Big Girl Now
As Chloe grew into a toddler, Eric learned how to put bows and barrettes in her black hair and keep her hair neat. It was a surprise to him that potty-training her was so easy. Chloe was his daughter nobody else's. Just because he were a single man with a daughter didn't mean he had to depend on others.
Chloe was two now and had Eric's dark hair and brown eyes. Everyone said she was nearly identical to him, looking at her no DNA test would be required. For the first six months of Chloe's life Eric had been very fortunate. Being able to pull family leave, vacation time and others from the lab taking his shifts for him he was able to be at home and be Chloe's primary care giver ninety percent of that time. Then for a year after his mother babysat her. After that Eric enrolled her in a daycare a short distance from the lab. On a good day, if he was lucky he would be able to drop by the center and take her out to the park for lunch.
Chloe had been a blessing in her father's life in more ways than one. Her birth had finally forced him and Calleigh Duquesne to stop "beating around the bush" as they had been for years and admit how they felt for each other. In spite of wanting to be able to keep distance from the baby, Calleigh had fallen head over heels in love with Chloe the moment she saw her big brown eyes, the same eyes as her handsome father. Although she or Eric never referred to her as "mom" to his daughter, Calleigh had very quickly become the child's surrogate mother.
Although they had finally admitted their feelings for each other and Calleigh spent much time at Eric and Chloe's home and often spent the night they had decided to take things slow and Calleigh hadn't moved in with them yet. They wanted to make sure things were right. One thing was going to be for sure, no matter what happened with the relationship between him and Calleigh, Calleigh was always going to be in his daughter's life.
At the age of 2, Chloe spoke both English and Spanish fluently. She had been spoken to in both languages since she was born. Father and daughter could converse just as easily in Spanish as English and often did. It surprised people, especially if they were older who only spoke one language to see just how the toddler could switch between the two languages—especially when she seemed to realize the person she was talking to didn't speak as much Spanish as she did—like her "Uncle" Horatio. Horatio spoke "enough" Spanish to understand someone and ask basic questions but wasn't fluent like Eric and Chloe.
Hanging out at the lab. The team loved seeing Chloe. Whenever Eric had to work late after the daycare closed, Chloe would come and stay at the lab. Horatio had her spoiled. He bought a portable DVD player and a bunch of children's DVDs he knew Chloe would like. While her father worked late, Chloe would sit on the couch in Horatio's office, watch cartoons, color in her coloring books, draw pictures and look through her story books. Horatio didn't think Eric knew that he gave Chloe snacks from the candy machine after she ate her dinner. Eric chuckled at this little junk food secret between the two.