A/N: Okay, so I lied. I so wanted to start this sequel. I'll write the other fics later.  Hope you don't mind. I can't think of a good title right now, so I hope you'll help me out. I took "Losing My Grip" from the Avril Lavigne song – maybe I should start an Avril theme – any ideas? Please review, and enjoy!

"I'm going to count to three." Came the familiar threat from Sara Stokes' mouth. She was currently trying to get the twins to take a bath. Aidan was being a good boy and he waited in the bathroom, slowly taking off his clothes, but Bailey, ever the argumentative one, stood in the hallway with her arms crossed. She took after her father.

"One…" She didn't budge.

"Two…."

"Nooooo!" She stamped her foot, getting upset, because she knew her father would be mad when he got home if he found out she'd disobeyed her mother again. Bailey stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door. Sara sighed and opened the door again. She'd left the water running on warm, but told Aidan to wait until she got there. He always listened, unlike Bailey.

The three year old little girl angrily stripped her clothes off, pouting the entire time. Sara helped her son into the tub and turned off the water. She reached back to get her daughter, but her hand was pushed away. Bailey was at that independent age.

"I can do it myself." She told her mother. Carefully, she placed her hands on the side and worked her way into the tub, causing a bit too much splash. Sara was okay with that though, now that she'd gotten the kid into the tub. These days, she had to choose her battles.

From day one, the twins had been wildly different. Aidan was very easy going, and the perfect baby. He only cried when he needed something, let anyone hold him, and was a good eater. Bailey, however, threw fits from day one. She was definitely the wild child. The little girl was colicky, and very tempestuous. She demanded things and was always very sure of herself. Bailey wasn't a complete terror, but she knew exactly what she wanted. For the most part, she was still very loving, but she was a firecracker.

Sara quickly got down to business, washing the twins as they happily played in the tub. She was getting Aidan out of the tub when someone finally walked into the house. By the sound of it, it was teenaged.

"Mal? Is that you?" Sara called from the bathroom, the door slightly open.

"Yeah." The high school senior plopped her backpack on the floor and sighed, heading back to the bathroom.

"Could you give me a hand?" Sara was trying to dry her son while Bailey was standing up in the tub, ready to get out also.

Mally walked into the bathroom and saw her baby sister standing up in the tub, about to pour a bucket of water on the floor.

"Woah, woah, woah, Bails." She stopped her just in time, setting the toy back in the water. "We don't want to make a mess."

The little girl smiled at her big sister, someone she looked up to like any young child would. She loved Mally, and almost always did what she said.

"Mawwy!" She exclaimed, reaching up for her.

"Hold on." Mally told her before getting a wet hug. She grabbed a towel and draped it over her shoulders, picking her up and gently setting her on the mat. Mally wrapped the towel around her sister and then brought her into a big hug, giving her kisses on the cheek. The senior was a huge help with the twins, ever since they were born back when she was a freshman. Both of them adored her, and she loved them back with all her heart.

"Thanks a lot, Mal." Sara told her step-daughter, wrapping her son in a towel.

"No problem, mom." Mally told her, and they both picked the kids up and took them to their room. Mally had long since started calling Sara 'mom', mostly due to having the twins around. 'Let's go find your mom' turned into 'Let's go find mom', which evolved into Mally just calling Sara 'mom'. It was just more practical, plus the twins would probably ask so many questions about why their big sister called mom 'Sara'. The whole ordeal had turned out to be very anti-climatic, unlike in the movies when a child would call her stepmother 'mom' for the first time – it just came naturally, popping out one day.

Nick and Sara had decided to have the twins share a room at least until they were about five for practical purposes. They tried to keep the pair on about the same schedule, and it was just easier. Sara and Mally helped them get into their clothes again, when they all heard the garage door open.

"Daddy!" The twins yelled at the same time and started dashing out to meet him. Sara was barely able to get Aidan's shirt all the way on before he darted away. Nick would never tire of having his children run to him when he got home – it was one of his most treasured moments with his kids.

