The New Man in my Life
Rating: K+
Pairings: Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders
Summary: A wedding from a childs eyes.
A/N: I thought of this while I was babysitting. And managed to turn it into a one-shot. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of it's characters. If I did Wendy would be season 11!
The day was so ideal; so peaceful. It was a crisp fall afternoon; multicoloured leaves fell freely from the tree tops, settling down on the grass below. The sun shone brightly, filtering down through the few leaves that remained on the trees above. It reflected down so brightly across the flowers and the faces of the smiling guests, all present to witness the beautiful joining moment between two people who loved each other very much.
It was the perfect fairytale ending...
But my story doesn't begin with the end; it begins on the day my daddy came home with the biggest smile on his face. It seemed to be just an ordinary Tuesday morning. He came bouncing through the front door with an extra bounce in his step. He was always lively and hyper, but on that Tuesday he was on overdrive. My daddy works night shifts at the Las Vegas crime lab as a DNA specialist. I was only three at the time, but I never forgot the day, because it was the day he fell in love. He wouldn't tell me, but he told Nana Jean about somebody named Nick and a very special kiss that they shared.
I never knew a mother; it was just me and my dad for years. He had never really dated anyone either. The moms at the day care centre were always checking him out, calling him cute and always trying to get his number, even the ones that were married with many children of their own.
My daddy didn't tell me about Nick for another few months. He came home really late on his day off, crawling onto the bed beside me. He told me all about his special friend Nick, asking if it was okay with me to bring him home for dinner tomorrow night.
Of course I didn't mind, I was curious to find out who could put such a wide smile on my daddy's face. He hasn't smiled that wide since before the accident at the lab. He didn't tell me much about it but he was weak and sore for weeks after it happened. Nana Jean was always over to look after him, and he couldn't hug me or lift me up because it hurt too much.
But that all changed when his special friend Nick came into his life.
With Nick coming round the next day for dinner, my daddy was extra excited. He actually cleaned up for once; I even saw a hoover in his hands. He changed his outfit nine times before he started styling his hair, getting even more excited and nervous at the same time.
As soon as the doorbell rang he swept me up in his arms, practically skipping off towards the front door. "How's my hair?" I remembered him asking me. "It looks good right?" He double checked. Nodding to him, I tried not to laugh as I had never seen him this nervous before.
He pulled open the door before his friend Nick got bored waiting, revealing a larger man with short cropped brown hair; a much smarter style than my dad's and he didn't have any bleached multicoloured patches throughout. He was wearing a dress shirt and smart jeans, compared to my dad's navy blue long sleeved t-shirt and tattered jeans that he thinks are cool, but Nana Jean calls him scruffy.
He spoke in an unusual accent that I had never heard before, but he was pretty good looking to be with my dad, much better than the desperate mom's that were always trying to catch his attention at the school.
Only time would tell if he was good enough for my daddy though.
Nick seemed nice enough. He had more manners than my dad, and he could make him smile, which is especially important to me. Unfortunately I had to go to bed though, daddy's rule about being in bed before seven o'clock remained intact. He still did the usual bedtime routine; bath, read me a story then gave me angel kisses before he returned to Nick downstairs.
I tried to stay awake to listen in, but my eyes kept falling heavily over my eyes.
Nick was gone in the morning, but my daddy asked me what I thought about him. As soon as I said I liked him he gave me a big hug. Nana Jean told me my daddy would always love me, even if someone else came into his life, and I believed her as he was constantly asking my opinion about him.
Then my daddy started constantly talking about Nick, not that I minded, just every sentence had the word Nick in it. He'd quote him for everything and constantly talk about Nick's hobbies and the things Nick liked and the stuff Nick says at work. Within a week I knew Nick's favourite colour, his favourite steak, the fact he hates peanut butter, apparently he's from Texas too; has five sisters, one brother and his parents are in some kind of court. Nick also roots for his A&M Texas team during the football season, which my dad had to research for future conversations with him as he wasn't exactly very sporty.
He blamed Nana Jean for that.
Once I knew everything about Nick, he started coming over more and more; breakfasts, dinners, coffee and things until he stayed the night in my daddy's room. The next morning they broke the news to me that Nick has kids too. All boys and all older than me. And they wanted us all to meet and get along. But I couldn't protest now. I had already accepted Nick into my life and shared my daddy with him. But now I'd have to share him with four older kids too.
I wasn't too happy about that.
