Chapter 4: Don't hide behind your glasses
Sammie turned around. Tears filled her eyes.
"Mom is dead, Horatio. Dead!"
"How?" he asked, shocked.
Sam shook her head. "You should call Mac Taylor. He knows more. But he doesn't know it. You never told anyone, did you?" she whispered. "She's dead. What should I do now?" she cried.
Horatio looked at her. "Oh Amylia, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I know what it's like to lose a relative."
"But you don't know what it's like how to lose your mother!" she cried out loud. Horatio looked at her.
"I do know." he said, without almost a sound. Sammie looked at him. "How you mean?"
"History repeats itself. I was also seventeen when I lost my mother."
"You never told me grandma was dead."
"You never asked."
"What else have you never told me?"
"Too much. But this is not the right time for it, Amylia."
"Why have you never told me?"
"Because when your mom and I divorced, you were only seven. That's not really a proper age to tell such things, is it?"
Sammie shook her head. "It's not. But… oh, it's been over a year since I've seen you!"
Horatio nodded. "You know what? I'll take you to my office. There you can think things over."
Sammie looked up. "Dad?"
Horatio was surprised. It was the first time in almost eleven years she called him 'dad' again. "Yes, honey?"
"Aren't you sad?"
He looked at her. "Amylia, I am. But I've had to bury so many people already. You're so much more like your mother when it comes to emotions. You're much more comfortable showing your feelings."
"Dad? If you hide all your feelings behind your sunglasses, you'll never be comfortable showing them. And a normal human being would be an emotional wreck if he'd keep all his emotions to himself."
Horatio smiled. "I've found a way to cope with it."
"What is it?"
"Putting murderers behind bars."