Title: Two Lives

Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab/Miami Heat/LJ)

Summary: Calleigh Duquesne is kidnapped and isolated from the world. She's trapped between trying to escape and protecting what she treasures most. Crossover with CSI.

Category: Crossover – Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio

Genres: Established Relationship, Suspense

Characters: Horatio Caine, Calleigh Duquesne, Natalia Boa Vista, Alexx Woods

Warnings: none

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 11 "Baby Stuff"

Author's Notes: thanks to Riley and Opal for betaing yet again!

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After everyone had left, Horatio had tried to offer assistance with things that needed to be done, but she hadn't let him. He knew he had to give her the space she needed, but he found it hard when he wanted to be so desperately included in his child's life. His little girl didn't even know him, and he wondered how long it'd take for her to recognize him as her father and called him that. Leaving Calleigh to get Emma ready for bed, Horatio sat on the couch with his elbows resting on his knees as he stared out the window at the darkening sky.

Calleigh had felt a bit out of place as she had gotten Emma ready. The bathroom and things weren't familiar at all to her. Alexx had picked up travel sizes of the baby soaps and lotions, but she didn't have Emma's duck or her baby hooded bath towel. Wrapping her daughter up in the towel that she had found in a closet, she carried her into the bedroom, and laid her in the middle of the bed. She dried her and rubbed baby lotion everywhere before putting her diaper and putting her into her pink pajamas.

Tired, and ready to sleep herself, Calleigh got up with Emma pulled close and slung the diaper bag over her shoulder. Walking out, she saw Horatio just sitting on the couch staring. She felt bad for pushing him away, but she wasn't ready quite yet. "Hi," she whispered as she approached him.

A smile came to his face as he dropped his hands and straightened up. "Hey, bath time all over?"

"Yeah," Calleigh said softly smiling down at Emma. "Would you—would you mind feeding her her bottle while I take a shower?" she asked a bit hesitantly, but she reminded herself that Horatio was Emma's father and he had promised to take care of them. She had trusted him with her life for so many years…she could trust him to do this one thing, right? "I'm sure she'll be okay and take it…" she mumbled on.

Horatio stood up and wrapped his arms around her loosely and pressed his lips to her forehead and smiled when he heard her voice stop and a small sigh. "I'll do it. Don't be afraid to ask for help, okay?" he told her pressing another kiss to her forehead. Pulling back, he saw that she was looking down and his heart broke feeling that she still seemed so broken. Lifting her chin, he gave her a smile, "There you are."

"Sorry…old habits, I guess," she responded still keeping her voice down. "You sure you're okay with taking her?"

Taking his daughter from Calleigh, he held her close and smiled when the toddler let her head fall to his shoulder. "We'll be fine… I'm not sure how to put together a bottle though," he admitted.

"Well, that's the easy part," Calleigh spoke up a bit louder with a tiny smile and walked towards the kitchen and could feel Horatio following. She set the diaper bag down and pulled out a clean bottle set and a small can of baby formula mix. "Normally I use baby water, but Alexx and I didn't pick up any today," she said and showed Horatio how much to fill the bottle with. "Only about twenty seconds or so, just so it's not too hot," she rambled. "And then you put three scoops of the powder and shake it up."

He watched silently as Calleigh went about making the bottle. He felt he had the jist of it though, and smiled when she handed over the ready bottle to him. "Go ahead and take your shower…we'll be fine for a while…" he told her and walked back towards the couch, so he could sit down with Emma. "Use whatever you need," he said over his shoulder to her. He wanted her to feel comfortable, and he just hoped that she'd ease into things.

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Almost an hour later, Calleigh emerged in a pair of old pajamas she was surprised still fit. The pants and the tank top fit her a bit more snugly than they used to, but they still fit. She had taken the time to pull her hair back and braid it, so that it was out of the way. She had completely lost track of time; not used to being able to take her time. She saw the clock and let out an audible gasp as she walked towards Horatio, "Oh my God, I'm sorry I took so long," she let out and then immediately went quiet when he saw Emma asleep in his arms. "Awww she's asleep already," she said a bit disappointed as she sat down carefully next to Horatio. She liked rocking her to sleep herself, but it seemed like she might have to give that up.

"You look better," Horatio commented quietly.

Blushing a bit, she looked down, "I'm not used to being able to take a shower so long…but I think I've killed the hot water for a bit," she told him. "But I found some pajamas in one of the boxes…"

"I told you they'd still fit," Horatio told her with a smile.

"They're a bit tight, but I suppose it works…" Calleigh said and then gave in to her urge to hold Emma. "Do you mind very much if I hold her? Just for a bit."

Horatio handed the sleeping toddler carefully over, "She just floated off to sleep after she finished the bottle…" He smiled at Calleigh cradling their little girl, "Do you have any idea what you want to do, Sweetheart?" he asked not knowing if Calleigh would ever be comfortable living with someone else. He certainly wasn't going to press.

