Shadows of the Past (Part 2)

by Margaret1234

This story follows on where the first part finished, and commences with Michael and Maeve's return to New York, thus still in the timeline of 2013. Almost immediately Michael asks for John Kelly's help and what they find out will ultimately affect Horatio big time. His Nemesis Ron Saris is back and is out for revenge...Horatio will fear for his family, and Yelina makes a return.

37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37...Two weeks later - Walter and his boys, accompanied by Horatio head for New York on their basketball trip.

Saturday, October 19th, everyone going on the trip to New York had arrived at the recreation center by 8:00 am, Horatio and Tommy arriving by cab. Walter with Horatio's agreement, had decided earlier that although the boys were traveling on two different flights, it nevertheless made sense for them all to arrive at the airport at the same time, especially as there was only a little more than an hour between the flight departure times. This cut down the cost of a second coach trip to the airport.

Once a very jovial Walter had checked they had their birth certificates, and luggage labelled correctly, the boys said good-bye to their parents, and boarded the small coach he had hired with a driver to take them to the Miami International Airport.

While Walter was occupied, Horatio hung back a little acknowledging the parents, and then when Walter got to him and Tommy he chuckled when Walter with a deadpan face said, "I trust you have your passport Lieutenant Caine, and Tommy's birth certificate?" Then burst out laughing.

Horatio, shaking his head from side to side and peering over the top of his sunglasses retorted, "Yes I have Mr Simmons, have you remembered your own passport? Because if you haven't we would all be seriously delayed if you have to go home and collect it?"

"Walter slapped his forehead and said, "Drat, I knew there was something I had forgotten."

Some of the parents standing around heard this repartee and smiled. They were sure their boys were going to have a good time, and they were particularly happy that Lieutenant Caine was able to go with them. They all knew that for all his joviality, Walter was a sensible man, but it would not hurt that the Lieutenant was going as well.

Then Horatio and Tommy boarded the coach and sat at the front. Horatio liked plenty of room to stretch his legs and Walter had told the boys to leave the front seats clear for the adults, though Tommy was able to sit next his Dad.

At 8:30 am sharp, Walter boarded, and as the coach drew away from the center, the boys all waved to their parents, and then started chatting among themselves. They kept addressing Horatio as Lieutenant Caine, and he told them that for this trip, he was not on duty and that he would like it if they just called him Horatio, which they did from that moment on.

At 9:00 am, they arrived at the Airport, the coach driver managing to get them close to the North Terminal entrance. On instructions from Walter, the boys got off the coach in an orderly manner while he grabbed two large trolleys, one for his own luggage and that of the boys flying with him, and the other trolley for Horatio and his boys. He tipped the coach driver, saying he would see him on Wednesday evening around 5:30 pm.

As soon as the luggage was loaded on to the trolley's they all moved into the Airport Terminal as a group and split into two groups when they found the check in desks for New York flight departures. Walters was the first flight out and as the desk was already open he led his boys through the check in procedures, and then they made their way to the departure lounge. He bought them all a drink, and an hour later, they passed through customs and boarded their Boeing 737 flight, which left on time at 11:00 am.

The boys with Horatio were excited as from the departure lounge they were actually able to see the flight Walter and his boys were on soar into the air. Horatio's group had to hang around much longer, but had been very patient helped by the fact Horatio bought them all drinks, and a pile of comics. Just one hour and fifteen minutes later, Horatio steered them through customs and they boarded their flight, which also departed on time at 1:30 pm. At this stage, both flights were in the air at the same time.

Back in New York, it was a hive of activity. Jerry's boys had arrived for an early morning training session, and had then helped him put up some welcome to New York bunting.

John Kelly and Sharon arrived at the rectory at 11.30 am. Sharon was going to prepare some food for when everyone arrived. She started working in Jerry's kitchen immediately; some food she had prepared at home and brought with her.

One of Jerry's parishioners, who owned a small coach service, had offered his help, and the use of his 18-seat coach free of charge to collect the Miami visitors from JFK, and John went with him. They were going to do this in two trips. They arrived at the airport just as the first flight landed. Half an hour later, John saw Walter and his group come through the arrivals gate, and waved his hand in the air to catch his attention. Walter beamed, and pushing a trolley full of his and the boys luggage he ushered the boys across to John who shook his hand and said, "Welcome to New York Walter." Then looking at the boy's he introduced himself. "Hey kids, I'm John Kelly, and we will be seeing something of each other while you are here." The boys all smiled, Tommy had told them that they would meet John Kelly, his dad's and mom's friend.

