Chapter 7

Two weeks later, the team were not any closer to solving the case, there were so many suspects they had now that they knew there was such a diverse connection between the victims.

Horatio brought Zoë a cup of herbal tea to her as she sat up in bed watching a film.

"Thank you Kitten." She said as she took it from him with a sweet smile.

"I can't believe Val has put me on stricter bed rest… 6 hours a day bed rest is ridiculous, that's half the day gone." She said softly as Horatio walked around and sat on the bed himself.

"I know sweetheart, but it's for your own good. You need the rest, your heart is under quite a bit of stress right now, you are 28 weeks pregnant. Your cramps are also getting worse so resting more is better for you." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she sipped the tea.

"That's gorgeous, thank you." She said softly as she put it down and then shuffled down the bed. "I need another pee, I'll be back." She said as she slowly got up. "I feel so heavy, you wouldn't believe it." She said as she slowly stood on her feet and placed both hands on her belly.

"I can't imagine sweetheart, if I could take the weight off you, I would." He said softly and she nodded.

"It'll all be worth it though." She said softly and Horatio nodded with a smile, she then kicked the door too and went to the loo. She came back and slowly sat back down on the bed.

"We need to go and get nappies and things very soon." She said softly and Horatio nodded as he sipped his drink.

"We'll do it tomorrow if you're up to it?" Horatio asked and she nodded as she moved back and leant against the head board and picked up her tea again.

"I hate that I can't feel them moving so much anymore." Zoë said as she rubbed her belly and looked over to him.

"It's normal sweetheart; it's getting a bit of a tight squeeze in there, so they can't move around as much. They are still kicking, I can see them or one of them moving right now." Horatio said softly as he looked down to her belly and saw a movement and she nodded.

"I'm worried that I won't pick up on whether they've stopped moving all together though." Zoë said as she panicked a little and followed the movement with her hand.

"You will sweetheart, that's why you lay down and feel their movements every day." Horatio said softly and she nodded.

"I'm 28 weeks and as large as someone would be when 35 weeks or something." She said as she removed her hand from her belly and placed it over his thigh.

"We should tell Alexx and Joe that they're the Godparents soon, shouldn't we?" She asked and Horatio nodded as he placed his hand over hers on his thigh.

"How about we do it when we next see them?" Horatio asked and she nodded.

"That would be great." She beamed and he smiled back while she took a sip of the tea.

"It's not long to go now, we could have them in our arms in 9 weeks, Val did say she expects you to give birth around your 37th week." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she looked back to him.

"I can't wait to have them here." Zoë said brightly with a radiant smile appearing and Horatio nodded in agreement as a bright smile also crossed his face.

"Would you like me to moisturise your legs now, or are you going to wait until later after your shower?" He asked softly as he stopped rubbing her legs and looked up at her.

"Later thank you Kitten, I moisturised about 4 hours ago when I had a shower then." She said softly and he nodded with a gentle smile. 'He always wants to do something for me, he's so sweet... He's the best husband anyone could ever want. Where did I find him?' She thought to herself with a bright dreamy smile while her eyes poured with love as she looked at him. She could see that he was itching to do something though. "I wouldn't mind a tummy massage with moisturiser though." She smiled sweetly and he nodded with his bright smile returning. He got up and picked up the moisturiser and rubbed it into his hands and sat beside her as she pulled her top up. 'Bless him, I'd be the same if I were him and he were me though. This way he'll also feel them moving about as they're quite active at the moment.' She thought to herself with a smile. He placed his hands on her belly with a smile and began to rub it into her skin as he admired her belly and saw a few movements.

"Don't you think I've ballooned since 2 weeks ago?" She asked and he nodded as he looked back up at her with radiant eyes.

"They're in their rapid fat developing stages and growing still." He said softly and she nodded as she smiled at him.

"I just want them to be here now, I'm starting to get quite uncomfortable, apparently that only gets worse." She said softly as she reached down and placed one of her hands on his thigh with a gentle expression.

