Eric and Horatio walked through the small Shreveport airport until they found the baggage claim area. Eric went to call a cab while Horatio pulled their bags off the conveyor belt. A half an hour later, they were on a back road driving through areas of fields and woods. They were told it would only be about an hour's drive.
Eric watched the scenery. He could see what Calleigh saw in living here. It wasn't where she grew up, that held many painful memories. In contrast, it was nothing like Miami, which held demons that threatened to destroy her. He was starting to worry about having said anything to Horatio, let alone bringing him here. This was her thing. He would hate to lose her again because he had been stupid. They passed through a small town that looked like it belonged in a movie. It was so quaint and peaceful and safe; the complete opposite of Miami. It was the perfect place to raise a child.
Horatio couldn't stop the fears and regrets from running through his head. Calleigh had come to him out of fear, and undoubtedly shame. They had crossed a line and she was pregnant. Why had he been so quick to say what he had said? She carried his child for nine months, and despite what Eric had said, he knew she would have kept the child. An eternal reminder of what he had done to her that she would love nonetheless. She had wanted to tell him, but his words had hurt her and made her too afraid to say anything. Then he, being the ass that he was, never even looked for her. He had believed that is was her loss, her mistake; when, in reality, the loss was his. With all of his skills at finding people, he had deserted her. He left her out there, alone to raise the child he had implied was a mistake. She was so much stronger than he was.
They turned onto a dirt road that wound through the trees. As they continued, a house and a barn came into view. Then the road became a gravel driveway and the trees opened up to a lush, green yard. A huge yard. A dog bounded over and barked at the cab a few times before retreating to the porch. They followed the driveway to the house and saw a sweaty horse hooked to the hot walker, and another horse and rider walked up to the cab. The rider dismounted the spotted beast on the passenger side while the two men climbed out of the car. Eric came out on the passenger side only to come face to face with Calleigh beaming form ear to ear. She looked exactly the same.
"Eric!" She said excitedly and pulled him into a hug. She froze when she met the blue eyes staring at her from the other side of the car. She could hear Eric talking, but couldn't make out the words. Her mind was lost in that moment. She never thought this could happen. He hadn't cared fourteen years ago, why the hell was he here now? And Horatio just stood there, staring at her. She took a few breaths and stepped back from Eric. "If you would like to grab your bags, I'll show you to your room. One of you will have to sleep in on the floor, or the couch, because I wasn't expecting…um…" she fumbles over words, "the, uh…both of you." She turned back to the horse standing patiently behind her. Her forehead resting against the animal's, She was surprised that she had the strength to stand up.
Eric hauled the bags to the front porch while the taxi drove away.
"Calleigh?" she could feel him there. He was right behind her. She could feel his breath and the heat from his body. She couldn't look. He wasn't supposed to be here. She felt like she was suffocating.
"Don't. Just…please, don't." She managed to whisper. He backed up as Eric approached the two of them. Just then, a very loud crash was heard in the barn. They all jumped at the sound and Calleigh held the reins of her horse as he jumped backwards and reared his front hooves off the ground. Their eyes fell upon a massive chestnut horse running across the grass and easily jumped a fence near them. Calleigh let a bad word slip from her mouth and she threw the reins over her horse's head.
Before she could mount, a young woman who looked to be about seventeen materialized at her side screaming at the person following her. "How could you be so stupid?" She turned her attention to Calleigh, "I need to borrow Jo for a minute!" She mounted with speed and grace, which seemed like it should have been more difficult with lariat.
"What happened?" Calleigh looked worried and confused.
"Why don't you ask your bratty spawn!" the girl yelled as she nudged the horse and he jumped to life to chase down the loose horse.
"Kelsey?" Calleigh looked at the disheveled girl with big blue eyes. Horatio looked at her and knew she was his. He had a daughter.
"It's really a funny story, we're all going laugh about this later." She offered a weak smile that melted away with Calleigh's angry stare.
"You decided to use Elle's horse after I told you not to. And now look, she has to run him back over the fence to get him in to the barn. Go close the main gate, then make your way up to your room and stay there!" Calleigh's voice stayed low, but was harsh and cold.
"Yes ma'am." The girl was near tears as she ran towards the opening they had come through. Calleigh's eyes were trained on her until she entered the house. She smiled and turned back to her guests with a big smile. Her smile quickly faded when she saw Horatio looking at the house, like a puppy left out in the rain. She took a deep breath.
They once again had no time for words when they heard thundering hoof beats. "Easy Elle." Calleigh whispered.
The chestnut horse was running toward the fence with Calleigh's horse at its flank. The watched in wonder as the spotted horse gained ground on the red one. And even more shocking was when the rider of Calleigh's horse, grabbed hold of the red horse's mane and slid onto his back. Calleigh was holding her breath; she had not been expecting that. Soon, the red horse soared over the fence and a few strides later the spotted fellow did to. Kujo walked up to the small group and stood there, breathing heavily. They could hear soothing sounds coming from the girl as she rode the horse down. Slowly, his body collected and his pace slowed until he came to a walk. He then obeyed his rider's instructions and walked to the round pen near the barn and she slipped off and locked the gate. Calleigh hurried over, her horse close behind. The guys blindly followed.
"Elle!" Calleigh said to the fuming girl. She was hell-bent on heading for the house.
"I told her what would happen if she touched him. I gave her fair warning, now, she gets her ass kicked!"
"I need you to calm down."