"Hmmm?" Calleigh mumbled as she looked over at him. "What do you mean?"

"Will you be alright living here or do you want me to help you find someplace else?" he offered. "I don't want to pressure you at all… I just don't want you to feel like you did in Las Vegas," Horatio finished trying not to sound like he was pushing Calleigh out either.

Calleigh's eyes widened thinking about how she really didn't have anywhere to go…and she wasn't even sure if she could do her job anymore. "Oh…umm…"

"You don't have to make the decision now, Sweetheart," Horatio tried to ease to decision.

"I don't want to be alone," she whispered looking down at Emma.

He smiled over at her, "You're not alone, Sweetheart. I'm here for you and Emma for as long as you'll have me…"

"I don't want to kick you out of your own home, though…we're a lot for this amount of space," Calleigh told him. "I could—I could stay with my dad…or maybe…maybe…"

Tears welled up in her eyes, and he knew that she was worried. He hadn't intending on upsetting her, but he didn't want to do that with the confines of his apartment. "You can stay with me if you want, Sweetheart, but then maybe we should find some place bigger? Hmmm?" he asked, reaching out and wiping her tears away. He was a tad surprised when he found the warmth of her cheek pressed into the palm of his hand. Cold tears continued to run down his hand, and Horatio had to stop from wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"I don't want to put you out," she responded through sniffles.

Running his hand along her face, he tried to smile. "You're not putting me out… Maybe we should look into a house rather than an apartment. Three bedrooms? Maybe an office or something…" He wanted Calleigh to feel like something was hers…that she would be able to be safe.

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"It's too much," Calleigh argued quietly as she looked over a bedroom set for Emma. She sighed and leaned against a dresser. She felt bad, mostly because she wasn't able to take care of things. She had money; she just had to deal with the bank and reissuing cards and such. Having to rely on Horatio so much made her a bit uneasy; she felt like she and Emma were burdening him…even if he insisted that wasn't the case. They were going to find a bigger place, and Horatio was insistent that it needed to be big enough, so she and Emma had enough space.

Alexx frowned and looked over at Natalia, who had Emma nearby. "Calleigh, Honey… Horatio said to get whatever you wanted… Now Emma can't sleep in the bed with you forever…and it's reasonable and it's sturdy… The crib turns into a toddler bed and can be converted into a twin bed frame. The dresser set will last at least that long. You have to think of it as a long term investment."

"We don't even know how much space we'll have wherever we're moving," Calleigh pointed out.

Natalia and Alexx had discussed how it might be difficult to shop with Calleigh while they had carpooled together to pick up Calleigh and Emma. "Why don't we look at a stroller then? You need one of those… I mean, do you know how many germs take up residence on shopping carts?" When she at least got a small smile from Calleigh, she motioned for her to move. "Consider yourself lucky, they have cute pink stuff now for girls…"

Calleigh took Emma from Natalia, and allowed herself to relax a bit. As the group went over to where the car seats and strollers were, they stood back and took in the array of choices. "Doesn't that one match the car seat?" Calleigh asked Alexx figuring her friend would know more since she had bought it in Las Vegas.

"Yes," Alexx confirmed. "Let me tell you Honey, you have a lot more color choices than when my kids were little," she smiled.

"Why don't we get that one then," Calleigh said and walked up to the card with the price and information and started to read over the key features. "It's supposed to be easy fold…and the pieces are machine washable…"

Alexx reached up to the display and pulled it down, "Let's try it out really quick." She pushed the locks up to unlock the back wheels with her toe and motioned to Calleigh, "Go on and give Emma to Natalia and let's see how this thing works for you."

"I'm sure it works fine," Calleigh said not giving up Emma quite yet.

"Why not see how she fits in it?" Natalia suggested.

Giving in, Calleigh placed Emma into the stroller and buckled her in and was surprised when her daughter's eyes lit up and she started to explore the stroller. "I guess she likes it…"

"So, what about the crib set?" Alexx asked looking down at Calleigh. "She needs it, and at least a blanket and some sheets…"

"Didn't Horatio say to get clothes and diapers and everything, too?" Natalia chimed in.

"We're gonna max out his credit card," Calleigh mumbled, getting Emma out of the stroller.

Alexx smirked, "I'm sure he wanted that or else he wouldn't have given it to us to use," she explained putting the stroller back up on display. "Besides…it's not like we're getting anything outrageous."

"The crib set is like five hundred dollars," Calleigh quickly pointed out.

"It converts into a toddler bed and a twin bed, Calleigh. Plus, it comes with a dresser and a cabinet thing," Natalia tried to reason.

"Stop worrying so much, Honey," Alexx told her friend, putting an arm around her and hugging her a bit with one arm before pulling the claim ticket for the stroller and the crib set that Calleigh had liked.

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TBC…