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Horatio woke up to the sound of little footsteps coming down the stairs. From what he could hear in his sleepy state of mind it was only one child. A few seconds later a redheaded girl peeked inside with a smile and when she saw that her father was awake she walked over to his side of the bed. Caylee had recently started walking and she proved to be a quick learner. Noah was walking mostly by holding on to furniture and taking only three or four steps without support.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." Horatio smiled.

Caylee grinned and hugged her father. Mac was still sleeping and Horatio put Caylee down between them. There was no sound coming from the baby monitor so most likely Noah was still asleep as well.

Today was the twins first birthday. It felt weird for Horatio and Mac that a year had already passed. Their twins were no longer newborn but toddlers, learning new things every day.

"Lucy is coming down today with Uncle Danny and Aunt Lindsay." Horatio said.

"Ucy." Caylee grinned.

Lucy was Danny and Lindsay's six month old daughter; Caylee adored her "cousin". Horatio and Mac had taken the twins on a road trip to New York when Lucy had been only three weeks old and Caylee had instantly taken a liking to the baby girl. Since then Horatio and Mac had been having video conversations on the computer with the young New York couple once a week and mostly it was to see Caylee trying to talk with Lucy. Noah was not very interested in Lucy, although he showed a huge amount of caring when she cried.

"You still tired?" Horatio asked when his daughter yawned.

Caylee rubbed her eyes and snuggled closer to Horatio. Horatio looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it wasn't even six in the morning yet.

"What are you doing up so early?" Horatio asked, "What is it with you and always waking up before seven in the morning?"

"She's like you." Mac mumbled and opened his eyes.

Mac bent down to give Caylee a kiss on the cheek and wish her happy birthday.

"I don't wake up before seven every day." Horatio said.

"You used to do it before we had kids." Mac reminded.

Horatio opened his mouth to protest when he realized that Mac was right. One reason why he didn't wake up so early anymore was not only because he had someone sleeping next to him that he loved, but because having two toddlers made both him and Mac more tired than before; but that is just part of having kids.

"I have to get up. I'm going to the airport to pick up the Messers." Mac yawned.

"I have to get started on baking a cake." Horatio said, "And setting the table for rest of our guests."

"They won't get here until two."

"Yes, but I'll have two kids and a cat interrupting me so it'll take longer."

"Good point." Mac said, "I'll bring Caylee with me, she'll want to meet Lucy anyway."

Horatio smiled and gave his lover a kiss before they both climbed out of bed. Mac took a shower first while Horatio started preparing breakfast for the twins. Caylee went upstairs and soon came down with a dress to show that it was what she felt she should wear. As Mac came out of the shower he heard Noah waking up through the baby monitor. He went upstairs to get his son, while Horatio took a shower and Mac took over feeding the children.

"Ucy." Caylee sang, "Ucy, ucy, ucy."

"Yes, Lucy's coming." Mac smiled.

"Biffay." Noah yawned.

"It's your birthday today." Mac smiled, "You two are going to get lots of present."

He wasn't sure if Caylee and Noah understood much of it but they grinned widely at the word "presents".

-I-

"Ucy!" Caylee exclaimed the moment she saw Lindsay with the baby carrier walking across the airport, "Ucy!"

Mac chuckled and hugged Lindsay when she approached him. Lucy was asleep, but that didn't stop Caylee from trying to climb up in Lindsay's arm and hug her cousin.

"Caylee, relax." Mac said and bent down next to his daughter, "She's sleeping."

He picked her up so she could see Lucy better; Caylee smiled and caressed Lucy's hair. The baby girl squirmed, but didn't wake up.

"So where did you leave your husband?" Mac asked.

Lindsay and Danny had gotten married just a few weeks before Lindsay had given birth to their child.

"He's picking up the luggage." Lindsay said, "He insisted that he could do it alone."

Just then Mac saw Danny carrying two bags that seemed quite heavy. The young man's hands were tightly gripping the handles and he was already panting from carrying them so far.

"How much did you pack?" He asked, "Hi Mac."

"Hi Danny."

"Just the essential stuff; diapers, some toys, clothes, presents." Lindsay shrugged.

"It feels like this is almost half of the apartment." Danny said.

"Too heavy for you?" Lindsay teased.

"Nah."

"Right." Mac chuckled and grabbed one of the bags.

Together they walked across the parking lot towards Mac's car. Since Mac and Horatio always had two car seats Lucy could borrow one while Caylee used the other one. Lindsay sat between them and Danny next to Mac in front seats.

"I forgot how humid it is down here." Lindsay said.

"How do you survive?" Danny asked.

"I'm used to it." Mac chuckled.

Once they arrived at the Caine/Taylor household Mac helped Danny carry the luggage inside; as soon as they opened the front door they were met by a Noah covered in flour.

"Horatio, what did you do to our son?" Mac asked.

"He did it to himself." Horatio called from the kitchen, "It teaches him to leave the flour package alone."

Danny, Lindsay and Lucy would be staying over the weekend and sleep in the old guestroom that was now the nursery. Horatio had cleaned out the room and put the twins' cribs in his and Mac's bedroom instead; in the guest room there was an inflatable double bed and a travelling crib that Mac and Horatio sometimes used away from home. While Mac and Danny put the luggage in the guestroom, Lindsay joined Horatio in the kitchen with the kids.

"Hi Lindsay." Horatio said.

"Hi Horatio, are you baking a cake?"

