Author's Note: Thanks so much for the comments I've received from reviwers, much appreciated!! I know I said I'd tweak the characters a bit, but I just realised that in the previous chapter that I've tweaked some of the pairing in S4. This chapter took a long time to write for some reason (have to admit that it's perhaps quite sappy), think my muse is a bit cheesed off at me for some reason, so this isn't a great chapter but I hope you enjoy reading it. Apologies for any errors you may find, the English language was never my strong point in school. Please do review, looking forward to your thoughts on this chapter. One more thing, are any of my reviewers fluent in Spanish?? could I get in touch with you for a future chapter because I've lost faith in online translators. Cheers
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognise from the CSI:M series, and Heller Park only exists in my mind, I do own Isabella and Christian but they don't feature much in this chapter.
The distant knocking in Marisol's dream didn't quite coincide with the events occurring in her sub-conscious. Her sub-conscious slowly released its hold on her mind and let it drift back to the realm of consciousness. She kept her eyes closed enjoying the warmth of the sun, coming from the window above her, and lazily listened to the sounds of the day around her. She could hear song birds, the traffic and distant voices drifting to her through her window, and now and again that annoying but seemingly distant knocking. She opened her eyes only for her vision to be hit directly by the sunlight. She shut her eyes quickly again. She registered that someone was knocking on her door but she hoped the knocking would stop if she ignored it. It soon began to grate on her nerves. She groaned and rolled onto her side. She opened her eyes again and sat up. She got up and felt her stomach lurch a little. She sat down again, gently rubbing her front. She stood up again and glanced at the clock. She made her way down the small flight of steps leading from the upper landing to the ground floor of her apartment.
"Coming!" she yelled, cursing under her breath in a mixture of Spanish and Russian at whoever was standing on her doorstep for their patience.
"Flowers for Ms. Delektorsky." came a heavy southern drawl from the other side of the door.
Rubbing her eyes, Marisol glanced through the peephole and saw two bouquets that were literally over-flowing from the delivery guy's hands. She drew back the various bolts and opened the door.
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"Hey Calleigh, have you seen Horatio?" asked Alexx walking into the ballistics lab where Calleigh was nursing a cup off coffee while looking at some paperwork. "Are you all right honey?"
"Yes, thank-you Alexx. Now what can I do for ya?"
"Nuh-uh, Calleigh, that looks like a look of love. Methinks things are going good with Agent Elliot?"
Calleigh continued to draw circles in her mug with the plastic spoon, "You thinks right, Dr.Woods." she laughed, before revealing more, "Peter and I had dinner with one of his colleagues last night and then we went back to his place…"
"Stop right there honey! Those details are strictly reserved for coffee breaks. I'm glad to hear you're seeing him again."
"Me too." Calleigh sighed happily, "Now what can I do for you?"
"I was looking for Horatio, I have some autopsy details on a case he wanted."
"Think I saw him going into his office. He's probably doing his paperwork like the rest of us. Did you try calling him up there? Gees! Every time we solve a case the paperwork for it seems to triple!"
"Better you guys than me," Alexx smiled, "No I just came from his office and it's closed."
"Well then, how's about we have that coffee break now? And on our way there, ask Paula where he is?"
"Sounds good to me Sugar." Replied Alexx.
They walked out of ballistics and headed up for the break room chatting about the previous evening. Walking up to the reception desk, Calleigh noticed that it wasn't Paula, but a new officer, manning the front desk.
"Um hi there, is Paula here?" asked Calleigh in a friendly tone.
"She has a week's leave starting today ma'am. I'm Officer Evans how can I help?" came the monotone reply.
"Well…I'm CSI Duquesne and this is my colleague Doctor Woods, we were just wondering about Lieutenant Caine's whereabouts as we have some information for him."
The officer looked at his screen and typed in a command and clicking around, before replying, "He's not here today."
"Pardon?" blurted Calleigh and Alexx one after the other.
"It says on the system that the Chief has approved the Lieutenant's application to take the day off today. It also says that Lieutenant Caine should only be contacted if there's an emergency."
"Did…Did you say Lieutenant Caine applied to take…take today off?" stuttered Alexx, eyes wide with disbelief.