Nick and my daddy decided to take us all out on a picnic to the park. Nick's kids looked a little bit like him. Brady the oldest was in his teens, I'm not sure how old exactly, but he was almost as tall as Nick. He had his father's hairstyle and dress sense, but he was on the phone the whole time to his girlfriend. Next up Ethan; nearly in his teens, but he still acted like a baby. When Nick wouldn't give him what he wanted he started stomping his feet and whining like a toddler. He was also a football fan with really bad manners and very greasy hair; he was constantly itching making me want to steer clear of him. Nick told my dad it was because he was going through a no bathing phase of his life.
There's no way he's stepping foot in my house smelling like that.
Then there were the twins, little monsters; Caleb and Calvin Stokes. Half the time they were fighting, either over who got to sit next to Nick or over the food on the table. They must have been about nine or ten, behaving like a bunch of two year olds.
I stayed sat on my daddy's lap while he talked to Nick, watching Ethan, Caleb and Calvin rough playing on the grass, getting their clothes covered in mud and grass. If Nana Jean was there she would have been horrified. She screamed at me if I got the slightest grass stain on my clothes, complaining that they would never come out and I ruined my clothes for good.
It was clear that Nick's kids lacked a mothering influence.
After the picnic Nick and my daddy decided to take us out to watch a movie. Brady refused to go because he couldn't talk to his girlfriend in the theatre so Nick confiscated his cell phone, saying "Problem solved."
Nana Jean always said boys need more discipline.
Caleb and Calvin fidgeted through the whole movie, complaining they were hungry one minute, thirsty the next then they had to go on bathroom breaks while the movie was still running. Ethan put his head phones in playing one of his computer games, while Brady was constantly complaining that he needed to talk to his girlfriend like it was the end of the world or something.
I could accept Nick, but not his kids; surely they'd be better off in a boarding school or something.
It wasn't for another couple of months until Nick and my daddy decided to tell us all that they were getting married. By far the biggest shock of my life. Judging by Nick's kids faces, it was theirs too. They had only been dating for little over a year; I never expected them to get married.
After they broke the news to us, they decided to take us all out paint balling. Nothing says family bonding time like shooting each other with paint ball bullets. Brady, Ethan, Caleb and Calvin especially loved it. I stayed with my dad, using him as a shield from the paint bullets.
In the end Nick protected me, taking me off for ice-cream while my daddy played with the boys.
A few weeks later my daddy did the meanest thing. He decided to leave me over Nick's house so he could babysit me for the night while he went to work. Nick wasn't so bad, his house was chaos though. One minute he was shouting at Caleb and Calvin to stop fighting in the kitchen, the next he's searching for his phone to call Brady as he was out past something called 'curfew' and then finally he's rushing back to the kitchen to attend to the burning steaks.
Nowhere near as good cook as my daddy or Nana Jean, but it was okay. The portions were a little too big, his kids have no table manners and have clearly never heard of a napkin, and they refused to help out after dinner with the clearing away and washing up, but Nick wouldn't let me help no matter how much I wanted to.
My daddy always let me help and Nana Jean insisted I helped while she told me stories about when she was a little girl.
After dinner, Nick, Ethan and I sat on the sofa watching TV, overhearing the twins fighting in the background. Brady finally got back home, two hours over curfew, getting an earful from Nick until Brady was sent to his room, loudly slamming his door shut. Nick carried me off to the guest bedroom, realising it was well past my bedtime and my daddy would be mad if my sleeping schedule was off. He helped me with my pyjamas then tucked me in to read a story to me. He wasn't as good as my daddy with the voices of the different characters and the sound effects, but he tried his best.
That's when I really started to like Nick. He wasn't so bad after all.
Then they started planning the big wedding. Nana Jean was especially excited, planning the wedding like a military operation. Before the big change though, they decided to take us on a family vacation to Nana Jean and Granddad Daniels holiday home in Los Angeles.
A whole week with my future brothers didn't sound like much fun from what I had seen from them so far, but I didn't mind spending a whole week with my daddy for the first time in a long time as he was busy working most of the time.
We spent the afternoon exploring the house before Nick started up the barbeque dinner. I sat on the table watching my daddy playing, or attempting to play football with the boys while Brady was trying to get cell phone reception to talk to his girlfriend.
He honestly doesn't need to talk to her that much right?
Nick leant against the table beside me, watching the boys running around happily with my dad. Everyone else seemed to get along fine, except me as I was the only girl, and none of them wanted to play with a four year old, and Brady didn't seem to get on with my dad that well either. I heard Nick and Brady shouting about his mom one time, so maybe it had something to do with her. My daddy never mentioned to me that they had a mom before, he never really told me about my own mother. I had one picture of her from way before I was born. Her name was Tiffany and she was the first person my daddy loved, before Nick of course.
