Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made.

Dolly/Littlegenious: Glad you're still enjoying it. Next chapter, H gets a little romance… lucky devil. Things are starting to improve for our little family… for a while, at least.

-DT-

The next three weeks flew past. Rosalyn was kept back a little longer than expected, but William was ready for release early. Horatio was just finishing off the paperwork involved in getting paternity leave, and then he could go and collect the twins from the hospital.

To his great surprise, Rick Stettler from over in IAB had actually been a big help in getting leave so quickly. He had also helped speed up the process of formally adopting the twins. Rick apparently had several connections within the judicial system, and while he rarely used them for his own benefit, this time he was willing to have a word to the presiding judge.

With a smile firmly in place, Horatio signed his name one final time and passed the papers over to Rick, who signed in the 'witness' space and quickly filled in his own details. The two men smiled at each other, Rick not as strongly as Horatio, but it was a start.

"Congratulations, Horatio," he said as he shook the lieutenant's hand. "You are now, officially, a father."

"Thank you, Rick," Horatio nodded. "Now I'd better go pick them up, I suppose."

As he left, Rick placed the papers carefully inside his briefcase, making sure they were in the right order. On his way home, he'd drop them off at the court house.

After all, if Horatio was busy running around after his kids and not at work, he wouldn't be as likely to by pining over Yelina. And with Horatio out of the way for a couple of months, maybe Yelina would finally give Rick a chance.

-DT-

Alexx was waiting at the hospital when Horatio arrived. She had given the twins a final check personally before telling Horatio that they were ready to leave. Despite their premature birth and their mother's health problems, there seemed to have been no lasting damage inflicted on the infants.

Horatio had been spending as much of his spare time as possible at the hospital, and as a result all the nurses knew him now. He waved a greeting to Sandra, the girl at the station, before heading straight in to Alexx and his children.

Amelia, one of the nurses he regularly spoke to about the twins' health, was already handing William to Alexx. Horatio had held his new son for the first time that morning, yet he still felt a small surge of protectiveness and fear at the sight of someone else holding him. He bit down his reaction, immediately feeling ashamed. This was Alexx holding the boy, not some random stranger. The doctor, however, seemed to notice, and smiled anyway.

"You know, when Janie was born, my husband couldn't let her out of his sight for days. And whenever anyone tried to hold her, or even touch her, he'd snarl like a dog whose puppies were in danger. It passed though, and pretty soon he was more than willing to foist her off onto others." Horatio nodded, feeling comforted. Apparently, this fear was part of being a father.

He turned back to Amelia, who held out Rosalyn for him. Horatio cradled his daughter gently against his chest. It felt so right like this, watching her sleep. He did his best not to jar her as he signed the release papers, picked up their gear and led Alexx down to his car.

A couple of days ago, Eric had helped him to pick out and install two baby capsules in the back seats. They had the highest possible safety rating, and Eric had quipped that they could probably withstand getting rolled over by a tank. Horatio secretly wondered if that was going to be enough protection.

It took him a couple of minutes to work out how to properly secure the tiny bundle inside – while Alexx managed in seconds. She smiled at him again, telling him that he'd get used to it.

The drive home went slowly. Horatio kept under the speed limits and constantly double-checked his moves. In spite of Eric's teasing about the baby capsules, Horatio felt that they looked far too flimsy compared to the cars around him. Maybe he should start driving the company hummer everywhere… or just not let the infants out of the house. At least until they were eighteen.

He chuckled at this line of thought. He certainly was becoming the protective father. His thoughts darkened and the smile left his face. At least protective was better than abusive. His greatest fear now was that he would follow the actions of his father – and the twins' biological father. He knew that he would prefer to cut off his own hands, rather than risk hurting the infants sleeping in the back seat, but part of him was still afraid.

As he pulled into his driveway, he resolved that both Alexx and the rest of the team would have an open invitation to his house from now on. Between the four of them, they would be sure to notice if something was wrong – and he could count on them to call him on it.

Turning off the engine, Horatio faced his first dilemma: how to get both babies into the house. Sighing, he decided that one at a time was the best approach. He'd just have to do it quickly, so as not to leave either child alone for long.

He quickly got out and collected Rosalyn from her capsule. She had woken briefly and was now in that pleasant half-asleep state. Gently, Horatio lifted her and moved quickly to the front door. Once inside, he deposited her on a soft arm-chair in the front room before going back to fetch William. He locked the car once his son was safely in his arms and went back inside, this time going straight to the nursery and putting William inside Speed's insect-covered crib. He jogged back down the hall and retrieved Rosalyn, and deposited her in Eric's aquatic crib.

Both babies had gone straight back to sleep, not seeming fazed at all by the change in scenery. Then again, he remembered Alexx saying that newborns were unable to focus or identify specific sounds for several months. So maybe it wasn't so strange that they still slept peacefully.

Potential crisis averted, Horatio stepped back and stood, hands on his hips, just watching them sleep. Both had a soft, fuzzy covering of dark red hair, and their eyes were dark brown, just like their mother. Soothed by their peaceful breathing, Horatio re-affirmed his pledge.

"I promise that they'll have a better life than you, Holly. I promise it."