Disclaimer - I don't own any of these characters, including Tim Speedle,
but hey a girl can dream, can't she?
Pairings - Since I personally can't picture Speed with any of the women on the show, I had to create one just for him.
Rating - PG-13, for earlier chapters.
Summary - Sometimes, what starts out as a simple day can change your life dramatically.
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"Mommy Jen?"
Jennifer's eyes popped open and she struggled to focus her eyes in the dark. Ben was standing next to the bed, his pillow and blanket in hand.
"What's wrong, baby?" she said sleepily.
"I can't sleep." Jennifer and Tim had been hearing those words a lot lately, ever since the Major died several weeks before. The doctor had told them it was probably nightmares, and when Ben got a little older, they should subside. In the meantime, Ben was sleeping with them nearly every night.
"Okay, baby, climb in." She lifted Ben into bed with them, gently placing him between her and Tim. Tim groaned in his sleep as Ben accidentally kicked him while struggling to get comfortable.
Jennifer was wide-awake now, and stroked Ben's hair until she could hear his breathing become regular. So much had changed in such a little amount of time. Five weeks ago, Jennifer and Tim were just a couple, without a care in the world. Now, they were parents shopping for a new house, preparing for a wedding and an adoption. They'd settled Ben into a daycare two weeks ago, and though his teachers assured Jennifer that once she was gone he was fine; he still cried and cried when she dropped him off at school.
Friday afternoons were his favorite part of the week, because he knew he'd have his new parents all to himself for the weekend. And on Sunday night, he'd start to cry, dreading the knowledge that he'd be separated from them the next morning, if only for a few hours.
Now, there was no overtime worked, for either of them. Neither Tim nor Jennifer felt like they were giving their jobs 110%, their minds were constantly focused on Ben and they were both exhausted. Horatio and Frank reassured them both that all new parents went through this, and that their job performances were still above par. But, most new parents aren't dealing with a grieving four-year-old either, she thought to herself as she looked down at Ben.
She cried herself back to sleep that night, curled up next to her new son.
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"Ben!" Jennifer shouted from the kitchen in the general direction of her son's room. "Mimi's here!"
"Mimi!!!" The little blonde came tearing out of his room, dodged a pile of boxes, and jumped into Julie Hagen's arms.
"Bennie!" she said affectionately, lifting him up to give him a kiss. "You ready to spend the day with Mimi?"
"Yeah!!" he said brightly. "Where are we going?"
"Well," she said settling onto the couch with him, "First I thought we'd swing by the zoo and see what those crazy monkeys are up to, then I thought we'd get some lunch."
"Pizza." Ben interjected.
"Pizza, it is. Then I thought maybe we'd go to the playground and let you run out some of your energy and then, we'll take you to your new house."
Jennifer was still in the kitchen, packing the remainder of the dishes and silverware. She laughed as she listened to their conversation. Julie Hagen was the only other person in the world Ben felt totally comfortable with. Jennifer thought maybe it was because she and her mother looked so much alike. Or maybe it was because Ben had never had a grandmother before. Either way, Jennifer was happy with the help her mother gave.
"Hey, Julie," Tim said, entering the apartment from downstairs, where he'd been loading boxes into the moving van.
"Hi, Tim. Hello, John," she said sternly to her son, who had walked in right behind Tim without a word.
"Hello, Mother." John said sarcastically, leaning down to kiss his mother, causing Jennifer to laugh.
John grabbed Ben and threw him up into the air, causing Ben to erupt in peals of laughter.
"John, stop. He just ate, you're going to make him throw up." Jennifer warned, but John didn't listen, and continued tossing Ben around.
Julie stood and picked up her purse. "Well, we'd better be going, Ben, if we're going to go see the monkeys."
John caught Ben and held him tight. "Want me to fly you out to the car?"
"Yeah!" Ben said happily. "Bye Mommy."
"Kiss," Jennifer reminded him and John flew Ben over to kiss her. "I love you," she said sweetly.
