A/N: I'm a little hesitant about this one, but decided I wanted to share it anyways. We'll see how it goes!
April
Greg Sanders whistled as he strolled down the hallway from his bedroom to his kitchen, ducking into the bathroom to give his hair a double check in the mirror. He gave it an extra ruffle as he resumed his amble through the living room. He pushed aside the blinds of the window above the kitchen sink and gazed out onto the dark drive. No sign of his hot date yet.
A buzzing came from the living room. His phone was lighting up on the coffee table. He jogged to it, flipping it open.
"Sanders."
"It's me."
A smile stretched across his face as he fell back into the couch's pillows.
"Hey, Sara."
"Hey, um… what are you doing tonight?"
Greg cursed silently. He hated to miss a chance to hang out with Sara… but there was no way he could cancel on his date tonight. An unexpected 419 had already gate crashed their first first date attempt.
"Well, Mallory's going to be here soon, but I might have a few minutes."
He heard the crunching of gravel from his front yard. Damn Mallory's punctual timing.
"Actually, Sara, I think she's here," he said, rising from the couch and crossing towards the door. "Can I call you later?"
"Actually, I'm here," came Sara's response. "Can you let me in?"
Greg swung open his front door to see Sara's gray SUV in his driveway, and his best friend looking unusually distraught on his doorstep.
"Hey," Greg greeted her, giving her a quick hug. "What's up?"
"I have to talk to you."
Sara stepped across the doorway and into Greg's living room, wringing her hands around in circles.
"Um, okay," Greg replied, craning his neck for a look down the street. No sign of Mallory just yet.
He shut the door and turned back towards Sara, who was sitting tentatively on the edge of the sofa.
"You okay?"
"Uh huh," Sara said unconvincingly.
Greg shot her a look.
"Yes," she tried again, to no avail. "Okay, no."
Incredibly, Greg's hot date was the last thing on his mind as he took a seat beside his friend.
"What's going on?"
Greg reached over to squeeze Sara's fingers and was surprised to find her hand cold and shaking.
"Sara?"
He heard her take in a long, slow breath before she finally turned to look at him. Her eyes were red and shiny, but not a tear made its way out to roll down her cheeks.
"I've got something to tell you," she nearly whispered.
"Okay," Greg said encouragingly, giving her fingers another squeeze. "I'm listening."
"I… got some news today," Sara began slowly.
She bit her lip and paused.
"Greg, you have to promise me, you won't tell any one."
"I promise, Sara," he said sincerely, even though he had not a clue what secret he was supposed to be keeping. "Haven't I proved myself capable the last few weeks?"
Sara gave him a shy grin and nodded. Greg was the only one Sara told about the real reason she had decided to take a break from Paris and return to the lab. While she and Grissom were still very much married and very much in love, they had had a huge argument, which had concluded with Grissom storming out of the apartment and leaving Sara to wonder where he had gone for an entire two days. It had taken all of Greg's strength not to dial the new international phone number for his old boss and give him an earful. But Sara trusted him, and as hard as it was sometimes, he kept his word and kept his mouth shut tight, even around the self-titled gossip queen Catherine.
Sara's confession was also the reason why Greg had taken extra steps to make sure Sara was happy this time around in Las Vegas… or at least as happy as she could be, 6,000 miles away from her husband whom she hadn't spoken to since she let him know she had arrived safely and would return at an undetermined date. They had frequent movie dates on his couch and went for drinks with Nick at least once a week. Her façade fooled at least Nick and Catherine, but Greg wasn't so sure. He saw the smile slip off her face every now and then, when she thought no one was looking. It broke his heart, and he was doing all he could to make sure Sara got her smile back.
"Okay," Sara breathed. "I'm pregnant."
Greg stared at her, wide-eyed.
"Wow."
Sara let out a small, relieved sigh.
"I know."
"When did you…"
"Today," Sara finished for him. "I got suspicious when I spent the third morning in a row over the toilet bowl. It's official."