The luggage was loaded into the side of the coach, and then Walter and his boys boarded the coach and they were soon out of the airport on the way to the rectory. John explained that they were going to the rectory first, where they would meet Father Downey, and where they would find something to eat and drink.

When they arrived at the rectory, Father Downey standing at the open front door welcomed them, while John and the driver unloaded the luggage and placed it in the rectory hallway for now, then left to return to the airport.

Meanwhile, back on Horatio's flight, with half an hour still to go before landing he was getting fidgety, the 737, was not the most comfortable of planes and he wanted to stretch his legs. The airhostess gave him a smile as he stretched one leg out in the aisle. In fact she had given him a few appraising smiles, which had not escaped the eye of a certain boy sitting next to him.

Tommy tapped him on the arm, and asked, "Why is the air hostess giving you lots of smiles Dad?"

Horatio cringed, hoping the air hostess had not heard him, and he whispered, "She is just doing her job Tommy and being pleasant to everyone." He had actually been aware that she had been giving him some flirtatious smiles and it was embarrassing, he was not interested. There was only one woman in his life he was interested in, and that was his wife. However, he had politely smiled back, as he could not be rude.

Tommy would not let it go though, and indignantly responded, "Well, she is giving you more smiles than anyone else Dad. She looks like she is flirting with you and I don't like it, you are married to my Mom."

Horatio cringed even more and wondered how Tommy knew about women flirting. "She isn't son, she is just being friendly." Then he chuckled quietly to himself, and thought Tommy had been around women all his young life, and could probably recognise flirting when he saw it.

Then the lights came on in the cabin to fasten their seat belts ready for landing, and Horatio sighed with relief. Tommy was immediately excited about getting so close to New York now and let the subject drop. He quickly checked all the boys had their sat belts fastened, they were sitting in the two rows behind him, fastened his own, and 15 minutes later they landed just five minutes late. It was 3:05 pm.

They went through customs with no hassle and as he and the boys passed through the arrivals door, some twenty minutes later he immediately spotted John, as did Tommy, who rushed over to him and was swept up in Johns arms in a big hug. When Horatio reached them with the rest of the boys, and their luggage trolley, John introduced himself to them and told them exactly what he told Walters group.

When they reached the coach, the driver out of earshot of the boys said, "Well I never, I wasn't expecting to see you Father O'Malley."

John roared with laughter.

"Oh Patrick, now you are in dire trouble," said John and burst out laughing again.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist Lieutenant Caine. Father Downey did explain why you took on that role for a few days, and my wife and I were in the congregation when you married Aileen here last year. It was a beautiful wedding and my wife had tears in her eyes. I hope Aileen is well?"

"She is very well. Thank you for asking. We have a baby daughter now, just four and a half months old, which is why Aileen could not make this trip with us." Horatio smiled and shook hands with Patrick and then boarded the coach, making sure his boys had all boarded ahead of him. They arrived at the rectory 40 minutes later at 4:45 pm.

Jerry and Walter welcomed them at the front door, and directed them to the kitchen, where the boys sat down round the table, and helped themselves to salad dishes, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, and drinks that Sharon had laid out fresh for them. Horatio joined them a few minutes later, and seeing Sharon moved across to her, and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Horatio, it is so nice to see you and Tommy again. Bet you would like a coffee now. The boys are all having cold drinks."

"That would be lovely Sharon. Thank you."

Walter joined him and asked, "Did you have a good flight Horatio?"

"Yes, very good Walter, the boys were no problem at all."

"Did you?"

"Yes Horatio. The day has gone smoothly, and Jerry, Sharon, John, and Patrick have been so helpful and generous with their time today."

"When your group have finished eating, can you bring them into the lounge; Jerry will then say a few words to them and tell them who they will be staying with."

"Okay, we will join you as soon as we can; the boy's need refreshment. They have had a long day."

Fifteen minutes later Horatio wandered into the lounge with his group and Jerry told them to sit down where they could. It was a large lounge and there was enough seating for all of them. When they were all seated Jerry began by telling the boys that they were very welcome in New York, and that he and his boys were looking forward to the basketball matches on Monday afternoon.

Looking directly at Walter he said, "The club hall is yours for tomorrow afternoon. This will give your boys a chance to practice for a while and get used to the surroundings."

