AN: Don't own 'em, just love 'em.
Hell, he was tired. All he could think of as he opened the front door, was crawling into bed and wrapping his arms around the warm body that he knew would be waiting for his arrival. Setting his kit beside the door, he toed off his shoes and slipped out of his jacket. Reaching over he hung up the department-issued article and, without turning on the light, moved towards the stairway.
As he placed a foot on the bottom tread, he noticed a faint light coming from the back of the house and realized the person he was wanting to cuddle with was in the kitchen. Changing directions, he silently walked down the hallway stopping just before entering the brightly lit room. He could hear a crooning voice and at first thought his partner was singing, so he leaned slightly into the doorway to catch the words.
"Awww, precious, it's going to be alright. You're safe now. Nobody's gonna hurt you ever again. Such a sweet baby. It's okay, darling, he's gonna love you, just like I already do. Let me wash the dirt away. It's okay, sweetheart. Daddy's little dear."
What the hell? Stepping into the kitchen on silent feet, he padded closer to the sink. He couldn't see past the back of the man who was murmuring endearments to something on the counter. He heard the sound of water running briefly and then the sound of it being wrung out of a cloth.
"Just a little more, sweetie. Gonna get all that nasty smell off of your precious little body. He's gonna fall for you hard and if he doesn't, well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. But I don't think that's going to happen. He's gonna be putty in your paws."
Paws! Shit, he went and got a dog without me. They had talked about going to the pound and picking a dog out together, but the last few weeks of work had been crazy and they had both decided to let life return to normal before trying to acclimate a dog to the equation.
He watched his partner reach out for a folded towel that had been sitting on the counter to his right, shaking it open gently. The towel disappeared from view, but it appeared as if it was being wrapped around the object of attention on the counter.
"All done, precious. Such a sweet baby. Gonna have to find you something to eat, honey. You're all skin and bones. Can't have you falling asleep on an empty stomach. Gonna have to go shopping tomorrow and buy you whatever you need. This is your home now and you need to be comfortable."
Well, I guess I know where I stand in this relationship, he thought. Not even being taken into consideration before a decision of this magnitude was being made. Shit, who's going to have to walk the little bugger when 'Daddy' over there has to pull a double, or a triple?
Just then his partner turned around, a small towel-wrapped bundle resting on his chest. "Hey, Greg. When did you get home?"
Greg stepped further into the room and looked at Nick with a smirk on his face. "A little while ago." He nodded towards Nick's chest. "Hey Nicky, you got some es-plaining to do," he said in a poor imitation of Ricky Ricardo.
Nick stepped forward and lifted the corner of the towel, as Greg bent over to get a better look. There, nestled against that broad chest. was a very tiny calico kitten, her fur still damp and spiky from being cleansed. She opened her eyes and yawned widely at the two men before snuggling back into Nick's chest.
"I found her at my last scene, G. You know, the car wreck? Driver swerved to avoid hitting her mommy, but ended up hitting her anyway before wrapping his car around a tree. She's all alone now. I just couldn't….." Nick was stroking the towel covered bundle and tearing up.
Greg reached out and cupped Nick's cheek tenderly, stroking his thumb across the bronze skin, knowing a case involving a child was always the hardest for his lover. "It's okay, Nicky. I think we're ready to be parents." Using his other hand to stoke an index finger across the small head, he continued, "She's pretty cute. I'm glad you found her. I hate to think of her all alone out there." Nick gave a relieved sigh.
Knowing that he had to prove to his partner that it really was okay, Greg moved to the cupboard and pulled out a can of tuna. "This will have to do for tonight. We'll go shopping together as a family tomorrow. We can go to that store where you can take your pets in with you."
He opened the can and emptied it into a small bowl, filling a second bowl with water. "Let's set them upstairs in the bathroom. We can put her in there while we sleep. It will be the easiest room to clean until we get litter tomorrow."
Nick just stood there looking at Greg, his mouth slightly open. "Nick? Is something wrong? Would you rather we put her in the laundry room? I just thought you might want her closer than that."
"Hell, Greg. Do you even realize how much I love you right now?" he responded, his brown eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Same as this morning, sweetheart," his partner smiled. "You showed me multiple times." He indicated toward the door with his head. "Let's go upstairs and put the baby to bed. I'm ready to drop, and as I fall asleep I want you holding me just as tightly as you're holding our little girl."
He turned, walking out of the room and down the hallway, carrying the two bowls towards the stairs. Nick lowered his chin and rubbed it across the soft little head resting against his chest. "Told you he'd be putty in your paws, sweetheart. He's always been putty in mine."
-----
AN: I know I should be working on a sequel for Soul Mate, but I brought home 2 little babies myself this past weekend. They are sitting here on my lap as I am trying to type and I just had to tell them a bed time story.
Initially I was going to have Nick be the one coming home for the surprise, but the idea of my big ol' Texan baby talking to a kitten just melted my heart to pieces!