Disclaimer - I don't own any of the CSI characters, including Tim Speedle,
sigh, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she? I do however, own Leanna and
Nicholas. They are part of my master plan to create a life for Timmy
outside the office.
Pairings - Tim and his lovely wife Leanna, Horatio & Calleigh, Eric & Valera
Rating – PG for now.
Summary – Two prominent physicians are murdered in their Coconut Grove home. All clues point back to the couple's daughter, who is hiding more than one devastating secret.
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Some days Tim Speedle really hated his job. Other days, he really, really hated his job. This was one of those days. He was standing in the middle of a beautiful, richly decorated home in Coconut Grove, photographing the dead bodies of two prominent physicians, brutally murdered in their own home. Dr. Michael Johansson lay prone on the open, winding staircase leading up to the second floor. Bullet holes peppered the doctor's toned physique. The body of his wife, Dr. Ava Bartley, was further up the staircase. The crisp ivory carpet on the stairs was stained with a mixture of the couple's blood. Their granddaughter, Mikayla, had been found upstairs in her crib, untouched, but the couple's nineteen-year old daughter Michelle, was missing.
"You are just the most beautiful thing," Calleigh cooed to Mikayla, cradling the infant securely in her arms while the team waited for Social Services. "Isn't she beautiful, Tim?"
Speed crossed over to Calleigh and glanced down at Mikayla. He touched the baby's curly blonde hair and she stared up at him with big sapphire blue eyes. "Yeah, she's beautiful alright. At least she's not old enough to remember any of this."
"Detective Caine?" Alice Martin from Social Services was standing in the doorway. "She looks a lot like you, but I'm going to assume this is our tiniest victim." Alice smiled gently at Calleigh and took the infant from her arms. Mikayla immediately began screaming and Calleigh made an effort to retrieve her.
Alice put a hand on Calleigh's arm. "It's better this way, Calleigh."
"I know, Alice, but..." Calleigh reached out again for Mikayla but caught Alice's stern expression instead. "Okay, fine, but I want a daily update on how she's doing. No wait, twice a day," she insisted.
Alice rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Tim. "Detective Speedle, am I clear to inspect the baby's nursery? I need to know if she has any allergies, medical conditions, that kind of thing."
Tim nodded and pointed toward the back of the house. "Yeah, Alice, that's fine. Go through the kitchen - there's another staircase in the back. Nursery's the third door on the left."
"Thanks," Alice answered, taking Mikayla toward the back. Tim turned around and glanced at Calleigh. She was chewing the inside of her lip and visually following Alice's every move, rocking on her heels, desperate to follow Mikayla's screams and retrieve the baby.
"Cal?" Tim said gently.
"I'm fine," she stated, as much for her benefit as his.
Horatio stalked in with Eric hot on his heels. "I have a location on the daughter," he said forcefully, handing a computer printout to Tim. "Michelle Johansson's in Mexico."
Tim studied the sheet. "Her flight left three days ago - on a one-way ticket," he sighed.
"Guess she's planning to stay a while," Eric offered.
Horatio glanced over at his silent wife, who was still chewing on her lip and fingering her diamond pendant nervously. "Calleigh, are you okay?"
Calleigh swung around and stared blankly at her husband. "Horatio, when did you get here?"
The men exchanged curious glances before Horatio spoke. "About two minutes ago, Calleigh. I'm going to ask again, are you okay?" he asked softly.
Mikayla's wails were suddenly audible again and the color drained out of Calleigh's already distraught face. "I can't listen to this anymore," she cried, bringing her palm up to her forehead and pressing it there as if she could stop the screams from being permanently recorded in her brain.
"Calleigh, go, I've got it," Tim assured her.
Calleigh didn't miss a beat. "Okay," she answered, grabbing her kit and heading out the door.
Tim held up his hand to Horatio, preventing his boss from pressing Calleigh with any more questions. Horatio nodded, but his face still bore an expression of intense concern.
"What the hell was that about?" Horatio asked irritably when Calleigh was gone.