"That's what it says on the system ma'am. The night supervisor is on duty for the day-shift today."
"Thank-you Officer." mumbled Calleigh as she took Alexx's arm and steered her towards the break room, muttering under her breath that she really needed another coffee.
Alexx snapped out of her momentary lapse, turned to Calleigh and remarked, "Just when you think you've got a man figured out, they find a way of turning your theory upside-down."
"You're preaching to the choir with that one Alexx," said Calleigh as she opened the door to the break room.
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"What in the world?" came Marisol's surprised question as she recognised Horatio's blue irises peeking over the tops of the flowers. "Horatio, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" she asked as she stepped back and let him come in.
He peeked at her over the flowers before heading towards the kitchen and setting them down on the table. She followed him and stopped to watch him at the kitchen door. He turned to face her leaning against the counter, a broad smile on his face, a bit too broad she thought as the image of her pillow skittered across her mind. She glanced him over still not quite sure what to make of the blue jeans and yellow polo shirt he was wearing. She had never seen him in anything but his dress shirts and jacket. He continued to smile trying to draw her out of the last vestiges of sleep.
His smile slowly turned from being broad to sheepish as he said, "I guess I woke you up, huh?"
She nodded the affirmative before replying, "I guess you did." She shook her head, "It's time I got up anyway, so what's going on, and what was up with that accent?"
"Well, seeing that today is a very special day, I…" he paused, "…I decided to take the day off and spend it with you." He watched her break out into a huge smile.
"You took the day off for me?" she asked a hint of disbelief in her voice.
"I did," came his quick answer followed by a nod.
"Uh…well, well that's lovely… I mean thank-you… I know you're really busy, it means a lot." She stumbled over the words, happy that she could spend some more time with him, she glanced down timidly and then slowly raised her eyes to meet his.
"Means a lot to me too…" he trailed off as he felt his mouth go dry. They stood in silence for a couple of seconds. "So did you like the accent, I think my ballistics expert would have been proud of it?"
Marisol giggled, "Well you had me completely fooled!" she shook her head again trying to gather her thoughts before continuing, "Horatio I'm sorry. This really does mean a lot to me, sorry, don't think I've quite woken up, feels very dream like."
"Well then, let me prove how real everything is," he said flirtatiously as he stretched his hand out towards her trying to pull her towards him, but missing and just brushing her arm as she took a step back.
His touch on her arm alone sent electric shivers through her. Her eyes remained trained on the floor as she blushed realising she was quite scantily clad in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of night shorts. She bit her lip, in an attempt to stop blushing. Horatio took a stride towards her, resting his hand against her cheek and gently caressed the shallow imprints that her pillow had left against her cheek. He felt her skin grow hot beneath his palm as she began to blush more and more.
He broke the silence, "I made a plan to make today perfect," he said huskily as he took her hands in his, softly squeezing them
"Unless you want to create a whole new meaning to the word perfect, you just being here with me today is perfect. Besides you made last night perfect." she replied immediately, raising her eyes to his as her hand moved up to play with the buttons that led up to his collar.
He lowered his head, cocking it to one side so that he could maintain eye contact with her. He was just about to kiss her when she stepped back from him, holding one hand over her mouth and using her other hand to fend him off. He looked at her in confusion. She smiled back at him before replying, "Sorry, I'm very particular about oral hygiene. I haven't brushed my teeth yet. Just one of the many things I'm a bit anal about."
He let out a soft chuckle his head going down as he took out his sunglasses to fiddle with. "Well I've made a couple of arrangements, so we'll leave whenever you're ready."
"Ok, just give me a couple of minutes…uh…just make yourself at home…help yourself to anything. Is there a particular dress-code for where we're going?"
"Ok, thank-you. Uh…I think simple casual should be good enough, something you might not mind getting dirty."
Marisol's curiosity was now fully aroused, "And Horatio…"
"Mmhh?"
"Thank-you for the flowers, they're beautiful. I think you must have paid your florist a fortune by now."
"You're welcome, but I can't take the credit for these," he pointed to the Oberon freesias, "They were already on your doorstep when I got here."
