To Cure a Spirited Child

by Skylar Vega

Uncle Eric is having a really bad night. Luckily, Calleigh comes to the rescue.

To Cure a Spirited Child
by Skylar

Calleigh Duquesne threw a glance at the clock on the dashboard, a look at the watch on her wrist, and an especially threatening look at the slow car in front of her. She pressed on the pedal, but it seemed like every time she tried to drive past him, he would accelerate a little more so she couldn't.

She yelled at him, though he couldn't really hear her. Asshole. Jackass. Fucking fucker. But it seemed like he was doing it on purpose. Finally, when the left lane was cleared, she accelerated and drove past him, but not without throwing him a threatening look, which went unnoticed.

She looked at the clock again. Three minutes. She'd been driving for three minutes and they seemed like an eternity. Her heart was racing, her thoughts veering towards dangerous territory, her hands sweating.

His words played out in her head over and over again. "I need you, please come over."

He hung up the phone before she could ask what was happening. She tried calling back, but she got nowhere with that, as the calls wouldn't go through. So she grabbed her keys as paranoia reared its ugly head. She got in her car, caught a slow asshole along the way, and when she was finally able to drive past him, she accelerated more and more.

If there were cops around, she wasn't worried. After all, she could just flash her badge and say it was an emergency. Which it was. Because Eric had decided to call her at 7:05 at night, and he'd said nothing except the fact that he needed her. And his voice had sounded strained, weak, and somehow a bit frightened.

Horrible thoughts raced through her head. What if a burglar had sneaked into his condo? What if he'd been shot? She tried to put it out of her mind as she made it around the corner and finally spotted his building not too far off. She pressed on the gas again, nearly made it to 100mph, before she slammed on the breaks and her car landed somewhere between two parking lots with a loud screech.

She ran out of her car, made sure her gun was safely strapped to her belt, and flashed through the lobby. She pressed on the elevator button once, twice, three times, four, and she lost count somewhere after 20. When nothing happened she took the stairs, two steps at a time, until she finally made it to the third floor.

Her heart raced as she neared his apartment. She couldn't hear anything, and somehow that spooked her even more. She grabbed her gun, cocked it slowly, and knocked on his door.

"Eric?"

There was no answer.

She knocked again, repeated his name, but it seemed like there was no one home. Risking her safety she reached for the knob; his door was unlocked.

She opened it, inch by inch, and ducked her head inside.

As soon as she did, something soft and purple hit her on the head.

"Amelia!"

Calleigh blinked and rubbed her head.

"Are you okay?"

Calleigh stared straight ahead and tried to figure out what was happening. Eric's apartment was bright, messy, and filled with toys. He looked frustrated and tired... and he was holding a doll. She looked down. A purple stuffed turtle lay at her feet.

"Cai!"

She looked up in time to see a flash of raven hair jump into her arms. Aghast, she took one step back as she absorbed the blow and tiny arms hugged her neck.

Calleigh finally reacted and put her gun back into its holster with one hand. She looked at the little thing in her arms. Eric's niece, two-year-old Amelia. What the hell?

"Thank God you're here," Eric said as he walked over with a look of relief on his face.

"Eric, what's going on?" Calleigh asked as Amelia showered her cheek with kisses.

"I need your help, she's out of control!" Eric breathed, clearly shaken.

Calleigh frowned at him. "What do you...?"

"My sister and her husband are celebrating their 5th year anniversary and they brought her over without even asking, Calleigh," Eric whined.

Calleigh's frown intensified. Different emotions flashed through her. First shock, then confusion, now anger. She liked the anger. "You... called me here because you want me to baby-sit your niece?"

"I...no..."

"Eric, I thought you'd been shot! I thought someone broke into your place!"

Eric frowned. "You did?"

"Yes!" Calleigh said, setting Amelia on the floor. "Eric, you call me up to tell me you need me and then hang up. I tried to call you back, but you didn't answer. What kind of conclusion would you have reached if you were me?"

Eric took one step back. He really hadn't expected her to react like this. He hadn't even expected her to show up at all. "I'm sorry, Cal..."

"Where's your phone?"

Eric frowned down at his niece. "She threw it in the toilet."

Calleigh set her hands on her hips and looked down. "Amelia, did you throw your uncle's phone in the toilet?"

The toddler nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

Amelia turned to Eric and pointed at him with a frown. "Mean!"

Calleigh frowned up at Eric. "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" Eric said.

"Uh huh," Calleigh said suspiciously.

"So you believe a two year old but you don't believe me?"

"Two year olds don't know how to lie," Calleigh said.

"She's mature," Eric said.

Amelia, seeing her uncle being scolded, began to giggle.

"It's not funny!" Eric exclaimed at her.

"Okay," Calleigh breathed. "You want me to baby-sit?"

"No. Just... help me," Eric said, frustrated. "I just pulled a double, Calleigh. I'm exhausted. I can't do this alone."

"What about your sisters?" Calleigh said.

"If my sisters were available, do you think Marisol had come to me?" Eric said.

Good point.

"Your mom?"

"Again..."

