Yes, Dear.

Greg Sanders is fast approaching the conclusion that pregnant women are really sexy. Especially his pregnant woman.

Number 16 in the Ducks in a Row Series.

………

"I look fat." Sara Sanders stated matter-of-factly, standing before the full-length mirror in the bathroom of the little apartment.

"You do not." Greg kneeled over, coming to sit on the floor of the little living room like an eight year old, to tie the laces of his Converses. "Fat, no. Pregnant, yes." He winced as soon as the words left his mouth. She whipped out of the bathroom, a hand on her little bump of an abdomen.

"Oh, so I look pregnant? How pregnant do I look?" There was an edge of hormonal hysteria in her voice, and Greg silently cursed himself for speaking at all.

"That's not the point, my point was you don't look fat. You were never fat, you will never be fat." Greg double knotted his laces and remained sitting on the floor, elbows resting on his knees. "That is a decidedly pregnant bump, not a beer belly."

"I feel heavy." She turned back to the mirror, examining her new form with a scrutinizing eye, and a helpless expression. Greg rolled his eyes, lifting himself from the floor. He came to lean against the wall of the hallway, watching her frown at her pregnant belly. It wasn't even that big yet. Personally, Greg was surprised to find that he was really turned on by this whole pregnancy thing. He had found himself watching her far more than he ever did before, even all those years he pined after her wordlessly from the DNA lab. She had fallen into the habit of rubbing the bump gently when she was talking to someone, or thinking about evidence, or riding in the passenger seat, or 'helping' him make dinner on those occasional nights they had to themselves. And she was doing it now, with the lightest of touches, examining her figure in the mirror.

"I think you look good." He grinned at her when she tossed him a disbelieving look, rolling her eyes.

"It's your fault."

"Not all of it. I definitely didn't yell out my own name as my inner walls clenched tossing my husband into orgasm." He almost succeeded in getting it out with a straight face, falling into a grin, and a laugh.

"Greg! Not in front of the baby." Sara's expression shifted, from frustration to amusement in a matter of seconds. "Don't you corrupt our child."

"She can't understand me. Besides, I'm a scientist, a DNA specialist, if you will. I can discuss the natural functions of procreation all I want." She sighed, opening the door all the way, and smacking him halfheartedly before allowing him to wrap his arms around her casually. "You're not fat, Sara Jane. You're amazing."

"Greg, don't be cheesy." She pulled away from him only just, draping her arms over his shoulders. "I'm fat." Greg shook his head, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"No. No, see, this, this is really cool. Check it out." She smiled faintly, rolling her eyes as he bent so that her abdomen was inches from his nose.

"Gregory-"

"No, listen, this is really awesome." She arched an eyebrow at him, but let him lift the fitting work shirt up over her belly, exposing her little pregnant bump. He kissed the soft skin chastely, running his hand over her bare belly. "In here, this is you, and me." He glanced up at her, smiling broadly. "It doesn't matter if we are working different scenes, different cases, or one of us has the night off, or anything, we will always be together, a part of me and a part of you, here." He laid a hand gently against her swollen belly, and grinned at her, straightening. "I think it's incredibly sexy." He laughed at her groan, dropping soft kisses to her neck. "No, I do."

"Greg-" Her tone said she hardly believed him, and he took that as the green light to show her just what he meant. He gently backed her up against the wall of the hallway, placing a hand on either side of her so she was trapped. She could have escaped it, he was never overly forceful, but she loved it when he took control. He kissed her soundly, and her fingers tangled themselves into his shaggy brown waves instinctively.

"It means you're mine." Greg shifted, leaving a path of kisses down her neck, speaking against her skin in that soft, husky voice that always made her knees weak. "Everyone will see our little bump, and everyone will know that I love you." He felt her gently laugh as he dropped kisses along her collarbone.

"So you're just marking your territory, then, Gregory?"

"Mmhmm."

