Hey there ladies.. here is a new chapter, or at lest a part of it. Due to health problems, my Beta wasn't able to look over the chapters yet.. so all mistakes are mine. But if you find one, you're allowed to keep it.
So.. once again some time had flown by...and let's see how Horatio is doing.
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I'm so happy that you're all enjoying the story so far.
Jess
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Chapter 14.1Horatio was a little bit later than usual, when he stopped in front of the Delkos’ house to pick up his daughter. Stetler had somehow managed to get him wrapped up in a discussion about his team’s appearance again and Horatio, like always, had told him loud and clearly what he thought about such nonsense. Of course he hadn’t yelled at him, no he had learned quite early that the quieter he became, the more alert and probably even frightened Stetler became. Of course this never stopped the weasel to snoop around and putting his nose in other people’s business, but there was still hope.
He had called Marta when he had entered the parking lot in order to forewarn her about his delay and now he just wanted to pick up his daughter, get some dinner and either read a good book or having a nice warm bath; or probably both. He definitely deserved that after a long day of paperwork and putting together a bomb with a billion pieces. The nightshift supervisor had asked him for his help and being the only member of the lab who had experiences with bombs, Horatio had readily agreed to help him out. Now his back and neck were hurting and he’d have given a lot for a nice massage, but this was sadly but true utopian.
“Horatio, come on in, Son,” Pavel opened the door and held it open for his son-in-law. “Marta’s already been waiting for you, so is your daughter.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry that I’m late, but Rick Stetler was on his war path again,” he sighed and entered the hallway. “But I called Marta a few minutes ago, so she wouldn’t think that I had an accident or something,” he defended himself.
“You know my wife, she’s always worried about her family’s safety,” Pavel replied and closed the door behind him.
“True,” Horatio acknowledged and couldn’t help but smile, when he heard his daughter’s laughter. “Where’s my little Princess,” he called out before he even entered the living room and chuckled to himself when he heard the particular noises she always made when she heard his voice. Elena was still too young to talk, but in a way he could understand her baby language; at least most of the time that is. “Oh look there she is,” he announced and knelt down, when he noticed that Marta was holding Elena on both her hands. They’d been practice walking for a few weeks now and became better and better every day.
“Hallo Horatio, someone had been missing you greatly today,” Marta greeted her son-in-law and slowly walked to him, always aware of Elena being able to follow her.
“Mhm, I missed her too,” Horatio grinned and gathered Ellie in his strong arms when they finally reached him. “You did very well baby girl, Daddy is so proud of you,” he praised her and kissed her hair. “Mhm and you smell after the new baby shower gel,” he noticed a bit amazed.
“Well yeah,” Marta sighed, “we’ve done some gardening today and it seems like your daughter is very fond of mud packs,” Marta rolled her eyes and then winked at him. “So there was no other way than having a little bath.”
“Well sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to look pretty, right Ellie?” Horatio chuckled and lifted her up. “Not that you need it anyway,” he added as an afterthought. “Thanks for keeping her a bit longer today, I hope I didn’t destroy any plans of you?” he looked at his in-laws.
“You didn’t, don’t worry, Horatio,” Pavel shook his head and sat down on the armchair again so he could continue reading the newspaper.
“That’s good, well I don’t want to keep you off your well deserved evening, so I better get going,” Horatio announced, but was stopped by Marta.
“You don’t have to leave, Horatio. In fact there’s something we want to talk about with you.”
“Oh?” he asked surprised. “Has something happened?” he asked alarmed.
“No, no. Why don’t you sit down for a bit?” she gestured to the couch.
“Okay,” Horatio just shrugged and did as he was told. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I wondered what you have planed for Elena’s birthday next week,” Marta didn’t beat around the bush and looked at him expectantly. Every birthday was something special in the Delko family and was celebrated.
“I…uh…,” he mumbled and held Elena by her arms, since she had slid from his lap in order to stand. “Not a lot, I mean…,” he shrugged and didn’t know what to say. He had never planned a birthday party before, especially not for a baby.
“That’s what I thought,” Marta nodded, but wasn’t angry with him. “I wondered if you want to spend the day here. We could make a small family BBQ and have a cake for Ellie,” she smiled at him.
“I can’t demand that from you….both of you,” Horatio denied. “It’s my job to prepare a party and-“
“Normally I would agree with that, but I seriously doubt that you have enough toys, movies and beds for your nieces and nephews,” Marta interrupted him. “And by the way, you don’t demand it, we offered it. That’s a huge difference.”
That was true, but it still felt a bit weird to him. He hadn’t really planned anything concerning Ellie’s birthday, at least not something overly big. The problem was that this day was a happy and a sad one the same time. It was wonderful to celebrate Ellie’s birthday but also a day where you would mourn about Marisol’s death. “I know,” he sighed.
“Listen Horatio, just sleep over it and tell me tomorrow. We don’t want you to spend the day alone. As sad as this day is because we lost Marisol, we should make it a special day for Elena. The first birthday is a very special one,” she reasoned him.
“You’re right about that,” he nodded. “I will think about it and tell you tomorrow.”
“Good boy,” she smiled. “And don’t worry about anything; this house is used to big birthday parties. Don’t forget that we not only have 4 kids, but also a lot of grandchildren.”
“True,” he agreed and looked up when he heard the front door being opened.
tbc