Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI
An Old Friend
"Jazz, sit still and eat your lunch." Jackie told her daughter.
Jackie and Jasmine were sitting in a fast food restaurant enjoying lunch together. Nick was working a double and Houston was at the doctor for his checkup with Jackie's mother. Houston needed his booster shots and Jackie hated seeing her children get shots because she herself was terrified of needles, she was afraid that if she had to take him she would cry harder then he would so her mother had very nicely agreed to take him instead. Jackie didn't know why she had a fear of needles but she did, she had as far back as she could remember.
"Funny" Jasmine said as she held up one of her curly fries.
She had never had curly fries before and she was looking at the fry quizzically.
Jackie chuckled "It's yummy, eat it." She said with a smile.
Jasmine ate the fry. She made an ugly face and said "Icky."
"Icky, its good you goofball." Jackie said.
"Mama fy" Jasmine said.
"Sorry kiddo, I would share my fries with you but I got curly fries too." Jackie said as she turned her carton of fries around so Jasmine could see.
Jasmine scowled.
"Eat your cheeseburger." Jackie said as she unwrapped Jasmine's cheeseburger.
"Mmmmm" Jasmine said as she took a bite. Jackie smiled.
"Dink" Jasmine said as she pointed to Jackie's soda.
Jackie handed her the soda and she took a big drink of it. Jackie was just about to start eating her cheeseburger when she heard
"Hi Jackie."
She looked to her left and saw her old college friend Zach standing next to her table.
"Hi" she said happily.
"Hi" Jasmine said giving Zach a cute smile.
"Hi" he said to the toddler.
He then looked at Jackie and asked "is she yours?"
Jackie smiled proudly and said "yes."
"She's adorable."
"Thank you" Jackie responded.
He turned his attention back to Jasmine.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"Damine" she said.
Zach looked at Jackie with a puzzled expression on his face.
"What is it?" he asked her.
The look on his face made Jackie laugh "Jasmine" she responded.
"Oh Jasmine, that's a pretty name." He said and then with a smile asked "What's her middle name, Joelle?" (Jackie's middle name.)
Jackie laughed and said "Wrong parent."
"What?" He asked.
"Wrong parent, her middle name is Nicole." She said.
"Oh, that's cute." He said.
"Thank you" Jackie said.
Zach took a seat across from Jackie in the booth.
"How old are you Jazz?" He asked and then quickly looked at Jackie and asked "Can I call her Jazz?"
"Sure, we do all the time." Jackie said.
"How old are you Jazz?" He asked again, now that he had Jackie's permission to call her Jazz.
Jasmine held up five of her little fingers.
"You are not five" Jackie said with a laugh.
Zach laughed too "if you're five you are really short, just like your mom."
"Hey, I'm not that short." Jackie said, pretending to be offended.
"Yes you are" Zach grinned back.
"No I'm not, I'm 6'3." Jackie quipped.
"More like 4'3." Zach said with a playful smirk.
"I'm 5'2" Jackie said proudly.
"Ok, I'll buy that." He said and then added "so now that we have that settled how old is Jasmine really?"
"Two" Jackie answered.
"Is she your only child so far?" He asked.
"Nope, I have a baby boy too."
Zach looked around the restaurant "I think you lost him." He quipped.
Jackie laughed "he's with my mom." She explained.
"Good thing" he said with a grin.
"You are too much." Jackie said with a chuckle.
He smiled at her. "So what's the baby's name?" he asked.
"Houston." She responded.
"I like that, what's his middle name, Joe?" he asked with a grin.
Jackie shook her head and chuckled "No, his middle name is Warrick." She said.
"Well that's pretty close to Joe." He said with a laugh.
Jackie laughed too.
"Warrick is interesting, I have never heard that name before, where did you get it from?" Zach asked.
"Warrick is my husband's best friend, he was murdered."
"That's too bad." Zach said sincerely.
Jackie nodded.
"So, enough about me, what have you been up too? Are you here on vacation, or did your company send you here for a conference again?"
"Actually they transferred me here." He said.
"Oh, so you are now a resident of sin city?"
"Yep, fitting isn't it?" he said with a grin.
"Yes it is." She agreed with the shake of her head.
"Are you married or seeing anyone?" she asked.
He showed her his ring finger, there was a ring on it.
"Congratulations." She said.
"Thank you." He said with a smile.
"Any kids?" she asked.
"Nope, not yet." He said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"My wife isn't ready yet, but hopefully we'll have one soon."
"You're wife is probably just afraid that your children will act like you." Jackie said with a playful smirk.
"Hey" he said with a mock frown.
"You started it, you shouldn't have said I was only 4'3." She said.
"That's true, I did kind of start it didn't I?" He said.
"Yes, thank you for taking responsibility." She said.
"You're welcome." He said with a smile.
Jackie then glanced over at Jasmine, and to both her and Zach's surprise Jasmine was helping herself to Zach's fries.
"Jasmine Nicole Stokes, those are not yours." Jackie scolded.
Jasmine looked at Jackie and with half a French fry hanging out of her mouth and gave her a huge adorable grin.
Despite the fact that she was embarrassed Jackie couldn't help but smile.
"Sorry Zach" Jackie said.
Zach laughed. "She's alright" he assured her.
Zach looked at Jasmine and said "you know, your mother stole something from me too."
Jackie arched her eyebrow "What might that be?" she asked.
He gave her an ear to ear grin and said "my heart."
"Oh geez" Jackie said with a roll of her eyes and a smile.
She could feel her face turning crimson.
He grinned at her.
"Hey do you want to dance?" he asked with a smile.
"Here, now? We are in the middle of a fast food restaurant." She said in disbelief.
"So what?" he asked.
"What do you mean so what, are you crazy?" she asked.
"Come on." He said.
