I'm trying to equally update all my stories! Here's another Caine Family installment!

Little Man Caine

As much as they enjoyed watching their children grow Horatio and Aimee knew to savor the newborn stage as well, as demanding as they could be. Horatio had always enjoyed the 3:00am quality time with his children as newborns.

"Hey little man," Horatio whispered to his three-day-old son. The boy had his fingers in his mouth. "Are you hungry? C'mon, daddy'll get you your bottle."

Horatio picked up his son and carried him downstairs. Austin began to fuss more while his milk was heating in the bottle warmer.

"Okay. Okay," Horatio said softly after he checked the temperature to make sure it wasn't too hot or cold. "There you go."

Horatio sat down the recliner and smiled at the eagerly eating newborn who was still pink around the ears, hands and feet. When his each of his daughters were born he had denied either looked much like him at all but there was no way he could do that with Austin. Horatio heaved a happy sigh with the feeling his son hugging into his bare shoulder after he burped him.

"You may look just like me, but you and your sisters got your mom's love of sleep.," he said, kissing the side of Austin's head, standing up.

Upstairs Austin slept through his dad changing his diaper and placing him back in his bassinet. Aimee started to wake when Horatio back into bed.

"What'd I miss? Does he wanna eat?" She said groggily.

"Go back to sleep," Horatio said, kissing her cheek. "It's already done."

Aimee lay back down and Horatio wrapped his arms around his wife. The guilt that he had for putting his wife though the long and painful birth of their son was finally beginning to subside. His wife told him repeatedly from the second their son was born that he had nothing to apologize for. He had no control the process of childbirth and she knew if her husband could have come up with some magical remedy to make it painless, he would have. Horatio had done the one thing he could, he stayed at her side, refusing to leave her for a single moment.

Horatio was glad to let his wife catch up on her rest while he was home. Getting comfortable enough to have a decent sleep the three weeks she were pregnant was nearly impossible. She definitely needed to get her rest now because after three weeks he was back at work full-time and she would be on her own all day with three small children.

Horatio awoke to a poke to his nose at 7:15am. He smiled through a yawn seeing Cheyenna standing there, her favorite stuffed animal, a brown bunny named "boo" in hand.

"Hello sweetheart," he said.

"Hi," Cheyenna said, "dada, me want 'old baby."

Horatio chuckled. Cheyenna was starting to warm up to Austin. She had asked to hold and help feed him twice the day before. She had been very stand-offish the day they had bought him home.

"Not yet, pumpkin," her dad replied, sitting up. "Baby is still sleeping. You can hold him after breakfast, all right?"

Cheyenna nodded.

Horatio checked on the baby to make sure he were in fact still asleep before he took Cheyenna to pick out her clothes and then to the bathroom to change her pull-up and get her dressed for the day.

Rachel was up by the time they exited the bathroom.

"Hi!" She said brightly. "Is Austin up, daddy?"

Rachel had been in love with her baby brother since he was bought home from the hospital.

"Not yet, honey," Horatio said. "You'll see him after breakfast. Do you want to get dressed first?"

Whether the kids got dressed before or after didn't matter to the parents. They let the children chose.

Rachel shook her head.

"When do I 'ave to go back to school, daddy?" Rachel asked at the breakfast table.

Horatio could tell his oldest was already enjoying being at home.

"Not for a while, sweetheart," he replied.

The couple had planned for their oldest to be out of preschool for two months so she could be with her siblings. They thought that bonding period was more important than preschool.

"Good," the little girl replied,

The light on the baby monitor blinked moments later when dad was cleaning up the table. He heard Austin start to cry he heard his wife's voice at the same time. Their son quickly stopped fussing.

"Austin's awake, daddy!" Rachel said excitedly. "Can I go see mommy?"

"Me, too!" Her sister said.

"Go on," Horatio said.

Even with a newborn in her arms Aimee was glad to see her girls for morning hugs and kisses, even if it were a one-armed hug enough. After a diaper change and another bottle Austin got to be held by his sisters. Cheyenna even gave him a kiss.

Horatio followed the girls upstairs ten minutes later.

"Mornin'," he said, kissing his wife's lips.

"Morning to you," She replied. "How come you didn't wake me up?"

"I wanted you to have the sleep. Besides, Dora is on in a few. I didn't have breakfast yet. I waited for you," Horatio replied.

"How sweet."

The girls sat down to their morning cartoons and Austin was placed in his swing while his parents had a breakfast of scrabbled egg whites and bacon. It was the few minutes of quiet they got but they wouldn't have life in any other way.