A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. I hope you all had a great Christmas and a good time with your loved ones.

Chapter 12

It was way after noon, when Stella stepped onto Horatio's floor on the following day. She'd already talked to Alexx, who had confirmed the fact that Horatio would be released in the afternoon and that the man in action didn't have a clue about that. Afterwards she'd called Kyle who had promised her to stop by at the hospital once his shift was finished. Stella had used a cab to come down to the hospital, because she hadn't been so sure if she'd find the way again and getting lost hadn't sound appealing to her. Now was the time to release Horatio from his misery and she was pretty sure that he would love her news.

Smiling, she nodded at a nurse and was about to open the door, when she noticed that Horatio wasn't alone in his room. Well, glass walls certainly had their advantages. Inside his room, a blond, tall woman was walking up and down and seemed to talk herself into rage.

Interesting.

And somehow she knew this woman, but she couldn't tell where she'd seen her before. It surely wasn't Calleigh and none of Horatio's other colleagues either. So who was she then?

Horatio was just sitting on his bed calmly and seemed to listen to her, or maybe he just appeared like that, Stella couldn't tell for sure. What she knew though was that those two certainly knew each other. There was no way that some stranger could storm into his room and start babbling about something and Horatio wouldn't get her removed immediately. So who the heck was that?

Taking a deep breath, Stella straightened herself and reached for the door handle, when the other woman leaned down close to Horatio's face and let her hand travel down his cheek.

"Whoa, what's going on there?" Stella was wide-eyed.

But the scene continued when Horatio grabbed said hand and shoved it away. Gently, but determined nonetheless.

Stella couldn't help but feel relieved, even though she had no reason for doing so. And she didn't want to analyse her action right now anyway, so she just put on a polite smile and entered the room.

"You know you still do and we both know it," the blond woman whispered in a suggestive tone and turned around when Stella cleared her throat. Giving her a dismissive look, she turned to Horatio again. "We'll talk about this later."

When the woman looked at her directly, she suddenly knew where she'd seen that face before. Kyle's mother, Julia. Now what was this woman doing here? And how did she know about Horatio being in hospital? "Maybe Kyle told her? But why would he...well...she's his mother and Horatio his father so…" She didn't like the fact that Julia knew about it, but she couldn't blame the boy at all. Those were his parents after all. "What a happy family."

With one last glare into Horatio's and Stella's direction, Julia exited the room with a dramatic pose.

"Julia?" Stella asked when the drama queen had left and raised one brow at Horatio, who looked rather stoically.

"Mhm…"

"Endearing," Stella snorted and rolled her eyes. "She's got a thing for drama, huh?"

"Well..she's…"

"Petulant?" Stella helped out, which earned her a wry grin.

"Among other things, yes. So…when are you leaving?" It was Wednesday after all and Stella was flying back to New York today. Definitely a reason why his mood was not the best.

"Uh..I just came here and now you want me to leave?" Stella asked innocently. She may have forgotten to tell him that she'd stay a bit longer than she'd planned.

"Well it's not about me wanting you to leave, but reaching your plane?" Horatio was confused and carefully got out of his bed.

"Hmm, I think I have enough time to stay here a bit," she just smiled and watched him walking to the window.

Horatio didn't feel like smiling at all, so he just nodded. First Julia, who'd been ranting about his dangerous job, how this would affect Kyle plus claiming that he was still in love with her (and she really couldn't be farther away from the truth with that) and now there was Stella who was going to leave again. This was not his day.

"In case you want me to stay a little longer," she said and walked up behind him.

"Of course, I just hate the fact that you had to spend your last days in the hospital instead of…the beach or something." And what bugged him even more was that their last two days together had fallen thorough.

"Well then I have quite a few good news for you," she replied and rested her cheek against his good shoulder.

"You do?" he turned his head towards her.

"Yeah, it seems like my flight back was re-scheduled and I won't leave before Sunday."

"Really?" he asked surprised because he hadn't expected that. Hoped, yes, but not expected.

"Mhm and it's getting even better," she murmured.

"Yes?" he turned around fully and reached for her hand.

"Oh yes," she nodded enthusiastically. "A little birdie told me that you'll get released in the afternoon."

"No way."

"I'm telling you and I have my sources."

"Does Alexx know about this?" he asked and then it dawned to him. "Alexx is your source," he exclaimed.

"There might be the chance," she grinned cheekily. "So is that good news?"

"You have no idea," he gave her a huge smile and kissed her hand.

"Very good. And do you know what that means? This means getting cleaned up Mister," she laughed and brushed his cheek. "There's no way I'm going to take you home with a beard."

In contrast to Julia, Horatio didn't stop her from touching his cheek at all. No, he'd actually missed her touch a lot and this made him wondering about the time after she left for New York again. But this was a few days away and he rather wanted to enjoy their time together, then thinking about being apart again. "Well we can't let this happen now, can we?" he asked and winked at her.

"Nope we can't," she agreed and laughed when he rubbed his chin. "I don't want to hear any excuses.,. you're scratchy and this needs to stop."

"Horatio would you please just sit down?" Stella groaned and gave him an icy glare.

