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Being 27 weeks pregnant was not easy for Horatio Caine. Especially not when he had a dislocated shoulder and a broken rib to go with it. He could barely move with his aching back either and his mood was not just effected by his pregnancy hormones, but also by the fact that Mrs. Reardon had yet to be caught since her escape.

It had been two weeks since she had crashed into Mac and Horatio's rental car. Two weeks she had vanished into thin air. She and two other prisoners had escaped when someone had rammed the prison bus. Mac and Horatio didn't have any protection either any more. Mrs. Reardon had been spotted in Tallahassee; far away from Miami. But even though she was far away from Horatio and Mac neither man could completely relax and Horatio suffered from nightmares.

He and Mac had only been home from the hospital for a week and Horatio was on sick leave. Mac tried his best to keep his lover on a good mood, but the older man pulled away from everyone. He was worried, angry, scared and feeling like, once again, someone was going to take everything good from him. He couldn't shake the feeling that Mrs. Reardon would come back and when she did she would bring chaos with her. Horatio just wanted to be happy and it seemed as if that was never going to happen. Why couldn't the psychos leave him alone?

Why couldn't he just be allowed to be happy with his lover and enjoy the pregnancy? They were going to be a family soon and the last thing Horatio needed or wanted was to worry about some crazy woman going after him with the intention to kill him.

When Horatio dropped a glass of water one morning and couldn't bend down to clean it up he snapped. It was the last straw for him and he couldn't take the pain or the worry anymore. Everything ached for him; his shoulder, rib, back, ankles and his head. He pulled out several glasses from the cabinets and threw them at the wall. Tears fell from his eyes and he finally slid down on the floor crying. Glass shards were everywhere on the floor and Mac had woken up from the sound of his angry lover attempting let go of some emotions.

Mac hurried to the kitchen as fast as he could with his injured leg and two broken ribs. He found his lover on the floor with his head hung low. He was sobbing and Mac took in the sight of the marks on the wall from the glasses Horatio had thrown at it. He carefully and slowly, (keeping in mind that he couldn't really use his leg like before yet), sat down next to his redheaded lover; when he attempted to hug him Horatio pushed Mac away.

"Love?" Mac asked.

"It's not fair." Horatio sobbed quietly.

"What is not fair?"

"This. Everything!" Horatio growled, "We've both been through so much in life. We've lost people we loved and have spent so many days and nights alone. And when we finally find true happiness and love it's taken away from us."

"Horatio, I'm still here and you are still here. Mrs. Reardon hasn't taken anything from us." Mac said.

"Yes she has."

Mac put his arm around his lover and Horatio let his head rest against Mac's shoulder. His tears got Mac's shirt wet; Mac didn't care though. He sat with Horatio as he cried and got angry. When his tears fell and when he cursed at Mrs. Reardon or banged his hand against the cabinets behind him in anger. Mac simply stayed by his side as his lover let his emotions go.

"She's going to take it all away." Horatio whispered.

"She is not going to take me away from you." Mac said and lifted his lover's head up so Horatio had to look at him, "I'm right here and I am going to stay here until we both grow old and wrinkled."

Horatio chuckled and embraced the younger man.

"Mac, every day that she is a free woman you and I are not free. We are prisoners." Horatio said, "She is going to finish what she started, it's just a matter of time."

"Horatio, don't-"

"No listen to me. She is going to come back. She is. I know it." Horatio sighed sadly, "And until she does we can do nothing but wait. We can never be safe until she is either dead or in jail. Every day that she is free she wins because she steals our freedom for us. She steals our happiness and our peace."

Mac knew his lover was right. It was hard to be happy when Mrs. Reardon was missing. When they didn't know if she would return the next day or in a year. They couldn't relax because they would be in danger until she was dead or in jail. Horatio shouldn't be put in a stressful situation because of his pregnancy, but who wouldn't be stressed when there was a woman out there to kill you?

"I am not going to let anything happen to you." Mac said, "Or to our baby. She is not getting anywhere near you."

"This is not how it was supposed to be." Horatio whispered, "We were supposed to be happy now. Patiently waiting for the birth of our child, I was going to be mad at you for not buying pineapples and instead we're sitting here injured and with no idea if Mrs. Reardon is coming back tomorrow to kill me."

Mac pulled Horatio in for a kiss and looked into his blue eyes when they parted. Mac wasn't going to let Mrs. Reardon get her hands on Horatio.

"Don't let her win, Horatio." He said, "Don't let her win. We continue our lives as before. Until we have proof that she is in Miami or close, we will not let her win by making us miserable."

"Continue like nothing has happened?"

"No, but we don't let her win buy being scared every day. She is not going to win by taking away our joy, love and happiness. We are having a baby and we are going to continue being happy about it and look forward to it. We love each other and we are going to continue doing that and be happy with each other." Mac smiled, "She is not taking it away from us."

Horatio nodded and looked at all the shattered glass on the floor. He sighed and stood up. Mac stood up too and went to get a broom from the basement. When he came back Horatio was trying to pick up the bigger pieces of glass while groaning as his back ached.

"Love, please just relax." Mac said.

"I'm not handicapped." Horatio growled.

"I know, but you are in pain. Now, please relax on the couch. You need to take a nap anyway."

"I'm not a child you can just tell what to do, Mac."

"I know that too love." Mac smiled amused, "But you didn't sleep much last night and I can see that you're tired."

Horatio was about to protest when he yawned. He sighed and gave Mac a kiss on the cheek before leaving the kitchen. Mac started cleaning up the floor and counted the glasses that were still in the cabinet; five.

"Guess we're going to have buy new glasses." Mac shrugged.

