Here's the conclusion. See part 1 for disclaimers, etc. It's a joke in my
family that I have to combine horses with anything else in life, so thanks
for indulging me in this one. Now that I've gotten my horse/CSIM story out
of my system, I'll put the horses back in the stable, while the Fearful
Symmetry series will continue. Next up: Anniversary, a one part piece of
angst/fluff that has no plot at all. I worked on it when I wanted a break
from working out plot details on Hopes and Fears. Anniversary is already
done, and I'll write it down as soon as I get a chance. The one after that
will be back to wild plot twists, but it's just a blip on the horizon, so
don't expect it too soon. Thanks for all your comments on this one. I
hope you've enjoyed it half as much as I have. This one was pure fun for
me. Chrissy and Ruth also appreciate all compliments, which have been
passed along. Not that either of them have any problems with self-esteem.
Additional disclaimer for part 10: The one quote toward the end is taken from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Absolutely no infringement of the copyright for this book is meant. In fact, I urge everyone to go buy a copy if you don't have one already and thereby add to the author's royalties. It is one of the most beautifully written love stories I have ever read in my life. I challenge anyone to read the first paragraph, then just put it down.
***
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . ."
From the Twelve Days of Christmas, traditional carol
***
Horatio had called Calleigh on the way to the hospital, briefly reporting that they had Thomas and that he would be back at CSI as soon as he was convinced everything was secure. Thomas' injuries proved to be more painful than severe. Within a few hours, he was in a room, with casts on his leg and arm and strapping that covered the blossoming horse shoe bruises on his chest. A policeman was stationed at the door, although Thomas wasn't likely to be going anywhere soon. Horatio had spent the time waiting making phone calls, and when he stepped in to see Thomas before leaving, he reached over and yanked, not too gently, some hair out of his scalp.
"What the hell are you doing?" Thomas was fairly drugged up on pain medicine, but he had still felt it.
"Collecting a DNA sample, lawfully, from a suspect in custody. And I do have a warrant for it." Horatio dropped the hair into an evidence enveloped and sealed it. He wanted to get Thomas dead to rights for something before he was mobile enough to leave the hospital. The house sitter's value as a witness on the murder still bothered Horatio, but Lisa's ID was rock solid, and they had old evidence in her file to compare this sample to. Between that and attacking two officers, Thomas wouldn't go anywhere from the hospital except to jail. Horatio looked at all of the casts and bandages and gave Thomas a chilly smile as he turned away. "Enjoy your last few days of freedom, Thomas. And Merry Christmas."
He felt his muscles gradually starting to relax as he drove back to CSI. Edwards, who had actually pulled the trigger, would never get around the overwhelming evidence against him. The house sitter was at least up for accessory charges, between his own confession and the evidence that the barn lock code had been provided through him. And they now had DNA evidence to strengthen the case against Thomas, even if it was for a different crime. Horatio felt like he had, at least, helped see justice done. He still regretted Sam's death, but at least it was a clean pain, no longer festering. There would be a scar, but the wound was free to heal now. He let his thoughts turn to Calleigh. Tonight he would truly celebrate Christmas with the greatest gift of his life. The best gift for both of them this Christmas would be each other. He considered his material gift to her again, the one he had bought right before the accident at the canal. He thought it was perfect for her, for them, but he still anxiously awaited her approval. He would be sure she celebrated tonight, too. Poor Calleigh, he thought, but his mind immediately modified it. Not poor Calleigh any longer. Tonight we both get to start over and do Christmas right.
CSI was a whirlwind of festivity. Horatio exited the elevator and stopped dead. "What on earth?" Tinsel was draped across the front of the reception desk, and a jingle bell string had been tied to the phone. Claudia looked up and smiled at him, a bit uncertainly.
"Alexx decided to finish decorating, since the case is over. She said you'd approved it."
So he had, a week and more ago. He'd forgotten. "Right, no problem. Do I even want to know what they did in the labs?" She didn't answer, just waved a hand toward the glass doors. Fine, he'd check out the evidence himself.
The lab had more tinsel strung around, along with Christmas tree lights. He heard Alexx and Calleigh giggling like school girls even before he saw them. They were in the area below the stairs to his office. "I leave you two alone for one morning, and look what happens," he said with mock sternness, and they both spun around, trying, and failing, to look serious.
"I brought some homemade cookies from home at lunch," said Alexx. "They're in the break room. I'll go see if Delko's left you any."
"Don't forget to save some for Speed," said Horatio. "I gave him the day off today, after he was up all night reconstructing that notebook."
"He'll probably turn up eventually, though." Calleigh knew Speed didn't have much in life besides work and sleep. "Not like he has anything else to do. We've got to find him a girlfriend."
"What about Eric?" asked Alexx. "Don't you think he deserves a girlfriend?"
Horatio grinned, remembering Eric's half asleep comments that morning. "Eric will find the right one himself. Eventually." They all laughed. Eric's dogged optimism - in spite of all setbacks - was one of his trademarks.