Marisol crossed over to where he was standing and hunted around for a card. She pulled one out from the depths of the bouquet. She opened the miniature envelope read the note and laughed, "It's from Isabella and Christian apologising profusely for last night." she said handing him the note to read.
Horatio smiled slightly as he read the witty note. He put it back in the envelope before placing the envelope back onto the table between the two bouquets. Marisol was slipping out of the door, when she called to him, "Horatio, really help yourself to anything you want."
"Thank-you" he called out.
Horatio sighed and walked out of the kitchen towards the living room. His eyes glanced around the room quickly taking everything in. He stretched and yawned checking the time and mentally planning out the route he had in mind. He had managed to catch two hours sleep last night in between finishing his paperwork and preparing for their little excursion. He noticed the thick ledgers carelessly lying on the table; a pen stuck in between the pages of one, and the stack of invoice and delivery books nearby. He smiled remembering his surprised reaction when she told him about her career and smiled. He considered making himself a cup of coffee, but shrugged off his caffeine craving. Thinking Marisol would be a while; he decided to close his eyes for 5 minutes.
Marisol ran up to her bathroom. She looked in the mirror and gasped, she looked a right mess! Her hair was tousled all over and one side of her face had a pillow imprint, any other way you could make yourself more unappealing Marisol? she thought to herself as she brushed her teeth. Her heart was beginning to soar as she realised the significance of Horatio missing work just to be with her. The fact that he had made special plans for them too was overwhelming. He had been there so much for her – had he really gone from being a stranger to an intimate part of her life in 4 weeks? She pondered if there was anyway she could be there for him in the same way. What could she bring to his life that he hadn't already experienced? She was still exploring the different avenues that this line of thought led to, as she got dressed. She chose a pair of navy, knee-length shorts, a light blue tank top and a pair of white tennis shoes. She pulled her hair up in a pony- tail, and checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before going downstairs.
Horatio's phone vibrating in his pocket caused him to bolt wide-awake He felt disorientated for a split second before realising he was at Marisol's. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. He rubbed his face, smiling before answering.
"Caine here,"
"Horatio, Alexx here."
"What can I do for you Alexx."
"Just wanted to check that things were ok with you? You're not sick or anything are you?"
"They're fine thanks, I'm quite well, I just uh…I just had some stuff to do today."
"Ok, sugar," her voice conveying that he hadn't quite convinced her, her tone switched as she said, "I know you're only supposed to be called if there's an emergency but I wanted to run some things past you, if that's all right with you?"
Horatio stood up, running his hand over his face unsure of how much longer Marisol would be, "Sure Alexx, go ahead."
Alexx had just launched into a description of an autopsy finding and possible conclusions when Marisol came down the stairs. She peeped into the living room and saw him looking out of the window, on the phone, immersed in conversation. She continued to stare at him taking in his reflection from the windows. That's when she noticed the slight circles round his eyes. She wondered how she had missed those earlier. She felt her stomach rumble a little. Horatio heard it too because he turned around and gave a small wave. She gestured that she was going to make coffee and a bagel, and whether he wanted one. He shook his head at her.
Marisol walked into her kitchen. She popped a bagel into the toaster and started the percolator. She was just taking some cream cheese out of the fridge when she felt her stomach lurch again, she grabbed the counter and forced herself to breathe deeply. She made her way to other side of the kitchen, hand pressed slightly against her abdomen. Horatio having given his analysis hung up, and was drawn to the kitchen by the wafting smell of the percolating coffee. He arrived to see Marisol rubbing her abdomen with her fist as she swallowed some pills along with some water.
"You ok?" he asked quietly.
"Fine. Really." she answered quickly, unwilling to worry him about her health today, "Just the body reminding me that it's time to take the pills." She felt her stomach lurch slightly again, but accredited it this time to Horatio's penetrating gaze on her. "Sure you don't want anything to eat?"
He nodded leaning against the table, watching her spread the cream cheese on the bagel, concern in his eyes.
She sighed and put the bagel down, "Horatio, I'm fine, really." She patted him on the shoulder as she moved past him to pour coffee into two mugs.
He held up his palms in acknowledgement before gratefully taking the mug from her, relishing the smell of the coffee, "Thank-you."
