Title: What's Important
Author: lady529
Disclaimer: ..not to be rude, but do I look like my name could be Anthony Zuiker? Didn't think so.
Warnings and the likes: None that I'm aware of..
Pairings: None
Summary: What's really important.
Spoilers: Not really..
I decided to write a little minific, seeing as I found a little plothatchling and the comm really needs action, so here it is, at least now nobody can fault me for not trying : )

He probably should listen to them. They're probably right. Here he is, uncomfortably close to 40, single (and well beyond that, if he's going to be honest) ever since his divorce, barely any friends, two pet fish (another one died this morning. There used to be 4), and the highlight of his day is when he gets to be nasty towards Warrick just for the hell of it (and because Warrick had the nerve to think he was stupid. If he said the sample contained no trace of bug repellent, then the sample contained no trace of bug repellent, end of story).

He does have children, but as long as he doesn't get to see them, do they really count for this list? He's not sure. He doesn't like the thought of his children not counting, even if it's for something as stupid as this list he's making in his head, but do they really?

He does have some friends. If he squints with one eye and closes the other. He does have breakfast with Jacqui, Bobby, Archie and Mandy after each shift save Thursdays, when he goes straight home and tries to call his kids, hoping that for some reason, his ex-wife isn't at home this one day, so he can tell them how much he misses them.

She's always home. And he never gets to talk to them.

He does get an earful, though. About how marrying him was the worst thing that happened to her, and how much better her life would have been if she'd never met him, never had the kids, never had to deal with anyone by the name Hodges. He used to love her. The day they got married was the happiest he'd ever felt, until his eldest daughter was born, followed by her brother and the other little devilspawn. He loves them more than he thought he was capable of loving anyone. She doesn't care.

He takes out his wallet, opens it and pulls out a laminated picture, staring at it like it could talk to him, tell him what to do next. It doesn't say a word. All it does is show him two girls and three boys, all looking directly at him and smiling. The two eldest are barely 17, the youngest not even four months. That was almost five years ago. He's never seen the four eldest since the divorce. The youngest one isn't hers, so she can't keep him from seeing him. But the several hundreds of miles from Las Vegas to New York can. Not to mention the fact that as long as he works nights and has no one to watch him, he can't have him living with him. That last one bothers him more than the distance.

He's interrupted by Sara who comes in, looking for the results of her trace. He just hands her the sheet of paper and goes back to staring at the photo. He can feel her looking at him, but he doesn't need her pitying him, or her telling Catherine who in turn will tell the entire lab, who then will agree that his kids are much better off without his rudeness in their lives, and he really should get his act together, he's almost 40 after all.

He doesn't realise she's left until he hears his phone ring and sees his lab empty. He doesn't recognise the number on the screen, but he does recognise the state code, and the number is obviously not hidden, so he answers it.

"Hodges."

Silence.

"Anyone there?"

Slight breathing, then more silence.

"I'm hanging up."

"..Dad? Don't hang up, don't hang up, it's me, it's Tasha, please don't hang up, I need to talk to you, I heard mum on the phone yesterday morning, she said it was a friend of hers, but I know she lied, I could hear her screaming about how whoever she talked to had ruined everything for her, and I know that means she spoke with you, even though she always says you never call, and.."

He isn't sure if he is going to be happy or angry, but apparently he doesn't have to decide, he's already smiling.

"Tasha, little darling, it's okay, it's okay, I did call yesterday, she said I couldn't talk to you, said you didn't want to talk with me anyway, but it's okay, don't worry, we can talk now, I miss you so much, are you okay, all of you, how is uni, much to read?"

He's very much aware that he's rambling (he doesn't realise until later that shift that his daughter is also rambling, just like he is), but he doesn't care, he doesn't even care that both Catherine and Ecklie are standing in the door to his lab, looking at him, Catherine with a look of amusement and slight disgust, Ecklie with a look of amusement and slight concern (he didn't expect that, he expected annoyance), he cares about the fact that he's talking to his little girl (well, 21 isn't exactly little, but that isn't the point, she'll never stop being his little girl, and why the hell is he even following this strain of thought in the first damn place), he cares that they now have a way to keep in touch, he cares about his ex-wife not knowing that their daughter has two cell phones. Most of all he cares that his little darling Tasha knows he's been trying, she knows he's been trying to talk to them, she knows he hasn't forgotten about them, she knows he cares. And if she knows, then it's only a matter of time before they all know.

He should probably listen to them. They're probably right. But age, lack of friends, dead pet fish (living pet fish, for that matter) and no love-life whatsoever can, as far as he's concerned, go to hell. It doesn't count, it's not important, not really, anyway. And besides, he still has those breakfasts. What counts is that his children have, in the span of five minutes, gone from not counting on his stupid list of stupid accomplishments to being on the top of it (meaning the list is no longer stupid. Nothing involving the Hodgespawn is. Though he would like to crash one of Archie's computers for coming up with that nickname in the first place).

What's important in the world of David Hodges is that maybe, just maybe, the most important thing on that ex-stupid list that everyone keeps shoving down his throat can be fixed.

- - - - -

This was written quickly and without any planning whatsoever, the idea just struck me and I decided to go with it. I'm well aware that this isn't neccesarily a minific per se, but that's what happens when I'm left alone to write.

Comments are very nice, they're turned into fodder for my hatchlings.