Setting: Sunday, January 1, 2006: Miami and Monday, January 2, 2006: Miami
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Mia Vita - My Life (Italian)
Mi Alma - My Soul (Spanish)
xxx
Setting: Sunday, January 1, 2006: Miami
Stroking his hand gently over the eight-year-olds black curls, Speed softly said, "you've been a real adventurer, Tony. Just like Nemo. Why don't you rest and talk to HR. He's the boy across from you. Madison is next to him on the other bed." Speed stood and watched as Tony looked over his roommates then offered a yawn and a soft greeting to the red-haired boy.
"I'll be back soon," Speed claimed to the room at large. He walked into the hall and pulled his phone from his pocket, his soft smile falling away into a fierce scowl. Slipping into an unoccupied visitor waiting room, Speed dialled a number he'd had little reason to even look at in the last few years.
On the second ring, a female's confused voice answered, "Megan Donner. Tim Speedle?" She sounded uncertain, and he realized she might not have gotten the news.
"The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated," Speed quoted Mark Twain.
"Ass," Megan grumbled bitterly. "You aren't dead? It was in the papers that you were shot."
"I was. I lived. Megan, I wanna know about the kid." Speed didn't feel like being cordial even with his one time friend. The case and Tom's involvement aggravated him.
"Kid?" Megan sounded less bitter, more hesitant. "What kid?"
"A boy with your DNA, Megan. Name of Anthony," Speed pressed, his tone a soft growl. "He's in the hospital from a big accident last night. I had to pull myself off the case when his DNA popped up."
"Can we do this in person, at least?" Megan sighed, sounding harried. "I think this needs to be a face to face brawl, Tim."
"Good idea," Speed sighed. "I'm at the hospital at the children's ward with Tony." Pausing, realizing something by the conversation they'd just had, Speed asked, "you had no idea he was hurt. Did you even know he was with that guy?"
"Tim, give me time to get to the hospital and we'll talk." Megan hung up without letting him respond.
Speed growled again and hung up. He immediately dialed another number and waited for his fiancee to answer.
"Timothy," she responded, a gentle smile in her voice even over the phone.
"Mia Vita," he breathed out, needing her soothing calm. He rarely spoke Italian, but he used the term of endearment seriously.
His fiancee immediately replied, "Mi Alma," then let him speak. He very rarely called her while working.
"You're going to hear about that accident I got called to. A lot of cars in one big crash. Several people died, including a motorcyclist. Mia Vita, the child on the motorcycle survived." He paused, listening to her response. She could always help him destress.
"Is he hurt so very badly, Mi Alma?"
"No, not badly. One of the least injured due to circumstances I can't discuss yet." Speed drew a breath and added, "Mia Vita, his DNA shows he's related to me. I'm trying to find out more."
"Oh, Timothy, Mi Alma. You are with him now? You stay by him and I will come when you call."
Imagining the beautiful dark haired woman with the soulful brown eyes, Speed let a smile play over his face. "I will. Give Elizabieta a kiss, Mia Vita." Speed hung up. He touched the phone to his forehead, bowing his head and closing his eyes in a brief moment of either weakness or prayer.
Sunday, January 1, 2006: Miami
Not ten minutes passed before a nurse showed Megan to the shared children's hospital room. She took in the sight of the three injured children and H sitting with the girl in his arms, sleeping in exhaustion after her crying jag. Megan didn't know the tall blond man and merely nodded a greeting to him as she said, "Horatio. Tim."
Speed stood up from beside Tony's bed, the little boy sleeping once more. He stroked Tony's curls and walked over to his former boss and friend. "Megan. You'll want time with him? He just fell asleep again, but he was awake for some time."
Eyes roving over the child in the bed, taking in his dark features so like Speed's, she finally shook her head. "He's asleep. Let's go talk." She turned and walked out of the room, missing Speed's fierce frown and Horatio's exchange of surprised looks with his friend, Sergei.
Tim Speedle followed Megan Donner into the hall and then into that same empty waiting room as before.
After the door shut, Megan rubbed a hand over her face and sighed. She looked at Speed and said, brusquely, "tell me what you can about the accident."
Frown deepening, Speed said, "the lab and the force were called to a multi-vehicle accident by the Science Museum. It happened around midnight. Alexx's husband died, Megan."
"Fuck," Megan breathed, eyes turning sympathetic for their absent long-time friend. "Her kids? Alexx?"
"None of them were in the car with Jeffrey. Horatio's kids were. And you saw them." Watching Megan's hands rather than her face, Speed added, "there was a child who died, but I don't know if you knew her. I don't have her name. Several adults were killed, including the man Tony was with. The only reason Tony lived was he'd been wrapped in so much protective gear and drugged."
"Drugged?" Megan looked surprised at that. She frowned and glanced to the door. "And the driver was killed?"