He squatted down, putting his arms out, and braced himself for the two balls of energy that ran at full force towards him. Aidan was a little faster and got to him first, Bailey joining him a second later.

"Heyyyyy!" He smiled, hugging both at once. "I missed you."

"Missed you more!" Aidan told him, pulling back.

"Missed you mostest!" Bailey tried to top him. Nick stood up and the toddlers waddled after him as he set his workbag on the counter and threw his keys and sunglasses down. He reached down and picked Aidan up as Bailey snuck around and hopped on his back. As he stood, he let out an exaggerated groan, though two 3-year-olds were pretty heavy. Mally and Sara walked in, finding Nick in his usual role as human jungle gym.

"Hi, baby." Sara greeted him with a smile, and walked over to, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Aidan reached out and pet his mother's head.

"Hi mommy." He said.

"Hi, squirt." She gave him an Eskimo kiss and then a real one. "Guys, you need to let daddy rest. He's had a long day."

Both of the twins protested, but Nick couldn't agree more. He loved his kids, but he really wanted to crash on the couch right now after another long shift. Nick and Sara had both finally decided to switch to day shift with two toddlers and a teenager at home, but they alternated days at home, occasionally pulling some overtime. CSI had been good to them about scheduling and keeping it conducive to raising a family.

Nick reluctantly crouched down, feeling his daughter slide off his back, and then placing his son down on the floor. They both still hovered around their beloved daddy. Whoever had the day off cooked dinner, and Sara was preparing the easy meal of spaghetti, the twins' favorite.

Now that the twins were off him, Nick walked over to his oldest daughter and gave her a kiss and a hug. They were still best buds, though they'd had their share of drama throughout her teen years. Mally was like any other teen girl, experimenting (responsibly), making some mistakes, but overall being a pretty good kid. Nick couldn't be happier with the way she was turning out, and he was dreading next year when she would head off to college. He couldn't bear to have her away for more than a few days at a time. It was that much harder for Nick, having raised her single-handedly up until she was about eleven.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" He asked her.

"Not too bad. Really busy again." She told him. It was fall, so the softball season was still in swing at her school, and she also was a member of the Winter Guard, which would start up soon. It had become a nice alternative for her between some ballet, and some jazz dancing, along with throwing around flags.

"I bet you are. Did you get your science test back?" He popped a pretzel in his mouth from a bag on the counter.

Mally was dreading her parents asking her that question. Unlike them, she hated science with a passion, and it about killed Nick and Sara. The girl had absolutely no interest in anything scientific. She had always been more of a creative thinker, excelling in English and creative writing, as well as dance. Nick knew she got this from her birth mother. He was so proud of his daughter, but really wished she would try to get into science more.

"Yeah." She grimaced.

"And…." Nick prompted her, getting the hint it wasn't good news at the way she was holding back.

"I got a C-." She told him, disappointed in herself. Mally tried so hard at school for the most part, though she slacked a bit in her chemistry class. Nick and Sara had spent countless hours trying to tutor her, as well as getting after school help. They couldn't be mad at her if she was trying.

"Alright. That's not too bad." He lied, watching the twins closely as they went about playing and taunting each other a little. "We'll work on it some more after a few days, okay? Don't give up." Nick knew she'd need a break after getting a low grade on a test. He hated to pressure her, but if she wanted to get in a good college, she'd need to bring her science average up.

"Yeah, okay." She said, though Nick could tell she was far from enthused. Nick patted her on the back and gave her another kiss on the forehead before walking over to Sara. Mally decided to head back to her room, now that both parents were home to watch the twins. He stood next to her at the stove, and put a hand on her back, stroking it gently.

"And how was your day?" He whispered softly into her ear as she forked at the still dry spaghetti strands.

"Long and trying…" She smiled, looking at the twins playing with some blocks on their messy living room floor. "But good." Sara said. The twins could be a handful, but she loved them with all her heart.