"Yes, if only Noah would let me finish." Horatio said.

Horatio told Lindsay that Noah had been clinging to his father's leg all morning and refused to let go. When he eventually got tired of that he had decided to steal the flour only to have it drop over him instead; which explained why the boy was now covered in it.

"You don't want a cake Noah?" Lindsay asked.

Noah shook his head and then went to the living room to watch cartoon. Caylee kept an eye on Lucy who was asleep in the baby seat. Lindsay helped Horatio bake the cake, while Mac and Danny entertained the kids.

-I-

Unfortunately not everyone from the New York team could come down to Miami to celebrate the twins' birthday, but they had all sent presents down to them. Not everyone on the Miami team could come either; Calleigh and Eric had won a cruising trip and had had no choice but to go, since the date was set months earlier, but they too had sent presents to Caylee and Noah.

The guests arrived just in time for some lunch. They started out with singing to Caylee and Noah and then eat. Caylee seemed uninterested in all the presents in the living room, but Noah had noticed them and kept glancing at them all the time; just waiting for the moment when he could open them. Caylee was too busy trying to feed Lucy with some help from Lindsay.

"So, when is baby number three coming?" Frank asked.

Horatio rolled his eyes. He and Mac had said that there would be no more kids after Caylee and Noah, although some days they were thinking about maybe having another baby in two or three years. Of course Frank couldn't help but to tease Horatio and Mac about it; he knew how much they both loved kids and something told him that even if they said that there would be no more, sooner or later Horatio would get knocked up again.

"Baby?" Noah asked.

"No, no baby." Mac said and Noah shrugged.

"We could get a pet instead." Mac said.

"You have one." Frank said.

"Yeah, but I mean another pet. Another cat or maybe a dog."

"No, no and no." Horatio said, "If we get another cat Elvis will teach it to misbehave just like he does. A dog will either eat Elvis or Elvis will eat it, depending on how big it is."

"My sister has a cat and two months ago she got a Chihuahua." Alexx said, "One day she came home and found that her cat had the dog's tail in her mouth; there was blood everywhere and the poor dog was dead."

"The cat killed the dog?" Ryan asked.

"Yep, the cat was twice as big as the dog." Alexx chuckled, "Yesterday they got a Golden Retriever instead."

"That's a family dog." Mac said and glanced at his lover.

"No more pets." Horatio said.

Mac grinned. The truth was that he didn't want another pet either. It was hard enough as it was to have Elvis and two toddlers. They didn't need a dog to take care off too and definitely not another cat. Not all cats were like Elvis, but they weren't sure how Elvis would get along with another cat either so it was best not to get one.

"Just wait until Caylee gets older and wants a pony; she'll do that innocent look that Horatio does and get one." Frank said.

"You mean the look that only Alexx and Mac can resist?" Danny asked.

"Yes. Caylee already knows how to look like that. Noah doesn't need to do it; he just starts crying a little and gets what he wants anyway." Frank said.

"Hey, we know how to say no." Mac said and then mumbled, "At least sometimes."

"And besides she may not like a pony." Horatio said, "I think the animal lover is Noah."

"So then he'll want a pony instead." Ryan said.

"You could buy him one of those small ones." Lindsay said, "The ones that are so small they can fit inside a house."

"Just imagine waking up in the morning and have a horse breathe in your face." Danny grinned and everyone laughed.

"Never happening." Mac and Horatio said.

After lunch it was time to open presents; the twins' got toys and clothes. Caylee got a princess outfit that she absolutely loved; she was most certainly a girly girl in many ways. Noah got a farm set with larger animal toys. Then they got some cars, stuffed animals, and a big puzzle each where the pieces were almost as big as themselves. And of course almost all the toys made sounds which they loved very much and it didn't take long before Lucy joined in as well.

"She really loved the tiara." Ryan said, "I was worried that she wouldn't like it."

Ryan had been the one to buy the princess outfit to Caylee and a big toy phone that had over twenty different sounds to Noah. Caylee had refused to take the tiara off since she had gotten it.

"Well, she is a little princess." Mac smiled, "You people bought noisy toys on purpose didn't you?"

"Of course." Alexx grinned.

"When I was a kid my grandmother gave me a toy phone as well; the on button had gotten stuck so it didn't stop making sounds until my father took the batteries out." Lindsay said.

"I bet he had to unscrew the lock over the batteries first too." Mac said.

"Absolutely." Lindsay grinned, "It drove him and mom crazy."

-I-

Later that night almost everyone was asleep; Caylee and Noah slept in their cribs at the foot of Mac and Horatio's bed, while the Messer family was upstairs in the guest room. Mac and Horatio were snuggled closely together.

"Can you believe a year has passed already?" Mac asked.

"No. Soon they'll be teenagers yelling at us that we're stupid and old fashioned." Horatio said.

"We probably are a little older fashioned sometimes." Mac smiled.

"Well, we're part of an older generation so, yeah we probably are."

They glanced towards the cribs and grinned. Caylee was clutching her tiara and Noah was holding on to his toy elephant.

"Time moves too fast." Horatio yawned.

"Well, we could always have five or six more children." Mac grinned.

"You're not the one that has to carry them or push them out." Horatio mumbled.

"No, I have to experience your mood swings and hormones." Mac chuckled.

"We'll talk about having more babies another day." Horatio said and yawned again, "Good night.

"Good night, love." Mac whispered and kissed the redhead before closing his eyes and snuggling closer to him.

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