Chapter 7

When Samantha stopped her car at the roadside, Eli couldn't wait to get out of the car but nevertheless looked out for a strange one in his father's driveway. But since all he could see was the golden hummer, his grin got even wider. "The air is clear, Mom!" he announced and sat nervously on his seat, the door handle already in his hand.

"Be civil and don't overdo it, okay?" she smiled back and was really happy that Horatio had granted the privileges of doing the driving lessons with Eli.

"Who me?" Eli said and got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Mom. I'll call you later…or drive back home at my own."

The blond woman behind the steering wheel could only role her eyes. Once her son had set his mind on something, there was no way of stopping him. "Just like his father," she thought to herself, waved at Junior and resisted the urge to tell him once again to be careful. Horatio would use this phrase more than once anyway and so she held herself back. "Have fun!"

Elijah was all smiles. Today would be awesome. "Thanks. See you!" After his mother drove away and Elijah had made his way to the front door, he pulled out his keys, opened the door and let it shut with the usual bang. His father was alone, so it didn't matter at all, besides it was some kind of a tradition. Undeterred he walked to the living room, without discarding his baseball cap and looked around in search of his father. It was after 11 a.m. after all and he knew that Horatio had been up since 9 a.m. This was also a tradition in the Caines' household. "Dad?"

Startled, Horatio looked up from his book when he heard the front door. Did Calleigh come back? But she didn't have a key, so how should she open the door? And he could probably wait for that a long time. His cheek still hurt and he wasn't well rested since he couldn't sleep the night before. Actually, he shouldn't have lay in the bed alone, like now, but he still had to – with a hurting cheek. There weren't that many people who could be downstairs and his main suspect was his son. Horatio just didn't know why he was here. He put down his book onto the untouched side of his bed and slowly got up. He hadn't bothered to dress up, so he was just wearing some jogging pants and an old t-shirt. There was no one who he should dress up for anyway. "I'm upstairs," he called, when he exited his bedroom and stomped down the stairs.

Elijah was puzzled to see his father in casual wear; they had something planned after all. Of course he hadn't thought of a suit, but not like this. This didn't fit to him at all. "Ready?" he asked therefore and stayed at the landing.

Equally puzzled, Horatio looked at his son. "Ready? What for?" he asked and had no idea what the boy was talking about.

"Uhm, driving-lessons?" the boy scratched his head. "You and me?"

Horatio closed his eyes. He had forgotten about that. "God, yes. I'm sorry…it just slipped," he apologized and shook his head. "It's that late already?" he asked, though it was quite needless, since Elijah was standing in front of him. "Do you want something to drink?" Cause he was thirsty.

"You forgot our date?" Elijah took a step away. "Who are you and where's my father?"

"Funny," Horatio replied, but wasn't in the mood for fun. "I…well it just slipped.." He couldn't be more than sorry for it and even though Elijah hadn't answered his question, he made his way to the kitchen.

This was a new one to him and Elijah needed a second to think about it. "Is everything alright? Are you sick?" he asked his Dad and followed him, while his hopes dropped. It would be annoying, but when his Dad wasn't feeling good, he could understand it. Nevertheless the disappointment in his voice was apparent. "Well then…then we'll do it another day…"

Horatio had to admit that he wasn't in the mood for driving, but he didn't want to hurt his son with his bad mood. It's wasn't the boy's fault, so he shouldn't get punished for it. "No, no. It's okay. I'm not sick, I just forgot it. I just drink something and then I'll change, okay?"

Relieved the boy smiled. "Great!" Abruptly his mood had changed. "This is going to be cool. I even brought my sunglasses with me." With that, he grabbed them from his collar and put it on. Then he turned his baseball cap, so the shield pointed to the back. "What do you think of it?" To get the same model his father wore, he had to save a lot of money, but he liked his own one anyway.

"Nice, but you won't wear it with the cap." He looked like people he had arrested in the past. Seemingly, his son hasn't inherited his sense of fashion. Or it was the boy's age. Without thinking he grabbed the cap. "Oh look at that, there's hair. Didn't think it would grow in constant darkness."

"Hey," enraged he tried to his cap back, but was too slow. "Why not, Dad? It looks good together."

"Yes, on some Hip Hop Rapper probably, who are sitting in my interrogation room," Horatio started and took a sip of his water, "but not on you. Besides even they take sunglasses and cap off."

Sullen, he ran his hand through his hair till it stuck out in every direction. "If you think so," he said defeated and knew better than to have a discussion about fashion with his father. "May I have it back?" he asked and meant his cap. Not wanting to risk an argument with Horatio, he took off his sunglasses.

"Only if you wear it correctly, then yes," Horatio nodded and gave it back. "Did Mom bring you?"

Nodding he grabbed his cap, but didn't put it on. "Yes she did. She said hi, by the way," he grinned, because he had forgotten about that.

"Thanks. Should I give you a lift home? Or would you rather drive yourself?" he asked and made his way back to the hall. "Or to Amber?" he smirked to himself.

Immediately, there was a small on Elijah's face. "That's what I told Mom…I mean that I'll drive home alone!" It was like his father read his thoughts. "I'd like that. Amber isn't at home today, so there's no need to go there." Finally things were getting started and he prepared himself for that by putting on his cap again. "Is that okay? I mean, do you have plans?" He didn't know if Horatio had other things to do, like having a date with Calleigh. It was weekend after all.

Shortly, Horatio stopped but then continued walking. "No…I don't have any plans..," he shook his head. "I'm available…like always."

"What? No plans?" he pressed on, he must have been misheard. "It's a weekend…"

"True. If you count reading under plans, then I have some. If not, then…not," he rolled his eyes. "You know… you need someone to share your plans."