Tim pointed upstairs. "The baby. Calleigh held for about an hour after we got here and I think she got a little attached," he explained.
Horatio winced slightly as Mikayla's cries grew louder. "Calleigh or the baby?" he asked.
"That's an excellent question," Tim responded. "Here's another one. Have we found Michelle yet?"
Horatio shook his head, still grimacing from Mikayla's constant wails. "Ah, no, not yet. The flight landed in Cabo San Lucas, but she could be anywhere by now."
"You act like she's a suspect," Tim said.
"Everyone's a suspect, Speed, everyone's a suspect."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Tim arrived home that evening to the sound of more crying. He stepped inside the kitchen to find his wife Leanna about to tear her hair out and his son Nicholas screaming in his high chair.
"Tough night?" he asked sarcastically, tossing his keys onto the baker's rack near the door.
Leanna glared at him and scrubbed Nicholas' bowl with a ferocity Tim had never before witnessed out of his normally calm, cool and collected wife. "No, Tim, we're having a party," she said angrily. "Nick's not screaming - he's singing. Can't you tell?"
Tim stepped over to Nicholas' high chair and sat down next to his son. Huge tears rolled from the infant's chocolate eyes, tiny replicas of his father's. Tim's heart broke as he examined Nicholas' beat red face. He turned and looked at Tim, wailing even louder as he reached out for his father. "What's wrong with him?" Tim asked, trying to hand Nicholas a bite of cookie. Nicholas pushed Tim's hand away and reached out for him again.
Leanna slammed the bowl down on the counter. "I don't know, Tim," she yelled over Nicholas' cries, "if I did, don't you think I would have fixed it by now?"
"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off." He took the feeding table off the high chair and unstrapped Nick. He lifted the baby onto his shoulder. "What's wrong Mini-Me?" he asked gently, rubbing circles on Nick's back.
Leanna tossed a towel onto the counter and headed out of the kitchen. "If he answers you, let me know," she said sarcastically. She walked down the hall to their bedroom and slammed the door.
Tim sighed heavily and picked up the cordless phone in the living room and dialed Alexx's number. She answered on the third ring. "Whoo, I'd ask who this is, but there's no mistaking that screaming," she said brightly.
"Funny," Tim answered.
"So, tell me what's going on," she demanded gently.
"I don't know, Alexx, I think he'd already been screaming a while by the time I got here and Lea's clearly had all of it she can take." He carried the phone and his son down the hall. "Hold on, I'll get her for you." He knocked on the door and Leanna opened it, not bothering to hide the tears streaming down her face. "It's Alexx," he told her, handing the phone over.
"Alexx," she sobbed, pressing a fist to her forehead. "He just started screaming all of a sudden, and I don't know what's wrong with him, and it's not like he can tell me, and nothing I did for him helped..." she rambled, shutting the door on Tim.
Nicholas' wails were beginning to weaken as Tim carried his son back into the living room. He sat down in his leather recliner and began to rock. He hummed a soft tune for Nick, whose crying had finally deteriorated into sniffling. Tim stroked the baby's soft ebony curls and marveled at how much his son really looked like him. The unruly hair, the dark complexion, the eyes – it was almost as if Leanna hadn't contributed any DNA to this child at all. Nicholas finally drifted off into an exhausted, fitful sleep as the two continued to rock.
Leanna stepped into the living room and collapsed on the green chenille sofa next to Tim's recliner. She swiped at her tear-swollen eyes and said, "Alexx is on her way over."
"Okay," he said quietly, trying not to disturb Nicholas.
"I'm sorry," Leanna said.
"For what?" he asked tenderly.
"I didn't mean to lay that on you the minute you walked in the door." Leanna began crying again as she spoke. "It's not like it's your fault. I just...nothing I did helped. I held him, he screamed, I tried rocking him, he screamed, I tried to feed him, he screamed. I've never felt more like a bad mother than I did today."
Tim smiled gently at his wife. "Lea, you're an amazing mother, and it's okay, I'm as much his parent as you are."
