A/N : Another update yet again. Hope you love this chapter as much as i did. I fangirled when i was writing this chapter for some reason which you will find out when you read it.

By the way, thank you to all who reviewed my story. Your reviews have kept me going and going. So yes, your support is much appreciated ;)

Cheerios! ;)

Calleigh then went to prepare food for both children and when she turned to both the children, she saw their faces light up the moment they saw her holding the bowl even though they had no idea what it was. Calleigh laughed and approached them. Once she started feeding them, both of them seemed contented and Horatius have long thrown his biscuit away. Both of them waited patiently to be fed turn by turn. Just as she was feeding the both of them, Alayna burped loudly, indicating that she has had enough. It was her time to stop. Horatius on the other hand, he ate a lot more than his sister did. Calleigh continued feeding him until the bowl was empty. Calleigh then brought them back to the living room for them to play. She wanted to tire them out so that they would sleep earlier. She needed an early night. Especially after having a hectic month. She just needed rest. She just needed to be away from reality.

Calleigh started entertaining both children with their toys. She played along with them, taking the toy car and teaching Horatius how to move it front and back. The little boy watched her attentively and then after a while, he tried to imitate his mother. Calleigh was really proud of him. He was a little bright boy. Alayna on the other hand was not interested in the toy car. Instead, she handed Calleigh the xylophone stick that she was holding.

"Aww look at you. Wanna play the xylophone…" Calleigh cooed and took the stick from her daughter. She started tapping on the xylophone in front of her and made some random music. Alayna giggled whenever Calleigh tapped on the xylophone, making sounds.

"Calleigh…" Handing back the xylophone stick to Alayna, Calleigh turned around immediately when she heard her name.

"Horatio. You're up. Well that was a quick nap." Calleigh sounded surprised because she thought Horatio might need a little more than just a few hours. She thought he might just sleep through the night.

"I needed the toilet and can't go back to sleep." Calleigh nodded and invited him to sit beside her with the children. Horatio shook his head.

"Come on Horatio. Come sit beside me. It's okay. I'm right here with you." Calleigh tapped on the empty space beside her, inviting him. Being insecure, Horatio stepped forward slowly. He was afraid that the children would start crying.

Once Horatio sat down, he studied both children for any signs of wanting to cry. There wasn't any. Both children were focused on their toys. Horatius was sliding his car up and down while Alayna was tapping on her xylophone. Calleigh handed Horatio one of the toy cars and told him to try playing with Horatius. He did as he was told and tried. Horatio placed his car just beside Horatius and imitated his son. That got his attention. Horatius stopped and looked up to his father. He looked at Calleigh and back to his father. Slowly, Horatio reached out his hand to give Horatius the car. He waited for a reaction from his son. Horatio was expecting his son to cry but he was pleasantly surprised. Horatius eyed him wearily before taking the toy car from his hand. Horatio smiled.

"It's not that bad is it handsome…" Horatio just smiled at Calleigh. He was glad that he made the first step to get closer to his son. Horatio took another car and handed to him again. Horatius took it once again and instead of playing with it, he handed it over to Calleigh, who gladly took it from him. After a few minutes, Horatius stopped playing with his toy car, abandoning it to disturb his sister who was busy tapping the xylophone. He crawled over to Alayna's side and took the xylophone stick from her hand, causing her to start crying. Calleigh gave her another toy to keep her quiet but she was not going to let Horatius off.

"Horatius. You're not supposed to do that to your sister. Come here. Give that to mummy." Calleigh said sternly. Horatius looked at her but did not give the xylophone stick to her. He held on to it. "Horatius. Give that back to your sister." He still ignored her and refused to give it back to his sister. "Horatius Declan Caine. Mummy is only going to repeat one more time. Hand it over to mummy." Calleigh was very firm and she had looks that could scare even the scariest criminal. Horatius looked at her then to his sister and then looked at the xylophone stick in his hand. He looked back up to Calleigh, this time with teary eyes. Calleigh's heart broke but she needed to be firm with him. She wasn't going to raise him up as a spoilt child.

"Calleigh…I think you're being too harsh on him." Horatio spoke up when he saw the glare that she was giving to Horatius. She had a very cold, menacing glare that even he himself was scared. What more a seven month old child. Calleigh ignored him. "Calleigh…"

"Horatio, I'm not going to raise him as a spoilt child. He needs to know his boundaries." Calleigh answered firmly. Horatio had nothing else to say. "Now Horatius. Give that to mummy." She reached out her hand for Horatius to hand over the xylophone stick but he was not budging. He was stubborn. "Horatius Declan Caine. Don't make mummy do what I don't want to do." He continued looking at her with teary eyes. Calleigh then saw a teardrop rolled down his cheek. She shook her head, thinking about the pride and stubbornness that her son has despite his very young age. It was definitely Horatio's trait. Although the tear had shattered her heart, Calleigh couldn't give in to him. She needed him to know that it was wrong to take from someone without permission.

"Horatius Declan Caine. That's enough. You have tested me way too much." Calleigh then flicked at his hand. "Give that to me. Now." He cringed at the pain caused. Calleigh could see more tears at the brink of his eyes and slowly it made its way through and rolled down his chubby cheeks. Even after being flicked at, his pride still persisted and still standing tall and proud.

"Calleigh…"

"Horatio. I need to teach him. If I let it be, he's going to think it's okay to take from someone." Calleigh looked over to her son once again and he finally relented and handed over the xylophone stick to her. Horatius was already crying softly but Calleigh was not going to console him. He looked at his mother but she ignored him. Calleigh saw the look on his face and she badly wanted to take him in her arms and hold him there but he needed to learn. Tears continued falling as he stared at his mother, hoping she would take him in her arms but to his dismay, she did not. He was left there alone.

