Two Days Ago

Calleigh awakened that bright, sunny Tuesday morning to the doorbell being rang repeatedly over and over again. She sighed loudly and put her robe on. Today had been her day off and she'd planned to go to the movies, get a manicure/pedicure and basically relax. The doorbell rang again and she sighed and looked in the peek hole. Calleigh saw a strange older man and opened the door.

“Ms. Duquesne,” the older man addressed as he stepped inside. He had a thick salt and pepper colored beard, bald head and kind of chubby. He also had a brief case with him and wearing a long tan colored trench coat. He meant business. "I'm Mr. Tyler from Department of Children and Family Services and..."

Calleigh looked down at the child he had with him.

The little girl looked up at Calleigh with green eyes and a smile on her face.

“...so I'm bringing the child to her birth parent.” He continued.

Calleigh looked up at the man. “What?” She'd tuned him out for a second. “Could you repeat that?”

“The birth father died and his records indicated that you were the birth mother.” He sighed. “Now if that's a problem-”

“No problem at all,” Calleigh said, trying to remember what happened in her past. It had all been in the past..until now. She faintly recalled what happened when she was back in College, grad school to be exact and she'd gotten pregnant. She couldn't deal with raising a baby but also didn't want to abort pregnancy. She was twenty-six years old and finishing a degree at a college in Louisiana. It was a party and on a wild spring break, her first and last one ever, she got pregnant by a guy. She approached the guy and told him that she was pregnant and that she couldn't raise a child right now, but he wanted to go through with it. Calleigh had a healthy baby girl nine months later. The baby ended up with the father..until now. Calleigh couldn't believe she was staring in the face of her daughter.

"We'll be in contact with legal paper," Mr. Tyler said.

"Enjoy the rest of your day." He left and Calleigh closed the door behind him. Before she turned around, she closed her eyes, to gather herself. Turning around, Calleigh looked in the child's eyes. No doubt, this child was hers. She had the same green eyes and blonde hair as her. "What's your name?" Calleigh asked.

"Layla MacKenzie Owens," the little girl said. "I'm five years old."

Calleigh pulled the little girl over to the sofa and sat her down on her thigh.

"I'm Calleigh, I'm your mother."

Two days later

Calleigh was sitting in the Gun Lab, comparing bullets to a gun when Eric walked in. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her gently on the side of her cheek. Never had he been so grateful to have Calleigh in his life. He was very grateful that she forgave him for the whole Natalia situation.

"Hey you," Eric said. "How's it going?"

"Well the case is goin," Calleigh said.

"How about dinner tonight," Eric said.

"Um, no," Calleigh said.

"Cal, are you still mad about what happened with Natalia?"

The mention of Natalia's name brought a bitter taste in Calleigh's mouth. She was happy for Natalia and happy that things were settled but she was jealous. Still, Natalia had done something that Calleigh would never have the chance to do; and that was have Eric's first baby.

"No," Calleigh said, breaking free from his arms. "I'm just busy."

"Cal, you've been busy for the past few days. Are you hiding from me? Don't you want to be around me anymore?"

Calleigh smirked. "No. Eric I really have been busy lately. And," she said, looking at him in the eyes, "I need to finish this up now so I can go." Calleigh looked at her watch and noticed that it was one o'clock. In thirty minutes, she would have to go and pick Layla up from Kindegarten.

"Cal, I'm here whenever you needed me," Eric said.

"I know," Calleigh said, focusing her attention back on the evidence.