"No, she could have hurt him! I could have lost him due to her selfishness! And you don't care! She's your precious little angel!" She looked to the house and yelled, "And now I'm gonna beat her like a runaway slave! I didn't grab this rope for nothin'!"
"No you aren't." She handed the reins to Elle, "Go un-tack him and put him on the hot-walker, and put Step away. I will go deal with her."
"What's she gonna lose? Primping privileges?" She grabbed the reins and clicked her tongue at the tired animal. He followed her across the yard.
"So," Calleigh sighed. "How about I get you two settled and then you can have yourselves a look around. Dinner will be at six thirty, but if you're not hungry, the kitchen is always open." Calleigh just prayed she didn't look as scared as she felt.
Horatio was watching the girl across the yard take the saddle off with ease. She scratched his neck for a minute, which he seemed to really enjoy. She quickly hooked him to the hot walker and un-hooked the buckskin and lead him into the barn. Elle, she looked like Calleigh, at least what he had seen of her, but she looked too mature, too old to be his. But he knew Kelsey was, and that was all he needed to know. Soon he noticed that Eric and Calleigh had gone into the house. He gathered his courage and walked over to the round-pen with the sweaty chestnut horse. He was going to try to gain insight to their little world. Elle had slid through the panels and was now inside sitting on the ground with her back to the house and everyone in the yard. The horse ran in circles around her, bucking and throwing his head around as he did so.
"She's pretty." Horatio couldn't believe the words had come out of his mouth.
"He." She corrected. "He's pretty. And thank you." She didn't move.
"That was amazing, what you did."
"It wasn't amazing, it was reckless. He is an amazing horse though. He has so much to learn, and works so hard at it."
"Wow. Who is training him?"
"Me. God, she could have hurt him. She never thinks things through." Her head dropped and her hand rubbed her forehead. The horse noticed her mood change from angry to sad and slowed down. Horatio nearly jumped the fence when he trotted straight toward her tiny form on the ground, but before he could react, the horse stopped. His nose dropped down and rested upon her head. He could see tiny sobs shake her, and her hand reached up to the animal's nose for comfort. He took that as his cue to leave.
"Eric, how could you bring him here?" Calleigh scolded.
"I thought you had told him you were pregnant! Plus, I didn't even know for sure! I'm so sorry Cal." He put his hands on her shoulders, making her face him.
"Eric, he never wanted me, or them, or this. I have raised my girls for almost fifteen years without him. What if he wants custody? What if he takes them away from me?" Calleigh tried hard not to cry, but the tears fell anyway. Eric pulled her close and let her cry.
"It's going to be okay."
"How? It hasn't been easy for us, but we got by. Everything is happening so suddenly. We are burying Daddy tomorrow. And now, H is here and he didn't even know about them. I've been hiding this from him for so long. They're my angels, I can't lose them too." She sobbed freely until she heard the familiar sound of her child coming down the stairs.
"Mom, I'm really sorry. Can I please come out of my room now?" She noticed her mother's tears, "Are you okay?" Kelsey's bright eyes shocked Eric. She was definitely Horatio's daughter.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You won't be riding horses until Piccasso is completely healed. You will also help Elle with his rehabilitation. And pull another stunt like today, you can kiss Ballet good-bye and say hello to working on the Johnson's chicken farm. Understood?"
Kelsey scrunched her nose and responded, "I understand."
"Good, now go apologize to Elle and help her with chores."
She nodded her head and bolted out of the house. On her way out the door, she slammed right into Horatio, who was just coming in. She offered a 'sorry sir' and continued on.
"You know, I think I need to take a shower." Eric announced as Horatio walked in.
"Yes. Do that Eric." Horatio had his eyes trained on Calleigh like a hawk with a rabbit in its sight. Eric slipped out of her grasp and ran up the stairs.
"How old is she?" He asked.
"Who?" Calleigh knew she shouldn't play innocent, but she really didn't want to have this conversation.
"You know who! Kelsey! The one who is 'your spawn'!" He raised his voice.
"Don't you dare raise your voice to me in my own house, Horatio!"
"Then tell me! Were you pregnant that day? Did you know?"
She looked away in shame, "That was why I had gone to talk to you, but you wished you could take it back and that it had never happened. How could I tell you I was pregnant after hearing that?"
"How could you not?"
"Because you didn't want us! You wanted Marisol! I was a mistake that you made; a lapse in judgment!" Her voice cracked, but she swallowed her tears back down. "You left in the middle of the night! No good-bye, no note, just an empty house. I felt like a worthless whore, used and then disposed of! You know, I actually checked my dresser for a tip? The next day you acted like it never happened! But it did, and I couldn't pretend it didn't. And then I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't hide that either. It was better to leave, to let you have your life remain the same. I'm sorry."
"You hid a child from me for fifteen years. I was robbed of her life. How fair was that?"
"Two children. Elle and Kelsey sisters. Sometimes it is hard to look at them because all I see is you. They have your eyes. Your hair. Kels has your smile."
"You had twins?"
"Kelsey was born seven hours before Elle, but Elle seems years older. They are mirror twins. Kelsey is a mirror image of Elle, well, everyone actually. Everything is on the opposite side than it is supposed to be…" Calleigh stopped herself from babbling on.
"I have two daughters?"
"They don't know who you are. They just lost their grandfather, please, leave this alone for now."
"That is an unfair request. But I will respect it." He stepped toward her and she took two steps back away from him. As if the very touch from him would shatter her. "I'm sorry, Calleigh."
She just shook her head and left the room to prepare for the rest of her family to arrive.