It's finally here.. The End..
I can't believe it. I don't know if I should be happy or be more like
.
Actually I don't really know what to say except of thank you all who have read the story and reviewed it. You practically made my day every time. So thank you, thank you, thank you. *big bear hug*
Maybe we will see Horatio, Calleigh and Ellie in the future.. but I can't promise. Everything depends on my muse and if she agrees to work with me again. But until then.. I guess you just have to re-read TOF again and again.. and.. well you get what I mean.
I hope you enjoy the very last part of the story.. it's one of my favorites actually.
Jess
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Epilogue Part Two“You know what I think, Ellie? She’s afraid of the water,” Horatio chimed in. “And there’s only one therapy for that,” he said in a tone that spelled trouble. With a start he got out of the water and ran towards Calleigh, the moment of surprise clearly on his side.
Calleigh just yelped and did her best to escape him, but the garden wasn’t as big as she wished and so this was rather difficult.
“You can’t escape,” Horatio laughed and used his advantage of being taller and faster without mercy. The fact that Calleigh almost stumbled over her own feet sealed her fate in the end. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and pressed his wet body against hers.
“Horatio stop that,” she shrieked and laughed the same time. “You’re making me all wet,” she complained loudly and tried to wiggle out of his grasp.
“It’s warm Sweetheart,” he laughed and suddenly swift her from her feet and carried her to the baby pool.
“Horatio...Horatio don’t you dare.. don’t you dare,” Calleigh warned him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not wearing swimwear.”
“So?” he just shrugged and stopped right next to the pool. “There’s nothing that won’t dry again.”
Calleigh felt her jaw drop. He wouldn’t do that, right? No, he wouldn’t. He wasn’t that mean, was he? No, he.. “Horatio!” she screamed when she felt like falling and frantically clung to his neck.
“Oops,” he chuckled and lifted her up a bit. “You’re really afraid of water, hm?”
Confused she looked at him and just slowly it dawned to her that he didn’t let her fall. She took a deep calming breath, but didn’t lose her hold. “Yes, when I have my cell in my pocket and when I’m wearing normal clothes,” she told him and turned on her charm. “And you wouldn’t want my clothes ruined, hm? Not to forget my cell?” she purred and stroked his cheek.
“Hmm,” he tilted his head and thought about it. “I’m not so sure about it. On the one hand…it would be pretty mean, right?” he asked and saw her nod. “But then again, it would be really funny,” he smiled devilishly and opened his arms again so she would slip downwards again. Her surprised scream was music to his ears, but of course he saved her once again. He probably wouldn’t do that if this was a deep pool and when Ellie wasn’t sitting in it, but he didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“Smarty-pants,” Calleigh mumbled when she overcame the first shock. “Will you be a sweet thing and let me go again?”
Horatio just nodded and carefully put her down again on the grass. “Better?” he asked.
“Much better,” she smiled and gave him a sweet kiss. She loved moments like these, when he came out of his shell and let out the rascal in him. He was utterly cute like that, not that she would tell him so, but nevertheless. It had taken them months to get here and with every day she became more and more attached to him. “I love you,” she whispered and her heart skipped a beat every time when he returned the words…..
“I love you too,” he smiled and stroked a lonely strand out of her face.
….because every time when she heard these words, she knew that he belonged to her as she belonged to him. She knew that he was not only
giving them a chance, but
living it. Before New Year’s Eve, almost six months ago, she’d been so unsure if he’d open his heart again, but now she had the certainty. This was also a reason why she hadn’t minded waiting for the very last step in their relationship and in fact it she was sure that waiting had been for the best.
“Daddy…Mommy…in,” Ellie broke the silent communication between the two adults, who looked sheepishly at each other.
Horatio stole one last kiss from Cal and turned to his daughter. The first time when she had called Calleigh ‘mama’ and later on ‘mommy’ had been weird in a way and he wasn’t entirely sure, but he believed that even Calleigh had felt a little bit awkward at the very first moment. Of course this had quickly changed into pride, but still it had been a major step in their lives. Now it felt natural to call Calleigh ‘mommy’ when he was talking to Ellie and there was no guilty feeling from his side.
Calleigh was indeed the only ‘mommy’ Elena knew and just because she wasn’t here biological mother, didn’t mean that she couldn’t be her mom. She cared deeply for her, Horatio could hear that in every word when she was talking about Ellie, and nothing else mattered. One day they would tell Elena about her other ‘mommy’, but for now it wasn’t important.
Calleigh on the other hand was still shocked sometimes when Elena called her ‘mommy’, because she had never imagined this to happen. She was sure that her jaw had dropped the first time when Elena had called her ‘mama’ and she’d been very unsure about Horatio’s reaction to that. But once again the man had surprised her and instead of correcting Ellie, he had immediately adopted the appellation. Now she felt only pride when she heard this word
“It’s getting a bit chilly,” Calleigh said and rubbed her arms. “I think it’s better to get her changed,” she looked questioningly at Horatio and waited for his Okay.
“You don’t need to wait for my approval, Cal,” he chided her softly. “Just do it if you think its right.” He knew that Calleigh was sometimes still unsure about what she was allowed to do with Ellie and what not; just like now. But he didn’t want her to ask for his permission. If this relationship was going to work then only with both of them as equal partners.
Calleigh just nodded and grabbed the towel from a nearby chair. “It’s time to get out of the water, Ellie,” she told her. “We don’t want you to look like a crumpled plum, right?” she laughed and wrapped the towel around the child. Then she lifted her out of the water and gave her a kiss on the nose. “You and mommy will get changed, since daddy thought it was nice making her wet.” With that she gave him a hard look and rolled her eyes when he just smirked.
“And of course,” she continued and stressed the ‘of course’, “without him, because our changing room is for girls only.” Now it was her smirking, while he pulled a long face. “And this was my revenge, Handsome,” she drawled and carried Elena into the house.
Horatio just watched them disappear and looked crestfallen. “d**n woman will be the death of me,” he mumbled to himself and picked up the other towel. Calleigh could be really mean sometimes; he could only hope that Ellie wouldn’t imitate that. Two women against one lonely man was cruel enough.
After toweling himself he closed the sunshade and smiled when he heard the girly giggle coming from the master bedroom that was right above the garden. There was nothing better in the world than his two girls being happy and he savored every single moment of it. He knew that they’d been through a lot and he was sure that there was still the one or other pothole on their road, but he knew that they would make it.
A twist of fate had given him a daughter and taken his wife away.
A twist of fate had brought Calleigh into his life and had given him a family.
Maybe…just maybe fate wasn’t so bad after all.
THE END