Alexx departed on her cookie quest, and Calleigh latched onto Horatio's arm, pulling him along with her. "Come over here, handsome. There's something I want to show you."
He went along willingly. "What is it?"
They reached the alcove under the stairs, and she spun back around and captured him with her arms. "Gotcha. Look up." He did and spotted the mistletoe hung from the bottom of one of the steps. Calleigh pulled his head back down within her reach, and they shared a long, satisfying kiss. "How many girls have you ever kissed under the mistletoe before?"
"None. What's your score?"
"First time for me, too. I can see why it's a popular tradition, though." They kissed again, and as Calleigh tightened her grip on him, something crinkled. "What on earth have you got in your jacket pocket?"
Horatio straightened up, suddenly remember the few loose ends left on this case. "Evidence, actually. Let's not put this episode in the evidence log, okay?" He pulled out the envelope with Thomas' hair in it. "There's just one thing I have to do before we celebrate. I need to run Thomas' DNA through the system and get a match so he's incriminated as tightly as Edwards is." He wound through the glass lined halls to Speed's usual domain, uninhabited right now, and opened the envelope.
Calleigh followed him, puzzled. "Match it with what? You were just saying last night that the DNA from the stall matched Edwards. In fact, you were annoyed about it, because we didn't have anything to incriminate the third man besides the house sitter's story."
"We do now." Horatio snapped on Latex gloves and removed the hair from the envelope. "Lisa has identified Thomas as the man who assaulted and raped her a few years ago. There will be samples from that case on file."
Calleigh jolted to a halt on her way around the table to join him. "Lisa was raped a few years ago?"
"Yes. Poor woman. She was beaten pretty badly, in fact. That's why she's so uncertain around people. She really has had a rough life, even before that. Her parents were both killed in an accident when she was a kid, and she grew up in foster homes. Then the attack. Maybe she can do some healing of her own now."
He had never mentioned that. Calleigh clearly remembered the first night of the case, how he had talked about the results of the background search, but he hadn't mentioned Lisa, only Sam. Probably, being Horatio, he had respected Lisa's privacy enough not to mention it when it wasn't relevant to anything. It was Sam, the puzzle piece that didn't fit, the partner who paid for everything, whom he had discussed with Calleigh all that evening.
Alexx reappeared bearing cookies. "There you are. Can't stand to stop working, can you?"
"Just have one more sample to run on this case," said Horatio. "And I'm sure it will match."
"Be sure you get some of these." She put a plate on the corner of the table, not anywhere close to the hair he was working with. "I took some out for Speed, too. Eric's making good inroads on the rest. Have another one, Calleigh." She divided a smile evenly between them. "I'm going back down to the morgue to finish up a little paperwork of my own, and then I'm out of here. You two remember lunch tomorrow, though."
"We're looking forward to it," said Horatio. Alexx left them, and Calleigh picked up a cookie from the plate. She broke off a bite and stuck it in his mouth. "Thanks," he mumbled around the crumbs.
She settled back against the table, watching him work, eating the cookies, feeding him a bite now and then. Her mind was still numb. Knowing Lisa's background suddenly recast the last week in a totally different light. Calleigh remembered her own initial reaction to Horatio, when she had first come to Miami. Such a contrast to her father that she had probably been caught gaping at him herself several times those first few weeks. After a while, constant exposure had helped her conceal the amazement, but it had never left her. She hadn't realized that much strength of character could be mixed with kindness. He was unbelievable, not even like a man at all but a different species she had never encountered before. In fact, wasn't she still having trouble convincing herself it was real? And Lisa, whose experience with men had been even more painfully violent than Calleigh's, how would she react on being faced for the first time with true compassion and gentleness from one? Suddenly, Calleigh totally understood Lisa. More, she identified with her.
Her guilt came crashing back down again, and this time she understood why. She had misjudged Lisa, misinterpreted the evidence, and almost (thankfully almost) accused Horatio of something she was certain had never crossed his mind. He would never know what she had thought the night of the accident. Telling him in order to apologize would only open a wound that wasn't yet there. But Lisa was different. Lisa did know what Calleigh had thought, because Calleigh had made absolutely certain to hit her in the face with it.
"Hey, beautiful." She looked up into Horatio's stunningly honest blue eyes. "What's on your mind?" She remembered him apologizing to Eric and Speed the morning of Sam's murder for thinking they had missed something at the first scene. She also remembered again that she had never once in her childhood heard a sincere apology from either of her parents for anything. Who did she want to be more like, Horatio or her father? She put down a half-eaten cookie.
"Finish that one off, would you? Horatio, there's one thing I need to go do. I'll met you at home, okay? We'll have our Christmas tonight, but I've got to take care of something first."
"I thought you already got my present."
"Right, I did."
"We can do whatever it is together, right after I finish this sample."
"No. Please, Horatio, just meet me at home. I've got to do this alone, okay?"