"Yeah, yeah," Calleigh said.

She breathed loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose as she decided what to do. She opened her eyes and Amelia was looking up at her with a crooked smile. She looked so much like Eric when she did that, Calleigh thought. She'd definitely inherited the Delko killer smile.

That smile had always been her Achilles Heel.

And then she looked up at Eric, who had the same, stupid smile. Only his was less enthusiastic. She knew he was tired. She'd gone to work, gone home, slept, gone to work again and Eric had been working the whole time. And though her double shifts usually consisted of paperwork, Eric's doubles consisted of diving, or working with cars in the garage, or anything that was physically demanding. As she watched him leave that afternoon she worried he wouldn't even make it home without falling asleep behind the wheel. And now having to take care of a two year old, well, she felt bad for the guy. There were huge bags under her eyes, his shoulders were hunched over... he looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

She finally sighed and looked away. "Fine."

"Thank you!" Eric breathed.

"But I'm not doing this for you," Calleigh said, pointing at him."I'm doing it for her."

Eric shook his head. "I'm sure I don't care."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. She unstrapped her belt and put it away. Probably not a good idea to have a gun readily available with a child around the house. She returned, and Eric was looking down at his niece nonchalantly. "So, where were you?"

"Just, uh," Eric hesitated. "Movie."

"What movie?" Calleigh asked.

"It doesn't matter," Eric said, avoiding eye contact.

"What movie," she asked again.

Eric sighed and looked down at the floor, where his niece was playing with her stuffed turtle. "Beauty and the Beast."

Calleigh chuckled. She couldn't help it. The thought of Eric watching Beauty and the Beast was hilarious.

"We were watching Beauty and the Beast, okay?" Eric admitted, as if he wasn't ashamed anymore. "Only she won't sit down for two fucking seconds."

"Okay," Calleigh scolded him. "Don't swear in front of her, she'll repeat it."

"I'm sorry, Cal, I'm just tired." He ignored her second eye roll and shook his head, then looked down at his niece. "Come on, Amelia, we're gonna watch the princess."

Amelia looked up and laughed at him and Eric... well, he had no idea what was so funny. But Amelia spent most of her time laughing or giggling at everything he said or did. He had no idea who she'd inherited that from.

"The princess?" Calleigh smiled.

"Whatever the hell it's called, I don't know," Eric replied.

Calleigh narrowed her eyes at him. Eric always got cranky when he was tired. The guy was the friendliest person in the world, but once he missed a night of sleep he could turn into a monster. He got angry easily and seemed to be annoyed by pretty much everyone. Nothing she couldn't control, of course. Calleigh knew how to get him off his high horse. Though Ryan, Valera, Alexx, Tripp, and even Horatio had suffered his wrath, he'd never dared to open his mouth in front of Calleigh. Smart move, too.

Sure enough, he looked down at the floor again. "Sorry."

Calleigh smiled out of the corner of her mouth and knelt down. "Amelia, do you wanna watch a movie?"

"Yes," Amelia said happily.

"Okay, Uncle Eric's gonna show us a movie now."

Amelia looked up at Eric and giggled again, ran towards the living room and threw herself on the couch. She then looked up at Eric and Calleigh, who were still standing by the door. She ran to them again.

"Here, here," Amelia said, grabbing Calleigh by the hand and dragging her towards the living room. "Here," she said one more time and patted the couch.

"Okay," Calleigh chuckled and sat down.

Amelia turned around and walked towards her uncle to grab his hand. "Here," she said, dragged him over and tapped the spot next to Calleigh's. "Uncle Eric, here."

Eric sat next to Calleigh with a sigh. Amelia proceeded to climb on top of them and sat down, one leg draped over Eric's thigh and the other one over Calleigh's. As Eric pressed on the play button, Amelia stuck her middle and ring fingers into her mouth and began to play with Calleigh's hair, her feet jittering slightly.

Calleigh eyed the child suspiciously. She was only two, true, but she acted like she knew something. She looked at Eric again, but he didn't seem aware of it. He merely looked at the singing candlestick with hatred and rolled his eyes when the plates started to sing.

Calleigh didn't really know Eric's family well. She knew Marisol, but mostly over the phone, because she loved calling Eric every three seconds to, as Eric put it, "bother him about something or other." The rest she knew peripherally, but that was it. She knew they were big and loud and very loving, as was evident in Eric's personality.

A week before, he'd dragged her to Amelia's second birthday party, claiming Marisol had invited her (though suspiciously, she'd never seen an invitation), and there she met the energetic child, the Delkos only grandchild. She and Amelia seemed to hit it off immediately, but Calleigh was sure she would never see the child again, and she was even surer that if she did, Amelia wouldn't remember her. She was surprised that the kid did. She was cute, Calleigh had to give her that. All smiles and laughs, just like Eric. They'd dressed her up in a frilly dress that ended up stained with cake and juice, but was still adorable.

Calleigh had only gone because she had nothing to do that day, and because she missed her nieces and nephews immensely. And well, the killer Delko smile may have made an appearance as well. But mostly, she'd been bored.