Leanna curled deeper into the couch and covered herself with the burgundy chenille blanket that was draped over the back. "Thanks," she answered, exhaustion weighing heavily in her voice. Tim continued to rock Nicholas as Leanna drifted off to sleep.
About an hour later, Alexx knocked on the kitchen door and let herself in. She stepped into the living room and smiled at the sight before her.
"Hey," Tim said sleepily, stretching slightly in his recliner, careful of the slumbering, sweating baby on his chest.
Alexx laughed quietly. "When I didn't hear screaming, I figured he must be asleep."
"Thank God," he answered, and gestured at Leanna. "I only had him for fifteen minutes, she's had him all night." Speed made an effort to stand, but Alexx held her hand up.
"Leave him right there," she said, opening her medical bag. She knelt next to Tim and inserted a light into Nicholas' left ear. "Not in here," she said. "Can you flip him, Timmy?"
Tim gently lifted Nicholas from his shoulder and turned him so that Alexx could see into his right ear. "Ooh, that's a nasty one, alright," she said, stroking Nicholas' damp curls, "No wonder he was screaming."
"Another ear infection?" Tim asked the obvious.
"Nothing gets by you," she teased, reaching into her medical bag again and pulling out a bottle of antibiotics. "I had Mike write the prescription and I took the liberty of getting it filled."
"Have I mentioned that you are truly the greatest?" he asked.
"Not in the last day or so," she laughed.
"What do we owe you for the prescription?"
"Nothing," she answered, "I had the pharmacy put in on your ever-growing tab."
Leanna inhaled deeply and stretched, slowly waking up. "Alexx," she drawled. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to see that your son has another ear infection," she answered.
"Again?" Leanna shook her head in disbelief. "He's averaging one a month." Leanna tried to stand but Alexx leaned over her.
"Stay there, honey, I'm on my way out." She reached down and hugged Leanna, kissing the younger woman on the cheek. "Bye, darlin'."
"Bye, Alexx," she answered with a yawn.
"Bye, Timmy," Alexx teased.
"Night, Alexx," he answered as Nicholas began waking up and tugging at his right ear.
Tim handed Nicholas to Leanna and followed Alexx into the kitchen. He kissed her on the cheek and closed the door behind her. Tim retrieved Nicholas' medicine dropper and infant Motrin from the drawer and padded back into the living room. He opened the medicine bottles and drew out the correct amount of the Motrin; then handed the dropper to Leanna, who managed to get it into Nicholas' mouth before he was completely awake.
"One down, one to go," Tim said, taking the dropper back from Leanna and dipping it into the antibiotics and handing it back to her.
Nicholas struggled against the dropper this time, finally swallowing the medicine. Leanna stood from the couch and carried Nicholas down the hall. She laid him on the changing table, changing his diaper and putting him into his pajamas. Tim leaned against the doorframe, completely engrossed in Leanna's simple actions.
"What?" she asked when she caught him staring at her.
"You are so beautiful," he answered, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
Leanna smiled and leaned into his embrace, keeping one hand on the squirming little boy on the changing table. "I've done nothing but yell at you since you walked in the door, and you're telling me I'm beautiful? Mr. Speedle, are you trying to make me feel guilty?"
"Is it working, Mrs. Speedle?" he teased into her ear, eliciting a soft laugh from his wife.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
She slid into bed next to him, snuggling deep into his waiting arms. "So, tell me about your day," she commanded, pulling the sheet out from between the mattresses and wrapping her feet in it.
"My day," he sighed, tightening his grip on her waist, "Let's see. Two very prominent physicians were murdered in Coconut Gove."
"Lovely," she said sarcastically.
"Sad story, too," he continued. "They had two kids, twin daughters, Michelle and Lauren. Lauren was killed in a car accident four months ago, right before Michelle's daughter was born."
"How old were the daughters?" she asked.