"It's not going to be easy sweetheart, but I'm here to try and lessen the load on you and do what I can to make you more comfortable." He said softly and she nodded with a smile but he saw something in her eyes that made him feel slightly uneasy. He then saw her burst into tears as she covered her face with one of her arms. "Oh sweetheart," Horatio said softly as he pulled her top down and moved up to sit closer to her. He placed one hand on her belly while he began to lightly stroke her cheek with the back of his fingers. "I know it's difficult, I know I don't understand what you're going through, but you're doing so well, I'm so proud of you." Horatio said softly.

"I'm not sure why I'm crying, Horatio." She said softly as she began to rub his thigh with the hand that was still there.

"You're probably stressed sweetheart… your body is under a lot of physical stress too." He said softly as he continued to lightly stroke her cheek.

"I feel like a whale." She cried and Horatio began to rub her stomach too.

"You're not a whale; you've got our two daughters in your tummy… that is a beautiful thing, Zoë. You're helping to sustain their lives, your body is giving them life, to me that feels magical, it must feel exceptionally magical to have that happening inside your tummy?" He asked softly and she nodded.

"It really does." She said quietly as she removed her arm from her eyes and looked up at him while she swallowed and blinked rapidly.

"I'm so proud of you Zoë, I really am." He said as he lent down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"You are?" She asked as she began to wipe her eyes and he nodded with affection pouring from his eyes.

"I really am." He said with a reassuring smile. She then gave him a smile back and then placed her hand in his hair and gently pulled him down to place a kiss on his lips.

"You're not going to leave me after I give birth are you? You're not going to take them from me and leave, are you?" She asked once they broke from the kiss with their lips inches from each other.

"No Zoë, you know I'd never do that. I will never leave you." Horatio said softly as he rubbed his nose against hers.

"You're not just using me to have two daughters?" She asked quietly.

"No sweetheart, not at all. Where are you getting this from? Have you had another dream?" He asked and she nodded as she started to cry a little more again.

"I had a dream that I gave birth and you were supportive up until they came out. You then left with the girls while I was resting and I found out that you had just left me and used me for children." She cried. He quickly pulled back a little and began to stroke her cheeks with the backs of his fingers. She swallowed when she looked up at him and saw the affection in his eyes.

"No Zoë, that will never happen, I promise you. You're my wife, you are and always will be the love of my life. You 3 are the most precious things in my life and I'd never leave you. I will always be there for you." He said softly and she nodded as she swallowed as she nodded up at him and then reached up to run a hand through his floppy hair.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't let the dreams get to me, but sometimes they feel so real." She said softly and Horatio nodded while he allowed his eyes to connect with hers as he knew she was drinking up his affection.

"I know sweetheart, I know they can seem so real. I understand, I do." Horatio said softly and she nodded and then kissed him again after she gently pulled him closer.

"I'm so sorry; I shouldn't be taking any of this out on you." She apologised as he wiped her tears while he stayed low and kept his face close to hers to look into her eyes with love.

"No, you take what you want out on me; I'm here to go through this all with you. If it helps you to de-stress or whatever, you do what you want. Anyway, I want you to talk to me about these dreams; I want you to talk to me about anything." Horatio said softly as he ran a hand through her silky hair and tilted his head as he kissed the corner of her lips before pulling his head away again and looking into her eyes once more while she swallowed. "I understand that these dreams can cause doubt, so I want you to talk to me. I know you need reassurance, that's what I'll give you, even if I have to say the same thing over and over. I will never leave you Zoë, I love you so much and I will ever only love you and our children." He said softly and she gave him a small smile as she blinked a few times. She raised her hands and placed her palms against his cheeks.

"I really am so lucky to have you, you are the most incredible man ever, I know I'm yours forever." She said softly as she ran her thumbs over his cheek bones.

"And I'm yours for ever." Horatio said before he kissed her again.

XXXXXXXX

They went out to the supermarket the next day and picked up everything from 8 bottles of baby lotion, to 10 bags of nappies, including many bottles of soap designed for babies sensitive skin and shampoo. They even got more clothes. They returned home and put everything away just as Zoë got a call from Joe.