Calleigh stood in the hallway of the school's building, waiting with the other parents. She tried to be cool as if this was natural, but other parents were looking at her. Probably because she was only one there with four-inch pumps on. Today she had on a white polo and black pants, clearly overdressed compared to the other parents. She ran her fingers through her hair.
“Hi Mommy.”
Calleigh looked down and saw Layla.
“Hey,” Calleigh said, squatting down and pulling Layla into a hug. Calleigh pulled her sunglasses off her eyes and slid them in her hair. “Did you have fun today?”
“Uh-huh,” Layla answered. “Look what I painted.” She handed Calleigh a picture.
“Pretty,” Calleigh said. Before she could say anything else, her phone started ringing. “Duquesne,” she answered. “Okay, I'll be there in a sec.” She flipped her phone closed and looked down at Layla. Layla had a smile on her face. She looked so innocent. Calleigh smiled back. “How do you feel about getting something to eat?”
Layla nodded her head. Calleigh grabbed Layla's small hands and walked her over to the Hummer. She opened the back seat door and strapped her in the middle. Calleigh closed the door and walked around to the driver's side and got in. “Would you like a happy meal?”
“Yes please,” Layla said, picking up one of the dolls Calleigh bought her, off the seat. Calleigh's Hummer had turned into a traveling playhouse. In the two days the Calleigh had Layla, there were toys and dolls all in the Hummer. That's why when it came time to go to crime scenes, Calleigh always rode with someone.
“Alright, we're going to get lunch to go. Mommy has something important to do.” Calleigh thought over in her head what she just said. That actually sounded kind of good. As a matter of fact, she liked the name Mommy. Now, how would she tell her team that she now had a kid.
She pulled in the drive-thru of McDonald's and ordered a kid's meal and a sandwich for herself.
After about fifteen minutes, she pulled into CSI parking lot. She noticed Horatio was already standing out on the steps. Horatio looked at her as she parked the car.
Calleigh jumped out the driver's seat and opened the back door. She helped Layla out the truck and walked over to Horatio.
“Sorry Horatio,” Calleigh said, walking close to him. “I was busy.”
Horatio smiled at the little girl. He noticed that she looked a lot like Calleigh but that couldn't be. Calleigh told him everything and if she had a baby, he would've known. “Who's that?”
Calleigh looked down at Layla and then at Horatio. “Horatio,” Calleigh paused. “This is Layla. She's my daughter.” Horatio stared wide-eyed at her. So many questions were running through his head and some of them he wanted answered immediately..but now was not the time.
“Calleigh...Calleigh, I called you in because a woman in her twenties was found dead on the beach. Alexx is on her way over but I tell you what. How about you take care of what you have to do know and we'll talk later.”
“Horatio, I'm still capable of doing my job,” Calleigh said.
“Alright,” Horatio said. “What do you want to do now?” Horatio couldn't believe himself. He was actually lost for words. So many thoughts, questions everything running through his head but he just didn't want to ask them now.
“Well, I say I'll grab my kit and get going.”
“Calleigh, I think it would be a little disturbing if you brought Layla along.” Horatio said, adjusting his position.
Calleigh looked down at Layla. She was playing with her Dora the Explorer doll and making her fly through the air. Calleigh smiled. “Yeah, I know. I was thinking...” She didn't know what to say. “...I don't know-”
“Calleigh, how about you do lab work today and we'll figure out something tomorrow. I'll have Eric and...” Horatio drifted off thinking about the lack of people he could call on to go on a call out. Natalia was pregnant; Calleigh now had a child which he was still shocked about, the last person he could depend on was...Ryan. Horatio came back to his thoughts. “I'll have Eric and Ryan go out and process the scene. You can just process the evidence when it get in.”
Calleigh smiled. “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” Calleigh grabbed Layla's hand and led her in the building.
Eric was in the building looking out the window and saw the whole scene. That couldn't be. Not what he saw with his own eyes. He needed to talk to Calleigh and as soon as he came back from the crime scene, he definitely was going to talk to her.