"You do a great job." Nick told her, and peppered her with slow, loving kisses all over the side of her face, but still keeping it PG. The twins weren't paying attention anyway. Sara giggled a little as she stirred, looking forward to their much-needed alone time at night. Bailey was starting to bat her brother on the head with a block, laughing, so Nick gave his wife's butt a squeeze and kissed her, before going over to the little rugrats.

"Hey, Bails, you need to play nice." Nick told his daughter in a gentle tone as he sat down on the floor with them.

"He likes it!" Bailey laughed as she continued. Nick reached out and gently took the block from her hand and led her arm back to her side. He asked Aidan if he was okay and he nodded his head, not even caring, seemingly. Aidan was such an easy-going kid.

"We don't smack people on the head, Bailey. It's not nice." He told her. They continued to play nicely for the next few minutes with Nick there to entertain them, making funny noises and faces as they built things together. Sara was straining the spaghetti, so Nick went to set the table.

While Nick was laying the mats out, he heard a cry from the next room, instantly recognizing it as Aidan's. Nick came rushing to find Bailey on top of her brother, face down, while she smacked him on the head with a block again. He was trying to get away, but Bailey was strong for a little girl.

"Bailey Catherine Stokes!" Nick called out, taking care not to yell. "Put the block down!"

Bailey looked back at her father and dropped the block. She knew her daddy meant business when he used her full name. Nick picked her up and sat her on the recliner, telling her to take a time-out, and then went back to his son, screaming bloody murder.

"Oh, Aidan." He picked him up and cradled the little boy in his arms, gently rocking him and shushing him. Nick sat down on the couch with him and held him while he calmed down. Sara was too busy dishing out dinner to help right now, but she knew her husband would handle it. She'd been dealing with it all day.

When Aidan had calmed down, he helped him back onto the floor to the blocks to play again. Then Nick squatted down at the recliner where Bailey was sitting, not looking remorseful at all. She sat with her arms crossed and her lower lip pouting, but she knew better than to get up from a time-out. Nick's hands set on the chair on either side of her, leaning over his daughter.

"Bailey, why did you hit your brother with a block after I told you not to?" He asked her seriously. She started crying as she explained it to him.

"Cuz he wasn't pwayin' fair!"

"How wasn't he playing fair?"

"He wouldn't give me the bwock I wanted!"

"Bailey, we've talked before about sharing. If Aidan's already using the block, you can't take it from him. You have to be patient."

Patient was a foreign word to the three year old. She had none. It was something the two parents worked on constantly with the little girl.

"Now, if I let you get up, will you play nicely with your brother, and share?"

"Yes, sir." She said reluctantly.

"Good." He kissed her forehead and helped her slide off the recliner. Bailey soon forgot her sadness and went back to play with her twin brother happily.

Nick walked back over to his wife, who was finishing putting the sauce on the spaghetti. He put his arm around her and kissed her head.

"Nick, you're such a guy." Sara told him as she worked, causing Nick to say, 'what' incredulously.

"You didn't ask Aidan what he did to cause Bailey to smack him on the head."

"What are you talking about?" He stepped back, not quite appreciating being drilled by his wife.

"Aidan smacked her in the face, Nick, and that caused Bailey to smack him on the head again. But you didn't ask about that."

"Bailey didn't say anything! Why didn't you say something?" He asked, kind of ticked about how this was going down. Nick wasn't yelling, but his voice was in an irritated whisper.

"I wanted to see how you handled it." She told him. "And it's true, you play favorites."

Nick gaped at the accusation, unable to speak for a moment.

"I play favorites?" He repeated, placing both hands on his hips. "Well, I'm sorry if I wasn't fully aware of the situation, and no one said anything about Aidan hitting Bailey. Am I supposed to read minds?"

"No, but you're supposed to be fair, and get both sides of the story."

"I did. Bailey said nothing."

