Eric smiled at Horatio as he gently kissed his neck. It was only 6 AM, but they would soon have to go to work.
"Good morning." Horatio said softly.
"Good morning." Eric said between kisses, "Did you enjoy your birthday?"
"Yes, it was great. And your gift was the best one." Horatio smiled.
Eric smiled back. Eric had gotten Horatio an amulet engraved with: My heart, my soul, my angel and light, love Eric.
The gift had touched Horatio, he had never gotten a gift like that from anyone, and it made it clear to Horatio that Eric truly loved him. That Eric loved Horatio just as much as Horatio loved him.
Eric had bought the gift at the last second. He had been searching for the perfect gift for his lover for several weeks, and just three minutes before a jewelry store was about to close for the day, Eric had walked in and seen the amulet. He knew Horatio liked amulets. So Eric had bought it for him.
"Will you wear it today?" Eric smiled.
"Of course, I will always wear it." Horatio smiled and kissed Eric.
Eric continued to kiss Horatio further down. He kissed his chest and slowly moved down to the belly.
Horatio chuckled as Eric kissed him softly on his sides and around his belly button. Horatio was ticklish and Eric knew it.
"Eric." Horatio chuckled, "Eric stop tickling!" He laughed.
Eric grinned and continued to kiss further down. He reached Horatio waist and Horatio tried not to squirm away as Eric kissed him.
"You're ticklish everywhere." Eric chuckled.
"Not everywhere. I'm not ticklish on my nose or my ears." Horatio grinned.
Eric chuckled softly and slowly ran his hands up and down on Horatio's chest.
"I need to shower." Eric said, "Feel like joining me?" he asked.
"No, I'm not sure." Horatio said, trying to sound serious.
Eric grinned and glanced at Horatio's underwear.
"I think your buddy says different." Eric grinned.
Horatio chuckled and went with Eric to the shower.
-I-
"Maxine!" A voice that could only belong to one person. The one and only Raquel Delko echoed in the halls of the lab.
"It's not even nine o'clock and that woman is already here." Valera groaned. She forced herself to smile as Raquel entered her lab and gave Valera a big hug.
"I would like us two to go out and talk a little, is that alright with you?" Raquel asked.
"Well, Mrs. Delko, I'm working right now." Valera said.
"Oh I know, but maybe you have some time at around twelve?" Raquel asked.
Valera nodded and smiled, "Sure."
"Excellent! And please call me Raquel." Raquel smiled and left Valera alone. Valera groaned, the mere presence of that woman made her crazy. She couldn't stand pretending to be Eric's girlfriend much longer. She had to call him. Valera picked up her phone to call Eric; he really needed to tell his mother about him and Horatio.
"Delko." Eric answered his phone.
"Eric, it's Valera. Listen you need to tell your mother about Horatio." Valera said, "She wants to talk with me at lunch, and it sounds serious."
"Look Valera, how am I going to tell my parents?" Eric asked, "I don't want them to be hurt or Horatio to get the blame."
"Eric, the longer you wait the more it's going to hurt. And you know Horatio wants you to tell them." Valera said.
"Valera I have to go, I have a crime scene to process. I'll talk to you later." Eric said.
"Eric, wait…" Valera said, but Eric had already ended the phone call.
Valera sighed; until Eric told his parents who he really was she would have to pretend to be his girlfriend. But she didn't really like the idea of having lunch with Raquel.
-I-
Eric sighed. He knew he had to tell his mother. But it wasn't something that was easy for him. His mother had stayed out of his life for several years and then all of a sudden she shows up. He looked over at Horatio who was questioning a witness. He loved Horatio. But he wanted his parents to like him too. It felt somewhat important for Eric that his parents accepted his life partner. Even though we wouldn't let them decide who he should date or not date. He just wanted them to accept his life.
Eric knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with H. H was his soul, he was everything to him. But it seemed like he was so afraid of being the family's black sheep, he couldn't even come out and just admit who he was.
