Tim quietly walked into Anna's room and picked up his crying daughter.
"Shh... Anna, no." Tim lowered himself down into the rocking chair and slowly started moving back and forth. Anna didn't stop. "Come on Anna... Daddy doesn't want his princess sad."
His princess... Tim remembered the day he found out about his princess...
S/C------
FLASHBACK
Tim closed the door behind him quietly and glanced around Calleigh's darkened apartment. He and Calleigh had been together for about four months now. Things were going great, except for the teensy-weensy fact that... Stacey wouldn't give Tim up. No matter how hard he tried to break up with her, Tim couldn't. It wasn't that he didn't want to, Stacey would not let him talk. She rarely let him leave the apartment and if she did, it was for work. So Tim snuck out in the middle of the night to be with Calleigh.
"Calleigh?"
"I'm right here." she mumbled. Tim flicked the light switch and saw her sitting on the couch.
"Why are you sit... Calleigh, what's wrong?" he quickly went to her side when he saw the tears shining on her face. She shook her head and looked the other way. Tim gently turned her face towards his. "What's with the tears?"
"I... oh God I don't want to tell you." she whispered as Tim wiped her tears away. "Tim, I can't."
"Yes you can. What's wrong?"
"It's not really something bad. I mean, under the circumstances it is. It wasn't supposed to happen this way..."
"Calleigh, you're scaring me..."
"Oh baby, no..." She shook her head and kissed Tim quickly. "Everything's fine. I... Tim, we... you know how I wasn't work today?"
"Yeah..."
"I had gone to the doctors."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Tim, I... I'm pregnant."
"You... you are?" he stammered. Calleigh nodded.
"Six weeks."
"I... you... we..."
"Tim, are you... you okay about this?"
"Of course I am! I'm more than okay about this! Calleigh..."
"But... Stacey..."
"Shh... don't worry about her. I promise I'll tell her tonight okay?"
"Oh God! Tonight!" Calleigh screeched. "Tonight's that dinner with my parents! My father said you had something big to say!"
"Well we do..." Tim corrected. "I asked him if I could marry you."
"What? Why would you do that?"
"Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I love you so much. Calleigh, will you? Will you marry me?"
"I... Tim, we can't!" she buried her face in his shoulder and he sighed into her hair.
"Yes we can..."
"I can't do that to Stacey."
"You can't do this to Stacey or do you not want to be with me?"
"Of course I want to be with you! I just... I never..."
"Calleigh, please answer me. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed, kissing him deeply. "Tim, I love you."
"I love you too." he pulled a box out of his pocket and Calleigh laughed lightly. "What?"
"I um... you were in the shower this morning and that fell out of your pocket. I... I thought that it was for Stacey." she said sheepishly.
"Why would it be for Stacey?" Tim asked, sliding the princess cut diamond onto Calleigh's finger. She admired it for a minute and shrugged.
"I was being stupid." she mumbled. "Tim... I can't tell my family. They... they think you love Stacey and if they find out that we've been together for the past few months..."
"Shh..." he pressed his lips gently against hers. "Everything's gonna be fine. I mean, we're getting married and we're... we're gonna have a baby soon..."
"Tim, please tell me you're going to end it with her tonight." Calleigh pleaded. "Promise me..."
"I promise."
S/C--------
Calleigh fidgeted as she sat next to Tim at the table. Stacey was on the other side of him, a bright smile on her face as held his hand tightly. Calleigh gave Tim's ankle a swift kick and he nodded, leaning over to Stacey.
"I need to talk to you for a minute." he murmured. She nodded and allowed herself to be pulled away from the table. Calleigh sighed. Now Stacey was out of the room and Calleigh could tell the rest of her family the good news, or what she hoped was good news.
"Um... guys?"
Her parents and brothers looked up.
"What's wrong Calleigh?" her mother, Diane asked.
"Nothing!" she smiled. "Actually, it's something rather good... I um... I got engaged."
"This is wonderful!" Kenwall exclaimed. "Two engagements in the family!"
"What are you talking about?" Calleigh asked.
"Tim's asking Stacey to marry him!"
"What?"
"Yeah! He asked me today if he could marry her."
