"I had to tell a man today that his wife and son were murdered." Eric whispered and he felt Calleigh's whole body stiffen in his arms. She was spooned up against him with her back cushioned against his chest. His hands were splayed across her stomach and even though she was awake, she had the majority of her face buried in her pillow.
"Eric, I-" She didn t know what she could possibly say, that could comfort him. She knew that Horatio had come to her, worried for Eric's well-being, earlier in the day. And Eric himself had told her of how Ryan had come to him in the lab with nothing but brotherly concern and he'd shot him down. Though when she thought about it, the fact that he'd opened up to her had given her a unique opportunity to drag it out of him. "It's different now, isn't it?"
"I didn't think it would be. I hadn't thought of it, until now." He pressed his lips against the back of her neck, brushing her hair aside as he did and she pulled the duvet higher over the pair of them.
"Eric, we knew when we had Andrew that things would change."
"I know that. I knew that. I just, I never realised how much it would sting." He ran his fingers along her bicep. "The whole time I was speaking to him, I was seeing myself across the table. I saw you and Andrew in those photos. I just-" He breathed shakily and she felt it flutter her hair.
"I know." She brushed her fingers over his hand. "I get it."
He hugged her tighter and buried his face in her hair. "It'll never get easier, will it?"
Calleigh sighed. "If it could, would you really want it to?"
"When I think about it, maybe not," Eric rolled onto his back, dragging Calleigh with him until she rolled over and rested her cheek against his chest. "I just wish it didn't hurt so much."
"It means you're a good father." She pressed her lips to his chest, smiling against his skin. "And a good husband. It hurts because you love us. I for one am glad to know that, because if anything happened to you, I know I'd feel the same way."
"Yeah," Eric breathed and licked his lips.
Because she was unwilling to sleep while she had Eric so open, like this, Calleigh pressed for more reasons to keep talking. "Do you have any leads to follow?"
"Not really," he huffed. "I found a partial print near the victim that matched a Russian connected to Ivan, but other than that, nothing. Horatio s bringing him in for questioning tomorrow morning but I don t see Dimitri admitting to anything. How about you?"
"No real cases, just back-log of evidence that needs to be documented. Every time I close my eyes, I see striations and shell-casings." She laughed and Eric ran his fingers through her hair soothingly.
"Do you want me to have my Mom make you guys dinner tomorrow night?" Calleigh looked up at him with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion because he knew that she hated to ask his mother to cook for her when the pair of them could handle the job themselves. "I'm working a double, remember?"
Calleigh breathed out and stared across the room at the door that was sitting ajar. She could see the glow from Andrew's night-light beaming through the crack and she closed her eyes. "If you want, you can tell her she's more than welcome to come over. But do not dare ask her to cook for me, Eric, I can cook for myself."
He laughed. "Cal, you know she'll insist."
"Well, then let her. But don't you bring it up."
Eric kissed her forehead. "Alright, I won't. But I'll call her in the morning, alright?"
"Fine." Eric laughed as he noticed her pout and hugged her closer.
"Come on, let s get some sleep." She nodded, yawning.
"G'night," she whispered over the end of her yawn as her eyes drifted closed and her body relaxed into his side.
"Night, Cal." Eric felt a flutter against his hip, where her stomach was pressed against him and he grinned stupidly. When he knew Calleigh had completely drifted off, he took a breath and spoke in a voice that was barely audible over her breathing. "Goodnight, Mareike."
**
"Mmm, Bacon." Calleigh grinned as she walked into the kitchen with a freshly dressed Andrew on her hip. She was still wearing her black robe with the white silk edging and Eric smirked, because her camisole covered belly was poking out where the tie was sitting looser.
"Only the best for Delkos." He grinned, kissing her lips as she placed Andrew on the counter and reached over to steal a piece of bacon from the pan. He slapped her hand playfully and she played mock-hurt. "But Duquesne's eat after they shower.
Calleigh stepped back with one hand on her hip. "Duquesne's?" That tone of voice normally terrified him. Swallowing deeply, he nodded slowly. "So, when you want discounts on family tickets at the Fair, I'm a Delko. But when you re making bacon for yourself and your first born son, I'm a Duquesne?"