"I love you, too. Bye, Daddy," he said to Tim as John began flying him out of the apartment.
"Bye, Sport. Be good for Mimi."
Julie strolled over to where Jennifer stood at the counter. "If all goes well, why don't we see if Ben wants to spend the night with me?"
Jennifer looked at her mother like Julie had just presented her with a million dollars. "That would be incredible, Mom."
Julie leaned over and gave Jennifer a quick kiss on the cheek. "You and Tim need some time for yourselves."
Jennifer gave her an appreciative smile and Julie added, "Besides, this is what Mimi's do, which you'd already know if you or John had bothered to give me a grandchild before now."
Julie turned on her heels, just in time to see Jennifer roll her eyes. With a quick, "I saw that, young lady," she was gone, leaving Tim and Jennifer alone in the apartment for the first time in months.
"I know you," Tim said sarcastically, crossing the living room to step into the kitchen.
"You look vaguely familiar, too," she teased back.
He grinned and pinned her up against the refrigerator, closing the space between them and leaning in to kiss her. The feel of Tim's lips on hers ignited a passion they'd been too tired to feel in a long time. Her arms snaked up around his neck and he pressed her into the refrigerator, groaning as her fingers found their way into his hair.
"For the love of God!" John exclaimed from the doorway. "You're getting married in three weeks, can't you two control yourselves until then?"
"Jealous much?" Jennifer teased as Tim pulled away from her reluctantly.
John shot her a nasty look - she'd struck a nerve. "We've got an entire apartment to move, and you two playing tonsil hockey isn't going to get that accomplished any faster."
"Faster?" Calleigh called from the doorway, hands planted firmly on her hips. "It doesn't look like you guys have done anything!"
"Good thing we're here to help," Eric said playfully, picking Calleigh up at the waist and depositing her just inside the doorway so that he and Horatio could pass through.
Calleigh sauntered over to the kitchen counter and picked up a glass, wrapping it in paper and depositing into the box. "What did we interrupt?"
"Nothing," Jennifer said, elbowing Calleigh's arm. Calleigh elbowed her right back. Both looked back into the living room, where the guys were lifting the sofa. Jennifer watched Calleigh watching Horatio. It was a good thing the guys were pre-occupied, because Cal's admiration of Horatio was plastered all over her face.
Jennifer nodded toward Horatio and asked quietly, "How's that going?"
Calleigh blushed and lowered her head to hide the smile widening across her face. "Fine."
"Well, I can see that," Jennifer said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Shut up." Calleigh replied, elbowing Jennifer again.
The women loaded several more glasses into the box before Jennifer spoke. "Ben may spend the night with my mother tonight."
"Thank God," Calleigh drawled. "Speed's been way too serious lately. Frankly, you both need to get laid."
"Calleigh!"
"Oh please, we're all adults here."
"Well, what about you, smarty, have you been getting laid recently?"
Another hot blush spread across Calleigh's face, and she ducked her head again. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't," she replied mysteriously.
"Oooh, do tell!" Jennifer set the glass she been wrapping down and planted her elbows on the counter.
"I don't kiss and tell, Jen."
"Please, that's a man's line." Jennifer gave her a dismissive wave. "We women always kiss and tell."
"God, this is so weird. I dated your brother."
"Calleigh, you are my best friend, and nothing will ever change that." Jennifer laid an encouraging hand on Calleigh's arm. "Now, spill it."
Their conversation was interrupted by the guys coming into the apartment again, this time heading over the entertainment center. Minutes later, they were out the door.
"Okay, they're gone." Jennifer said, checking to make sure the guys were out of earshot.
"He is amazing, Jennifer. Amazing in ^every^ sense of the word, if you get what I mean."
"Mmm," she said, closing her eyes and nodding, "Pausing for mental image, here."
Calleigh punched Jennifer's arm playfully. "Stop making a mental image of my man, Jen. You've got your own."
