Only Love

Chapter 26

2
years later...

"Eric...
have you seen Samantha?" Horatio asked, noticing his wife's
absence from the scene they were processing.

Eric
nodded and pointed towards a small outcrop of palm trees. "She
ran off that way."

Horatio
followed Eric's line of site, not seeing his wife. Frowning, Horatio
turned back to Eric. "Ran?"

Eric
nodded. "Yeah, H. I don't think she's feeling well."

Sighing
briefly, Horatio thanked Eric and walked towards the tree line in
search of Samantha. It was only a matter of moments before Horatio
came upon his wife. Unfortunately he found her on all fours emptying
the contents of her stomach into a nearby bush. Kneeling down beside
her, Horatio rubbed Samantha's back gently until her retching
subsided. "You ok?" He asked quietly, watching as
Samantha turned around and plopped her bottom down on the grass.

Nodding
her head, Samantha turned her bleary eyes to her husband and smiled
weakly. "Better now." Taking a deep breath, Samantha
moved to stand, but stopped short when Horatio's hand came down
gently on her knee.

"Are
you pregnant?" Horatio asked softly, tracing slow circles around
her knee.

Feeling
her eyes well up with tears, Samantha shrugged her shoulders. "I
don't know... but I think so. I was going to buy a test tonight to
be sure." She smiled, her eyes searching Horatio's for how he
was taking the news. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything... I
wanted to be sure first."

Taking
her face gently in his hands, Horatio held Samantha gently. "I
love you." He said with a smile.

"You're
not mad?"

Horatio
shook his head. "Why would I possibly be mad that my wife might
be having another child?"

"Because
we've been using birth control. And it obviously didn't work."

He
shrugged, taking Samantha into his arms and hugging her gently. "Do
you believe everything happens for a reason?"

"Yeah."
She sighed happily. "I do."

"So
do I." Horatio whispered softly. "Three years ago... a
car accident brought us together."

Samantha
chuckled softly. "Yeah. But I was applying for a job... we
probably would have still met."

Horatio
shrugged. "A lot of things can happen to a resume." He
paused a moment, gently stroking his wife's soft red hair. "And
if you are pregnant... then it's because we were meant to have
another baby."

Sighing
happily, Samantha pulled gently out of Horatio's arms and smiled.
"We're going to have the double the nanny's salary for having to
deal with three toddlers AND an infant."

Horatio
laughed. "I think it's worth every penny."

Samantha
laughed and leaned forward to hug her husband. "Every penny."

---------------------------------------------

9
months later, Samantha and Horatio welcomed Sary Caine into the
world. She was a beautiful healthy girl with her mother's glowing
green eyes and fiery red locks.

Standing
outside Samantha's room, Horatio knelt down before his three young
boys. "Now..." Horatio said softly, turning his eyes from
one boy to the next. "... we're going inside to see mommy and
your new baby sister. But we have to be quiet."

"Why?"
Little Jason asked, prompting Jeremy and Jacob to ask questions of
their own. Soon after three little voices were all yelling at once
and Horatio decided it was time to pull out the dad card.

"Boys."
Horatio said in the low tone that clearly said "daddy has had
enough." Apparently the boys knew what this tone meant as they
quieted immediately. Sighing gently, Horatio ruffled each of the
boys unruly red locks. "Ok. Let's go see your new baby
sister."

"Yay!"
All three boys called out simultaneously as they ran past Horatio
and into their mother's room. Taking a deep breath, Horatio chuckled
and followed them into the room.