Chapter Four: Suspicious Minds
Clattering plates, light conversation over breakfasts and CB radios buzzed through the local diner popular among the local cops and the night shift CSI's who had taken up a corner booth to eat some breakfast before they head home to get some much needed sleep. Sara Sidle dropped her share of the bill on the table, waving goodbye to her fellow CSI's as she head off out the diner towards her car outside.
"I gotta go too." Catherine announced, retrieving some money from her purse. "Lindsey's gotta get to school on time or she gets another detention." She smiled at them as she pulled her jacket on. "Night guys."
"Night." Nick and Warrick chimed in together, unable to walk away from their piping hot coffees and plates of delicious food.
"I broke it off with Sanders." Nick announced once she was gone, making Warrick suddenly look up at him from his breakfast sat in front of him. "Well actually, he broke it off with me."
"Well it's about time." He laughed. "I told you not to get involved with someone from work. Especially Sanders."
"What do you mean especially Sanders?" Nick practically spat at him. "There's nothin' wrong with Greg." Warrick looked at Nick wide eyed from his sudden outburst. "Then again, he's probably right, we shouldn't have let this thing go on as long as it had, but there's nothin' wrong with Greg." Nick assured him.
"I coulda told you that, not the Greg part." Warrick smirked, chugging back the last of his coffee. "You sure Sanders doesn't have a guilty conscience and he's thinking 'bout telling Tanya do yah?"
Nick looked up at him surprised as he hadn't even thought about that. "He did say that he broke up with me because he had a conscience. You don't think he will, do you? I mean he never said that to me. He just said he couldn't do it anymore. Somethin' about that I'd never love him either."
Warrick scoffed, shaking his head at him. "You gotta needy mistress on yah hands there bro. I'd be careful if I were you champ." Warrick pulled out his wallet, dropping his share of the bill down on the table. "I'll catch yah later. Us single guys have dates to find so we don't find ourselves lonely tonight." He smirked at him, heading off towards the doors of the diner.
Nick paid for his half, smiling at the waitress as she came over to collect. "Can I get you anything else sir?"
"No thanks, I'm fine." Nick climbed to his feet, leaving her an extra tip. He gave her his warm Texan smile then head off out the door, climbing into his truck outside. He sat in the driver's seat a moment, deciding to head straight over to Greg's to confront him.
An abrupt knocking suddenly awoke Greg from his deep slumber. He lifted his head from the pillow beneath him, hearing the knocking again. Throwing back the warm covers, Greg scrambled off the bed, heading straight for the front door. He frowned as he saw Nick through the spy hole, quickly pulling the door open to face him. "Nick, it hasn't even been twenty four hours." He complained, immediately yawning after as he was exhausted.
"I know. I'm not here for that." He defended himself as he looked at Greg's cute pyjamas he was wearing. "Can I just talk to you a minute?"
Greg leant against the frame of the door, looking at Nick a moment. He didn't have the same lustful look in his eye, so he wasn't here for sex. Greg decided to step aside, allowing the Texan into his apartment then closed the door behind him.
"What do you want?" He immediately asked him.
"Did you break up with me because I can never really be with you or because you're going to tell Tanya?" Nick asked him straight up.
Greg sighed heavily then dropped back onto his sofa, answering, "Neither."
"Neither?" Nick looked at him confused. "Then why did you do it?"
"We're not boyfriends Nick." Greg reminded him. "I did it because I don't want to keep doing this... you know, thing between us anymore. I'll still be your friend, but I don't want to keep doing this... you know sex stuff between us." He explained to him, straightening out his baby blue pyjama top as he looked up at Nick.
Nick dropped onto the coffee table in front of him, looking at him still confused. "You don't like the sex, is that it?" Greg shook his head. "Then why stop. No one knows about us."
"Nick, you're not hearing me." He complained, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I can't do this anymore. You're using me for your own pleasure, and its killing me inside. I can't do it anymore, okay? If you can't accept that," Greg suddenly rushed to hold his stomach. "Then I'm sorry but we can't be friends anymore, can you please leave now?" Greg covered his hand over his mouth, beginning to feel a little nauseous.
Nick watched as Greg suddenly scrambled to his feet, rushing off to his bathroom down the hall.
Nick followed after him with concern, watching him falling to his knees in front of the toilet before he threw up. "Shit Greg, are you okay?" Nick knelt down behind him, gently smoothing his palm up and down his back. "Are you sick? I thought you just went to the doctors?"
"I did." Greg choked on the acid in his throat.
"Well that was a few weeks ago now, what's wrong with you?"