"Not accepted," she said, as he raised a questioning eyebrow, "well it will be, but only if you have a bite of this." She said offering him a bite of her bagel. He sighed, rolling his eyes and put his mug down on the table before reaching for her and drawing her to him, bagel still in hand, trapping her between his long, outstretched legs. She placed her free hand just above the waistband of his jeans and poked him slightly, a low growl responded to her poke.
"Ok, guilty," he said sheepishly as he took a bite out of the bagel, chewing slowly and thoughtfully.
"Do you think while you chew?" she asked watching him.
"Sometimes," he replied before taking a sip of coffee.
"Deep thinking?" she asked playfully as she offered him some more, which he took gently from her offering fingers.
"Mmhmm." he nodded, a twinkling in his eyes. She took one more bite before offering him the last piece, which he accepted. He swallowed down the rest of his hot coffee, "Shall we go?" he asked staring her in the eye.
"Just give me a minute. Let me give these beauties some water," she replied as she finished her coffee and placed their mugs in the sink before turning her attention to the flowers.
"Ok, can I help?"
"Sure, uh…could you get me the empty vases from the living room, on the stools at the far end of the room."
"Be right back." He said disappearing and reappearing a moment later, vases in hand. She added some water and took the flowers out and mixed them together while filling the vases. Horatio just stood back and watched her. She stepped back eyeing them critically for a moment before placing them on the table.
"That…is lovely," he said coming up behind her and kissing her on the cheek,
"Why thank-you," she replied taking his hand and leading him towards the front door. "How about I meet you at the car? I just need to grab some pills,"
"Ok, see you downstairs in five minutes then." He said understanding that she still wasn't comfortable about her illness around him.
Marisol ran upstairs and rummaged around for a small knapsack. She placed her tablets, cell phone and camera in it. She looked around her room to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything when her eye fell on her CD collection case. An idea flashed through her mind so she picked it up and tossed it casually inside the knapsack before zipping it up and leaving to join Horatio.
Marisol came downstairs and peeked into the backseat of his car, where she saw two blankets, and two small cooler boxes, and then jumped into the passenger seat beside him.
"Are we going for a picnic?" she asked excitedly,
"Hey no peeking!" called Horatio, but seeing her face he nodded.
"Sounds fab!" she said leaning over to kiss him impulsively on the cheek, "It's been ages since I went on a picnic, well a romantic one at least," she giggled, rolling down her window.
"Well it's been ages since I've been on any kind of picnic." retorted Horatio as he started the car and pulled out of the parking space.
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Marisol tried guessing all the various places they could possibly be going too but each possibility just got an indifferent nod from him, "Marisol, I'll give you a hint, it's a 3 hour drive from Miami, and we'll leave it at that."
"Ok," she said brightly, confining her guesswork to her mind as she looked out the window and taking in the passing scenery. After a couple of minutes she began to sneak glances up at him through lowered eyelids. She couldn't help it. He looked so damn handsome in what he was wearing, with one hand on the wheel, while the elbow of his other arm, casually rested half out the window, his hair blowing lightly with the wind. Horatio noticed her stares and said, "Marisol, my lips are sealed, you're just going to have to wait and see."
"Huh." Marisol said confused as she realised he was talking about their secret location, "Yeah, sure, sure…" glad that he had misinterpreted her looks. "Can I put some music on?" she asked.
"Sure."
Marisol grinned pulling out her CD collection case and flipped the covers looking for the one CD she had in mind, The world's best Power Ballads, she pushed the CD into the CD player and grinned as the familiar opening of Queen's 'We will rock you' began to play.
"A song I recognise, but haven't heard in ages," replied Horatio somewhat thankfully, "I was expecting something a bit more modern." He was relieved because he just wasn't able to keep up with the pop music of the times, as he had been able to when he was younger. On occasion he did put the radio on he just listened in amazement at how the music industry had changed since his younger days but soon turned it off, unable to take the wailing voices and the swearing.
"What can I say, I'm a 60's baby, a 70's kid, an 80's teenager, a 90's young person and an oldie in the new millennium." She said shrugging her shoulders.