"Hey sweetie" she said softly as she sat on the bed in one of the guestrooms and began filling the set of draws in there with baby clothes. Both chest of draws had been filled in the other room as well as the wardrobe and closet, although the closet was mainly filled with other things. She couldn't believe how many clothes they had, but they did have clothes to see them both through up until the age of 1.

"Hey darling, are you in?" He asked softly.

"Yeah." She replied as she smiled and held a red and white flowery baby dress up in front of her and admired it.

"May I come over?" He asked softly.

"Of course Bunny, you don't have to ask." She said softly as she looked at the outfits in the draws with a wide smile still pulling her lips from ear to ear.

"Okay, I'll be over in 5, I'll see you then." He said brightly.

"See you then." She smiled as she hung up and placed her phone down on the bed.

"Joe is coming over, Kitten." Zoë called down the hall to Horatio who was just walking out of their bedroom. He walked up the hall and leant against the doorframe with a tender smile as he admired her putting the baby clothes away.

"Okay sweetheart, is he staying for dinner?" Horatio asked warmly.

"Probably, we can make enough for him and if he doesn't I'll eat it another time anyway." She smiled and he nodded with a smile.

"Still up for steak and vegetables?" He asked and she nodded with a wide smile, she could already feel her tastebuds tingling.

"Can we have some chips with that as well?" She asked and he nodded.

"Of course" he smiled and she smiled back. He then walked down to start the dinner and answered the door to Joe when he knocked. Horatio saw that he had his hands filled with bags. He raised his eyebrows and stepped back to allow Joe to enter.

"Evening Joe." Horatio greeted softly as he closed the door after Joe was in. Joe turned and gave Horatio his charming bright smile with a nod.

"Evening Horatio, I'd shake your hand but it's a little difficult at the moment." He said softly and Horatio nodded with a smile himself and a light chuckle.

"Zoë's upstairs." Horatio said softly and then followed Joe up after Joe nodded and thanked him. He was curious as to what was in the bags himself.

"What room?" Joe asked as he glanced back to Horatio who was behind him.

"End guestroom on the left." Horatio replied and Joe walked down and then walked into the bedroom.

"Hey!" Zoë beamed as she got up and then saw the bags in his hands. She quickly hugged him and then released him so he could put them down on the bed.

"What is all of this?" She asked softly with a wide smile as she looked back to the bags that were sprawled all over the bed.

"I've been meaning to bring it all over for some time now, I just haven't got round to it. It's just a little something for the both of you and your girls. Well, it started out at as a little something, then it escalated." He replied softly and then shook Horatio's hand while they both gave each other a nod.

"What? Joe there's like 13 bags here." She said as she looked back up at him and furrowed her brow with a smile.

"I got carried away." He replied softly as he shrugged and looked down to the bags himself.

"Oh Joe, you shouldn't have, thank you so much." She said as she hugged him again and then sat down as she held her stomach. She opened the first bag and pulled out a handful of folded clothes.

"Joe, these are beautiful, thank you so much. I didn't know you knew what to get for baby girls!" She smiled at him as she looked at each individual item of clothing. She folded them and put them on the side and opened another bag to pull out more clothes. "Joe! I'm going to slap you!" She smiled at him playfully as she looked at more clothes while Horatio continued to grin as he could see that Zoë was absolutely ecstatic, as was Joe.

"As I say, I couldn't help myself. I wasn't sure what you exactly liked so I got most of everything that was pink as I know you love pink." He smiled and she chuckled at him with a bright smile and looked at the dresses, the baby grows and the vests. 'He's got me more than I had expected, he's so bad.' Zoë thought to herself with a small chuckle.

"They're going to look so cute in these." Zoë said softly.

"They're not all for new-borns either, a lot of the clothes are for them as they get older as I assumed you already had enough new born clothes for every baby in Miami." He replied and she chuckled as she looked back to him.

