Horatio glanced at the clock. In two hours he and Jessica would finally arrive in Orlando. He was so nervous. He couldn't remember last time he had been this nervous. Horatio was driving and looked over at Jessica in the passenger seat. She was asleep with a small smile. He sighed heavily. Frank and Jesse had teased him yesterday about meeting his future in-laws.

Horatio and Jessica sitting in a tree… rang in his head over and over again. Not only did Horatio have to go to dinner with Jessica's family, but he and Jessica would be staying there for the night and then go home tomorrow; he was nervous about sleeping at her parent's house. Horatio drove to a gas station and stepped out to give his car what it needed. He was driving his Buick Skylark from 1966 and had been warned that it would drive Jessica's brother Henry crazy of joy. Horatio's phone rang and he frowned when he saw that the caller was Eric.

"Hello?"

"H, it's me. Where did you put the extra key to your house again?" Eric asked.

Eric had been given the easy task of just looking out for Horatio's house.

"Under the doormat." Horatio said.

"Nope, it's not there."

Horatio frowned and checked his pockets. He groaned as he felt the little key in one of his pockets.

"I forgot to leave it." He said.

"Wow, you must be really nervous if you even start forgetting things. Just remember that your name is Horatio." Eric chuckled.

"You're not helping." Horatio groaned, "This can't be normal."

"Sure it is. How do you think I felt the first time I had to meet Calleigh's dad in private?" Eric grinned, "Everything will be fine."

"Eric, um, are you okay with me dating Jessica?" Horatio asked.

He had wanted to talk to Eric about it for a long time. He worried that Eric and his family would hate him for finding a woman after Marisol, even if it had been five years since Marisol had passed away. Horatio had finally gotten over the guilt of falling in love again himself.

"Yeah, why not?" Eric asked, "H you deserve to be happy and you've waited long enough for it. Jessica seems like a great woman and we're still family. My parents wishes you all the best of luck with her."

"Thanks." Horatio said.

"Anytime. By the way, Calleigh wants me to tell you that she is still waiting to meet Jessica. As is the team." Eric chuckled, "You've got a lot of pressure on you now, H."

"Don't I know it?" Horatio laughed, "I'll see you when I get back."

Eric and Horatio said their goodbyes and hung up. Horatio filled up the gas and drove off. After more than an hour, he was getting closer to the neighborhood that Jessica's parents apparently lived in. He gently shook Jessica awake.

"Sweetheart, which house is it?" He asked.

"Are you nervous?"

"Yes."

"Don't be. My mom is wonderful; my brother is a big harmless baby." Jessica grinned.

"And your father?"

"He might be a little difficult at first, but I'm sure you can show him what a great man you are." Jessica smiled, "Relax and just enjoy."

"I will try." Horatio smiled.

Jessica pointed at a big house and Horatio pulled up on the driveway. As soon as he and Jessica got out of the car, a blonde woman came running towards them. She looked like an older version of Jessica. She threw herself in to Jessica's arms and kissed her face.

"Oh sweetheart, it's been so long! I missed you!" The woman exclaimed.

Horatio understood that it was Jessica's mother. Jessica laughed and reached her hand out to Horatio. He gladly accepted it and smiled at his future mother-in-law.

"Are you sure there's really 11 years between you?" She asked and gave Horatio a hug, "He sure looks younger than you."

"Mom!" Jessica gasped.

"I hope a good personality comes with the good looks."

"Mom, this is Horatio Caine. Horatio, meet my very talkative mother Irene."

"Horatio fits you like a glove." Irene smiled, "The boy over there is my son."

Henry walked over to the trio and shook hands with Horatio and hugged his sister. Then he noticed the car behind Horatio and gasped.

"Oh my god!" He exclaimed, "Is that a Buick Skylark from 1966?"

"It sure is." Horatio grinned.

"That is my dream car!"

"You can drive it if you like."

"I would kiss you if you weren't already dating my sister." Henry grinned and gave Horatio a hug.

Irene and Jessica laughed at Horatio's shocked look and then Irene led them all inside.

"Henry you can play with the car later." She called to her son when he walked around the car and look dreamingly at it.

Inside, Horatio shook hands with Jessica's father Clark. Horatio noticed how Clark tried to be nice and how Irene glared at her husband when he quickly left them alone in the hallway. Irene threw on a smile and showed Horatio around the house. Jessica and Henry shook their heads at their mother's giggling and joy of showing off her home. Henry and Jessica rarely brought anyone home to meet their parents and Jessica had never before brought anyone home so early in the relationship. Irene was beside herself with curiosity and joy.

Once they all sat down to eat dinner, Irene started asking questions.

"Isn't being a CSI kind of dangerous?" She asked.

"It can be. But walking out the front door is dangerous as well. You never know what can happen." Horatio smiled.

"That's my motto." Henry said and received a slap on his arm from his sister, "What was that for?"

"That's not your motto. Your motto is act like you're 16 and do nothing until you retire." Jessica said.

"That's my old motto. I got a new one." Henry grinned.

"How knew?" Horatio asked.

"One minute. I got it from you." Henry chuckled.

"I would never have guessed." Horatio joked.

"You don't worry about the hours you work or the danger of being killed in your line of work?" Clark asked, "How much overtime do you work? Will Jessica spend hours waiting for you at home? What if you die and she's left alone?"

"Sir, I think you of all people understand the risks of being a cop." Horatio said since Clark had been a cop himself, "I don't work so much overtime anymore because I have a reason not to spend all night in my office, that reason is Jessica. And when I do have to work overtime, I try to finish as much work as possible before the weekend so that I can spend it with Jessica."

"And the risk of getting killed?"

"That didn't stop you from being cop." Horatio said.

