Nine months and two weeks after the IVF
"Ryan," Jessica whispered as she shook Ryan's arm, "Ryan wake up!"
"Huh, what?" Ryan mumbled as he slowly woke up.
"Ryan, it's time," Jessica said.
"Um, 3:47, why?" Ryan muttered.
"No, not what time is it, it's time!" Jessica snipped.
"Oh god!" Ryan exclaimed, sitting up as he finally understood. "Ok, where did we leave your suitcase?"
"It's downstairs by the door," Jessica groaned as she climbed from the bed. "Oh Jesus, yes this is the real deal!"
"Ok, um, just let me get some pants on and grab something for you to wear and um…"
"Ryan!" Jessica snapped, "I have a fucking baby about to burst through my vagina! I don't care what I wear to the hospital just get me there!"
"Right!" Ryan exclaimed as he pulled on a pair of jeans. "Ok, let's go!"
"Are you going to call Dad?" Jessica asked as they waddled down the stairs. "Damn, why didn't we sleep in the guest room?"
"Who?" Ryan asked as he unlocked the door.
"Horatio!" Jessica exclaimed, "One of them belongs to him and Arianna!"
"Oh, right!" Ryan said as he fumbled to pull his phone from his pocket.
"Ryan, forget the phone and get me to the car!" Jessica cried out, "I'm having a fucking baby for Christ's sake!"
"Sorry, I forgot!" Ryan apologized as the elevator door opened to the lobby.
"How the hell could you forget?" Jessica yelled as pain ripped through her body.
Horatio carried the sleeping Carli Anne in his arms as he and Arianna ran through the hospital door. They anxiously rode the elevator cart up to the maternity ward. They found the room Jessica was supposed to be in empty. Horatio grabbed the closest nurse's arm.
"Excuse me ma'am, but my daughter is somewhere around here. Do you know where she is?"
"You mean that girly who looks like a frickin whale that's about to explode?" the nurse inquired, "She's somewhere down the hall. Would you like a bed for the little one?"
"No, she's fine," Horatio said.
"No, I mean for her to sleep in. Your arms are going to get tired if you're waiting for that poor girl to drop a baby."
Horatio blushed slightly and looked at the sleeping Carli. "Yeah that would probably be a good thing."
"Here, give her to me," Arianna said, holding out her arms. "You go find Jessica and Ryan."
"Right," Horatio said as he handed off Carli.
It didn't take long for Horatio to find the moaning Jessica and Ryan. She was posed against the wall in a squatting position. She was groaning and covered in sweat as a pained sound broke through her lips.
"Oh god, make it stop!" she screamed.
"Come on Jess," Ryan encouraged, "Just keep moving, it'll help dilate you more and you can get through this sooner."
"I don't want to get through this; I just want to have the fucking thing!" Jessica continued to scream as her eyes watered.
"Jessie Bug," Horatio said as he approached her.
Jessica looked at him with wild eyes. "Daddy, make it stop!"
"Jessie you need to move," Horatio instructed, helping Jessica to her feet.
"But Daddy I don't want to walk anymore!" Jessica whined, "I just want this to be over!"
"Well walking will help," Horatio said in his mellow voice, "Now walk."
Jessica continued to whine as Horatio led her down the hall. "I fucking hate you, Daddy."
"No you don't," Horatio chuckled, "It's just the pain talking."
Jessica screamed as pain rippled through her body. Tears streamed down her face as she pushed with all her might. She forced every muscle in her body to work together to push the baby out. She stopped and panted in her bed. Ryan ran a cold cloth over her face and tried to sooth her. "It's ok Jess, you're doing great."
"Fuck off Ryan!" Jessica snapped, "You're not the one with the fat ass kid coming out of you!"
"Ok Dr. Wolfe," the doctor said, "Give us another big push."
"Fucking A," Jessica muttered as she resumed her pushing. She groaned and cried out as she felt her body give way under the pressure.
"There it is!" the doctor exclaimed.
"Keep pushing Jessie!" Horatio instructed.
"Stop looking at my vagina!" Jessica screamed as she pushed as hard as she could.
"Little hard not to," Horatio said as he held her left leg in place, "It's the only exit right now."