Then addressing everyone he said, "It has been a long day for you, so I will not waste any more time so I am now going to tell you who you will be staying with until Wednesday morning. I can tell you I had many offers from my boy's parents to let you stay with them while you are here in New York. However, we need to keep you all pretty close together - so I decided that Walter is going to stay here at the rectory with me, along with Stephen, Luke, Robert and Anthony. Sharon has kindly prepared the bedrooms ready for you. Walter has his own room, and you boys will be sharing two to a room. Walter helped me choose who goes where so that any of you who are special friends can be together."

"Patrick your coach driver today, and his wife Jenny, who only live a short distance from here, have a large house, and can look after eight of you so Michael, Jonathon, David, Kevin, Matthew, Ryan, Paul, and Lucas you will stay with them." Then smiling at the boys, he added, "I can tell you they are well used to looking after a lot of boys together as they have five of their own. Grown up now though and living elsewhere."

Patrick piped up, "It will be nice to have the house full of boys again. We are looking forward to it."

Jerry smiled and continued, "Patrick is also going to be around most of the time during your trip, and will drive you around when necessary."

"Finally, "Horatio has his own apartment, further away, and he will of course stay there with Tommy and has said two of you can go with them so that will be you Christopher and Jack."

"John and Sharon offered to have some of you with them, but I decided it would be too much as they will be helping out in many other ways."

"Horatio, John will pick you and your boys up each day and run you home."

"I would like you all to be here at the rectory by 11:00 am in the morning. Then we will all walk the short distance to the basketball club which is only a few yards around the corner, and my boys and their parents will be there just to say hello to you, and then as I already said, the club will be yours Walter for as long as you like in the afternoon."

"I suggest you all make a move now, some of you are looking tired after your long day."

Patrick immediately gathered his group of eight together and their luggage and left. Five minutes later, John and Sharon left with Horatio, Tommy and his two boys. When they arrived at Horatio's apartment Sharon told him that Maeve had offered to help with catering for him and the boys, and had done some shopping, so he should find plenty to eat for the next few days.

"Thanks Sharon. I will give Maeve a call as soon as the boys are settled in."

"Is Michael likely to be around?"

"Not sure Horatio. He was busy working on something today."

While Tommy was showing Christopher and Jack the room they were going to share Horatio gave Maeve a call.

Maeve answered straight away." Horatio, I saw you arrive but didn't like to call straight away thinking you would all be tired."

"The boys are tired. They will be off to bed soon. I just wanted to call you at a reasonable time, to thank for doing some shopping for us. You are a gem."

"Was my pleasure Horatio. I wanted to speak to you as well because I was wondering if you would like me to come in each day and prepare the kids breakfast for them, and the evening meals while you are here."

"Maeve you are more than a gem you are an angel. If you are sure, I would be most grateful. What about Michael though?"

"It looks like he is going to be busy all weekend Horatio. He asked me to give you his apologies, and to say he will definitely be at the matches on Monday and will catch up with you personally in the evening."

"Okay. That will be nice. Look forward to seeing him."

"Is it okay if I come over at 8:00 in the morning?"

"That will be good, and thank you once again Maeve."

Two hours later when Tommy and the boys had eaten something light, showered, and were in bed asleep, Horatio called Aileen. She knew they had arrived safely as he had given her a very quick call from the rectory when they arrived.

"Hey Sweetheart, I need to hear your voice."

"You sound tired Horatio. Have the kids worn you out?"

"Not at all, they have all been well-behaved; It has been an exciting day for them, and Jerry has had it all planned to perfection this end, but the traveling was tiring, it's the hanging about that makes you tired, so I won't be sorry to put my head down tonight, though I will miss you being in my arms." Then he chuckled and added, "It won't be quite the same sleeping with Tommy."

"How are things your end?"

"We're okay darling, missing you, not used to you not being here at the weekend. It has been a long day, and Hannah has been a bit fractious all day, but she is sound asleep now. She knows you are not here she started being tetchy as soon as you and Tommy left this morning, and is definitely missing both of you today."

Horatio smiled, "Give her a big kiss and a hug from me when she next wakes up."

"Horatio, go and get some sleep now. Don't worry about us, because I know you are worrying."

"That's not possible Sweetheart."

"If it makes you feel any better Horatio. Alexx is coming over for the afternoon tomorrow."

"Okay, that does make me feel better."

