The Return
Eric turned the alarm off. He yawned, beyond tired. He smiled as he saw Calleigh asleep, her head on his chest. For a moment, he considered leaving her, and not getting up. But, then, he decided they couldn't miss work. He gently nudged her arm. "Cal, babe, time to get up," he whispered. She groggily muttered, then snuggled up tighter against him. "Calleigh, come on, you don't want to be late for work do you?" Again came another mumble. "Calleigh, I hate to do this to you, but if you don't get out of bed, I'm taking your gun," Eric said in a very fatherly tone of voice. "And I'm going to give it to Emily for safe-keeping." He couldn't duck in time to miss the pillow she successfully aimed at his head. "I can see that you're up now," he said with a grin. Calleigh rolled her eyes, sitting up. "I cannot believe you just threatened to give our two and a half month old daughter a gun," she said. "That's my job," she said, smiling. "You get to teach her to swim." "I'd love to sit here and talk Calleigh, but we have seriously got to move or Horatio is going to be making us swim from here to Europe for being late." "I have to agree that we shouldn't believe, but there's no way he'd make us swim to Europe," Calleigh said, rolling her eyes as she got up, heading to the shower to get ready.
Calleigh was muttering to herself as she sat behind the desk, clicking her pen in boredom. She smiled though as she saw Horatio approaching. "Hi H," she said. "Calleigh, my office please," he said. Calleigh stared after him as he walked off. She hadn't done anything wrong.... had she?
"Yes Horatio?" she asked, closing his office door behind her. "Please, Calleigh, sit down," he said. Calleigh hesitated, but sat. "What's going on?" she asked. "Ryan and Natalia told me of your incident with Jake this weekend," he said. Calleigh's cheeks flushed pink. "H, I was just-" He quieted her. "They told me how well you handled the situation. Calleigh, I want you to return to your normal duties, starting today," he said. A smile spread across Calleigh's face. "Really?' she asked. Horatio gave her a small grin and nodded. "Yes, glad to have you back on board," he said with a smile. Still smiling, Calleigh was quick to head back to the ballistics lab.
Calleigh breathed in the distinct scent of the lab as she walked in. She saw the careful records her replacement had been taking. They were very organized, and it was easy for her to understand. She smiled, pleased. Ryan suddenly walked in the door. "Hey Cal, Alexx wanted me to bring you this nine-mil," he said. Calleigh smiled and nodded. "I'm on it," she said.
After a long day, Calleigh and Eric were sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner. Eric smiled, enjoying watching Calleigh feed Emily. When she was around their daughter, Calleigh's eyes had a different light to them, and she seemed to glow even more. "So, how'd work go?" he asked. "It went good," Calleigh said. "It felt good to do something besides stupid desk work," she continued. "I'm glad to have my lab back." Eric smiled. "You missed it huh?" "Of course! That's my second home," she said with a grin. "And that's only because Emily is here, not there," Eric said. Calleigh rolled her eyes. Eric grinned, standing up and starting to clear the table. :So what?" Calleigh asked. "I'm right, aren't I?" eric said, chuckling. "No!" Calleigh smiled, looking at Emily. "I can't eat or drink in their either." Eric laughed. "And what about me?" "Please Eric, I get enough of you," she said, smiling. "I get you here, you visit me there. However," she smiled, picking up Emily to take her upstairs. "I don't dream of you every night," she said, making a quick exit for the stairway. Eric just laughed and shook his head.