1The Beach Day

Author's Note: I really wanted Adriana to be a little older in this one, so I'm skipping ahead. The last chapter she would have been almost one. I'm going to make her a little over 2 years old now. Enjoy...

"Adriana, come here so I can put your sandals on." Calleigh called running after her strong-willed two year old.

"No!" Adriana called back, running playfully away from her mom.

"You have to wear your sandals or the shells will cut your feet and then you'll cry." Calleigh said. "Eric! Will you please help me? We have to meet Natalia and Ryan in 5 minutes!"

"Grrrroowwwl, I'm coming to get you little bit!" Eric called, tickling his daughter and picking her up causing Adriana to squeal with delight.

"Got her," Eric said, coming down the hallway. "Let's get these shoes on and go."

"Shoes?" Adriana replied.

"That's right, little shoes for little feet." Eric answered.

Because they lived so close to the beach, Calleigh and Eric wanted Adriana to become accustomed to the ocean that would be a big part of her life. The Delko family was meeting Natalia and Ryan on the beach for some much needed free time away from the lab. They got their beach bags and headed out the door and started on their short walk to the beach. Natalia and Ryan were already there when they arrived.

"Tata!" Adriana shrieked when she saw Natalia. She let go of Calleigh's hand and ran through the sand, her brown curly pigtails bouncing behind her.

"Hey, girlie! How's my favorite two-year old?" Natalia said, scooping her up. "You ready to play on the beach today?"

"Yes" Adriana replied, smiling. She pointed at Calleigh and Eric. "Mommy come and daddy come."

"I know!" Natalia replied, putting her back down. "I'm so happy you could come!" She went over and helped Calleigh and Eric bring their stuff over to the spot where she and Ryan had laid out their towels and tent.

"Hey Adriana, you wanna help me dig a hole?" Ryan asked her.

She walked over and carefully examined the plastic shovel Ryan had.

"Wyan" Adriana said taking the shovel from him, then handing it back. "Dig?" she asked.

"Oooh I see, you want me to dig a hole for you." Ryan responded.

"Yes," Adriana said back.

When Ryan finished digging a shallow hole, Adriana promptly sat in it and laughed. That only lasted a minute, though, because she remembered that the beach had tons of shells. She got up and ran to Calleigh.

"Mommy, mommy! Sells. Pwease. Get sells." Adriana said pulling her mom with as much power as possible.

"Shells?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes, momma, fill a hole wif sells." Adriana responded already running towards the edge of the water.

"Okay, okay, wait for momma, please." Calleigh said, getting up.

Calleigh caught up to Adriana and asked, "Sweetie, why do you want shells?"

"Fill my hole wif sells." Adriana replied picking up shells and dropping them into her pink bucket.

"Oh okay, let's see how many shells we can find." Calleigh answered holding Adriana's other hand.

Calleigh picked up three small shells and placed them in Adriana's bucket. "One, two, three." she said.

"Two, two, free." Adriana repeated after her.

A few shells later, Calleigh decided the two had walked far enough and she and Adriana turned around and walked back to the others.

"Adriana, can you show Natalia how you can count? Count your shells for Natalia and Ryan." Calleigh said.

"Un, two, free." Adriana replied.

"Very good!" Natalia and Ryan both said, clapping.

Adriana then took her shells and dumped them in the hole Ryan dug for her earlier.

"Sells go in." She happily replied. Then she walked over to Eric and climbed into his beach chair with him. She gave him a great big hug and held his face in her tiny two year old hands.

"Daddy, want water."

"You do? You want to go in the water?" Eric asked.

"Yes" she replied.

"Okay, Cal, Ryan, Natalia. Anyone want to join?"

"Sure, that sounds great. I'm about to roast out here." Calleigh said.

"Me too." Natalia joined in. "Come on Ryan."

They followed Eric, who was holding Adriana, to the water. Even though they were only knee deep in the water, the waves scared her a little bit making her tighten her grip on Eric's neck.

"MOMMY!" Adriana cried. "MOMMY!"

Calleigh came up behind Eric and put her hand on Adriana's shoulder. "Daddy's got you honey, don't be scared. Be a big brave girl for me, okay. He's got you, he's not gonna let you go. See, look everything's okay." she gave her a little kiss as well.

That seemed to calm her down a little bit, plus she was distracted by Ryan who was splashing Natalia. He ended up splashing Eric as well.

"Watch it, Wolfe. You better be glad she's in my arms, 'cause you'd get it right about now." Eric joked.

The four of them, plus Adriana stood in the water and talked for a few minutes before heading back to their towels for a snack. After they ate, Natalia and Ryan offered to take Adriana for a walk, because being two, it was hard for her to sit still for long.

Eric sat on a towel with Calleigh beside him. She moved in closer and put her arm on his muscular chest. " I love you. I'm so glad we got to do this today," she said.

"Love you too, Cal. We definitely needed a day like this." Eric said back, kissing Calleigh on her cheek making her smile.

"So nice of Natalia and Ryan to take Adriana for a walk. Maybe they need one of their own." Calleigh said, jokingly.

"Now that," Eric laughed, "Would be funny. Can you imagine a little Ryan running around?"

"Ha! Yeah that would be hilarious." Calleigh answered.

A little later, Natalia and Ryan strolled up. Ryan was holding a very sleepy Adriana who fell asleep as soon as he handed her to Calleigh. "Thank you." She whispered to Ryan as she took Adriana and put her under their tent so her fair skin wouldn't get burned by the scorching Miami sun.

The four talked about everything from football to cases they'd recently solved until Adriana woke up.

"Mommy, juice?" Adriana said.

"Here, ya go sweetie," Calleigh said, handing her a sippy cup.

"We probably need to get going so we can get cleaned up before dinner." Calleigh said. "Thanks for inviting us to hang out with you guys today," she told Natalia and Ryan.

"Hey, anytime!" Natalia answered.

"Go give Ryan and Natalia a hug, Adriana." Eric said.

Adriana hugged Ryan and then hugged Natalia who gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Adriana, I had fun playing with you today!" she said.

"Bye bye, Tata, Bye Bye Wyan!" Adriana answered then ran to Calleigh and Eric.

"Mommy, pick up." she said, arms reaching for Calleigh who handed Eric the bags and picked up Adriana. "Come here, big girl. Did you have fun today?" she asked.

"Yes." Adriana replied back. "Well, good. Okay, bye guys, we'll see you soon!" Calleigh said to Ryan and Natalia. Then she, Eric and Adriana headed home after a fun afternoon at the beach.