"Nineteen," he answered. "Something about it doesn't sit right with me. Michelle hopped a plane to Mexico three days ago, no return flight, leaving her daughter with her parents. Then the parents are murdered and the kid isn't touched?"
"Maybe they didn't know the baby was there?" she offered.
"Maybe, but think about it, Lea. You remember the other day when you dropped that skillet in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, I cracked a tile," she frowned.
"Don't you remember how Nick started screaming?"
"Oh yeah," she answered dramatically.
"Well, you've heard gunshots. They're a hell of a lot louder than a skillet dropping."
Leanna nodded. "I see where you're going. The baby probably started screaming after the first shot was fired."
"So why wasn't the kid touched?" he wondered aloud.
"Maybe the killer had a heart after all," she yawned.
"Yeah, maybe," he answered, feeling Leanna drifting to sleep. He stroked her silky auburn hair, allowing her gentle, even breathing to lull him to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Calleigh sat quietly in her favorite chair, a big, squishy, golden crushed velvet number that you could just literally sink in to. She sipped her chamomile tea and stared out the bedroom window at the crisp Miami night.
"Want to tell me about it?" Horatio's voice was soft and tinged with concern.
She glanced up to find her husband leaning against the doorframe. "No Handsome," she smiled gently, "I don't."
He knelt down in front of her and rested his head on her knee. "She's going to be fine, Cal. Alice will take very good care of her, you know that."
Calleigh closed her eyes and battled back the tears forming in her eyes. She traced Horatio's cheek with her fingertips. "I do, it's just...." She bit her bottom lip and sighed, resting her head on the back of the chair.
He took her hand and pressed a gentle kiss onto it. "Remember, we'd said we'd try for a year. We're only seven months into that year."
"I know," she cried, swiping at her eyes. Horatio climbed into the oversized chair with her and wrapped his arms around her shaking form as she continued, "But, I was holding that baby today, Horatio, and God, you should have seen how she looked at me."
Horatio pressed his forehead into his wife's shiny blonde hair. "I'm going to give you a baby, Cal, I swear," he promised. Calleigh was sobbing uncontrollably now, and he tightened his grip on her. "I swear," he said again.
TBC...
Pairings - Tim and his lovely wife Leanna, Horatio & Calleigh, Eric & Valera
Rating – PG for now.
Summary – Two prominent physicians are murdered in their Coconut Grove home. All clues point back to the couple's daughter, who is hiding more than one devastating secret.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Some days Tim Speedle really hated his job. Other days, he really, really hated his job. This was one of those days. He was standing in the middle of a beautiful, richly decorated home in Coconut Grove, photographing the dead bodies of two prominent physicians, brutally murdered in their own home. Dr. Michael Johansson lay prone on the open, winding staircase leading up to the second floor. Bullet holes peppered the doctor's toned physique. The body of his wife, Dr. Ava Bartley, was further up the staircase. The crisp ivory carpet on the stairs was stained with a mixture of the couple's blood. Their granddaughter, Mikayla, had been found upstairs in her crib, untouched, but the couple's nineteen-year old daughter Michelle, was missing.
"You are just the most beautiful thing," Calleigh cooed to Mikayla, cradling the infant securely in her arms while the team waited for Social Services. "Isn't she beautiful, Tim?"
Speed crossed over to Calleigh and glanced down at Mikayla. He touched the baby's curly blonde hair and she stared up at him with big sapphire blue eyes. "Yeah, she's beautiful alright. At least she's not old enough to remember any of this."
"Detective Caine?" Alice Martin from Social Services was standing in the doorway. "She looks a lot like you, but I'm going to assume this is our tiniest victim." Alice smiled gently at Calleigh and took the infant from her arms. Mikayla immediately began screaming and Calleigh made an effort to retrieve her.
Alice put a hand on Calleigh's arm. "It's better this way, Calleigh."
"I know, Alice, but..." Calleigh reached out again for Mikayla but caught Alice's stern expression instead. "Okay, fine, but I want a daily update on how she's doing. No wait, twice a day," she insisted.
