A/N: CSI does not belong to me. Sadly. Reviews, constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome. This fic involves the same character as 'At School', but both can be read separately. It hasn't been betaed, and if there is anyone willing to, it'll be very much appreciated. And a warning: there is a Yo!bling suggestion.
He woke up with a sharp pain on the left side of his head, hearing a desperate scream coming from elsewhere. He opened his eyes, which magnified the pain, and rubbed his temple. Little by little, he took conscience of his surroundings. It wasn't a bad dream, the noise actually existed. He looked at the other side of his bed. Empty. He sat up, still sleepy, and a wave of nausea hit him. The torturing noise went on. He looked at the alarm-clock on the night-stand: 18:14h. Now he could clearly identify the baby cry coming from next-door.
Grissom had slept for about five hours in the last two days, all of it in short naps. Henry was six weeks old, and both Sara and himself had everything to learn about baby care. She was still on maternity leave, but he had gotten back to work after the vacation he took when his son was born. He still worked nightshift, but was soon to change his schedule. He stood up and went to the baby's room, only to find an anxious Sara holding the kid.
"There's something wrong with him. But he's not hungry" her voice was loud, because the crying was louder than it used to be. She had bloodshot eyes from the lack of sleep in the last weeks. She remembered a time when giving up on a few hours of sleep a day was harmless, and now she needed every minute of rest she could get, but was never able to.
She missed work, but was enjoying motherhood more than she thought she would. The boy was actually quiet, like any baby he slept most of the day, was breastfed every few hours, and a social smile was emerging, even though still rare.
And he was the most spoiled child of the Las Vegas crime lab, always receiving visitors, cards and gifts from his 'uncles and aunts'.
"Let me take him" Grissom took the baby, whose face was red, from desperately crying.
"He ate less than an hour ago. Take a look at his diapers" she said while standing up.
Grissom did as he was told, and went to change him. For a few quick seconds, Henry stopped crying, and they breathed in relief. He finished the task and picked him up. He was still getting adapted to being a father, and even felt proud to change a simple diaper.
The crying restarted, and he became worried as well.
"Let's think: he is not hungry, not dirty, not sleepy" he began to analyse the situation as he did to everything else, which meant with reason.
"No, Gil. Check if he has a fever" but before he could do it, she got up, took the baby and put her hand on his forehead. The boy writhed, and his screams made his parents even more concerned. She changed his position, supporting him on her shoulder. She began walking from one side to another, talking to the boy.
"I'll get the books to figure it out" he left the room quickly in search of the several parenting books they'd bought in the last months.
Sara tried to talk to the baby, lightly rock him, but nothing seemed to make him stop. Her anxiety took over her. When she was the only one to worry about, it was easy dealing with pain. With him, her world turned upside down.
The bell rang. As she went to get it, she saw Grissom beat her to it, carrying a few pocket-sized books and a couple of huge ones, the size of encyclopedias. It was Nick.
"Hey, guys! I stopped by to see the champ" but he soon noticed the expressions on their faces and the unstoppable crying. "Wow, what's happened to him?" and he approached them, even though his ears begged for him to go away. "Dude, what's wrong?" he asked the baby.
"Nick, he's been like this for half an hour. We don't know what to do" Sara blurted out. He noticed the tiredness in her voice, and took the child on his arms.
"Come here, champ. Sar, I grew up in a big family, my house was filled with kids all the time. Does he have a fever? Has he been sleeping? Hey, big boy, are you mad?" he asked in a childish voice, trying to soothe him. It didn't work.
"He slept, he doesn't have a fever, or a cough, or anything else. And if you want to help, find the problem here" Grissom gave him one of the large books. Sara took the baby again.
"Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle not knowing what to do?" he chuckled discreetly, because he knew what they were like when they got mad. The kid would inherit some temper. But he didn't complain. He sat down on the couch e started flipping through the book, not knowing exactly what to look for.
"I'm gonna call Catherine" Sara decided.
"Because of this?" Grissom asked.