Confused by her reaction, her apparent neutrality to Tony, Speed studied Megan, worry beginning to take over his annoyance. "You never mentioned being pregnant, Megan."
Suddenly, anger swept over the dark haired woman and she whirled to Speed, glaring at him. "You never asked, did you?"
"Why should I?" Speed looked shocked. "You made it quite clear that your relationship with Shawn was none of my business, and I had no idea you . . ."
"Come off it, Tim! Don't play innocent victim with me. Until you suddenly turned into a prude at that party, you were quite willing to spend the night drinking and playing." She crossed her arms and shook her head, looking disgusted as Speed looked first confused then angry.
Holding up a hand, Speed interrupted, "Megan. Let's stop right here. Start again, okay? You're angry with me for rejecting you at H's party. I get that. I got angry with you when I found out, the next day in fact, that you were already married."
"You knew! You knew all along and always said it didn't bother you. It turned you on to know I was married!" Megan hissed in a stage whisper, not wanting her voice to carry past the door and give away their business.
"Megan, please. I'm trying to sort this out. I never told you about Tom," Speed tried again, pushing down his frustration.
"Tom." Megan crossed her arms and glared at Speed. "Okay. I'll bite. Who's Tom?"
Speed drew a breath and opened the file he had with him. It contained the DNA evidence for Tony as well as some documentation from the lab he felt he would need. He turned the open folder to Megan and answered, "Tony's father."
Megan looked shell shocked then livid. She grabbed the folder. "You are Tony's father!"
"No, Megan. We never had sex. I couldn't be his father. Tom is. Look further. I have proof. You see," Speed reached over to flip to the second page and the matched DNA records for him and his twin. "Tom was my twin brother. And he delighted in screwing me over and hurting my friends."
Opening her mouth in disbelief, ready to protest the convenience of an unknown twin, Megan's eyes caught on the official seal on the records and the names printed. She began leafing through the papers and grew noticeably paler as she came across the information about Tim's shooting and Tom's death. Alexx had written up a brief report on the results of Tom's autopsy and had, thoughtfully if morbidly, included a picture of the corpse before autopsy. The abdominal scar and tattoo were very evident. "You recognize that scar and the tattoo?"
"Of course," Megan glared at the picture. "Appendicitis and a tattoo you got back in New York."
"Give me a chance and don't yell. I'm going to prove that's not me," Speed instructed softly. He unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off, revealing his standard T-shirt and secondary undershirt underneath. Speed always preferred to wear layers. As Megan watched in distrust, Speed pulled off the other two shirts and stood, waiting.
Her eyes flickered down to his right quadrant and widened in surprise. Megan walked over and reached out to touch his unscarred abdomen. She lifted her eyes, taking in the shot wound over his heart and the open heart surgery scars. Then she stepped around him and felt his naked shoulder where Tom had his Tanglewood tattoo. She ran her hands over the bare spot again, obviously checking for signs of a tattoo removal.
Speed gave her the time to check his identifiers against Tom's in both the photograph and her memory. After a long moment, he said softly, "Tom is Tony's father, Megan. Not me. He messed with you, must have let you believe he was me. When you approached at H's party, you thought you were with him."
"Oh, god!" Megan's hoarse whisper seemed torn from her. "Tim! I . . . all this time . . . I thought you'd been messing with me for some sick reason. Hell, I nearly lost Shawn after that party. He found out about us . . . or me and - - Tom."
"I know. I told him you'd been hitting on me," Speed admitted without guilt. "I always believed in being faithful, Megan. I felt you two needed to work that out. I had thought you were drunk and hitting on me. I didn't know it had been a long term relationship." He met her wounded eyes and saw the flash of anger then regret in them.
"But now, it's not about me or you. It's about Tony. I don't know if that man was your boyfriend or just a friend, but . . ."
"I don't know who had him, Tim," Megan murmured. She looked through the papers then closed the folder and offered it back.
"What? We didn't get a hit matching a kidnapping to his description," Speed's frown deepened and he took his paperwork.
Megan looked at Speed, her expression incredulous. "Kidnapped? Tim, I didn't raise them! I went to Hawaii on a teaching sabbatical and placed them up for adoption there. I . . . couldn't tell Shawn so he never knew I was pregnant."
"Them," Speed intoned slowly. He met her eyes and ground out, "twins? You had twins and gave them up without trying to tell me about them, and you thought they were mine? You never gave me a chance to raise what you perceived as my own children?"
"Don't go there, Timothy Speedle! You had rejected me. Turns out your brother did, too, though I thought it was you as well. Never wanted anything to do with me after that party. I gave them up because I couldn't lose Shawn, too!"