Alice rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Tim. "Detective Speedle, am I clear to inspect the baby's nursery? I need to know if she has any allergies, medical conditions, that kind of thing."
Tim nodded and pointed toward the back of the house. "Yeah, Alice, that's fine. Go through the kitchen - there's another staircase in the back. Nursery's the third door on the left."
"Thanks," Alice answered, taking Mikayla toward the back. Tim turned around and glanced at Calleigh. She was chewing the inside of her lip and visually following Alice's every move, rocking on her heels, desperate to follow Mikayla's screams and retrieve the baby.
"Cal?" Tim said gently.
"I'm fine," she stated, as much for her benefit as his.
Horatio stalked in with Eric hot on his heels. "I have a location on the daughter," he said forcefully, handing a computer printout to Tim. "Michelle Johansson's in Mexico."
Tim studied the sheet. "Her flight left three days ago - on a one-way ticket," he sighed.
"Guess she's planning to stay a while," Eric offered.
Horatio glanced over at his silent wife, who was still chewing on her lip and fingering her diamond pendant nervously. "Calleigh, are you okay?"
Calleigh swung around and stared blankly at her husband. "Horatio, when did you get here?"
The men exchanged curious glances before Horatio spoke. "About two minutes ago, Calleigh. I'm going to ask again, are you okay?" he asked softly.
Mikayla's wails were suddenly audible again and the color drained out of Calleigh's already distraught face. "I can't listen to this anymore," she cried, bringing her palm up to her forehead and pressing it there as if she could stop the screams from being permanently recorded in her brain.
"Calleigh, go, I've got it," Tim assured her.
Calleigh didn't miss a beat. "Okay," she answered, grabbing her kit and heading out the door.
Tim held up his hand to Horatio, preventing his boss from pressing Calleigh with any more questions. Horatio nodded, but his face still bore an expression of intense concern.
"What the hell was that about?" Horatio asked irritably when Calleigh was gone.
Tim pointed upstairs. "The baby. Calleigh held for about an hour after we got here and I think she got a little attached," he explained.
Horatio winced slightly as Mikayla's cries grew louder. "Calleigh or the baby?" he asked.
"That's an excellent question," Tim responded. "Here's another one. Have we found Michelle yet?"
Horatio shook his head, still grimacing from Mikayla's constant wails. "Ah, no, not yet. The flight landed in Cabo San Lucas, but she could be anywhere by now."
"You act like she's a suspect," Tim said.
"Everyone's a suspect, Speed, everyone's a suspect."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Tim arrived home that evening to the sound of more crying. He stepped inside the kitchen to find his wife Leanna about to tear her hair out and his son Nicholas screaming in his high chair.
"Tough night?" he asked sarcastically, tossing his keys onto the baker's rack near the door.
Leanna glared at him and scrubbed Nicholas' bowl with a ferocity Tim had never before witnessed out of his normally calm, cool and collected wife. "No, Tim, we're having a party," she said angrily. "Nick's not screaming - he's singing. Can't you tell?"
Tim stepped over to Nicholas' high chair and sat down next to his son. Huge tears rolled from the infant's chocolate eyes, tiny replicas of his father's. Tim's heart broke as he examined Nicholas' beat red face. He turned and looked at Tim, wailing even louder as he reached out for his father. "What's wrong with him?" Tim asked, trying to hand Nicholas a bite of cookie. Nicholas pushed Tim's hand away and reached out for him again.
Leanna slammed the bowl down on the counter. "I don't know, Tim," she yelled over Nicholas' cries, "if I did, don't you think I would have fixed it by now?"
"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off." He took the feeding table off the high chair and unstrapped Nick. He lifted the baby onto his shoulder. "What's wrong Mini-Me?" he asked gently, rubbing circles on Nick's back.
Leanna tossed a towel onto the counter and headed out of the kitchen. "If he answers you, let me know," she said sarcastically. She walked down the hall to their bedroom and slammed the door.