"Come on Jess, push!" Arianna encouraged her as she held Jessica's right leg.
"Keep pushing Jessica," the doctor instructed, "She's crowning right now."
"It's wearing a fucking crown? No wonder this hurts so much!" Jessica snapped as she continued to push.
Ryan couldn't help but chuckled as he lifted Carli into his arms. "In the middle of having a baby and you're still sassy as hell," he chuckled. He set Carli on the edge of the bed and she held Jessica's hand. "Come on Sissy!" Carli said, "You can do it!"
Jessica squeezed her hand and gave her a weak smile. "You ready to meet your little brother or sister?" she quietly asked as she panted.
Carli smiled and squeezed Jessica's hand back. "Yes!"
"Ok, but I'm going to let go of your hand, I don't want to hurt you," Jessica said as she slipped her hand from Carli's to Ryan's. "Yours though I wouldn't mind crushing right now," she growled as she resumed her pushing.
Pain seared through Jessica's body and then a sudden release of pressure caused her to gasp for air.
"It's a girl!" the doctor exclaimed as the cries of the baby met Jessica's ears. The baby was whisked away by a nurse and quickly toweled off before the nurse handed her to Horatio.
Horatio stood there in awe as he stared down at the small baby with copper colored hair in his arms. Arianna rushed to his side and looked down at the small child.
"Oh my god," she muttered, "She's beautiful."
Ryan was suddenly there and Horatio was handing the baby off to him as tears streamed down Ryan's face. He smiled at the little girl and then at Horatio. "She's incredible," he quietly said.
"Hey!" Jessica exclaimed, "In case you shit heads forgot there's another one and he's coming right now!"
A nurse took the baby from Ryan's arms and he rushed back to Jessica's side as she groaned from the strain of labor. Horatio and Arianna resumed their places helping hold Jessica's legs as she pushed out the second baby more swiftly than the first.
"And here's the little guy!" the doctor exclaimed. He was slightly smaller than the first and cried loudly as the nurses cleaned him. The nurse placed him in Ryan's arms and Ryan smiled down at the tiny baby with blonde curls. Ryan handed him to Horatio and Horatio smiled at the sight of the small child.
"Alright," the nurse said, taking the baby from Horatio and walking over to Jessica as a second nurse with the first baby followed, "Mom's turn." They placed both babies in Jessica's arms and she looked at them with a tear streaked face.
"My god," she whispered, "How could I have said those horrid things about you two?"
Ryan chuckled and kissed her cheek. "So which one do you think is ours?" he quietly asked.
Jessica smiled at him and then looked at the two small babies. "If I had to guess I would say the blonde one," she answered. "I mean look at that hair, it's so Horatio's."
Horatio chuckled and leaned down to kiss his daughter's forehead. "I think they're both beautiful," he whispered. "Thank you Jessie Bug, we couldn't have done this without you."
Jessica smiled at him and then looked down at the two babies in her arms. "Evan and Elise," she quietly said, "Now tell, which of you is my little sibling?"
Jessica sighed contently as she quietly sat in her hospital bed, breast feeding the copper haired baby while Ryan ogled over the blonde boy. She had finally restfully slept and showered since she delivered the two small babies early that morning. Jessica gently ran her hand over the little girl's soft bright hair, smiling to herself.
Jessica smiled when she saw Horatio and Arianna walk into the room. They sat next to her bed as Jessica began to pat the baby on the back.
"So Grandpa Horatio," Jessica smiled, "Any word back from the lab?"
Horatio shook his head. "The hospital lab works a little slower than our DNA lab."
Jessica sighed as she continued to burp the little girl. "Why didn't we send it to the crime lab?"
"Because this isn't a crime, Bug," Horatio chuckled, "We don't really have a choice."
A nurse walked in with a stack of papers and smiled at them. "Well I have what you've all been waiting for," she brightly said.
"DNA results?" Ryan asked as he stood with the small baby boy in his arms.
"Exactly it," the nurse smiled. "According to the tests we ran these two little babies have different parents." She looked at Horatio and Arianna and smiled brightly. "Congratulations, Lieutenant and Mrs. Caine, it's a girl."