"How long…"
"Four weeks."
"Congratulations," Greg said bewilderedly, leaning over to wrap his arms around her.
"Thanks," Sara murmured into his shirt collar.
"Are you… excited about it?" he asked when they broke apart.
"I don't know," she said with a small laugh. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. You're the first person I told."
Greg's mouth involuntarily opened a few inches.
"Sara… he – Grissom… he doesn't know?"
Sara shook her head.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
They sat in silence for a few moments, while Sara continued her battle against the moisture swimming in her brown eyes.
"Hey, why don't you stay the night here?" Greg finally said, nudging her shoulder gently. "I'll even swap my bed for the sofa, just for you."
"Thanks, Greg," Sara said shakily, giving him her best attempt at a smile. "But you have a date tonight, and I have no intention of ruining it."
"Sara, you are my date tonight," he said sincerely. "Please?"
He slid off the couch and intertwined his fingers together, holding them under his chin.
"Pretty please? With extra chocolate and sprinkles on top?"
Sara laughed what Greg deemed the closest to an actual Sara laugh he had heard in weeks.
"Okay," she relented. "But only if you stop begging."
"Deal."
"Although the extra chocolate part sounded pretty good."
Greg smiled and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Hey, hormones," she shrugged, laughing. "What can I say?"
"Well, lucky for you, I keep an emergency stash in the pantry, just in case one of my best friends decides to become pregnant," Greg joked. "Thank God it finally came in handy."
"Thank God," Sara agreed.
"Just give me a second, okay?"
Greg rose from the couch, but stooped down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'm really happy for you, Sara," he said. "This is one amazing thing that's happening to you. I promise."
Sara beamed at him as he slipped into the hallway and into his bedroom, where, conveniently, his stash of chocolate was kept. Mallory picked up after two rings.
"Greg," she breathed. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't forget, I promise!"
"Mal-"
"I was on my way, and I got a freaking flat tire!" she rushed on. "Just my luck, right? But anyways, they're almost done, so I'll-"
"Mal!" Greg cut in. "I, uh… I can't go out tonight."
"You… can't?" she repeated slowly.
"No," he affirmed quietly. "I… had something come up."
"Another body?"
Greg bit his lip.
"Sorta," he said. "But this one's a live one."
"I see."
"It's kind of a… personal emergency for one of my close friends," he tried to explain. "I hope you can understand."
"Is it Sara?" she asked flatly.
"Um… yeah."
"Listen, Greg," Mallory began. "I understood why you canceled our first attempt, work comes first. I get it. But when I tried to reschedule, you tried to invite me out for drinks… with Sara."
"Yeah, but-"
"And now you cancel again for her?" she continued. "I'm not blind, dumb, or born yesterday, Greg. So… I hope you two are very happy together."
"Mallory-"
He was cut short by a dial tone. He stared at his phone for a few minutes in disbelief before snapping it shut with newfound resolute. Sure, he had liked Mallory. Yes, he sure would have liked a chance to examine her butt up close. But no girl, hot or not, was important enough to pull him away from a friend who needed him. It was just one of his most desirable traits, if he did say so himself, and right now, Sara needed him. Mallory was just an unfortunate concession.
His eyes wandered to a framed photograph standing upright next to his glowing alarm clock. Archie had snapped it years ago, while roaming the lab to test out his new camera. Greg was smiling goofily at the camera while Sara was making a face behind him, her mouth open so wide, he could see her chewing gum. The picture made him laugh every time he looked at it, as it did now.
"Hey, Willy Wonka," Sara's voice called, snapping Greg from his stupor. "Have the oompa loompas finished brewing the chocolate yet?"
"Jeez," he muttered, pulling the bottom drawer of his bedside table open and snatching an entire bag of Dove milk chocolate. "Pregnant women."
TBC!
At the risk of sounding desperate, please tell me what you think on this one. I'm usually not a big supporter of pregnant-Sara stories, so this is outside of the box for me. Let me know if you would like to see more. Thanks!