He laughed at her brief description of herself, "Not that you look it Marisol. But that is quite an apt summary."
"I know, but I still enjoy my 80's music. Not that I don't keep up with the times but the 80's… man were those the times!"
"Yes, the 80's." was all Horatio said knowing he had lived a very different 80's decade than her. He looked at her and couldn't help but laugh as she imitated the guitar motions that sounded at the end of the song. Horatio soon found himself drumming along on the steering wheel to the songs on the CD. Marisol kept the conversation flowing by filling him on what happened to the different 80's legends: who they'd married, who they had divorced and other aspects of their scandalous lives.
About an hour before reaching their destination, Horatio turned off the highway onto a murram road. Marisol couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh Horatio Heller Park!"
"Yep, Heller Park, thought it would be the most quiet at this time of year."
"I haven't been here for ages. Thank-you." She said as she reached up to kiss him on the cheek again.
"Glad to hear." He said smiling.
They drove on for another hour, taking in the peaceful countryside around them. Heller Park had originally been a limestone quarry but after mining had been completed instead of leaving the land as an eyesore, the mining company had made the quarry into a park by afforestation and brought in animals to be integrated into the new environment. The overall plan had worked, with a park in one section of the quarry and a nature trail in the other sections, where there were a variety of animals such as tortoises, deer, birds, squirrels amongst many others in their seemingly natural surroundings.
"So how well do you know Heller Park?" Marisol asked as they drove into the main entrance.
"Got to know it pretty well during a case we had here a couple of years back." He replied as he pulled into a parking space and switched the engine off.
"So do you know about the perfect place?" she asked as the got out of the car.
"I think so," he said, mentally visualising the spot he had picked for today.
They walked to the reception and registered as day-visitors before heading back to the car to pick up their picnic stuff. Horatio picked up the cooler boxes while Marisol carried the blankets.
"Uh…Horatio," he looked up at her, "I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a second." She said turning around and making her way back to the reception area. She came back a few minutes later, to find Horatio locking the car. She hoisted her knapsack onto her shoulders and looked around as Horatio picked up the cooler boxes and remarked, "They've really changed the layout, that path used to go to the snake farm and that one went to the butterfly farm but it's all different now."
Horatio nodded as he walked towards the path that she had pointed out as leading to the butterfly farm. Marisol walked by his side, telling him about the time when she had come here with her class in junior high, and how much trouble they had got into when they were found playing spin the bottle in the boys tent. Horatio just laughed, happy to hear her about her recollections. They walked on for about 30 minutes.
Horatio set the cooler boxes down as they came into a clearing and turned to face Marisol, "Well is this the perfect spot you had in mind? Because it's what I had in mind." He said softly, as she stopped to stand beside him taking in the view. There were two hillocks surrounded by a small lake. On top of one of them was a massive baobab tree that offered some shade from the noonday sun, while the other had a giant projecting rock outcrop from its centre. There was a narrow weed-choked boardwalk that led from where they were standing, across the lake and onto one of the hillocks.
"I sure did." She replied grinning as Horatio's fingers gently closed around her wrist drawing her to him. She reached up to take his sunglasses off before her arms encircled his neck and she smiled up at him. He smiled back, thinking he had never let anyone do that with his sunglasses. She felt like she was in one of those 'Kodak moment' adverts where the sun was shining down on the two of them in a beautiful place as they leaned in for a kiss. They soon broke apart for air and Marisol handed his sunglasses back to him, which he promptly slipped back onto his face. They picked up their belongings and made their way to the hillocks.
Marisol spread the blankets out under the baobab tree as Horatio unpacked one of the cooler boxes and handed her a bottle of water, which she gladly accepted taking deep gulps.
"That was refreshing," she said as she sat down on the blanket. "This is embarrassing, but I have to admit I'm kind of hungry."
Horatio sat down opposite her, "Ok for lunch I thought I'd do something simple so I made apple salad and tuna subs…."
Marisol interrupted him, "And let me guess, the secret ingredient is really what type of tuna you use right? " she smirked.
"Absolutely." He replied matching her tone as last night's conversation came back to him.