Eric's family proved to be louder than she had anticipated. And a bit meddling, too, as they immediately began to wonder and gossip about her and Eric being together. It'd made her more uncomfortable than she'd cared to admit, and though Eric merely laughed every time someone asked, "when are you two getting married," she knew he was uncomfortable by all the attention as well.

And she had expected some obstacles, expected his mother to hate her or his father to disapprove of her. But Eric's father, being a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Russian and his mother, being a dark-skinned, dark-haired Cuban, didn't seem the least bit fazed that Eric was bringing home a blonde, green-eyed Southerner. The Delkos didn't see race or color or religion. They welcomed her into their house anyway. His father questioned her about her "family business," and seemed please when Calleigh told him about her dad's profession. His mother voiced her concern about her son being a cop, and made Calleigh promise she would take care of Eric and make sure he didn't get into any trouble. And his sisters seemed content just having another woman in the house they could gossip with.

And boy, could they gossip.

She learned more about Eric in that one day than she'd learned in the number of years she'd known him. Every embarrassing childhood story, every embarrassing teenage story, and they even brought out the baby photos.

All in all, though, she'd had a great time, which should've been reason enough for her to decline his invitation to Amelia's birthday party. Things with her and Eric had always been weird, and meeting his family like that... he should've known they would wonder about their relationship. Everyone did.

She did.

She tried not to think about it, though, as it would invariably end up giving her a headache. And she ignored it now, even though he was sitting right next to her, his arm draped over the back of the couch, behind her. She relaxed, though, because Eric looked like he would start snoring any second now.

As the song ended, Calleigh turned to him. "Beauty and the Beast, Eric? That's so 1994."

"Well, forgive me if I'm not up to date on my Disney movies," Eric said. "Besides, I took her to the video store and that's what she chose."

Calleigh smiled to herself. The image of Eric, carrying his niece into a video store, getting her girly movies and buying her gummy bears made her feel... weird. Good? Fluffy? Flushed? Probably all three. She couldn't help it, though. He looked cute sitting there, running his hand through Amelia's hair like it was the most natural thing in the world. Though he hated to admit it, he did soften up considerably when his niece was around.

But he had been right before, as Amelia soon grew restless watching the movie. She turned around and started talking to Calleigh, though Calleigh couldn't understand half the things she said. The Spanish words she understood, but unfortunately the toddler couldn't seem to communicate well verbally. She found herself saying yes to everything Amelia said.

"Can we turn this off now?" Eric complained.

"Oh, what's the matter, Eric," Calleigh teased. "You don't like Beauty and the Beast?"

"It's a stupid story," Eric said. "Trust me, Calleigh, a woman that good looking would never fall in love with a beast. She'd probably steal his credit card and run off with the jerk."

"Gaston?"

"Whateverthehell," Eric mumbled.

Calleigh shook her head. "I think you've been dating way too many city girls."

Eric just pressed the stop button and put the remote control away, looking grouchy. "We should probably make her go to bed now," he said.

Calleigh looked at her watch. "Eric, it's too early."

And not only was it too early, she doubted Amelia would sleep even if it was her bedtime. Or ever, as the two-year-old was too busy bouncing on Calleigh's lap like it was a trampoline. She then moved off Calleigh's lap and proceeded to jump on the couch, up and down and up and down and up and down, squealing and giggling, until Eric grabbed her in mid air and positioned her two inches from his face.

"Sleep. Now," he said intensely.

But Amelia just pressed on his cheeks with her hands and laughed.

"I don't think she'll be sleeping any time soon," Calleigh said, stood up and began to put some of the toys away.

"Can't we just give her something?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Eric said. "Don't you have some of that Ritalin?"

Calleigh narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would I carry Ritalin around with me?" she said. "Besides, she doesn't have ADD, she's just two. Ever heard of the terrible twos?"

Eric sighed. He was tired. He was dying. He was sure his head would explode any minute now. And his stupid sister was probably enjoying herself right now, while he was forced to take care of this child whose energy never seemed to diminish.

"Did she eat?" Calleigh asked.

"No," Eric said, receiving another look from Calleigh. "What?"

"Eric, you have to feed her," she complained.

Eric put his niece down and walked into the kitchen. He had mostly just frozen food, frozen beef, stake, vegetables...

Calleigh came up behind him. "That's not good."

"I guess my food service forgot to bring the baby food again," he said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't get sassy with me," Calleigh said.

Eric sighed and looked into the fridge again. "I guess I could give her some shrimp."

"Not funny," Calleigh said. He turned around, and was actually smiling now, but Calleigh felt bad. "Eric, why don't you just go to bed, I'll deal with it."

"No, no," Eric said, putting some food under the faucet the defrost it. "She's my niece, my responsibility. Besides, she's too much work."

"Are you saying I couldn't handle it?"

Eric looked at her and smiled. "I'm sure you could, Calleigh. But it's not your job."

She watched him as he threw a couple of frozen dinners into the microwave and pressed a few buttons. The kitchen was soon filled with the aroma of dinner, and though Eric was about to pass out, his stomach was actually beginning to growl.