Natalia saw Calleigh walking down the hall, towards the break room and noticed that she was not alone. She looked down and saw a little kid, happily carrying a Dora the Explorer toy with her. Natalia didn't want to be nosy but she just had to know. What's with the kid? "Calleigh," Natalia said, catching up to Calleigh. Calleigh turned around and smiled at her. "Wow Nat, you're really growing." Natalia smiled for a moment and then her smile dropped. She rubbed her stomach and looked down at the child. Up close, she could see that the child looked just like Calleigh...but that couldn't be..could it? "Who's child?" "Natalia," Calleigh swallowed. "She's mine." Natalia looked at her confusingly, trying to process what was just said, when Calleigh finished, "Her name is Layla." "But how?" Natalia asked. Calleigh looked at stared at her for a moment and raised her eyebrows, "Now Natalia, you know how a baby is made right?" "Duh," Natalia said jokingly. "I mean where...where has she been all of this time?" She didn't want to come out and say it like that but she had to know. "It's a long story," Calleigh said, "And I promise I'll tell you later. Right now though, Eric and Ryan is due back any minute and I just want to talk to him about this before..." She stopped talking when she heard someone talking down the hall and it sounded like Eric. "I want to tell him before anyone else does," she said quickly. "So if you see him, tell him I need to talk to him and please do not tell him about this." Calleigh looked at Natalia in her eyes. "Okay, I promise I'll tell him you're looking for him and I will not tell him about what we talked about," Natalia said. "Good. I have to get Layla in the break room so she can eat her lunch." Calleigh walked away quickly and headed to the break room. As soon as she turned the corner, she saw Eric coming down the hall.