"She'll know what to do, she always does". She seemed really nervous. And he didn't dare to argue. Catherine was in fact a big help, since the two of them only had books, no experience with babies, and would probably be a total parenting disaster.
He remembered the nurse's face when he tried to bathe the boy for the first time, still in the hospital. He thought she'd recommend they gave him for adoption, because of his clumsiness. But she patiently taught every step, and eventually, he learned.
Grissom was left with an irate baby on his arms, a busy visitor and an out of control wife. Moreover, he should be at work in less than three hours, and his migraine wouldn't give a break.
"Nick, take him for a while, please" he passed the baby to his friend and went to the kitchen to take his pills. He also got some snacks to serve.
When he returned, the television was on a football game, and Nick was sitting on the couch, with a screaming Henry on his lap. He looked at Grissom and justified:
"It used to work to soothe my cousin Jake..."
Grissom just left the snacks on the centerpiece.
Sara came back with some answers:
"I called Catherine, but she didn't pick up. So, I called his pediatrician and left a message, because he only has an appointment in two weeks. Then I panicked and called Brass. And I was this close to calling everyone in the phone book".
The men looked at her interrogatively when she mentioned the captain. She went on:
"I tried to remember our friends who have kids, which, let's face it, are pretty rare. And Brass said it's probably just baby cramps, but Ellie had them for only a little while, and he couldn't remember anything to make it get better" she now seemed a little calmer. She glanced at the television on the sports channel and shrugged.
"That's it, baby cramps! How could I have not remembered before?" Grissom wondered out loud, but thought that between his migraine and the crying baby, his mind wasn't that sharp. He took the baby again.
Sara joined Nick to search the subject. Grissom walked from one side of the room to the other, trying to calm his son down. He talked to the kid and asked questions like he was actually going to answer them.
The bell rang again. Nick got up quickly and rushed to the door. Grissom and Sara exchanged surprised looks.
"Greg?" She asked when she saw him at the doorway, holding a tiny plastic bag.
"Hey, guys" he said shyly.
Nick took the bag from his hand while Greg entered the place.
"Thanks, man. I'm glad you got it" he made his way to the kitchen, while explaining to the new parents what it was. "While Sara was on the phone and you were here, I asked Greg to bring Chamomile and Anise tea. I didn't know if you had it here, but my parents and uncles always used it".
Greg went to see Henry. "Hey, big boy, uncle Greg is here. You can stop crying now" he turned to Grissom. "Wow, I've never seen anyone this angry before".
"Neither have we" was his answer.
"Nick, does this have any logical explanation?" Sara asked, skeptical.
"Look, according to my parents, it worked for me".
"Thank you, but for the first months it should be only breast milk" Grissom said, remembering the pediatrician's advice and everything he had read about it until this day.
"In that case, the parents deserve it then" he replied, and put the water to boil.
"This isn't helping. It never helps when we need the most" Sara said, angrily closing the book. She got up and took the baby again. He seemed tired, but wouldn't stop crying. Grissom sat down and opened the book again.
"Calm down, Sara. He'll get better" Greg tried to cheer her up, but only made things worse.
"Calm down? Calm DOWN? Next time You carry your son in your uterus for nine months and see him suffering like this, you can tell me to calm down!" she looked like she'd kill him with her eyes. He shrunk into the couch and opened another book.
"Greg, do you have any other suggestion?" Grissom stepped in. He himself had been through the whole 'Calm down, Sara' fiasco more than once.
"Ahn... hold on..." Greg kept reading. "Found it. 'Baby cramps are a very common problem, with no established cause, but several theories try to explain them. One of them is related to the immaturity and lack of coordination of the baby's authonomic nervous system, which leads to disturbed bowel movements, or yet, a disturbance in intestinal hormones. Non-GI factors are still open for debate, like the child's temper or parents's anxiety...' he stopped reading, uncomfortable. Everyone was looking at him, including Nick, who came back from the kitchen with the tea and a few cups.
"Great, now it's all my fault" said Sara, walking even faster through the room.