"I think Horatio's said that before." She smiled and both chuckled as Horatio walked over and sat by Zoë while he placed his hand on her lower back. "These are perfect Joe, I'm actually just filling up the 6-9 months, 9-12 months and everything now, we're having to use these draws as they've got so much clothes already!" She grinned and he chuckled. She opened another bag that was full with toys and teddies. She lightly bit her lip and checked them all out with a wide smile. "They've even got a Winnie the Pooh teddy each!" She beamed as she looked at all of the teddies. She looked through the rest of the bags that contained more clothes, teddies, toys and books until she pulled out a pink box and tilted her head as she frowned. 'What's this?' She thought to herself.

"That's a keepsafe box, it's where you can store a few things from when they're first born, like the first pair of socks they wore, the first picture etc., there's two of them. I would have had their names engraved on them, but you've yet to reveal that. So the receipt is in both so you can take it back and get them engraved." Joe said softly with his charming smile.

"This is all so wonderful, thank you so much Joe." She said as she began to cry again as she got up after she put the box on the bed and then hugged him again. He began to rub her back as he placed his chin against the side of her head and smiled down at the bed after looking at Horatio while he smiled at Zoë before he also checked out the clothes she'd placed on the side of the bed. "Thank you so much for this Joe, we really appreciate it." She mumbled into his chest as she rubbed his back.

"It's all my pleasure, darling." He said softly as he rubbed her back more. "There's also something in there for the both of you." He said softly as he pointed to the last bag. She pulled away and walked back over to the bed as she wiped her eyes and pulled out two small jewellery cardboard bags. She frowned a little as she looked back to Joe.

"The blue one is Horatio's." He said softly and Zoë smiled as she handed Horatio the bag. She opened the red bag and pulled out a box, she glanced up at him and he encouraged her to go on. She looked back down to the box as she put the bag down and opened the box to see a silver bracelet with 4 flat hearts on, she saw the first had Horatio's name engraved on it, the second with Maya's name engraved on it, and the next two blank, ready for the twins names. She immediately burst into tears as she brought the bracelet towards her chest while she covered her eyes with her other hand.

"You can have the other two hearts engraved when you want." He said softly before he pressed his lips together and felt the emotion emanate from her. She covered her eyes with her right arm as she held the bracelet in her left hand and looked down. Joe swallowed and began to worry that he'd really upset her while Horatio began to lightly rub her back.

"Thank you so much." She cried as she tried drying her tears after a few moments as she sat back down on the bed. She looked up at him while tears continued to cascade down her cheeks and he could see that he hadn't upset her, he saw that she was overwhelmed with happiness and joy as well as a heart-warming feeling. "Thank you Joe, that really means so much to me." She sobbed as she looked down at the bracelet and ran her thumbs over the two hearts that had names engraved on them. She then looked up at Horatio and handed it to him so he could look. Horatio looked up at Joe and gave him a nod as he handed the bracelet back to Zoë after she'd managed to compose herself. He then opened his bag and then looked up at Joe again.

"You didn't have to do this, Joe." He said softly with a gentle smile.

"I wanted to, it's the least I could do, Horatio." He said softly as Horatio looked back down and pulled out a black box himself and then opened it to see two plain cuff-links. "I didn't want to get anything engraved on them as I didn't know what you wanted, whether you wanted Zoë's name on one and the initials of Maya and the twins, or if you wanted Zoë's initial and the girls initials, two on each cuff link or if you wanted Zoë's initial on one and the 3 girls on the other. It's up to you, but they're ready to engrave it for you." Joe explained softly as Zoë began to cry again as she leant over to Horatio and hugged him tightly while she held the bracelet in her hand. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Thank you Joe, it does mean a lot to us." Horatio said softly as he looked over to Joe who gave him a smile.

"You're both very welcome." He said softly and Horatio gave him a smile and a nod and then began to rub Zoë's back as he kissed the top of her head. She pulled back from Horatio and wiped her eyes again as she looked up at Joe.

"I had a feeling you'd got them hundreds of clothes, but I didn't see this coming at all. Thank you so much." She said quietly as she looked down at the bracelet again. She lightly bit her lip before she looked back up at him. "I think now is a good time to let you know that we'd love for you to be their Godfather, even though you probably already knew that." She smiled softly as she got up and hugged him again. He felt a warm feeling explode from within, he felt overwhelmed himself that she'd asked him to be their Godfather.