Nana Jean called out to Nick, rushing to his side. She wanted to show him something, and she wanted me to come along too. She lifted me up into her arms, leading Nick off by the hand through the house. She stopped in the study, instructing Nick to sit down on the office chair as she handed him the dreaded photo album. That's what daddy called it. He said she was always embarrassing him by showing everyone the photo album.
Only this one was filled with pictures of me.
Nana Jean showed him pictures of my mommy. She had a large stomach and my daddy had a wide smile on his face. She looked a little older than the picture I had of her, the date was just a few months before I was born. Nick continued to flip through the rest of the pages. Further on there was some baby pictures of me. Just me and my daddy. Nick smiled as he flipped through them, telling Nana Jean that he always wanted a daughter. He loved his boys but he had always wanted to father a daughter, and he wanted to be my daddy too.
But how can he be my daddy when I already have one? Isn't that a bit greedy to have two daddies? What about the other kids who don't even have one?
Nana Jean set me down on Nick's lap as he flipped through the rest of the pictures. He wrapped one of his warm strong arms around my waist as we looked at all the pictures together. Maybe having two daddies wouldn't be so bad, especially since I don't have a mommy. I needed a substitute mommy and he needed a daughter, so it worked out nicely.
I sat beside Nick during dinner. He couldn't stop laughing at the jokes my daddy was telling everyone. Straight after dinner Brady was back on the phone to his girlfriend, who I still don't know the name of, and Nana Jean was holding me in her arms while Nick and my daddy cleared away the dishes in the kitchen.
At bedtime Nick tucked me in while my daddy grabbed a story to read. They both lay down either side of me on the bed to read the story. Nick laughed as my daddy did the funny voices and sound effects to the story. My daddy kissed me on the head, said his usual 'goodnight munchkin' then walked off out the room with Nick. I rolled over to my stomach, to the comfiest position to sleep in then fell asleep dreaming about Nick and his kids joining our small family.
The next day Nick took us all swimming in Nana Jean's swimming pool, only I couldn't swim yet and Nana Jean insisted on making me wear puffy arm bands that I could hardly move in. Nick stayed with me in the pool while my daddy played a shark game with the boys. Nick held my hands tightly and he made sure my head didn't go underwater the whole afternoon.
We later went out to dinner at a steak house restaurant; I fell asleep in the car on the way home, being lifted out into Nick's arms. Everyone sat in the kitchen after, my daddy and Nana Jean made us some hot chocolates, giving us a chocolate chip cookie each to dip inside. Caleb left his in too long and it got all soggy, falling into his hot chocolate.
The rest of our vacation together we played in the swimming pool, had a go at tennis, went down to the beach and played in the sand. Nick bought us all ice creams, much to the disapproval of Nana Jean.
But he loved to treat us just like my daddy did.
On the last day I had a bad dream about my daddy getting hurt again. I crawled out of bed, dragging my teddy that my daddy's Papa Olaf gave me when I was a baby, along with me. I made my way off towards my daddy's room, pushing open the bedroom door. Nick was cuddling my daddy tightly in the middle of the bed.
I crawled onto my daddy's side of the bed, lifting his arm as I lay down beside him. He smiled at me, cuddling me tightly, planting a kiss on my forehead as I snuggled closer to him.
I always slept better in my daddy's arms.
When we got back home to Las Vegas, the wedding preparations really began. Nick and my daddy were really busy with the arrangements, so busy that they forgot to mention the fact that me and my daddy would be moving in with Nick and his family. No one told me, I figured it out since our house was full of boxes with our things in them, and Nick's wasn't.
The few days before the wedding were really hectic. Nick and my daddy took a few extra shifts at work so they could get some more time off, leaving us all with Nana Jean. Brady didn't like staying with my Nana Jean; she took none of his nonsense as she called it. She made him do his homework and help her with chores before he even went near a phone. Ethan wasn't allowed to watch his sport channels until he had done all of his homework and Calvin and Caleb were separated every time they started a fight.
She called it Nana's Law.
With my daddy getting so nervous for the wedding, I was starting to get nervous too and I couldn't sleep.
My daddy was at work though, and Nick was looking after us all again. I usually got warm hugs from my daddy when I couldn't sleep, but without him here, I didn't know what to do. I climbed out of bed, wandering through the halls of Nick's house. His bedroom door was slightly open and there was a light on inside. I pushed the door open a little more, hugging my teddy bear tightly as I looked up at Nick on his bed with his favourite magazines out in front of him. He especially loved to read National geographic ones; he loved reading about all the animals in them. Birds seemed to be his favourite.