"Sounds yummy. I know all about your tuna subs. Eric couldn't stop talking about them after a staff trip once." She said waiting with child-like anticipation as he handed her a paper plate with a foil wrapped tuna sub and a small plastic tub containing the salad.
"Yes, well…you have a good memory, because the last staff trip was over three years ago." Horatio replied, blushing slightly as he began unwrapping his own sub.
They looked at each other, each waiting for the other to start before laughing and biting into their subs at the same time. Marisol munched happily before remembering she was supposed to take her pills before eating. She put her plate down and reached for her knapsack drawing out the small bag of pills. Horatio put his own plate down and watched her.
"Horatio…."
"Mmhmm."
"Could please close your eyes while I take my pills?"
He blinked at her, thinking for a second that he had misheard her until she repeated her request again.
"Please?"
"Uhh…ok" he said, still befuddled by her and his own actions of giving in so readily to her request. He closed his eyes and heard her shift away from him, hearing the swallowing sounds not long after.
She reached over and brushed his bare arm, "Thank-you. You can open them now." He opened his eyes to find her face inches from his before her lips brushed his. She sat back down on her heels saying, "I'm sorry Horatio, I'm still pretty self-conscious about it."
"That's ok," he said softly.
They continued to eat. Horatio soon had Marisol laughing as he described what happened on their staff outings. While Marisol shared what she knew of them, by word of mouth, from Eric. By the time they finished and put away the remnants of their lunch, it was just gone half-past 3. Horatio settled down under the shade of the tree with his back against the tree trunk. Marisol sat across him, silent for a while.
"Penny for your thoughts." He asked her as he held his hand out to her.
"I was just thinking how different you look and seem today." she replied as she gave him her hand. He pulled her to him. She sat down in between his parted legs. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against her hair, breathing in the vanilla scent of her hair. She rested her head against his chest, listening to the soft thud of his heart while she played with his hands.
"I do?" he asked, surprise in his voice.
"Yep, you seem more relaxed, and I mean c'mon you pulling off that southern accent in what you normally wear. Just can't imagine that." She said running her fingers along the lines of his hand.
"Guess it must be the effect you have on me," he murmured into her hair, before planting a kiss on her forehead. She looked up into his face and smiled.
"Can I take your sunglasses off?"
"Well you certainly didn't ask for permission last time," he grinned as he took them off and gently tossed them to one corner of the blanket.
"Thank-you. I love your eyes. Do you know that every time I see the color blue now, I compare it to your eyes? But I haven't been able to find a perfect hue to match them yet." She looked up at him again smiling, "Although, I think the sky does come pretty close, but I can never decide because both you and it are always changing."
Horatio felt a lump form in his throat he didn't know what to say, he hadn't heard anyone talk about his eyes in a long time. The last time it had been Yelina, and even then it was only in relation to maintaining eye contact with her. He was so overcome by her simple view of things."
"This is nice," she said snuggling further into his chest not noticing his silence.
"Yes it is." He managed to reply.
After a couple of minutes she sighed and pulled her head off his chest and turned to face him, "Horatio…"
"Yes." Came his husky reply through half-closed eyes.
"Congratulations on creating a new meaning to the word perfect."
"Thank-you. Anything for you."
"Horatio."
"Mhmm."
"How long did it take to get all this ready?" she asked trying to subtly bring up the faint circles under his eyes.
He opened his eyes fully, curious about her question, "A couple of hours, why?"
"Because, you once told me that I was straining myself too much for you, but these faint circles, tell me you've been straining yourself too much on my account." She said as she traced out them out under his eyes.
"Yeah…I had some paperwork to do. I'm fine, really. I normally get the healthy six hours." He said, lying through his teeth. He thought himself lucky if he was able to get 5 hours straight sleep.
She shook her head in mock exasperation not believing him for a second. "Please get some rest." before she stretched up to whisper in his ear, "You're a very bad liar, Lieutenant."
Horatio couldn't help but laugh "Yes ma'am," he replied before claiming her lips with his. Marisol settled down against his chest again. She soon felt him loosen his hold around her and she knew he was asleep. She pressed her face into him again as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, he stirred lightly. She wanted this moment to be hers forever. When she had filled her senses with him and committed every detail about this day to her memory she whispered against his heart how much she loved him and then slipped out off his embrace.