His eyes were puzzled but trusting. "Okay. See you there."
"Thank you." She gave him a quick kiss and was gone, her heels clicking down the hall with determined purpose. She nearly mowed over Speed, exiting the elevator as she entered it. "Sorry," she said quickly, but she didn't break stride. He looked back, bewildered, as the elevator doors slid closed, then shrugged and headed into the lab to find Horatio in his usual spot.
"H, what's up?"
"Last piece of evidence on the case. Did you get some sleep?"
"Slept like a log. I'll be up half the night now. Might as well get some work done."
"No," said Horatio firmly. He pushed the plate over. "Have some cookies. Alexx made them."
Speed complied. "Whatcha mean, no?" he asked with his mouth full.
"None of us are working late tonight. It's Christmas, we've caught up, or close enough, and we haven't got any crucial cases open. Or won't have, when this sample matches." He snapped the analyzer shut and pushed the button. "If you'll be up half the night, you'll just have to spend it somewhere else."
Eric came up behind them. "Hey, man, why don't you come over to the club with me? We might even find some girls."
"What happened to Rose?" asked Speed.
"Cindy. Rose was two weeks ago. Cindy decided she preferred somebody with a salary. I mean, a larger salary," he qualified, glancing at Horatio.
"Don't you ever get tired of it, Eric?"
"One of these days, I'll find the right one. Or at least, I'll have fun looking." He grinned at his friend. "Come on, Speed, come with me. You never know. You might meet someone tonight you've been waiting for all your life."
"Yeah, right," snorted Speed.
"A week ago, did you think you'd ever process a horse?" Horatio put in. "You never know what will happen."
Speed looked from one to the other of them. "Well, if you're going to gang up on me, I guess I'll go."
"Great," said Eric. He grabbed a cookie from the plate, and Speed quickly took the last two before they disappeared. "H, mind if we cut out of here early?"
"Go ahead," said Horatio. The machine beeped behind him and spit out a piece of paper. He looked at it carefully and smiled. "Positive match to the one already in the system. We've got him."
"Don't we always?" said Speed.
"Of course. We're relentless." He grinned at Eric, who choked on his last bite of cookie. Speed whacked him on the back. "Enjoy your evening, gentlemen."
"Later, H. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," he called after them. He took the DNA report up to his office, put it in the case file, and finished the evidence log. He then stood up from his desk and walked over to the glass wall overlooking the labs. Mostly deserted labs, now. "We never close," he repeated to himself. "But once in a while, we do get to go home." He switched off the desk lamp and headed down the stairs, heading home to Calleigh.
***
Calleigh entered the barn tentatively, reluctantly, quite unlike her usual approach to anything. Lisa was down the aisle in front of Chrissy's stall, and she didn't hear her. The mare had her head over the stall door, and Lisa was speaking softly to her. Calleigh couldn't make out the words. They looked like two friends in a private conversation. Chrissy's ears were forward, focused on her owner, and she reached out suddenly and bumped her with her nose. Lisa reached up and wrapped both arms around the mare's neck, hugging her. Calleigh felt like she had walked into the middle of a sacred ceremony to which she was not an initiate. "Um, Lisa," she said.
Lisa looked up quickly, as did Chrissy. "Mrs. Caine. Did you need something else on the case?" Calleigh saw the hesitation in the eyes again but realized this time that it wasn't guilt, just uncertainty around someone who hadn't given her a single kind word or thought over the entire past week. Kicking herself mentally, she walked down to join her.
How did you apologize to someone? Calleigh hadn't had much practice. She thought of how Horatio had done it. "Lisa, I wanted to apologize to you. I never knew your background until today. I think I realize now what you were thinking that morning, but I misjudged you, and I'm sorry."
Lisa relaxed a fraction, but her eyes were on the horse, not Calleigh. "I never thought of doing anything. I've just never met anybody like him. I didn't know they came like that."
Calleigh smiled at her. "I know. My family background was pretty rough, too, and I think I must have gone around staring at him for the first few months I knew him." She reached out and touched the other woman's arm, and Lisa didn't pull away. "I really didn't know what had happened to you until this afternoon. I'm so sorry."
"At least he's caught, now." Lisa reached back up and stroked Chrissy's neck again. "It was awesome, really. Chrissy half killed him." She looked at Calleigh now. "I'd decided I never wanted anything more to do with men. But your husband . . . that's what I was wondering, that morning, if there were any more out there like him."
"You'll have a hard search," said Calleigh. "But don't ever settle for someone who doesn't respect you. Horatio's one of a kind, but there are good ones out there. And it's worth looking for." She remembered the other half of her mission. "I also didn't realize you didn't have any family left. Nobody should spend Christmas alone. I wanted to invite you to Christmas dinner tomorrow, if you don't have other plans." Alexx wouldn't mind, she was sure.