"Because she was too upset about getting a time-out without you even asking her about it."

Nick gaped again, not even knowing where to go with this.

"Unbelievable." He muttered. Nick and Sara had been at disagreement on how to raise their children, seemingly more frequently lately. With Mally, Nick had been so used to just making a decision by himself and going with it, but now he had another parent to consult. Nick grew up in a more strict, mind-your-manners, yes-ma-am-yes-sir, type household, whereas Sara grew up in an abusive one. Sometimes Sara could be almost too permissive, because she seemed afraid they would hate her like she hated her parents. Their parenting styles had proven to be vastly different.

"If you think Aidan needs to be punished, you do it then. Because obviously I can't deal with it right."

Nick left the room and went back to their bedroom, changing out of his work clothes. He angrily peeled off his shirt and pants and threw them in the hamper, changing into more comfortable track pants and a white t-shirt. Nick loved Sara desperately, but sometimes she could just be impossible. He took a minute to take some deep breaths, not wanting to upset his children when they sat down to dinner.

When he came out, Aidan was now on the recliner in a time-out, crying softly. Nick always instinctively wanted to hold his children when they cried, something he still had to work to ignore when they were being punished. He glared at his wife as he re-entered the kitchen, getting out items needed for dinner with as much vigor as possible. The twins were smart, though, and they could sense something wasn't wrong by their parents' body language and faces. Sara looked up at them and saw this, remembering how awful she felt when her parents would argue, knowing she could do nothing about it, but just wanting it to STOP. Guiltily, she turned to Nick and placed a hand on his side from behind.

"Nicky…" She whispered. "I'm sorry."

Nick stood up straight as his wife wrapped her arms around him, and he finally gave in and started stroking her arms in support. After a few moments, he turned around and brought her into a hug.

"I'm sorry too. Let's talk about it later." He said into her hair, rubbing her back. Sometimes he forgot they were coming from two very different childhoods, and that had a lot to do with how you raised your children. Nick pulled back and gave her a slow, sensual kiss, not caring that the twins were there, his hands sitting on her hips. He turned them so that Sara was hidden by him from the twins and he gently nibbled at her ear. Nick let his hands slide around to her backside, stroking gently, and then his fingers crept into the back of her jeans, finding her somehow sexy domestic white cotton panties. Sara gasped as he ran his fingers along the edges, but then quickly removed his hands, patting her on the bottom. Sara smiled and gave a little pout, and Nick gave her another kiss.

"Later." He told her, making his eyebrows jump.

"Mommy, can I be done now?" Aidan asked from the living room, snapping the parents out of their daze.

"Yes, baby." She told him, picking up the plates and taking them to the dining room. "But next time remember, we don't hit to get what we want."

"Otay."

Nick picked up the other plates and took them to the dining room. Nick and Sara sat at either end with the twins' special booster chairs seated next to each one. Mally's place was on one side.

"Aidan, will you be a big boy and go get Mally?" Nick asked his son. Aidan loved to think he was being helpful, so he delighted at the errand. The three year old trotted off down the hall, yelling "Mawwy!" as he went. By the time he reached her room, Mally had long heard him coming and met him at the doorway. She scooped up her little brother and brought him back to the dining room, where Bailey had already been seated. Mally sat her brother down in his chair next to her father, and then sat down herself.

As they all began to eat, Mally glanced back and forth between her father and mother, each attending to one of the twins. She'd never complain, but sometimes she did miss being an only child. Being alone for fourteen years made two new babies hard to adjust to. Mally loved her brother and sister with all her heart, but sometimes she couldn't help but being a little jealous. She'd had a bad day at school, and right now needed some parental attention herself. Mally wasn't ashamed to say it: she needed her dad.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

The Grissom Household

At about the same time, Catherine had just ordered take out for the whole family, as they'd had a busy day. Catherine and Gil still worked nightshift, as Natalie didn't need them much after school anymore or ever need help with her homework. The two parents were just getting ready to go into work, but sat down around the table to eat their Chinese take out together.

