Jackson and Greta are my original characters, but I don't own CSI.
Happy Birthday Paul Guilfoyle!
I thought it would be cool to have another story with Jackson and his Uncle Jim, and then I thought about including Eli, since Jim often takes care of him in my stories. So here's what I came up with. Hope you enjoy...and pretty please review!
If you told Jim Brass just a few years ago that he'd be looking forward to spending a Friday evening with kids, he might have laughed in your face. But he was joining Eli Brewster, Jackson and Greta Sanders, and their families for dinner. He knew he was given a second chance with the kids, after everything that happened in the past. And Jackson and Eli loved spending time with their Uncle Jim.
When he arrived at Greg and Morgan's house, he narrowed his brow when he saw his dear friend Sofia Curtis getting out of her car. The deputy chief smiled at Jim as she got out of the car.
"Hey!" Sofia said as Jim got out of his car.
Jim raised his eyebrows at his friend. "You joining us for dinner?"
Sofia smiled warmly. "They asked if I could come." She took Jim's arm and they walked up to the door.
Jim took in Jackson and Eli staring out the window and darting back in with a raised eyebrow. The two detectives opened the door and their CSI family shouted "surprise!"
"Happy birthday!" Jackson and Eli shouted.
Jim raised his eyebrows and smiled at his adopted family. "What's all this?"
"It's your birthday," Eli's mom Tina said.
"You should have a party!" Eli said.
Jim couldn't help but smile at his dear friends. "You guys really didn't have to do this," he said humbly.
"Yes, we did," Sofia said.
"It was the boys' idea," Greg said with a warm smile. He knew his friend didn't like to be fussed over.
Greta sat in Morgan's arms and smiled at the detective. "Ah!" the baby said as she reached for Jim.
The detective smiled at the children. "Well...this is really great of you all. Thank you."
Jackson and Eli rushed up and hugged the detective. "Aw!" Jim said. He always loved spending time with them, and knew he had a second chance to be a father figure with them.
As much as Jim hated being fussed over, he had to admit he loved his CSI friends. They'd always been more of a family to him, especially after his own daughter did everything in her power to hurt him. He knew Eli and Jackson knew nothing of his past with Ellie, and Greta didn't know her mother was almost killed because of the detective's estranged daughter. They just loved him.
After a dinner of vegetable lasagna, Tina brought out Jim's birthday cake. "I helped!" Eli happily informed Jim.
"And it looks yummy!" Jackson added.
Jim laughed softly and smiled when he saw the chocolate cake. Everyone sang happy birthday...including Greta, who squealed happily at the top of her lungs.
"You like to sing along, huh?" Jim asked the baby girl sitting in Morgan's lap.
Greta reached for Jim and Morgan smiled at her friend. She didn't blame him for what Ellie did to her four years before, and knew Jackson and Greta adored him. "Happy birthday," she told Jim.
"Thanks," Jim said. He smiled at her, proud of how strong Ecklie's daughter was.
Jim smiled at Jackson and Eli. "You guys have got to help me blow them out," he said as he pointed to the candles on his cake.
"Okay!" both boys agreed. Jim counted to three and they blew out all the candles. Everyone cheered. Even Greta clapped her hands.
"You know how she eats birthday cake," Morgan said with a soft laugh. Sure enough, Greta reached for the cake and tried to plop her hand in the frosting.
Jim couldn't help but laugh. He smiled at the baby girl with the twinkle in her eye as she reached for the cake.
"Greta!" Jackson said with a laugh. "Uncle Jim gets the first piece!"
"And you're supposed to eat with a fork," Eli said, giggling.
Everyone enjoyed spending time together, and Jim especially enjoyed spending time with the boys. They talked about spending time at the dog park with Spot, Scruffy, and Nick and Sara's dogs. They talked about school, how Greta was growing and anything else that came to mind. To see the gruff detective and the young sons of the CSIs was to see three great friends.
Morgan and Tina smiled at the detective with their sons. "I cannot thank Jim enough for being there for Eli and me," Tina said.
"I think he needed Eli just as much," Morgan said.
Greg, Nick, Sara, Gil, Sofia, and everyone loved seeing their friend so happy. After everything he'd been through, seeing him as a father of sorts to Eli and uncle to Jackson and Greta was wonderful.
Jackson looked over and saw Maria and Helena, Catherine's girls, watching shyly. He and Eli got up off the couch and took their hands. "Come on!" Jackson said.
"Yeah," Eli added. "You can hang out with us!"
Jim smiled as the girls and Super Dave's son Joshua joined him and Greta on the couch. Catherine and everyone smiled at the sight. And Jim has to admit he enjoyed spending time with the kids. It was really a lovely sight.
"Uncle Jim,do you like your party?" Eli asked.
The detective smiled warmly. "You know, I really have," he answered honestly. Grissom gave him a new fishing pole and a food bowl for Spot. Greg, Morgan and Jackson gave him a gift card to one of his favorite restaurants. Jim got several gift cards to different stores and restaurants, but his favorite gift was a framed picture of him and Eli. It was taken on a pretty spring day at Lake Mead, and they and Tina spent the afternoon with Spot, just laughing and playing.
A happy tear formed in Jim's eye as he looked at the photo of him and Warrick's son. When Jim had gone through so much with Ellie, he never imagined he'd be a father figure again. Now that he had Eli and all the kids as well as his CSI family, Jim felt truly blessed.
"You know what?" Jim asked Eli. "This is the best gift I could have gotten for my birthday."
Eli's smile was brighter than all the lights of Vegas.
Jim smiled at his Vegas family. "Thanks, everyone. This was a great birthday."
"Uncle Jim?" Eli asked. "Can we all go on a picnic this weekend? We can go to the lake and bring Spot."
Jim smiled at the inquisitive boy. "Maybe bring Jackson, Maria, Helena, Joshua and everyone?"
"Yeah!" The kids agreed.
"Baba ba!" Greta said as she reached out to Jim.
"That's Greta's way of saying 'happy birthday'," Jackson said, giggling.
Jim smiled at the children he loved. "Thank you," he said with a warm smile. The baby girl smiled at Jim. He smiled at his family. "And thanks for a great day," he said honestly. To him, it was one of his best birthdays ever.
The End