Opening her knapsack she took her camera out and wandered down the hillock and began snapping pictures. She tried to focus on Horatio with her lens and managed to get him as a silhouette against the tree. She used the review button on the camera to see that the photo had come out very well. She then moved around and got some shots of both the hillocks. She then scrambled to the top of the second hillock with the rock outcrop and took some shots of the view she had. She took some pictures of the remnants of their picnic before taking some more snaps of Horatio sleeping and looking at ease, his brow less creased and his side fringe falling on one side of his face. Feeling the sun on her face she lay down on the slope of the hillock relishing its warmth. She turned her eyes upwards to the sky, enjoying the rainbows dancing at the periphery of her vision. She looked at the clouds and began turning her head to focus on the different images she saw coming out of them. Of late she had been doing what she liked to think of as cloud dreaming. It's something everyone has done in their lives: Just sitting back and forming all kinds of crazy pictures with the clouds. It was a great way to unwind and a start to noticing the simpler things in life that more often than not, passes one by. The smell of the grass around her made her feel a bit sleepy and light-headed.
Horatio opened his eyes after his nap, and felt the emptiness of her not being with him. He sat up and looked around, she was nowhere to be seen. He felt panic begin to grip him thinking of all the things that could have happened to her while he slept. He scrambled to his feet and was just about to shout her name when he noticed a figure in blue, at the periphery of his vision, lying on the slope of the other hillock. A wave of relief swept through him. He made his way to the second hillock and saw her staring up at the sky, a look of peacefulness on her face, she bit down on her lip, a half smile lingering on her lips, she then turned her head slowly in either direction her gaze never leaving the sky.
"Another penny for your thoughts?" he said startling her out of her reverie as he sat down beside her.
"Horatio." She sat up blushing, a bit embarrassed to have been caught in the middle of cloud dreaming.
"So how about that penny?" he asked reaching up to remove a blade of grass from her hair.
She shook her head, "Not worth your penny, I was just being silly,"
"Didn't look silly. You looked very peaceful, what were you doing?"
"Nothing. I was just being silly."
"Nothing huh? Well at least tell me how to look so darn peaceful thinking silly thoughts. " he raised his eyebrows, turning to look at her, compelling her to tell him with his eyes.
"I…I uh… I was…I was cloud dreaming."
"What's that?" he asked
"It's when you use your imagination to see the beauty in the clouds above." she said pointing her finger upwards. She shrugged trying to sound nonchalant, "It kind of brings me back to appreciating the simpler things in life."
"I see. Will you show me?" she looked at him surprised, "Will…will you show me how to cloud dream?" he asked in a small voice, "I've…I've never heard the term."
"Well cloud dreaming is just my word for it…Horatio, you must have done it when you were a child. Children do it a lot." Marisol replied watching him as he shut his eyes closed, unwilling for her to read the emotions he feared he would show.
"Perhaps, a long time ago." He answered in the small voice, "Please show me."
"Sure Horatio, it's really easy." She knelt in front of him and gently pushed his shoulders down so that he was lying down on the slope. She lay down beside him. "Ok, just follow my finger and tell me what you see that cloud making."
There was long silence which he broke by saying, " I can see the inside of a centrifuging machine."
She turned to him and smiled, "Ok, I see a flower."
"How do you see a flower?" he asked,
"That's the beauty we have in us all," she said, " We all see something different and we can try to explain how we see things but in the end people may not see it the same way, or they'll still be able to see both the things at different times. Ok enough of me…here are the petals and this is the centre," she traced out the fluffy ridges of the cloud, " and this is the stalk," she finished pointing to the faint wisp that projected from under the cloud.
"Do you see it now?"
"Yes I guess do."
"So how did you get a centrifuging thingy?" she asked.
"Well…uh a centrifuging machine basically has little holes that you can put small test tubes in and it then spins them around using gravity and circular motion to separate different layers. Um…so yeah, here are the holes you put the test tube in," he pointed up to the same fluffy ridges that Marisol had made the petals out of. "Here's the stand and the cover. It looks just like the one in DNA." He pointed to the sections above and below the fluffy region of the cloud.