-I-

The team had been very helpful during the week the two men had been home. Sheldon had stayed a few days as well but had then had to go home. A very amused Frank had been asked by Mac to buy some new glasses. When he had returned to the beach house he had watched as Mac and Horatio had an argument about something silly. Horatio was sick and tired of having an aching back and Mac tried to tell him that it was all part of the pregnancy and that pain killers would help.

"I've already taken it! It doesn't help!" Horatio exclaimed and started pacing around in the living room.

Mac sat in the recliner and Frank on the couch. When he saw Horatio being so moody because of the pregnancy hormones he could only think of his ex-wife and her three pregnancies. She had been just the same, but probably a lot sadder than Horatio. Horatio mostly got angry while Frank's ex-wife had cried more. Pregnancy hormones was a wonderful thing.

"Love, you know this is all part-"

"Of this fucking pregnancy, yes. But it's your fault. If you hadn't knocked me up then I would be in pain right now!"

"I knocked you up?" Mac asked amused.

"Yeah! How do you think I got pregnant?" Horatio asked, "It's you and your sperm cells that did this to me."

"I believe it takes two to tango." Frank grinned.

"Shut up baldy." Horatio growled low, "It's Mac's fault."

"Hey, Frank is right and besides you didn't know you could get pregnant until you already were pegnact." Mac pointed out.

"Just let me be upset and blame you, okay?" Horatio sighed and rubbed his aching back.

Mac threw his hands up in the air in surrender and just smiled at his lover. Frank handed the glasses he had bought to Mac and the other man smiled approvingly.

"Thank you Frank." He said.

"No problem." Frank smiled.

"Yeah, you two go ahead and have a great time." Horatio muttered, "Talk and be happy while I suffer."

Horatio walked out through the porch door and headed for the beach. Mac was about to follow when Frank shook his head no to him.

"Let him go. He needs some time alone." Frank said.

"I just want to help." Mac sighed.

"You are helping more than you think." Frank said, "Before he met you Horatio would have never handled the situation with Mrs. Reardon this well."

"You call throwing glasses at the wall okay?"

"Well, it's an improvement. Look, if he hadn't met you he would have worked himself to death trying to bring her to justice. He wouldn't have slept or eaten. Hell, he wouldn't have told anyone how he felt, not even me."

"Well, he's injured so he can't work."

"That's not all of it. Sure, being on sick leave slows him down and being pregnant too." Frank said, "But if you weren't here he would have still gone to the lab and he would have probably collapsed from exhaustion. You make him realize that he needs to slow down. Not just for his own health, but because of the baby and because you get worried if he doesn't."

"I guess I do slow him down." Mac smiled.

"More than you think." Frank smiled back, "He once told me that being with you made him realize that there are things more important than work. That you are more important than work."

It touched Mac deeply to hear it. He knew that he meant the world to Horatio, but to hear that he had said it to Frank meant a lot. Horatio had several times told Mac how much he loved him and how important Mac was to him, but Mac never got tired of hearing it.

"He does the same with me." Mac smiled and looked out towards the beach.

He couldn't see his lover of course, but he still looked.

"Do you guys need something done while I'm here?" Frank asked, "I have to meet my daughter for a baseball game in two hours but before that I could help you out if you need it."

"We're fine Frank, thank you." Mac smiled.

"Well, then I'm going to leave you two alone." Frank smiled and stood up.

Mac followed Frank to the door and before the big Texan left he looked at Mac.

"He needs you more than ever now." Frank said, "I've never seen him so scared. He's is terrified of losing you and he might need to be reassured that he won't more than once."

Mac nodded, "I understand."

"I know that you need to talk to him too." Frank said, "And be sure that you take care of yourself too."

"I will." Mac smiled.

Frank shook Mac's hand before walking out the front door to leave. Mac closed the door and sighed, then began walking down to the beach. He found his lover lying in the sand and looking at the sky. Mac lied down next to him and grabbed his hand.

"I'm sorry that I got angry." Horatio whispered.

"Don't be. I love you no matter how angry you get." Mac grinned.

Horatio squeezed Mac's hand softly and there was a moment of silence before Horatio opened his mouth to speak.

"When I was a kid my mom used to say that heaven existed, not just the way most people thought." Horatio said, "I told her that heaven only exists for little kids because that's where their parents tell them that loved ones go when they die."

"I'm guessing she told you that you were wrong." Mac said.

"Oh yeah." Horatio grinned, "She said that heaven is a part of the sky. The big blue that we see during the day and the dark during the night. She said heaven is the place where the dead go to look out for us. The heaven is the sky and therefore always with us."

"Heaven is the sky and the sky is heaven." Mac said.

"Yes." Horatio sighed, "I have always wondered if she is up there. If Speed, Al and Raymond are there too."

"I think they are." Mac said and for a moment he wondered if Clair was also there.

He didn't really believe in heaven and hell, but it was a nice thought to think that the loves ones were looking out for the people on earth by always being there.

"I always used to think that heaven was some sort of place beyond the sky that we couldn't see where everyone went after they died." Horatio said, "That they lived on the clouds."

"But now you don't."

"No. I don't know if I believe in heaven and hell completely. But I like to think that my mother, Speed and Raymond and Al are up there. We can't see them and they probably don't even look like people anymore. But that somehow they are there." Horatio smiled.

"I think so too." Mac grinned.

Horatio gave Mac a kiss and then snuggled close to the younger man. They weren't doing okay yet, but they would be okay soon. They would continue living their lives and being happy and not let Mrs. Reardon take it away from them.

Please review!

Maybe I should just let you all know that updates will probably only come once a week. I have a lot to do in school so unfortunately I can't write as often as I would want to and therefore not update so fast either. But I plan on updating once a week.