"How's it going?" Horatio asked and Eric snapped out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, right, well, I found some fingerprints; I'll run them in the lab later." Eric smiled.
"Okay, are you alright?" Horatio asked.
"Yeah." Eric said.
"Okay, listen I thought that maybe tonight we could rent some movies and just cuddle in front of the TV, just you and me." Horatio smiled.
Eric smiled back, "I'd love to H." He said.
Little did Eric know that he wouldn't get to cuddle with Horatio that night.
-I-
Valera put a fake smile on her face once again as she sat down across from Raquel at a fancy lunch restaurant. Valera knew only rich people hung out here, and that she couldn't possibly pay to eat here.
"I've never really been here; it's a little too expensive for me." Valera said.
"Oh it's alright dear. I will pay for lunch today, and then you can pay tomorrow." Raquel said.
Valera looked with wide eyes at Raquel. Was this woman seriously expecting them to have lunch everyday of the week? Because if that was the case, Valera had to make a new budget for herself.
"So you want to have lunch tomorrow too?" Valera asked.
"Well of course. You're family now and we should spend more time together, so that we get to know each other." Raquel smiled.
Valera smiled, "Of course."
"Good, now I have some things I want to discuss with you." Raquel said, "But let's order some food first."
A waiter arrived at the table and took their orders.
Before Valera was able to say what she wanted to eat, Raquel ordered some sort of Italian food for her. Valera couldn't even pronounce the name and she sure as hell had no idea what would be in her food. But she chose not to ask what sort of food it was.
"The first thing I want to discuss with you is your name." Raquel said as the waiter left. "You said you were willing to change your name for future children and I have some suggestions for you." Raquel said.
Valera gasped. The woman was unbelievable! Not only did she want Valera to change her name, but she had obviously gone home yesterday and started to come up with suggestions right away. If Valera was about to change her name she wanted to find one herself. Hopefully though, Raquel would find out about Eric and H before Valera had to change her name.
"Don't look so stunned dear. You said you would do it." Raquel snorted.
"Of course, I'm just a little shocked, I mean; did you really go through all the trouble of finding some suggestions for me?" Valera smiled.
Raquel gave Valera a big smile, "Of course dear, do you want to hear them?" Raquel asked.
Valera nodded.
"Alright, well there is nothing wrong with your last name Valera. But Maxine needs to go away, so I was thinking maybe: Annie, Beth, Jill or Marie." Raquel smiled.
Valera felt the urge to stick a fork down Raquel's throat; but she managed to keep calm though.
Before Valera could answer the food arrived.
Valera's food was some mixture of Italian and Indian. There was meat and some pasta, and vegetables and some sort of sauce to it. It didn't look like lunch, a lunch was supposed to be simple according to Valera, and her food certainly wasn't simple.
"What do you say about the names?" Raquel asked.
"Well, um, I like the last one… Marie." Valera said.
Raquel smiled, "Me too. You look like a Marie."
Valera smiled and took a bite of her food. It certainly was tasty and nothing wrong with it, but she felt like spitting it on Raquel.
"Did you have any other things to discuss?" Valera asked.
"Oh yes, I was wondering if you're eating any pills?" Raquel asked.
"Pills? You mean so I won't get pregnant?" Valera asked, she was a bit stunned. Raquel had no boundaries of what to ask or not to ask. Valera usually had no problem talking about some stuff in private life, but this was way too private.
"Yes, are you?" Raquel asked.
"No." Valera said. She knew what Raquel wanted. She wanted Valera to get pregnant, so it was best to say that she wasn't eating any pills.
"Good, good." Raquel said, "One problem solved then." She laughed.
Valera smiled.
"And then I was wondering if I might be able to sleep at yours and Eric's place tonight?" Raquel asked.
Valera almost choked on the food.
"Are you alright dear?" Raquel asked.
