Disclaimer: The usual, not mine, no profit made.

A/N: And the winner is… lt2! You guessed it. Also, since Speed's had such an easy time with Avari over in DLG, Horatio gets the fussy babies. I'm pointing and laughing in my head.

-DT-

Horatio groaned and rolled out of bed. Glancing at the clock by his bedside, he saw that it was two thirty in the morning. He could hear one of the twins crying through the baby monitor, and padded quietly to their room.

He'd heard of babies who slept through the night. Such mythical creatures might have existed somewhere, but not in his house. William tended to wake up once or twice during the night, but need attention all day. Rosalyn was just the opposite – she often slept right through the day, but would wake several times at night.

Sighing, Horatio lifted his daughter from her crib. She stopped crying, apparently just needing his comforting presence.

"You're killing me here, Sweetheart," he whispered to the little bundle held to his chest. She just sighed and closed her eyes again. Smiling, Horatio sat in the armchair he'd moved into the nursery. He pulled the blanket off the back and wrapped it around both of them. Maybe he could get another few hours of sleep…

-DT-

He was woken again to find William starting to cry. A glance at the window revealed that the sun was rising, signalling William's turn for attention. Replacing Rosalyn in her crib, Horatio stretched, trying to get the crick out of his neck before retrieving the other infant. The boy was probably hungry.

As the bottle warmed, Horatio rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was grateful that he had another six weeks before he had to go back to work – longer if he decided to use some of his stored up vacation time. At the moment, if he tried working a case, he'd probably fall asleep in the middle of the lab. Not exactly the best example to set for his team.

Thinking of which, Calleigh was meant to be coming over for lunch. Horatio had mistakenly mentioned to Speed that he wasn't eating much lately, and Alexx had wheedled the information out of the younger man in one of her concerned interrogations. Actually, Horatio had the sneaking suspicion that she had been grilling Speed about his personal life, and Speed had thrown Horatio's eating habits out as a diversion. He could be very sneaky like that. As a result, Calleigh and Alexx had taken it upon themselves to stop by his house every couple of days to make sure he ate a decent meal. It also gave him a chance to get out of the house and do the grocery shopping, or go for a walk and get some sun, though he kept his outings as short as possible.

It wasn't that he didn't trust his friends with his children, he just… didn't trust anyone with his children.

The microwave beeped at him, pulling Horatio from his thoughts. He managed to screw the top onto the bottle and sat down at the kitchen table to feed William.

-DT-

After a very pleasant lunch, filled with the usual mild flirting, innuendos and double entendres, Horatio was clearing up. Calleigh had gone to entertain Rosalyn, who had woken up from her sleep. Horatio was starting to recognise which cries belonged to which baby, not always an easy task. He felt quite proud of himself for that, and for the ability to tell them apart physically. Most people still had to ask him which twin was which.

He dried his hands on a tea towel, then went in search of his girls. Wait, my girls? Horatio chuckled. I don't think Calleigh would approve of me calling her my girl. He heard Calleigh's drawl coming from the nursery, and went to investigate.

"Who's a beautiful girl?" Calleigh cooed at Rosalyn. The infant was lying on her back on the floor of the nursery, in front of where Calleigh sat cross-legged. They were apparently playing peek-a-boo, or some such game.

Horatio watched silently from the door, unsure if Calleigh was even aware of his presence. She was so wrapped up in the baby in front of her, she probably wouldn't notice a gun going off next to her.

At that, Horatio shook his head. Bad example – this was Calleigh, after all. The Bullet Girl would notice a gunshot instantly, and could probably tell what the gun was with very little thought. Okay, she probably wouldn't notice if I-

"I know you're there, Horatio," he could hear the smile in her voice.

"How? You were concentrating on her," Horatio wondered aloud as he entered the room and sank to the ground next to Calleigh. He loved to watch her with the babies – she was so natural with them, a passerby would probably think they were hers. If he ever let them out of the house, of course.

Calleigh shrugged, before throwing him one of her trademark smiles, the ones that always left him breathless.

"A woman always knows when she's being watched."

Horatio fought to keep the panic off his face at that. In truth, he was always watching the southern belle, far more often than was appropriate for co-workers. And if she'd noticed… but she seemed to be content keeping things how they were, for she turned back to Rosalyn and started playing with her tiny hands.

After a moment, Horatio relaxed again, lulled by the happy noises his daughter was making. He reached out his hand to tickle her stomach, gently brushing against Calleigh's arm in the process. When he turned back to her, there was a faint blush on his subordinate's cheeks. He also noticed that her face was mere inches away. It would be the easiest thing in the world to just lean forward a little more…

-DT-

Horatio was in the kitchen, clearing up from lunch when Calleigh heard one of the babies crying. She quickly went into the nursery, and picked up the fretful Rosalyn, who settled a little but kept whimpering. After a sniff, Calleigh figured out the problem.

"Full diaper. You're a stinky baby, aren't you?" She drawled as she set about remedying the matter. Soon Rosalyn was clean, dry and happy, though she didn't seem sleepy any more. "You finally figured out that daytime is playtime, huh?"

Calleigh gracefully sank to the floor and lay Rosalyn in front of her. She was really too young for peek-a-boo, but she seemed to like the cheerful tone of voice Calleigh used.

After a few minutes, Calleigh felt the warm sensation in the pit of her stomach that always meant Horatio was somewhere near, watching her. She smiled as she complimented Rosalyn, wondering if Horatio was going to come in or just keep standing there.

"Who's a beautiful girl?" She gently stroked the baby's hair before going back to their game. A few more minutes passed, and Calleigh figured she should probably say something to her boss.

"I know you're there, Horatio," she smiled as she informed him. Behind her, Horatio cleared his throat, and she could picture the shifty expression he often wore if caught staring at something – or someone – he shouldn't.

"How? You were concentrating on her," he sounded a little bewildered as he sat next to her. At the close proximity, Calleigh felt her heart speed up. To cover her own nervousness, she threw him a smile that she knew could knock any man off-balance as she shrugged.

"A woman always knows when she's being watched." Not entirely true, but she had learned to recognise when Horatio was watching her. Something that happened a lot more often than IAB guidelines said it should.

Not that Calleigh minded – quite the opposite, actually. It always gave her a thrill to think that Horatio was watching her, looking out for her – and maybe even desiring her.

They had been flirting with each other for years. Ever since they'd met, in fact, though it had never gone any further than words. Calleigh decided, as Horatio's arm brushed her own, that she was tired of playing with him.

She was ready for the real thing. When Horatio turned his face to her, she decided to take the final chance and leaned forward.

-DT-

He kiss took Horatio completely by surprise. Not that he was complaining at all, it was something he'd wanted to do for a long time. The problem had always been that he was never entirely sure if his feelings were reciprocated – after all, if she hadn't felt the same way, it would have ruined their excellent working relationship, not to mention the friendship. And Calleigh had a tendency to flirt with anyone if it would help her get what she wanted.

This, however, was way past flirting.

He then heard William start to fret, and pulled away slightly, earning a soft whimper from Calleigh. Somehow his hands had found their way into her hair, and her arms were wrapped firmly around his neck. Horatio smiled, then placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose.

"To be continued…" he promised.