"Yeah, but I haven't seen ^him^ naked in weeks," she said glumly.
Calleigh paused and placed her hand on Jennifer's arm. "Honey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm, uh, fine."
"That's not very convincing."
"Don't get me wrong, Cal, I love Tim and I love Ben, but the past couple of months have been."
Calleigh cut her off. "They've been hell, Jennifer, and that's totally normal." She reached her hand up to wipe the tears spilling from Jennifer's eyes. "Honey, it's going to be okay, I promise," she said gently, pulling her best friend into her arms.
"Jen?" Tim asked curiously from behind them. "Baby, you okay?"
"She's fine, Tim." Calleigh answered as Jennifer turned her back to him to wipe her remaining tears. "She just now realized she's going to be stuck with you for the rest of her life." Calleigh flashed Tim a bright grin, her green eyes dancing to the words.
"Funny," Tim said, breezing past Calleigh. "I'm going to ask one more time, then I'll leave you alone," he said, lifting Jennifer's face to his, "are you okay?"
Jennifer touched her hand to his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. "I'm fine, Tim, really I am."
"Okay," he said, not quite believing her, but not knowing what else to say.
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Hours later, Tim and Jennifer plopped down on the sofa in their new home, a three bedroom, two bath house situated in one of Miami's newer subdivisions. Plenty of children roamed the streets, and the couple hoped Ben would make friends in his new neighborhood.
Tim surveyed the boxes that remained, scattered throughout the house. He stretched his legs out and rested his feet on the coffee table. "I know we should keep unloading boxes while Ben's not here, but I'm too damn tired to do anything else."
"I can't believe he's staying with Mom tonight."
"Good practice for the honeymoon."
"Yep."
Tim sat quietly for a moment before leaning toward Jennifer. "Speaking of practicing for the honeymoon," he said as a huge grin spread across her face. "I thought maybe we could use a little practice, too."
"I thought you were too damn tired," she said sweetly, climbing on his lap and straddling him.
"I'm never too tired for that," he replied, running his hands up and down the inside of her thighs, his fingers lightly brushing between her legs. She reached her hands between them and tugged at the edge of his t-shirt, pulling it off and tossing it to the side. Jennifer spread her fingers out across his toned chest and gently kissed his neck.
Tim reached beneath her t-shirt and undid the clasp of her bra, ridding of her both at once. Pulling her close to him, he captured her lips again, as Jennifer moaned with pleasure. She whispered breathlessly in his ear, "Bedroom, now."
"Uh-huh," he said shaking his head. "We have a four-year old. This may be the last time we get to make love in this living room for a very long time." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"I am so tired!" Calleigh exclaimed, plopping down on Horatio's couch. "Who knew they had that much stuff?"
"They need to have a garage sale," Horatio chimed in, "now that they have a garage."
Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Maybe they'll repay the favor someday."
The comment caught Horatio off guard and he looked at Calleigh quizzically.
She blushed and said, "I mean, maybe one of us will move one day, that's all. I wasn't thinking anything about,"
Horatio lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingers. "Miss Dusquene, you may think anything you like."
She grinned. "Does that mean you think about it?"
Horatio stretched out on the sofa and placed his arm behind Calleigh's head. "Yeah, I think about it sometimes. I haven't bought you a ring or anything."
She playfully punched him on the shoulder and he added, "Yet. One thing at a time, my darling."
"Yet. I like the sound of that, Mr. Caine," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
"First, I think we ought to fess up about our relationship."
Calleigh smiled brilliantly at him. "You do?"
Horatio nodded, " I do, because I have every intention of dancing the night away with you at this wedding, and that might seem a little odd if everyone didn't know."
"Horatio Caine, romantic at heart," Calleigh pressed a hand to her heart for emphasis.
He laughed. "Let me tell my supervisors first. Then we'll tell the team."
"Sounds like a plan, my man," she said, hopping on to Horatio's lap and leaning in to kiss him.
