Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI
A Cranky Baby and an Upset Friend
Nick Stokes walked into the front door of his house after a long shift at the crime lab.
"Hi Dada" his little girl Jasmine said as she ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his leg.
"Hi kiddo." Nick said as he put down his field kit and picked her up.
Nick's favorite part of coming home was when Jasmine would run up to him, it warmed his heart to know that she was happy to see him, and he couldn't wait for his 3 month old son Houston to be able to do the same thing.
"Where's Mama?" Nick asked his little girl.
"Houden mad." Jasmine responded.
"Uh-oh, Houston's mad, let's go see." He said as he carried her up the stairs.
He walked into the baby's nursery with Jasmine still in his arms. He found his wife bent over the changing table, changing the baby's diaper, and just as Jasmine had said Houston was mad and he was not afraid to let his mom know it, his cries filled the room.
Jasmine did not like the noise at all, she frowned and immediately covered her little ears.
"It's all right baby boy, I'm almost done and then I'll feed you." Jackie said gently as she tried to soothe the baby.
"Hi babe." Nick said as he walked over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Hi, how was work?" she asked.
Nick sighed "Tough night." He replied.
"Why what happened?" she asked.
"Just a tough case." He said.
She gave him a sympathetic nod and then returned her attention to the still crying baby.
"Houston it's ok sweetheart." Jackie said.
Nick glanced at the infant.
"Look at those crocodile tears." He said with a slight smile.
"I know, this diaper change has been very traumatic for him." Jackie said as she smiled back.
"Alright, I'm all done, let's go get your bottle." She said as she picked the baby up and carried him downstairs.
He continued to scream until she stuck the bottle in his mouth.
"All better." She said as she kissed his forehead.
She carried him to the couch and sat down. A couple minutes later her cell phone started ringing but it was all the way in the kitchen and now that she had finally gotten the baby calmed down she did not want to disturb him.
She sighed "Honey would you get my phone?" she called to Nick.
A minute later Nick walked into the front room holding her cell phone.
"It's Sara." He said as he extended the phone to her.
Jackie very slowly adjusted the baby's bottle so she could hold it with her other hand before taking her phone.
"Hi Sara" she said into the phone.
"Hi Jackie."
Nick attempted to the baby from Jackie's arms so she could talk to Sara without having to worry about disturbing the baby.
"Hold on for just a second Sara." She said before she put the phone down.
She gave the baby to Nick.
"Thanks babe" she said.
Nick smiled.
Despite his best effort to not jostle the baby around to much the bottle slipped, causing the nipple of the bottle to slide out of the baby's mouth. The baby immediately began to scream again, he clearly did not like his breakfast being interrupted in such a rude way.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh, it's alright, it's alright." Nick said as he sat down on the other couch and put the bottle back in the baby's mouth.
Houston immediately quit crying and began to contently suck on it again. Jackie then picked the phone back up. "
Ok sorry about that Sara, I was feeding the baby."
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you." Sara said apologetically. "It's no problem, Nick's feeding him now." Jackie assured her.
"Ok, good. I was wondering if you'd like to meet me for coffee. I had one hell of a bad night at work and I could use the caffeine, and someone to talk to."
"Sure, let me ask Nick if he'd babysit for a while, if not I'll have to bring the kids."
"Ok" Sara said.
Jackie took the phone away from her ear and turned her attention to Nick who was now burping the baby.
"Nicky are you going anywhere today?" she asked.
"No, not that I know of, why?" he asked.
"Would you mind babysitting for an hour or two then?"
"Babysit who?" Nick asked.
Jackie gave him a funny look
"Jasmine and Houston, who'd you think?" She said.
Nick chuckled "Babe, I wouldn't call watching my own kids babysitting, I'd call that being a father."
"You're a sweetheart. So do you mind watching them for a while so Sara and I could go get some coffee? However, if you had plans today, I'll take the kids with me."
Nick gave her a devilish smirk and said "nah, I don't feel like being a father today, take the kids with you."
"Nicholas." Jackie said in a threatening voice.
Had he not been holding the baby, Jackie would have playfully chucked the decorative pillow that was on the couch at him.
"Go ahead, I'm not doing anything." He assured her.
"Thank you." She said before turning her attention back to the phone call.
"Ok Sara, I'll meet you at the coffee shop by your house in forty five minutes." She said.
"Great, thanks, see you then." Sara responded.
Jackie hung up the phone and got up off the couch so she could go comb her hair and put her shoes on.
"You know, I'm not surprised Sara wanted to meet someone for coffee, she had a really bad night last night, the case really got to her. She took it really hard." Nick said before Jackie left the room.
"That's too bad, did the case end up ok at the end at least?" Jackie asked.
"No, and that just made it a lot worse for Sara." Nick said with a shake of his head.
"I honestly don't know how you guys do what you do everyday. There is no way I could handle it." Jackie said.
"It's tough at times but it makes it worth it when you get justice for victims and their families."