Sitting back on his heels, Greg took the toilet paper that Nick offered to him to clean himself off. "Thanks." Nick helped him up to his feet, directing him off towards the sink to help him clean up. Greg looked up in the mirror in front of him, looking into the reflection Nick behind him. "I just... ate something funny." Greg weakly explained to him, hoping he'd buy it as he wasn't ready to tell him he was pregnant yet.
"Do you want me to get you anythin'?"
"No." Greg splashed his face with some cold water, taking the towel Nick offered him. "I'm fine. You can go now."
"Greg, are you sure..."
"I'm fine Nick." Greg insisted, leaning his back against the sink behind him as he turned to face Nick, thinking back to how he told his last boyfriend Davian he was pregnant in the exact same place and how badly it ended. "I'm fine, okay? So you can go now?"
"So you're not gonna tell Tanya?" Nick checked again, still looking at Greg concerned. Greg shook his head to him. "But I still can't sleep with you?"
"Not unless you're fully clothed." Greg cheekily smiled up at him. "Nick, you're beginning to sound like you're in love with me. And I know you don't, you just want me for sex."
"Greg, I care about you."
"But you don't love me." Greg argued. "If you did you wouldn't be putting me through this. So just go. You have to go, you have to go and be with Tanya."
Nick looked at him almost disappointed at what Greg had said. He gently cupped Greg's chin in one hand, looking him in the eye. "You're still my best friend though Greggo. And I know I've used you, and I'm sorry. But if you ever need anythin'... let me know." He leant forwards pressing a delicate kiss to the younger mans forehead then slowly walked out of the bathroom and out of Greg's apartment.
"How about child support?" Greg whispered to himself once he was gone as he placed his hands on his stomach.
Greg returned to the lab the next day, still feeling really nauseous. He told Grissom he was off sick with food poisoning, and he seemed to buy it, which was lucky for him as he wasn't ready to tell him the truth just yet either.
"Greg, that's your fourth bathroom visit." Catherine suddenly commented, startling him as he came out of the men's room, holding his hand over his mouth.
"Are you spying on my Cat?" He frowned at her.
"Catherine." She corrected him. "And no, I'm just being observant. What's the matter with you?"
"I... I'm just getting over this sickness bug thing." He weakly explained, inhaling deep breaths of fresh air to try and stop the nauseous feeling from rising again. "Why? Did you want me to process something for you?"
"No, I don't have anything going right now. There's some crackers in the break room if you want them Greggy? That'll help settle your stomach." Catherine slowly led Greg off towards the break room, sitting him down with a glass of water and some crackers as if she was a mother taking care of a sick child. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with you Greggy? You know you can tell me anything sweetie. If it's something serious, I'm not gonna tell anybody."
"It's not cancer or anything." He stopped her there as he saw the look in her eyes. "I'm just... it's just a sickness bug from some dodgy food. I'll be fine in a few days." He assured her, hoping she wouldn't see through his lies because he wouldn't really be fine in a few days and he knew it. "I'm going back to the doctor in the morning, so don't worry Catherine. I'm fine." He gave her one of his smiles with less flare before he crunched on one of the crackers.
"Okay Greggy," She gently ruffled one hand through his hair, pecking a motherly kiss to his forehead. "I'm just worried about you sweetie." Giving Greg a smile, she slowly made her way out of the break room and got back to the case she was working.
Greg finally felt his stomach beginning to settle, wishing he had never eaten those pancakes before he came in as he couldn't keep them down. "Stupid morning sickness." He muttered as he leant on his elbow on the table, taking dainty bites of the cracker in his hands.
"Hey Greggo." Warrick waved as he made his way into the break room with a box of doughnuts in his hands. "You want one? Looks like we're gonna be pulling another double so we're gonna skip out on lunch, again." Warrick smirked as he opened the box in front of Greg, showing him the deliciously covered doughnuts.
"No, I really shouldn't." Greg shook his head, leaning back in the seat.
"Don't fill up on those crackers." Warrick teased him then grabbed a glazed doughnut for himself before he made his way over to the coffee pot. Nick suddenly walked in with a burrito in his hands, stinking up the break room with its spicy scent, making Greg feel even more nauseous. "Hey man, you wonna doughnut?" Warrick offered him.
"Sure." Nick leant over Greg to get one, making him more nauseous by the smell of his burrito in such close proximity.
"Dude, what are you eating?" Greg pushed Nick's burrito holding hand away from him as Nick grabbed a hundreds and thousands covered doughnut.
"Its chilli and cheese, you want..."
"No." Greg pushed his hand away, cringing from the smell.