TBC.
Pairings - Since I personally can't picture Speed with any of the women on the show, I had to create one just for him.
Rating - PG-13, for earlier chapters.
Summary - Sometimes, what starts out as a simple day can change your life dramatically.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Mommy Jen?"
Jennifer's eyes popped open and she struggled to focus her eyes in the dark. Ben was standing next to the bed, his pillow and blanket in hand.
"What's wrong, baby?" she said sleepily.
"I can't sleep." Jennifer and Tim had been hearing those words a lot lately, ever since the Major died several weeks before. The doctor had told them it was probably nightmares, and when Ben got a little older, they should subside. In the meantime, Ben was sleeping with them nearly every night.
"Okay, baby, climb in." She lifted Ben into bed with them, gently placing him between her and Tim. Tim groaned in his sleep as Ben accidentally kicked him while struggling to get comfortable.
Jennifer was wide-awake now, and stroked Ben's hair until she could hear his breathing become regular. So much had changed in such a little amount of time. Five weeks ago, Jennifer and Tim were just a couple, without a care in the world. Now, they were parents shopping for a new house, preparing for a wedding and an adoption. They'd settled Ben into a daycare two weeks ago, and though his teachers assured Jennifer that once she was gone he was fine; he still cried and cried when she dropped him off at school.
Friday afternoons were his favorite part of the week, because he knew he'd have his new parents all to himself for the weekend. And on Sunday night, he'd start to cry, dreading the knowledge that he'd be separated from them the next morning, if only for a few hours.
Now, there was no overtime worked, for either of them. Neither Tim nor Jennifer felt like they were giving their jobs 110%, their minds were constantly focused on Ben and they were both exhausted. Horatio and Frank reassured them both that all new parents went through this, and that their job performances were still above par. But, most new parents aren't dealing with a grieving four-year-old either, she thought to herself as she looked down at Ben.
She cried herself back to sleep that night, curled up next to her new son.
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"Ben!" Jennifer shouted from the kitchen in the general direction of her son's room. "Mimi's here!"
"Mimi!!!" The little blonde came tearing out of his room, dodged a pile of boxes, and jumped into Julie Hagen's arms.
"Bennie!" she said affectionately, lifting him up to give him a kiss. "You ready to spend the day with Mimi?"
"Yeah!!" he said brightly. "Where are we going?"
"Well," she said settling onto the couch with him, "First I thought we'd swing by the zoo and see what those crazy monkeys are up to, then I thought we'd get some lunch."
"Pizza." Ben interjected.
"Pizza, it is. Then I thought maybe we'd go to the playground and let you run out some of your energy and then, we'll take you to your new house."
Jennifer was still in the kitchen, packing the remainder of the dishes and silverware. She laughed as she listened to their conversation. Julie Hagen was the only other person in the world Ben felt totally comfortable with. Jennifer thought maybe it was because she and her mother looked so much alike. Or maybe it was because Ben had never had a grandmother before. Either way, Jennifer was happy with the help her mother gave.
"Hey, Julie," Tim said, entering the apartment from downstairs, where he'd been loading boxes into the moving van.
"Hi, Tim. Hello, John," she said sternly to her son, who had walked in right behind Tim without a word.
"Hello, Mother." John said sarcastically, leaning down to kiss his mother, causing Jennifer to laugh.
John grabbed Ben and threw him up into the air, causing Ben to erupt in peals of laughter.
"John, stop. He just ate, you're going to make him throw up." Jennifer warned, but John didn't listen, and continued tossing Ben around.
Julie stood and picked up her purse. "Well, we'd better be going, Ben, if we're going to go see the monkeys."
John caught Ben and held him tight. "Want me to fly you out to the car?"
"Yeah!" Ben said happily. "Bye Mommy."
"Kiss," Jennifer reminded him and John flew Ben over to kiss her. "I love you," she said sweetly.