Greg stood up and went to her. "Sar, don't be like this, it has nothing to do with you. Let me hold him for a while for you to rest". He took the baby a little awkwardly. The boy was screaming unstoppably. Now Sara was almost crying with him.
"This is nobody's fault, it's just theories" Grissom said, while petting her on the back discreetly. His headache hadn't gotten better.
Nick gave her the tea, but she shook her head and sat down on the couch.
Grissom took the book Greg had been reading and kept going until he got to the treatment part.
"There isn't any specific effective treatment here, only a few measures that might relieve the cramps. It suggests a warm bath".
"We could try that" she said and started to get up, but Grissom didn't let her.
"I'll take care of it. You stay here" he left the room with the baby. She sat down again and covered her face with her hands, she was exausted. The room was a little quieter, but they could still hear the crying from the bathroom and the television was still on.
"Guys, thanks for the visit, but you don't really have to stay... you gotta work in less than two hours".
"Don't worry, Sara. Besides, I'm not going to arrive after the boss anyway" said Greg, while taking a cookie.
"We still have some time" Nick said. They tried to distract her by talking about other things.
The bell rang again. They didn't let Sara get up, but Greg did.
"Brass?" the three of them said together, in a surprised tone.
"What is this? Unofficial staff meeting? When Sara called, she didn't sound ok, so I decided to stop by to check on them. Where is he? How's he doing?" Brass was looking for the child.
"Gil is giving him a bath to see if he gets better. He won't stop crying" Sara said.
Suddenly the house was in silence again. They all smiled in relief, but it only lasted a few seconds. The baby restarted to yell in pain. Grissom came to the living room with him, who was already very tired, but still screaming. Sara stood up and took him again.
"It only worked for seconds". Damn. Grissom hated when he had a problem he couldn't solve.
"Hey, baby. What's wrong with you?" she talked to him in a low voice, hugging him and kissing his forehead. She became even more agitated, sweaty and nervous.
Brass took him in his arms. "Sara, you look terrible. You need to relax, he's not sick". And he didn't understand why everyone in the room crunched their faces, in anticipation of what was to come.
"Jim, with all the respect, go to hell. He's been like this for two hours, that can't be normal!" she wondered around the room.
Grissom watched the baby, but really couldn't focus or think. Brass talked to the boy emulating a baby's voice. "Gootee, gootee, goo... have you tried to rub his tummy? It might help" He lay the baby down to try. Nick and Greg held back the laughter when they saw the scene.
It actually worked.
But again, for a few seconds only. A red, agitated even though already exausted Henry began to cry again.
"I'll take him to the ER. There has to be a way to make it stop" Sara said.
The bell rang one more time. Grissom got it, and saw Catherine with Warrick standing behind her. The seven of them looked astounded at seeing who was on the other side of the door. Catherine was the first to speak, going in the direction of the torturing sound and talking to Sara:
"Sar, I got your message, and since I was nearby, I decided to come see what's happening".
"I... was with her" Warrick said, not willing to give any more details, but noticing their friends wondering looks.
"Working on a case" Catherine quickly justified. The others pretended to believe.
"Apparently it's baby cramps, and it won't ever stop. He's been like this for over two hours" Sara spoke.
"And what have you done so far?" Catherine appeared to be the only one with a clue to what was going on. She took the baby and talked to him. "Hey, cutie. What have all these people done to you?"
"Warm bath, massage, changing his position. Nothing works". Grissom answered.
"It might not work anyway. Cramps follow the Rule of Threes. Linds had them too".
"Rule of Threes?" Nick and Brass asked at the same time.
"Yeah, it begins at three weeks old, lasts until three months, for three hours a day, at least three times a week" she answered naturally. And kept rocking the baby and talking to him.
"Oh, my God!" Sara sank in the chair as she foresaw what was to come. From six to twelve weeks, three days a week, three hours a day. Fifty four hours. She lowered her head.
"Of course it's not precise, but it's a parameter to exclude other diseases. When is he going to the pediatrician?"
"In two weeks" Grissom answered. "But we were considering taking him to the ER".
