

The man that lived next to her had a motorcycle; a yellow Ducati. She smiled every time she saw it. The motorcycle reminded her of her father. Lauren had seen the man, who drove the motorcycle only a few times. She saw him in the early mornings when she was heading out for a run, and when he would come home late at night. She thought he was cute. He was tall, dark, and very handsome, but finding someone to settle down with was far from her mind. She had been burned by the man she once loved.

She looked around her spacious apartment, and all she saw were boxes upon boxes upon even more boxes. That was the one thing she hated about moving, the putting away part. As she sat on her sectional sofa, she wondered if the move to Miami was the right choice. Her best friend, Margaret Lyon told her she should. She told Lauren if it didn't work out she could always come back home. Sighing she said out loud, "Well, I guess I should start sorting through all of this crap. It won't move into its place by itself." Tomorrow she would be starting her new job. She was becoming more nervous by the minute.

_

Lieutenant Colonel Virginia Caine sat thinking about what the first thing she was going to do when she got back. She and her company would be given a week of leave and then it would be back to duty.

"All right, everyone, we'll be landing in five minutes," said the pilot of the transport. She smiled and looked out the window, and saw that the airfield of Pensacola was filled with families. It only took her a few seconds to find hers. The red hair gave it away.

Conner, Brianna, and Kyle were overly excited while they waited for their mother to return home. Horatio was excited too, but being the parent he had to keep the kids under control. The night before, they all had made a welcome home sign saying, 'Welcome Home Mom!' Horatio had never been covered in so much glitter in his life. In fact he may still have some glitter on his suit pants and jacket.

The kids were waiting and holding up the glittery welcome home signs; Kyle in the middle, Conner on the left, and Brianna on the right; Horatio behind them all. He spotted his wife walking out of the terminal; he was ready to grab the sign before the floor was littered with glitter. The kids look up and saw their mother. The words mom and mommy could be heard throughout the entire Gate 18 area.

Virginia let out a small laugh when she saw Horatio grab the poster and her kids running toward her. Virginia gathered them into a hug before kissing them each on their foreheads. "Mommy you aren't going to leave anymore are you?" Brianna asked holding up her arms for Virginia to pick her up.

"We'll talk about that when we get home okay," Virginia said picking her up after she set her bag down on the floor. Horatio walked up to the group and grinned. He planted a sweet kiss on Virginia's lips and then gave her a tight hug, happy that she came back safe and sound.

Kyle picked the bag up. "Geez mom, what do you have in here, it weighs a ton!" Virginia just laughed at her oldest son and then they all head home.