"I love you, too. Bye, Daddy," he said to Tim as John began flying him out of the apartment.
"Bye, Sport. Be good for Mimi."
Julie strolled over to where Jennifer stood at the counter. "If all goes well, why don't we see if Ben wants to spend the night with me?"
Jennifer looked at her mother like Julie had just presented her with a million dollars. "That would be incredible, Mom."
Julie leaned over and gave Jennifer a quick kiss on the cheek. "You and Tim need some time for yourselves."
Jennifer gave her an appreciative smile and Julie added, "Besides, this is what Mimi's do, which you'd already know if you or John had bothered to give me a grandchild before now."
Julie turned on her heels, just in time to see Jennifer roll her eyes. With a quick, "I saw that, young lady," she was gone, leaving Tim and Jennifer alone in the apartment for the first time in months.
"I know you," Tim said sarcastically, crossing the living room to step into the kitchen.
"You look vaguely familiar, too," she teased back.
He grinned and pinned her up against the refrigerator, closing the space between them and leaning in to kiss her. The feel of Tim's lips on hers ignited a passion they'd been too tired to feel in a long time. Her arms snaked up around his neck and he pressed her into the refrigerator, groaning as her fingers found their way into his hair.
"For the love of God!" John exclaimed from the doorway. "You're getting married in three weeks, can't you two control yourselves until then?"
"Jealous much?" Jennifer teased as Tim pulled away from her reluctantly.
John shot her a nasty look - she'd struck a nerve. "We've got an entire apartment to move, and you two playing tonsil hockey isn't going to get that accomplished any faster."
"Faster?" Calleigh called from the doorway, hands planted firmly on her hips. "It doesn't look like you guys have done anything!"
"Good thing we're here to help," Eric said playfully, picking Calleigh up at the waist and depositing her just inside the doorway so that he and Horatio could pass through.
Calleigh sauntered over to the kitchen counter and picked up a glass, wrapping it in paper and depositing into the box. "What did we interrupt?"
"Nothing," Jennifer said, elbowing Calleigh's arm. Calleigh elbowed her right back. Both looked back into the living room, where the guys were lifting the sofa. Jennifer watched Calleigh watching Horatio. It was a good thing the guys were pre-occupied, because Cal's admiration of Horatio was plastered all over her face.
Jennifer nodded toward Horatio and asked quietly, "How's that going?"
Calleigh blushed and lowered her head to hide the smile widening across her face. "Fine."
"Well, I can see that," Jennifer said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Shut up." Calleigh replied, elbowing Jennifer again.
The women loaded several more glasses into the box before Jennifer spoke. "Ben may spend the night with my mother tonight."
"Thank God," Calleigh drawled. "Speed's been way too serious lately. Frankly, you both need to get laid."
"Calleigh!"
"Oh please, we're all adults here."
"Well, what about you, smarty, have you been getting laid recently?"
Another hot blush spread across Calleigh's face, and she ducked her head again. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't," she replied mysteriously.
"Oooh, do tell!" Jennifer set the glass she been wrapping down and planted her elbows on the counter.
"I don't kiss and tell, Jen."
"Please, that's a man's line." Jennifer gave her a dismissive wave. "We women always kiss and tell."
"God, this is so weird. I dated your brother."
"Calleigh, you are my best friend, and nothing will ever change that." Jennifer laid an encouraging hand on Calleigh's arm. "Now, spill it."
Their conversation was interrupted by the guys coming into the apartment again, this time heading over the entertainment center. Minutes later, they were out the door.
"Okay, they're gone." Jennifer said, checking to make sure the guys were out of earshot.
"He is amazing, Jennifer. Amazing in ^every^ sense of the word, if you get what I mean."
"Mmm," she said, closing her eyes and nodding, "Pausing for mental image, here."
Calleigh punched Jennifer's arm playfully. "Stop making a mental image of my man, Jen. You've got your own."
