"How are results doing Greg?" Catherine asked as she stepped into the DNA lab. Since his conception just under 3 months ago, Greg had been working in the lab, giving Wendy a much needed break. It had benefited the Californian as well given how ill he'd been so far.
"Right ok, the hair you gave me is a match to the gentleman we currently have in holding room one, I believe Brass is busy keeping him company. The fingernail scrapings didn't have any DNA unfortunately, so I've kicked it over to trace, maybe Hodges can get something which will narrow down the list of suspects."
Catherine smiled "Thanks Greg. Oh and welcome back!"
"Back? Where have I been?" the young scientist asked confused.
"This is the first day in the last couple of months when you've actually been awake and knowing what's going on and which results I want. It's good to have the old Greg back" she smiled genuinely.
"I see, well guess what? I don't feel sick any more" Greg leaned back and put his hands behind his head as the strawberry blonde officer looked quizzically at him.
"The morning sickness has gone?" he nodded "and the other symptoms" Catherine asked curious.
"I still get pretty tired, but I at least seem to be able to make it through a shift now without falling asleep. My ankles are still really sore but as long as I don't lace my shoes to tight, I don't really notice…" he shrugged.
"That's good. You may want to cut back on the between meal snacks though" Nick entered and quickly put his two cents worth into the conversation he'd over heard.
"Sorry?" Greg asked, wondering what his pal was on about.
"Well you know you are looking a little …podgy these days" the Texan smiled.
Greg looked down at his stomach "Oh come on, I'm not that much bigger."
Nick raised one eyebrow "Not that much bigger? You have looked in the mirror recently I take it" he asked incredulous.
"Of course I have! Honestly, I've gained a couple of pounds, five at the most. I can't be that much bigger"
"Well you certainly look heavier than you used to, I mean its ok, we were expecting you to get bigger, it's natural. Maybe the pregnancy is starting to show?"
"I doubt that" Catherine countered quickly "Most women don't start showing until around 14 to 16 weeks of pregnancy and even then it's more obvious to them than to people around them"
"So what's your point?" Nick asked.
"Greg's only 11 and a half, 12 weeks at the most he shouldn't start showing for at least another month."
Greg sat back in his chair listening to the argument between his two best friends. "Hey guys do I get a say in this?" he asked waving his hands for attention.
Both CSI's looked in his direction, silence falling in the lab at last "Well?" Nick asked.
"Well nothing, I know I haven't been eating that much more. I am also not most women, maybe just for some reason like having an artificial womb I am showing earlier. Did you ever think of that?" He asked, his friends looked thoughtful. "Well if your pregnancy is starting to show this early then you are only going to get bigger. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens"
"Finally grew out of your regular clothes then" Warrick commented as Greg entered the communal locker area dressed in sweat pants.
"You saw that yesterday. I thought I'd got away with it" the young man looked embarrassed.
"I didn't see anything yesterday. Why what happened?" Warwick responded interested.
"It's nothing" Greg turned appearing to study his locker, why had he brought it up, of course no one had seen, he'd checked.
"Oh no, you're not getting out that easy. What happened?"
"I sat down yesterday and the button on my jeans popped" Greg shrugged and added "I hadn't even realised they were that tight"
Warwick chuckled lightly and was pleased to see his Nordic friend joining in. His hand resting lightly on his now plump stomach.
"You don't seem that worried" the black man commented.
"There's not a lot I can do about it, so hakuna matata" the younger man replied opening his locker and stashing his bag inside the grey shell. Warwick grinned; clearly his friend had been watching cartoons before shift again.
"Morning Greg" Catherine greeted as she entered the room without knocking. Opening her own locker, she quickly used the small mirror to check her hair and make-up.
"Hey Catherine" Greg replied cheerfully, he was feeling great at the moment and it clearly showed.
"Not going to greet me Cat" Warrick asked a mischievous grin crossing his dark features.
The swing shift supervisor smiled at her old friend "Of course, how are you Rick?" she asked deliberately making a big deal of it and causing them all to laugh.
"It's your scan today isn't it Greg?" the junior CSI nodded, biting into the apple he'd just retrieved from his bag "Nervous?"
Greg shook his head "Why would I be nervous?" he mumbled swallowing his mouthful and looking across the room at the strawberry blonde officer.
"You're really not bothered at all by what's happening to you are you?" the older female shook her head in disbelief and exited to the main lab leaving Greg feeling confused.
"Hey what did she mean by that?" he asked looking to his companion. "You just seem very laid back about everything. I supposed she figured you'd be scared or something."
Greg shrugged and threw the apple core in the bin "better get to work".
"Ah Greg, you're here. Ready for your scan?" Grissom caught Greg almost as soon as he stepped into the labs hallway.
"Er yeah I suppose so" the young mother-to-be stammered, temporarily caught off guard by the question.
"Good, let's go then" Grissom turned and started to lead Greg down the hall.
"You're going to scan me in the path lab?" Greg asked in disbelief as both men arrived at the familiar corridor.
"They have the equipment and Dr Robbins has the expertise that I do not. What are you worried about?" Grissom argued as he showed Greg into the familiar room.
"Take a seat Greg" Albert Robbins gently patted the metal table and turned back to the bench where he was preparing samples for later examination.
"On the dissecting table?" Greg queried feeling an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach.
"Is that a problem Greg?" Grissom asked unfazed by the morbid surroundings.
"It's had dead bodies on it, and not that long ago judging from the samples the docs working on" Greg felt his voice catch in his throat.
"It won't hurt you Greg, it's been cleaned thoroughly" the nightshift pathologist finished what he was doing and removed his gloves. Neither he nor Gil had ever seen Greg look this nervous, clearly the thought of lying on an autopsy table was really freaking him out.