Valera nodded. Now Eric really had a problem, how was he going to explain to his mom about the lack of female stuff in his house?
"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, Eric snores and I sleepwalk." Valera said.
"Oh yes, I'm sure. I might even bring my husband with me." Raquel said, "You haven't had a chance to meet Eric's father yet."
"Okay, well, I guess it's okay then." Valera smiled, "Have you talked to Eric about it?"
"Yes, I called him right before you arrived." Raquel smiled, "He said that it wasn't a problem."
Valera nodded. She knew Horatio wouldn't like it.
"Now Valera, or should I say Marie, we can go and change your name tomorrow if you like?" Raquel asked.
Valera almost panicked. Hell no, she couldn't do that, she had to make something up fast.
"No, I'm going to have to let the department know first and it might take a while." Valera said.
"Okay, so maybe next week then?" Raquel asked.
"Yes, that will work." Valera smiled.
"Great!" Raquel chuckled.
Valera smiled and continued eating her food, listening to Raquel talking about Eric as a kid. Valera really needed to speak with Eric. Raquel was moving fast and Valera was pretty sure that Raquel soon would show her a potential wedding dress and after that she and Eric would be married within a month.
-I-
Eric knocked on Horatio's office door. He entered the office when he heard Horatio say, "Enter".
"Hey Eric, what can I do for you?" Horatio smiled.
Eric smiled back. He always did when Horatio smiled. Eric hated the thought of making that smile go away. But he had to.
"H, you know about our plans for tonight?" Eric asked.
Horatio nodded.
"Well, it's seems as if it ain't going to work. My mother wants to spend the night with me and Valera; she might even bring my dad. So Valera and I are going to have to pretend to live together tonight. I'm going to have to move some of her things to our house, so that mom wont wonder why there are no female stuff there." Eric said fast.
Horatio just looked at his lover. He wasn't sure if he had heard right.
"You're throwing me out?" Horatio asked, his anger rising.
"No! No! It's just for tonight." Eric said.
"Yeah, and last night was only a one time thing as well." Horatio said, "Why don't you just tell her Eric?"
"It's not that easy." Eric said.
"Look you always said and your parents aren't close, so why are you so afraid of them?" Horatio asked.
"I want them to like my life partner!" Eric said.
"So you would actually be able to break up with me if they didn't like me?" Horatio asked, "´Cause if that's the case, then you should just marry Valera straight away, because your parents may never like me!" Horatio growled.
"Look H, it's just for tonight, I'll tell them tomorrow, but you need to help me move away some your stuff." Eric said.
"No you can do it, while I try to find somewhere else to sleep tonight." Horatio said and he walked out of his office, leaving Eric behind.
Eric cursed at himself. Just three little words and he couldn't say them. All he had to do was to say: I am gay.
But he couldn't look at his mom and say it.
Eric snapped out of his thoughts as he heard foot steps behind him. It was Valera.
"Dammit Eric!" Valera cursed and she closed the office door to give Eric and herself some privacy.
"I know Valera." Eric said.
"Horatio is not going to like this. You know what she wants to do? She wants to go and change my name into Marie next week and tomorrow I'm going to have to have lunch with her, again!" Valera said, "Soon she'll be showing me wedding dresses!" Valera exclaimed.
"Horatio is pissed." Eric said. He looked so sad that some of Valera's anger went away.
"Well, Eric, what did you think? You're denying him as your boyfriend." Valera said softly.
"Look, I am going to tell her." Eric said, "It's just hard to tell her and look her in the eyes at the same time."
"I know but if you don't tell her soon, you may loose Horatio. Tell her tonight. I'm there as support." Valera said.
"I can't. I'll tell her tomorrow." Eric said and left the office.
Valera sighed, "Well it looks like I'm going to have to make Raquel hate me so much that she won't come around anymore." Valera smiled to herself, "Tonight might be a fun night."
TBC…