Title: Love's Burden

Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab/Miami Heat/LJ)

Summary: Sequel to "Two Lives". When Horatio finally feels safe and comfortable with his family, an old burden is thrust back to him shaking the world he had so carefully kept whole.

Category: Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio

Genres: Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, Romance

Characters: Horatio Caine, Calleigh Duquesne, Madison Keaton (Other), Emma Caine (Other), Sheryl (Other)

Warnings: none

Rating: PG

Chapter: 5 "Bumps"

Author's Notes: none

………………………………….

A week had passed and Madison was very happy going to school like a normal kid. She liked having Sheryl pick her up and how they'd hang out and have fun with Emma. It was the family she had always wanted… And even though some of the kids had made fun of her for living with her uncle and having red hair, Madison knew that life there was far better than the life she had been living with her mother. Those kids at school didn't know anything.

"C'mon, Madison!" Calleigh called as she rubbed her face in the kitchen trying to finish breakfast. Her morning was not going well. Horatio had yet to come out after running out at two in the morning, and he wasn't picking up his cell phone. Sheryl was running late. And Calleigh swore that Emma was getting sick. She was used to running the house as a team, so that no one person was loaded down with caring for two kids and trying to make meals. Madison had to be to school in twenty minutes, and it was a fifteen minute drive, but she hadn't put together a lunch for her and she hadn't finished breakfast for her…

Emma's crying pulled Calleigh from making breakfast. She turned off the stove and put the eggs next to the two pancakes on Madison's plate before setting it on the table. She hurried down the hall towards Emma's room and quickly picked up her unhappy baby. "It's alright, Darlin'," Calleigh tried to soothe. She hadn't slept much because Emma had been up crying most of the night. She was going to call the doctor and make an appointment, but that was just one of the things she hadn't gotten to. The sound of glass hitting the floor made Calleigh jump and before she could check it out, Madison came crying to her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it!" Madison said through her tears.

Calleigh sighed, and tried to keep the tears back. "It's alright…it's not your fault…" she said sinking to the carpet and pulling Madison with her. She pulled the girls close and let herself cry. She didn't do it too often now, but she felt the need to. So, they all cried together in the nursery room on the floor clinging together.

Sheryl came to the nursery confused and slightly worried. She had been surprised to see no one at the table in the kitchen and then to find spilled juice and broken glass all over the floor. The sound of crying had drawn her further into the house. "What's going on?" she asked quietly nearing the group.

"I tried," Calleigh swore her voice cracking a bit, "To get things going, make breakfast, get lunch, and take care of Emma…but…I think Emma's sick and Madison needs to be to school…"

"No prob, I'll get her there…" Sheryl assured. She pulled the Tylenol infant drops from one of the drawers. "I always give her this if she seems sick…or uncomfortable. Usually helps, just read the directions on the back and I'll be back soon." She approached them and untangled Madison and handed her a tissue as she hurried her out towards the kitchen, "I'll clean up the mess when I get back, but work on breakfast, Kiddo."

Throwing down lots and lots of paper towels in strategic positions, Sheryl tried to get the start of the taking back of the kitchen going, "Stay away from the glass," she instructed Madison and then went back down the hall to check on Calleigh. It wasn't like her to be so upset, but Sheryl also knew that there could be several reasons for that. She personally liked to always take in account hormones or it being that time of the month. She peeked in to see that Calleigh had moved up to the rocking chair with Emma and was giving her the Tylenol. "How we doing, Calleigh?" she asked as she slowly re-entered the nursery.

"I didn't make Madison lunch, yet," Calleigh said wiping away tears. She hated looking weak, but she knew sometimes it couldn't be avoided. Emma was still upset, but she seemed to be more interested in her thumb in her mouth rather than crying at the moment.

"No prob, there's this thing called uncrustables. They will make your life so much easier. They live in the fridge," she informed her with a nod.

Calleigh noted to figure out what Sheryl was talking about later…and then she realized that she hadn't called her 'Mrs. Caine' like she normally did. Maybe the young woman was having mercy on her. "Thanks…"

"No prob. We all need our breakdowns…"

………………………………….

"What are you doing here?" Sheryl asked when Lieutenant Caine walked into the house at two in the afternoon. "You weren't here this morning…"

Horatio was going to go make coffee, when he realized sleeping was going to be his best option. "I was out looking for Madison's mother this morning… I found her, but she wouldn't come back with me to get straight."

Sheryl sighed and shook her head, "No wonder it looked like a hurricane ran through this house this morning and all hell broke loose." She was happy that at least Emma was down for a nap; otherwise the toddler would want her daddy since she wasn't feeling so great.