Calleigh put three plates on the table and he dipped each box of food on them. Amelia ran into the kitchen carrying her turtle. She pulled down on Calleigh's pants to catch her attention.

Calleigh rested her hands on her knees as she attempted to make eye contact. "Amelia, do you want your dinner now?"

"No!"

Calleigh smiled patiently. "Do you want it later, then?"

"No."

"You want your dinner?"

"No."

"So you don't want it?"

"No."

"Okay, Amelia, that's enough," Eric said, picked up his niece and deposited her on the table. "You are eating your dinner right now. We are not playing games."

Clearly not the way to go, or the tone of voice to use. Amelia's bottom lip stuck way out and she began to weep.

"Eric," Calleigh said.

"What?"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Calleigh said, walked over and patted Amelia's head. Amelia stuck her arms out so Calleigh would pick her up and cuddle her.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Whose side are you on, Calleigh?"

"It's not about sides, Eric," she said, slightly bouncing Amelia in her arms.

"Fine," Eric said and sat down. "Your ideas are better? Go ahead and feed her. Be my guest."

Calleigh, known for never backing down from a challenge, sat down, placed Amelia on the table in front of her and grabbed one of the plates. Amelia looked at it strangely.

"Look, Amelia, yummy!"

But Amelia shook her head stubbornly.

"You don't wanna eat it?" Calleigh asked, using a sweet tone.

"No," Amelia said, her eyes full of pools of tears that had yet to fall.

"Why not?"

"Mean Uncle Eric," Amelia pouted.

Calleigh looked at Eric, who looked as miserable as she'd ever seen him. "Okay, Amelia, Uncle Eric promises never to yell at you again, right Uncle Eric?"

Eric pursed his lips and pushed his food around with his fork. This was ridiculous.

"Eric," Calleigh said sharply.

He sighed. "Fine, fine. I'm sorry, Amelia. Sorry Uncle Eric was mean. He won't be mean again."

Calleigh smiled, pleased, and pushed the plate towards Amelia again. "Okay, Uncle Eric will play nice. Will you eat now?"

Amelia didn't reply, but still looked at the vegetables reluctantly.

"It's yummy," Calleigh said and stuck a broccoli in her mouth. "Mmm."

Amelia looked up at her questioningly, her sadness forgotten. "Good?"

"Yeah, it's very good," Calleigh said. "Right, Uncle Eric?"

"Yup," Eric said, stuck a piece of broccoli in his mouth and patted his stomach, pleased.

Amelia looked at the broccoli in front of her. She grabbed the vegetable and stuck it in her mouth. But then a second later her face soured and she spit it back on the plate. "Yuck!"

Calleigh looked at Eric. "Do you have anything else?"

"No," Eric said. "I don't know what babies eat, Calleigh, breast milk? And last time I checked, I wasn't nursing, and I doubt you are, either. So I'm afraid she'll have to do with that."

Calleigh sighed and stood up. She opened the refrigerator, but there was nothing a child under ten would enjoy. "Well, you're gonna have to go to the store."

"What?" Eric exclaimed. "No."

"Eric, she has to eat."

Eric sighed, stood up and stuck his head into the refrigerator. A couple of seconds later he came out holding a hot dog bag. Amelia squealed happily at it.

Calleigh grabbed it and boiled one as Eric sulked over his food. As she looked at him she wondered who was the biggest child, Eric or Amelia. She knew he was tried, and therefore grouchy and angry. So she tried to be at least a little bit understanding. But that was not going to last long if he kept acting like that.

Hot dog ready, she fed Amelia tiny pieces of it, pretending to feed the turtle as well, because Amelia insisted on it eating.

Eric finished and put his plate away. "Can we make her sleep now?"

Calleigh gave him a look. "She's not a dog, Eric; we can't just tie her up to the bed post and force her to sleep."

"Why not?"

"And besides, I think this little girl needs a bath," she said happily, poking Amelia's tummy. Amelia giggled.

Eric grumbled and walked out of the kitchen.

--

30 minutes later he sat on the toilet, trying very hard not to fall asleep and watching as Amelia played around in his bathtub. He cheered up considerably when he realized Amelia could keep her head under water for a while, provided he fished her out after a few seconds or she'd end up swallowing half the water in the tub (he learned that the hard way). She definitely got that from him. Maybe this one could grow up and be a swimmer, just like him. Maybe she could even go to the Olympics and win the medal he never won.

Maybe some time in the future, when he was well rested and she wasn't... well, a monster, he could take her to the beach and teach her to swim. Or maybe he could take her to the aquarium and show her the fishes, teach her about them and let her see a real turtle, since she seemed so fascinated by that purple thing she lugged around. And maybe, if he was lucky, Calleigh would go with them.

Because after this, she would definitely make him pay. He would, too, willingly, because she pretty much saved his ass tonight. Not that he never had to take care of Amelia, before, but he usually watched her for 15 minutes tops, while his mother went to the store or gossiped with the next door neighbor. He'd never had to feed her, or bathe her, or watch girly cartoons with her. His knowledge of children was basically non-existent.