"I get it, so I'm going to use my imagination to see what a centrifuging machine looks like based on the image you've shown me. I've never seen one before."
"Really?" Horatio asked surprised, before realising that they did come from different career worlds.
"Yes, really." She smiled at him.
He took her hand and kissed it gently, "Thank-you Marisol,"
"Don't thank me Horatio, thank the weather for putting them there." she replied laughing.
"Well thank-you for showing me then. I guess I've never really thought about it."
"You're welcome,"
Their hands remained entwined as they looked at some more clouds and did some more cloud dreaming, lying side by side.
The sun soon sank a little lower; starting to dip beneath the horizon as they stretched and sat up. Marisol picked up her camera which she had placed behind a rock nearby.
"Oh no Marisol I didn't know you were a camera person."
"Yeah, I thought I'd get a couple of shots of this perfect day and put them in my album."
"Well I hope you didn't snap any of me, I'm not at all photogenic."
"Well I beg to differ Lieutenant. You certainly looked gorgeous, against that tree, through my lens."
"Uhh…" Horatio just stuttered
Marisol looked at her watch. And reckoned that they should probably get going soon because it would be a long drive back and Horatio was probably going to work tomorrow. She suggested going back now and Horatio nodded his agreement. They made their way back to the first hillock and picked up their stuff. Marisol glanced back at the rocky outcrop.
"Penny for your thoughts,"
"Nope, otherwise between pennies for my thoughts and your florist, you're going to be broke."
"I was just hoping for some more insightfulness." He said in an amused tone, which was lost on her as she continued to stare at it. He noticed the goosebumps rising on her skin. He walked over to her, standing behind her gently rubbing his hands down her arms, "Seriously though,"
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you but I had my first kiss under that outcrop."
"Is that so?"
"Yes it is. That's what I was thinking about," she admitted a bit guiltily.
"Well then for old times sake?" He asked turning her to face him
She nodded before reaching up to pull his head down to meet her lips. Horatio deepened their kiss and Marisol felt her knees go weak with passion. They broke apart breathing heavily. Marisol blushed thankful that it was getting dark, she was sure she was beet-red.
"So what was your first kiss like?" she asked him as he fumbled with picking up the cooler boxes.
"Well it wasn't in such a charming place." He replied.
Their conversation as they walked back to the car mainly focused on their respective first kisses. He found himself blushing more and more as he described it to her. She listened to him spellbound. Thoughts about first kisses hardly crossed his mind. By the time they reached the reception, dusk was setting in. They signed out and went to the bathroom before walking back to the car. The drive back was animated: with the music and the conversation about first romances, but what he didn't tell her however that his first-kiss had also gone on to be his wife, ex-wife his mind corrected.
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He killed the engine and walked up with her to her front door. She opened the door and switched on the hallway light, "God Horatio, I wish there was a way for me to make you feel the way you've made today feel for me. Thank-you."
"You already have in so many ways." He said abashedly, before taking her in his arms for one final kiss.
"Call me when you get home," she said as he turned to leave.
"Will do. Goodnight Marisol."
"Goodnight Horatio." Marisol had to physically force herself not to add an 'I love you' to her goodbye.
Horatio called her an hour later when he got home. She chided him into having an early night. He laughed, promising to go to bed soon after finishing up some paperwork. Marisol then spoke to Eric, giving vague details about her day because she could hear him smirking at the other end of the line.
Feeling tired and happy when she finally got into bed Marisol was just about to drift off to sleep when the answer hit her as she reviewed the day's events in her mind's eye. She couldn't believe that Horatio had forgotten how to carry out a child's activity. Cloud dreaming – She knew people didn't do it often in adult hood but it wasn't something one forgot. She finally knew what she could bring to this relationship. She could show him how to appreciate all that he had, she could only guess from what little he had said that he had had a difficult youth, that he perhaps had missed out on a lot of simple joys when he was younger. Missing out - She knew it was something people did a lot; she had done it herself before her diagnosis. But there was something really important and vital in life when one did take the time to appreciate the simpler things – it was to balm a battered soul that is hit and tortured everyday by the extremities that it witnesses in this life.