Henry was mentally clapping his hands and cheering Horatio on. Not many people talked like that to Clark, only his children and wife did. Jessica's former boyfriends would have run to the hills by now.

"As I told Irene, you can die every day when you walk out the front door. It doesn't stop people from going to work or to school. Or from enjoying life. I know it's a dangerous job, but I love my job." Horatio said.

Clark nodded; he liked Horatio better for every minute that passed. Irene saw the look in Clark's eyes and knew that he was beginning to accept Horatio as a part of the family.

"Mom, tell Horatio about the time Jessica broke her legs." Henry changed the subject.

"No!" Jessica growled, "That was a low moment in my life."

"Oh sweetheart, you were only 15." Irene grinned, "Jessica has always been very stubborn and always had to prove her brother wrong. Thank god, she's not so eager to do it now a days."

"Mom…" Jessica groaned.

"We were on a trip to Canada during the winter and Henry had a snowboard, he always took the most difficult tracks he could find. He teased Jessica and said she couldn't do like him. She had to prove that she could, even though she had never used a snowboard before. She took the lift high up in the mountain and the first things she did when she jumped out of the lift was to break both her legs." Irene chuckled.

Horatio and Henry laughed and Jessica joined in after a while. Even Clark couldn't help but to chuckle.

"She was taken to the hospital in a helicopter and never wanted to talk about her unfortunate event again. Henry wasn't about to let her forget it though, the following year he won a weekend trip to Canada and classes to learn how to go snowboarding, he gave it to Jessica." Irene smiled, "She never went though."

"You should have seen the way she looked at me when she opened her gift." Henry grinned, "The anger in her eyes is unimaginable."

"That's one of the rare times that Jessica has gotten really mad." Irene smiled.

"You try having a big brother like Henry and you'll soon find yourself wanting to prove him wrong too." Jessica defended herself.

"I do have that kind of relationship with Jesse." Horatio smiled, "At least we used too."

"Did you guys even get injured from that?" Henry asked.

"All the time. Not so bad that we ended up in a hospital, but we did have bruises all the time." Horatio said, "We were getting to know each other and wanted to compete against one another."

The rest of the dinner went on fine. Irene asked Horatio all sorts of questions about work and his family. He told her his family was his team. Horatio heard more about embarrassing moments in both Jessica's and Henry's childhood.

"The first thing Henry did when he got his driver's license was to take Clark's car and crash in to a hedge. He got a concussion and a very angry father because of it." Irene chuckled.

"Speaking of cars… can I test drive your beauty out there?" Henry grinned at Horatio.

"Sure." Horatio said and gave him the keys.

They all went outside to watch as Henry skipped to the car and drove out on the road for a little drive.

"If he crashes it, I will let you hit him." Jessica joked, "Seriously though, he's a good driver."

"I think he can handle my car. He's so afraid to wreck it that he probably won't even drive fast." Horatio grinned.

"You said your team was your family, you don't have any brothers or sisters?" Clark asked.

"My little brother Raymond died many years ago. My parents are also gone." Horatio said, "My wife died five years ago."

"I'm sorry." Clark and Irene said.

"It's okay; she's in a better place." Horatio smiled.

"Jessica has been hurt by her ex-boyfriends. I don't want her to call me and cry because you said or did something stupid." Clark said firmly.

He was very protective of his children. But Jessica was the only one who had been hurt before. Henry had been lucky.

"I have no intensions on hurting her." Horatio said, "I understand that you're worried, but trust me when I say that I would do anything for her."

"I hope so. My daughter deserves the best." Clark said.

"And Horatio is the best." Jessica said and glared at her father.

"Mr. Stanley. I have also been hurt before and before I met Jessica, I hated coming home to my empty house. I hated what my life had become. It was just about work and sometimes seeing my family. And even if they were always there for me and they still are, I felt very lonely. I was afraid to open up to someone again. But Jessica has captured my heart. I'm not afraid to open my heart to her." Horatio said, "I trust her and she trusts me. I hope you will be able to do that as well."

Clark nodded, "I must say that I'm convinced that you're good for her."

Horatio gave him a small smile and they men shook hands. Horatio knew he still had to prove that his love for Jessica wasn't for a shorter period, that he really wanted to stay with her for the rest of his life. Jessica also knew this.

"Horatio, how much do you want for this beauty?" Henry asked as came back and parked the car.

"It's not for sale." Horatio laughed.

"We can share it. I can take care of it every weekend." Henry joked.

"It's not a child Henry." Jessica said and rolled her eyes.

"A car is a baby on wheels." Henry grinned.

Everyone went back inside to chat in the living room. Later in the evening it was time to get some sleep. Henry showed Jessica and Horatio to Jessica's old room.

"If you feel the need to be intimate, just remember to be quiet. Because the last thing I want to hear is my sister…"

"Goodbye Henry!" Jessica growled and slammed the door shut.

She giggled and hugged Horatio.

"So is the family accepted?" She asked.

"Yeah they are. It's time for you to meet my family." Horatio smiled and gave her a kiss, "Think you can be quiet?"

"Horatio!" Jessica laughed, "You and Henry are so alike sometimes."

"There is a little boy joking with everyone inside every grown man's body." Horatio smiled, "I think your father is beginning to see that we really love each other."

"Was he too bad?"

"Nothing I can't handle. I'm a CSI sweetheart; I am used to seeing dead bodies and all sorts of disgusting things. Meeting criminals every day. I think I can handle a protective father." Horatio said, "Besides, he and I have that in common. I was very protective of Raymond. Sometimes he did exactly what I didn't want him to do just to tease me, but I knew he also worried about me."

"I would have liked to meet him." Jessica smiled.

"I think you would have liked him." Horatio said.

Jessica gave Horatio a deep kiss and then they finally went to sleep. They snuggled close to each other and they both fell asleep with a smile on their face.

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