Lisa gave her a genuine smile for the first time. It improved her looks tremendously. "Actually, I do. I'm having dinner tomorrow with Sam's family. And on Christmas Day, I'm meeting my new partner for dinner. I'm not just replacing Sam," she said quickly, "but this is too much work for one person. I've got to have someone to share it with."
"I know." Calleigh looked up and down the aisle. Keeping all of this going would be even longer hours than CSI. "So you've found a new partner."
"Yes. She's giving notice at her jobs today, and she'll be here in two weeks. I do have some part-time help coming in on the 26th to fill in until Emily gets here. So Christmas will be the last day I have to do it all alone. It'll take all day, especially taking time out for dinner, but a stable isn't a bad spot to spend Christmas." She looked up and down the aisle herself. Sam had died here. But Sam had also lived here. It was the living she would remember longer.
"Well, I've got to get home to my own Christmas," said Calleigh. "I couldn't celebrate until I'd talk to you, though. I am sorry, for everything." She hugged Lisa, and Lisa hugged her back.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Caine. And thank your husband for me."
"I will. Merry Christmas." Calleigh was humming as she left the barn. Now, with her conscience at rest, she could enjoy a whole evening with Horatio.
***
When Calleigh pulled her car into the driveway behind the Hummer, she realized that Horatio was still in the vehicle, just sitting there. He got out as she did and waited for her to come up to him. "What are you sitting out in the driveway for?" she asked, giving him a quick kiss.
"I wanted to go in with you." Calleigh abruptly remembered his own Christmas experience, coming back to empty houses alone.
"I'm sorry, Horatio. I didn't mean to make you come back here alone. I just had to do something first."
He put his arm around her, and they started walking up the sidewalk. "You didn't make me come back here alone. We're going in together, aren't we? That's part of the celebration." He unlocked the door, and they went in together. "What was it you had to do?"
"I wanted to talk to Lisa. I was going to invite her to Christmas dinner at Alexx's if she didn't have any other plans. I just hate the thought of anyone spending Christmas alone."
He kissed her. "You're amazing, you know it? Did she have other plans?"
"Actually she did. She's eating with Sam's family tomorrow and her new partner on Christmas. She said to tell you thanks for everything. And Horatio, you're the one who's amazing." She kissed him back, enjoying the solid reality of him.
"We'll just have to be amazed together, then," he replied. "Come on, beautiful." He headed into the kitchen, and she followed him. They fixed dinner together in perfect harmony, their actions meshing seamlessly without explanation. He got out candles and lit them as she opened a bottle of wine. "Welcome to the rest of our lives," he said as they touched glasses gently, the pure tone ringing through the room. Calleigh gave a sigh of pure contentment. She didn't need wine; his eyes were intoxicating enough.
After the meal, they went into the living room and turned out the lights, letting the candles and the Christmas tree illuminate the scene. They settled side by side on the couch with the two presents. "You first," she said, handing hers to him. He opened it carefully, releasing each seam of tape, saving the paper. "Horatio, how can anybody open a present like that? We don't have to reuse the paper."
"Who said anything about reusing it?" He paused in his task long enough to smile at her. "I'm going to save it. This paper is precious. It held your first Christmas gift to me of our marriage." She reached out and brushed his cheek lightly with her fingers, just making sure, again, that he was real. She had never met anyone who could say such beautiful things so sincerely.
He finished carefully unwrapping the present and opened the box, pulling out the black silk. His eyes met hers with a gleam in them. "I always did think you looked good in black."
"So do you. We'll have to see each other with them - and without them - tonight." She slipped closer to him.
"A little later, though."
"Why later?"
"You haven't opened your present yet." She looked down at the small package in her lap. She'd forgotten about her present. She opened it like she had never opened a present before, carefully, tenderly, like he had. She suddenly wanted to save the paper herself. She finished opening it and looked down at the book on her lap. Their Eyes Were Watching God. She had never heard of it.
Horatio got up, retrieved a candle from the kitchen table, and returned to the couch. "This was one of my mother's favorite books. It's a love story, about a woman who goes through all sorts of things but finally finds her true soul mate." He set the candle on the end table next to her. "There's one passage marked. Read it."
She noticed the marker for the first time, stuck between two pages almost at the end of the book. She opened the book and removed it. It was a popsicle stick. She smiled up at him and gently lay the popsicle stick on the table. She turned her attention back to the book, finding the few lines underlined. The dialect came easily to her, familiar from her childhood. "Don't say you'se ole. . . God made it so you spent yo' ole age first with somebody else, and saved up yo' young girl days to spend with me." She looked up at him startled, hearing the echo of her own thought a few nights ago. Had he heard her remark about growing young together, then? She had been sure he was sound asleep. No, he had bought this present before then, the night of the accident at the canal.