"Okay, let me finish..." Calleigh muttered, looking down at her plate. "Guys I uh... I haven't really been truthful to all of you. Tim isn't marrying Stacey."
"He's not?" Brad, her older brother, asked. Calleigh shook her head. Brad would understand. He was her big brother. He cared about her...
"For the past four months um... Tim and I have been together." she said quietly. "He asked me to marry him before we got here and um... we're... we're going to um... be having a baby. I'm pregnant."
The table was in shock.
"How could you do that?" Scott, her younger brother, asked. "How could you do that to Stacey?"
Now Scott and Stacey were close, where as Brad and Calleigh were close.
"I... we didn't mean for it to happen..." Calleigh muttered weakly. "Mom... Daddy, please say something..."
"So then what's Tim doing?" Diane asked.
"Breaking up with Stacey." Calleigh mumbled as Stacey came rushing in. Tim was coming after her.
"Stacey, hold on." he said quickly.
"You, oh you bitch!" she yelled. "I hate you! I hate so damn much!"
"Stacey..." Calleigh started.
"No!" she exclaimed. "I... I can't believe you! I've called you! I've talked to you! You know how much he means to me and then as always you have to come in and take what's mine!"
"Stacey, stop!" Tim yelled. The room went silent.
"I don't understand something." Kenwall said. Everyone turned and looked at him. Kenwall pointed his fork at Tim and continued, "You asked me if you could marry Stacey."
"He's only doing this because she's pregnant!" she screeched.
"I never asked you if I could marry Stacey. I asked you if I could marry Calleigh but as soon as I said the word 'marry' you quickly assumed it was Stacey. And no I'm not doing marrying her because she's pregnant. I want to marry her." Tim said.
"Look, this was all a big misunderstanding." Brad started.
"Oh shut up!" Stacey snapped. "You've always taken Calleigh's side! Everyone always does!"
"Stacey, will you grow up?" she finally yelled. "I tried to tell him okay! No actually I told him that I didn't want to start a relationship with him because you're my little sister and I didn't want to hurt you!"
"Oh yeah right! Like you didn't want to be homecoming queen. Like you didn't want to be Tony's girlfriend! Like you didn't want to be cheerleading captain! Like you didn't want to work for Horatio Caine!"
"Why the hell would you want to work for Horatio Caine?" Tim spluttered.
"Because that's my job. She has to have everything that I have!" Calleigh snapped. "I was homecoming queen, I was Tony's girlfriend, I was cheerleading captain, and I'm Horatio's god damn ballistics expert! Well I'm sorry Stacey that I was a senior when you were a sophomore. I'm sorry that I was popular. I'm sorry that I'm good at something and got out of Darnell! I'm sorry that I actually made something of myself! You never wanted any of that! You're just jealous!"
"Yes I'm sure you are. Now you had to take away my life, again!" Stacey yelled.
"Can we please stop with the yelling and let us say something?" Diane asked loudly. "Calleigh, I don't know what to say to you. But if it means this much to your sister..."
"ARE YOU INSANE?" she screamed. "Give up the man that I've been in love with since the day I met him? Oh and Stacey, he was never yours! Sorry Mom I'm not! She can go find someone else to marry and have a family with because he," Calleigh pointed a finger at Tim. Tim jumped back and leaned against the wall. It was great having two women fight over him, "is taken!"
"Why can't you just not be perfect for once?" Stacey asked.
"Do you want all of that?" Calleigh asked. "My trophies? My crowns? They're all upstairs in the attic. If you want Tony to be your boyfriend, call him up. I'm sure he's married but when the hell has that ever stopped you? Go to college, get a degree in criminology and all that crap. I'm sure Horatio will hire you. We always need new CSIs. But no, she's not having Tim."
"You guys talk like he's a dog." Brad commented.
"Well he is!" Stacey squealed. "I can't believe you did this to me!"
S/C-------------
PRESENT
Yeah that was a crazy night. Tim looked down at Anna and saw she had fallen back asleep. He gently laid her down in the crib and went back to his room. Calleigh had rolled over, her hand resting on Tim's pillow gently. Tim lifted Calleigh's hand slightly and got back into
"What's wrong?" she mumbled sleepily.
"Nothing, go back to sleep." Tim pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead. "I love you."
"Right back at ya."
