Title: A Father's Love
Author: Kacey
Rating: FRT or PG-13
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairing: implied Eric/Ryan
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Just borrowing them for fun.
Summary: Eric receives visitation rights to see his son.
Fic Prompt: # 17: Parents
Warnings: Inspired by the table on AU100, I think. Anyway, on some lj, I don't remember which one. I've created an AU based on the characters in CSI: Miami and the premises of the show. Also totally inspired by the Sylum Clan, not that this contains vampires, because I assure you, it does not. I do not own these characters, their creators and producers, CBS, etc. do. Each story will be part of this AU. The overall rating is FRMA or NC-17, but not all stories will be rated that. In this AU, Ryan is not a cop or CSI. And Speed is alive. The main pairings are Eric/Ryan, Horatio/Speed and anyone else I might add in. Some stories might be crossovers, I'll try to give warnings for each story.
Note: Legally, I don't know how Florida works in cases of adoption. I'm going from my own experience and the experience of a friend of mine. So, if this isn't how it works in Florida, just ignore it.
Also, I used the names of the extraneous characters, like Eric's other two sisters and Ryan's grandparents, Alexx's husband, etc. from some of my other stories. It just makes it easier for me. If they're not right and someone knows the canon names of Alexx's husband and Eric's other sisters, please let me know.
Late Season Two

***

The next day Eric called the number on the business card Ryan had given him. He spoke with Ryan's secretary and set up an appointment for that Saturday morning. Dialing his parents up, he spoke to his mother and told her that he needed to talk to them and his sisters, it was very important. She told him that she'd call his sisters and ask them to come over that night; she'd even make sure that his father stayed home and listened to him.

That night he sat down with them and explained the situation to his family. They were all fairly shocked, but extremely supportive. His sisters couldn't wait to meet their new nephew, and his parents couldn't wait to meet their new grandson. His mother stated that she was going with him in order talk to this young man who had threatened her only son. Eric just smiled sadly and said, "Momma, he's just protecting his child."

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

Eric spent the next day on a case with Speed, his mind clearly elsewhere. Everyone knew that he was meeting with Ryan the next morning and were very understanding. When Speed and he finally solved the case that evening and were leaving, the team wished him good luck and told him to call if anything happened. Promising them that he would, Eric went home and got all of his to do list finished when it became obvious that he wasn't going to get any sleep.

Driving over and picking up his mother the next morning, he parked the car in front of the address he had been given for this meeting. It wasn't what he had been expecting. He had been expecting neutral territory. Instead, it looked like they were meeting at Ryan's house. Raising his brow in surprise, Eric quickly got out of his vehicle and helped his mother. Escorting her up the sidewalk, he rang the doorbell. A little girl about three or four years old answered the door, her big brown eyes staring up at them out of the face of a woman Eric had thought he'd never see again. And I never will, he reminded himself.

"Des, you didn't answer the door, did you?"

Clorinda Delko watched as a young man, shorter and leaner than her son walked around the corner into view. For such an important meeting, he was dressed casually, in jeans and t-shirt. He shook his head in resignation at seeing the open door and the people standing there. Smiling politely, he leaned down and picked up the girl when she held her arms up to him in entreaty. Opening the door further, he waved them in.

"Come on in. Do you need anything? Something to drink, eat?"

"No, thank you, young man. We're fine," Clorinda answered. "Why don't you just tell us what's what, yes?"

Smiling wanly at her, Ryan leaned down and whispered something in his daughter's ear. Sighing heavily, she pouted, "All right, Daddy. But you'll come play with us later, right?"

"Of course, I will. Now go." With that, he gently placed her on the ground and watched as she ran off and disappeared down the hallway. Turning back to his guests, he politely asked, "Would you please follow me?"

Clorinda and Eric followed Ryan down the hallway, opposite the direction his daughter had taken. He led them into a large, open room filled with comfortable looking furniture. "Sit anywhere you like, I need to go grab a couple of things. I'll be right back."

Instead of sitting down, Clorinda, Eric following her, walked over to the fireplace, looking over the pictures on the mantle. Smiling at all of the pictures of Ryan with his children, she wondered where their mother had been when they were taken and why she wasn't with them. "He looks just like you, Eric. We don't even need a blood test to prove paternity."

"It's still a wise precaution to get one done," Ryan stated from the doorway, neutrally watching as the biological father and grandmother of his son looked over some of their happier memories. Gesturing towards the furniture, he said, "If you would both sit down, I have several documents for you, Mr. Delko."