"I need to shower before going to bed, so will say goodnight now. I will give you a call every evening, but do not hesitate to call me at any time, if you need to talk. Love you Sweetheart - take care."

"I will. Love you too darling. Enjoy the rest of the trip."

"Soon after his shower, Horatio quietly slid into bed next to Tommy, and drifted off to sleep within a few minutes.

---

Sunday morning Maeve came across from next-door and prepared breakfast for them and at 10:30 am John and Sharon picked them up and drove to the rectory arriving just two minutes ahead of Patrick, with his group of boys in tow.

At 11:00 am they all wandered to the basketball club, except Jerry, he had gone on ahead to open up and let his own boys and their parents into the club ready to greet the visitors.

When they arrived, the first thing they noticed was the welcome to New York banner, the bunting, and many faces smiling at them. Jerry introduced them to his boys, and their parents. Walter's boys were a bit shy to start with, but they were soon mingling as Tommy knew most of them, and he helped to break the ice, and they were all soon chatting away together while Horatio and John spoke to the parents.

Sharon had found the small kitchen and was making drinks for anyone who wanted one helped by Jenny, Patrick's wife.

Meanwhile Jerry giving Walter his full attention said,"I know I told you what the equipment facilities are here before you came, but just to recap, the inner court is junior standard size, 74 feet long by 42 feet wide, and we will use a junior size 5-basketball. I have put out six balls for you to use this afternoon. If you need any more, they are in the locker in the room at the back of the hall.

"Jerry, I am so pleased you use nine feet height rims for the juniors."

"Walter, I totally go along with the thinking that to use 10 feet high rims is too high for the juniors. At junior level they are not tall enough to get the ball up near the rim with something resembling proper shooting mechanics, and mostly do not have the core strength to get the ball up to a rim that is too high. By lowering the rims to suit age, they learn the proper shooting mechanics, which will then stay with them, as they grow older, taller, and stronger. If they use rims too high then in the majority of cases the boys learn heaving mechanics in attempts to reach the rim. This is not good at all. As you know, these days, the ASEP recommends the lower rim for juniors.

"Yes I do Jerry, and my boys should be comfortable here as we have the same practice in Miami."

Jerry looked at his watch, and seeing it was now close to 1:00 pm, said, "We had better all go now and leave you and your boys in peace for as long as you wish to practice Walter."

"Just one thing Jerry, before they leave, I have a bag of bits and pieces to hand out to your boys."

"Oh! Okay Walter, that is nice of you."

Jerry called his boys over and Walter said, "I know you are all probably New York Knicks fans, but I and most of my boys are Miami Heat's fans. I have some friends at the club, and as they heard we were coming here they gave me some things to hand out to all of you."

"So here, we are - a t-shirt and cap each for you - some stickers and badges, and photographs of the team signed by the first team players, and for you Jerry, a basketball, signed by all the players."

"Thank you Walter." said Jerry, talking above the excited chatter of his boys and then with a beaming smile he immediately placed it in the club display cabinet.

Then looking at his own boys, Walter said, "They didn't forget you either, and opening another bag he handed identical items around.

From across the hall Horatio and John were smiling. Walter was doing a good PR job.

"That was nice of the team Horatio," said John.

"Yes it was, guess they got caught up with Walter's enthusiasm. He has bucketfuls of that. Tommy loves him. He still loves Jerry though; he often talks of his time with Jerry and understands that Jerry coached him well. Walter is however the man on the spot these days."

"As far as work goes, he doesn't look the typical CSI, and sometimes looks too relaxed, but no one had better be fooled by that, I am lucky to have him on my team, and because he can be a bit of a joker, he adds a nice balance to the team. It is good to have a bit of humor about the place now and again. We all need that."

Ten minutes later, Jerry, his boys and their parents left, all having said thank you for the gifts, and then the rest of the afternoon Walter and his boys had the club hall to themselves. Horatio, and John who had stayed to watch initially, finished playing with the boys at the end of the practise session. They had a bit of fun with them dribbling, snatching, and shooting the basket. The boys all ended up laughing and enjoying themselves, and just a bit in awe to know that Horatio and John had been good basketball players in their time.

At 5:00 pm, John locked the club up, Jerry having left the keys with him, and they all made their way back to the rectory. Patrick picked his group up, while John took Horatio, Tommy, Christopher and Jack home, and then returned to the rectory to join Jerry, Walter and his boys for a meal that Sharon had prepared.

