Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI
Father-Son Talk
"Hey Poncho, how's it going?" Roger asked his son as he answered the phone.
"Hi, we're good, I just got home from work and Jackie and the kids are gone, they went shopping with Jackie's mom and sister so I thought I'd give you guys a call since it's quiet in the house. How are you and mom?"
"We're good, busy, but good. We miss you guys."
"Yeah we miss you too, especially the kids, they loved having you here." Nick said.
"We sure loved getting to spend time with them, and you and Jackie too of course." Roger told him.
"How come you always throw Jackie and my name in there as an afterthought?" Nick joked.
"You'll see why when you have grandkids." Roger replied.
"Slow down there, my oldest isn't even in kindergarten yet." Nick told him.
Roger laughed.
"Hey, can I ask your opinion about something?" Nick asked.
"Sure, what's on your mind?" "It's going to sound odd but I was wondering if you ever felt guilty about the engagement ring you gave mom?"
"What do you mean, guilty as in I shouldn't have asked her to marry me or what? I'm not sure where you are going with this Poncho."
"No, no, that's not what I meant at all, I mean about the size of her ring and how much it cost, like if you ever feel like you should have spent more money and got her a nicer one."
"Well I got her an upgrade for our 10th anniversary, so no I don't feel guilty, it is a very pretty and very nice ring. Why?"
"You mean mom's wedding and engagement ring is not the one you got her when you proposed?" Nick asked.
"Nope, she still has her original one though, it's in her jewelry box. Why do you ask?"
"Well, one of Jackie's friends just got married and you should have seen the rock that her husband bought her and Jackie's ring is kind of small and I feel bad about it, I see all these women with giant rocks on their fingers and then there's Jackie's. I just didn't have much money to spend on a ring back then. Looking back on it I wish I would have waited to propose to her until I saved up more money for a nicer ring, and I would have waited but the long distance relationship we were in was so hard."
"Well, you could do what I did for your mom and get Jackie a nicer one for your anniversary or something." Roger suggested.
"I was going to but when I brought it up to Jackie she refused, she said she loves the one she has, she wouldn't even let me just simply put a bigger stone in it, let alone get her an entirely different ring."
"Well then what are you worried about, if she likes her original one, what's the problem?"
"I don't know, I just feel bad that's all, why did you upgrade mom's?"
"Well like you, I didn't make much money when I proposed and I figured after 10 years of putting up with me she deserved a nicer one." Let me tell you something son, Jackie might not have the biggest diamond ring in the world but she's got herself one hell of a great husband. A lot of men don't give their wives and children the time of day but you go above and beyond for your family. As does Jackie for you and the kids. If everyone had the kind of marriage you two did this world would be a lot better off. I obviously don't know everything that goes on in your marriage but I feel like I do know Jackie pretty well and she seems like the kind of woman that would value love and a strong family bond much more than she'd value a gigantic rock on her finger."
"You're right, family and relationships are much more important to her than material things." Nick agreed.
"Let me ask you a question. When you bought the ring and proposed who were you trying to impress?"
Nick thought for a second. "Jackie." He responded confused.
"And was she impressed?"
"I don't know, you'd have to ask her."
Roger laughed.
"Well she accepted your proposal and she married you didn't she?"
"Yeah but Jackie's too sweet to say no, she wouldn't want to hurt anyone."
"Jackie's a sweetheart, but she's also very smart, if she didn't feel like you were the right guy for her she would have turned you down, gently, but she would have, and I believe she'd say that she made a good call by accepting not only the ring you gave her but also accepting you as her life partner. Wouldn't you say?"
"Yes I think she's happy with her decision, at least I hope so." Nick said with a chuckle.
Roger laughed.
"And are you happy with your choice?"
"To marry Jackie?" Nick asked.
"Yes."
"Deciding to propose to her was by far the best decision I've ever made." Nick said sincerely.
"Then that's all that matters. As far as the ring issue goes, if she insists she doesn't want another one than there's nothing you can do, you should feel good that she loves and values the one you got her so much that she wouldn't trade it, not even for a much bigger diamond because most women would jump at the chance to have a bigger engagement/wedding ring. Jackie's a very special lady, always remember that."
"I do always remember that, thanks dad."
"No problem, hey listen Poncho I'm getting another call so I'm going to let you go, I'll talk to you soon."
"Alright, goodbye, and thanks again." Nick told his dad before he hung up the phone.
A while later Jackie and the kids walked in the door.
"Hi." Jackie told Nick cheerily.
"Hi, how was shopping?" Nick asked as he got up off of the couch and went over to them.
"Good, we found a bunch of cute shirts for the kids that were on sale."
"That's good. Here buddy, let me take that from you." Nick said as he took a bag from Houston that the little boy was struggling to hold onto.
"I told him it was heavy but he insisted on carrying it." Jackie whispered to Nick.
"Good job muscles." Nick told the little boy with a smile.
"Me Houston." Houston replied with a confused look on his face.
"Oh your name is Houston, not muscles?" Nick asked as he tried mightily not to laugh.
"Yeah." Houston said.
"Oh ok, I'm sorry, my mistake." Nick told him.
Nick looked at Jackie and smiled.
She shook her head and returned the smile.
"Do you have anything else that needs to be brought in?" Nick asked Jackie.
"Yeah, just a couple more bags, and two pizzas that I bought us for lunch."
"Ok, I'll get the rest of the stuff out of the car." Nick offered as he slipped on his tennis shoes.
"Let me go lay him down and then I'll come help you so you don't have to make two trips." Jackie told him as she nodded towards Sloan who was fast asleep in her arms.
"You don't have to help me, I've got it." Nick assured her as he went outside.
He brought in the bags first and then went and got the pizzas. After she laid the baby down Jackie grabbed some paper plates so the family could eat lunch.
"Park dada?" Jasmine asked while eating lunch.
"I don't know sweetie we'll see."
"I told the kids that since they were really good while we were shopping I'd take them to the park after lunch, if you're not exhausted from work we'd love it if you'd join us." Jackie told him.
"Sure I'll go." He replied with a smile.
The family finished their lunch and then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the park.
The End!