Chapter 26

On Monday afternoon, July 22nd James Burton called Horatio to his office.

"Horatio, after you came to see me regarding Julia wanting to find Ron Saris, I spoke to Matthew Curtis and invited him to come and see me. He came to see me immediately, and after a discussion with him I agreed to try and make contact with the Protection Services to see if they could help in this matter, but with no guarantees."

"Thank you James. Were they able to help?"

"Just coming to that Horatio...I made contact with them, and they agreed to hand the divorce consent form to Ron Saris, who I understand, surprisingly, agreed to sign the form with no argument, which has been passed directly to the divorce and division of assets court, and Matthew Curtis notified accordingly. As this was a special situation, the Court finalised the divorce immediately, so as from three days ago Julia and Craig Roberts are free to get married."

"Matthew Curtis has thanked us for our help."

Horatio sighed with relief on hearing this news, and was pleased that all appeared to have gone smoothly. He was happy for both Julia, and Craig Roberts.

"Thank you for all your help James."

"Thank you for telling me about this in the first place Horatio, as we have been able to avert a potential problem. If Julia had published in a newspaper, other parties interested in Saris's whereabouts may have been alerted to the fact he is still alive and may be around in Miami."

"Is he?"

James sighing replied, "No Horatio, he is not."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, but you know I cannot tell you?"

Horatio gave up at that point. He knew James had gone out on a limb as it was.

"Ok James. Thanks once again...better get back to work now."

As Horatio left his office James sat there with a thoughtful look on his face...He knew Horatio deserved to know where Saris was, but his hands were tied...Saris was in New York, and that is where he hoped he would stay forever. Like Horatio though he distrusted the man.

In the meantime and not wasting any time in making arrangements to get married, Julia and Craig had already applied for a marriage licence at the Coral Gables District Court, and provided all the information needed. They were going to get married at the Court itself on Thursday, July 25th at 2:00 pm. It was just to be a very quiet simple wedding, with two guests invited, if they could make it.

Tuesday morning Craig Roberts phoned Horatio at work, and told him their plans and asked if he would join them as both a guest and a witness, for the ceremony, and told him Kyle had already agreed to be there, having arranged an afternoon off at the Academy.

"Can I come back to you a bit later, just a few things I need to check on first."

"Ok Horatio, no problem."

Horatio sat there in contemplation for a few minutes, he would like to go for Kyle's sake but was feeling uncomfortable about how Aileen might react, if he accepted, and he wouldn't blame her if she reacted badly but he took a deep breath and phoned her.

"Horatio..."

"Sweetheart, I have just had Craig phone me; He and Julia are getting married, on Thursday afternoon, and asked me to be a guest, and a witness. Kyle is going."

"Would you have any objections to me going?"

"Horatio... Why on earth would I object?"

"Well, I thought you might think it hypocritical of me after the way I treated you recently where Julia is concerned. If I am honest, I would like to go for Kyle, by showing him I am happy for his mother - too often I showed him in the past that I wasn't."

"Don't be silly darling. Of course, you must go, but not just for Kyle, go for yourself. You said Julia deserved some happiness, so go and be happy for her."

Horatio smiled. "Thank you for being so understanding. How come I ever deserved you to come into my life Sweetheart?"

After closing the call, Horatio sat there for a minute, and could not stop his eyes watering. Aileen never failed to amaze him at her generosity towards people. He still had not forgiven himself for hurting her recently when the subject of Julia had come up, but she had shrugged it off, because she loved him, and god how he loved her. He would so like to have had a chance to meet her mother; she must have been a wonderful woman. Her father had been a bastard, but her mother had by all accounts had the strength to help her over the bad times, and a Mother, who had also had the strength to kick her husband out of their lives to protect her daughter.

Just as he wiped his eyes with his fingers, Frank entered his office.

"You okay Horatio?"

Horatio startled, quickly responded, "Yes Frank...just got something in my eye."

"Do you want something?"

"No, I was just passing and noticed you looked as if you might be upset about something."

"I'm fine Frank. But thank you for asking."

As Frank left, Horatio re focused and phoned Craig Roberts and told him he would be happy to attend the wedding ceremony on Thursday.

Thursday morning Horatio arrived at work, with a change of suit, shirt and tie in a garment bag, hung it up in his office and took a walk around the lab to find Eric, and asked him to cover for him from 1:30 -3:00 pm as he had a wedding ceremony to attend.

"Sorry to ask Eric, but Kyle's mother is getting married today and I would like to be there for him."

"No problem Horatio."

The morning was uneventful, well nothing he needed to get involved with anyway, so he settled for doing some paperwork, which seemed never ending these days, but he was so deft at getting paperwork cleared it never took him long to complete.

At 12:30 pm, he went to the men's room, freshened up and changed ready for the wedding. Had a quick check around the lab, and told Eric he was leaving.

He arrived at Coral Gables Court a little early, and met up with Kyle just outside the main court doors. As they entered the court together Kyle said, "Thanks for coming Dad,"

"I wanted to Kyle. I am happy to be here. I do wish your mother a happy future with Craig."

Julia and Craig were waiting just inside, and Craig gave both of them a white carnation buttonhole.

Then Horatio looking and smiling at Julia said, "You look beautiful Julia."

"Thank you for being here Horatio. It means a lot to me that you felt you could join us."

At precisely 2:00pm they were ushered into the room reserved for marriage ceremonies, and thirty minutes later, they were back outside, the ceremony over. A photographer had taken a few pictures inside the court and joined them outside, and took a few more in the afternoon sunshine.

When the photographer left, Craig said, "Horatio we are going for a celebration meal now, you are most welcome to join us. Kyle is joining us."

Horatio smiled and declined. "Thank you Craig, and Julia, but I will leave you to enjoy your special day together."

Then taking Julia's hands in his he said, "I am truly happy that you have finally found a good person to be by your side. Be happy Julia. I never wanted anything else but for you to be happy."

"I always knew that deep down Horatio," said Julia as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Then hugging her, and looking over her shoulders at Kyle, he whispered, "Thank you for Kyle Julia."

She caressed his face and responded. "We had a few good moments Horatio, and he was the result."

"And I wouldn't be without him Julia."

"Take care and be happy. Craig is a good man."

He watched Julia, Craig and Kyle walk away, and continued to stand outside the court for five minutes, and while it was not the court, where he and Marisol were married, he gave her a special thought today.

Then he left swiftly and returned to work.

TBC