As soon as he saw me, he gave me a wide smile. I climbed onto the bed with him, holding my teddy bear even tighter. Nick pulled back the covers beside him so I could crawl under, carefully tucking the covers around me before he continued reading his magazines, by now he was used to me crawling into bed with my daddy.
I snuggled closer to Nick, lifting his large hand in mine as I tried to go back to sleep. He pressed a kiss to my forehead just like my daddy did, quietly reading to himself while I fell asleep, securely in his arms. I realised Nick was more of a substitute father than he was a mother. He was my daddy when my real daddy wasn't around.
The next morning I woke up just as my daddy came home. He smiled happily to see me, pressing a kiss my forehead as he climbed onto the bed. Nick was still fast asleep though. He snores much louder than my daddy; he even dribbles more than him.
My daddy softly tickled me as he asked about my day with Nick, making him jealous that I got my midnight cuddles from him instead. Nick woke up, tickling my daddy, making him giggle and squirm with laughter. Then I saw them kiss for the first time, just like in the fairytales. And tomorrow their fairytale ending would come true.
Tonight was something called a rehearsal dinner then the actual wedding was tomorrow afternoon. Nana Jean told me the day after was reserved for daddy and Nick, for something she called 'getting lucky' but she wouldn't tell me what it meant.
The rehearsal dinner reminded me of a play. Everyone tells you what to do, where to stand, and even gives you slips of paper with your lines on them. I don't understand why we had to rehearse how we ate our dinner anyway; I've never had to do that before with any other meals I've eaten.
Nick managed to pry Brady's phone from his hand as his girlfriend couldn't make it to the rehearsal dinner, so they decided to stay in contact by phone. I've never actually met his girlfriend, let alone know her name, but her parents must be rich from the phone bill as Nick's always scolding Brady about how much he costs him.
After the long dinner my daddy lifted me into his arms as the guests broke away to the bar and the dance floor. Nick wrapped his arms around my daddy's waist, pressing a soft to his cheek. He kissed me on the forehead too, softly tickling me making me laugh.
My daddy and Nick kissed lots of times before we left, they seemed sad to be leaving each other. Nick gave us both big hugs before Nana Jean drove us home. I didn't understand why Nick wasn't coming with us as the wedding was tomorrow. My daddy was really excited though, he had a smile on his face the whole night and he let me sleep in his bed with him as he was missing Nick.
In the morning Nana Jean and my dad were really busy, running around to get everything ready. My daddy looked really smart in a black suit and Nana Jean was wearing really posh clothes too. Nana Jean dressed me in a frilly white dress, tying my hair up into pigtails with white ribbons. She refused to let me have my binky though, but my daddy sneaked it to me before we left for the car outside.
The car drove us off towards a church, where even more people were gathered in posh clothes. Nana Jean lifted me up into her arms as she ran up the church steps. She handed me over to Granddad Daniel, tugging the binky from my mouth before we went in. Granddad Daniel carried me up the aisle while everyone was watching. He stopped at the front row then some music started playing as Nick's mommy walked him up the aisle, followed by my daddy and Nana Jean, his mommy.
A man in a black dress with a white collar then started reading them a story, making them repeat a few lines each before he said they were married. When my daddy and Nick kissed everyone got out of their seats, clapping and cheering.
Afterwards the cars drove us to a big party. There was a large dance floor, big garden with fountains and lots of tables to eat at. Everyone sat down to dinner, making speeches and talking. They all then started getting up to dance, except my daddy and Nick; they stayed sat at the table talking.
Granddad Daniel and Nana Jean even got up to dance, insisting that my daddy did too, but he refused.
While Nana Jean was away from her table I managed to get my binky from her purse, making my way over to my daddy. He hugged me tightly, pressing a warm kiss to the top of my head. My daddy's hand had a brand new silver ring on it. The top side had a darker shade of silver that was in the shape of a half heart.
I reached out for Nick's hand to look at his ring, realising it was the same. The rings looked as though they fit perfectly together. Just like my daddy and Nick did.
Nick lifted me from my daddy's arm, kissing my daddy on the cheek as he hugged us both tightly. They held hands as they walked off through the crowds of people towards Nick's mommy and daddy. Nick's mommy held my hand as she smiled at me, saying I looked like a princess in my dress.
Nick handed me back over to my daddy as he went to dance with his mommy on the dance floor. Nick's mommy was happy for him, but I hadn't seen much of his daddy. I knew he was alive and here though as he called me 'Greg's daughter.' He seemed very angry when one guest said 'This must be Nicky's daughter' though. He didn't seem as happy as everyone else did that my daddy and Nick were getting married, but no one seemed to care what he thought. Nana Jean told me he was having a tantrum and we just had to let him be.