Horatio slid closer to her on the couch, putting his arm around her. "That's how I feel about us, Calleigh. We've both been old before our time. But that means we still have our youth to spend together. God was just saving it up for us." No, he hadn't heard her, but it shouldn't surprise her that he saw, and felt, the same as she did. They were so alike. The perfect harmony finally found together. There had only been dissonance before him, but now, it was music. She looked at him in pure love. His eyes sparkled in the candle light. "Calleigh Caine," he said, savoring the name, "welcome to the first Christmas of the rest of our lives." She carefully put the book on the table and blew out the candle, then went to him willingly. And this time, it wasn't reassurance. This time, it was celebration.
Additional disclaimer for part 10: The one quote toward the end is taken from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Absolutely no infringement of the copyright for this book is meant. In fact, I urge everyone to go buy a copy if you don't have one already and thereby add to the author's royalties. It is one of the most beautifully written love stories I have ever read in my life. I challenge anyone to read the first paragraph, then just put it down.
***
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . ."
From the Twelve Days of Christmas, traditional carol
***
Horatio had called Calleigh on the way to the hospital, briefly reporting that they had Thomas and that he would be back at CSI as soon as he was convinced everything was secure. Thomas' injuries proved to be more painful than severe. Within a few hours, he was in a room, with casts on his leg and arm and strapping that covered the blossoming horse shoe bruises on his chest. A policeman was stationed at the door, although Thomas wasn't likely to be going anywhere soon. Horatio had spent the time waiting making phone calls, and when he stepped in to see Thomas before leaving, he reached over and yanked, not too gently, some hair out of his scalp.
"What the hell are you doing?" Thomas was fairly drugged up on pain medicine, but he had still felt it.
"Collecting a DNA sample, lawfully, from a suspect in custody. And I do have a warrant for it." Horatio dropped the hair into an evidence enveloped and sealed it. He wanted to get Thomas dead to rights for something before he was mobile enough to leave the hospital. The house sitter's value as a witness on the murder still bothered Horatio, but Lisa's ID was rock solid, and they had old evidence in her file to compare this sample to. Between that and attacking two officers, Thomas wouldn't go anywhere from the hospital except to jail. Horatio looked at all of the casts and bandages and gave Thomas a chilly smile as he turned away. "Enjoy your last few days of freedom, Thomas. And Merry Christmas."
He felt his muscles gradually starting to relax as he drove back to CSI. Edwards, who had actually pulled the trigger, would never get around the overwhelming evidence against him. The house sitter was at least up for accessory charges, between his own confession and the evidence that the barn lock code had been provided through him. And they now had DNA evidence to strengthen the case against Thomas, even if it was for a different crime. Horatio felt like he had, at least, helped see justice done. He still regretted Sam's death, but at least it was a clean pain, no longer festering. There would be a scar, but the wound was free to heal now. He let his thoughts turn to Calleigh. Tonight he would truly celebrate Christmas with the greatest gift of his life. The best gift for both of them this Christmas would be each other. He considered his material gift to her again, the one he had bought right before the accident at the canal. He thought it was perfect for her, for them, but he still anxiously awaited her approval. He would be sure she celebrated tonight, too. Poor Calleigh, he thought, but his mind immediately modified it. Not poor Calleigh any longer. Tonight we both get to start over and do Christmas right.
CSI was a whirlwind of festivity. Horatio exited the elevator and stopped dead. "What on earth?" Tinsel was draped across the front of the reception desk, and a jingle bell string had been tied to the phone. Claudia looked up and smiled at him, a bit uncertainly.
"Alexx decided to finish decorating, since the case is over. She said you'd approved it."
So he had, a week and more ago. He'd forgotten. "Right, no problem. Do I even want to know what they did in the labs?" She didn't answer, just waved a hand toward the glass doors. Fine, he'd check out the evidence himself.
The lab had more tinsel strung around, along with Christmas tree lights. He heard Alexx and Calleigh giggling like school girls even before he saw them. They were in the area below the stairs to his office. "I leave you two alone for one morning, and look what happens," he said with mock sternness, and they both spun around, trying, and failing, to look serious.
"I brought some homemade cookies from home at lunch," said Alexx. "They're in the break room. I'll go see if Delko's left you any."
"Don't forget to save some for Speed," said Horatio. "I gave him the day off today, after he was up all night reconstructing that notebook."
"He'll probably turn up eventually, though." Calleigh knew Speed didn't have much in life besides work and sleep. "Not like he has anything else to do. We've got to find him a girlfriend."
"What about Eric?" asked Alexx. "Don't you think he deserves a girlfriend?"
Horatio grinned, remembering Eric's half asleep comments that morning. "Eric will find the right one himself. Eventually." They all laughed. Eric's dogged optimism - in spite of all setbacks - was one of his trademarks.
Alexx departed on her cookie quest, and Calleigh latched onto Horatio's arm, pulling him along with her. "Come over here, handsome. There's something I want to show you."
He went along willingly. "What is it?"
They reached the alcove under the stairs, and she spun back around and captured him with her arms. "Gotcha. Look up." He did and spotted the mistletoe hung from the bottom of one of the steps. Calleigh pulled his head back down within her reach, and they shared a long, satisfying kiss. "How many girls have you ever kissed under the mistletoe before?"