"Zach there is no way I am dancing with you here." Jackie said as she looked around at the crowded restaurant.
Jackie may not have wanted to dance but Jasmine did, she held her little arms in the air, indicating that she wanted Zach to pick her up.
Zach laughed, "See, she wants too."
"That doesn't surprise me, she absolutely loves to dance, I don't know how many hours both Nick and I have spent in our living room dancing with her. And it doesn't matter where she is, whenever there is music playing she starts moving with the music.
Jasmine frowned at Zach, she still had her little arms in the air.
"Da" she said excitedly.
Zach again laughed "May I Jackie?" he asked.
"Sure." Jackie said with a smile.
Zach picked Jasmine up and moved slowly back and forth with her. She had a huge grin on her face.
"Well I see the talk Nick and I gave her about stranger danger really sunk in." Jackie said sarcastically as she watched Jasmine feel right at home in Zach's arms.
"I'm not a stranger." Zach said.
"To her you are."
"That's true I guess." Zach said.
Zach then spun around while he was still holding Jasmine. Jasmine giggled hysterically.
Jackie smiled, as she watched Jasmine dance with Zach. Back in college her fantasy was that one day she and Zach would get married and have children. It's funny how life can turn out better than any fantasy. Jackie wouldn't trade her life with Nick for anything, he was a wonderful husband and she couldn't of hand picked a better father for her children.
Zach began to fill dizzy so he stopped spinning around. He looked at Jasmine, she was grinning at him.
"I think she likes you." Jackie said.
"Most little kids do and I'm not sure why." He said.
"Probably because you act like a kid yourself." Jackie said with a smirk.
"That could be it." He said with a grin.
Jackie chuckled.
Zach was just about ready to start spinning Jasmine around again when she suddenly said "Dada."
Zach and Jackie looked at each other in disbelief.
"No Jazz he's not your daddy." Jackie said quickly.
"Dada" Jasmine said again, but this time she pointed across the restaurant.
Jackie looked over to where she was pointing and sure enough Nick had just walked in.
"Egg" Jasmine said just as excided.
Greg Sanders was walking right behind Nick.
Jasmine struggled to get out of Zach's grasp. He laughed and set her down and then she immediately ran to Nick and Greg.
Jackie watched until she was safely in Nick's arms. A couple of seconds later Nick looked over at Jackie. She smiled and waved at him. He waved back as he continued to hold Jasmine. Nick held her until Jasmine reached her arms out towards Greg so he would take her.
Jasmine loved all of Nick's coworkers but Greg was her favorite. Nick handed Jasmine to Greg and then walked over to where Jackie sat.
"Hey, how's your case going?" Jackie asked.
"Not good, we have three victims and zero suspects. Greg and I are both so frustrated right now I'm surprised we are not at a bar instead of getting lunch." He said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Nick then turned his attention to Zach. "Zach right?" he said as he stuck out his hand to shake it.
"Yeah, hi Nick." Zach said as he shook Nick's hand.
"Listen before you start to think otherwise Jackie and I didn't meet here behind your back or anything, she was just having lunch with your daughter and I just happened to stop in."
Nick laughed "I wasn't too worried." He assured him.
"So tell me Zach, why would you take a trip to Vegas and then eat here when there are so many good restaurants and buffets?"
Zach laughed "Oh, I live here now. I got transferred here a few months ago, but don't worry, I'm not going to steal Jackie from you or anything, I'm married now."
He said as he held up his left hand so Nick could see the ring.
"Congratulations, but again, I wasn't too worried." Nick said.
Zach grinned at him "Good to know." He said and then he looked at his watch.
"Well I better get going, my wife and I are meeting some friends at a casino in a little bit so I should probably get home." He said.
"Ok, it was nice to see you again." Jackie said.
"Likewise" he said with a smile as he gave her a friendly hug.
"Nick" he said with nod.
"Goodbye" Nick said as he nodded back.
Zach then turned and headed towards the door.
"Bye Jasmine." He said with a wave to the little girl who was still in Greg's arms.
"Bye, bye" Jasmine said with a grin.
Zach then left.
"Nothing was going on." Jackie told Nick the second after Zach left.
"Jackie relax, I didn't think there was." He said with a chuckle.
"Good, I just wanted to make that clear." She said.
He smiled and shook his head at her.
"How did Houston's doctor appointment go today?" he asked.
"I don't know he and my mom aren't back yet, but I suppose Jasmine and I should get going so we can be at my parents' house when they get back." She said.
"Alright, see you later." He said.
"Bye, enjoy your lunch and good luck with your case." She said as she gave him a peck on the cheek before she turned and started walking towards Greg.
"Hi Greggo, how's it going?" Jackie asked as she took Jasmine from his arms.
"I've had better days." Greg admitted.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Jackie said.
"Oh well, what do you do?" Greg said mustering a smile.
"Solving the case would probably help." Jackie said with a smile.
"Yes it would, do you have any idea on how we could do that?" He asked with a smile.
"Um, follow the evidence." Jackie quipped.
"Thanks for the tip Grissom." Greg said with a grin.
Jackie laughed "Glad I could help." She said with a grin of her own.
He laughed.
"Jasmine and I better get going but good luck, I hope you guys solve the case soon. She told him.
"Thanks, see you later." He said.
"Jazz tell Greggo bye."
"Bye bye Egg." Jasmine said with a sweet grin.
"Bye Jasmine." He said with a smile.
"Wave to daddy." Jackie told her as she pointed at Nick.
"Bye bye Dada" she said with a wave.
Nick smiled and waved back at his little girl.
As Jackie and Jasmine drove to her parents' house she smiled to herself. It had been a nice lunch, she had enjoyed running into Zach again, and seeing Nick and Greg had been a nice surprise too, but the best part of all was that she got to spend time with her little girl.