Before Eli could reply something, Horatio had reached the stairs. Something was wrong here. His father had forgotten their appointment, stood there dressed up with nowhere to go, had a bad mood and didn't seem overly excited by the fact that Elijah was here. In other words, Horatio had made a complete turnaround. But Elijah didn't know why and that blurred the atmosphere. Maybe the driving-lessons would help against it.

Upstairs in the bedroom, Horatio slipped into some jeans and a green polo shirt. With his son already looking like a rapper, he didn't have to do the same. Otherwise they'd be stopped by the police and this was something he didn't need. Therefore they wouldn't drive with the Hummer, but the GMC. "I hope you have your sign with you," he called through the house. "The keys from the GMC are in my leather jacket."

"Of course I do," the boy smiled. As if he would forget the most important thing. To be on the safe side, he searched in his pockets. "Yep, it's here," he mumbled to himself before he started to listen attentively. "GMC?" There was something wrong. "GMC, Dad?" he called.

"Why, yes," Horatio replied. "I think the Hummer needs a break…" Plus he wasn't so sure of letting a beginner driving with it. He was the boss of course, but it wasn't his own car. "The GMC isn't that different," he explained while walking down the stairs. "You got everything?"

Oh great, he had already assumed that there was a rub in it. Sighing he walked to the coat rack. The GMC was nice, but not as nice as the Hummer. But he didn't want to challenge his luck, since his Dad wasn't in the best mood already. The leather jacket was found quickly and with it something else. Before he turned around, he touched his finding to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. Once again he looked at the cardigan and was pretty sure that he had never seen it before. "Who does it belong to?" he asked curiously, though he could think of one person.

"Hm?" Horatio looked up from lacing his shoes. "Who belongs to…oh…" Sighing he straightened himself and starred on the cardigan. "It's…it's Calleigh's. I'm going to…give it back to her tomorrow," he answered him crestfallen, because he realized that it would be safer giving it to Alexx, so he would avoid another slap.

The prompt change of mood didn't get unnoticed by Elijah. He looked at his Dad who was standing there like a picture of misery, then back to the cardigan and once again back to his father. It became more and more obvious that something must have happened. "Mhm, okay," he murmured, but couldn't help himself. "It's better I don't ask what's going on, hm?"

He got a shrug as a response. "Fundamentally…you'll find out anyway. Last night… Calleigh decided the relationship isn't worth continuing," he said quietly.

With a jerk he looked at Horatio. "What?? Why??"

Horatio wasn't entirely sure about that. There could be a lot of reasons. "It wasn't meant to be. And she ended it yesterday."

He hadn't bargained for that. But it explained his father's wonderful mood. Gloomily he looked at him. "What now?"

"Nothing. She made it clear to me that she's fed up with me." Absently he stroked his cheek. "I don't think you can change that again."

"But why?" They had gotten along so well. This really was a surprise.

"I…I don't know. We talked yesterday and then it just went crazy," he sighed. "The end of the story was her slamming the door."

It didn't make a lot of sense. "I don't understand, did you," he stopped and thought about it, "Did you have a fight?"

"Well, normally you need two for a fight…but yeah, I think you could say so," Horatio nodded. "But I'm not sure what was the fight about," he had to admit.

This got more and more obscure and with 15 years he didn't have lot wisdom on hand. Depressed he looked down. This wasn't an easy situation for him. He had wished for his dad to find the perfect woman. "I…don't know what to say, I'm sorry Dad. It looked so good…"

"No need to be sorry, Eli. Sometimes, love isn't enough…" Horatio replied quietly. Though right now he wasn't sure of her so called love for him. Two days ago he had been sure of it, but now?

"Is it…is it because of me?" Maybe Calleigh had been told about him and therefore she had had broke up with his dad.

"No! No, it has nothing to with you, Elijah. It has never something to with you, okay?" The thought alone broke his heart into pieces. "You're never the reason. Never," he repeated insistently.

Elijah wasn't so sure about it, but he believed his dad. He didn't like what he saw, since he was used to a whole different demeanor. Slowly he pulled the cap from his head. "We…don't have to drive today, Dad. We can…just sit around in the garden," he offered him.

"The times doesn't turn back from that, son. I promised you that we're driving today and we'll do that, okay?" he asked rhetorically. "And you know what? We take the Hummer and when they stop us, you put on your rapper costume," he laughed a bit and opened a drawer to get the keys. "However we will first drive on a deserted parking area, so you get a feeling for the car."

Elijah gave him a faint smile and made a step towards Horatio. Suddenly he opened his arms and hugged his father. Not because Horatio had mentioned the Hummer. No. Eli wanted to be there for him, like his dad was for him. "Are you sure?" he grinned and kept his arms around him.

No matter how old Elijah would be, a hug was always the best sign for Horatio, that he did something good. "Mhm, you'd better be careful, before I change my mind," he winked at him. "I already know the perfect place, there you can sit behind the steering wheel and later on we can gab something to eat, if you're hungry that is." Which was highly possible.

"Sounds good, Dad," Elijah nodded and made a step back, so Horatio could open the door. "Ready?"

"If you have everything you need, Junior," Horatio opened the door and yield to him. Just because Calleigh had ended their relationship, he shouldn't go stale. Even if he was deeply hurt by her reaction. At the moment he could push it to the back of his mind, thanks to his son and he wanted to have a good time. What would happen in the evening was a different story.

Tbc

A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. A special thanks goes to my anonymous reviewer, since I can't thank them via a PM. Just know, that it makes me very happy, that you're taking your time to write a review.