"None. What's your score?"
"First time for me, too. I can see why it's a popular tradition, though." They kissed again, and as Calleigh tightened her grip on him, something crinkled. "What on earth have you got in your jacket pocket?"
Horatio straightened up, suddenly remember the few loose ends left on this case. "Evidence, actually. Let's not put this episode in the evidence log, okay?" He pulled out the envelope with Thomas' hair in it. "There's just one thing I have to do before we celebrate. I need to run Thomas' DNA through the system and get a match so he's incriminated as tightly as Edwards is." He wound through the glass lined halls to Speed's usual domain, uninhabited right now, and opened the envelope.
Calleigh followed him, puzzled. "Match it with what? You were just saying last night that the DNA from the stall matched Edwards. In fact, you were annoyed about it, because we didn't have anything to incriminate the third man besides the house sitter's story."
"We do now." Horatio snapped on Latex gloves and removed the hair from the envelope. "Lisa has identified Thomas as the man who assaulted and raped her a few years ago. There will be samples from that case on file."
Calleigh jolted to a halt on her way around the table to join him. "Lisa was raped a few years ago?"
"Yes. Poor woman. She was beaten pretty badly, in fact. That's why she's so uncertain around people. She really has had a rough life, even before that. Her parents were both killed in an accident when she was a kid, and she grew up in foster homes. Then the attack. Maybe she can do some healing of her own now."
He had never mentioned that. Calleigh clearly remembered the first night of the case, how he had talked about the results of the background search, but he hadn't mentioned Lisa, only Sam. Probably, being Horatio, he had respected Lisa's privacy enough not to mention it when it wasn't relevant to anything. It was Sam, the puzzle piece that didn't fit, the partner who paid for everything, whom he had discussed with Calleigh all that evening.
Alexx reappeared bearing cookies. "There you are. Can't stand to stop working, can you?"
"Just have one more sample to run on this case," said Horatio. "And I'm sure it will match."
"Be sure you get some of these." She put a plate on the corner of the table, not anywhere close to the hair he was working with. "I took some out for Speed, too. Eric's making good inroads on the rest. Have another one, Calleigh." She divided a smile evenly between them. "I'm going back down to the morgue to finish up a little paperwork of my own, and then I'm out of here. You two remember lunch tomorrow, though."
"We're looking forward to it," said Horatio. Alexx left them, and Calleigh picked up a cookie from the plate. She broke off a bite and stuck it in his mouth. "Thanks," he mumbled around the crumbs.
She settled back against the table, watching him work, eating the cookies, feeding him a bite now and then. Her mind was still numb. Knowing Lisa's background suddenly recast the last week in a totally different light. Calleigh remembered her own initial reaction to Horatio, when she had first come to Miami. Such a contrast to her father that she had probably been caught gaping at him herself several times those first few weeks. After a while, constant exposure had helped her conceal the amazement, but it had never left her. She hadn't realized that much strength of character could be mixed with kindness. He was unbelievable, not even like a man at all but a different species she had never encountered before. In fact, wasn't she still having trouble convincing herself it was real? And Lisa, whose experience with men had been even more painfully violent than Calleigh's, how would she react on being faced for the first time with true compassion and gentleness from one? Suddenly, Calleigh totally understood Lisa. More, she identified with her.
Her guilt came crashing back down again, and this time she understood why. She had misjudged Lisa, misinterpreted the evidence, and almost (thankfully almost) accused Horatio of something she was certain had never crossed his mind. He would never know what she had thought the night of the accident. Telling him in order to apologize would only open a wound that wasn't yet there. But Lisa was different. Lisa did know what Calleigh had thought, because Calleigh had made absolutely certain to hit her in the face with it.
"Hey, beautiful." She looked up into Horatio's stunningly honest blue eyes. "What's on your mind?" She remembered him apologizing to Eric and Speed the morning of Sam's murder for thinking they had missed something at the first scene. She also remembered again that she had never once in her childhood heard a sincere apology from either of her parents for anything. Who did she want to be more like, Horatio or her father? She put down a half-eaten cookie.
"Finish that one off, would you? Horatio, there's one thing I need to go do. I'll met you at home, okay? We'll have our Christmas tonight, but I've got to take care of something first."
"I thought you already got my present."
"Right, I did."
"We can do whatever it is together, right after I finish this sample."
"No. Please, Horatio, just meet me at home. I've got to do this alone, okay?"
His eyes were puzzled but trusting. "Okay. See you there."
"Thank you." She gave him a quick kiss and was gone, her heels clicking down the hall with determined purpose. She nearly mowed over Speed, exiting the elevator as she entered it. "Sorry," she said quickly, but she didn't break stride. He looked back, bewildered, as the elevator doors slid closed, then shrugged and headed into the lab to find Horatio in his usual spot.