"How very Neanderthal of you." He chuckled against her, kissing her in full once again, backing her fully against the wall. "You never cared about territory before." He slid his hand over her hip and around the small of her back, feather light touch bringing a smile to her face.

"You were never carrying my baby before." He grinned at her, and the sparkle of a tear in his eye blurred her vision with her own tears. "You have to understand, Sara." He rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "Never ever, in my craziest fantasies, had I ever thought that we would be here, rings on our fingers, getting ready for a baby. I put aside the seemingly impossible to become a member of the team, ignored my feelings when you became my mentor. I'm not Nick. I don't have innate chivalrous charm, or a smile that makes women's clothes fall off." She laughed at this, his smile had made her clothes fall off plenty of times, but he kissed her, urging her to let him finish. "We all have an identity at work, and I was focusing all my energy on crawling out of the childish lab rat image that I had never cared about before. I thought, if I couldn't have you, I would at least have a reputable career."

"Gregory, you were the one of the top ranking DNA analysts in the country."

"I never said this was rational, Sara Jane." She failed miserable at suppressing a smile, and let him continue.

"I was doing so well, Sara. I had put my feelings for you behind me, left them in the lab, so to speak. I was trying really hard at my new job, and I wasn't being fired, so I must have been doing okay." He dropped his hands from beside her arms, shoving them in the pockets of his jeans. "I learned to love working with you almost as much as I loved being around you. I focused all my energy on learning, so you wouldn't think I just belonged back in the damn DNA lab. But, in proving to you that I could do it, I found that I really liked the job, I love solving the puzzles. And I was doing so well, Sara. I had even had a semi-serious relationship, and then you had to go and kiss me back. And that just sent me stumbling back into love with you in a matter of hours. By the time we got back here that night, I was that kid from the DNA lab again, head over heels with this fantasy I never thought would come true. Then I realized, I would never have to worry about finding the girl I would love second best, because you became the love of my life all over again. It was always you, Sara. Even if I had to spend my life alone. I only wanted you to be happy." Greg smiled at his wife, and she brushed away a tear threatening to fall from his eye. "Most guys make a joke about how they always placate their wives, you know, 'Yes, Dear,' and such. Warrick said that was the most important phrase to know in marriage. But I've been waiting to say it my whole life. I wanted you my whole life, and now I have you. Forgive me for my Neanderthal antics, but I just can't get over it. The ring on your finger is my family heirloom, the baby in here has half my DNA. Maybe it's a male thing. I don't know." Sara pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, as he snaked his around her waist.

"Oh, Gregory. I'm sorry it took us this long to get here." Greg smiled into her curly hair, and dropped a chaste kiss to her shoulder.

"Time doesn't matter. The point is, we're here." He laughed softly as he glanced at the clock. "And we have to be there in twenty minutes. Get a move on, woman, shift is about to start." He grinned at her broadly, as she rolled her eyes, wiping her tears and turning back toward the bedroom to grab her shoes.

…………

"Greg and Catherine, floater out at Lake Mead. Warrick, B&E in Laughlin. I'll take the 419 off strip, and that leaves a murder-suicide for Nick and Sara." Grissom handed out the assignment slips with the addresses, and soon the team members were filing out of the break room, en route to their different destinations.

Greg picked his field vest out of his locker, and pausing at Sara's to kiss her quickly, as she rummaged around for her favorite flashlight.

"Be careful." She ruffled his hair as he bent to kiss her little pregnant bump. He grinned at her, kissing her cheek affectionately.

"Yes, Dear."

…………

A/N: early pregnancy.. looking back at my list, I realized I went from the wedding, where Sara is barely showing, to the labor and birth… hrmmm. I completely forgot about early pregnancy. Oops! There it is then. Greg explaining to Sara that every day is a miracle in itself, because his greatest wildest dreams have come true. I feel, married fifty minutes or fifty years, Greg will still be in awe that she loves him back, that they have a family, etc. That's part of the reason why, fifteen segments from this one, she still can't keep his hands off her :grins madly: more to come. Gonna fill in the missing gaps.