A couple of minutes later Calleigh walked in with a towel and wrapped Amelia with it, much to Amelia's delight. She set the toddler on the counter and began to dry her off, and something in Eric changed, he felt less tired and more grateful. He couldn't believe Calleigh was here, doing half his job, putting up with Amelia's terrible twos and his bad mood. And he did know he got intolerable when he was tired. He'd tried to change that, but it was hard. Still, she always put up with it, and was pretty much the only one who could tame him with one stern look.

So he walked over without thinking much, and Calleigh nearly jumped when he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm an asshole, Cal. I'm sorry."

Calleigh shook her head, trying to ignore the way her spinal chord seemed to tingle and her stomach tighten due to the physical contact. And as Amelia turned on the faucet in the sink and began to play with the water Calleigh actually found herself leaning back into him, just for a second, to maybe let him know all was forgiven.

But then she realized what they were doing, in front of a two year old who still couldn't talk very well but had a hell of a memory and could go home tomorrow and tell her mother all about it. So she moved away from Eric's embrace and pointed at the tub, grabbed Amelia and shut the faucet off, and walked out.

Eric smiled, feeling considerably better, and drained the tub. When he walked into his bedroom Calleigh was putting a new diaper on Amelia. He shuddered. Thank God he hadn't had to change a single diaper that night. He could feed her and all, but diapers? He drew the line there.

"Be right back," Calleigh said and left the room, and Eric knelt in front of Amelia, who sat on the edge of the bed. She poked his nose and giggled.

Eric couldn't help but chuckle.

Calleigh fished a pair of pajamas from Amelia's baby bag along with some baby powder. She went back to the room but stood by the door and watched as Amelia threw her little arms around Eric's neck and kissed him.

Eric, perhaps not knowing he was being watched, softened up considerably and blew a raspberry on his niece's belly. Amelia giggled jovially.

"Do you love me, Amelia?" Eric asked.

"Yes."

"How much?"

Amelia stretched her arms wide. "How much."

"Wow, that's a lot!" Eric said and kissed his niece on the cheek over and over again. But Amelia complained and pushed him away, grimacing at his prickly beard and scratching her cheek.

"I think that means you need to shave," Calleigh said as she walked into the room.

Eric stood up, surprised, and ran his hand over his face. "I haven't been home in two days."

Calleigh smiled at him. "I'm starting to wonder if you need me here at all."

Eric smiled. "I always need you."

Calleigh shook her head and decided to ignore the comment. Too dangerous. Instead, she looked down at Amelia and smiled. "Jammies."

Though Amelia allowed Calleigh to dress her, sleep was obviously the last thing on her mind, because the toddler immediately began to jump on the bed.

Eric figured that was okay. The more Amelia jumped, the more tired she got, and the sooner she'd fall asleep. He figured he could leave her there and go watch some TV and the kid would fall asleep on her own.

Calleigh didn't think it was such a good idea. Apparently, the kid could fall and hurt herself. Who knew?

The other alternative for Amelia was to run around the apartment, but Calleigh wasn't so fond of that idea, either. Eric really had to hand it to her. She knew how to stand her ground.

But she found a hard competitor in Amelia, who, being a Delko and a Taurus, was incredibly stubborn even at the age of two.

This was going to be hard.

"Calleigh?" Eric said.

Calleigh looked calm, despite the fact that she was facing a demon child, Eric thought. She simply smiled and mumbled something at him out of the corner of her mouth.

"Just pretend we're going to sleep."

"What?"

"Pretend," Calleigh mumbled louder, "we're going to sleep."

"Oh," Eric said. Oh, but really, he had no idea what the hell she was planning.

Calleigh put on her most charming smile and sat down on his bed, caressing it softly. It certainly looked good from where he stood. Hell, she hadn't even started her psychological experiment and he was sold. He figured dealing with a two year old would be much easier.

"Look, Amelia. It's comfortable," Calleigh said, patting the bed. But Amelia simply stood by the door, looking at her like she knew what Calleigh was up to.

Eric sat down. "It's very comfortable."

"That's right, but Amelia doesn't know how comfortable it is because she won't come to bed," Calleigh taunted.

Silence.

"Nothing's happening," Eric mumbled.

Calleigh sighed. "Okay, Amelia, we're going to bed now."

"No," Amelia said.

"Yes we are. Night-night," Eric said.

No use. Amelia just looked at him like he was the most disinteresting person she'd ever met.

"Go and turn the lights off," Calleigh said.

"What?"

"Just do it."

Eric sighed, stood and walked around his apartment, turned all the lights off and then returned. Amelia was still standing on the same spot, watching his movements, almost daring him to make her go to bed. Eric took his shoes off, lay down and turned the lamp off. Calleigh did the same and they lay there in silence and darkness for a while.

Eric was beginning to wonder if this would work. His niece was a Delko, after all. Female Delkos were too smart.

But then, he heard tiny steps approaching the bed. He looked at Calleigh, and in the darkness he could see her looking down at Amelia with a tiny smile on her face. Though these were special circumstances he still couldn't ignore the fact that he was lying in bed with Calleigh Duquesne. A potpourri of smells emanated from her hair and he had to make a great amount of effort to prevent himself from veering towards dangerous territory, even though his thoughts were already there.

