Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made.
A/N: Anything between asterisks is in sign language. There's a fair bit of it now that the kids are older – 6 years old, in fact, and ready for the first day of school.
-DT-
*Come on Will,* Calleigh signed to her son, *time to go. Don't want to be late for your first day of school.* The large, cheery smile hid how nervous she was. Horatio had already left to take Rosie to her school, which was further from the house but closer to the lab.
*I'm coming, I just need to fetch my bag.* Will was also very nervous. He'd never been on his own for a whole day, and was already missing his sister.
*Go and get it then. I'll wait by the door.* Calleigh watched as her son ran down the hall to his bedroom and picked up his school bag. He and Rosie now had separate rooms, though they spent as much time together as possible.
Will trudged back, not really wanting to go to the special school for the hearing impaired. He hadn't had much to do with other children before, even other deaf ones. And although the classes would be small, there would still be more kids than he was used to. And Rosie wouldn't be there to help him.
The drive to the school only took a few minutes, and Will had to admit to himself that it didn't look too bad. There was quite a large playground next to the building, with a large sand pit, several swing sets and a climbing frame. At least that would be fun – Will loved to climb. Rosie wasn't so keen on it, but she usually went along with him anyway.
Calleigh parked the car and took Will's hand as they made their way through the other arriving families to Will's new classroom. There they would meet up with his teacher again, and Calleigh hoped that he wouldn't fuss too much when she had to leave.
Inside the classroom, a pretty young teacher smiled and signed a greeting to them. Miss Henderson had lost her hearing as a teenager, though with a hearing aid she could function perfectly well in the hearing community, and had graduated from college with a degree in teaching special needs primary school children just a couple of years ago. She had a wonderful way with all children, and was good with nervous parents as well.
Will gave her a shy smile and a wave. He'd only met Miss Henderson once, but he liked her. She signed to him; she didn't just talk to the adults and let them translate. It didn't matter that he was a very good lip-reader; he liked it when people signed directly to him. Or at the very least, spoke directly to him so he could see their mouths properly.
As Calleigh put his bag away and went to talk to the teacher, Will saw a young girl sitting at one of the tables and sniffling. She had long, curly blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders, and light blue eyes filled with tears. Her school uniform was slightly rumpled, as if she hadn't taken very good care of it so far. Will went over to see what was wrong.
*Are you okay?* He signed, after waving to get her attention. She shook her head.
*Miss Mummy.* Her signing wasn't as well developed, but Will could understand it easily.
*I miss my sister. We're twins, but she can hear, so she has to go to a different school.*
*Big brother goes Sacred Heart. Want go too. But me deaf, go here.*
*I'm Will. What's your name?*
*Jessie.*
*I'm going to go say goodbye to Mama, but I'll be back. Can I sit with you today?*
*Okay,* Jessie nodded shyly. She liked this boy. He was a lot better at signing than she was, and she wasn't sure about all the sings he used, but she could tell what he meant overall. She watched as he ran over to the pretty blonde lady and hugged her.
*I'll be fine, Mama. You'll be here to get me tonight?* Calleigh ruffled his dark red hair, smiling fondly at him.
*Of course I will, darling. You have fun, okay?*
*Okay.* With that he turned and made his way back to Jessie and sat down next to her. Calleigh was glad that he seemed to be settling in so quickly, and figured that it was just in his nature to help someone in need. It made him feel more comfortable. He'd seen his parents go out of their way to help people plenty of times before, and Calleigh certainly wasn't going to discourage it as a personal trait.
As she made her way back to the car, she wondered how Horatio and Rosie were getting on.
-DT-
As soon as she saw the imposing school building, Rosie's excited chatter ceased. She wasn't sure about this anymore. Horatio noticed the sudden silence and smiled back at his daughter as he shut off the engine. The little girl had never had a problem asserting herself before, and he was sure she'd be just fine now.
On the other hand, she'd always had to stick up for her brother in the past. She'd never come into contact with other children without him, and Horatio wondered how she would react to the new environment on her own.
"Daddy?" Rosie asked in a small voice as Horatio helped her out of the car and handed her backpack to her.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"How long do I have to stay here?"
"Today? You'll be here until three o'clock this afternoon."
"And you'll be here to pick me up as soon as I'm done?"
"Of course I will."
"But what if you get a case and have to interview a suspect? Or go chasing someone far away and can't get here in time?"
Horatio paused. His little girl was really worried about this. He stopped walking and knelt down so that they could look each other in the eye.
"Sweetie, did I ever let any of that stop me when you were in kindergarten?"
"No…" Rosie shook her head slowly. No matter what, Horatio and Calleigh always picked up their kids on time.