Tim sighed heavily and picked up the cordless phone in the living room and dialed Alexx's number. She answered on the third ring. "Whoo, I'd ask who this is, but there's no mistaking that screaming," she said brightly.
"Funny," Tim answered.
"So, tell me what's going on," she demanded gently.
"I don't know, Alexx, I think he'd already been screaming a while by the time I got here and Lea's clearly had all of it she can take." He carried the phone and his son down the hall. "Hold on, I'll get her for you." He knocked on the door and Leanna opened it, not bothering to hide the tears streaming down her face. "It's Alexx," he told her, handing the phone over.
"Alexx," she sobbed, pressing a fist to her forehead. "He just started screaming all of a sudden, and I don't know what's wrong with him, and it's not like he can tell me, and nothing I did for him helped..." she rambled, shutting the door on Tim.
Nicholas' wails were beginning to weaken as Tim carried his son back into the living room. He sat down in his leather recliner and began to rock. He hummed a soft tune for Nick, whose crying had finally deteriorated into sniffling. Tim stroked the baby's soft ebony curls and marveled at how much his son really looked like him. The unruly hair, the dark complexion, the eyes – it was almost as if Leanna hadn't contributed any DNA to this child at all. Nicholas finally drifted off into an exhausted, fitful sleep as the two continued to rock.
Leanna stepped into the living room and collapsed on the green chenille sofa next to Tim's recliner. She swiped at her tear-swollen eyes and said, "Alexx is on her way over."
"Okay," he said quietly, trying not to disturb Nicholas.
"I'm sorry," Leanna said.
"For what?" he asked tenderly.
"I didn't mean to lay that on you the minute you walked in the door." Leanna began crying again as she spoke. "It's not like it's your fault. I just...nothing I did helped. I held him, he screamed, I tried rocking him, he screamed, I tried to feed him, he screamed. I've never felt more like a bad mother than I did today."
Tim smiled gently at his wife. "Lea, you're an amazing mother, and it's okay, I'm as much his parent as you are."
Leanna curled deeper into the couch and covered herself with the burgundy chenille blanket that was draped over the back. "Thanks," she answered, exhaustion weighing heavily in her voice. Tim continued to rock Nicholas as Leanna drifted off to sleep.
About an hour later, Alexx knocked on the kitchen door and let herself in. She stepped into the living room and smiled at the sight before her.
"Hey," Tim said sleepily, stretching slightly in his recliner, careful of the slumbering, sweating baby on his chest.
Alexx laughed quietly. "When I didn't hear screaming, I figured he must be asleep."
"Thank God," he answered, and gestured at Leanna. "I only had him for fifteen minutes, she's had him all night." Speed made an effort to stand, but Alexx held her hand up.
"Leave him right there," she said, opening her medical bag. She knelt next to Tim and inserted a light into Nicholas' left ear. "Not in here," she said. "Can you flip him, Timmy?"
Tim gently lifted Nicholas from his shoulder and turned him so that Alexx could see into his right ear. "Ooh, that's a nasty one, alright," she said, stroking Nicholas' damp curls, "No wonder he was screaming."
"Another ear infection?" Tim asked the obvious.
"Nothing gets by you," she teased, reaching into her medical bag again and pulling out a bottle of antibiotics. "I had Mike write the prescription and I took the liberty of getting it filled."
"Have I mentioned that you are truly the greatest?" he asked.
"Not in the last day or so," she laughed.
"What do we owe you for the prescription?"
"Nothing," she answered, "I had the pharmacy put in on your ever-growing tab."
Leanna inhaled deeply and stretched, slowly waking up. "Alexx," she drawled. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to see that your son has another ear infection," she answered.
"Again?" Leanna shook her head in disbelief. "He's averaging one a month." Leanna tried to stand but Alexx leaned over her.
"Stay there, honey, I'm on my way out." She reached down and hugged Leanna, kissing the younger woman on the cheek. "Bye, darlin'."
"Bye, Alexx," she answered with a yawn.
"Bye, Timmy," Alexx teased.
