Notes: Thanks for the reviews...here comes the next chapter.

Chapter 5

As Josh entered the bathroom the next morning, he saw the used morphine syringe in the waste basket and coursed himself. Seeing this he instantly knew that his father had one of his pain attacks sometime last night. And that this morning wasn't going to be pleasant as well. He felt bad. Those pain attacks came with the stress and he sure was one stress factor right now. But he couldn't help it. Call it the famous Speedle-stubbornness or the Irish origin, no matter what. One thing he knew that he had to apologize and with that thought he went into the kitchen – only to find Ashley sitting at the table eating breakfast. "Morning. Dad's still asleep?"

"Hi. No, he's in the study", she said quietly. Apparently she knew what was going on. "Please, stay out of his way."

"Not a chance", with that he was in his way to the office down the hallway. He knocked at the closed door. Getting no answer he carefully opened the door, peeking inside. "Dad? You okay?"

Tim sat in the wheelchair front of the computer, wearing headphones. He worked quickly through some documents and wasn't aware of his guest. Josh looked over Tim's shoulder and recognized the Miami Dade Police Portal. Tim could see all the latest results and reports on his screen that his colleagues had been working on. He made notes on some of them and gave orders to the several departments. Josh also noticed his unruly hair and the ever present stubbles on the cheeks which formed a light beard and the dark circles under Tim's eyes, telling him that his father probably stayed awake since the attack. He sidestepped, making himself noticed.

Tim's head snapped up and he quickly put the headphones down. "Jesus!"

Josh had to laugh. "Not quite."

"How long have you been standing behind my back?"

"Just one minute. You didn't answer to my knocking."

Tim seemed to be absent-minded again.

"Dad!"

"What?"

"C'mon. You need to rest."

"I can't. I have a lab to run."

"Eric can jump in."

"No, he's at the Mayor this morning."
"Then Calleigh."

"No."

"Even Horatio would be glad to jump in."

"I said no."

Seeing that he had no chance to win this battle, he tried another way. "Look Dad, I sincerely apologize for snapping at you last night. I'm sorry and I promise to stay out of Mark's way if you promise that you stay at home today."

Tim looked at him and had to smile. That special way to negotiate definitely came from Linda's side and once again he got reminded that she was the one in the family who had the real strength. He was caught – and he couldn't do anything against it. So he held up his hands in surrender. "Alright. Apology accepted. You stay out of trouble and I stay at home. Deal?"

"Deal."

They shook hands.

"Breakfast?" Josh asked.

"What time is it?"

"Around 8.15."
"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Nah, it doesn't start before 9.00. So what about breakfast?"

"Sounds good. But first I have to call Calleigh."

Satisfied that he won once more, Josh went to the kitchen again.

Ashley looked stunned. "You're still alive?"

"Sure. I know how to get into his head, though I wish Mom would be here."

A few hours later after she had finished her shift, Dr. Alexx Woods pulled into the driveway of the Speedle residence. She didn't bother to ring the doorbell because it would take forever for Tim to answer it. Instead she used the spare key and let herself in. The house was quiet so she went for the backyard. She stepped outside and saw him laying in the deck chair in the shadow of a big tree and had to smile at this sight. He had fallen asleep, a book lay across his chest and he obviously hadn't shaved since a few days. Alexx liked that gray and black coloured beard on him. On the other end of the garden she could see Lucy playing with two class-mates. Alexx waved at them, not wanting to disturb her sleeping boss who needed a break desperately. Once Linda would be back, the two of them would have to give him a good lecture about his future handling of the lab. Sure, he was an excellent supervisor and his reputation as one of the best trace experts of the State was speaking for itself. But there was no need for him to handle everything alone, because that's what he tended to do. 'Men' Alexx thought. Lucy approached her and Alexx kissed her on the forehead. "Hi sweetheart. Everything okay?"

"Yes."

"How long he's been sleeping?"

"Almost the whole afternoon. He wanted to play with us but…I thought it would be better to let him sleep. He was up all night."

"Good thinking. I'm sure he's making it up to you later." She turned around. "Where's Josh?" she asked because his car wasn't in the driveway and she knew that he was supposed to be grounded.

"He went grocery shopping."
"Alright. I'm going home. Say hello to your Daddy after he wakes up, okay?"

"Okay. Bye." With that said she went to her friends again and Alexx took one last look at Tim and left.

Tim awoke at the smell of grilled meat coming from inside the house. He looked around. Someone had taken away the book and placed a blanket over him. Checking his watch he realized that it was past 7 p.m. He had slept the whole afternoon and the taste of food made him hungry. He stood up stiffly and grabbed the crutches. He entered the kitchen and stopped in the doorframe watching his children who were busy preparing the dinner. Once again he asked himself how he deserved those wonderful kids. There was no doubt that he was very proud of them.

Ashley and Josh were talking about their plans for the weekend, while Lucy took the dishes at the table.

"I want to go to the movies with Cindy", Ashley said.

"I'm going to the beach party with Michael", Josh explained.

"And I'm gonna stay in Mommy's bed all Sunday."

"Are you sure about that?" Tim asked smiling.

The three of them turned around.

"Yes. Mommy said so", Lucy answered.

"And what about me? Can I stay in bed, too?" he asked knowing that she loved laying between her parents and telling them exciting and funny stories.

"Of course you can!"

"Thanks."