Eric headed inside the DNA lab to drop off some evidence when he saw Natalia in there. Natalia was basically wiping down the table, preparing for the new samples she knew were going to be dropped off any second. "Natalia," Eric said in his cuban accent. He rarely ever used it, but he was using it now. "How are you doing?" "I'm fine," Natalia said simply. Eric inhaled. "Here are the samples from the girl on the beach." He handled them to her. "Calleigh said that she wants to talk to you," Natalia said, grabbing the samples. "Alright," Eric nodded, "Alright, I need to see her too." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Eric walked down the hall towards the gun lab. He went inside and Calleigh wasn't in there. That's when he pulled out his cell phone and called her. Calleigh told him that she was in the break room. A few minutes later, Eric was at the break room, looking through the window at Calleigh and Layla. Calleigh didn't realize Eric was standing there. After a few more moments, Eric walked inside. "Hey." "Hey," Calleigh said. She looked in Eric's eyes and noticed his eye gaze shifted to Layla. He swallowed. "Who's that?" Eric asked. Calleigh looked at Layla. At this point, she was tired of going over and over again, explaining to everyone that Layla was her daughter. She ran her fingers through her hair and stood up. She walked over to Eric, who was standing by the soda machine. "Eric, she's my daughter. Her name is Layla." Eric looked from Calleigh to Layla. He then ran his fingers across his face and stared. "Eric, are you okay?" "Yeah, it's just a shock. I mean I'm happy for you..." Calleigh turned around to face Layla, "sweetie, I'll be right back." Calleigh grabbed Eric's arm and pulled him outside. "Now you know I'm professional on all aspects of my life, especially now on this job, And I've taken a big step by bringing her here." Calleigh looked away. "But when you say I'm happy for you, are you saying that you don't want to be in a relationship with me because of my child?" She ran fingers through her hair as she thought about how petty she sounded. Eric got hint of her pettiness and he laughed. That was so unlike Calleigh. "Calleigh, I didn't mean it that way at all. You know me, you know I love kids, I want kids. I'm happy about the situation. It's just that there's a huge gap between Calleigh this morning and Calleigh right now. I just want to be filled in but I know now is not the time. How about dinner later on. You, Me and Layla." Calleigh smiled. "Sure, but you'll just have to come over my house later and when Layla goes to bed..." "...we'll get the party started," Eric joked. "No," Calleigh laughed. "I'll tell you the whole story." noticable, if you know what I mean. I think it's best that we address those problems now." Everybody looked around the room to see who would stand up first. Of course they didn't all have problems but a majority of them had them. Horatio looked at Alexx. Him and Alexx were truly the mother and father of the team. Calleigh and Eric had been the oldest, wiser kids and Natalia and Ryan had been the younger mischieveous ones. Now, it seemed like the roles changed and dramatically. Calleigh stood up. "Horatio, I'm sorry about what's been going on lately. Personal lives have been interfering with work and I know mine has." She held her head low. "I'm not extremely proud of that." She paused for a moment. "Many of you already know about my situation, well I think everyone except Ryan. So the deal is, I have a baby. She's five years old. I never told any one about her because that was in my past and my past is in Louisiana..." Yeah how much more of her past needs to be uncovered? Eric thought. He then hated himself for thinking like that. No, not about Calleigh. How could he? That thought was just as bad as saying something outloud. She's the one that should be d at him. He was expecting a child by Natalia, and he wasn't sure if Horatio even knew about how many relationshipsthat were shared between the team. Did Horatio know when he and Natalia were together? Did he know that he and Calleigh were now toghether? Did he know that Ryan and Natalia were together? Did he know that Natalia is pregnant with his baby? Did Horatio know that Ryan is a little snitch? Eric tightened his lips as he thought about the current problems that were going on in the lab, and they were all personal. "...And so four days ago, child services brought her to me," Calleigh finished, sitting down again. "Calleigh," Horatio started, "Calleigh, I'm happy for you. I'm glad that you have your child and you can look forward spending the future with her." Horatio glanced at a photo of him and Kyle on his desk. It had only been about four months since he found out that he had a son, well he knew about him in his head but in present sense, he finally knew his son. It would be too hard to explain but Horatio knew what Calleigh felt. "I'm sorry for my display at work," Natalia started. "I've just been so sick lately and pregnancy is so hard." Everybody looked at her. "She turned her head and looked at the window. One thing that nobody really knew was that, Natalia hated to be stared at. It made her nervous and self-concious. Of course, she had her ex-husband to thank