Calleigh leaned back against Tim's chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"How old is she?" he asked quietly.
"Three months." Calleigh replied. Tim quickly did the math.
"Sometime around my birthday."
"Try on your birthday."
"The 24th?"
"That is your birthday." Calleigh said. Again, Tim did the math.
"Did you know?"
"No. See, funny thing was I carried her for nine months but never thought once I was pregnant."
"You know what I mean."
"I found out two weeks after you died." Calleigh said. "So to answer your next question, yes she is yours."
"I wasn't gonna ask that." Tim defended. "She's beautiful."
"She also has a name."
"Gonna ask that."
"Gabrielle or as everyone calls her Gabby."
Tim nodded silently and stared at his daughter.
"I wouldn't have gone if I had known."
"What a bunch of BS."
"Calleigh, I'm serious."
"Don't even try it." she pulled out of his arms and walked down the hall to her room. Tim winced as he heard the door slam shut and he stayed rooted to the spot until he finally managed to find the courage to go face his wife.
"I would've have told you if I could."
"You told Horatio." Calleigh said, tears silently streaming down her face.
"He had to know."
"I should've had to know."
"I know and I wish I could've but if someone besides the people working on this found out then it could've put the whole case in danger." Tim sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at Calleigh's back.
"Who would I have told?" she asked.
"That's what I said but they wouldn't let me tell you. Cal, I don't want you mad at me."
"I'm not mad." she said quietly, sitting up. "You don't know how hard the past year has been."
"I think I have an idea." Tim said, moving behind her. "Calleigh..."
She turned around and Tim wiped her tears away.
"Don't leave me again." she whispered.
"Never." Tim murmured and their lips met for the first time in a year. Their arms quickly wrapped around each other and Calleigh found it hard to believe that this was happening. How many times over the past year had she dreamed about this? How had she ever lived without him?
S/C-----
Tim woke up when he heard a whimper. He glanced over at Calleigh and saw she was asleep. The whimpering moved on to full blown crying and Tim cringed as he walked into the nursery across the hall.
"Uh..." he looked stumped and afraid to touch the baby. "Um... Calleigh? I know you can hear me over the monitor. Can you please come in here?"
Calleigh, who was awake, smirked and stayed in bed. He was Gabby's father and he'd have to deal with everything as well.
"Calleigh, I can't... um... do this."
"What is there you can't do?" she asked, appearing at Tim's side.
"I don't want to touch it." he replied.
"First off, it is when you are talking about an inanimate object. She is person honey. Gabby."
"I know."
"Second off, why not?"
"What if I drop her?"
"Stop being such an idiot. If Delko can do this, then so can you."
"Delko can do this?"
"Yes. He's her godfather. He got the hang of it quite fast." Calleigh said, picking Gabby up. "I know sweetie, Daddy is stupid."
"Hey!" Tim sounded offended. Calleigh smiled up at him.
"You're not gonna drop her." she said. "Here,"
Tim awkwardly held out his arms and Calleigh couldn't fight the smirk off her face as she handed their daughter over to him.
"Why are you trusting me with her?" Tim asked, staring down at Gabby. She had stopped crying and her green eyes were now locked on his brown ones.
"Because you're her father." Calleigh replied. "Why do you ask stupid questions?"
"I mean... I haven't been around."
"So? Doesn't change anything. Besides, it's not that hard to hold a baby."
"Guess not." Tim mumbled. "Does she do anything?"
"Yeah. Eric and H come over and they all play Texas Hold'em." Calleigh said. "She doesn't do much of anything except sleep, eat, and cry. Oh and she goes to the bathroom and that's probably why she's awake."
Tim quickly handed Gabby back to Calleigh.
"It was fun."
"You are going to have to change her diapers you know."
"Can't you just do that?"
"What are you going to do when I go out and leave her with you?"
"I'll wait till you get home."
"She can't sit in a dirty diaper for a few hours!" Calleigh said as she lay Gabby down on the changing table. "Daddy has a lot to learn."
Gabby yawned and her eyes drooped. Calleigh smiled and quickly changed her.
"You wanna put her back?" she asked, glancing at Tim. He nodded and carefully picked the baby up. "Well I think you have it under control so I'm going back to bed."
"Um..."
"Um nothing. Just cover her up with that pink blanket when you lay her down. Oh and give her the pacifier." Calleigh said and left the room. Tim sighed and looked down at Gabby and she looked back at him. Her eyes closed and Tim smiled as he lay her down in the crib. He did what Calleigh told him and then silently left the room. Calleigh smiled when she saw him enter their room. "She still alive?"
"Haha." Tim got back in bed and wrapped an arm around Calleigh's waist. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For not being here."
"I'm getting over it. I just... I missed you so much and then the funeral... and now you're here... it... I don't know." Calleigh said. "You're not going back to D.C. are you?"
"No. I'm gonna work out of the Miami office. Not work there. I'll be at CSI. I just have to go report my findings at the end of everyday. Once this is over, all of that will be long behind me."
Calleigh nodded and buried her face in Tim's shoulder.
"This feels good." he murmured in her ear.
"What?"
"Holding you again. It sucked waking up and not having you there."
"I know. Remember, I didn't have you either."
"I promise this is gonna be over fast. Then we'll get back to how we used to be. Me, you, and now we've got Gabby. God Calleigh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't here."
"Will you stop saying you're sorry?" she asked. "You can make it up to me."
"How? I can't just go back and make the past year not happen."
"I got a few ideas." Calleigh replied, kissing Tim's shoulder. She looked up at him and Tim kissed her.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"And I love Gabby. I... it's weird."
"You only know her for a short amount of time but she still takes your breath away." Calleigh finished, a smile on her face.
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Because that's how every parent acts when they see their kid for the first time. I said the same thing when I saw her."
"I promise Calleigh, I'm not gonna leave you two again and I won't let anything happen to you two either."
"I know."