Nodding his head in agreement, Eric escorted his mother over and helped her sit down on the couch before sitting down as well. He watched as Ryan sat down across from them on one of the chairs and sat a few folders on the table in front of them. Before Ryan could say anything, Eric spoke up. "One thing, my name is Eric. Call me that or Delko. None of this mister stuff."

"Fine," Ryan replied. "Same principle here. Call me Ryan or Wolfe. I don't answer to Mr. Wolfe unless I'm in court."

"Fair enough, young man," Clorinda interrupted. "You may call me Clorinda. Now, what do you have for us?"

Handing over one folder, Ryan explained, "These are the adoption papers for my son. Everything pertaining to the adoption is in there, including the affidavit she signed stating that you were dead, Delko. My grandfather's family lawyer took care of this for us, that way we legally didn't handle any aspect of this case."

Picking up the next folder, he continued, "These are the papers pertaining to my wife's death, including her will. Since I only just read the will a month ago --"

"How long has she been dead?" Eric interjected. "That's the second time you've said you just read her will a month ago."

"A year," Ryan uncomfortably said. "She's been dead for a year."

"And you just read her will?" Clorinda incredulously asked. "What were you waiting for, Armageddon?"

"My grandfather's family lawyer took care of everything, Mrs. Delko --"

"Clorinda," she stopped him. "My name is Clorinda."

Nodding his head in acceptance, Ryan continued, "All right, Clorinda. I didn't really feel like reading it, first off. Secondly, I didn't really care. We were getting a divorce anyway. I just wanted her out of my life. Layla took care of everything, but she didn't catch the wording in the clause about your son until six weeks ago. She was going through the file as a precursor to sending it through probate court. That's when she caught the phrasing of the clause. It made her question whether or not Adriana had lied. She hired a private investigator after receiving my grandfather's approval. He found out several things I hadn't known about my own wife, made me feel really stupid. That's not the point, though. The point is that he found your son, alive and well, even though Adriana had sworn that he was dead. That's when I started my own investigation into your family."

"Why were you getting a divorce?" Eric asked curiously.

"She wanted one, said she'd found someone else and wanted out of Miami," Ryan flatly replied. "I told her I'd give her one, but my children stayed with me. Plus she had to abide by the prenuptial agreement that she'd signed when we got married, as well as take back her maiden name. If she could abide by these nonnegotiables, I'd pay her to get gone and stay that way."

"Wow," Clorinda said. "That's ice cold, young man, to treat someone you loved that way."

Ryan shot her a look of amused tolerance and icily responded, "I never said that I loved her, Clorinda. Just that I married her. There is a difference. We got married simply so that her child could have a name, and so that my parents would get off of my back about getting married. It was a great arrangement. And that's all it was. I love my children, very much so. They're the only good things to ever come out of my marriage."

An awkward silence ensued. Finally breaking the silence, Eric inquired, "So what's in the other folders?"

"The rest are legal and other documents," Ryan brusquely stated. Picking each folder up as he explained the contents, he looked Eric square in the eyes and honestly said, "You will need to take these to your lawyer and have them checked over by them. This one is a visitation contract, stating when you can and can't have Antony and other things. This one is a notification of intent to keep custody through adoption. These two are your copies of the findings run by the investigators prior to contacting you. Please have your lawyer go through these. Then get back with me. We'll go from there, depending on what your lawyer has to say."

"Can I have your personal number?" Eric asked. "My sister, Juanita, is a lawyer, family law, and she can look them over today. So, I can call you later today."

"Sure. Just let me find some paper and a pen," Ryan muttered, getting up and walking out of the room. He came back several minutes later, a piece of paper in his hands. "The top one is the one here. The other is my cell. I don't know where I'll be, as we're going out with my grandparents shortly."

Eric took the paper from Ryan and helped his mother stand up. He looked at Ryan and finally asked, "Can I see him?"

Several emotions flashed across Ryan's face before he shut his eyes and painfully whispered, "Yes. Just...don't let him see you, please. He's...fragile at the moment. Follow me."

Grabbing up the files and escorting his mother, the two of them followed Ryan through the hallway clear to the other end of the house. He led them to a door at the end of the hallway, opening it and walking through the room. Clorinda and Eric noticed that they were walking through what was more than likely Ryan's bedroom. Walking over to the wall of windows, he opened a door and went outside. They followed him and stepped over to the brick wall Ryan was leaning on.

They heard the shrieks and laughter of children at play. Standing next to Ryan, they watched the two children and the woman with them chasing each other around the yard. The little girl who had answered the door was running after the woman, and the boy was running after both of them. He was a miniature version of Eric, dark skin, dark eyes and dark hair at five years old. Watching them for the next several minutes, Eric whispered, "Thank you," before he escorted his mother back through the house and out the door. Ryan stood in the front door, staring after them as they drove away.

