Shared Bonds

Chloe slept peacefully the whole night in her new bed. Horatio had hoped she would but knew it was a possibility a new bed might make her nervous. His friends had told him that Chloe usually came in their bed for a cuddle at 6:00am. That was fine with Horatio.

He felt a light tap on his hand in his sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw Chloe, she was smiling. Glancing at the alarm clock he saw it was 6:11am.

"Hi honey," he said, moving the blankets. "Do you want to come and snuggle?"

Chloe nodded.

Horatio smiled, lifted Chloe into the bed and wrapped the covered around her. He hugged the girl tightly and kissed her head, envying that Eric got this every morning.

"My baby," he murmured.

Chloe snuggled into Horatio's bare chest and fell back to sleep. Nobody accused Horatio of playing favorites with his godchildren and Horatio knew every relationship was individual. Calleigh and Eric knew that their boss and friend thought of Chloe as his daughter as well, in a way. They didn't mind that one ounce; a child could never have too many "parents." Horatio knew he wasn't "daddy" to Chloe and would never claim to be. As much as she adored Horatio, he was not daddy, he was Uncle Horatio.

Although he was still so young that it was difficult to notice, Ethan was already developing a close relationship with his godfather though he was much more of a "pop-pop's boy." He loved Pavel. Pavel had made a big effort for the start to make sure he wasn't ignoring his only granddaughter or treating her differently He hoped he wouldn't do it unconsciously, either. And he really hoped his wife would start doing the same very soon. It had angered the retired Russian engineer that his wife Chlorinda had looked at Eric's oldest child so differently so fast. So what if Ethan would be the first grandson to pass on the family name? A little brother didn't change the fact that Chloe was still precious and pop-pop didn't want her to forget that.

Alexx Woods was godmother of both the Delko children. It had essentially offended Eric's relatives that he had chosen people outside of the family to raise his children if something happened to him and his wife. It had been stipulated in both their wills there be no custody battle. That Horatio would have full custody of the kids, he could initiate adoption proceedings and change their names to "Delko-Caine" or just "Caine" if he so choose. Lastly if the children started to call Horatio "daddy" after living with him, no one in the Delko family was to correct them or make them feel guilty. Eric's family would have regular access to the kids. If Horatio couldn't raise the children, Alexx Woods (with her husband) would; the same rules applied if they were to call Alexx "mommy." It had taken them a while to get over this but the Delkos' had. Seeing the attachments between Horatio and the children, as well as Alexx and the children they realized that one of those homes may be the best place for them in event of tragedy.

The couple were home before their child was. After feeding the ducks in the back of Horatio's property and having pizza for lunch, the two went to the aquarium at Seaworld. Her parents had no idea about the renovations Horatio had done to his home. He had been sure if he had told them about it they would have tried to talk him out of it. Not that they could have. Chloe was quite excited to tell them about the new bedroom at H's and the toy room.

"What?" Calleigh asked, trying her best not to sound floored or displeased. "That's very cool, sweetie."

Chloe went to her room to put Buttons and Larry back in their place on her bed.

Calleigh smiled and laughed. "You're something else, Horatio Caine," she said.

"Running for the 'top uncle' contest, H?" Eric asked.

Horatio smiled. "Going full-throttle."