"Mom, I need to take the SAT one last time." Natalie told her mother seriously. She had her mind set on Stanford, and needed to raise her standardized test score to get in. Natalie had excelled in high school to say the least, with the third highest g.p.a. in the class. She adored science just like her parents and was considering a career similar to theirs.

"Baby, you can take it as much as you want, but I don't want you to be disappointed if you don't get into Stanford. There's so many good schools out there besides Stanford."

"I know." She poked at her food, but Stanford was the school she desperately wanted to go to. Natalie had worked her ass off in high school, joining academic teams, balancing extra-curricular activities, and all the while maintaining a close to 4.0 average. It seemed that after what happened with Lindsey, she was convinced to be the absolute best she could be and prove to her family how smart she was. They were obviously very proud of their daughter, but sometimes she did seem to take things too seriously, a stark contrast from their older daughter Lindsey.

"Have you looked more at UNLV?" Gil asked his daughter, hoping and praying she would stay close to home. Stanford was a long way away and he didn't want to see his baby girl only a few times a year.

"Daaaaad." She moaned. They'd had this conversation many times. She did not want to go to a local college. Natalie wanted to spread her wings and try new things after high school.

"I just want you to think about it." He reaffirmed, like he'd already done about a dozen times.

The family returned to their meals, Gil and Catherine trying to finish quickly since they were running late. As they finished, Natalie promised to do the dishes (real hard tonight!), and then get started on her school work. Gil and Cath kissed her goodbye and then headed off to the CSI lab, leaving Natalie alone.

Any other teenager may have called friends and invited tons of people over to party by this time in her high school career, but not Natalie. She was dead set on getting good grades to get into Stanford. When she finished the dishes, she got straight to work on her AP Chemistry homework.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

It was 8:00 now, and time to put the twins to bed, which was always an ordeal. Mally tried to start on her homework and put on her iPod earphones to drown out the sounds of bedtime. She stared at her chemistry homework blankly, not understanding a word in the book. Sara had come in to ask if she needed help, and she felt a little guilty saying that she really wanted her dad tonight. He still had a special place in her heart, and always preferred him to Sara, though they got along just fine.

"Daddy, one more story, pwease!" Bailey begged her father, as he sat on her toddler bed, a twin on either side of him, snuggled up. They always wanted one more story, and if he gave in it would never end.

"No, that's it for tonight. Time for bed." He started to scoot himself down the bed to get up, both twins clinging to his arms. "No, no, no. That's it, guys, come on."

As he got up, Nick reached down and picked up Aidan, transporting him to his own bed on the other side of the room. Aidan gave in easily like he always did, allowing Nick to tuck him in and give him a goodnight kiss. Bailey was already up bouncing on her bed by the time Nick made his way back over to her.

"Bailey, what did mommy and I say about jumping on the bed?" Nick reminded her in a firm tone. Bailey immediately sat down on her bed and smiled up at him. She seemed to listen to him more for some reason, but Nick hoped that she would start respecting Sara more soon.

Nick helped the little girl now in pigtails climb under the sheets. He gave her her favorite teddy bear and then leaned down to kiss her. Bailey's arms went around his neck and she gave him a kiss on the nose, just like her mommy did sometimes.

"Thank you, sweet pea." He told. "Have a good sleep."

"Good night, daddy!" Aidan wished him in his tiny voice. He waved from his bed as Nick turned out the light. They were down….for now.

Nick sighed and went next into his oldest daughter's room, because she asked him to help with homework earlier. She seemed a little more upset than usual over school. He knew she'd been having trouble in chemistry especially, but in all her classes. Mally was still a good student, getting a mix of A's, B's, and a couple of C's this year. But he could never be mad at her if she was trying.

