Discalimer: Not mine
Eleven
Horatio sat in a chair by Elsa's bedside, his heart aching for this girl. She had lost both of her parents. She had no one. Her injuries weren't life threatening, and she would be released soon. The doctor finally left, and she looked at him, finally letting her tears fall. He gathered her in his arms while she cried. There was nothing he could say that would make this nightmare better for her. He was going to find out how the Mala Noche had found them, however. It was the least he could do.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he told her. In his mind, it was as if her father had pulled the trigger himself, since it was his actions that had set the events into motion, and he knew it was more than likely she would see it that way as well, for a long while, at least. "I'm so sorry."
She looked up at him, her brown eyes remarkably clear. "This is because of him, isn't it?"
Horatio had to look away, struggling with himself. Finally his eyes met hers. She needed to know. It may be necessary to keep her safe. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but he's dead, Elsa. He was killed this morning in prison. We think the same people who killed him came after you and your mother as well. It's the way they operate. I'm so, so sorry that we didn't get there in time."
"What will happen to me?" she whispered, memories of the foster home running through her mind. She really didn't want to go back there, or to another one like it.
Horatio took a deep breath. "Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Elsa. My wife and I, Calleigh, who found you in the kitchen, were wondering if you wanted to come home with us. We have three children, two about your age that we adopted, and we have a big house with lots of room. You can just come and stay with us for a while if you'd like, but we'd really like to adopt you and for you to be ours forever. But it's up to you. We want the choice to be yours. Calleigh would have come with me, but she's feeling a little sick right now and they have her in a hospital bed, just to keep an eye on her."
Elsa stared at him, unblinking. "Why would you and your wife want to do that?" she breathed. "Why would you want me? My mom said my dad was a really bad man, that he did some really bad things. You wouldn't want someone like me around your other kids." She swallowed hard, forcing herself to verbalize her true fear. "You wouldn't want someone like me for a daughter."
Horatio looked at her calmly, steadily. This he could answer, easily and unequivocally. "Austin and Patti's dad did some bad things, too. Mine did, too, and Calleigh's. That doesn't have anything to with the person you are. We would like to have a daughter exactly like you: kind, thoughtful, intelligent. You will always be safe and loved with us, I can promise you." The sincerity in his eyes spoke louder than his words.
"I remember…" she said hesitantly. "I remember you. You saved me from that man who was trying to take me to another family and you took me to my mom." Her eyes were on his, but he knew she was seeing that day in her mind. "I begged you… I begged you not to kill him and you didn't. You let him go." Her eyes sharpened once again on his, and he nodded. "That's true."
She swallowed. "Did he… did other people get hurt because you let him go? Because of me?"
Horatio looked down, squeezing his eyes shut, wishing for Calleigh. Then looked into her eyes again. "Sweetheart, nothing that happened was because of you. Your father made his own decisions. And I think that the details can wait. When you're older, if you still want to know, come to me, and I'll tell you everything. But it doesn't matter to me and Calleigh. We will care for you just for you."
She weighed it in her mind. She'd seen so much, and she had learned the hard way that people were not always what they seemed. "Don't take this the wrong way, sir, but I need to know. I need to know what's in it for you."
Horatio smiled. "Call me Horatio. And that's a fair question." He shrugged. "Nothing but another daughter to love. We won't get any money or anything else. We want to give you a good home, because you deserve a good home. That's it."
Elsa nodded slowly. "Can I talk to your wife before I decide?"
He smiled. "Of course. She should be released soon, and I'm going to take her home to rest, but I'll bring her in before we leave. If you decide you want to live with us, you can come home with us today. We saved some of your things from the fire, but we'll get more as soon as we can. If you don't want to come with us, that's okay, too. We'll still help you as much as we can, with anything you need. Child Services will place you with a good family." Elsa shuddered in spite of herself. She'd seen what was deemed to be a 'good' family.
"Okay. Thank you, Horatio."
He smiled. "You're welcome. I'm going to go check on Calleigh and I'll be back."
The doctor came in to see Calleigh just a few minutes after Horatio left. He was a particular friend of Alexx's, and they had laughed earlier that he was going to have to take extra special care of her or Dr. Woods would have his ass. "Well, Mrs. Caine, your oxygen saturation is almost back to normal. You didn't inhale enough smoke to cause any permanent damage, fortunately, to either you or the fetus."
Calleigh actually felt her heart stutter. "Excuse me?"
His kind eyes registered her reaction. "You didn't know."
"I had no idea."