"Thank you both so much. That means a lot to me, it really does." Joe said softly as he rubbed Zoë's back and looked over to Horatio with a very appreciative nod.

"Great my make-up is probably ruined now." She smiled as she sat back down and wiped her eyes as she smiled down at the bracelet again. She then looked up at Horatio with a gentle smile, but he could still see the overwhelming emotion floating about in her eyes. "We're going to have to think of names really soon now then." She smiled and Horatio nodded as he rubbed her back again with his secret smile. She took a deep breath and then looked back over to Joe with a gentle smile as she took hold of Horatio's hand. "Are you staying for dinner Bunny?" She asked softly as she continued to compose herself.

"I don't want to intrude, darling, but thank you." He said softly.

"Stay please, we'd love it." She said softly and he nodded with a smile after looking to Horatio who also nodded at him, urging him to agree.

"Thank you." He said warmly.

"Would you like a tea?" Horatio asked softly as he stood and walked over to them and placed his hand on Zoë's lower back.

"Please." She said softly as she looked back to him and he nodded with a smile.

"A coffee would be great, thank you Horatio." Joe said softly when Horatio looked at him. Horatio nodded and held the little black box in his hand.

"Thank you again for these, I'll have them engraved as soon as we choose their names." Horatio said softly and Joe nodded. They shook hands again and Horatio walked out. He placed the box safely on the chest of draws in their room before heading down to make the drinks.

"Thank you again Joe, Horatio is really happy with them, I can see it in his eyes." Zoë said softly and he nodded with a smile as he looked down while Zoë stepped back and placed the bracelet back in its box ready to be engraved.

"I didn't step too far with putting Maya's name on it did I?" Joe asked softly and Zoë shook her head confidently as she looked back up at him.

"She's still our little girl too, she's just not on this Earth, I'm really glad you put her name on it. It's what makes it so special. You're so thoughtful Joe, I'm so glad I've got you and Horatio in my life." Zoë said softly and Joe nodded with a small shy smile.

"I'll see you downstairs, darling, are you okay up here on your own?" He asked and she nodded as she swiped away another tear.

"Thank you again Bunny, you really have made my evening and you've made Horatio's too." She said as she hugged him again.

"You've made mine too." He smiled sweetly as they broke from the hug.

"You knew you were going to be their Godfather." She smiled sweetly back as she backed off and sat herself down on the bed as she began to rub her belly.

"Not necessarily, you may not have chosen Godparents, or you may have chosen Eric." He said softly.

"No, you knew, I know you knew. Although, we did consider Eric, I wanted you both to be Godfathers and Alexx the Godmother, but that can't happen. I did know that you'd always be their Godfather though and Horatio agrees, he wanted you to be the Godfather too. I only properly considered Eric because Horatio is closer to him, but I am so glad we chose you, I think at the back of my head I knew it would have been you all along, I knew Horatio also liked you to be their Godfather over Eric." She smiled and he chuckled with a gentle smile.

"I thought at the beginning that I was, but you never said anything, so I thought that you weren't going to have Godparents." He said softly and she smiled gently.

"We didn't want to reveal too early." She said softly and he nodded in understanding.

"Do you have names in mind? For future reference if I ever see anything… you know." He said softly as he gave her a cheeky smile, hoping he'd get it out of her.

"We don't know yet; we really haven't thought of names, we will let you know when we decide though." She said softly and he nodded. "I'll see you down there, I'm going to sort these things out and I'll be right down." She said softly and he nodded. He gave her forehead a quick kiss and then walked out to talk with Horatio in the kitchen. Zoë finished putting the clothes away and put the clothes that Joe had got away and also sorted the teddies, toys and books out in the nursery room. She then went downstairs to be greeted with her herbal tea at the island counter. She sat on it with a smile as she rubbed her belly while she joined in on their conversation.