"Well, whoever had Tony is dead now and we have no idea where the other twin is. Tony never mentioned a twin. The kid could be alone at home and in trouble." Speed pulled his phone out and turned his back on Megan, calling Calleigh's number directly. Before his fellow investigator could answer, he turned his head and looked at his former friend. "Looks like Tom screwed up more lives than even he knew. If he was alive, he'd been howling in glee, the bastard. Is Tony's twin a girl or a boy, Megan?"
"Boy. I named them Joseph and Anthony," Megan sighed and hugged herself. "I gave them to a facility on Oahu."
"Are you gonna contest me for the rights to them, Megan?" Speed looked at her. "Because I'm going to try to get custody of my nephews." The sound of Calleigh's voice interrupted Speed and he switched to informing her about the twins.
Monday, January 2, 2006: Miami
The afternoon sun streamed through the high windows of the courthouse, scattering shards of brightness over chairs, tables, and paperwork. A small gathering, contrary to most entertainment media, sat around one table with a raised podium situated before the judge at the head of the table. A court reporter used audio-visual equipment to record the proceedings, ensuring the ability to transcribe the case later. Along one side of the table sat the business-suit clad Peg and across from her sat Horatio, dressed in an equally nice, if hastily donned, suit and his sister-in-law, Yelina, also in a dress suit. The only other people present were the two lawyers, one for each side.
Glancing over the papers that had been presented to him, the judge studied every piece of evidence listed. He reviewed the claimed he-said-she-said encounters and statements.
Among the more damning pieces of evidence was a claim that the male party, Horatio, had allowed the child in question, HR, to leave safety during a hurricane and also to go to the crime lab on the day a criminal began shooting staff members and witnesses, endangering the child. Horatio also engaged in an extramarital affair which led to a child, Madison, being born out of wedlock and Horatio keeping the mistress, Susie, and Madison in close contact with HR, corrupting his moral upbringing. The last big claim, among many others, was that Horatio had missed, without warning, an emergency meeting called by the lawyers to discuss the child custody case on the day before, previously agreed on by both parties.
The claims against the female party, Margaret, were that she often traveled for work and left HR with various people whom HR expressed did not treat him well. A child psychologist report had been attached to that claim, supporting HR's fears and claims of neglect. Margaret has been believed to lie to HR as well as adults caring for him. Several affidavits had been attached to that claim, supporting the suppositions of falsehoods. The final claim against Margaret was that she did not show a concern for the welfare of the child in question unless it suited her. Attached were statements, written by Horatio and several emergency responders and hospital staff members. These dealt with the recent automobile accident which injured HR the night before the emergency legal meeting. According to Horatio's statement, the reason he did not show up at the meeting was because he was at the hospital bedside of HR and Madison. Nurses' statements supported the last statement.
Looking up, the judge sighed and placed the papers carefully on his podium. He studied both parties, noting the tired exhaustion of the male party and the energized near-smugness of the female party.
"Mr. Caine," the Judge finally addressed the male party.
"Your Honor," H replied slowly, his tone respectful.
"I see you have added a statement that you plan to petition for custody of the child, Madison Keaton, who was in the car accident Horatio Junior was in. As you know, there is a claim before this court concerning the child's legitimacy and the advisability of having her near Horatio Junior.
With a nod, Horatio stood slowly and offered a folder to the judge who took it readily enough. "Your Honor, these papers will show DNA evidence that the child, Madison, is blood related to me and I am her only living relative aside from her half-brother and her cousin. Also contained there are records of my financial care of the child and her mother since finding out about the child in November of 2003. I believe these documents show that I am and will be a good provider for Madison while still being a good provider for Horatio Junior, as I have been doing so since the discovery of either child."
"Your Honor, he is admitting to the child's illegitimacy!" Peg called out, earning a glare from Yelina and a frown from the judge.
The judge looked into the file and read through the papers presented, as H defended himself. "I never said she wasn't what is legally termed an illegitimate child, Your Honor. I merely claimed that I wish to raise my blood relative. Especially as her mother is now deceased, her step-father is in federal prison, and her birth father is deceased."
"Deceased?" Peg all but sneered. "Come on, Horatio! You just admitted she's yours. How can you be deceased and claiming her?"
Looking up, the judge frowned at Peg. "Please desist from your bickering, ma'am. I have the DNA report right in front of me which proves his claim." He looked at H and clearly stated, "the court recognizes you, Horatio Caine Senior, as the blood uncle of Madison Keaton, daughter of your brother Raymond, deceased, and Susie Barnum-Keaton, also deceased."
A gasp erupted from both Yelina and Peg, but neither woman commented. H did not look to his sister-in-law.
"However," the judge went on, frowning softly at H, "in light of the severe injuries received by both children in the accident and your position as a single father and head of a busy crime lab, the court questions your ability to properly care for and provide attention to both children in question. Would it not be wiser to allow the boy to go with his mother or the girl to go to foster care?"
H sank back in his chair, shock written on his face as he stared at the serious face of the custody hearing judge.