Told in a Garden
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, concepts, or names in here. The only thing I own is the idea expressed in this story. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Suppose one random decision gives rise to two separate but parallel universes. What might happen in those two universes?
Horatio guided them to a park bench shaded by a low tree, the base of the tree and the bench surrounded by small shrubs covered with intense purple blooms. He and Lisabella sat down, the young woman slouching down and relaxing as only teenagers can. They sat in silence a moment, Horatio closing his eyes and listening to the drone of the bumblebees visiting the nearby flowers.
"You know, this very bench is where your mother and I realized we both felt the same way about each other."
"You still miss her, don't you?" Lisabella sat up for a moment to look at him, then slouched back again. "What was she like? And what happened? You always said you'd tell me someday, but you never did."
"Oh, Bella. Your mother would be so proud of you," Horatio told her, putting on his ever-present sunglasses as he spoke. "You want to know what she was like? She was just a smaller version of you. Calleigh Marie Caine was probably the most loyal, big-hearted, and loving woman that I have ever known. She always paid more attention to others, and what they needed, than she did to herself. And when she focused on someone or something, no matter how small, that was the only thing that existed for her at that moment. There were times when, if she was concentrating on something at work, the lab could have blown up around her and she wouldn't have noticed. It's the same way you are when you get into something that fascinates you."
"What attracted you to her most?"
"Why all the questions?"
Lisabella sighed. "I guess because I'm going away from home now, and I feel like I don't know everything I should. And I wish, now that I'm almost an adult, that I had really known my mother."
"I felt the same way at your age, and for the same reason. What attracted me to your mother the most?" Horatio thought for a moment as a fat bee flew from one flower to another behind him. "Well, the easy answer is her smile. She had the most wonderful smile. Sometimes I'll see you smile, and it's as if she's in there inside you somewhere. But really, I guess the fact that she had the courage to be who she was, rather than letting people pigeonhole her into what she should or shouldn't be. I mean, here's this tiny little blond with a perfect Southern lilt, you'd expect her to be able to whip up a pitcher of sweet tea but not be able to do much else. But every single case we got, she was out there in the dirt, and the mud, and one time with leeches crawling on her, and she would never let it get to her. She never acted like a "girl" just because that was what someone expected her to do. Oh, she'd be the perfect Southern belle if she thought it would get someone off their guard, but it was just another side of her. She was comfortable with who and what she was, and that made the rest of the world comfortable with it as well."
"She sounds perfect," whispered Lisabella after a moment.
"No, she wasn't that, none of us are. She was a fierce little thing, and sometimes she'd let things get to her about a case if it wasn't coming together. She hated having anything left hanging, and sometimes that fierceness would come home from work with her. It made things difficult sometimes..." Horatio's voice trailed off as he remembered the hard words, the last words, they had traded.
"Dad? You still there?"
"Sorry, Bella. Your mother was never one to hide her emotions. As much as she tried sometimes, it was always obvious how she was feeling. There were times when the evidence didn't show the picture she thought it should. She'd drive herself nearly to exhaustion trying to put it together. Not that she would try to force it into the wrong picture, it was simply that sometimes she'd try to paint a whole watercolor when she only had two colors on the palette. I lost count of the all-nighters she worked, for case after case, trying to find that one last little bit of evidence that would put the whole thing together. Even when she did come home, in a mood like that she wouldn't be able to sleep through the whole night. She was so dedicated, and so relentless about her cases."
"But that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, if the evidence was there, but hidden, then being stubborn like that would be a good thing."
"Oh yes, that patented Calleigh Duquesne, and then Calleigh Caine, ferocity was definitely a good thing." A light breeze gently shook the flowers around the bench, and a spicy floral scent rose off the purple flowers and eddied on the hot humid air. "I just wish she could see you now, and know what you're up to. Going off to college tomorrow, so far from home, and studying forensics yet. I guess you didn't have a chance for anything else, growing up with the whole CSI team raising you, did you?"
"But it's what I'm interested in. It's all like a puzzle, and when you put the pieces together in the right way, it's a perfect picture."
"She was like that too. She couldn't stand not knowing why, or how."
"So what happened?" Lisabella sat up straight on the bench and turned to face her father. "What did happen? All you've ever said is that she was killed accidentally."
