Chapter 10

When Horatio pulled on the parking lot and stopped his car about four weeks later, it wasn't the first time this month that he'd spend his Saturday morning here. Just as he had promised Calleigh the other day, he had called Goldberg in order to find out about appointment times for a local playgroup for babies. There had been a lot of them during the week, but this wouldn't have worked with his time schedule at all. That's why he had decided to enroll for the playgroup class on the weekend. His team had willingly agreed to have his back for the two hours when he wasn't available and for now it had worked out just perfectly. He knew he could call himself lucky in having such a wonderful team, no family who was looking out for each other. He knew that he somehow needed to show them his gratitude, but he also knew that they didn't want him to do that.

With a smile he looked at his watch, realizing that there were still some minutes left before class started, and so he decided to fetch his bag from the trunk, which included some diapers, food, drinks, a mat and Elena's favorite blanket. Putting it down next to the car, he opened the back door of the Hummer and grinned at his most precious passenger – his daughter.

"Hey there, Ellie. Are you excited about meeting the others again?" he asked her, while he opened the belt of her car seat. Ellie just laughed and held out her small arms so Horatio could lift her out. "I bet you are… we'll probably sing the "Wheels on the bus" song again," he cooed and grabbed the bag next to his feet. He had to admit that it had been a bit awkward for him when they had to sing for the first time, because he knew that he didn't have a good singing voice at all; but since the other ladies hadn't run away screaming, he had resigned himself to sing.

Speaking of ladies… If singing had been a bit awkward for him, the first minutes when he had entered a room full of women for the first time had made him feel really uneasy. He had felt the eyes on him immediately, knowing that the sight of a man was rather rare than common in such groups. They hadn't whispered to each other, but he'd been able to read the questions on their faces. 'A man? What is he doing here? Where's the mother?' The silence that had set in the room, had made him feel like turning around and walking away like a coward, but before his mind could settle on this thought, Angela, the instructor of the group had entered the room and closed the door behind her.

She had eased the small tension with only a single sentence. 'Oh are my eyes deceiving me? A handsome man and he'll be ours for the next two hours? Now that's what I call a good start of a Saturday.' The ladies had laughed, Horatio had turned red and the session had started with introducing each other.

Now he was really looking forward to their meetings and to be honest, he also enjoyed being the only man at a hen party. It definitely had some advantages. The fact that he'd also known one of the women from a case in the past had made it a bit easier.

So when he entered the room and saw that some of the ladies were already there, he just smiled and greeted them brightly. "Ladies."

"Horatio," they turned around in unison. "We've just been talking about you."

"Oh that's why my ears were ringing," he joked and helped Elena out of her jacket.

"Probably yes," they laughed. "But it wasn't about you, more about your little sunshine."

"Oh?" Horatio looked up in question and folded the jacket, so he could stuff it into the bag.

"Yeah, Gloria just told me that Jason started teething a few days ago," Amber answered his unspoken question.

"Ah," Horatio nodded and let Elena crawling around. "So how bad is it?" he asked and walked to the women.

"Pretty bad actually," Gloria answered and sighed heavily. "He didn't sleep most of the night and he's cranky. I'm not sure if it was a good idea to come here today."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He was pretty happy that Elena wasn't in so much pain; it would have broken his heart. "You know, my ME gave me the name of some gel which numbs the pain slightly so the little one is able to sleep. I haven't needed it yet, but since she's a doctor and a mother as well, she knows what she's doing. I can give you the name if you want to?" he suggested.

"This would be perfect, thank you."

"You're quite welcome," he smiled in response. "Does anyone know if Carla will come back today?" He had no idea when he had started to transform into some kind of chatter-box, but much to his dismay he enjoyed it. It probably was a natural effect when you spend so much time with women, or at least he could persuade himself to believe that.

"No, not today," Amber shook her head. "She gave me a call yesterday to tell me. It seems like Daniel has a middle ear inflammation."

"Uh," Horatio pulled a face. "That's hard, poor guy."

"And poor Carla, she barely gets some sleep. It must hurt like a bitch."

"I can only imagine," he nodded and felt the immediate relief that Elena had been spared from that yet. He could only wish that it would stay like this. He knew that he would be a wreck of nerves once she would get sick for the first time, even it was just some random cold. He could call himself lucky that there were Marta and Alexx who would know what to do.

"Ah there are the others," Amber announced and there was a great hello immediately. Hugs and kisses were shared and Horatio wasn't left out; at least not when it came to the hugs.

As much as he had been cautious about Calleigh's idea of joining a playgroup at first, so much he was now happy that he had taken that step. The ladies were absolutely charming, full of suggestions and, though he would never tell the others, wonderful recipes for both adults and babies. He had tried out a few of them for Elena and his daughter had enjoyed eating the meals. And this was all that was important for him.

The moment they had got to know that his wife had died during birth, they had somehow taken him under their wings; especially the ones who weren't mother for the first time.

"Now, now ladies and gentleman, stop trading recipes and let's start with the reason why we're here," Angela announced and clapped her hands. The ladies grinned, Horatio looked to the ground and they all had a guilty look on their faces. "You're all incorrigible," she teased and asked them to sit down in a circle, with the babies in the middle. "Since I know that some of you love to sing," she pointed her chin into Horatio's direction, "I thought we could start with a real male song about a bus and its wheels."

"It would be even more male, if it was about a Hummer and its wheels," Horatio announced.

"I will think about that for the future," Angela laughed. "But for now I think we have to live with the bus."

***

"I hope you all had a great time today and we'll all see each other next week," Angela released the group members into their deserved weekend.

"Horatio do you want to come with us? We're having a brunch at Diego's."

"As tempting as it sounds, but I have to take a rain check. I'm on call this weekend and I don't want my colleagues to spend their free time in the lab, when it should be me," he said regretfully and dressed Elena in her jacket. "But I'll come along next time," he smiled.

"You'd better do that. The fresh baguettes and the ham are to die for and-"

"I think he gets what you mean, Rachel," Amber interrupted her. "Don't take her seriously, Horatio. It's only the hormones talking."

"If you say so," he grinned and rolled his eyes when his cell started to ring. "Sorry," he apologized and turned around to take the call. "Horatio? Yes, it's over…okay, I'll be there in a few. I just need to bring Elena to the Delkos. Thanks for calling me, bye."

"Work?"

"Most definitely, yes," Horatio answered and lifted Elena in his arms. "I'm sorry to cut this short ladies, but I need to get going."

"That's okay, Horatio. It's a shame that crime doesn't even stop at weekends," Amber said while they walked out of the building. She knew what she was talking about; her father had been a police officer too.

Horatio agreed wholeheartedly and pressed the remote to unlock the doors of the car. "Yeah, that's true," he nodded and looked at the women. "But as I always say…Miami never sleeps."

Tbc

A/N: Thank you all for your reviews, especially my anonymous reviewers that I can't thank personally via pm.