This chapter turned out to be quite long lol
Thanks go out to Eri for filling in while El Muso was MIA :)
The late afternoon sun shone down on to the sleeping faces of Calleigh and Horatio.
Calleigh stirred, twisting over to rest on Horatio's chest.
"Good morning" he whispered, laying a kiss into her hair
"Is it?" she yawned
"Hmm" he chuckled. Calleigh really wasn't a morning person. Horatio had found that the eternal chipperness to Calleigh only came after a caffeine shot, and that fact just made her even more adorable. "So what do you have planned for today?"
"Sleep. And then we're watching Adam and Amelia tonight" she said sleepily, struggling to lift her eyelids.
"So you want to sleep until tonight…" he smiled. The bedside clock was showing 11am, and they were only due at Kenny's house at 6…
"No, I suppose not" she sighed, "But I don't much fancy going out…How about we order some films and some room service and crash here?"
"Perfect"
Calleigh rolled over and stood up, wobbling a bit until her eyes actually opened and came into focus.
"Where are you going! I though we were staying bed" Horatio said, shocked at the sudden movement
"We are, but morning breath and smelly hair isn't part of the deal. Order breakfast while I'm gone?"
He nodded and grabbed the phone as Calleigh disappeared into the bathroom.
x
It was about half an hour before Calleigh came back into the bedroom, a bathrobe wrapped around her as she wiped at her hair with a towel. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the bed.
The cotton white sheets were pulled straight, all neat and tidy; Horatio had pulled on some black jogging pants over his boxers and was sat on his pillow with his back to the headboard, surrounded by 'breakfast'…
"What's this?" she asked, crawling up to mirror her husband and sit on her pillow
"Breakfast"
"Nooo, its more like dessert…" she grinned. Calleigh recognised the colourful plates as those described in mouth-watering detail on the hotels menu. Fudge Cake, Banana Split, Strawberries and Cream…
"Well, I figured, we're on our honeymoon, and you're supposed to do anything you want whenever you want because it's the only one you have" Calleigh gave him a pointed look at the remark of one honeymoon, to which he ignored and carried on "so I thought why not go crazy and have dessert for breakfast, and breakfast for dinner"
"So let me get this straight, you want me to forgo my usual cereal and yoghurt with fruit, for Chocolate Fudge Cake and Victoria Sponge" her voice was edged with disbelief.
Horatio scooped a strawberry from atop a sundae and held it for Calleigh to take a bite "hmmm" he smiled
"Who am I to argue with the Lt.?"
x
Calleigh lay back onto the pillow, a groan escaping her lips. "You are an evil, evil man, Horatio Caine"
Horatio smiled, seeing his wife writhe in discomfort. She still had chocolate syrup in the corner of her mouth from the Chocolate Sundae she had 'reluctantly' eaten. All of the plates, now practically licked clean, stood stacked on the floor. He gained a rueful sense of happiness seeing that his act had caused such a reaction, even if she tried her hardest to hide the glimmer of excitement and enjoyment from her green eyes.
"I'm so glad I don't have to move for hours now. I don't think I could anyway"
Horatio grabbed the remote control and snuggled down next to Calleigh, flicking a button to see the next available film.
x
"Yes, the medicine's in the cabinet and the number of the restaurant is on the fridge. Lynette, you told me this already, trust me, your boy will be fine" Calleigh smiled. She'd been pushing her sister-in-law closer to the door for nearly an hour, but she finally managed to get a coat on her and the door open
"I know he will, but…" Lynette pulled her curled hair from the back of her jacket
"'But' I know, he's your baby" Calleigh sympathised
"You'll see soon enough" she winked. She had a habit of having to end sentences with winks, Calleigh found. Maybe it was from having only an eleven-month-old child to talk too all day everyday that made you forget how to hold a single-entendre conversation with someone.
Calleigh just rolled her eyes and pushed her the final hurdle out of the door "Will you just go? You're going to miss your reservation"
"Alright, alright, I'm going. Bye kids! Be good!" she shouted back into the house. A reply came from Amelia, but was muffled by giggles.
"See? She's fine. Now y'all just go"
Lynette smiled and gave Calleigh a kiss on the cheek and ran out to the waiting car.