---

On Monday afternoon, the parents of the New York boys were at the club to watch, as was Horatio, John, and Sharon, and Michael had made it as he said he would. There were plenty of seats, so a number of locals had crept in to watch as well. The four teams lined up on the court, all the boys looking very smart in their team outfits, and had their picture taken by the photographer of the local newspaper. Jerry's teams were wearing yellow vests, and white shorts, and Walter's wore royal blue vests and black shorts.

Then Jerry addressed the teams and told them that normal junior rules would apply. Each match was to be for four ten minute quarters, with one-minute breaks between quarters, but with five minutes at half time. He then told them that these were friendly matches he had arranged with Mr Simmons, to enhance friendship between New York and Miami, and while they should obviously play their best, the main purpose was to have fun and enjoy.

The first team match commenced at 1:00 pm, which Jerry, refereed. This was a good competitive game; the two teams evenly matched in skill. Tommy's dribbling skill was apparent for all to see, and Horatio, John and Michael, were proud of him. Horatio was of course rooting for the Miami boys, but John was rooting for Jerry's while Michael was being diplomatic and not showing a preference for either side. Not being as involved as John had been, he was just happy to watch the game as an unbiased spectator, but he was happy to see Tommy playing so well. Walter was sitting with them, and he was happy the way things were going, but Jerry's team had a very good shooter, and after a game that was fast paced for a young boys game, the New York boys won the first team match with a point's score of 40-36. During this game, two of Walter's spare boys got a chance to play in at least one quarter. This was by design, and was going to be the same practice used in the second game, and meant that all fourteen boys would have had a chance to take part.

Thirty minutes later at 2:30 pm the second game started, with Walter refereeing this one. It was another good match, but Walter's boys were the stronger team in this one and won by 36-30 points.

The photographer had stayed, and took some pictures throughout the matches and a journalist was making some notes. The pictures and review were to be published in the local paper to be printed overnight ready for the next morning.

At 3:45 pm, drinks were on offer, Patrick's wife Jenny had prepared them and was serving them from a trolley, kept at the hall for such a purpose. The parents and the extra local's were chatting among themselves, and Horatio, John, and Michael, circulated with them for a few minutes. The boys were all in a corner, chatting, smiling and laughing, they were all getting on well.

Then Jerry asked them all to sit down, and thanked the boys for playing well and in a sporting manner. He thanked the parents and other local people for turning out to watch and support the boys; Patrick and Jenny for all the help they had given him; his personal friends for their help and finally thanked Walter, for working with him to make this whole meeting of their two clubs a wonderful success.

Looking at his watch, Jerry then said, "Please stay a few minutes longer everyone I have a surprise for the boys."

Five minutes later, the club doors sprung wide open, and five of the New York Knicks top players walked in.

Horatio looking at John said, "Did you know about this?"

"Yes, Jerry told me he had asked them, and when they heard what he and Walter were planning they were apparently more than ready to send a few players along."

"What a feather in his cap, just look at those boys, they are so excited."

An hour later, the Knicks players left having handed out an array of mementos to the boys, and had given them a demonstration off their skills.

Soon after, everyone having thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon left the club and went their various ways home. The Miami boys, Walter, Horatio, John, Sharon, Michael, Patrick and Jenny, went back to the rectory first with Jerry. Once there, Patrick and Jenny left sharply with their eight boys. As Sharon was going to prepare a meal for Jerry, and his guests, John stayed as well, since Michael had offered to take Horatio, Tommy and his two extra boys home, as he and Maeve lived right next door, Michael having moved in with her a few weeks ago.

Michael had given Maeve the tip off that they were on their way, so by the time they arrived, she had prepared a meal for everyone, and she and Michael stayed to eat with them.

While the boys were playing in Tommy's bedroom and Maeve was clearing up, Horatio and Michael sat and chatted in the lounge for a while. "Sorry I was not here the last two nights Horatio, I am working on something that is taking all my time at the moment, I got home too late to come and have a chat with you."

"No problem Michael, nice to catch up with you now though."

"It's great to see you Horatio. We were on tenterhooks here while all that stuff in Miami was going on. Everyone was pleased it worked out all right for you personally. John updated us on everything as soon as he returned."

"John was great, watching over the family for me, kept me sane. His friend Cobra was a big help as well...a good man to have on board."

"I can tell you Horatio, that Trevor Carson and Jordan King were more than pleased with the outcome of the raid and the final taking down of Saris."

