Chapter Nineteen

Eric and Calleigh Delko were exhausted. Their boys seemed to regress in their sleeping habits. They weren't sure if it had anything to do with the extra hours they had been putting in with the murders or not. They missed their little ones, no doubt Ethan and Evan felt the same. Only because it was hard to get good sleep with babies, they would have temporarily let the twins sleep in their bed. At least it was time and cuddles.

"You think this will ever get easier?" Calleigh asked, her head on Eric's bare chest. "Bein' away from the boys." They barely got the mornings with Ethan and Evan. By the time they got home in the evenings now the boys were ready for bed, sometimes they were already asleep.

"Easier? No. But I guess we'll get used to it. Things aren't always this bad, remember?"

That was true. This was a thought everybody was clinging to these days.

It was same at the Caines' except the Caine children could ask "where's daddy?" or "when daddy's coming home?" Aimee wouldn't say she felt "like a single mom." To her that implied Horatio didn't care about his family's feelings. He did. Horatio was an attentive husband and doting father to their children the moment he stepped through the door. If Aimee resented anything it wasn't her husband or his job, it was the cases that kept him away.

As many times as she told him he didn't have to, Kyle was helping out even more right now when he wasn't in class. Seeing the kids cry for their father was hard he wanted to cry with them. Kyle was sleeping in the house for now hoping to get a glimpse of his dad when he got home late. Like tonight. He had fallen asleep on the couch watching television instead of the spare bedroom. The young man awoke feeling a large soft hand brush his forehand.

"Dad," he said sleepily.

"Kyle, what are you doing out here?" His father asked.

Rubbing his eyes Kyle said "I started to watch a movie. I was waiting to see you."

It was very late. 1:13a.m..

Horatio frowned. He hugged his son as the young man sat up. "I'm sorry, son. Is everything all right?"

Kyle nodded. "I miss you," he said putting his head on his dad's shoulder.

"I know. And I miss you guys, too. But I'm off tomorrow and Sunday, unless you know…"

Kyle knew. "You are? Mom didn't say."

"She doesn't know yet. We can do something tomorrow evening, all right?"

Kyle smiled like a little kid. "Sounds great."

Horatio smiled. "C'mon. Let's get you to the spare room. You'll get a bad neck on this couch."

Aimee snuggled into Horatio when he climbed into bed. "I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you, too," Horatio said, swallowing hard and kissing his wife. "Was everything okay today?"

Aimee yawned. "Normal. 'Cept for the kids kept asking when your next day off is." Hearing it was the next day his wife was more than glad. It was the weekend and tomorrow was Saturday. Nobody had school. Nobody had to be away from daddy.

Horatio let his wife sleep in the next morning. Hunter and Cheyenna were awake by 7:15. Rachel by 8:00. Their excitement of seeing daddy and hearing he would be there all day was like Disneyland. Aimee slept until 9:30. She could hear the laughter of her kids and husband. It was the most joyful sound she heard in days.