Nick opened her door, finding her crouched over her desk with her chemistry book open, her iPod on. She couldn't hear him come in, but Nick could hear her crying softly. Not wanting to startle her, he flipped the light off and on once. Mally quickly pawed at her face when she realized he was there, but it was too late. She took of her earphones as he walked over to her, grabbing an extra chair.

"Heyyyy…why are you so upset today?" He gently asked, putting a hand on her back and stroking gently. Nick bent to look at her face, but she covered it.

"I don't know…" She sniffled, "I just felt like crying." Mally admitted. It was an explanation she used sometimes when she was just a little over emotional from an array of different things.

"Is it about school, or something else?"

"It's just…I try so hard, and I can't get it, dad. I hate science and I'll never get it. Why do I have to take all these classes? They're wrecking my g.p.a.!" Mally sobbed, pulling out a tissue and wiping her eyes.

"Well, you have to know the basics, but I know it seems unfair." He glanced down at her book, instantly recognizing all the concepts that were being explained. Nick couldn't understand why something came so easily to him, but was impossible for his daughter. Science was never her thing, though, but it was a requirement. Nick could see she wouldn't get any quality work done tonight with her state of mind.

"I'm so stupid."

"Hey." He raised his voice. "Look at me."

Mally obeyed, with tear-stained eyes.

"Don't you ever say that. You are a bright, beautiful, wonderful young woman who has so much potential. So what if you're not good at one little thing? I suck at dancing – you've seen me. But that's one of your passions, and you're great at it. You make me so proud, Mally."

Nick gently stroked her hair as Mally began to calm down a little. She sometimes started to blow things way out of proportion and get herself down in the dumps

"We can work on this again tomorrow, when you've had some time to rest. Right now, you need to get to bed." He told her.

"It's 8:30!" She told him.

"Mal, you get about six hours a night nowadays, and teenagers are supposed to get nine. You're killing yourself, and it's not worth it."

Nick got up and started pulling at her arm to do the same, but she wouldn't budge.

"But I've still got other homework to do!" She started crying again. Mally finally started sobbing and broke down again, scaring the crap out of Nick. As she continued crying, Nick scooped her up, still strong, and she didn't protest. He carried her the short distance to her bed and set her down, taking off her flipflops, and guiding her to lay down.

"I'm making a decision as a parent. You're going to bed now." He told her firmly, but gently. Mally continued to sob, but quieter now. Nick pulled the covers over her. The sweats and tank top she had been wearing would be suitable as pajamas too for the night. Nick sat down on her bed and kissed her forehead. "I love you so much, Mally. Now you need to get some rest."

Nick was surprised when Mally reached over and took his hand, holding on to him tight. He could tell she was so scared and so stressed out. Nick and Sara had both been trying desperately to help her, but it just wasn't clicking. Mally's breathing finally shallowed out until she fell asleep. Nick gave her one last kiss before getting up, turning off her desk lamp, and finally turning out the light.

Finally, Nick got to go to his own bedroom where Sara was in bed reading. They got to bed early nowadays, always exhausted from work and the kids. Nick stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed with his wife. Sara could tell he was stressed about something.

"What's wrong?"

Nick ran a hand over his face, not sure where to begin.

"Mal's really stressing over school." He told her. "I just went in to help her and she basically just broke down. I made her go to bed."

"Poor girl. She's beating herself up over it. Doesn't help that Natalie's doing so well."

"No it doesn't." He took in a deep breath and let it out, and Sara put down her book, settling in to face him. She put a supportive hand on his chest and patted it gently.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow. Try not to worry too much." She told her husband. The talk about the twins could wait too. Nick reached over and cupped Sara's face in his right hand, studying her carefully, before leaning in to press a slow, loving, thorough kiss to her lips. Their mouths opened to one another, and they started kissing with more fervor and passion, desperate to wash away all the day's events and problems. Nick shifted and moved on top of Sara, settling between her legs, and they made passionate love, reaffirming their need and want for each other. Tomorrow would be another day.