Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI
A Friend In Need
"Hi Jackie, do you have a minute?"
Jackie looked up, her friend Karen Burns, a third grade teacher at Jackie's school was standing in the doorway. Like Jackie Karen was also pregnant and due around the same time that Jackie was. It was Karen's first child so she'd often ask Jackie stuff about pregnancy.
"Sure, come on in." Jackie told her as she pulled out a chair.
Jackie pushed the pile of papers she had been grading aside.
"How are you feeling?" Jackie asked.
"Hot, cranky, miserable, and fat, you?"
"Same." Jackie replied with a chuckle.
"Want a nice and cold bottle of water?" Jackie asked.
"Please."
Jackie got up and went to the mini fridge she kept in her classroom and pulled out two bottles of water and then returned to the back table.
"Thanks."
"No problem. So does your little girl have a name yet?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah, Calanthe Renee."
"That's really pretty, Renee is after your mom right?"
"Yeah." Did you ever talk Nicky into naming the baby Stetson?" She asked.
"Nicky liked the name, I didn't have to talk him into, more like I had to talk myself out of it because of the way it sounded with Stokes."
"Oh, then did you finally find a name?"
"Finally being the key word. His name is going to be Sloan, or as my kids call him Baby Sone."
"Cute, I love your kids."
"Thank you, and so do I, most of the time." Jackie quipped jokingly.
Karen laughed.
"Jackie can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Jackie replied.
"Jasmine is your oldest right?"
"Yep."
"When you were pregnant with her did you find out that she was going to be a girl or did you wait till she was born?"
"No we found out, I was way to impatient to wait." Jackie told her friend.
"Well when you found out that she was a girl was Nick disappointed at all?"
"If he was he never discussed it with me, and I never sensed he was, why?"
"Just curious." Karen said as she looked away.
"Karen, what's wrong?" Jackie asked gently.
"It's just that ever since we found out it's a girl Michael (Karen's husband) acts like he wants nothing to do with the pregnancy anymore. He hasn't taken one shred of interest since we found out. I had to name the baby by myself, I had to decorate the nursery alone. At the end of the day when I get home I am exhausted, but he won't help me do anything. If you went home tonight and told Nick that you were too tired to make dinner what would he say to you?"
"He'd say don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." Jackie responded.
"You know what Michael would say if I told him the same thing?"
"What?"
"He'd tell me to quit whining and make dinner."
"That's terrible, I'm so sorry."
"I don't get it, when we first found out I was pregnant, he was so excited, he doted on me and now every time I bring up the baby he changes the subject. I need him now more than ever and he's never been more distant." She said as tears started rolling down her face.
"It's ok." Jackie said as she put her arm around her good friend. "Let me tell you, the second he sees his little girl, he'll be completely and totally in love with her, she'll have him wrapped around his finger so fast you won't have time to blink. You should see how whipped our girls have Nick, it's almost scary, and he'd be the first to admit it." Jackie told her sweetly.
"Everyone tells me that once the baby gets here he'll come around but what if he doesn't?"
"He will."
"But what if he doesn't?" She repeated.
"Well then, in my opinion he doesn't deserve you or the baby, and more importantly you and the baby absolutely do not deserve to be treated that way."
"You're right, I just so want my daughter to have a good father. I see all these other little girls with their daddy's and I want mine to have that too. The way he's been acting makes me almost wish the baby was a boy just so he would be excited about the baby's birth."
"Your baby girl is a blessing, don't let your husband make you feel negative about her in the least." Jackie told her.
"Thanks." Karen told her.
"Listen, this Saturday Nick and I are having a barbecue, you should join us, it's just friends and family, it'll be a chance for you to relax, Sue will be there. (Sue is Jackie's teaching partner) Lisa (Jackie's other teaching partner) was going to come too but she has a wedding to go to so she won't be able to make it. Seriously, you should come. You don't have to bring anything, just come and have fun."
"Thanks Jackie, I will, that sounds like fun."
"Also tonight Nicky and I are taking the kids out to dinner to get a hamburger, they've been very good lately so we're taking them out for a reward. You should join us, it won't be anything fancy but at least you won't have to cook, and on top of that my kids are pretty entertaining." Jackie told her with a smile.
"My husband is working tonight, I might just take you up on your offer."
"Good, I hope you do."
"Thank you Jackie."
"Sure, and if you need anything I'm always here to talk."
"Thank you. I better go clean my classroom so I can get out of here at a decent hour tonight." Karen told her friend as she stood up and gave her a hug.
Later that evening Nick, Jackie, and the kids were sitting at a burger joint when Karen walked in, she had decided to get out of the house and meet Jackie and Jackie's family.
"Hi" She told the family cheerfully.
"Hi." Everyone told her with a smile.
Johnna immediately got up out of her chair and went over to Karen.
"Baby Sone?" She asked innocently as she placed a hand on Karen's stomach.
Nick and Jackie were embarrassed even though they knew Johnna was too little to understand that that's not the thing to do.
Karen took it in stride, she smiled broadly at the little girl.
"Well sweetie I'm having a baby girl so her name isn't going to be Sloan but you're right there is a baby in there." She told the cute little girl.
"Mama baby Sone." Johnna informed Karen.
"Yep, that's right, your mama's baby's name is Sloan isn't it?" Karen said.
"Yeah." Johnna said as she shook her head empathically and then sat right back down in her chair as if she was glad that issue had been cleared up.
After that they ordered and when everyone was done eating they took the kids into the play area of the restaurant.
"Mama slide." Jasmine said as she yanked on her arm, trying to get her to go on the slide.
"No sweetheart, mommy is too big to go down the slide I'll get stuck." Jackie told her.
Jackie could just picture the fire department being called because she had gotten stuck in a children's slide.
Jasmine then tried to pursued Nick to go on the slide too but she got the same response from him that she had from Jackie.
"Slide?" She asked Karen.
"Sweetie I'm too big too." Karen responded.
Jasmine then went back to Jackie.
"Kari slide?" She asked.
"Yep Karlie can go down the slide." Jackie said as she stood up with Karlie in her arms.
Jackie carefully put the baby about half way up the slide and held her tightly as she went down.
Karlie squeeled in delight.
"Kari like that." Jasmine declared.
"Yes she did, didn't she?" Jackie asked with a laugh as Jackie again put the baby on the slide and held her as she went down.
Houston and Johnna meanwhile were in the enclosed part of the play area. Houston had went to where he didn't believe Nick could see him.
"Where's Houston?" Nick asked, pretending he didn't know.
Suddenly Houston let out a loud squeal as he knocked on the plastic window.
"There he is." Nick said pretending to be surprised.
Houston and Johnna burst into a fit of giggles and before long Nick was laughing as hard as the kids.
"I remember how much I loved these play areas when I was their age." Karen said as she stood by Nick watching the happy little kids.
"Oh yeah, me too." Nick agreed.
As Karen watched Nick interact with his children she couldn't help but think that if her husband was half the father Nick is, her little girl was going to be very lucky.
As Karen drove home that night she couldn't believe how much fun she just had, it had done her a world of good to just get out of the house and enjoy herself.
Jackie truly was a great friend and Jackie's family was so warm and inviting and Jackie certainly wasn't kidding when she'd said that her children were entertaining, they were all downright adorable.
Karen was more than looking forward to seeing the entire family again this upcoming weekend at the Stokes' barbecue.
The End!