In the end, Horatio decided to step up and approached his son. Horatius was staring at his hand where Calleigh had flicked earlier. It was red. Horatio slowly and gently took his son's hand and rubbed the reddening area to soothe the pain on it. Horatio then reached up to his son's face to wipe the tears on his cheeks.

"You're a strong boy aren't you Horatius?" Horatio looked straight at his son. "Strong boys don't cry. So if you're a strong boy, you can't cry okay?" The look on Horatio's face softened. His son looked at him and for the first time, Horatio felt at ease. He did not see the fear in the little boy's eyes. The only thing he saw was adoration and admiration. He looked at his son. It was really a reflection of himself.

Right then, Horatius crawled and climbed onto his father's lap, snuggling into his chest. Horatio looked at Calleigh and smiled. He wrapped his arms around his son, giving him the assurance that he would hold and protect him. Gently, he rubbed Horatius' back up and down. When he calmed down, Horatio turned him so that they would be facing each other.

"Now that's a strong boy. Next time listen to mummy alright." Horatio kissed his forehead and held him to his chest, placing Horatius' head on the crook of his neck. Suddenly Alayna crawled slowly towards Horatio and handed him a toy of hers. Horatio was puzzled over her actions until he realized that she was looking at her brother. He understood now that she was giving the toy to her brother instead of himself. Horatio lifted his son off his chest and turned him to face Alayna.

"Horatius, your sister is giving you something." Horatio took the toy from Alayna and handed it to Horatius. "Look. Isn't this what you wanted?" He waved the xylophone stick at Horatius but he ignored it. He didn't want it anymore. Instead, he leaned further onto Horatio.

"Aww sweetheart, your brother doesn't want it anymore. You can keep it." Horatio told her as he handed back the xylophone stick to her. He stood up and took a seat on the couch with Horatius while Alayna continued playing on her toys. Calleigh came back into the living room only to be so glad that Horatio managed to overcome his anxiety. She hid behind the wall to watch Horatio. She was glad that his basic father instinct was still there. After a while more, Calleigh came out of her hiding spot and handed the milk bottle to Horatio. She handed the other bottle to her daughter as she picked her up. The moment Horatio gave the bottle to Horatius, he immediately grabbed hold of it and started sucking on it. As minutes passed by, his eyes were getting droopy and finally fell asleep in his father's arms.

"I think he's tired from crying the whole day." Calleigh spoke up. Horatio agreed with her. He took away the bottle from Horatius gently so that he would not feel it. He didn't want to wake him up. Both Calleigh and Horatio then made their way up to the nursery to tuck both children to sleep. Calleigh was more than glad that both children had gone to sleep. It was now her turn to rest. Before leaving the room, Calleigh went to Horatius to kiss him goodnight and whispered an apology to him.

As she made her way into their bedroom, Calleigh noticed that Horatio was not following her. Instead, he stood by the door.

"Horatio?" He stared at her blankly. "You coming? Or are you going to stand there?" Horatio just stood there staring at her. Calleigh stepped forward towards him and reached out to his cheek. "Handsome, I know all this is new to you and I'm not going to push you. I can prepare the guest room if you want me to. I don't mind." Calleigh smiled sincerely although deep inside she really wanted to have Horatio by her side. She really wanted to snuggle into him while she was sleeping. She just needed someone to hold her. It has been too long since she slept in his arms. Silently, she prayed hard that Horatio would decline her offer and stay in their room.

"Okay. If it's not much trouble." Her heart shattered at that. Horatio could see the drop in her face. "Calleigh, it's not that I don't want to. I just...I...I just am not ready yet." Calleigh nodded understandingly and went ahead to prepare the guest room. She hadn't expected that Horatio would accept her offer on the guest room. After she prepared the room, they went their separate ways; Calleigh into their bedroom while Horatio, into the guest room.

Once in the room, Calleigh shut the door. Immediately her mask disappeared and she broke down into tears. Her strong front had shattered into pieces. She was sobbing silently in the room. She was in her own world. No matter how hard she tried to stay strong, she just couldn't. Losing her baby was one thing but having her own husband in the house but not by her side was just too much. She needed him. He was so near yet so far. Seated and leaning on the door, Calleigh continued crying. She was too emotionally exhausted. The loss of her unborn baby had taken a toll on her. She was still blaming herself for it; for not taking care of her pregnancy. She sobbed harder. When she had lost the baby a month ago, Horatio was not by her side to give her words of encouragement or just simply hold her. That was all she needed; for someone, especially the man she loved to just hold her. Instead of the man she needed the most, it was her friends who had stayed by her. Her husband was too busy chasing criminals. He was too busy protecting his family that he had forgotten to weigh the consequences of it.

If only Horatio had not proceeded with his plan to hunt down the man who had been threatening him, then none of these would have happened. She would still be pregnant with their third child and Horatio would still be by her side when she needed her during her emotional times. Horatio would still be there to hold her when she needed him to. She wanted to blame him for everything that happened but she knew she couldn't. He was just trying to protect his family. She was confused. She wanted badly to just disappear; to escape from all of these. She doesn't know how much more she could take. She was crying harder that her shoulders were shaking violently. Tears were streaming down her cheeks continuously.

She placed her hand on her abdomen, thinking back about the child she lost. Initially she was not prepared for another baby but it was after all her baby, her blood and flesh. She was excited for its arrival. She could have been nearing the end of her second trimester. The baby should be arriving in another three to four months but it was not going to happen. She clutched at her abdomen tightly. There could have been a baby bump if she had not been stupid enough to get off the bed when she was weak. It was flat. Her stomach was now flat. There was no more life growing in it. She was no longer pregnant and upon realization, she cried harder.

To be continued...

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