Not in front of his niece.

"Uncle Eric," a tiny voice said.

Eric briefly wondered if this was cruel, considering Amelia's voice sounded a bit weepy. But Calleigh thought it was a good idea, and who was he to tell her otherwise? He had absolutely no idea how to deal with children. So he remained silent.

Amelia stuck her fingers in her mouth and her hand into her hair, trying to asses the situation. Eric and Calleigh weren't moving and the lights were off. She looked behind her. The hallway was dark and scary. She looked towards the bed.

"Night-night?" she said, but again, was ignored.

More silence, and when she finally realized Eric and Calleigh would not get up, Amelia gripped the comforter and pulled herself on top of the bed. She crawled over and laid her head between Eric and Calleigh's. She injected her middle fingers into her mouth and began to play with Calleigh's hair again.

Calleigh breathed a sigh of relief. But she knew they wouldn't win the battle until Amelia fell into a deep sleep.

She opened her eyes, and Amelia was looking at her with wide, brown, and definitely alert eyes. When she realized Calleigh was still awake, she put her hand on the CSI's cheek appreciatively.

"Cai."

"Shhh," Calleigh whispered. "Night-night."

Amelia quiet down, but her hand in Calleigh's hair was till too energetic. Calleigh knew this was going to take a while. Damn.

She raised her head slightly. Eric's eyes were closed, and he looked relaxed. She hoped he hadn't fallen asleep and left her this task.

Spoke too soon. A couple of seconds later he began to snore.

"No," Amelia complained.

"Uncle Eric's snoring," Calleigh said.

"'noring?" Amelia repeated.

"Tell him to be quiet," Calleigh joked.

Amelia turned to her uncle and put her finger to her lips. "Shhh!" she said, but Eric was obviously long gone.

And apparently, Amelia didn't appreciate the noise.

She started getting a little fuzzy and Calleigh honestly didn't know what to do. She could kick Eric to get him to stop, but that would open up a brand new can of worms.

And then Amelia began to weep, which was the most horrible sound in the world. Calleigh was losing her mind; this obviously was way out of her control.

And certainly not her responsibility.

She was about to wake Eric up and leave when Amelia finally cried out a weepy, "leche."

Calleigh breathed out. Unbelievable. Kicking the comforters away, she stood up. "Don't move."

She walked back into the living room, and roamed around until she found the diaper bag. There were a couple of bottles inside, but all empty. So she grabbed one, and thankfully Eric had milk in the refrigerator, or else this would've turned into an ugly situation, because there was no way she'd get back in her car and drive around, looking for milk. She poured the milk inside the bottle and heated it for a couple of seconds, until she was certain it wasn't too hot or too cold.

She returned to the bedroom, where Amelia was running her hand through Eric's head like she was taking care of a baby. Calleigh smiled and lay in bed again, and Amelia received the bottle happily and stuck it in her mouth. Eric continued to snore softly. If it weren't for the fact that he was so tired she'd be angry with him. Very angry. The reason why she'd never given birth was because she didn't care for taking care of children, something he should've considered before he made that panicked call.

Not that she didn't like kids. They were just... too needy. Too much work, too big a responsibility. Even if she had Amelia for just one night, she knew that something could inevitably go wrong and ruin this child's life forever.

So she tried not to get too attached to children, as they made her nervous. And she would've told Eric to go to hell for putting her through this, but this was definitely better than having him fall asleep on the couch while Amelia set the apartment on fire.

Boy, did he owe her.

Amelia finally finished her milk and handed the empty bottle to Calleigh. She put it on the night table and the milk really did seem to do the trick, because Amelia began to suck on her fingers again, cuddled up to Calleigh and fell asleep a matter of seconds.

If it weren't for the fact that she was laying in bed with two sleeping people she would've gotten down on her feet and danced. But she was certain that if she even dared to move, Amelia would wake up again, and she didn't want to go through the same thing they'd just gone through.

Still, she felt triumphant. Happy. Children had never really been drawn to her. Horatio loved kids and kids loved Horatio. She wasn't too sure about kids, and kids had always been reluctant about her.

Except Amelia, but she was starting to wonder if that was in the child's blood, as all the Delkos seemed to enjoy having her around.

She cuddled up to the toddler and stared at Eric. She whispered his name softly, but he didn't even flinch. She placed her hand on his cheek, hoping that would wake him up and help her untangle Amelia from her arms. But Eric looked like he was dead.

Sighing, Calleigh just closed her eyes and decided to wait for something to get her out of this predicament.

--

Someone was knocking on his door, Eric knew that much. But he also knew that he was too comfortable to move.

He opened his eyes, and was surprised to realize it was still somewhat dark outside. That wasn't the only weird thing about that morning.

Calleigh lay in bed. His bed. Her back was pressed to his chest, and she had Amelia wrapped tightly in a cocoon of arms.

Before he had the chance to think of the repercussions of this, he allowed himself a moment to enjoy her warmth and her scent and the way she molded perfectly to his body.