"H, what's up?"
"Last piece of evidence on the case. Did you get some sleep?"
"Slept like a log. I'll be up half the night now. Might as well get some work done."
"No," said Horatio firmly. He pushed the plate over. "Have some cookies. Alexx made them."
Speed complied. "Whatcha mean, no?" he asked with his mouth full.
"None of us are working late tonight. It's Christmas, we've caught up, or close enough, and we haven't got any crucial cases open. Or won't have, when this sample matches." He snapped the analyzer shut and pushed the button. "If you'll be up half the night, you'll just have to spend it somewhere else."
Eric came up behind them. "Hey, man, why don't you come over to the club with me? We might even find some girls."
"What happened to Rose?" asked Speed.
"Cindy. Rose was two weeks ago. Cindy decided she preferred somebody with a salary. I mean, a larger salary," he qualified, glancing at Horatio.
"Don't you ever get tired of it, Eric?"
"One of these days, I'll find the right one. Or at least, I'll have fun looking." He grinned at his friend. "Come on, Speed, come with me. You never know. You might meet someone tonight you've been waiting for all your life."
"Yeah, right," snorted Speed.
"A week ago, did you think you'd ever process a horse?" Horatio put in. "You never know what will happen."
Speed looked from one to the other of them. "Well, if you're going to gang up on me, I guess I'll go."
"Great," said Eric. He grabbed a cookie from the plate, and Speed quickly took the last two before they disappeared. "H, mind if we cut out of here early?"
"Go ahead," said Horatio. The machine beeped behind him and spit out a piece of paper. He looked at it carefully and smiled. "Positive match to the one already in the system. We've got him."
"Don't we always?" said Speed.
"Of course. We're relentless." He grinned at Eric, who choked on his last bite of cookie. Speed whacked him on the back. "Enjoy your evening, gentlemen."
"Later, H. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," he called after them. He took the DNA report up to his office, put it in the case file, and finished the evidence log. He then stood up from his desk and walked over to the glass wall overlooking the labs. Mostly deserted labs, now. "We never close," he repeated to himself. "But once in a while, we do get to go home." He switched off the desk lamp and headed down the stairs, heading home to Calleigh.
***
Calleigh entered the barn tentatively, reluctantly, quite unlike her usual approach to anything. Lisa was down the aisle in front of Chrissy's stall, and she didn't hear her. The mare had her head over the stall door, and Lisa was speaking softly to her. Calleigh couldn't make out the words. They looked like two friends in a private conversation. Chrissy's ears were forward, focused on her owner, and she reached out suddenly and bumped her with her nose. Lisa reached up and wrapped both arms around the mare's neck, hugging her. Calleigh felt like she had walked into the middle of a sacred ceremony to which she was not an initiate. "Um, Lisa," she said.
Lisa looked up quickly, as did Chrissy. "Mrs. Caine. Did you need something else on the case?" Calleigh saw the hesitation in the eyes again but realized this time that it wasn't guilt, just uncertainty around someone who hadn't given her a single kind word or thought over the entire past week. Kicking herself mentally, she walked down to join her.
How did you apologize to someone? Calleigh hadn't had much practice. She thought of how Horatio had done it. "Lisa, I wanted to apologize to you. I never knew your background until today. I think I realize now what you were thinking that morning, but I misjudged you, and I'm sorry."
Lisa relaxed a fraction, but her eyes were on the horse, not Calleigh. "I never thought of doing anything. I've just never met anybody like him. I didn't know they came like that."
Calleigh smiled at her. "I know. My family background was pretty rough, too, and I think I must have gone around staring at him for the first few months I knew him." She reached out and touched the other woman's arm, and Lisa didn't pull away. "I really didn't know what had happened to you until this afternoon. I'm so sorry."
"At least he's caught, now." Lisa reached back up and stroked Chrissy's neck again. "It was awesome, really. Chrissy half killed him." She looked at Calleigh now. "I'd decided I never wanted anything more to do with men. But your husband . . . that's what I was wondering, that morning, if there were any more out there like him."
"You'll have a hard search," said Calleigh. "But don't ever settle for someone who doesn't respect you. Horatio's one of a kind, but there are good ones out there. And it's worth looking for." She remembered the other half of her mission. "I also didn't realize you didn't have any family left. Nobody should spend Christmas alone. I wanted to invite you to Christmas dinner tomorrow, if you don't have other plans." Alexx wouldn't mind, she was sure.
Lisa gave her a genuine smile for the first time. It improved her looks tremendously. "Actually, I do. I'm having dinner tomorrow with Sam's family. And on Christmas Day, I'm meeting my new partner for dinner. I'm not just replacing Sam," she said quickly, "but this is too much work for one person. I've got to have someone to share it with."
"I know." Calleigh looked up and down the aisle. Keeping all of this going would be even longer hours than CSI. "So you've found a new partner."
