I started this at Christmas last year but the hustle of the holidays gave me writers' block and I didn't finish it. Here goes!

For now this is the awaited sequel to my A Gentle Nudge From A Child story. Readers who haven't, should read that story first to fill in any blanks!

Enjoy and please, please leave a review!

A Very Delko Holiday Season

Part I

A Delko Family Christmas, the twins' first. Takes place prior to "The Deluca Motel." Chloe is six, Ethan is two-and-a-half. The twins, Nadya and Zachary are four-months-old. I liked the name Nadya before this whole Octo-mom circus!

Eric Delko had always enjoyed the holiday season. He enjoyed it so much more since he had become a parent. For his wife Calleigh, the holidays themselves had only become truly enjoyable since they had started a family. She didn't have any happy memories of Christmas as a little girl. Her parents being drunks, things only got worse during the holidays when they thought they had an excuse to drink.

Six-year-old Chloe still believed in Santa Claus, though her parents thought she might be starting to be skeptical. Being the kind of child she was they knew she wouldn't spoil the fantasy of Santa for her little brother even she didn't believe. The second-grader often helped her parents wrap gifts for Ethan and the twins; both always made sure those were the gifts marked from mommy and daddy, not santa.

The day before, the eighteenth, had been the last day of school till January fifth. Chloe had $51.00 left to go Christmas shopping. Pop-pop had helped her count up the $31.00 she had in her piggy bank and then Nana had given her $20.00. Chloe had insisted she buy things herself. She had already bought presents for her siblings and uncle Horatio from the dollar store; a rattle each for the twins, a coloring book with a box of crayons for Ethan and pen and pencil set for Horatio. All of it had cost her $9.00. She wanted to get something really nice for both mom and dad. But she needed someone to take her shopping. Her grandparents couldn't because they were helping mommy with the babies and Ethan. Daddy was working. She called uncle Horatio to ask him if he could take her but there was no answer at his house. That was because he was on his way over to their house; he had no choice to take his mandatory vacation days before they expired by new years. He was bringing over the pile of presents he had for his four godchildren. They always bought a smile to his face.

"Hi H!" She said when she answered the doorbell. "I just called you!"

"You did?"" Horatio said smiling, putting down the big box of gifts.

"Yeah," she said, pulling him towards the corner of the porch. "Are you busy now? I need to buy presents for mommy and daddy. I got money," she said, showing him the bills her grandmother gave her in place of coins.

"I'm not. You go ask mommy and if she says you can go, I'll be happy to take you."

Calleigh asked her friend if he minded taking her child shopping, he said he'd be happy to do so she said yes. The mother thought her oldest was 'getting the short end of the stick' lately being the oldest and most independent. Between dealing with two infants and a toddler who wasn't at all thrilled with not being the baby anymore, Chloe seemed to get lost in the chaos. Not that she complained much. She only truly complained when Ethan wouldn't leave her alone at all and she had no space to play alone.

Like today.

Ethan was bugging his sister all day and the twins were crying a lot so Calleigh was glad her oldest could get away for a while, especially when it was with her favorite uncle. She thought the little girl deserved some one-on-one attention, there was no doubt the child's godfather would dote on her. Horatio showered all the kids with love and attention but he and Chloe were especially close. Horatio told Calleigh he even take Chloe to a movie. There was a matinee showing of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas in theaters just for the holidays.

"Don't worry, I'll have her back before bedtime," Horatio said.

Calleigh smiled. "No problem. You two have fun."

At Walmart, Chloe bought a sterling silver charm bracelet for her mom and the DVD The Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest for her dad. She was too young to watch the movie herself but she heard her dad liked it. After her shopping Chloe had $2.43 left, that went into a gumball machine. She and Horatio were finished shopping by 1:45pm. They ate at her favorite Chinese restaurant and then went to theaters where Horatio let Chloe have all the candy, popcorn and soda her six-year-old belly could hold.

It was after 5:00 when they returned to the Delko home. Eric had arrived home a short time earlier. The twins were down for their three-hour nap before their next feeding and Pavel was giving Ethan a bath. Eric's parents were staying the night so both their son, who had to work in the morning and daughter-in-law who had her hands full at home, who were utterly exhausted could get a full, uninterrupted night of sleep. They hasn't asked Chloe yet but Eric and Calleigh were sure she wouldn't mind if nana and pop-pop took her room for the night (she had a double bed). She would get to stay in with them.

They were right.

"Mommy and daddy haven't got to spend much time with you lately. We missed you," Calleigh said, picking up the little girl in her arms and kissing her nose, the child's legs wrapping around her waist. "You've been so good with your brother. I know he gets on your nerves sometimes. We're proud of you."

They decided to give Chloe one of her Christmas presents early, the DVD of the movie Wall-E. The little girl had wanted to see the movie when it was in theaters but hadn't got the chance to.

"We can watch it together tonight when you're ready for bed," Eric said, tussling the child's hair. He took the girl from his wife and gave her a big hug.

Chloe had seen daddy even less in the past few days. He had taken some extra shifts, so he could have the twenty-fourth through to the twenty-seven off with his wife and kids.