"I just wanted to help?" he smiled innocently at her, but lost it when she didn't smile back. "I'm not an invalid."

"But your shoulder is still sore and just because Alexx released you doesn't mean that you're fit."

"But-"

"No buts," she shook her head and pointed to the door. "Get out of the kitchen. Kyle and I have everything under control."

"This is still my house," he huffed but nevertheless left the kitchen as he was told.

"Now I know why every nurse was hitting her head against a wall when she left his room," Kyle commented on his father's antics.

"Maybe they should have hit his head against the wall," Stella sighed and reached for the ingredients for their dinner.

"I don't think that this would have helped," the boy shrugged. "Remember that he hit his head before?"

"True, well then I guess we need to get used to him being annoying every once in a while."

"I think so too," Kyle smiled amused. "I guess he just doesn't like feeling useless."

"And I think you're right about that," Stella agreed. She didn't like it either, but this didn't make it less annoying. But then again, he was also cute when he tried to get his way and failed in doing so.

"Maybe he can help us preparing dinner? Or set the table?"

"I don't know. Alexx said that he shouldn't use his left arm too much; the wound still needs to heal and moving a lot doesn't help."

"But he could set the table with one hand," Kyle pointed out and like every child he just wanted to make his dad feeling better. "I'll ask him, okay?"

"Okay," Stella relented and knew exactly where Kyle's stubbornness was coming from. "But only the table."

"Yes, ma'am," he saluted and vanished. A few moments later he was back again and grinned widely. "I think the problem's been already solved."

"I don't think I understand?" Stella gave him a questioning look and followed him when he motioned her to do so.

"He's fit, right?" the boy whispered in order not to wake up the sleeping man.

"Mhm, perfectly fit," Stella grinned and stepped a bit closer. Horatio was lying on the couch, her birthday present resting on his chest and the man himself deeply asleep. "I had no idea that Edmond Locardwould be such a heavy literature."

"Think again," Kyle grinned when they made their way back to the kitchen. "My dad is the sleeping proof of that."

"Obviously," Stella smiled and didn't mind. This way she didn't have to keep an eye on him. Horatio could be pretty harmless…once he was asleep.

"Do you think he'll have our head in the morning for getting him into bed against his will?" Kyle asked when he and Stella sat down at the kitchen table after they'd cleaned up.

"No, it was obvious that he was tired and he needs the rest." Stella sipped from her cup of tea. Granted, Horatio hadn't been pleased when they'd ordered him into bed after dinner, but it was for the best. And someday...he might admit that to himself as well.

"Well it's definitely a good thing that I'll sleep at home, so you're the first one he's going to see and therefore in the front line of his stubbornness."

"Thank you Kyle, that's really nice of you," Stella pulled a face, but wasn't worried about his reaction in the morning at all. "So, do you think his wound needs to be taken care of in the morning?"

"I don't know," the boy shrugged, "but I guess it will be enough at noon, or something. I'm not an expert; why do you ask?"

"Because you looked like an expert when you treated his wound earlier," Stella smiled at him. It had been a sight to behold when Horatio had been grumbling around and Kyle had acted like a male nurse.

"Thanks," he smiled shyly and averted his eyes. "I'm enjoying that…I mean.. I don't like that it's my dad's wound, but I like treating people like this."

"Yeah?" Stella raised her brows.

"Yes..I..mhm…I'm..thinking about…well it's actually it's a stupid idea."

"What's a stupid idea?" she asked intrigued.

"Well you know, I find the work at the morgue really interesting. Dr. Price told me a lot about organs, muscles and bones. She also told me something about diseases…but I don't want to be in the morgue for my whole life. I want to help other people," he sighed and then quickly continued before Stella could add something. "I know that you and my dad are helping people, but they're already dead."

"This is true, in a way," Stella nodded. "But we also help the victims' families by finding the murderer. So we do help living people, but in a different way of course."

"I've never seen in that way," the boy thought out loud. What Stella said did make sense. "Well I was thinking about…training for becoming a paramedic."

"I think that's a wonderful idea. Paramedic…male nurse at a hospital or maybe even a doctor?"

"No," he shook his head, "I'm not smart enough to be a doctor."

"I think you're smarter than you think you are," Stella stated seriously.

"Don't know..," he shrugged. "But I don't want to spend years at University and then there's my prison detention. That's never good for a doctor I think."

The boy was probably right about that. "So a paramedic then, yes? I think that's great."

"Really?" he asked, his eyes shining. "I already asked Alexx and she gave me some information about the where's and how's."

"That's wonderful. What does your dad say about your plans?"

"He..uhm..doesn't know about them?"

"Oh?" she asked surprised. "May I ask why?"

"He's probably disappointed." And in a sudden the shining was gone again.

"But why should he be disappointed in your choice? Being a paramedic is a very honourable job."

"I don't know, he probably wants me to become a police officer as well."

Now this was something Stella highly doubted. "I don't think so, Kyle," she shook her head and drank her tea. "What I think is that your dad will be proud of you no matter what job interests you, as long as it's legal," she giggled. "But seriously, I highly doubt that your dad wants you to become a police officer. On the contrary, I think he'd be happy if you didn't become one."