"Yes. She's giving notice at her jobs today, and she'll be here in two weeks. I do have some part-time help coming in on the 26th to fill in until Emily gets here. So Christmas will be the last day I have to do it all alone. It'll take all day, especially taking time out for dinner, but a stable isn't a bad spot to spend Christmas." She looked up and down the aisle herself. Sam had died here. But Sam had also lived here. It was the living she would remember longer.
"Well, I've got to get home to my own Christmas," said Calleigh. "I couldn't celebrate until I'd talk to you, though. I am sorry, for everything." She hugged Lisa, and Lisa hugged her back.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Caine. And thank your husband for me."
"I will. Merry Christmas." Calleigh was humming as she left the barn. Now, with her conscience at rest, she could enjoy a whole evening with Horatio.
***
When Calleigh pulled her car into the driveway behind the Hummer, she realized that Horatio was still in the vehicle, just sitting there. He got out as she did and waited for her to come up to him. "What are you sitting out in the driveway for?" she asked, giving him a quick kiss.
"I wanted to go in with you." Calleigh abruptly remembered his own Christmas experience, coming back to empty houses alone.
"I'm sorry, Horatio. I didn't mean to make you come back here alone. I just had to do something first."
He put his arm around her, and they started walking up the sidewalk. "You didn't make me come back here alone. We're going in together, aren't we? That's part of the celebration." He unlocked the door, and they went in together. "What was it you had to do?"
"I wanted to talk to Lisa. I was going to invite her to Christmas dinner at Alexx's if she didn't have any other plans. I just hate the thought of anyone spending Christmas alone."
He kissed her. "You're amazing, you know it? Did she have other plans?"
"Actually she did. She's eating with Sam's family tomorrow and her new partner on Christmas. She said to tell you thanks for everything. And Horatio, you're the one who's amazing." She kissed him back, enjoying the solid reality of him.
"We'll just have to be amazed together, then," he replied. "Come on, beautiful." He headed into the kitchen, and she followed him. They fixed dinner together in perfect harmony, their actions meshing seamlessly without explanation. He got out candles and lit them as she opened a bottle of wine. "Welcome to the rest of our lives," he said as they touched glasses gently, the pure tone ringing through the room. Calleigh gave a sigh of pure contentment. She didn't need wine; his eyes were intoxicating enough.
After the meal, they went into the living room and turned out the lights, letting the candles and the Christmas tree illuminate the scene. They settled side by side on the couch with the two presents. "You first," she said, handing hers to him. He opened it carefully, releasing each seam of tape, saving the paper. "Horatio, how can anybody open a present like that? We don't have to reuse the paper."
"Who said anything about reusing it?" He paused in his task long enough to smile at her. "I'm going to save it. This paper is precious. It held your first Christmas gift to me of our marriage." She reached out and brushed his cheek lightly with her fingers, just making sure, again, that he was real. She had never met anyone who could say such beautiful things so sincerely.
He finished carefully unwrapping the present and opened the box, pulling out the black silk. His eyes met hers with a gleam in them. "I always did think you looked good in black."
"So do you. We'll have to see each other with them - and without them - tonight." She slipped closer to him.
"A little later, though."
"Why later?"
"You haven't opened your present yet." She looked down at the small package in her lap. She'd forgotten about her present. She opened it like she had never opened a present before, carefully, tenderly, like he had. She suddenly wanted to save the paper herself. She finished opening it and looked down at the book on her lap. Their Eyes Were Watching God. She had never heard of it.
Horatio got up, retrieved a candle from the kitchen table, and returned to the couch. "This was one of my mother's favorite books. It's a love story, about a woman who goes through all sorts of things but finally finds her true soul mate." He set the candle on the end table next to her. "There's one passage marked. Read it."
She noticed the marker for the first time, stuck between two pages almost at the end of the book. She opened the book and removed it. It was a popsicle stick. She smiled up at him and gently lay the popsicle stick on the table. She turned her attention back to the book, finding the few lines underlined. The dialect came easily to her, familiar from her childhood. "Don't say you'se ole. . . God made it so you spent yo' ole age first with somebody else, and saved up yo' young girl days to spend with me." She looked up at him startled, hearing the echo of her own thought a few nights ago. Had he heard her remark about growing young together, then? She had been sure he was sound asleep. No, he had bought this present before then, the night of the accident at the canal.
Horatio slid closer to her on the couch, putting his arm around her. "That's how I feel about us, Calleigh. We've both been old before our time. But that means we still have our youth to spend together. God was just saving it up for us." No, he hadn't heard her, but it shouldn't surprise her that he saw, and felt, the same as she did. They were so alike. The perfect harmony finally found together. There had only been dissonance before him, but now, it was music. She looked at him in pure love. His eyes sparkled in the candle light. "Calleigh Caine," he said, savoring the name, "welcome to the first Christmas of the rest of our lives." She carefully put the book on the table and blew out the candle, then went to him willingly. And this time, it wasn't reassurance. This time, it was celebration.