because of that since he always told her that she as ugly. "I promise I'll do better though." Horatio nodded his head and looked Towards Ryan and Eric. Ryan looked at Horatio and stared out the window. What could he say? He hadn't done anything all this time and if anything, he, Alexx and Horatio were the only ones not involved the in current drama in the lab. "Well, I'm going to try my best to be the best I can be with the job," Ryan said finally. "And learn how to mind you own business," Eric mumbled underneath his breath. Everyone looked at Eric and Calleigh had her mouth wide open in shock. Only Horatio was bold enough to talk to Eric. "Eric, do you have something bothering you?" Horatio asked. Calleigh turned her head and adjusted her body in a position away from Eric. She thought about what Ryan said earlier. Now was her turn to talk to Eric. "I'm just saying if Wolfe shuts his mouth sometime, stop leaking information to the media and God knows where else, we would be a more effective team." "Eric, we're already an effective team," Horatio said. "I'm sure all the media leaks because Ryan." The room got silent and suddenly became uncomfotable. Natalia begin remembering her days when she was the mole in the lab and everyone basically hated her because of that. Ryan was the last to forgive her and now she was trying this relationship thing with him, but Eric just brought up something that wouldn't even sit to well in the room at the moment. Same way with Ryan. He didn't mean to be a leak but it happened, especially when he was with Erica. She always found a way to eavesdrop on him and twist words that came out of his mouth. "Excuse me," Natalia said grabbing her stomach and frowning, "I'll be right back." She ran out the office. Everyone else looked at Eric. Alexx ran out the room to help Natalia and make sure she was okay, Ryan sat there with his hand on his head. Calleigh looked at Eric. Once they locked eyes she shook her head in unbelievable amazement. She couldn't believe Eric at the moment. - - - - - - - - - - - - - It was now inching towards one thirty and Calleigh's day hasn't even started yet. They closed a case in the morning and when Horatio called the emegency meeting at eleven o'clock, Eric was acting wierd. Calleigh sighed loudly and and signed out and headed to the parking lot of her Hummer. As soon as Calleigh approached her truck, se heard her name being called. She turned around and saw Eric. "Where are you going?" Eric said. "Well Eric, I'm going to pick up my daughter," Calleigh said plainly. "Okay, do you mind if I came along with you?" Calleigh thought about it a moment before she answered. Sure, any other ordinary time she would have wanted him to be there, but right now, she just didn't want to deal with him. But again, the better half of her wanted to know why he was acting so wierd. So she agreed to let him come. "Yeah," Calleigh said. "So what's up with the father now?" Eric asked. He just got Calleigh back and he wasn't about to lose her again. As a matter of fact, he was going to make sure that he didn't lose her. He needed her in his life right now. Calleigh rubbed her lips together. She was still unsure about the father of this child. She was told that the father died, but how could a healthy thirty-something-year old guy just suddenly die? "He died," Calleigh said, still unsure herself. "Oh, I'm sorry," Eric said. "Does Layla know he's gone?" "I'm not sure," Calleigh said. Come to think about it, Layla hasn't once asked about her dad or anything like normal kids would do. Considering Layla's situation, not seeing her real mom her whole life but come and adapt to her so quickly, Calleigh couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Eric looked at her questionably. "Honestly Eric, I don't know." She sat up on the sofa. "Look Eric, it's getting late. I'm going to need to rest so I can go to work tomorrow." She stood up and Eric stood up with her. Eric hugged her and kissed Calleigh softly on her lips. He couldn't believe that she was his now. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." He left out the house and Calleigh closed the front door. She changed out of her clothes and lay down in her bed to go to sleep. 000000000000000000000000CSI:Miami000000000000000000000000 Calleigh stepped out the Hummer the next day in front of the school to drop Layla off. Little did Eric know, she was still thinking about what he said. Was Layla's dad dead? Was he not? Why was Layla so calm and why did she take to her so quickly? Calleigh pushed all the thoughts out of her head and helped Layla out of the Hummer. She walked her to her class and kissed her goodbye on her cheek. "I'll be here after school," Calleigh said. On her way back to the Hummer, someone called her name. She turned around to see who. "Calleigh Duquesne," the person repeated. Calleigh blinked her eyes. This couldn't be... "Well if it isn't the walking dead," Calleigh said. The man walked closer to her. He was tall, about as tall as Eric, tan skinned and muscular. He also had gray eyes and blonde hair. "It's nice to see you too." Yet another man from her past has come back to her life. She didn't know what to say, so he continued talking. "It's nice to see you in mother mode. I