"You still sick?" Nick asked him concerned. Greg shook his head, leaning on his elbow on the table. "You don't look so good."
"Stop mothering me." Greg scowled up at him, pushing him away from him again.
"You were letting Cath mother you earlier." Warrick smirked, leaning against the counter behind him. "Not that I blame yah, that's a mom I'd like to..."
"Cath will kill you if you finish that sentence." Nick warned him with a chuckle.
"That microwave stuff will kill you Nicky." Greg warned him as he climbed to his feet, dizzily making his way out of the room towards his lab.
"You're not still sleeping with that boy are you?" Warrick suddenly asked Nick once Greg was gone.
"No." Nick shook his head, finishing off his doughnut. "I wish... but no." Nick winked at him then poured himself a coffee, catching Warrick smiling at him out of the corner of his eye. "What?"
"You're totally whipped for Sanders bro." Warrick gave him a buddy slap to the back then made his way out of the break room to get back to work, laughing at his friend the whole way.
Straight after work Greg head straight off to his doctor's appointment, anxiously rocking backwards and forwards in the waiting room as his eyes scanned across the various pictures on the walls of a fetus' growth inside a womb. He gulped hard as he caught side of the fetus at eight months and how far the woman's stomach stuck out. He tried to imagine his stomach being out that far which only made him even more scared about the whole pregnancy thing.
Looking around the waiting room at the other people waiting for their doctors appointments, he saw a young woman holding a funny looking baby on her lap. The baby's head was much bigger than his body making him look completely out of proportion. Another woman had a large stomach with a look of pain on her face as she rubbed her sides and a couple were sat opposite him, whispering sweet nothings in one another's ears every few minutes.
Greg enviously looked on at them. They were holding one another's hands lovingly and the guy kept placing his hand on her pregnant stomach, giving his girlfriend a wide smile while Greg was sat alone, thinking about how he was going to have to raise this baby alone.
"Greg Sanders." Doctor Simpson called out into the waiting room, smiling as he saw him sat in the corner. Greg looked up from his position in the waiting room, slowly climbing to his feet and following his doctor off down the hall towards his office. "We'll do your blood test today, and I'd like to do another ultrasound." Greg nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the examination table, feeling nauseous by the smell of cleaning products in the room.
The Doctor carefully rolled Greg's sleeve up, slowly sinking a needle into the vein.
"So, nearly twelve weeks now. How are your symptoms coming along?" The Doctor asked as he drew blood from his arm.
"Well one minute I'm really hungry then the next I'm throwing everything up again. And the morning sickness seems to last all night... and my stomachs getting fatter. And I hate this stupid morning sickness."
"That's normal." The Doctor smiled softly to him. "The morning sickness should begin to slow down soon. Your uterus will start to grow more soon too, you'll notice even more. Headaches and light headedness are normal at this stage . . . and your hormones are going to go all crazy on you. But it's all normal." Greg nodded to him, wincing as the Doctor slowly withdrew the needle from his arm. "Now, can you lie back for me and pull up your shirt?" He asked as he made his way back to his desk, labelling up Greg's blood vial to send to their lab.
Greg struggled to lay back against the examination table, tugging his shirt up his chest. He watched the doctor moving the ultrasound machine a little closer towards him, feeling his heart pounding as he was about to see his baby again.
Greg shivered as the gooey cold liquid hit his much rounder abdomen. He turned his head to the side watching Doctor Simpson starting up the ultrasound machine. "Now, we should be able to tell the gender if you want. It won't be exact at this stage but..."
"No, I don't wonna know." He shook his head.
Doctor Simpson smiled at him then pointed to something on the monitor. "Okay, you see here... those are hands. The fingers will begin to separate soon; they look a little like webbed hands at the moment. There's the feet, toes will begin to separate soon too." He smiled at him as Greg had a look of excitement in his eye. "That is the head, it's a funny shape at the moment, but it's meant to look like that. Soon the rest of the body will catch up and everything will be perfectly proportioned. You're only about three months along at the moment, but you will start to gain weight as your baby does because you're entering your second trimester." He explained.
Greg nodded to him watching the monitor in awe. He couldn't believe his eyes. The jelly bean looking thing from just a few weeks ago now looked more and more like a baby. "Is that the heartbeat?" Greg asked as he listened to the weird noises coming from the machine.
"Yep, nice healthy heartbeat." The Doctor nodded to him. "You want a picture this week?" Greg looked at the monitor a moment then nodded to him. Doctor Simpson smiled as he printed one off. He knew Greg wouldn't be able to resist after seeing his baby has a face and hands. Doctor Simpson then cleaned the goo off Greg's stomach. He handed the picture over to Greg while he filled out some forms.
