A Different Wolfe

So sorry for the delay. Grief kills the muse. This chapter is dedicated to my sweet Rebel. I hope "doggie-heaven" is good enough for you.

Ryan always had a bit of a temper. In the years he was without Emily there had been times it had got the better of him, occasionally getting him into trouble on the job but thankfully never beyond a harsh warning from Horatio Caine. Never telling him, his friends and co-workers had noticed a difference in him since Emily had re-entered his life. Ryan was calmer and much slower to snap. Emily had a calming effect on him. Perhaps it was because she had a temper of her own and he was able to do the same for her. As mushy as it sounded, the two seemed to be each other's missing piece.

Even when the couple argued, if one of them got too loud, the other would stop and refuse to continue the discussion till the other "took it down a notch." Sometimes this made for a long time resolving issues but it was better than saying something you didn't mean and hurting your spouse's feelings.

Bella had an even more soothing effect on both her parents, her blue eyes squinted when she laughed. Something that was easy to make her do. As tired as parenting was, neither parent thought it would be such fun or Bella would be such an easy baby.

Of course they would put on an exhausted face and say how hard it was and "absolutely no fun" being a parent was to any teenager wanted a baby. Though they weren't planning on having another child that soon, the couple decided to put the condo on the market so they could buy a house. If they were lucky, by the time the place was sold and if they got the price they wanted, they could pay for the right house outright, without a mortgage. Emily and Ryan hoped to try to conceive again when Bella were eighteen months old. Hopefully it would be so easy again. They wanted their children close together, if they had their second child when they hoped, a double stroller would be required but that actually sounded fun to Emily, though she wasn't know why. However, right now, life with just Bella was perfect. But they considered putting the condo on the market soon in case the wait for a sale. The news of the pending sale sparked rumors in the lab that Emily was already pregnant.

"Adding another already, huh, Wolfe?" Walter teased him. "Jeez, you two work fast! Must be makin' up for lost time."

Ryan laughed.

"Buying a house has to mean a new baby? There's no other possibly? I thought you were a better CSI, Walter."

Now eight months old, Bella was on the move. She was crawling everywhere and loved anything musical. The baby was showing her playful side. If she was playing on the floor, not the playpen, she would try to hide from her parents, usually under the table or behind a chair, erupting in giggles when she believed mom and dad thought she "disappeared."

It wouldn't last long Bella often cried when Ryan left in the morning. Except for her bright blue eyes which she got from her mom, she was her dad made over. She was only waking once a night most nights now and then it didn't take long to settle her. Daddy insisted on taking these shifts because he missed out on most of Bella's day. If he was lucky enough to be home in time, Ryan did baths and bedtime stories. It was his favorite part of the day, equal to spending time on the sofa with his wife afterwards, of course.

"She's gonna be talking in no time," Ryan said to his wife sitting on the sofa after he put Bella to bed.

"For sure," Emily replied. "She almost took a step today, too."

Bella was able to pull herself into a standing position for a few weeks now but was still too wobbly on her short legs to walk yet. She never cried when she fell, just tried again or went on doing something else. Her now constant babbling was a precious sound to mom and dad's ears. She was close to saying "dada" now but Ryan hoped she would say "mom."

"Is this a culture shock for you?" She asked. "This, coming home to a wife and child?"

"Wouldn't call it that," Ryan smiled. "I wanted this life with you for twenty-six years. The only shock I received in the past year and a half was seeing you at that restaurant that day. I thought I was dreaming."

"You and me both." Emily said kissing her husband.

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