I never knew sixty year olds had tantrums.
My daddy set me down on the floor with some other kids. They were playing with balloons in the garden, chasing after them as they bounced off their hands in the sky. My daddy rushed off to do something he called 'a meet and greet' while I played with the other kids. I could tell that my daddy was nervous. I didn't know why. He and my new daddy Nick have been in love with one another for a long time. When my daddy first told me about Nick, I knew he loved him. He was the only one he ever fell in love with after my mom Tiffany.
I think he actually loves Nick more.
I eventually got bored of the balloons, heading off through the crowds of smartly dressed tall people, who all seemed to know my name, but I had no clue who they were. I recognised most of them from the wedding ceremony, not by name though, except for Auntie Sara, Uncle Grissom, Auntie Catherine and Uncle Brass though as they all worked with my daddy and Nick. A lot of the other people were all from Nick's side of the family. He had lots of sisters, one brother and even more nieces and nephews then he could count, whereas my daddy was an only child like me.
Not anymore though, now I had four big brothers.
I made my way off towards the reception area that was under a large tent, decorated with bright lanterns, flowers and a large wooden dance floor covered with couples happily dancing together. More lanterns covered the tables where a few people were eating a variety of steaks and seafood.
Nick wanted steaks, but Nana Jean insisted on getting seafood to go with it in case people wanted something else.
I found Nick at one of the large tables with his father, who my daddy called 'The Judge' and granddad Daniel, along with Nick's best friend Warrick. Nick's daddy must have calmed down from his tantrum now as he was out of time out, allowed to talk to other people again. When Nana Jean put me on time out I hated sitting there for four minutes doing nothing, I got really bored so Nick's daddy must have too.
I wonder if that means he had to sit there for sixty whole minutes doing nothing because he was naughty?
I walked round to where Nick was sitting as I couldn't find my daddy, immediately being pulled up onto his lap for a nice warm hug. I see why my daddy likes them too, Nick gives the best hugs.
"You gettin' sleepy yet sweetie?" He asked as I leant against his chest. I shook my head, even though I was getting a little bit sleepy, but I didn't want to miss anything. I had been up since 5am with my daddy because he was so nervous and missing Nick even though they had only been apart for nine hours.
Everyone at the table kept talking. First about cars then houses then I started to doze off missing the rest of the conversation, falling asleep against Nick's warm chest. I'm so glad my daddy ended up with Nick, I loved him too.
For some reason they seemed especially nervous about telling Nick's family about their wedding though. They would never tell me why, but his family all seemed very happy at the wedding ceremony though.
I woke up a few minutes later, still sat against Nick's chest, only now he was sat with my daddy and Nana Jean. It must have been more than a few minutes though as I saw the sun was no longer up in the sky.
"Good morning sleeping beauty." My daddy smiled at me. "You find yourself a big comfy blanky there?" He teased Nick getting poked in the stomach by him. They were always teasing each other.
"I gotta get up." Nick lifted me into my daddy's arms, pecking a kiss to his cheek as he climbed to his feet. "Be right back."
"Is somebody getting sleepy?" My daddy asked, hugging me tightly. "Did you have fun today?" I shrugged resting my head against his chest. "You ready to move in with Nicky tomorrow?"
"Can I bring all my stuff?" I asked him.
My daddy broke into a wide smile, nodding to me. "That's why we were packing everything up in boxes. Now we'll all be living under the same roof." My daddy lifted me up into his arms as he climbed to his feet, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "We should get you home munchkin."
"You didn't dance with Nick yet." I pointed out to him. "You said you would."
"You remember I said that huh?" He laughed. "Well you didn't dance with him either."
"You have to dance with Nick." I insisted.
"She has a point Gregory." Nana Jean smirked. "You have to dance with your husband at your own wedding." My dad pouted at her, the same thing I do to him when I want something I want but she didn't fall for it. Nana Jean lifted me from his arms then sent him off to go and find Nick. Nana Jean winked at me and I winked back. My dad reluctantly head off through the crowd of dancing couples to find Nick.
Daddy found Nick talking to Auntie Sara by the bar. Nana Jean and I watched as he worked up the courage to ask him to dance. We smiled at each other as they took each other's hand, heading off for the dance floor.
Nick and my daddy danced like a perfect couple, gazing lovingly into one another's eyes as they softly swayed to the music. Halfway through the song Nick cupped my daddy's cheeks in his hands, giving him a fairytale kiss to the lips. Nana Jean gave out an excited squeal as she hugged me tighter.
And that was it, their fairytale ending.
Written from Greg's daughters point of view
I hope you enjoyed the world from the eyes of a child :D
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