Christmas Day's dinner at his parents was going to be a little quieter this year. As usual, there would be no Marisol; she was spending Christmas in Jamaica. Paloma and Gil weren't going to be there with four-year-old Elijah because Gil's family was visiting. The couple had wed eight weeks ago while on a trip Niagra Falls, New York. Their little boy was the only witness, and was very proud of that. The two also had managed to conceive a "honeymoon" baby while up north despite not having a babysitter. Rachel, her two boys and her husband Carlos weren't going to be there this year. They were spending Christmas in Illinois with Carlos' family. Pavel had invited Horatio to come too, since the crime lab supervisor was considered family and would still be on his mandatory vacation.

The man will microwave a t.v. dinner otherwise, Eric's father thought.

The lieutenant had hesitated but then Chloe had climbed into his lap and said "please, Uncle Horatio?" The tough cop could never resist those big brown eyes. He said he would come, he wasn't ashamed to admit being with Calleigh and Eric's children made him forget all his demons, even if it was just for a little while.


Chloe was excited as she crawled into her parents' bed. Calleigh was making sure her in-laws knew where everything needed was for the twins and checking on Ethan for the last time before the three watched the movie. She was so hoping for some uninterrupted time with her oldest child. Ethan was a solid sleeper and once he was asleep he was out for the night. He had to be tonight. Like Chloe at that age, the boy almost never throw temper tantrums because he quickly would find that behavior wouldn't tolerated. But today he had thrown a few and had been in time-out more then often then not. The tantrums no doubt tired him out.

"Move over," Eric said, giving his daughter a playful shove, toppling her over. "Move over, I said. You're hogging the bed."

Chloe giggled. She shrieked with laughter as her dad tickled her and then wrapped her in a bear hug, kissing her cheeks.

"I love you, mi princesa," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too, daddy."


Calleigh smiled when she walked back into the room seeing Chloe play with Eric. Everyday she was grateful for Eric and their kids. Still she knew things had been turned out different between them six years ago that Eric would still have done an incredible job raising Chloe alone. Some people had often she said to Calleigh how there was no doubt she must love Chloe but not "as much or the same way" she loved Ethan or the twins. It made her so mad. Calleigh would die protecting or kill someone to protect Chloe's life. And if despite that something happened to the six-year-old even though she knew she would have to go on for the sake of her other children but Calleigh felt she would die from a broken heart.

"Have you ever seen real snow, daddy?" Chloe asked.

The two were watching Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer. Eric was sitting no the end of the sofa, Chloe was laid down with her head on his lap. Ethan had fallen asleep while watching Frosty, the Snowman which was on before and Eric had put him to bed upstairs. After Rudolph, Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas was on.

"Nope. I've been to places where they have snow but it was at the wrong time of year. Uncle H has. He grew up in New York City. It snows there. You should ask him about it when he comes here on Christmas. He's coming to Nana and Pop-pop's for Christmas dinner than he's coming here so you guys can show him everything Santa bought you."

"What 'bout you, mama?" The bare-foot, pyjama-clad girl asked Calleigh who had just walked into the room.

"What, sweetheart?" Calleigh said, sitting on the other end of the sofa, taking her daughter's feet and putting them in her lap. She hadn't heard the conversation.

"Have you ever seen real snow? Does it snow where you grew up?"

"Nope. No snow in Louisiana. But I saw snow when I visited Chicago once. That's where Jose and Diego are spending Christmas."

Eric and Calleigh had decided that their friend was not going to spend the day alone, and an invitation to play with their kids was something Horatio couldn't resist. The presents that he got for the children alone were going to make their parents' mouths Chloe's love of Lego blocks, (she already had two 1000 piece sets and could build anything and contrary to what her parents might say, you could never have 'too many ' lego blocks), Horatio had bought the six-year-old a Lego City Police Station Set, a jigsaw puzzle, Kung Fu Panda DVD and a plush dog. For Ethan, he bought a Tonka Fire Truck that had lights and made different sounds, a set of Hot Wheels, A Thomas the Train DVD and a plush dinosaur. Shopping for four-month-old twins was a more daunting task; the lieutenant had gone with an outfit and a set of pajamas, a set of teething rings and pacifiers and $25 gift certificate, for each baby.

Eric and Calleigh let their two oldest children open the gifts from Uncle Horatio when he came over on the day of twenty-third. Nadya and Zachary didn't understand the season yet.

"Lord, Horatio!" Calleigh said.

"A bit much, H," Eric said. "You didn't have to get them that much."

Not that the parents were worried about being outdone; Chloe had a new bike, a new soccer net and ball for the backyard. Ethan had a big wheel and a basketball net his size. They had bought the kids a new swingset and slide for the backyard. Santa had bought Ethan a train set, A Thomas one, of course and Chloe got a Nintendo Dsi and a few games. The twins had lots of toys that lit up and played music, both from Santa and their parents.

"Which answer is better?" Horatio said with a smile. "I can do what I want 'cause you guys made me their godfather or I can do what I want 'cause I'm your boss?"

