-1Realization

9 months later

"Eric, have you gotten any prints off that hammer yet?" Calleigh stood in Eric's doorway waiting for results. She was now nine months pregnant, and she looked like she was ready to pop the kid out at any moment. She was overjoyed at this point, yet she felt that something was missing. She hadn't talked to Ryan at all in the past 8 months, even though she worked right next to him.

"Earth to Calleigh," Eric said, waving a paper in front of her face. "You in there?"

"Oh, sorry, just got distracted for a second," she smiled. Eric was happy that she looked pleased. "Are those the results?"

"Yep, I pulled 2 sets off. One matches the vic and the other belongs to his co-worker, Smitty," Eric replied, handing her the paper.

"He must have put up a struggle," Calleigh said as she read the report. She thought about the case. They were dealing with a 32 year old man who had been beaten to death with a sledge hammer in his work office. The Smitty guy called it in. "You think Smitty moved the hammer?"

"Could have, but if there was a struggle, then there would have been another set of prints," Eric said.

"Ok, well, I'll get it to Horatio. Thanks, Eric!" She smiled at him and turned to leave. She was walking up the hall to Horatio's office when the unthinkable happened. She bumped into Ryan.

"Uh, sorry, I.." Ryan stopped mid sentence when he realized it was Calleigh he bumped into. The two looked at each other for a long moment before saying anything. "My fault," Ryan said. I guess a lot of things are my fault lately.

"No problem," Calleigh said with a fake smile. Jerk. "Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have to.."

"Calleigh, look, I can't take this anymore," Ryan said. He looked at her, all the sadness in the world showing in his eyes.

"Can't stand what?" Calleigh asked rather sternly.

"This. Us. The baby," Ryan said. "I haven't seen you forever and I don't know what's going on with.."

"Look, Ryan, it's none of your business anymore!" Calleigh snapped. She started to walk away.

"Am I at least gonna be allowed to see the baby?" Ryan asked. He sounded desperate. He waited impatiently as Calleigh turned and looked at him.

"No," she said flatly. She turned on her heel and left Ryan alone. She tried to ignore it, but she thought she could hear him softly crying behind her. She went to go into Horatio's office when she suddenly felt a sharp pain. She stopped, then she felt another. This time she cried out and started to fall. She almost hit the ground when Ryan rushed up behind her and grabbed her. Horatio came flying out of his office at the sound of her scream.

"Mr. Wolfe, what's going on?" Horatio asked as knelt beside Ryan.

"I..I think she's…having the baby!" Ryan exclaimed. He turned pale for a second and looked worried.

"Let's get her to the hospital now!" Horatio exclaimed as he helped Ryan carry Calleigh to the elevator.

When they got to the hummer, Ryan put Calleigh in the backseat and stayed with her while Horatio drove. They finally reached the hospital.

Ryan waited impatiently outside the room where Calleigh was in. She wouldn't let him in, not even to see the baby born. Horatio looked at Ryan with understanding eyes. He felt sorry for him, sorry that he had to go through this. The doctor came out of the room.

"Dr. Stevenson?" Horatio acknowledged the doctor. Ryan stood up and impatiently came over.

"Yes," the doctor answered. "Well, she's ready. She asked to see a Horatio..and then said not to allow a Ryan in." Dr. Stevenson looked at the two men. Horatio looked confused, Ryan looked heartbroken.

"Ok, thank you doctor," Horatio said as Dr. Stevenson waked away. Horatio turned and looked at Ryan before he went into the room. It wasn't the Ryan he knew anymore. This Ryan was sad, beaten, tormented, and heartbroken. He was also a father, but Calleigh didn't want him to be. Horatio placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder, but couldn't find anything to say. He just squeezed his shoulder and turned into the room.

"I like the names Noah and Mary," Ryan said suddenly, causing Horatio to jump. He turned at looked at Ryan. Ryan looked at the floor. "She probably won't care though." After that, Horatio entered the room.

"Horatio," Calleigh said, beaming. She was holding the baby in her arms, it was a boy. He looked just like Ryan. A little bit of brown hair and big brown eyes. Calleigh smiled at the baby and rocked him back and forth.

"He's beautiful," Horatio said, looking at the boy. He felt happy for Calleigh, but sad for Ryan. "Calleigh, why did you call me in here?"

Calleigh looked at him, slightly surprised. "To see the baby," she said. "Duh, silly!"

"I'm not his father," Horatio said flatly. He felt Calleigh's eyes watching him. "Ryan is, and we both know that, and this little guy needs to know that too." He felt like he was crossing a shaky bridge over a raging river. One wrong step, and he would go down.

"Horatio, I want nothing to do with Ryan, and I don't want him near my son," Calleigh said in a hushed whisper. "I hate him," she said. She went back to playing with the baby in her arms.

"What about before that night?" Horatio asked her. He looked at her expectantly.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't love him before that night?" Horatio kept calm. He watched Calleigh open her mouth to say something, but she decided not to. "You did. Remember all the times you had together? The good times?" He watched for Calleigh to say something, but was interrupted by a fake cough at the door. He got up and went out to find Ryan leaning against the wall. It was obvious that he had been crying.

"H, um, I have something I need to get done. I have to leave," Ryan said hastily. He looked at Horatio, who looked back understandingly.

"Go home and get some rest, Ryan," Horatio said. Ryan looked at him slightly surprised. He never called him by his first name to his face before.

"Ok," he said sadly as he turned to leave.

"Oh, and Ryan, you have a son," Horatio threw in. He watched as Ryan stared at the wall for a second, then a smile appeared on his face as he began to leave. He didn't make it to the door before he started crying again. Horatio watched him with a pang of guilt, then turned and went back into the room. He resumed his position in the chair beside Calleigh's bed and watched as the expression on her face went from happy to confused to sad.

"Horatio?" she asked, looking at him. "Did I make a mistake?" She sounded as if everything she had done to Ryan in the past was completely new to her.

"It's not my job to tell you what not to do, but personally I think you did," Horatio said as calmly as he could. He watched Calleigh look back to the baby. "Ryan's in a lot of pain right now, and I'm worried he'll do something stupid."

"Stupid? Like what?"

"People tend to do stupid things when they're hurting," Horatio said. "You have to come to the realization that he needs you just as much as you really need him. Things could get difficult without him around."

"Yeah," Calleigh said, blankly. She didn't know what else to say.

Horatio's cell phone rang and he picked it up. "Caine," he said, as usual. "Yes..ok..thank you Eric. I'll be there in a little. Bye." He hung up his phone and prepared to leave. "We have a new lead," he told Calleigh. "I need to get back to the lab. I'll check in later." As he was about to leave, he stopped at the door and turned around. "Oh, and Calleigh.."

"Yes, Horatio?"

"Ryan likes Noah," he said. He put his sunglasses on and left the room, leaving Calleigh to think about what had just happened.

So you can all probably guess what the boy is gonna be named. Next chapter coming soon!