But then something began to buzz. He raised his head and looked around, and took him a moment to realize his cell phone was vibrating on top of the night table. He sighed and picked it up.

"Hello," he croaked.

"Get up, Eric, I'm freezing my ass off."

He signed and hung up the phone. He was gonna kill his sister. He was gonna shoot her right where she stood.

With a great amount of effort (he was still exhausted) he stood up, careful not to make too much noise, and walked around the bed.

He looked down at Calleigh and Amelia. This was going to be hard.

Amelia was comfortably sucking on her fingers in her sleep, and Calleigh was hugging her tight. There was no way he would be able to get Amelia out of there without waking Calleigh.

And he really hated the idea of waking Calleigh. But he had no other choice.

"Cal," he whispered, but neither of them moved. "Calleigh."

She frowned in her sleep and moaned slightly. Eric pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to concentrate. He could still hear his sister knocking on the door. He was gonna kill her.

"Cal, wake up."

She opened her eyes, finally, and frowned at him.

"Eric?"

"My sister's here, I have to," he said, trying to somehow get Amelia without touching Calleigh. There was enough awkwardness.

Calleigh looked down, and it seemed to take her a while to figure out what was happening, or what she was hugging. When she did, she moved back and sat up on the bed as Eric picked up his niece.

She rubbed her eye and looked around. "What time is it?"

"5:30," Eric whispered. "Go back to sleep, we can still catch a couple more hours."

Calleigh frowned at him before he walked out of the room. Eric… kid… bed… same bed… we?

How long had she been asleep?

Eric tiredly made his way through the living room. His sister would not stop knocking, and he was sure she would wake up all the neighbors. He ran into the diaper bag along the way and swung it over his shoulder. When he opened the door, he saw his sister was wearing the same clothes she wore the night before.

Ew.

"Finally!" Marisol said.

"Be quiet," Eric whispered.

"Why?"

"Never mind why," Eric said.

She looked at him suspiciously before she looked down at her daughter, sleeping peacefully in his arms. "I see she's still alive."

"Yeah," Eric said, handing Amelia back to her mother. "And next time you need a babysitter, call first. Preferably 3 weeks before you need me."

"Oh, come on, she's not that bad."

Eric would've argued with that, but he wanted his sister to leave. Now.

"What did you feed her?" Marisol asked.

Eric sighed. "A hotdog. What the hell are you doing here, it's 5:30 in the morning."

"We just came back from dancing, figured it would be easier to pick her up now," Marisol said and frowned at her little brother. "You really need to shave."

Eric looked at her, deadpanned. "Leave."

"Why are you throwing me out," Marisol asked suspiciously.

"I'm tired."

She didn't buy it. "You got a girl in here, Eric?"

"Marisol..."

"Do you?"

"Of course not," Eric replied.

"Eric..." Marisol began but then stopped when she saw Calleigh emerge from the bedroom. Eric followed her eyes and when he realized who she was looking at he sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

Ugh.

Calleigh looked between the two awkwardly. "She forgot her turtle."

Marisol reached for the stuffed animal and smiled at her brother. "I thought you two weren't..."

"We're not," Eric said.

"He needed some help," Calleigh said.

"With the kid," Eric continued.

"I just came over to give him a hand."

"A hand?" Marisol said suggestively.

"Hey," Eric said.

Marisol smiled. "Come on, you guys don't have to be embarrassed."

Calleigh shook her head but Eric merely sighed. He knew there was no changing his sister's mind when she jumped to conclusions.

"I mean," Marisol continued. "I told Eric no women if he was going to take care of Mia, but if it's you, Calleigh, that's okay."

"Yeah, but, this isn't... he really just needed some help with her. We're not..." Calleigh said hesitantly.

"Forget it, Cal," Eric said.

"Eric," Calleigh said.

"Trust me, when she makes up her mind there's no convincing her otherwise."

"Oh, come on, baby brother, give me a little credit." Marisol smiled. "So you..."

"No," Eric and Calleigh said simultaneously.

"Oh, I get it," Marisol said. "They'll fire one of you if they find out?"

"Bye, Marisol," Eric said.

"Oh, don't be such a grouch, Eric. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Marisol said.

"Right," Eric mumbled.

Marisol ignored him and walked the distance to hug Calleigh. "Thanks for taking care of her, Calleigh."

Calleigh took one step back. Spontaneous hugs were something her family never did. But then it felt kinda good. Affectionate. Eric's family was way too warm.

"Uh," Eric said. "No offense, but I'm the babysitter here."

"You want a hug, too," Marisol said.

"How about 15 bucks an hour for my services," Eric said.

"In your dreams. You have no idea how many times I had to change your stinky diaper when you were a baby. You owe me for all of this," Marisol said.

Eric suddenly looked like he wanted to die.

His big sister ignored that and turned to Calleigh. "Hey, call me some time, we'll have lunch or something,"

Calleigh looked at Eric, who shrugged his shoulders at her. "Uh, sure."