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Juanita Delko looked up from the stack of papers she was going through for her brother on her parent's kitchen table and hollered, "If I have to come in there one more time, you're going to be in big trouble, boys. That includes you, too, Poppa."

Eric smirked and smothered his laughter when she glared at him. Smiling brightly at her until she shook her head in exasperation at him, Eric finally asked, "So?"

"Well, Mr. Wolfe was very thorough," Juanita said, impressed. "Not that I expected anything less from the CEO/CFO and senior partner of Barrett and Wolfe. He knows the law extremely well, Eric. Even if you are the boy's biological father, reading these documents here, I don't see a way for you to gain custody of him. Mr. Wolfe covered his tracks very well, almost like he was preparing for this day. He's very ruthless in court, Eric. Plus, he's being more than fair on visitation. My ex doesn't get to see his own sons as often as he's willing to let you have his son. Right now, you don't have any legal ground to stand on. For now, take the man up on his offer and get to know your son. Momma's right, that boy is yours. He looks just like you. And we'll need to do our own background work and investigation on Mr. Wolfe and his family. Just call the man and ask when we can meet your son."

"Great, sis," Eric said enthusiastically. "Thanks."

Walking out the screen door into the backyard, Eric pulled the piece of paper Ryan had written his numbers down on out of his pocket. Reaching down, he took his phone off of his waistband and dialed the home number first. Not receiving an answer, he then dialed the cell number. He could hear the people in the background laughing and generally having a good time when Ryan said hello.

"Hi. This is Eric Delko. May I speak with you for a moment?" Eric asked.

"Yeah," Ryan said. "Hold on a minute...Grandmere, I need to take this call. I'll be right back...You still there?"

"Yes. My sister looked over everything. For right now, after she completes her own investigation and pending a blood test, my family and I would really like to meet Antony," Eric rushed out.

He heard a heavy sigh before Ryan replied. "All right. I'd like to meet with you and whoever else you wish to bring to set up a schedule. The first few visits I'd like to be there with him. Not because I don't trust you, even though I don't, but because Tony...it takes time for him to trust people. And, until I'm sure he's comfortable with you, I'm not going to leave him alone with you or your family."

"That sounds fair. When would be a good time for you?" Eric inquired.

"I'll be there in a minute, baby," Ryan said distractedly. "Um...how about Monday? Unless you have to work. My son's doctor already has his blood on file. That way we can take care of the blood test first thing."

"My boss is pretty flexible and willing to work with me on this issue," Eric responded. "I'll call you Monday morning if I can't make it. When and where?"

"Miami Pediatrics. Seven," came the muffled reply. "I'll see you then, unless I hear otherwise. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Listening to the dial tone, Eric called Alexx, Speed, Calleigh and Horatio with the news, promising them that he'd meet them for drinks later that night.

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Two Years Later

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Eric walked out the front door, Des and Tony following him just in time to catch Diego as he attempted to escape from Ryan and the SUV. He could hear Alex crying from inside the car and wondered had happened in the five minutes he'd been gone.

"And just where do you think you're going, young man?" Eric questioned, looking into his son's eyes.

"Poppa!" the one year old exclaimed, hugging Eric tightly and not letting go.

Walking up to the SUV, he looked into the back and saw Ryan attempting to soothe their daughter out of her crying fit, not that she was having any of that. She had a rigid grip on Ryan's shirt and wasn't letting go as she kept on crying. Smirking slightly, manhandling Diego into the carseat, Eric nonchalantly asked, "What happened?"

"She's mad," Ryan said.

"Oh, you think," Eric sarcastically responded. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Ryan said. "I didn't do anything. She got jealous because I was paying attention to Diego. Alex has been on this kick all week. Every time my attention isn't on her, she throws a fit. You'd think she'd be used to sharing me by now."

"I can understand her reluctance to share," Eric quipped, laughing when Ryan scowled at him. "Maybe you should just ignore her when she throws her fits."

"I normally do, but Diego hit her and caught her eye," Ryan explained. "That's how he got away. And that's his kick this week, escaping any time he can. I think he learned that from you."

"Oh, no. Must be from you," Eric mocked. "After all, he shares your DNA."

"So Alex's jealousy is from you?" Ryan asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Of course," Eric said, taking Alex from Ryan and placing her in her carseat, and buckling up their other children. "Don't I always try to keep your attention fixed on me?"

Helping Ryan out of the SUV, he kissed him and gently pushed him in the direction of the front door and called out, "Don't forget the ice cream. My sisters love your homemade ice cream. And hurry up! We're going to be late, love."

***