Greg stared at the picture for the longest moment, brushing his fingers across the head, hands and the little legs that were starting to form.
It wasn't until he got back to his apartment that it really hit him though. He had to call Nick; he couldn't keep it from him anymore, especially now that he was starting to show. He decided to call Nick to tell him to come over, but he only got his voicemail and he wasn't about to tell him in a voicemail message, he wanted to do it face to face.
Three hours later Nick finally came over his place, moaning, "Greg, what's with the six messages you left on my phone? You're beginnin' to sound like a whinny girlfriend or somethin'," as soon as he got through the door.
"I'm sorry; your voicemail is only like three minutes long. I needed more than that to explain." Greg simply explained, closing the door once Nick was inside.
"Okay, so what's the big emergency?" Nick asked, being directed back towards the couch by Greg. "You missin' me that much already?"
"No, this is something else. Really important." Greg dropped onto the coffee table in front of Nick, looking him in the eye. "Nicky..." Greg sighed heavily as he tried to think of the right words. "Nicky, I have something... really important... really, really important to tell you." Greg's breath stuttered from his lips as he struggled even more.
"Whatever it is Greg," Nick reached out for his hand to hold between his own, giving him a soft smile as he looked into his big puppy dog eyes. "You can tell me anythin'."
"I know. But this is more than just anything." Greg tugged his hand from Nick's, leaning back on his hands on the table. "See this is really hard for me to explain, and I sorta wish that I didn't have to. See, this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen between... you know us. It's just not meant to..."
"Do you have HIV or somethin'?" Nick interrupted him, fearing the worst.
"God no." Greg quickly shook his head.
"Sorry, I just thought because you've been sick for the past few days."
"Well, it's not so much of a sexually transmitted disease, but it is something that usually happens after sex, and it is transmitted, but not usually to someone like me." Nick looked at the younger man even more confused as he started his nervous trait of babbling. "Nick, I-I'm... I'm pregnant."
"Huh?" Nick looked at him wide eyed, hoping he had misheard him.
"I'm pregnant."
Nick's jaw immediately dropped and his eyebrows squinted together. "Shit." He ran a hand through his hair then leant back against the sofa cushions behind him. "You're serious? This isn't some kinda sick joke?"
Greg shook his head. "Would I joke about something like this?" Greg lifted his hips, pulling a small black square from the back pocket of his tight jeans. He handed it over to Nick, watching his reaction.
Nick remained silent for what seemed like hours before he finally spoke up. "Fuck... how could this happen?"
Remembering what Davian had done to him after he had told him that he was pregnant with his child, Greg's hands started to shake in his lap. "I-I eh... well I probably shoulda told you earlier... but I've been pregnant before." Greg confessed then looked up at Nick, seeing his surprised reaction. "I lost it though. I didn't get past the first trimester. I was only eight weeks when I lost it."
Nick looked at the small picture in his hands, able to make out a small hand from the scans he had seen from his sister's pregnancies. "How far... how far along is it?" He queried, his breath catching in his throat.
Swallowing down the large lump in his throat, Greg struggled to find his voice to answer him. "Um... just over eleven weeks."
"Nearly three months?" Nick asked him completely shocked. "How long have you known about this Greg?" He demanded to know.
"Nick, it's not exactly easy to tell someone you're pregnant with his child when you happen to be a guy too. I was scared. The first one didn't exactly go down too well. I'm sorry." Placing his hands on his stomach, Greg looked up into the older man's chocolate brown eyes. "I'm not asking you to do anything for me Nick. I just thought that you should know, since it's your baby. And I'm keeping it." Greg braced himself ready for the beating, but Nick just sat there in front of him, struggling to think clearly. "Nick, aren't yah gonna say anything?"
"Um..." Nick handed the picture back over to Greg then climbed to his feet. "I have to go. I forgot I'm supposed to take Lucy today."
"Okay." Greg sighed softly in disappointment as Nick climbed to his feet and head off towards the door.
"You're seriously pregnant?" He asked before he left the apartment. Greg nodded over at him, swearing he could see a tear in Nick's eye. "Okay, I have to go... and think."
"Nicky, are you okay?"
Nick half nodded to him then pulled the door open, quickly slipping out. He pulled it shut behind him then bit his lower lip, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. He couldn't believe this was happening again. Things like this weren't supposed to happen with the guys he slept with, that's why he always preferred them, the sex was better and he never had to worry about the consequences, until now.
I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Thanks for your reviews and favouriting on the last. I'm glad you're enjoying my m-preg story, I'm enjoying writing it too :D
~ Holly