"Bye, Marisol," Eric said again and this time his sister finally relented and walked out, but not before giving the two a knowing smile. Eric shut the door behind his sister. He waited a second to gather his thoughts and turned around. Calleigh was smiling, but it was definitely a nervous smile. "Sorry about that," he said, leaning against the door. "She's just..."

"A Delko?" Calleigh joked.

"Yes," Eric said. "You learn fast."

Calleigh smiled.

Eric pointed towards the kitchen. "You want some coffee?"

Calleigh looked reluctant for a second, and she was about to say no, but Eric was already in the kitchen, busying himself with a coffee pot.

She approached and watched him work. Eric had always been so peculiar about his coffee. His café Cubano. No one at work was allowed to even look at the bag. He only shared it with her, when he was in a good mood, and on rare occasions with Horatio. And Ryan... well, he wasn't even allowed near the coffee cabinet.

"Hey, thanks for coming over, Cal."

Calleigh smiled. "You owe me."

"I know," he said, looking and sounding guilty.

"Big time."

Eric smiled at her. "You saved my ass last night, really."

"Oh, come on."

"I'm serious," Eric said. "You're gonna make a great mom some day."

Calleigh smiled. She couldn't help feeling something stir inside of her at that statement. She'd long ago decided not to have children. She didn't feel like she'd ever make a good mom. Her mom hadn't been a good mom, her dad hadn't been a good dad... she'd never really had a good example, unlike Eric. And she couldn't help thinking that she would ruin every child that came into her life. How could she not? Her mother never taught her how to be nurturing to children. She never thought she'd be able to raise one properly.

"It's just instinct, Calleigh," Eric said as he poured the coffee into two cups.

She frowned at him, wondering if he'd read her mind.

"You were really great with her."

Calleigh smiled again. Felt pathetic about feeling like that. Stupid that she was excited over the prospect of being good with children. It was so pathetic. So... 1907, when women had to do all the housework and men worked. She definitely didn't want to set her entire gender back a whole century. Still, it felt good.

And well, if she could survive Amelia maybe she could survive anything.

"Well, don't sell yourself too short," Calleigh said.

"Oh, come on. I yelled at her, I made her cry, I was gonna feed her shrimp..." Eric said.

"And yet you walked into the store and rented Beauty and the Beast without hesitating. It was Friday night, Eric, I bet there were other men there," Calleigh said, chuckling when he shuddered at the thought. "Besides, I saw you two in the bedroom. She really loves you."

Eric grinned, handing her a cup of coffee. "Yeah, I guess she's alright."

"She is," Calleigh said.

Eric leaned against the wall and looked at her. "Wanna hear something weird?"

"What?"

"You know, when she was born... I wasn't too sure," he said.

"About what?"

"Well, you know," he said, looking a bit embarrassed. "I was the last to be born..."

Calleigh smiled. "Eric," she said affectionately. "You were jealous?"

"Well, no," Eric said, looking down at his coffee. "I mean, kinda."

Calleigh blushed and shook her head. "That is so cute."

Eric rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Calleigh, my inadequate feelings aren't cute, they're sick."

"It's a little cute," Calleigh said.

Eric took a sip of his coffee and let it slide. He'd been around women long enough to understand that when they labeled something cute, it would remain cute forever. "You know, they're trying to conceive again."

"Good for them," Calleigh said.

"Well…" Eric said. "I don't know. I hope the next is less demonic."

Calleigh chuckled and put her coffee cup down. She was exhausted. And Eric looked like he'd been sent to hell and back a couple of times, too.

"I better go," she announced.

"Oh," Eric said, a bit disappointed. He couldn't help it. Having Calleigh here just felt right. It looked right, too, seeing her washing her own cup. He wanted to ask her to stay, maybe they could sleep some more (he could take the couch) and then rent a movie or something. He was going to have to return that moronic Beauty and the Beast anyway.

He didn't think she'd say yes, though. He didn't know why he could ask women out in his sleep, but when it came to Calleigh he turned into a coward. He couldn't help it. Calleigh was just… Calleigh. Her name had some kind of complicated meaning he had yet to figure out.

She found her belt in the place she'd hidden it the night before and strapped it around her waist, wondering how many tickets her car had received.

"I was just thinking," Eric said.

She turned around and smiled. "What?"

"How to make it up to you."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Eric. Really," Calleigh said.

"I'm serious, Cal," Eric said. "I mean, I ruined your Friday night."

Calleigh shook her head. "I didn't have plans, anyway."

"Still," Eric said. "It would make me feel better."

Calleigh hesitated and took a deep breath. "Buy me something pretty and we'll call it even."

Eric chuckled. "Deal." He walked her to the door and once in the hallway she turned around, her eyes twinkling.

"Eric?"

He felt his insides turn to mush. "Yeah?"

"You really need to shave."

He laughed again and ran his hands through his face. "Thanks, Cal."

"See you later," Calleigh smiled and walked away.

Eric closed the door hesitantly. He turned around and something squeaked on the floor. He picked up one of Amelia's toys and smiled at it before throwing it on the couch. He walked into the bathroom, picked up his razor and turned the hot water on.

--The End--
7/23/05