Horatio and Arianna's faces lit up happily as they looked from the nurse to each other. Arianna quickly wrapped her arms around Horatio and kissed him. "We have a daughter," she whispered.
Horatio smiled at her and kissed her gently. "I can't believe it," he whispered, "We have a little girl."
"Number three for you mister," Arianna chuckled.
"Wait, so that means this is our…" Ryan quietly said, his voice trailing off as he looked at the small baby in his arms.
The nurse smiled. "Congratulations Mr. and Dr. Wolfe, it's a boy."
Ryan's face lit up in excitement and he held the baby a little tighter. He leaned down and kissed Jessica. "We got a little Theta Chi," he whispered to her.
Jessica chuckled and kissed the end of his nose. "Alright, you win the legacy this time."
One week after Evan and Elise's birth
Horatio cradled the wailing baby in his arms as he paced the kitchen. He bumped into Ryan's arm and muttered an apology. Evan cried loudly in Ryan's arms as Ryan tried to soothe his son's colic.
"Why do they have to be identical in everything, including bellyaches?" Ryan muttered.
"I don't know," Horatio mumbled.
"This is getting old, fast," Ryan sleepily said.
"Would you rather I wake Jessie again?" Horatio smirked.
"No, she's grumpy enough with having to feed two babies on two different schedules," Ryan sighed.
"Identical in everything but in appetite," Horatio chuckled.
"Want to trade?" Ryan said, offering his son to Horatio, "Maybe someone different can convince them to sleep."
"Sounds crazy enough to work," Horatio agreed.
They switched babies and Horatio smiled as his grandson curled against his chest. Evan's cries subsided as he fell asleep in Horatio's arms. He smiled as he stroked his grandson's blonde curls.
"I win," Horatio chuckled. He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Ryan alone with the wailing Elise.
"You jerk," Ryan called after him.
Two weeks after Evan and Elise's birth
Ryan yawned and stretched his arms above his head before he took a long drink of his coffee. Eric chuckled as he walked into the layout room.
"A little tired there, Dad?" Eric chuckled.
"Just a lot," Ryan muttered as he drank more coffee.
"So how's the wife?" Eric inquired.
"Tired," Ryan said, "Probably more tired than me. I swear she's been up all night every night. I feel so terrible for the poor girl."
"Are Jess and Arianna having fun playing at home with the babies?" Eric asked.
"They love it," Ryan smiled. "It's like those two were made to be mothers."
"How does Carli like having you and Jess live with Horatio?"
"Carli's loving it." Ryan said, "She thinks it's the greatest thing ever having her new brother and sister living with her. Now she has a new baby sister and that's pretty sweet. Plus she has a nephew. Carli's on cloud nine right now."
Eric chuckled and shook his head. "Sounds like Horatio and Arianna are playing hosts to a full house."
"Yeah and it's going to be even better once Kyle comes home," Ryan said.
Eric laughed again. "Where's he going to sleep if you and Jess have the guest bedroom?"
"He's sharing a room with Calleigh Anne," Ryan said with a smile, "Which I think she's even more excited about that then having a new sister."
Three weeks after Evan and Elise's birth
"Kyle!" Carli exclaimed as she ran through the hall to hug Kyle.
Kyle smiled and lifted her into his arms. He kissed her cheek and hugged her. "So I take it someone missed me," he said.
"A whole million ton!" Carli said, "I'm so excited you're home! Come meet our new little sister!"
"Another sister?" Kyle laughed, "Man, why can't Dad have another boy already?"
Four weeks after Evan and Elise's birth
Amanda looked at her phone. She didn't want to answer again, not while she was visiting her new niece and grandson. She didn't want to hear his voice. Her phone stopped ringing but quickly began again. She excused herself to answer it, handing Evan back to Ryan.
"What do you want Fin?" she hissed into the phone once she was outside.
"You know what I want," the familiar voice said, "I want to meet our son."
"No, you had your chance thirty years ago," Amanda snapped. "You can't wake up one day and decide you want to be a father."
"What about our grandson? When do I get to meet him?"
Amanda stood there frozen in place. She hadn't told him Jessica was pregnant, or that her grandchild was a boy.
"No," she nearly whispered, "You will not ruin my grandson's life, too."