"Baby-"
"Don't baby me, Sweet Pea. You know I've never liked that ridiculous little pet-name." Both hands were on her hips now. Eric bit his lip and lifted Andrew from the bench, resting him on his hip. The boy had been sitting between his parents, watching them as if they were playing tennis and now Eric decided that the best shield from the wrath of Calleigh Delko was her son. "You think that's gonna fly?" She pointed toward Andrew, squirming in Eric's hold.
Eric shrugged and studied her eyes, there was a certain sparkle. She was still playing. To the untrained eye, it'd appear she was actually mad. He glanced at the bacon, still sizzling away in the pan.
"Andrew, do you want to come to Mommy?" Calleigh beckoned in her sweetest Mommy voice. Eric was fairly certain that she'd practised it on his neighbour's cat before they were married, because she was far too good at it and that cat had a rather peculiar affection for her. Immediately, Andrew started squirming and thrashing about, stretching his arms out as far as he could to try and reach for Calleigh.
"Ha ha." Calleigh grinned when she finally had hold of Andrew again and had his arms wrapped around her neck. Eric gulped and reached over to the pan with his tongs.
"Bacon, Mrs Delko?" He held out a piece for her and Calleigh's eyes sparkled in victory.
**
"Now, Mr Greer, today you're going to be shadowing my firearms expert. She hasn't arrived yet so Mr Delko here is going to give you a tour of the lab. If you have any questions, Eric will be happy to help you. Isn't that right, Eric?" Horatio turned to him and Eric nodded with a smile, patting the young rookie on the shoulder reassuringly.
"Not a problem, H. I'll give him the grand tour."
"Now, if you'll excuse me gentlemen." Horatio nodded to them both, before heading down the hall, towards Tara holding out a file for him.
"So, you're a transfer from patrol?" Eric questioned and the young man flicked his blue eyes over a few people passing by before he turned to the older officer with a nod.
"Yeah."
"You might know Wolfe then?"
"Ryan Wolfe? No, I've only been on patrol for three years. CSI Wolfe was before my time, but I have heard of him and the rest of your team. As far as CSI goes, I'm a bit of a fan." The young man chuckled and Eric smiled.
"Ok, He gestured down the hall. We'll start in DNA. In here you ll either see Maxine Valera or this lovely lady, He smirked as he caught her attention and she grinned. Miss Natalia Boa Vista."
Natalia held her hand out to shake and Greer took it almost hesitantly. "Robert Greer."
"Nice to meet you." She smiled and shared a glance with Eric when the younger man blushed.
"If you need a rush on any DNA results, Natalia is the last person you go to," Eric joked and Natalia playfully slapped his arm.
"Excuse me, the only reason I've ever turned down rushing your results was when Calleigh's triple took precedence, will you let it go!"
Eric only laughed and patted Robert on the back, ushering him out of the room. "Alright, Greer, here you've got Tox, next door is Fingerprinting and then QD. Down the butt end of the hall is firearms, where you'll be stashed away for the rest of the day. Any questions?"
**
Calleigh grinned as she stepped into the elevator, meeting a pair of smiling eyes, so like her own. "Hey Dad."
"Hey, lambchop."
"What are you doing here?" Duke shrugged, reaching over to take Andrew from her hip and she smiled thankfully to be relieved of the weight.
"I just popped in to say hello to my grandson." He grinned, bouncing the boy on his hip and making him laugh as Calleigh hit the button and the elevator doors closed. "And to ask my beautiful and only daughter for a favour."
"You're buttering me up," she narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
Duke laughed. "I was just wondering if I could take Andrew for the day. I thought we could go get some ice cream, down at the marina and catch a movie or something."
Calleigh sighed and smiled at her Dad apologetically as she reached for Andrew's little back and straightened his shirt. "Dad, you know I love you but you know I can t let you take Andrew. You promised in AA that you'd be sober six months before you even asked."
"I know. I just...I love having the little guy around, that's all. I haven't had a drop for almost three months."
Calleigh smiled sadly. "I know, Daddy, I'm proud of you. And you can, just, not by yourself. Not yet." He nodded and she reached up to kiss his cheek as the elevator doors opened.
"Can I at least take him down to the center?" Calleigh grinned and slipped the diaper bag off her shoulder and hooked it over his arm.