"Point taken," Calleigh smiled.


Being a devout Catholic Chlorinda was hoping that her son and his wife take their kids to the Christmas Eve church service. But she was to be disappointed. Eric couldn't remember the last time he had been to church, and didn't feel ashamed of it. Calleigh wasn't Catholic, she was not raised in any organized religion. None of the kids had been baptized because they didn't plan to raise the kids under any particular religion. As far as taking the kids to church now, the couple thought the twins and Ethan were too young and in general, they wanted to let the kids decide if they wanted to attend church and their six-year-old girl had decided she didn't want to go.

Uncle Horatio was going to take care of the kids while the couple went to mass with Eric's parents. Nadya woke up for a bottle and diaper change just as Horatio arrived.

"Let me," he said when he heard his youngest goddaughter cry.

The lieutenant had the baby girl fed, changed and settled back down in twenty minutes. Her twin brother woke up fifteen minutes later and was settled down in about the same time. Neither parent minded at all hearing, through the baby monitor, Horatio softly talk to the babies and give them lots of kisses.

"Could you move in?" Calleigh said, laughing when Horatio came back into the room. "They never go down that quick for either of us!"

Horatio couldn't help but smile when Calleigh and Eric returned when Eric told him that Chlorinda Delko said that Horatio that his father said unless there was case at the lab that Horatio didn't come over for dinner the following day, Pavel was going to Horatio's house and dragging him over by his collar.

"I'll be there. What time?"

A roast turkey dinner with a family who accepted him as one of their own on Christmas Day did make the redhead smile but even if they were going to eat canned tuna, getting a chance to play with four of his favorite children and hear about what Santa bought them was something he wouldn't miss unless duty called.


Christmas Day

Zachary and Nadya Delko would eventually get enjoyment out of the presents Santa and their parents bought them but right now they were happy to set in their swings and watch their excited older siblings play with their new toys. The day the elder Delkos' might have been quieter than previous years but it wasn't that quiet. The house was four children less but there were still four children under seven there.

And Eric's children at that, the grandparents joked.

Of the four children Chloe was most like her dad, in every way. Ethan looked as much like his dad but had more of his mother's personality.

And her temper.

Like Calleigh, when Ethan got mad, he definitely made it known and on most occasions he would stay that way for a while. Eric and Chloe, or at least, the 'new' Eric, the person he was after he was shot, certainly got mad but after a short time and blowing off steam things were forgotten. Eric teased his wife that the only reason she didn't have temper tantrums was because of how it would look, being a grown woman and all. Sometimes Eric teased his wife, even in front of their friends and in the privacy of their workplace walls, asking her if she needed to"go in the corner and have a time-out?"

That often got Eric a smack in the face or a playful "oh, shut it, dear."

Chlorinda Delko didn't know who was having more fun playing with Chloe's new Dsi and the Super Mario Brothers game, her granddaughter or Horatio Caine.

"Maybe you should've got him one, too," she joked.

Roberta or "Aunt B," Calleigh's aunt and the children's surrogate grandmother visited for a while in the evening. Ethan Delko was overtired and over-stimulated by 7:00pm. However, he did not want to go to bed. He pulled away from his father when Eric tried to lead him upstairs to get his pajamas on.

"No! Me 'tay up!" He said.

The toddler didn't like it at all when his father then picked him up to take him up to his bedroom when he refused to walk. He struggled to get out of Eric's grasp to no avail. Judging from the tantrum the boy was gearing up for as he was carried away he was certainly going to get two minutes in the corner once he were upstairs. Roberta chuckled when the boy were out of sight.

"If I closed my eyes, I'd swear that was you at two," she said.

Calleigh smiled. "Yeah, he's quite a lil' firecracker."

Eric returned downstairs twenty minutes later.

"What ya leave him to cool off?" Roberta asked.

Eric shook his head.

"He's asleep. He was out for the count in ten minutes."

This time Ethan's tantrum was mostly because he was tired. That was why he fell asleep so fast as well.

Chloe was already in her pajamas though she didn't have to be in bed for another two hours. She was busy showing Auntie another one of her Dsi games, Little Monster Private Eye: The Mummy Game. The little girl was pleased to be playing a character in a game who did something like mommy and daddy's jobs.

"Are you and me gonna take your new bike out for a spin tomorrow?" Eric asked a sleepy Chloe while tucking her into bed.

Chloe nodded.

"Quite a day, huh?" Calleigh yawned when her husband exited their older daughter's bedroom.

"For sure," Eric said, giving his wife's shoulders a squeeze and kissing the side of her head. "And I imagine the next few days are gonna be just as eventful."

"Your ribs all right?" Calleigh asked, wrapping her arms lightly around her husband.

That morning Eric had been awaken at 7:05am by two small bodies landing on his rib cage and the chorus of "it's Christmas!"

"I'm all right. They didn't land too hard. But what do ya think about changin' bedsides?"

The only reason that the children had landed on their father was because Eric's side of the bed was closest to the door, Calleigh's faced the wall.

"Not a chance, pal!" His wife replied.

Next: More holiday fun with the Delko family!