Calleigh shut the door and collapsed back onto it with a sigh. She had a feeling that getting Kenny and Lynette out of the house was probably going to be harder than actually caring for Amelia and Adam for the night.
She joined Horatio and the kids in the front room.
Horatio had taken to showing Amelia some basic self-defence moves. He was sat on the sofa with his hands held vertically, while Amelia threw her little fists into his palms.
"Hey, you, be careful with my husband" Calleigh smiled, ruffling her nieces hair. Adam was propped up against a pillow watching all the commotion, and was taken onto Calleigh's knee as she sat down. Adam's back was to Calleigh's front, as he played with her fingers. She extracted a hand and felt at his forehead "He's still got a fever" she announced, feeling the clamminess to the back of her hand. "I think we'd better give you some meds and get you to bed, huh Little Man?"
"How about" Horatio started, "I sort Adam out, and you and Miss Amelia get started on that cake"
"Cake!" Amelia squeeled, looking from uncle to aunt "What cake!"
"Well" Calleigh grinned "We thought that seeing as we're not going to be here for your birthday, we might have our own mini-party now, and you and me bake a cake"
"Can I write on it!" Amelia's face lit up, a smile spread from ear-to-ear
"Of course"
"Cool!"
"That's settled then" Horatio said, standing up and taking Adam from Calleigh, "You two can get started without me, and ill be back just in time to eat some birthday cake, yes?"
"I think we got the raw end of the deal there, Ladybug" Calleigh smiled, bringing Amelia onto her lap
x
Calleigh grabbed the ends to Amelia's apron, tying them behind her back, "Alright, you wash you're hands, while I get all the ingredients"
Amelia nodded and stepped up onto the box before the sink. She stretched for the taps, only just reaching them.
Calleigh opened the cupboards and retrieved flour and sugar, and took the eggs and milk out of the fridge. She couldn't help but grin at Amelia's excited face, as she wiped her hands with a towel. She was only 6 years old, seven next week, but she was growing up so fast! She was soon to have her first visit from the tooth fairy and had her first sleepover planned.
It was scary actually. Calleigh could remember like it was yesterday putting a dollar underneath Kenny's pillow when he lost his first tooth. Now it was his daughters turn. His daughters. Junior was the middle child, but already married with two children before Calleigh's own wedding day! Finally she was nearly there though. She'd found her soul mate, 'the one', and they'd finally married. Now they had the rest of there lives for the next step: children. She knew deep in her heart it wouldn't be long until they were blessed with little ones, they both wanted them too much, and as horrible as it was to think, they weren't getting any younger.
Calleigh was snapped out of her daydream as Amelia broke a piece off the large chocolate bar on the counter. "Hey! That's for the frosting!"
"I was…testing it!"
"You're too much like your father" she grinned, placing a large bowl onto the side and putting all of the ingredients around it.
They measured out the flour and poured it into the basin, then added the eggs and milk. Calleigh cracked the eggs, just in case they ended up with crunchy bits in the final product.
Amelia sat on the kitchen stool and stirred the mixture together, as her aunt added the sugar.
"Okay, what colour do you want the sponge to be, Ladybug?" Calleigh held up two vials of liquid food dye "We have red or yellow"
"Both!"
"That'll make it orange!" Amelia nodded wildly, her eyes wide with excitement. "Okay, it's your cake" Calleigh shrugged, adding drops of each bottle into the mix. At first it gave a marble effect to the floury mixture, before finally turning to a shade of orange.
"It's all lumpy" Amelia groaned, leaning over the bowl
"That just means it needs mixing more. See, like this" Calleigh took the bowl and tucked it under her arm. She whisked at the contents quickly as Amelia looked on in amazement at the speed "I think that's just about ready to go into the oven"
Amelia jumped down from her chair and ran around the counter to the already greased baking mould. She watched as her aunt poured the thick concoction. Calleigh put her hands into some oven-mitts and asked her niece to get the oven door. Heat invaded the small kitchen as she placed the mould onto a shelf and quickly closed the door again. "Okay, that'll be ready in about 20 minutes, which means…"
"Chocolate!"