"Thank you, James passed their message on to me. Our end, we still have all the court cases that will eventually come up for nine of the dealers. They have all lawyered up. James does seem to be worried about that for some reason though. We are apparently thin on the ground with prosecutors in the event the dealer's cases all come up in court at the same time. He mentioned how much he would love you to come and help in Miami Michael. He is still itching to get you on board."

"Mmm...I know Horatio, but it is not practical. I gave it a lot of thought, but at the end of the day decided with Maeve that it would not be the best move for us."

"Not sure why James is bothered though. All the evidence is clear, they were caught red handed, and guilty as hell, which they must know. Their defense lawyers would be doing a bad job if they try to prove their clients are innocent, and in doing so could actually be responsible for them getting longer sentences. If they all do their jobs properly, they will be telling their clients the best option would be to plea bargain for shortened sentences. Just one good prosecutor could handle the whole bunch of them, and one day in court is all that would be necessary for the lot of them."

Horatio laughed and then commented, "Well perhaps you had better offer yourself up for the job Michael."

"Nice try Horatio."

"Did James put you up to this?"

"No Michael, I swear he didn't."

"Maybe I will talk to James though...perhaps I can help from a distance in some way."

At that moment Maeve brought them a cup of coffee and sitting down next to Michael she asked, "Have you spoken to Horatio about the wedding yet?"

"Not yet Sweetheart, we got talking about other things."

"Horatio we both want you and Aileen to attend as guests, as you know, but we would also like to ask you to be our witnesses to the signing of the marriage certificate, but Sharon mentioned that Aileen was thinking that maybe you could not both come because of Hannah. Is there any chance you have made a decision about that yet. Maeve and I would really like you both to come, but we will understand if one of you cannot be here."

"Michael and Maeve, I would be honoured to be your witness, and I am sure Aileen would be delighted. We were leaving it to the last minute as guests to decide about Hannah, but in the circumstances I will talk to Aileen immediately I get home...perhaps, we can get Alexx to look after Hannah for a couple of days. One way or another we will get here."

Maeve smiled. "Thank you Horatio it would mean so much to us."

"By the way Horatio," said Michael pulling something out of his inside jacket pocket. "Here is a check refunding all the money you have paid Maeve to look after this apartment, she never spent a penny of it, she only took it in the first place because you apparently insisted. It was extremely good of you to pay her though, but I am here now, we can both keep am eye on the place and we don't need paying to do that, you are our friends."

Horatio sighed, and remembering the tussle, he had had with Maeve in getting her to accept any payment he smiled at her and said, "So you got the better of me after all."

"I sure did Horatio," Maeve replied beaming all over her face.

A few minutes later Maeve and Michael said goodbye to the kids and left.

After the boys went to bed, Horatio phoned Aileen who picked the call up immediately.

"Horatio, it is so good to hear your voice. Has it all gone well there in New York today?"

"They have all had a brilliant day Sweetheart. Be prepared, Tommy will have a lot to tell you. - Jerry and Walter have done a magnificent job, with some wonderful support from John and Sharon, and Patrick and his wife Jenny."

"They have planned a city tour for them tomorrow. They are pulling all the stops out to give the boys a good time."

"The boys with me have just gone to bed. Maeve cooked us a lovely meal and she and Michael dined with us. It was good to have their company tonight."

"How are my two favorite girls? Is Hannah still unsettled?"

"She is not so bad now; she saw some familiar faces today. Alexx came over for a visit this afternoon, as she said she would, and Kyle and Amy popped in for two hours early this evening."

"That's good. I am pleased you had some company today."

"I had better leave you to it Sweetheart, I just heard Hannah cry out. I will phone again sometime tomorrow evening. Love you."

"Love you too Horatio. Have a nice day tomorrow."

Tommy for once was still awake when Horatio crept into bed, probably due to the excitement of the day Horatio thought, so he gave him a big kiss on the cheek telling him it was from his mom, and whispered in his ear, "John, Michael and I were really proud of the way you played today son."

"It was super Dad, we lost, but Father Downey's first team shooter was brilliant. Everyone is having a super time and looking forward to the trip out tomorrow. Christopher and Jack love being here with us. Thank you for coming with us Dad, the boys all think it is cool that you came with us."

"Well we had best try to get some sleep now son," said Horatio as he turned the bedside lamp off , and giving Tommy a hug first, he turned over on his right side and smiled as Tommy nestled into his back and put his left arm around him. How he loved this boy, so like his mother.

TBC