A/N: Here's the next chapter, as promised. From now on the story is going to have a lot more adventure, excitement, and tears. You have been warned! Hopefully it is still pretty good. To all those who have reviewed, thank you and please keep the reviews coming! You are awesome! Enjoy the story!
The next morning Horatio was awakened by a small form jumping up and down on his bed.
"Wake up, Uncle Horatio!" Kelsi said as Emily jumped up on the bed next to her and began bouncing too.
"Uncle Horatio! You promised we could go to the beach today! Wake up sleepy head!" Emily chorused her sister as they continued to jump.
Horatio, who by this point was very much awake, was trying to pretend that he was still asleep, waiting for them to move just a little bit closer...
"Gotcha!" he said suddenly reaching out and grabbing both little girls by the ankles and pulling them down on the bed next to him. The little girls squealed as Horatio started tickling them mercilessly.
"Uncle Horatio!" Emily gasped between fits of giggles, "Stop it Stop it!"
The roles reversed suddenly when both girls attacked Horatio and began tickling him. Horatio squirmed and laughed. "Hey guys!" he said, "No fair! Two on one, that's not very nice!"
But the more Horatio laughed and squirmed, the harder the girls tickled him. You would never know by looking at him, but Lieutenant Horatio Caine was a very ticklish man. Finally he was able to get the girls to stop tickling him long enough to plead for a truce.
"Hey," he said sitting up, "What do you say we go downstairs and make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast?"
"Chocolate chip pancakes!" both girls squealed.
"Okay," Horatio said, laughing at their reaction , "Go wake up your brother and get dressed and then we'll make pancakes."
Horatio took a quick shower and was just pulling out a mixing bowl and ingredients for the pancakes when the girls came into the room and hopped up the stools that Horatio had set out for them. They began mixing the pancake batter, both girls taking turns to stir in ingredients. When Emily poured in the flour it poofed up, covering Horatio, Emily, and Kelsi with a fine layer of powder. Horatio tried to help them clean it up, but they still had flour smears on their cheeks when Josh entered the kitchen, camera in hand, and snapped a picture.
"Hey," Horatio said, smiling "No pictures before 10:00!"
"Good morning to you too!" Josh grinned as he leaned against the kitchen counter.
"You're just in time for the most important part!" Kelsi said, "Putting in the chocolate chips! Can I do it Uncle Horatio, please!" she begged, turning her little green eyes up toward him.
"Of course." Horatio said, guiding her movements so she wouldn't spill any chocolate chips.
While the pancakes were cooking, Emily and Kelsi set the table, and Horatio taught Josh how to flip the pancakes. After a couple of folded and mangled pancakes, Josh finally got the hang of it and started to show off, flipping the pancakes high into the air before catching them again and putting them on a plate.
When all the pancakes were done, they sat down at the table, but before they started eating, Horatio said "Hmmm...something seems to be missing."
"The Reddi-Whip!" Emily said, catching Horatio's hint. She ran to the fridge and took out four cans of Reddi-whip, one for each of them. It had become tradition that when the kids came over to spend the night, Horatio would fix them chocolate chip pancakes and Reddi-whip for breakfast. Everybody was given their own can (Chocolate for Emily and Josh and regular for Kelsi and Horatio), to use however they wished. This drove Calleigh crazy because they would always be so hyped up on sugar when they went home that they wouldn't sleep for days.
Emily gave each can to its proper owner. Josh promptly piled his pancakes so high with the whipped topping that you could no longer see the pancakes themselves and then squirted some straight in his mouth for good measure. Emily proceeded to make tiny flowers all over her pancakes with her Reddi-whip, just like Horatio had taught her last time the kids had spent the night. Kelsi made smiley faces on her pancakes and giggled as she watched her brother shoot the whipped topping into his mouth. Horatio was a little more conservative with his Reddi-whip, he only made a swirl on his before he began eating his pancakes.
After the last squirt of Reddi-whip had been downed and the last pancake claimed, Horatio told the kids to go get ready for the beach while he cleaned up the kitchen. Within a half hour they were on their way to the beach.
Horatio's favorite stretch of beach was only a few miles from home, and the thing that Horatio loved most about it, apart from the breathtaking view, was that very few tourists had found it, leaving it a very relaxing place to be. He parked the Hummer and helped Emily and Kelsi out of the car and they walked down to the water's edge. They deposited their towels and beach umbrellas where the tide couldn't carry them away. After a generous lathering of sunscreen, the Wolfe children took off down the beach and splashed into the water.
"Come on in Uncle H!" Josh called to Horatio, who was standing just above the 'splash zone', "The water's great today!"
"I think I'll just sit this one out," Horatio said, smiling at his nephew, "but you guys go ahead and have fun."
"Oh really," Josh said folding his arms and rolling his eyes, "So you've finally gotten too old to play at the beach, have you?"
Emily caught on to what her brother was doing and added, "Yeah Uncle Horatio's much too old to be swimming with us. He might break something; you know how old people's bones are."
"I'll bet Uncle Horatio rode a dinosaur to school everyday," Kelsi added, teasing her uncle.
"Hey now," Horatio said, faking a hurt sound in his voice, "I may be older than your parents, but that doesn't mean I'm ancient. I still think I can beat you out to that rock," he challenged, pointing to a rock a few yards from shore.
"You're on!" Josh agreed and without another word, turned and began swimming towards the rock.
Even with the slight head start, Horatio was sitting on the rock, waiting, when Josh finally reached it.
Josh wiped his wet hair out of his eyes, "Okay fine," he surrendered, "You're not that old, but you are just as easily coerced as ever."
Horatio opened his mouth in rebuttal, but closed it again with a smile when he realized he'd been had. "I guess I'll give you that one," he finally admitted, "But in my defense, I think you've been taking lessons from your mom again."
"I have learned from the best," Josh grinned with an exaggerated bow.
The rest of the day flew by. After several hours of playing in the surf, they had lunch at a boardwalk café, and then they went shell hunting for decorations for the giant sand castle they built, complete with moat.
Towards the end of the afternoon, Horatio noticed clouds beginning to form on the horizon. At first he didn't think anything of it, after all, Miami was used to its share of storms, but as the afternoon turned into evening, the clouds began to take on a sickly color that could only mean one thing, there was a hurricane approaching.
Just as Horatio was beginning to get worried by the sight of the clouds, his cell phone rang. "Horatio," he answered calmly.
"H, it's Eric. Where are you?" a slightly panicky voice asked.
"I'm at the beach with Calleigh and Ryan's kids." Horatio said, putting the flag on the top of the sand castle, "Why do you ask?"
"H, you've got to get out of there now! Tropical storm Carmen has been upgraded to a category 3 hurricane and it keeps building power. It's headed straight for Miami; on its current path it will be here in few hours. You've got to get somewhere safe." Eric said.
"Are you sure?" Horatio asked, concern evident in voice.
"Positive." Eric said, "You said you've got Calleigh and Ryan's kids? Where are Calleigh and Ryan?"
"They're on an anniversary trip to the Keys." Horatio said.
There was dead silence on the other end of the phone. "Eric are you there?" Horatio asked.
"Horatio," Eric said softly, fear thickening his voice, "Hurricane trackers expect the Keys to get the full brunt of this storm. They're predicting everything is going to be destroyed. If Calleigh and Ryan are there..." he paused, trying to collect himself, "they aren't going to make it."
A/N: So, what do you think? Reviews are very much appreciated! Next chapter: The Hurricane!