Jackson is my original character, but I don't own CSI.
Also, I have never been to Italy, so I'm going by images from books and travel TV shows!
Since there's no CSI on tonight, I thought it would be nice to post a new story :)
I wondered why I hadn't written a fanfic with Jackson and Hodges. So...I thought of what Hodges might tell the youngster about Italy. And here's what I came up with. Hope you all enjoy!
And please review!
Greg Sanders sat in the break room of the crime lab with his son, Jackson. The little boy sat at the table with his paper and crayons while Greg looked over a case file he and Nick had just closed. They were waiting for Morgan to join them so they could go have dinner.
David Hodges, Morgan's best friend, came into the break room and noticed Jackson looking bored. Normally the little boy would be drawing or playing, with so much energy Hodges wondered when he ever slept. But Jackson just looked at his crayons on the table.
"What's wrong?" Hodges asked.
Jackson shrugged and mumbled, "I dunno."
"I dunno," Hodges said, mimicking Jackson. "Something's up. I mean, usually you're bouncing off the walls."
Jackson looked up at Hodges. "I wanna color."
Hodges sat next to Jackson and narrowed his brow in confusion. "Well, why don't you? You have enough crayons here..."
"He doesn't know what he wants to color," Greg whispered.
"Oh, you have a block," Hodges said with a nod.
Jackson shook his head. "No, my blocks are at home," he said with a giggle.
Hodges smiled. "No, it just means you want to color, you just don't know what."
Jackson nodded. "Yeah, I wanna color sumfin." Jackson slouched, his leg kicking against the legs of the chair.
Hodges smiled at the little boy. "Well, let's see. Why don't you draw something like your family here?"
Jackson looked up with curiosity. "Like what?"
Greg looked at his son and colleague together. "Here's a thought, Jacks. You know, your Uncle Hodges has been to Italy. Why don't you let him tell you about that and maybe you can color a picture?"
"Yeah?" Jackson asked.
"Yeah," Hodges agreed. "I loved Italy, it was such a beautiful place."
"Where's dat?" Jackson asked.
"It's across the ocean, in Europe," Hodges explained. "It's a country that's shaped like a boot."
Jackson giggled. "A boot?"
"Uh-huh. And there's a lot of beautiful churches and all kinds of places."
"Wow," Jackson said. "I never been to anudder country before."
"Oh, you'd like this place," Hodges said. "You like pizza?"
"Yeah! I like cheese pizza!"
"Well, pizza started in Italy."
"Cool!" Jackson reached for a crayon while Greg gave him a piece of paper. "Do dey have lots of pizza?"
Hodges laughed softly. "Yeah, and so much good food. One time when I was there, my mom and I went into one shop that had so many chocolates."
"Did dey have chocolate milk?" Jackson asked as he colored away.
"You know, I never asked." Hodges looked as Jackson continued his drawing. "But they had gelato."
"What's dat?"
"That is Italian ice cream. You like ice cream?"
"Yeah!" Jackson said.
"He loves chocolate ice cream," Greg told Hodges.
"Yeah, daddy. It's da bestest!" Jackson said without looking up from his drawing.
"Who doesn't?" Hodges asked. Greg simply smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Uncle Hodges, what else is in Italy?" Jackson asked.
"Oh, so much," Hodges told the enthralled boy. "My mom loved all the stores, they had so many nice clothes. And they had orchards."
"What are dose?"
"That's a big yard with a whole bunch of trees. Some people have orchards with trees that grow apples, some grow oranges...we saw one that grew grapes for wine."
"That's a grown-up drink," Greg told his son.
Jackson nodded.
"And they have churches with beautiful stained glass windows."
"What's stained glass?"
"That's glass with different colors," Hodges explained. "And when the sun shines on the window, all the colors shine and look so pretty."
"Wow," Jackson said. He continued coloring with different crayons and listening to his uncle.
Hodges thought for a moment. "You know how you like to color, Jackson?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you would like the museums in Italy. They've got so many beautiful paintings."
"Are dey like de one's my daddy puts on da wall at home?" Jackson asked.
Hodges laughed softly. "Kind of. They're just a lot bigger."
"Maybe your paintings and drawings will be in a museum someday, Jacks," Greg said as he watched his son color and listen to his uncle talk about what must seem like a magical place to a four-year old.
Jackson finished coloring and showed Hodges his drawing. He'd drawn a building that looked like a church with different colored windows, and a big tree in a yard. There was also a big circle on the right-hand side of the paper.
"Wow," Hodges said.
Jackson clambered out of the chair and stood next to Hodges. "Dere's a church," he explained. "An' dat's a tree for da orchard."
Greg smiled and Hodges looked at the drawing with a smile. "Yeah, I can see that," Hodges told him. He pointed to the circle Jackson drew. "What about this?"
Jackson smiled. "Oh, dat's a pizza!"
"Oh, a pizza!" Hodges said with a smile. "That's really good." Hodges showed the drawing to Greg.
"Great job, Jacks," Greg said with a smile.
"Thank you," Jackson said with a smile. He was proud of his latest drawing and happy it made Hodges smile.
"You know what?" Hodges asked Jackson. "This reminds me of Italy, and it makes me think of all the cool things I saw there."
"Uncle Hodges, can you take me to Italy?" Jackson innocently asked.
Hodges smiled. "Maybe someday."
"Yeah," Greg agreed. "Maybe someday your Uncle Hodges or I will take you to Italy and you can see all the cool stuff, like in your drawing."
Jackson smiled. "An' can we have ice cream?"
"Yeah," Hodges said. "We can get some gelato someday when we go."
"No," Jackson said. "I mean, can we have some ice cream now, daddy?"
Greg laughed. Just then Morgan came into the break room. "I guess we can get some ice cream now," Greg said.
"You guys having fun?" Morgan asked.
"Mama, Uncle Hodges is gunna take me to Italy someday!" Jackson proudly said.
Morgan looked at Hodges, who was slightly blushing. "He is?"
"Maybe someday," Hodges assured her. He handed the drawing to Jackson, who shook his head. "No, dat for you!"
"Aw, thank you," Hodges said.
"Daddy, can Uncle Hodges come get some Italy ice cream wif us?" Jackson asked.
Greg laughed softly. "If he wants to."
Jackson turned to Hodges. "Do you wanna come get some ice cream wif us an' tell mama about Italy?"
Hodges, Greg and Morgan laughed softly. "I'd like that," Hodges said.
The End.