"Sure, Sophie's waiting. I'll see you this afternoon, Sweet-pea." Calleigh kissed Andrew's cheek before leaning over to kiss her dad again. "And I'll see you later, Dad." He nodded and she watched him collect the pass from Sally, who'd become accustomed to Duke's impromptu visits, and make his way down the hall.
**
"So you're the bullet girl?"
Calleigh looked up from her scope with a smirk as she met the eyes of the young man, standing just inside her lab with a nervous look on his face.
"That nickname's still floatin' around?" Calleigh rolled her eyes heavenward. "Man, I thought I'd quashed that years ago." Stepping around from her work-bench, she held her hand out to shake his. "I'm Calleigh Duquesne."
He took the offered hand. "Robert Greer."
"Well, it's a pleasure. I'm sure someone's given you the grand tour already?" She questioned, dropping her hands into the pockets of her lab-coat as she smiled sweetly.
"Yes, actually. Officer Delko showed me around."
"Oh," Calleigh smirked.
"Oh...what?"
"Oh, nothing." She grinned, dismissing it with a shake of her head. "So, how about a crash course in processing ballistics evidence?"
"Sure."
**
Signing off on some evidence he d just filed away in the locker, Ryan locked up the gate and after passing the key back to the guard on duty made his way down towards the garage. He was set to re-process Elizabeth Sala s car during his lunch break, hoping that if he went over it again, he may turn up something that they missed. Horatio had already spoken to Dimitri Brize, who refused to give up a sample of his DNA to compare to the tissue scrapings from under Mrs Sala s fingernails.
Without probable cause, they couldn't force him to.
Passing by firearms, Ryan peered in to see Calleigh hard at work, focused on her scope, so he turned to see Officer Greer, making notes at the end of the workbench. He was about to step inside, when he stopped himself and curiously watched Greer. The boy was watching Calleigh not the work and with narrowed eyes, Ryan noticed him slip his hand into his pocket and drag out a cell-phone. Intrigue piqued, he watched as he sent a text and quickly stuffed the phone back into his pocket when Calleigh looked up from the scope and smiled.
Forgetting about the garage for a moment, Ryan checked his watch and quickly dashed down the hall to the break-room for lunch instead.
**
"Hey Delko," Ryan called as he entered the room, seeing Eric sitting on the small sofa with Andrew in his lap and Calleigh's dad by his side.
"Hey Wolfe," Eric eyed him worriedly. "What's up?"
"Can I speak with you?"
"Is it life-threateningly important?"
Ryan scratched the back of his head. "Well..." He winced. "I suppose that's rather objective, really."
"Wolfe." Eric growled and Ryan dropped down to sit in the sofa across from them.
"Fine, you met the new guy right? Officer Greer?"
Eric nodded. "Yeah, he seems like an alright kid, why?"
"You didn't get any vibes from him?"
Eric shared a confused glance with Duke before turning back to Ryan. "Vibes?"
"No bad feelings?"
"You're not back on that Santeria curse thing again, are you?"
"No," Ryan rolled his eyes. "I've just got a weird feeling, that's all. I just walked passed Firearms and I was going to say hi to Calleigh because I haven t seen her all day but I stopped and watched Greer. He was sending a text but hid the phone when Calleigh looked at him."
"Maybe he was just nervous about using his phone at work. Maybe he thought he'd get in trouble; Calleigh is Horatio's second," Eric justified, but Ryan shook his head, watching Duke passing grapes one by one to Andrew who was throwing them across the room until Eric absently grabbed the boy s wrist and held his hand down.
"I don't know," Ryan shrugged. "Maybe, but it's still not sitting right with me."
"Wolfe, you re just being a little paranoid." Eric laughed as he passed Andrew to Duke and stood up. "Regardless, Wolfe, my break time's up and I've got work to do. So I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see ya later." Ryan muttered, watching Eric kiss Andrew's forehead and ruffle the boy's dirty-blonde curls before heading out of the room.
"Don't worry," Duke smirked, bouncing his grandson on his knee. "If anything's not right with that young man, my Lambchop'll weed it out." Ryan gave the man a strange look, having never heard her father's pet name for her, but smiled his goodbye's as Duke walked out of the room, hand in hand with Andrew.