"What do you mean?"

"Calleigh was in the nursery with the girls and they were all crying. Madison ended up being late to school… When I got here there was breakfast made, but no lunch for school and there was broken glass and orange juice all over the floor."

"What?" Horatio stopped and then looked down at his cell phone. The battery had died. He sighed knowing that Calleigh had tried to contact him, and he hadn't thought to call her. "Where is she?"

"At work," Sheryl said with a shrug. "She doesn't listen to me. I told her if she stayed up all night with Emma because she's sick that she deserves to take a nap at least before going into work. Maybe she'll calm down when she finds out that Emma has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Doctor says to just keep an eye on her and give her Tylenol until we get in."

He needed to stay awake for a bit longer… "Are you picking up Madison from school?" he asked as he rested his hands on his hips, his wrinkled jacket held back behind his hands, and his badge shining a bit outward. His gaze focused on the floor that was obviously completely cleaned from the shine that was coming from the tile.

"Yep, picking her up in an hour and a half," Sheryl reported. "Dinner's gonna be ready around six. It would be nice if everyone was home and at the table at the same time." She hoped that was a big enough hint for the lieutenant. If not, she'd spell it out for him another time.

"Thank you," he said before quickly exiting the house and heading for his vehicle.

……………………………..

Calleigh sighed when she heard Horatio's footsteps behind her. She knew they were his, she'd come to bring distinction between foots falls. "I don't wanna hear it!" she called before she started to fire at the target ahead of her. She was tired, and had been dosing her system with caffeine in order to stay awake and try to do her job. Everyone had asked her where Horatio was, and Calleigh hadn't been able to give them an answer. Hell, she wanted an answer. It was just downright frustrating. After the rounds were expended, she didn't have anything else to cover Horatio's voice and glared at the target a minute before taking ammunition unit out of the gun and laying it on the table. She removed her protective glasses and ear covers before turning to him with her arms over her chest. "You look like hell."

He allowed a tiny smile to appear, "I'm sorry my phone died… I found Suzie, but she refused to come back… I was trying to at least get her clean, Calleigh…"

"I thought you weren't going to look for Suzie anymore," Calleigh tried to clarify. "Horatio, Madison's happy…except for this morning. No one was happy this morning…"

Horatio sighed, "I felt I needed to."

"I felt like you needed to be home to help me with our sick daughter…and to help me get the girls up and ready this morning," Calleigh countered. "Sheryl got stuck in traffic and I ended up having a breakdown in the nursery… She even called me by my name, so you know she felt bad."

"Calleigh—"

"Have you even asked Madison if she wants her mother back in her life?"

"I gave her my card and our address on the back if she wanted to get clean again," Horatio told her. "She did it once…I was just hoping she'd do it again…"

"You can't save everyone, Horatio," Calleigh told him. "Maybe this is just one of those times."

Horatio nodded, "It's her move now." He had to at least try to help Suzie. It didn't seem right if he didn't at least try. Suzie was still family, and family meant everything…but he had done all he could… He tilted his head to look at her directly and frowned, he could see the worry and lack of sleep in her face. "Sweetheart, why don't you go home and sleep for a while?" he offered.

"I just need coffee…" she told him brushing it off. "If anyone should be sleeping, it should be you. I'm sure even with Emma, I had more sleep than you did." She felt his hand take hers and unwind it from her position. Calleigh didn't stop when Horatio started to lead her away to a nearby chair.

"Sugar, right?" he asked as he watched her sit down.

"Right," she responded with a small smile and waited as he left to get her coffee. She was sure he needed a cup also. They needed a vacation…away from Miami. When he returned, she took her cup and sipped it for a minute before throwing out the idea. "What do you think about a vacation?" she asked. The only thing with a vacation was that if they wanted any time alone, they'd have to take Sheryl along to watch the girls.

"It sounds like a good idea…for everyone," he agreed with a smile.

"Away from Miami…away from Florida," Calleigh quickly added. She saw the smile fall from his face and sighed, "Horatio, I don't want to be on call or worry that you're going to go after Suzie at two in the morning… It should be family time…us time even… We've been talking about marriage and having a life together, but I can't live with you running out the door and not knowing what's going on."

"Alright," he gave in. "I'll talk to Frank and make sure the lab will be covered."

Calleigh smiled brightly and set her coffee down before wrapping her arms around him getting up out of her chair and whispering into his ear, "Thank you…"

…………………………

TBC…