"Yeah, but I haven't seen ^him^ naked in weeks," she said glumly.
Calleigh paused and placed her hand on Jennifer's arm. "Honey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm, uh, fine."
"That's not very convincing."
"Don't get me wrong, Cal, I love Tim and I love Ben, but the past couple of months have been."
Calleigh cut her off. "They've been hell, Jennifer, and that's totally normal." She reached her hand up to wipe the tears spilling from Jennifer's eyes. "Honey, it's going to be okay, I promise," she said gently, pulling her best friend into her arms.
"Jen?" Tim asked curiously from behind them. "Baby, you okay?"
"She's fine, Tim." Calleigh answered as Jennifer turned her back to him to wipe her remaining tears. "She just now realized she's going to be stuck with you for the rest of her life." Calleigh flashed Tim a bright grin, her green eyes dancing to the words.
"Funny," Tim said, breezing past Calleigh. "I'm going to ask one more time, then I'll leave you alone," he said, lifting Jennifer's face to his, "are you okay?"
Jennifer touched her hand to his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. "I'm fine, Tim, really I am."
"Okay," he said, not quite believing her, but not knowing what else to say.
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Hours later, Tim and Jennifer plopped down on the sofa in their new home, a three bedroom, two bath house situated in one of Miami's newer subdivisions. Plenty of children roamed the streets, and the couple hoped Ben would make friends in his new neighborhood.
Tim surveyed the boxes that remained, scattered throughout the house. He stretched his legs out and rested his feet on the coffee table. "I know we should keep unloading boxes while Ben's not here, but I'm too damn tired to do anything else."
"I can't believe he's staying with Mom tonight."
"Good practice for the honeymoon."
"Yep."
Tim sat quietly for a moment before leaning toward Jennifer. "Speaking of practicing for the honeymoon," he said as a huge grin spread across her face. "I thought maybe we could use a little practice, too."
"I thought you were too damn tired," she said sweetly, climbing on his lap and straddling him.
"I'm never too tired for that," he replied, running his hands up and down the inside of her thighs, his fingers lightly brushing between her legs. She reached her hands between them and tugged at the edge of his t-shirt, pulling it off and tossing it to the side. Jennifer spread her fingers out across his toned chest and gently kissed his neck.
Tim reached beneath her t-shirt and undid the clasp of her bra, ridding of her both at once. Pulling her close to him, he captured her lips again, as Jennifer moaned with pleasure. She whispered breathlessly in his ear, "Bedroom, now."
"Uh-huh," he said shaking his head. "We have a four-year old. This may be the last time we get to make love in this living room for a very long time." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"I am so tired!" Calleigh exclaimed, plopping down on Horatio's couch. "Who knew they had that much stuff?"
"They need to have a garage sale," Horatio chimed in, "now that they have a garage."
Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Maybe they'll repay the favor someday."
The comment caught Horatio off guard and he looked at Calleigh quizzically.
She blushed and said, "I mean, maybe one of us will move one day, that's all. I wasn't thinking anything about,"
Horatio lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingers. "Miss Dusquene, you may think anything you like."
She grinned. "Does that mean you think about it?"
Horatio stretched out on the sofa and placed his arm behind Calleigh's head. "Yeah, I think about it sometimes. I haven't bought you a ring or anything."
She playfully punched him on the shoulder and he added, "Yet. One thing at a time, my darling."
"Yet. I like the sound of that, Mr. Caine," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
"First, I think we ought to fess up about our relationship."
Calleigh smiled brilliantly at him. "You do?"
Horatio nodded, " I do, because I have every intention of dancing the night away with you at this wedding, and that might seem a little odd if everyone didn't know."
"Horatio Caine, romantic at heart," Calleigh pressed a hand to her heart for emphasis.
He laughed. "Let me tell my supervisors first. Then we'll tell the team."
"Sounds like a plan, my man," she said, hopping on to Horatio's lap and leaning in to kiss him.
TBC.