knew you could do it." "Okay Josh, what do you want?" Calleigh finally said. He came closer to Calleigh, so close that she could feel his heart beating on her shoulder. He ran his fingers through her hair slowly and locked eyes with Calleigh. Calleigh wanted so bad to focus her eyes on something else but she remembered everything about Josh and what made him perfect..but Eric was perfect but she had history with Josh...but she was building history with Eric. She was torn. "Calleigh, I saw your dad and he told me that you're in Miami. I just want to be a family. I haven't been with a girl since, you. I wanted so much to tell you how much I liked you and how much I wanted to be with you back in College but I was too shy. I dealt with everyday whether or not I made the right choice by letting you go. Especially now, when all Layla could talk ask about is her mom." Calleigh felt so high schoolish. Suddenly, she went from professional to high school drama. She was speechless. "I have to get to work," Calleigh said, walking off. Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her gently back to him. "Calleigh, I really need to talk to you." Calleigh tried to break free from his grasp but she couldn't. Finally giving in, she looked at him. "Okay, I'll meet you at this restuarant tonight." She wrote the address down. "Now please excuse me, I have to get to work." "Alright, I'll see you tonight," Josh said, finally satisified to leave. Calleigh watched as he drove off. She then got in her Hummer and left. Calleigh was fifteen minutes late getting to work. She went in her lab to finish comparing bullets. 00000000000000000000000CSI:Miami0000000000000000000000000 Eric walked in DNA to see what Natalia got off samples. His day wasn't going so good since he'd planned on seeing Calleigh before their work day actually started. He was going to have to find a way to spend more time with her. It seemed so impossible now since Calleigh now had Layla and mostly all of Calleigh's time would be spent with the little girl. He turned the corner to the lab and got the shock of his life. Ryan was in there with Natalia and he was making small conversation with her, rubbing her belly and making her laugh. Eric cleared his throat. Ryan and Natalia looked at him. "Hey Eric," Natalia said. "Hey, got anything yet?" Eric said, not even acknowledging Ryan. For one, Eric didn't want Ryan touching his baby...well his baby inside of Natalia. Ryan rubbed Natalia's arm and Natalia smiled at him. Ryan mouthed see you later and Natalia nodded. Once Ryan left out the room, Natalia started talking. "Here are the samples from the girl on the beach. Ryan brought in tox reports. The reports indicated that she was chloraformed. The semen in her body was a match to Jeff Turner, a high profile accountant and I can only guess that the fingerprints that you got will be a match too." Eric looked at Natalia amazed. "So you did all of that this morning?" Natalia wrinkled her face, "Yes Eric. So did you ever run the finerprints?" "I'm getting ready to do that now," Eric said. He didn't want to let her know that he was behind in his work because he was thinking about Calleigh. "Okay, could you jump on that ASAP, I think Horatio want's to put this guy away today," Natalia said, rubbing her stomach. "I'm going to get some tea." "Natalia," Eric said. "How is the baby doing?" "She's fine," Natalia said. "I have an appointment later today." "Okay," Eric said. "I'll have the results when you come back." 00000000000000000000000CSI:Miami0000000000000000000000000 Calleigh was in the gun lab, firing off bullets, comparing them to another case she was working on. Somehow, she just couldn't keep her mind on work, which was so unlike her. She finally finished and after writing her report, she went to the break room. She noticed Alexx and Natalia were already in there. "Hey Alexx, hey Natalia," Calleigh said cheerfully. Finally, for the first time today, she felt normacy in her. "Hey," Natalia and Alexx both said at the same time, returning the cheerfulness. "Alexx," Calleigh said. "So guess what?" "What sweetie?" Alexx said with a smile on her face. "Well, I'm a mommy," Calleigh said proudly. "Aww, my little girl has grown up," Alexx said, pulling Calleigh into a hug. She always thought of Calleigh as a daughter and Calleigh thought of her as a mother, Alexx was much better than her own mother. "So what, you and Eric finally..." "It's not like that," Calleigh said, breaking free from Alexx. She watched as Alexx looked confused and she continued. "I have a daughter and she's five years old." More confusing in Alexx's eyes. "Alexx, I had my daughter before I started working here. But now she lives with me. I'll bring her by sometime so you can see her." "And you have to see her," Natalia butted in. "She looks like a mini Calleigh." "I'm so happy for you," Alexx said. "And you too, Natalia," she continued. "I guess I won't be the only mommy around here anymore." 