"Sit down, Dad. Dinner's ready", Josh said. Luckily all of his children got the talent to cook, so Tim wouldn't have to worry about fast food menus. And sending them to his parents during the summer vacations wasn't a bad idea, either.

"Smells good. C'mon guys, let's eat."

Later that evening Tim sat at the front porch, a bottle of water in his hand. Lucy laid sleepily by his side, her head in his lap. His hand caressed her dark curly hair. She had brought up some old family pictures earlier and now his thoughts travelled around Linda and how much he missed her. She was so much stronger than him and he was thankful that he had met this beautiful woman at a time in his life where he was about to give up. After their first weeks it became noticeably that Tim had begun to drown his problems with alcohol. Instead of leaving him, Linda did everything to help him and together they did it. He didn't know if he would be still here today if he hadn't met her.

She caught me on the back porch once again

In the middle of a fight we both know I couldn't win

Then she came up from behind and took my glass

And she said, 'Hold me instead and soon the urge will pass'

And then she whispered, 'I'm forever by your side. And together we can beat this thing one step at a time'

And then she kissed me and it moved me

She took away the fear and pain

And gave me something new to soothe me

She said she needs me and she loves me

And with a woman as strong as that

Who needs the whiskey

I kept my weakness hidden for so long

But she gave me the strength to admit that I'd been wrong

And when I asked her why she stood right by my side

She said 'You'd do the same for me' with tears in her eyes

And then she wrapped her arms around me and hold me close

And said 'If you ever need something strong, well baby, just let me know'

She says she loves me and she'd never leave me

And with a woman as strong as that

Well, who needs the whiskey

I'm free

Who needs the whiskey

Inside the house the phone rang, but Tim didn't really bother to answer it. Usually one of the kids got the call. And he was right, a few seconds later Josh came up, the phone in his hand.

"Dad? It's for you. The lab."

"Speedle", he said after taking it. He listened for a moment. "Listen, I don't care, Henderson. The report has your name on it and that means you have to handle it. By yourself." Silence again. "Yeah, well. That's how it works…no, I'm not coming in. That's final. Bye."

Josh frowned. "Who are you? And what happened to my father?"

"What? I had such a nice day today and I'm certainly not dealing with Henderson right now. Besides, maybe the Chief gets the hint of replacing him sooner or later."

Silence got up. Tim cleared his throat. "I wanted to thank you."

"What for?"

"You always here to help. Not just me, but with your sisters. I really appreciate that. I know that it must be annoying sometimes…"

"No way. I'm glad to have such a great family."

Tim let out a laugh.

"Really. I mean, look at those other families – they don't get along most of the time. Sure, we fight, too. But the point is, we really stick together. And that's important. That's all that matters to me."

Tim couldn't help but feeling tears coming to his eyes. He wiped over them.

"Oh, you don't get sentimental right now, do you?"

"Get out of my way", Tim said, his hand still over his eyes, but also smiling.

Josh grabbed the chair next to him. "It's okay. I mean, nobody's watching us at least. But don't let Mom know about this."

They hugged each other. Then the telephone rang again. Tim cursed quietly and answered it, not checking the caller ID first. "Back off, Henderson. I said I wouldn't…"

"Nice speech, Lt. Speedle. But my name's not Henderson", Linda said amused.

"Oh, sorry. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I haven't heard from you so I wanted to check if everything's okay?"

"Sure it is. How's the meeting going?"

"Speakin' of, I've got a surprise for you", she said. "We had some changes here and are about to short cut this event. That means I'm…"
Tim didn't let her finish. "You're coming home!"

"Yes, I'm coming home tomorrow evening", she laughed. "What's going on at home? Something I should know?"

"No, no…it's just…Lucy's missing you…", he tried not to sound too happily. "What about Pat? Did you get the chance to talk to him?"

"Actually he's by my side right now. Wait a minute", she answered and a few seconds later, Pat was on the other end of the line. "Hi Dad."

"Pat!" Tim sighed. "Good to hear your voice again, son. How are you?"

"I'm fine. It's a lot of stuff to learn, but I'm really enjoying this. You know that I like the competition."

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Man, I really miss you."

"Me, too. Listen, Mom is worrying about you. She says you work too much. Do I really have to tell you what stress can do to you?"

"I'll already heard that speech."

"Good, and maybe you should take that hint."

"I'll work something out."

"Alright, now, is Josh there as well? I would like to talk to him, too."

"Yep. Hang on a sec. Good night, Pat. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye."
Josh took the phone and walked away. The two always sticked together like glue.

Tim could hear him chuckle over something Pat must had said. He looked down to Lucy and gently shook her awake. "Honey, Pat's on the phone. Wanna talk to him?"

"No", she answered with closed eyes and went back to sleep.

"What about Mommy?"

With that Lucy's head perked up and she looked at him with bright eyes. "Mommy's on the phone?"

"Yeah. You'll just have to wait…", he began, but she already was behind Josh, eager to get the phone. "…until Josh is ending his call", he ended, speaking to himself. He already could hear them fighting for it. "Guys! Please!" he called and the two of them stayed quiet.

Short time later Lucy brought the phone back. "Mommy has something to say to you."

"Well thank you", he said to her and then put it on his ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"Just wanted to know if you could get me from the airport?"

"Of course! Just tell me when, and I'm right there."

"I'll call tomorrow, to give you the flight number and all. See you."

"Alright. Bye." He hung up and let out a sigh of relief. She would be home soon.

tbc…