The weekend passed by and it was now Monday.
Alexx, Eric, H and Nat were in the break room.
"Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!" Calleigh repeated as she ran into the break room. Heading for the coffee machine.
Alexx, H, Eric and Nat chuckled.
"Somebody must have run out of coffee at home." Natalia grinned.
Calleigh chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, that's exactly what happened during the weekend." Calleigh smiled.
Ryan walked in and greeted everyone.
"Thank god that there is coffee here." Ryan said and took some coffee.
"How did the two of you survive the weekend without coffee?" Alexx asked.
"I have no idea." Calleigh chuckled, "But we managed somehow."
Valera was the next person to arrive.
"Hi guys." She greeted the others.
"Hi Val." They said.
"I'm taking Jason to meet my parents next weekend." Valera smiled.
"Have you told him what they're like?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, but he says it doesn't sound so bad." Valera smiled.
"Yeah, but he'll get shock of his life when he meets them." Calleigh said.
"He sure will." Valera agreed.
"Is Frank coming?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, he should be here soon." Eric said.
"Good." Ryan said.
"Ryan and I have decided to have best men and bride's maids." Calleigh said.
"You're going to tell us now?" Valera asked.
"As soon as Frank gets here." Calleigh smiled.
Right at that moment the Texan walked into the room.
He greeted everyone.
"Okay, this wasn't an easy choice." Calleigh said, "But I want Alexx and Valera to be my bride's maids." She smiled.
"Really?" Valera asked.
Calleigh nodded.
"Oh thank you Calleigh!" Valera shrieked. Calleigh received a hug from both Alexx and Valera.
"Is it alright with you Nat?" Calleigh asked.
"Of course!" Nat smiled, "Don't worry so much Calleigh."
"Okay, Ryan, I hate to create stress for you, but you better hurry up, ´cause I have to be in court in fifteen minutes." Frank said.
"Alright, well, the first person was easy to choose, but the second one was a little but harder." Ryan smiled, "H and Eric." He said.
"Great!" Frank smiled, "Now I really have to run, but you made the right decision." He smiled and patted Ryan on the shoulder.
"Thank you Ryan." Eric said.
"Yes, thank you." H smiled.
-I-
Raquel was at her brother Miguel's house.
She had been complaining for over an hour about her bad luck and how much her children hated her.
"Raquel, I don't know why you keep complaining. What can I do?" Miguel asked.
"I don't know!" Raquel snapped, "Maybe make my children understand how wrong it is. Teach them a lesson." She said.
"Teach them a lesson?" Miguel asked, "Just what exactly do you have on your mind?"
"I just want them to get hurt, just like they hurt me." Raquel said.
"They hurt you?" Miguel asked.
"Of course you idiot! They don't want to talk to me anymore!" Raquel yelled, "And that is evil."
"Maybe you have made a mistake?" Miguel asked.
"Me? No, I happen to be the only sane person in our family. And for that I have been left alone." She growled.
"You want me to hurt Joseph or Eric?" Miguel asked.
"Yes, can you?" Raquel asked.
"No, never. Eric is my nephew and Joseph is my best friend." Miguel said.
"Fine!" Raquel said, "Be like them!"
"I'm not going to leave you, but I don't see the problem with Eric." Joseph said, "He's your son Raquel."
"Go to hell Miguel!" Raquel yelled and left the house.
She walked down the street to where her car was parked. And then suddenly remembered something about Miguel's neighbor. Maybe he could help.
-I-
The morning passed quickly and it was lunch. Eric and Horatio met up with Joseph at a small lunch restaurant.
"Isn't it warm to wear suits in this sun?" Joseph asked Horatio.
"Yes, but it's my work outfit. It's sort of a policy at PD that the entire boss staff should war suits or something similar." Horatio said, "We all just do it to please the higher ups."
Joseph chuckled.
"I heard you like to go against them sometimes." He said.
"But it's just clothes and I don't think it's such a big deal. So I just wear my suits." Horatio said.
Joseph nodded.
The food arrived and the three men small talked a lot.
"I'm curious. I haven't asked this before, but how did you two become a couple?" Joseph asked.
"It started with H noticing that I looked at him longer than I should sometimes." Eric smiled, "He just smiled all the time when he noticed that I got lost in thought staring at him."
"And then I invited him for dinner one evening." Horatio said.
"He told me right away that he could feel my eyes all over him." Eric said, "I thought you hated it." He grinned at Horatio.
"No, it made me relieved because I knew that my feelings were returned." Horatio smiled.
"Then H kissed me and well, here we are." Eric smiled.
Joseph smiled.
"How did you and mom meet?" Eric asked.
"She visited Russia, Moscow to be more exact and she was determined not to belong to a tourist group." Joseph said, "She wanted to see the city without a guide. But she eventually got lost and couldn't fin her way back to her hotel." He smiled at the memory, "She tried to ask me where she was in poor Russian, and I told her I could speak a bit of English. She told me she was from Cuba. And then she told me the name of her hotel and I showed her the way." Joseph said.
"True love at first sight?" Horatio asked.
"Oh yes it was." Joseph said, "I moved with her to Cuba and when she was pregnant with Eric. We moved here." He said.
"What was she like when you met her?" Eric asked.
"She was angry because she was lost. I learned very quickly in our relationship that she had a short fuse." He chuckled, "But she always made me laugh and once she got a dream she always made it come true."
Eric smiled. His mother had been sane a long time ago.
"What happened with her dad? How did she become so… strange?" Eric asked.
"I don't know. But I think I spoiled her too much and I never said no to her." Joseph sighed, "So in a way I guess you can blame me for her behavior." He said.
"It's not your fault. She's a grown woman, and she knows inside herself what's right and wrong and so on." Horatio said, "She took advantage you."
"You think so?" Joseph asked.
"Yes. You may not have been able to say no all the times, but I think she got used to get everything she wanted. And know she has to get used of taking care of herself and suddenly not get everything she points at." Horatio said.
"She has to realize that not all dreams can be fulfilled, and that her dream about the perfect family is impossible to achieve." Eric said, "Because no family is perfect."
Joseph nodded.
"What time is it?" Eric asked.
"12:45, why?" Horatio said.
"Shit! I have court today at 12. See ya later. I love you." Eric said, he hugged his father and kissed Horatio goodbye.
"Love you too." Horatio said.
Eric ran towards his hummer and drove off.
"Can you give me a lift to the lab? Eric just took the hummer and we came here in the same one." Horatio asked.
"Of course, no problem." Joseph said.
They paid for the food and walked towards Joseph's car.
"Wow, is this a 69 Mustang?" Horatio asked.
"Yes." Joseph smiled.
"That's an awesome car." Horatio smiled.
Joseph nodded.
They didn't notice the car with tinted windows driving behind them, and the passenger seat window being lowered down.
The last thing Horatio remembered from that day was a sharp pain in his stomach and then his chest as he fell to the ground.
Joseph remembered a sharp pain in the shoulder and his back. He blacked out as his head hit the ground.
The people around only saw two men fall down and a black car with tainted windows speeding off.
After a while, sirens from police cars and two ambulances could be heard.
TBC…