Calleigh turned the stove on and poured some water into a pan, placing it on the heat. She then cut the chocolate into small pieces and put them into a bowl, and on top of the water. She'd conveniently kept some of the Orange flavoured chocolate, Amelia's favourite, aside. Amelia munched, not taking her eyes away as the remaining chocolate melted in the bowl.
Once it was sufficiently melted, Calleigh turned the heat off and placed a lid over the chocolate, sealing the heat in.
A delicious smell of warm sponge was invading their nostrils, signalling that it was ready. Amelia watched in amazement as the cake was brought out of the oven and placed on a cooling tray. "It's grown!"
"Yep" Calleigh smiled, loving hearing her nieces take on the things she saw, "Its got to cool down before we can put the frosting on it though, so why don't you, Miss Amelia, go grab a bath, while I find where your Uncle Horatio went to" It had been over an hour since she'd last seen him. Amelia nodded, not so excited at the prospect, but took off her apron and followed her back through the living room and up the stairs.
Calleigh drew the bath for her, but Amelia was a 'big girl' now, so didn't need any supervision. She wasn't so sure on the arrangement; Amelia was still her baby after all, so compromised that the bathroom door would be left open.
She could hear little giggles coming from the bathroom as she started her search for her husband. She knew that Adam was going to be asleep, so quietly tip-toed between rooms.
She slowly opened a door, but found it to be Amelia's room (yellow with daisy's across the walls and the obligatory Ladybug for Calleigh's pleasure); another door was found to open to Kenny and Lynette's bedroom.
She quietly opened the remaining door. The room was dark, save for a nightlight that danced across the ceiling. Tucked in the corner, Horatio sat in a large arm chair, fast asleep, with a sleeping Adam lying across his chest. They both looked so peaceful, and sound asleep. Calleigh's head involuntary fell to the side as she took in the sight with a smile. She watched for a couple more minutes, as Horatio's chest rose and fell, Adam rising and sinking with it. His little arms were spread out above his head, signalling a deep sleep. She prayed she didn't wake him as she slid her hands behind his head and back. Horatio stirred as she did so, he instantly looked down to where Adam used to be, before smiling and stretching as he watched. Although Adam didn't wake, he tucked himself into Calleigh's body as she walked him over to his crib.
She gently placed him down onto the small mattress. His fever, which had subsided slightly, meant he didn't need his cover. Calleigh leant her forearms onto the crib's sides and watched her nephew sleep.
"Did I miss the cake?" Horatio whispered, leaning his chin onto her shoulder
"We just need to cover it in icing, then its good to go" she whispered back
"So I didn't miss licking the spoon?"
"Nope, but I think you'll have a fight on your hands" she chuckled.
They both looked over the sides, watching as Adam's mouth sucked for his absent pacifier.
"He was restless when I put him down, so I just held him for a bit, a trick I learnt when Ray Jr was little, I guess I fell asleep too"
Calleigh nodded, breathing a contented sigh. Horatio kissed her hair and whispered, "C'mon, Amelia will be a prune by now"
x
Horatio flicked through the channels. He was sat on Junior's couch, while Calleigh was lay across it, resting her head on his chest. She was drifting in and out of consciousness.
Horatio's ears pricked as he heard a car door shut outside. He waited and listened as a key was turned in the lock and the front door swung open slowly, revealing Kenny and Lynette.
He gently roused Calleigh from her slumber and stood up, stretching out his muscles. Calleigh doing the same.
"Hey" Lynette smiled as Kenny closed the door, "Did we wake you?"
"No, we were just watching TV" Calleigh lied, "How was your night?"
"Awesome. Thanks for doing this. Where the kids any trouble?" Kenny asked, joining the conversation
"Not at all" Horatio smiled, "Adam didn't last long, but Amelia was an angel"
"Yeah, her cake's in the fridge. She wanted to show you what it looked like before she ate any"
Lynette smiled, taking off her coat. "Do you want a drink or anything?"
"No thanks, just a bed"
"Alright, well, thanks again for tonight. We owe you one, another one" Kenny said
"Least we could do" Horatio said, shaking his brother-in-law's hand. He wrapped an arm around Calleigh after she grabbed her coat and purse and headed for the door.
They said their goodbyes, and Kenny and Lynette reiterated their thanks.