Eric Delko's father, Pavel Delektorsky, was a Russian engineer sent to Cuba in the early 1970s. There he met and married a young Cuban woman, Clorinda, with whom he had three daughters, when he discovered his next child was a boy. Wanting more for his future son, Delektorsky took a chance and smuggled his family across the Straits of Florida.

Once they arrived, Delektorsky embraced everything that was America - changing the family name to Delko and giving his son an American name, Eric. Over time, he built a small engineering company into a large firm, with the expectation that Eric would take his place next to him. While Pavel built the American dream, Clorinda devoted herself to working with charities in Miami's Cuban community. She involved her children so they would always know where they came from. Here, Eric learned there was another side to the American dream - and that the only way to survive was to help one another.

Throughout his schooling, Eric's father pushed him toward science, which he enjoyed and excelled at, but in high school he discovered his true love - swimming. Devoting himself to the sport, he let everything else fade. He graduated with a swimming scholarship to the University of Miami.

Eric took a science degree to appease his father, who still clung onto the dream that his only son would follow in his footsteps, but Eric dreamed of gold medals. By his senior year, Delko realized there weren't going to be any medals in his future. Disappointed, he gave up his dream of Olympic glory. He also realized that a life of building codes was not for him, so he told his father he would not be joining him at the firm. To this day, his father has not quite forgiven him.

With the seed planted by the community work he did with his mother, Delko realized that helping others was the way to make a difference. So he entered the MDPD police academy and offered his skills as a swimmer to the MDPD underwater recovery department. He became one of the elite officers on the team but this infuriated his father who believed this life was beneath his son. But his father wasn't the only one who thought there was something better for Eric. Having met Horatio Caine during a bomb scare, Delko's natural instincts and scientific curiosity impressed Horatio. When Horatio took over the crime lab, Eric was his first recruit. Delko had been wrong in college, a medal was his future - the badge of the Miami-Dade Crime Scene.

I thought you were leaving this season. What happened?

ADAM RODRIGUEZ: That was the plan. As we talked about last time, we got to a crossroads last year where [CBS and I] wanted different things. And one thing that was important was going back to finish the character properly. I think when the fans got the news that Delko wasn’t going to be back full-time and when they actually saw he wasn’t back full-time, they felt there was something missing from the show. They were very vocal about that and I have to give credit to CBS that they paid attention to it.

In other words, they met your demands?

RODRIGUEZ: That certainly had something to do with it. I think, you know, a lot of it had to do with both parties even being willing to hash something out. [The first] time, it was really CBS that walked away [from negotiations] quickly. I’m not going to pull any punches, that’s just the way it was. I think that fans really made it known that the show wasn’t the same without Delko. And like I said, CBS was wise enough to pay attention to that and make sure that they kept the chemistry of the show the way the fans wanted it.

Did CBS specifically tell you this was a result of fan response?

RODRIGUEZ: They certainly said that was one of the things. There’s no doubt that was the major reason.

Some fans are worried that, for financial reasons, producers will be forced to cut another member of the cast now that you’re back.

RODRIGUEZ: I would certainly hope not. I would be very, very disappointed if that was the decision that was made. I can certainly tell you that the agreement we came to should not warrant that happening at all.

Should I take that to mean they didn’t back the Brinks truck up to your house?

RODRIGUEZ: [Laughs] Certainly, I can’t complain, but, no, that wasn’t the case. One of the things [they did] to sweeten the deal was they’re allowing me to write and direct at least one episode next season. That was something that was really attractive to me.

Is it safe to assume that Delko will be leaving the D.A.’s office and rejoining the team?

RODRIGUEZ: That’s my guess. I don’t have confirmation of that, but I don’t know what else [they could do]… I think it might be interesting to explore [his current job] a little further before he actually comes back to the team.

What does this mean for Delko and Calleigh?

RODRIGUEZ: That also remains to be seen. I’m curious to see what they have in mind. But I think we have to go all the way down the road at this point. I would really love to explore the relationship fully and see what its like to have these people that have had this attraction to each other and are finally getting into this relationship for real after all this time. It certainly took a long enough for it to actually happen. I think we owe it to the people who wanted to see it happen to give them the whole ride as opposed to making it a short one, [especially since] it’s not about me leaving now. Now that I’m going to stay, I think that we’ll have a little more latitude as far as what we can do with the relationship.

Source: EW, Ausiello