"That's a great way to look at it." Jackie said with a smile.
Nick smiled back and then said "You know, I was going to buy you chocolates on the way home, but I changed my mind."
Jackie frowned at him.
"Boy thanks Nick, that's what every woman wants to hear from her husband." She said with a sarcastic tone in her voice.
Nick chuckled "Sorry Jacks I didn't mean that the way it sounded, it has to do with Greg and Morgan's case last night. Trust me, if I told you why, you would never want chocolate again."
"Ok then, don't tell me." Jackie said with a chuckle.
Nick smiled at her as he watched her leave the living room.
A while later Jackie was sitting across from Sara at the coffee shop. Sara told her all about her case from the previous night.
"I just don't understand how someone can do such a horrible thing and get a slap on the wrist for it. Of course I should be used to that by now, I have been a CSI for long enough, but somehow that part of the job never seems to get any easier, and then to have someone that was victimized so brutally turn out to be just as horrible as the actual perpetrator, it's too much." Sara said before stopping to take a drink of her coffee.
Jackie shook her head in disgust "Like I told Nick a little earlier, I don't know how you guys deal with what you see every day, I couldn't do it, I know that."
"Sometimes I don't know why I do it either." Sara said with a sigh.
Then she smiled "Sorry for rambling on like that, I think I just needed to vent."
"No problem, everyone needs to vent every once in a while." Jackie said with a smile of her own.
They changed the subject and Sara cheered up.
Two hours later Jackie looked at her watch and was shocked to see how much time had gone by.
"Sara, I better get home, the kids are probably driving Nick crazy." Jackie said with a laugh.
"You don't think he can handle it?" she asked with a grin.
"Oh I think he can handle it, I'm just afraid of what my house is going to look like when I get home." She said with a laugh.
Sara chuckled.
The women got up to leave.
"Thanks for meeting me Jackie, I needed the company, and the caffeine." Sara said.
"Sure no problem, I enjoyed it too. I come here entirely too often, I love coffee. Nick says I'm addicted, and um, he might be right." She said with a laugh.
Sara grinned at her.
The two women said their goodbyes to one another and then left the coffee shop.
When Jackie got home she found Nick on the couch watching T.V. Jasmine was sitting on his lap contently cradling her baby doll.
Jackie looked around the room and smiled.
"What are you smiling at?" Nick asked with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Oh nothing, I'm just surprised that the house doesn't look like a tornado hit it." She said as she took a seat on the couch next to them.
Nick smiled proudly.
"Where's Houston?" she asked.
"I sold him to the neighbor." He said with a grin.
Jackie laughed "He was so cranky earlier today I really wouldn't blame you if you did." She said.
Nick laughed and then said "he upstairs, I finally got him to sleep."
"That's good, I wonder why he is so cranky, I hope he's not getting sick."
Nick sighed, "me too."
Then he asked "How was coffee?"
"It was nice."
"More importantly how is Sara?"
"She's good, she was upset at first but she cheered up, and she was all smiles when we left."
"Good, I was pretty worried about her."
"She's fine now." Jackie assured him.
Nick smiled at her.
Neither one of them said anything else as both of them turned their attention to the T.V.
Jasmine finally broke the silence. "Baby" she said as she stuck her baby doll in Jackie's face.
"Is that your baby?" Jackie asked.
"Mine" Jasmine said shaking her head up and down.
"What's your baby's name?" Jackie asked.
Jasmine thought for a second and then replied "Dada."
Nick smiled at Jasmine
"Aww that's nice, thanks kiddo." He said as he softly kissed the top of Jasmine's head.
Jasmine started to yawn.
"Is it nap time Jazz?" Jackie asked as she took her off of Nick's lap and put her on her own lap.
"Baby night night?" Jasmine asked.
"Yeah, your baby can sleep with you." Jackie told her as she got up off the couch with Jasmine in her arms.
Jackie carried her upstairs and into Jasmine's room. Jasmine still had a tight grip on her baby doll.
Jackie tucked her into bed but Jasmine immediately kicked the covers off of her legs and got out of bed. Jackie watched curiously as Jasmine went over to her toy box and got out a small blanket. After she had laid the blanket on the floor she grabbed her baby doll off of her bed and carried it over to the spot where she had just laid the blanket. She got down on her knees and tucked the baby into the blanket just like Jackie and Nick tuck her in.
"Night, night." She said as she kissed the baby's forehead before she got up and climbed back into her own bed.
It was so cute to watch that Jackie almost started to cry.
Jackie went over and tucked Jasmine in once again.
"Have a good nap, you little mommy." Jackie said with a smile.
Jasmine put a finger to her lips. "shhh, baby seepin" she said.
Jackie suppressed a chuckle as she turned and walked towards the doorway. She turned back once more to look at Jasmine and then she walked down the stairs and rejoined Nick in the living room.
She sat down next to him on the couch and he wrapped his arm around her. They had intended to watch T.V but it didn't take long before Jackie accidently fell asleep in his arms.
The End!