"Night, Alexx," he answered as Nicholas began waking up and tugging at his right ear.
Tim handed Nicholas to Leanna and followed Alexx into the kitchen. He kissed her on the cheek and closed the door behind her. Tim retrieved Nicholas' medicine dropper and infant Motrin from the drawer and padded back into the living room. He opened the medicine bottles and drew out the correct amount of the Motrin; then handed the dropper to Leanna, who managed to get it into Nicholas' mouth before he was completely awake.
"One down, one to go," Tim said, taking the dropper back from Leanna and dipping it into the antibiotics and handing it back to her.
Nicholas struggled against the dropper this time, finally swallowing the medicine. Leanna stood from the couch and carried Nicholas down the hall. She laid him on the changing table, changing his diaper and putting him into his pajamas. Tim leaned against the doorframe, completely engrossed in Leanna's simple actions.
"What?" she asked when she caught him staring at her.
"You are so beautiful," he answered, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
Leanna smiled and leaned into his embrace, keeping one hand on the squirming little boy on the changing table. "I've done nothing but yell at you since you walked in the door, and you're telling me I'm beautiful? Mr. Speedle, are you trying to make me feel guilty?"
"Is it working, Mrs. Speedle?" he teased into her ear, eliciting a soft laugh from his wife.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
She slid into bed next to him, snuggling deep into his waiting arms. "So, tell me about your day," she commanded, pulling the sheet out from between the mattresses and wrapping her feet in it.
"My day," he sighed, tightening his grip on her waist, "Let's see. Two very prominent physicians were murdered in Coconut Gove."
"Lovely," she said sarcastically.
"Sad story, too," he continued. "They had two kids, twin daughters, Michelle and Lauren. Lauren was killed in a car accident four months ago, right before Michelle's daughter was born."
"How old were the daughters?" she asked.
"Nineteen," he answered. "Something about it doesn't sit right with me. Michelle hopped a plane to Mexico three days ago, no return flight, leaving her daughter with her parents. Then the parents are murdered and the kid isn't touched?"
"Maybe they didn't know the baby was there?" she offered.
"Maybe, but think about it, Lea. You remember the other day when you dropped that skillet in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, I cracked a tile," she frowned.
"Don't you remember how Nick started screaming?"
"Oh yeah," she answered dramatically.
"Well, you've heard gunshots. They're a hell of a lot louder than a skillet dropping."
Leanna nodded. "I see where you're going. The baby probably started screaming after the first shot was fired."
"So why wasn't the kid touched?" he wondered aloud.
"Maybe the killer had a heart after all," she yawned.
"Yeah, maybe," he answered, feeling Leanna drifting to sleep. He stroked her silky auburn hair, allowing her gentle, even breathing to lull him to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Calleigh sat quietly in her favorite chair, a big, squishy, golden crushed velvet number that you could just literally sink in to. She sipped her chamomile tea and stared out the bedroom window at the crisp Miami night.
"Want to tell me about it?" Horatio's voice was soft and tinged with concern.
She glanced up to find her husband leaning against the doorframe. "No Handsome," she smiled gently, "I don't."
He knelt down in front of her and rested his head on her knee. "She's going to be fine, Cal. Alice will take very good care of her, you know that."
Calleigh closed her eyes and battled back the tears forming in her eyes. She traced Horatio's cheek with her fingertips. "I do, it's just...." She bit her bottom lip and sighed, resting her head on the back of the chair.
He took her hand and pressed a gentle kiss onto it. "Remember, we'd said we'd try for a year. We're only seven months into that year."
"I know," she cried, swiping at her eyes. Horatio climbed into the oversized chair with her and wrapped his arms around her shaking form as she continued, "But, I was holding that baby today, Horatio, and God, you should have seen how she looked at me."
Horatio pressed his forehead into his wife's shiny blonde hair. "I'm going to give you a baby, Cal, I swear," he promised. Calleigh was sobbing uncontrollably now, and he tightened his grip on her. "I swear," he said again.
TBC...