00000000000000000000000CSI:Miami0000000000000000000000000 Eric was still busy working on the prints, when Ryan walked in. He stared at Eric. Eric seemed like he was working carelessly. "Are you okay, Delko?" Ryan asked. Eric exhaled. "Not really. It's Calleigh and her baby..." he realized how carelessly he just told Calleigh's secret. "Did you just say Calleigh's baby?" Ryan asked. "No I meant Natalia. Natalia and her baby." "But I thought you were with Calleigh," Ryan said. "Wolfe, would you mind your own business?" Eric yelled. "Alright, alright," Ryan said. Then he thought over in his head, he wasn't the one that started telling people 'business.' He'd asked how Eric was doing. "Chill. Anyway, do you have the results for the prints yet?" "I'm running them now," Eric said. It was silent for a moment. "Are you and Natalia seeing each other?" "Does it matter if we are?" Ryan said. "Yes it does," Eric said. "Well, mind your own business Delko," Ryan mocked. Eric was about to say something else, when the Machine beeped. "Jeff Turner," Eric said silently. "I'm going to tell Horatio." He walked down the hall and headed towards Horatio's office. Chapter 6: Eric stared at Calleigh while she drove. Calleigh could feel his eyes on her but she refused to give into him. She kept her eyes on the road ahead, hoping that he'd stop staring. Her own thoughts were consuming her head and before she knew anything, she was talking, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the truck. "What?" Eric said. "I said what's wrong with you?" "Nothing Calleigh," Eric answered. In his mind, so many things were wrong. He just didn't know how to began to process it all. "Well something is wrong," Calleigh said, sounding more harshly than she intended. Eric stared at her, "did I do something wrong?" Eric asked. Calleigh rubbed her lips together and turned on her turn signal to make a left turn. She concentrated hard and pulled inside the school's parking lot before speaking again. Once she cut of the engine, she began talking. "Why did you basically jump down on Ryan like that? Not to mention you opened up old wounds with Natalia. Both of them are sorry and are with us now, so I think its time..." "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were taking up for Ryan," Eric said, interrupting Calleigh. Calleigh was taking slightly aback but she wasn't willing to stand down. "Eric, I'm not. I'm just saying that maybe there is another reason for you lashing out at Ryan like that." "We'll there isn't," Eric said. "Wolfe just needs to learn how to mind his own business." Calleigh thought about his words for a moment. Her mind went back to the breakroom when Ryan walked in. Ryan had said that Eric was mad, but not everything seemed to be coming true with what Ryan said. "Okay," Calleigh began. "Don't talk to me until you tell me a real reason." Calleigh opened the door of the Hummer quickly and jumped out. Just as fast as she jumped out, Eric did the same. He came around to the driver's side of the hummer and Calleigh ran her fingers through her hair, realizing she was trapped in the confined space by the Hummer and other parked cars around her. Eric's way was the only way out the little space. "Calleigh," Eric said, grabbing hold to her shoulders. "There's nothing wrong." Calleigh refused to look in his face. So many questions were going through her head at the moment. The one that stuck out the most was how he felt about Natalia. She wanted to ask him that so bad, but she didn't want to open up any old wounds. "Excuse me Eric, I need to go pick up my child." "Calleigh, I'll come with you." Calleigh pushed pass Eric, walking ahead of him towards the school. Eric was unaware of what he did and somehow wondered if Calleigh telepathically read his mind about his thought earlier today in Horatio's office. He hoped she didn't. Calleigh kept walking and gradually increased her speed despite the fact that she had on three-inched heels. She was hoping that she would lose Eric in the sea of other parents, but that didn't happen. The faster she walked the faster Eric walked. Finally she stopped outside of Layla's classroom. "Calleigh," Eric started. "Eric, please not right now," Calleigh said. "Okay, how about tonight over dinner." "I have plans," Calleigh said simply. "Calleigh are you mad at me for what I said to Ryan?" "No," Calleigh said. "You really started unnecessary drama in the lab by bringing up old things. Natalia is pregnant."Calleigh said the last part in a low voice. "And that baby might have complications because you're stressing her out. Which reminds me, how do you feel about Natalia being pregnant with your baby?" Calleigh didn't want to be petty but the thought was just teetering on her mind and she didn't want to die without knowing the answer. Eric looked at Calleigh dumbfounded. "Now you're bring up old stuff," Eric said. He didn't want to say that, but Calleigh was hurting his feelings. Calleigh pushed Eric to the side. "Okay, if you can basically say whatever you want about Ryan then why can't you just tell me your feelings?" "Why do you keep bring Ryan up in our conversation? I didn't mean..." "Why are we having this conversation, "Calleigh said, interrupting Eric. She walked away, heading back towards the classroom and disappearing inside. After about two minutes, Calleigh reappeared holding on to Layla's hand. "Calleigh, Eric said, grabbing Calleigh's shoulder and stopping her. Layla looked up at Eric and smiled. "Eric, please I really don't have time for this right now. I got to get Layla to Child Care." "But Calleigh, Child Care is right in our building," Eric said, hinting a little sadness in his voice. Calleigh could see that she was hurting his feelings but what about hers. This is the second time Eric hurt her. He probably didn't mean to but it happened.