"No need to, he'll be fine". She looked at Sara and saw her anxious tired face. "War, hold him for a while" she gave him the baby and sat down next to Sara. She spoke in a low voice. The others started talking among themselves as well. "Sar, I remember how it is. Have they already told you to 'relax' and 'calm down'?"
She nodded, fighting the tears that threatened to come. Catherine gave her an accomplice look, and asked the group:
"Do you know what worked for Lindsey? Music. Have you tried singing to him?"
They shook their heads. She went on with authority: "Then you guys stay here, sing many nice songs to him, and no rap, Greg, that I'm going with Sara to the kitchen". She took her friend to the kitchen, leaving the room with five men, a baby and a mission.
"Cath, do you think it'll work?" Sara asked while sitting on the bench. She was still considering the ER.
"The music? Not for the cramps, but the stimuli helps his hearing develop. I know it's awful, but for the cramps, there's no other way, we have to wait" she served tea to them both. "At least we'll have the chance to hear those big macho guys singing instead of saying bull".
Sara almost smiled. Catherine really seemed to know how to handle the situation. And she could still find some humor in it.
"I need to be in there with him".
"Not yet, drink your tea, eat something. Henry's got five babysitters around him right now". From the kitchen they could hear Warrick singing a blues with a beautiful sexy voice that started low but grew with the song. The man was actually talented.
A few minutes later, they'd heard Nick singing a country thing they'd never heard of before, Greg tried a rock that irritated the baby even more, and Brass risked a children's lullaby, totally out of key, and improvising the lyrics.
When they returned, Grissom was excitedly singing "La Donna รจ Mobile". The others hummed the melody, since it was widely know, but nobody, except Grissom himself, knew the actual lyrics. Catherine couldn't hold back the laughter, Sara took Henry from his father's arms. He was a little quieter now, even stopping the cry for a few moments.
"Hey, baby, Mom is here" she caressed him.
"Italian? You couldn't choose anything else?" Catherine asked, still laughing at the scene she'd just witnessed.
"It's from Verdi's Rigoletto, the Opera. It's a famous piece" Grissom replied.
"Plus, I believe there is some good advice about women there" Nick added.
"Which of course will be very useful to a baby who's not even two-months old. War, I didn't know you could sing that well" Catherine said.
"Hey, I can do a lot of things that well..." he gave her that sexy look.
"I know you can..." she replied. And noticed that everyone in the room was staring at them. She became serious and changed the subject then. "Guys, Henry is calming down, I think he'll finally sleep now" their attention switched to the baby in her mother's arms. He breathed heavily from the effort he'd made before, his face was still red, but the crying was stopping. It was more like a whining now.
"And don't you all have to be somewhere else in a few minutes?" Grissom asked. His migraine had subsided and he felt a lot better.
They got their coats and stuff. It was almost time their shift began.
"Sar, will you be alright? If not, I can call in sick" Greg said playfully.
"Don't worry, Greg. Go fight crime in Vegas. And sorry about the explosion before. And Brass, I'm really sorry I told you to go to hell" she said guiltily.
"Don't mind it, Sara. I've heard much worse from my ex. And if you got any more problems, just give me a call" he kissed her cheek and said goodbye as well.
"Nick, War, thanks for the help".
"Girl, anytime". Warrick said, and he left with Nick, talking about the football game they'd just seen.
"Cath, I don't know what we would've done without you. Thank you. And sorry if I interrupted anything".
"No problem. You know you can call me anytime, right? Besides, you can't deny it was fun to hear them sing today. Don't worry, he might have these episodes a few more times, but we'll be here if you need to, ok?" and they smiled. Now the baby had finally fallen asleep.
Grissom shut the door.
"And... I gotta go to. Will you be alright here?" he caressed her hair.
"Yeah, sure. You can go".
"Call me if you need anything, ok?"
"Ok. Or I can just start singing an opera, it'll have the same results" she teased.
He answered her with a tender kiss, but was really running late.
"Bye, Honey. And bye, Henry" he opened the door and left.
Sara stayed home with the sleeping baby in her arms, thinking about the great family Henry had. So did she.
The End