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, Sheryl (Other)

Warnings: none

Rating: PG

Chapter: 6 "A Step in the Right Direction"

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Neither had slept, but they had all been together for dinner. Sheryl had stayed and they had all had the dinner that they had missed, which had been nice for everyone. Once the kids were put into beds, Sheryl left and Calleigh and Horatio shut down the house section by section. Horatio sat on the edge of the bed as he started to disrobe, he thought about how Calleigh had wanted a vacation. He had set up to have time off, a week…which really wasn't much for how long he and Calleigh had been working for the police department in Miami-Dade. His back was to Calleigh, but he could hear her shuffling around and knew she was probably thinking about the same things he was. The vacation. It involved being away from work and Miami in general… He finally spoke up, breaking the silence, "Do you have something in mind for this vacation?"

"Somewhere away…but I want the girls to be able to do somethin', too. I don't want to go into isolation and have them completely bored…" Calleigh explained as she pulled on her pajamas. "I want to be away from the cities though… I dunno… I guess I haven't thought it completely through yet…"

Horatio sighed, and as he continued to strip from his clothes and change, he wished that they weren't fighting… Of course, it was really the repercussions of the fighting before, but it still hurt and felt the same. It made him feel like he had failed Calleigh and the girls and he didn't want that. He wanted to be there for them, he had promised them that he'd be there… "What if we went somewhere for the girls and then went somewhere else for the rest of the vacation?" he asked as he tiredly sat on the edge of the bed rubbing his tired eyes.

Turning, Calleigh crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around him while resting her chin on his shoulder. "And where would we go?" she asked sleepily. She was exhausted and she knew he was. Sheryl had commented to them both about their eye whites needing to be white in the morning instead of red.

"How far do you want to go?"

"As far away as possible."

He smiled a bit and turned around din her arms, "How…about we take the girls to California to the parks there, and then…we go up North to a cabin somewhere?" he offered. "Northern California or Oregon or Washington even…" It was definitely far away from Miami, and Horatio knew it was going to be odd for him, but he knew people would keep in touch through cell phones and e-mails.

"Mmm sounds nice… Are we taking Sheryl?" she asked wanting to share the decision.

Horatio lay back onto the bed, carefully pulling Calleigh with him. He stared up at the ceiling thinking about it all, "I suppose if we want time alone that Sheryl could be helpful with that…if she wants to come, of course." He smiled when Calleigh moved her head to his chest and kept her tight hold. Reaching down, he pulled the bed covers up over them, and reached out to turn off the bedside lamp. "When do you want to leave?"

"Day after tomorrow, if we can. Tomorrow Emma has a doctor's appointment, and I really want to go with her to it." She sighed, "I don't wanna seem like the uncaring parent, and I wanna hear for myself about what to do for Emma."

Kissing her forehead, he frowned. He had wished that he could have been there for her and Emma that night… Horatio hadn't wanted Calleigh to feel like he wasn't there for her… He didn't want her to feel like she was stuck being Abigail Lewis again. "I'm sorry I wasn't here last night…"

"I know…"

He heard her yawn and kissed her forehead again, "Sleep…we'll figure out things and make arrangements in the morning." When he felt her nod against his chest, he sighed and looked up at the ceiling wondering if he could make things up to them by the vacation and just having family time.

……………………………

Calleigh and Sheryl returned home with Emma around one, and were surprised to find Horatio still home. She had thought he'd be making arrangements via his cell phone from work. After all, it wasn't exactly easy for Horatio to pull himself away from work, especially on such short notices. "You're still here?" she asked curiously and walked over to him with Emma in her arms and kissed him lightly.

"I wanted to see what the doctor said about Emma…and I got some things ready," Horatio told her with a small smile. "What did the doctor say?"

"She's teething and running a fever off and on most likely from it," Calleigh explained as she looked at Emma, whose head had found her shoulder. "Apparently teething is something that can go on for a couple years…but just not continuously or I don't think anyone could bear it." She kissed the top of Emma's head before continuing, "He said to continue using the Tylenol drops and then to get some Baby Orajel and some teething toys and she should feel a bit better…" She smiled, "It's on the list for the store later."

"Good," he said and then held out his arms, "You wanna come to Daddy, Emma?" Horatio was still working on the Daddy bit, but he was sure that Emma was far more attached to Calleigh than him. He watched as his little girl held her arms towards him, and smiled as Calleigh handed her over. Holding Emma to his chest, he watched her as she became comfortable and stuck her thumb back into her mouth.

"She'll get it," Sheryl told him before walking further into the house.

Calleigh smiled, "So, what things are ready?" she asked curiously as she set the diaper bag down on the kitchen table. She was excited about getting away, though she and Sheryl had discussed the need for shopping since they'd need warmer clothes for everyone.

"We have tickets…" he told her. "To California, to take the girls to Disneyland for two days. I've already booked the hotel. We'll be right there, so it'll be easy to go back and forth for us all."

"How many rooms did you book?" she asked semi-testing him. She wasn't sure what kind of set-up he thought was necessary, but she liked to check. She liked to be in control, and when she wasn't she liked to check things.

"Two…and have a port-a-crib also ordered for the stay. I wasn't sure which room we'd want Emma to stay in, so I just put it with ours…the rooms are connecting, so it'll be easy on us all I think." Horatio tilted his head, "And then, we'll fly up to Washington…that's far enough away from here, right?" He saw Calleigh's smile brighten at his comment. "They have some cabins up there, they're away from the big cities, but not too far from each other and the main station in case we need anything or there's any kind of emergency."

"Nicely done…" Calleigh commented and leaned in to kiss him again, this time deepening it. When she finally pulled away, she saw Emma just staring at them, and gave her a quick kiss, too. "Sheryl and I need to get some shopping done for the girls and—"

He nodded and then smiled down at Emma, "Why not let me take care of Emma? I can pick up Madison, too, to give you more time."

"You still don't know how to strap the car seat into your car," Calleigh reminded him with a small smile. They had teased that it took rocket science, since she hadn't figured out how to get it in the right way. Alexx had helped them, and then when they had gotten the new one because Emma was bigger, Sheryl had taken care of fastening it into Calleigh's car and her own. "We'll pick up Madison, so she can pick out her own things… I think it'll be fun for her. Plus, she could use more clothes than what we had originally bought if she's going to be here for a while…"

"Alright," Horatio responded, "Well, Emma and I are going to have some fun home then. Maybe take naps."

Calleigh smiled, "It would probably be good for both of you." She smiled and watched as Sheryl went around them and went about getting her things together, before turning back to Horatio. "You know this means a lot to me, right? To all of us even…"

"I know," Horatio told her.

Breathing in, she smiled brighter and wrapped her arms around him and Emma and kissed them both again before releasing. "I'll have my cell, so if you need anything…"

"I'll call."

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TBC…