"Well, you'll need an ultrasound to be sure, but my guess is about five weeks, give or take." Calleigh smirked to herself. A honeymoon baby. Of course. "I would go see your OB as soon as possible. Your blood pressure is a lot higher than I would like, which explains the dizziness and the headache," he said pointedly. The headache that she had been rubbing at steadily since he'd walked in the room but that she'd tried valiantly to hide from Horatio. She almost hung her head. Crap! She was as bad as he was.
"I'd attribute it partly to the fire and the pregnancy, but I think it's safe to assume that your job can be fairly stressful at times. I'd like to start you on long-term medication just to be safe." He smiled at her. "Congratulations, Mrs. Caine. I'll get that prescription and you can be on your way. Don't go back to work today. Go home and rest." Calleigh sighed. This man had absolutely no concept of her life.
And then she laughed out loud. She would probably find herself shackled to her bed with her own handcuffs when Horatio found out. She was already scrolling the mental list of possible candidates to break her out of captivity when Horatio came back into the room. Looking at him, she knew she had to do this fast, like ripping off a band-aid. And deal with the fall-out later. Like until this child was about ten.
"Sit down," she said, pulling him to sit next to her on the bed. "And don't talk yet."
He sat, his heart in his throat, his eyes never leaving hers.
"My blood pressure is high," she said without preamble. "That explains the dizziness and this headache." His eyes narrowed but he didn't say a word. "My respiration is fine. There's no permanent damage…" She paused, taking a deep breath, her eyes softening on his. "Not to me or the baby." She saw when it sunk in, as his mouth literally fell open. She fought the urge to giggle, instead pulling him closer, her hands tightening on his. "We're pregnant, Horatio." His mouth opened and closed again, several times, soundlessly, since his shock currently had his voicebox in a chokehold. She thought he may be about to hyperventilate and finally let a chuckle surface. "Breathe, handsome, I don't think I'm quite up to picking you up off the floor if you pass out."
He still had no words, so he just kissed her deeply.
When she was released, he took her to Elsa's room. The girl looked so tiny in that big bed, her dark eyes huge and frightened, and Calleigh's heart went out to her. This little girl deserved a home and a family. Now she just had to talk her into believing it. Going to her, she smiled. "Hey."
Elsa looked up at the woman who had saved her life. She had kind eyes, and she remembered the overpowering relief that someone had come for her. She would always miss her mother, but she knew her mother would want her to be safe and loved, and she knew that her mother had trusted Horatio Caine and that she would have trusted this woman, his wife, who had risked her life to save her daughter. She smiled tentatively. "Hi."
"May I sit?" Calleigh gestured to the side of the big bed, and Elsa nodded. "I know Horatio already spoke to you about coming home with us. We'd like that very much. But it has to be your choice. We adopted our children several months ago, so our applications are already in the system. We know we'll be approved. Our son Austin is eight and our daughter Patti is nearly six." She smiled, pulling out her phone and showing Elsa pictures, of them at the beach, at the house, on vacation with Kyle. "That's our older son, Kyle. He's overseas in the Army right now. We want you to be part of our family, Elsa. We want you to be safe and loved, with us, always." Her eyes were open and sincere, and Elsa thought she could drown in them.
It was on the tip of her tongue to just say yes and be done with it. It was so very tempting. But these people had to know what they were getting into. It wouldn't be right. "You… you wouldn't want me if you knew who I am," she finally said, and Calleigh felt her heart crack, a little. "Honey, we know exactly who you are. You're our daughter and we love you already."
"No, I mean, who my parents were. Who my father was." While she didn't know exactly what he had done, her mother had assured her that he was a monster and they were better off without him. She remembered the last time she had seen him, and the look in his eyes when he had held that gun to that man's head. She was pretty sure that he had killed that man without even thinking twice about it. It still made her shudder to think about it.
Calleigh took Elsa's hand. "We know who your father was, Elsa. It doesn't matter to us in the least. I can promise you that. You aren't your father, honey. You are you, and that's all that matters."
Elsa still felt guilty, like she didn't deserve to go with these nice people to such a nice house. But it sounded so very nice, to be loved and protected by these people that seemed like they cared for her and for each other. Her mother had loved her, but she'd had to fight just to get her back after her father had been arrested, and their existence had always been precarious. She thought of her mother, of what her mother would have wanted her to do, and she finally nodded. "Thank you," she said. "I would like that."
The look in her eyes was so hopeful and courageous in that moment, that Calleigh felt like crying. She knew, without a doubt, that they were doing the right thing, both for Elsa and for their family. Her heart felt so full right now, and she felt a fresh flood of love for her husband, who had known instantly that this was right. She knew she could never have found another man with a heart as big as his.
Calleigh smiled at her, and Horatio stepped up behind her and laid his hand gently on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and no words were necessary. She already knew.
TBC...