It was a little later in the day, about 4:00pm and Calleigh and Eric had just come in from a crime scene. Calleigh didn't really want to go out on the scene with Eric, considering the little disagreement earlier today, but she'd promise Horatio that she wouldn't let pettiness interfere with her job. Plus, Horatio depended on his lead CSI to get the job done. Calleigh was now in the lab, the DNA Lab actually, getting prints off a bullet casing when her phone started ringing. "Duquesne," she answered. "Duquesne," the person on the other end said. The voice was that of Layla's father, Josh. "I like how you say your name." "Yeah, what do you want," Calleigh joked. "I'm trying to get work done here." In the process of her on the phone, Eric walked in, unnoticed by her. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that I was going to pick you and Layla up tonight. I can't wait to see her face because she haven't seen me in about a week." "You know that was mean," Calleigh started. "What's with the whole dramatic, 'I'm dead and I wanted to give my daughter to her birth mother' thing?" Eric looked at Calleigh, wanting to leave the room, but wanting to know more too. His mind came to realize that she was on the phone with Layla's father. Another man in Calleigh's life and he had something over Eric. Calleigh had his baby and she was mad at him. Eric now knew how Calleigh felt by Natalia being pregnant with his baby. Things were never going to be the same ever again, and here was the evidence. Calleigh speaking brought Eric out of his thoughts. "Alright," Calleigh said. "I'll meet you outside my office at 5:00pm. Don't be late." She closed her phone and turned around, noticing Eric leaning against the table as if he was about to have a heart attack. "Eric, are you okay?" Calleigh asked, confusingly. Eric didn't answer but continued stare into space, almost grabbing his chest with his mouth opened. Calleigh stood up and walked over to Eric. Once her hand touched his, Eric broke out of his gaze. Calleigh smiled. "Eric, you scared me. You had me thinking that you were having a heart attack." Eric grabbed Calleigh's hand and looked her in the eyes very seriously. "Calleigh, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. You're my best friend and I love you as my girlfriend. I love everything about you and I just don't want to lose you. I now know how you feel about the 'Natalia being pregnant' situation." Calleigh frowned, "Eric, are you dying?" Eric smiled. "No Calleigh, I just...well I'll probably die if you leave my life." "Eric, I'm not going anywhere," Calleigh said, reasurring him. "We can work through this, right?" Eric smiled, running his fingers through her hair softly. Calleigh closed her eyes, allowing Eric to see that she was simply enjoying his touch. "Yes," Eric said, "But I really know how you feel. I was jealous because you already had a child and now even more jealous because you're talking to Layla's father and he has something that will always make him part of our relationship." Calleigh thought over in her head at how familiar the conversation sounded. These were her words and now Eric was reciting them. "Well," Calleigh started, biting her lower lip just a little, "It's the same with Natalia. She has a little piece of our relationship. I guess we have to work a little harder so that those little pieces don't get in our way." Eric smiled. "So you're not mad at me?" Calleigh smiled at how much Eric sounded like a child. "No, I was never mad. I knew something was wrong with you and if I acted like I was mad at you, you would tell me the truth. It's just poor Ryan, he's always the on the worse end of situations." Eric was about to say something else, but he didn't want to compromise they're relationship anymore than it already was. He wanted to tell Calleigh that Ryan was with Natalia now, but if he told her that, she'd think that he was mad at Ryan because of that. Eric really did think Ryan should mind his own business more, but part of the reason he was mad at Ryan is because he thought Ryan should just leave Natalia alone. But on his own life, what if that 'guy' said the same thing about Layla? Calleigh was with Eric now and that made Layla part of him. Same with Natalia. He was long gone out of her life and if Ryan wanted to step up and take care of the baby, he would just have to let Ryan do it. "Eric, what are you thinking about?" Calleigh said, breaking Eric from his thoughts. "Oh, nothing much. Can you do dinner tonight?" Calleigh bit her lower lip. "No, but it's not because I'm made at you, it's just because I'm meeting Layla's dad tonight." "Oh, I understand," Eric said. "Eric, how about you meet us at the restaurant?" Calleigh said, knowing that that probably was a bad idea. "No, that's okay. Are you free tonight then? Like for dessert?" Calleigh lips curled into a smile. "Eric, sure. I'll see you same time as last night, when Layla goes to sleep," she said playfully.