The Other Side of Life
Eric Delko often wondered how he had ever lived without his twins. As exhausting as their first year of life had been his wife and he wouldn't changed a thing. Whether Calleigh and he would have more children was undecided. When the two had found out they were having twins, the first thing they heard was how exhausting life was going to be. He and Calleigh laughed it off.
Till they bought their bundles of joy home.
Everyone repeatedly assured the drained new parents that it would be only a short period of time and the babies would settle into a routine and sleep for all, if not most of the night.
That was the joke of the year.
Only three months ago did they suddenly start sleeping from eight at night to seven thirty in the morning. Mom and dad began to think the babies had just been torturing them for a year. Frank Tripp told the couple that left them plenty of time to make another little Delko. There was no way they were ready for that. But mom and dad were absolutely taking advantage of this new free time to be intimate, just with precautions.
Before he met Lorelei Rogers, if Tim Speedle had been told he would become a father he would have told them they were insane. Fatherhood was not on his radar. He met Lorelei when he was helping a friend drop off his dogs to the animal hospital. Lorelei was working that day and the two clicked immediately. The couple had been dating for over two years, living together for a year before returning to Miami where Tim resumed his previous career as a Crime Scene Investigator. Part of Lorelei wished Tim would stay in the safe, predictable 9-5 job of a forensics instructor at University of Naples. Especially after knowing that before she met him, the reason he changed careers and moved from Miami was because he had been shot. But she saw how bad he wanted to be back at that job and also be closer to the people he called his family. Lorelei had to admit she was happier in Miami than Naples. Tim's "family" were great people who had let her into their circle without a second thought. Now that she and Tim had baby T.J. she knew moving had been the best decision she made in years.
T.J. Speedle was sitting up all on his own now, learning to crawl and babbling up a storm. He'd squeal with delight when dad walked through the door. It wasn't like Tim ever disliked children but couldn't ever "connect" with them the way his friends and fellow CSIs Horatio Caine and Eric Delko did so effortlessly. Suddenly he found he could. He at tributed this to the birth of T.J. . He was "uncle Speed" to the Delko and Caine kids since they'd been born, obviously he was that to Kyle the longest. And he only got the chance to meet Adam and Emily Delko when he moved back to the city. He only got to meet Faith Caine once, when she was about five months old. She didn't see Tim again until he and Lorelei moved back to the city. But since T.J. came into his life he saw his 'nieces' and 'nephews' in a whole different light. Suddenly he was a thousand times more comfortable around them.
Neither Tim, Eric or anyone else for that matter was surprised that Horatio's wife was pregnant again. The two said they wanted four children. Despite being fifteen years older than his wife and considered 'too old' by some to raise young children, and adding more, Horatio didn't give a damn. He took the teasing of he and Aimee "put rabbits to shame" in good humor, not like he could say they were wrong. Horatio was as excited about this pregnancy as he had been about the last one. As young as Faith was, most of her baby stuff, clothing and baby toys had been given to goodwill. They had the most expensive baby essentials, all the nursery furniture, car seat, baby gym, activity saucer and stroller. A handful of pink outfits and gender-neutral were packed away. Much more wardrobe was going to be required. Not to mention baby toys, diapers, bottles and the other less expensive items of which the cost swiftly added up.
The two were debating whether they should investing in a double stroller because Faith would only be a little over two years old when the baby arrived. A baby shower would be in order shortly, even if it was to simply celebrate the baby while getting a gift or two.