"And it won't stop me now, I promise. You and Will are the most important things in my life. Work can always wait. Understand?"
"Okay," Rosie nodded, a small smile returning to her face.
"Okay," Horatio confirmed and rose to his feet again. "Now let's go meet the rest of your class."
-DT-
Horatio and Calleigh pulled into the CSI car park within minutes of each other, and compared notes as they entered the building together. They agreed that there was nothing to worry about with Will, and hoped that after today Rosie would settle.
In the meantime, though, there was a case which demanded their full attention.
-DT-
At three o'clock, Rosie made her way to the front doors of the school with the rest of her class. She stood at the top of the steps for a moment, searching desperately, then she saw the tell-tale flash of red hair and broke into a large smile.
"Daddy!" She squealed as she ran to Horatio and threw herself into his arms. Her father picked her up and held her close in a bear-hug, making her giggle.
"Hi there sweetie. Did you have fun at school?"
"I guess," came the response, muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder. "But I don't wanna come back tomorrow."
"Why not?" Horatio asked in surprise as he carried her to the car. It wasn't the response he'd been expecting.
"…The lady kept telling us what to do all the time." Oh. Horatio smiled. Both of his children were very independent, Rosie especially so. He should have realised that structured lessons were going to be a pretty big culture shock for the little girl.
"I'm afraid that that's going to be something you'll have to get used to, sweetheart. There will always be someone telling you what to do, even when you get out of school and go to work. It's just how the world works."
"Then I'll become President," Rosie said confidently, startling her father. "No one tells him what to do."
"I'm afraid they do, sweetheart. It's called parliament. Not even the president can do whatever he wants all the time." He paused for a moment. "But there's nothing stopping you if that's what you really want to do."
"Hmm…" Rosie hummed in an imitation of her father, making him smile again. "Maybe I'll just be a vet instead."
"Fair enough," Horatio nodded. He much preferred the thought of Rosie as a vet to the idea of her as a politician. "Let's get back to the lab and see how Will's day was."
-DT-
*I really like Miss Henderson,* Will signed happily to his mother after waving goodbye to his new friend. *And Jessie too. School's fun!*
*I'm glad you feel like that,* Calleigh smiled. *What did you do today?*
*We learned a lot of new signs. Well, not new for me, but there were some that you and Daddy don't use a lot, so I got to practise them. And we talked about our families. I helped Jessie make some of the signs. Her parents don't spend much time signing with her, so she can't say everything she wants to yet. But I think she liked learning new things.*
He had to stop as they got to the car and Calleigh buckled him in. It was a necessary rule that the driver couldn't sign while they were in the car, but Will was itching to get out so he could tell his mother more about his day.
Eventually they arrived at the Crime Lab, and Will ran inside a few steps ahead of his mother. Paula waved at them as they ran up the steps to Horatio's office together.
Upon seeing each other, Rosie and Will ran to hug, then pulled away and started signing about their days. Their small hands were moving far too fast for the adults to keep up, so Calleigh went over to give her husband a kiss.
"Anything come up while we were gone?" She asked, referring to the case. Horatio smiled.
"Actually, Eric and Ryan managed to find the evidence to arrest our suspect. We just need you to finish the bullet comparison, and then we can all go home once the paperwork is finished."
"Excellent," Calleigh smiled broadly. "Are you taking Ray Jr. out tonight?" Ray Jr. had just gotten his learner permit, and Horatio took a great delight in teaching his nephew manoeuvres that weren't strictly necessary for a teenager – and weren't all strictly legal. But that had never stopped him from using them himself, and he was convinced that the more Ray Jr. knew about how to handle his car, the less likely he was to get killed in a crash.
"I was hoping to," Horatio nodded. "Is that okay?"
"Of course. I was thinking of inviting him and Yelina over for dinner anyway. You could take him out afterwards."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Cousin Ray's coming over?" Rosie asked excitedly. At Horatio's nod, she clapped her hands in delight. "Yay!" Will also looked pleased.
Both twins loved their older cousin, and he adored them in return. He babysat whenever Horatio and Calleigh had a case that lasted longer than expected, and was happy to play all sorts of games with them.
"I'll give Yelina a call," Calleigh said and turned to leave. "Then I'll be in Ballistics. I'll have the comparison done within the hour."
"That's my girl," Horatio nodded before kneeling to sign to his kids. *I have some work to finish. You two stay here, okay?*
*Okay Daddy,* the twins signed in unison. They had several toys and colouring books stashed in the office for those occasions when they had to stay at the Lab. They settled in to wait until it was time to go home.