XXXXXXXX

A few days later, Nathan and Alexx had come round in the evening to keep Zoë occupied as they knew she was getting bored.

"Board games are a great way to pass the time Zoë, do you have any or would you like me to drop some by?" Alexx asked softly as they sat at the island counter and held her mug of coffee in her hands.

"I've got plenty of them in the study, I just completely forgot about them until now." She said before she sipped her tea and a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Would you like a game now?" Nathan asked and she nodded enthusiastically as her eyes lit up brightly.

"Is that a good idea?" Horatio asked and she grinned wildly and nodded, he could see her competitive side firing up straight away.

"Monopoly?" She asked and both Nathan and Alexx nodded with smiles. "Fantastic!" She beamed again and then got up and walked into the study.

"Just to warn you both, she does get extremely competitive…" Horatio said quietly and they looked to him.

"How competitive?" Alexx asked and he could see Nathan asking the same thing.

"You've seen her Nathan when Joe and I played chess, double that competitive… she's also a very bad loser." Horatio said quietly as he lifted the coffee to his lips.

"I had guessed the bad loser part." Nathan smiled softly and quietly and Horatio nodded with his secret smile. 'This could be very entertaining or very messy…' Horatio thought to himself as they all then smiled sweetly at her as she walked back in. She immediately suspected something when Alexx and Nathan looked at her as sweetly as they could.

"Horatio's just warned you both, hasn't he?" She asked and they nodded with guilty smiles which caused her to lightly chuckle. "I'm not that bad." She said as she looked from them to Horatio with a wide, cheeky grin.

"Baby, that smile suggests you know it's that bad." Alexx smiled at her and Zoë giggled as she sat back down.

"It will be fine, I just may not let either of you leave the house until I win." She smiled and they raised their eyebrows, unsure if she was joking or not. She sipped her orange juice and then smiled more at them when she could see that they weren't sure whether to believe her or not.

"I'm not sure if I'm joking either." Zoë smiled and then put the box on the counter as Horatio sat back down next to her after getting both Alexx and Nathan another drink.

"I guess there's worse places to be held captive…" Nathan said softly and she chuckled as she began to set the board up.

"What's worse than being trapped in a house with a pregnant, hormonal bitch?" Zoë asked sweetly and he chuckled as she'd said it so sweetly and with a straight face.

"Actually, your hormones are very good at the moment according to Val, and you're most definitely not a bitch, just yet anyway, that stage will probably return in a few weeks though." Nathan smiled cheekily as he winked at her which caused her to laugh.

"Cheeky sod… Alexx give him a slap please." Zoë grinned at them as she sorted the money out. Both Horatio and Alexx lightly giggled themselves as Alexx swatted Nathan's arm for Zoë.

"Thank you Alexx." Zoë grinned as she handed everyone their money. "I'd hate to think that our daughters will be as competitive as me, imagine trying to play games when they get older… it'll be a constant battle between me and them." Zoë grinned softly and they chuckled as Horatio began to rub her back.

"You'll find that competitive streak disappears when it comes to your babies." Alexx said softly.

"Really?" Zoë asked and Alexx nodded with confidence.

"Oh thank God." Zoë smiled softly with a relieved sigh as they all picked their counters. They managed to have a pleasant game without Zoë getting too competitive, there were points where Horatio had to remind her to calm down, but she was generally very good. Once they left, Zoë had a bath and then climbed into bed with Horatio.

"It's weird sleeping on your side." She said softly as she began to lightly bite her lip again.

"It's weird sleeping on your side, but it also feels good as I get to face you, instead of your back as you like to lie on your left side." He smiled and she giggled as she nodded and ran her hand through his hair.

"Can we discuss names now?" She asked softly and Horatio nodded with a smile as he moved onto his side and moved closer to her.


Just wanted to let my readers know that this story is main family orientated between Horatio and Zoe as it's been requested by a couple of frequent readers. There isn't much action going on, I am aware, it's like a catch 22, I can't please everyone, but I hope that the majority of you will put up with it. I'm trying to get through this story quickly so I can get back to more action packed stories. Thank you!