"Do you really think so?" he furrowed his brows.

"Yes. Your dad knows that this is a very dangerous job and since he wants to protect you, he wouldn't want you to enter this carrier field."

"He can be a bit overprotective, yes," Kyle admitted.

"Your dad would support you no matter what; he'd be proud of you if you become a police officer or a paramedic. He'd be proud of you if you become a professional basketball player…as long as it's your dream and you're working hard to achieve it. He wants you to be happy, that's all that matters to him."

It had been a while since he'd heard such words. Probably because his mother was more or less engrossed in her own problems and he was still timid about talking about such things with his father. "Thank you Stella," he said gratefully.

"No, thank you Kyle." It touched her deeply that the boy was so open to her. His trust was actually overwhelming in a good way. "Just promise me that you'll tell him someday, okay?"

"I will," he nodded strongly. He just needed to find the perfect moment.

"Good," she smiled and got up from her chair to get another cup of tea. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No thanks, I still have some," he shook his head and played around with his glass. "Stella, can I ask you a personal question?" he suddenly asked and caught her on the wrong foot.

"Oh my, how many interrogations do have I to go through?" she groaned to herself. It seemed like whole Miami existed of interrogators. "Yes you can, but I can't promise you an answer."

That was fair enough. "Do you like my dad?"

It was certainly a good thing that she was sitting again and that her cup was waiting on the table for her. "Yes, I like your dad a lot," she answered him honestly and hoped that he wouldn't go further into it. "Why are you asking?"

"Well you know, I always wanted my mom and my dad to be together again. So we can be a real family."

This made sense, but what did that have to do with her? Was this his way of saying 'hands off'? "Okay?"

"And it actually took me some time to see that this probably will never happen. I mean...my parents are always arguing. They argue about my mom's way of life, about my dad's job, about me…name something and they have a different opinion about it." They were a rather dysfunctional family, if one at all. "And then you appeared and you two argue as well, but only in a teasing way…and I liked that. Granted, I don't have that many experiences of real relationships between adults, but…well...what I want to say is just that if it's not my mom at my dad's side, then I wouldn't mind seeing you there."

There he had said it! Now he just wondered what Stella would say to this. Would she laugh? Would she be angry? Or judging by the colour of her face, maybe having a heart attack? Uh that wouldn't be good; his dad would never forgive him that. "Uh..Stella?" he asked timidly when there came no reply except of the deer-in-headlights-impression.

Well Stella wasn't close to a heart attack, but shocked nevertheless. This was the second person asking her (more or less) about her relationship with Horatio and both times it wasn't the man himself. Oh my… talk about being nosy and overprotective. "I…" She had no idea what to say to this. It was utterly cute that Kyle was giving her permission to enter a relationship with his dad, but did she actually want that? And what was also important, did Horatio want it? "I don't know what to say actually," she mumbled.

"Oh that's fine," Kyle replied cheerfully. "I just wanted you to know and I didn't expect an answer from you. It's none of my business anyway."

"Well a little too late for that kind of insight, isn't it?" she thought, but shook her head mentally. It must have been difficult for him to say it out loud and to somehow bury his hope of a perfect, little family, so there was no way to lash out just because she and Horatio were shilly-shally. "That's fine, Kyle," she patted his hand in the end. "Thanks for telling me and you know, I like you too."

Grinning, he nodded and looked at his watch. "And now it's time for me to get home. Thank you for dinner, it's been great. And don't listen to dad's grumbling, he actually likes being cared for, he just doesn't want to admit it."

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiled and saw him to the door. "Sleep well."

"You too," he waved and climbed into his car.

Once he was out of view, Stella closed the door behind her and got all the lights. "This family is definitely one of a kind," she mumbled to herself when she changed clothes in the guest room. Then she made her way to Horatio's bedroom to check on him. She carefully opened the door, slipped in and watched him from the doorway.

What was keeping her from slipping into bed with him? What made her think that she had a right to do that? Would he mind if she decided to sleep here? Would he be upset if she didn't?

"Stop standing there and get into bed," came a mumbling voice, which made her jump.

Well, she definitely had an answer now. Smiling she closed the door and quickly made her way into bed. "I thought you'd be asleep," she whispered and snuggled closer to him.

"You were thinking too loudly," he replied and didn't even open his eyes.

"Sorry," she whispered back and caressed his face.

"Don't be," he sighed which soon turned into a yawn. "Alexx drugged me."

"Drugged you, huh?" she asked amused. "Good drugs I hope?"

"No….make me sleepy," he mumbled sleepily.

"Then I think you need to talk to her, because that's just not right," she giggled and wrapped her arm around him.

"I missed that…."

If he could be honest, she could be as well. "Me too…" Those two nights apart hadn't been good for her. She'd missed his warm presence next to her.

"Night Stella…"

"Good night, Horatio," she whispered, but Horatio was already asleep again. "Sleep tight," she pressed a kiss on his forehead and then closed her eyes as well.

It didn't surprise her the next morning that sleep had come easily with him by her side.

tbc