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, concepts, or names in here. The only thing I own is the idea expressed in this story. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Suppose one random decision gives rise to two separate but parallel universes. What might happen in those two universes?
Horatio guided them to a park bench shaded by a low tree, the base of the tree and the bench surrounded by small shrubs covered with intense purple blooms. He and Lisabella sat down, the young woman slouching down and relaxing as only teenagers can. They sat in silence a moment, Horatio closing his eyes and listening to the drone of the bumblebees visiting the nearby flowers.
"You know, this very bench is where your mother and I realized we both felt the same way about each other."
"You still miss her, don't you?" Lisabella sat up for a moment to look at him, then slouched back again. "What was she like? And what happened? You always said you'd tell me someday, but you never did."
"Oh, Bella. Your mother would be so proud of you," Horatio told her, putting on his ever-present sunglasses as he spoke. "You want to know what she was like? She was just a smaller version of you. Calleigh Marie Caine was probably the most loyal, big-hearted, and loving woman that I have ever known. She always paid more attention to others, and what they needed, than she did to herself. And when she focused on someone or something, no matter how small, that was the only thing that existed for her at that moment. There were times when, if she was concentrating on something at work, the lab could have blown up around her and she wouldn't have noticed. It's the same way you are when you get into something that fascinates you."
"What attracted you to her most?"
"Why all the questions?"
Lisabella sighed. "I guess because I'm going away from home now, and I feel like I don't know everything I should. And I wish, now that I'm almost an adult, that I had really known my mother."
"I felt the same way at your age, and for the same reason. What attracted me to your mother the most?" Horatio thought for a moment as a fat bee flew from one flower to another behind him. "Well, the easy answer is her smile. She had the most wonderful smile. Sometimes I'll see you smile, and it's as if she's in there inside you somewhere. But really, I guess the fact that she had the courage to be who she was, rather than letting people pigeonhole her into what she should or shouldn't be. I mean, here's this tiny little blond with a perfect Southern lilt, you'd expect her to be able to whip up a pitcher of sweet tea but not be able to do much else. But every single case we got, she was out there in the dirt, and the mud, and one time with leeches crawling on her, and she would never let it get to her. She never acted like a "girl" just because that was what someone expected her to do. Oh, she'd be the perfect Southern belle if she thought it would get someone off their guard, but it was just another side of her. She was comfortable with who and what she was, and that made the rest of the world comfortable with it as well."
"She sounds perfect," whispered Lisabella after a moment.
"No, she wasn't that, none of us are. She was a fierce little thing, and sometimes she'd let things get to her about a case if it wasn't coming together. She hated having anything left hanging, and sometimes that fierceness would come home from work with her. It made things difficult sometimes..." Horatio's voice trailed off as he remembered the hard words, the last words, they had traded.
"Dad? You still there?"
"Sorry, Bella. Your mother was never one to hide her emotions. As much as she tried sometimes, it was always obvious how she was feeling. There were times when the evidence didn't show the picture she thought it should. She'd drive herself nearly to exhaustion trying to put it together. Not that she would try to force it into the wrong picture, it was simply that sometimes she'd try to paint a whole watercolor when she only had two colors on the palette. I lost count of the all-nighters she worked, for case after case, trying to find that one last little bit of evidence that would put the whole thing together. Even when she did come home, in a mood like that she wouldn't be able to sleep through the whole night. She was so dedicated, and so relentless about her cases."
"But that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, if the evidence was there, but hidden, then being stubborn like that would be a good thing."
"Oh yes, that patented Calleigh Duquesne, and then Calleigh Caine, ferocity was definitely a good thing." A light breeze gently shook the flowers around the bench, and a spicy floral scent rose off the purple flowers and eddied on the hot humid air. "I just wish she could see you now, and know what you're up to. Going off to college tomorrow, so far from home, and studying forensics yet. I guess you didn't have a chance for anything else, growing up with the whole CSI team raising you, did you?"
"But it's what I'm interested in. It's all like a puzzle, and when you put the pieces together in the right way, it's a perfect picture."
"She was like that too. She couldn't stand not knowing why, or how."
"So what happened?" Lisabella sat up straight on the bench and turned to face her father. "What did happen? All you've ever said is that she was killed accidentally."