"If it makes you feel better there is always the gurney outside" the friendly doctor offered.
"I'm not sure that's much better. Here goes." Greg carefully pulled himself up onto the cold metal surface and felt a shiver run through his body "You could have warmed it up doc" he spoke trying to relieve the quiet tension that now echoed around the tiled room.
"My patients don't usually complain that much" the elderly man exchanged a smile with Grissom and motioned for Greg to lie on his back.
"Right then, let's see what's going on in there shall we?" another secret smile was exchanged between the more senior scientists as the doctor stepped forward and gently pushed the oversized t-shirt up and out of the way. "Well from first glance I would say your more than 12 weeks Greg, perhaps 20 or so" the disabled pathologist limped over to the bench and pulled some gloves on. Not that he thought he would catch anything from the young man before him; it was more habit that anything.
"Yeah so everyone has been so keen to tell me. Why don't you just get to the point and say what you're really thinking." Greg countered; he wasn't really in the mood for another lecture about how eating for two did not mean eating twice as much.
"What is it that you feel we're thinking?" Al Robbins asked quietly
"That I'm fat!" Greg shrugged "Catherine has been very quick to tell me it can't be the pregnancy showing and there are not a lot of other options"
"That thought hadn't crossed our minds Greg, we both know that you're quite capable of looking after yourself" the doctor quickly stepped in, he didn't know Greg that well - despite having worked with him for almost a decade - because he had only recently ventured down to the pathology lab, it was very much the domain of himself and the CSI's not a place for lab-rats.
"It's fascinating to see how your body has changed so far and strictly speaking you're not fat. The profile associated with pregnancy is caused by the uterus slowly pushing the muscles and skin forwards creating room for the developing foetus and associated fluids. In most cases the amount of sub-dermal fat deposits is minimal." Grissom spoke calmly, offering the cold scientific bedside manner that Greg was used to.
The doctor gently began to palpitate the young man stomach, feeling for any abnormalities, at first Greg shrank away a little "Tickles" he offered when the bearded medic looked at him.
Then it was time for the scan. Usually used on the dead to detect drug packets or bullets the ultrasound stood to one side, its small screen currently blank as it lay dormant, waiting….
"Do you know Gil, I don't think I have used an ultrasound scanner to detect pregnancy in 20 years" the senior man lamented.
"20 years? I thought you said he had the expertise that you didn't?" the semi-Scandinavian man pulled himself up on to his elbows, suddenly not feeling terribly confident about what was about to happen.
"That's true Greg, I have never used one for pregnancy" Grissom shrugged as Dr Robbins squirted conductive gel across the scanners head. "It's like riding a bike; you never forget how to do it. Now where is the on button?" Greg looked worried "Relax, I'm just kidding" the pathologist grinned and Greg felt himself relax, of course he was safe with the doc, Grissom wouldn't give his prize science experiment to anyone he didn't trust.
"Hmmm interesting, what do you make of that Gil?" Dr Robbins pointed to something on the small screen and both men looked at it intently.
"Do you think we might have more than one there?" Grissom asked interest sparking in his eyes
"More than one what?" Greg immediately wanted to know but the others didn't hear him.
"That could be something, it looks like two but it's really a little early to tell" Dr Robbins peered through his glasses at the small fuzzy blue screen "Too early to tell what?" Greg tried again to find out what was going on, it was his body after all.
"Not now Greg" Grissom dismissed the young man and quickly returned his attention back to the screen "Yes I see what you mean, those bits are not quite lined up making it seem like there is something extra but this is an unusual case, we don't exactly know the structure that has formed, it could just be an anomaly" Grissom was thoughtful.
Meanwhile feeling fed up of being ignored Greg spoke a bit louder "Hello, the patient is right here and can hear everything you're saying" pulling himself back up on his elbows he knocked the scanner and forced the two scientists to focus on him.
"Everything ok Greg?" Grissom asked politely
"Oh just peachy, how about you let the father to be in on your little discussion instead of leaving me sitting here like a lemon while you two do your Frankenstein's monster bit?" Greg spoke quite aggressively and immediately regretted it, he'd never even thought about talking to Grissom like that before, let alone just letting rip "Sorry" he shrugged looking at the two scientists blank faces.
"Actually, Greg's just moved the scanner to a better position, its definite now. Do you see Gil?" Albert looked again at the screen; he didn't want to say anything to Greg until he was sure. It would be unfair.
"Yes I see what you mean" Grissom peered over his own glasses, before turning and grinning at Greg who had settled back down but clearly wanted answers and soon "Sorry about that Greg, just wanted to make sure we were right before we said anything" the supervisor began.
"It would seem congratulations are in order… again" the pathologist added a smile crossing his own features.
"Greg you're not just pregnant, you're going to have twins" Grissom finally let the news slip out, he watched as Greg tried to process the new information.
"Twins? As in two babies?" the young man asked, he was not going to panic, he wasn't! Oh yes he was, two babies that was a bit different than one baby. Twice as much in fact, great he thought now I am babbling inside my head. Moving quickly the junior CSI swung his legs off the table and sat up; wiping his stomach free of gel with his hand he pulled the t-shirt back down, working on auto-pilot. I can't be having twins he thought, I only got shot once, but then twins were not the result of two conceptions usually, they were the egg splitting or in some cases of IVF two eggs being fertilised. Things the others had said to him in the last 2 weeks whirled in his head "You are getting podgy you know" "Most people don't start showing for 16 weeks, Greg is only 12 weeks" "You know early symptoms can be exaggerated in multiple pregnancy" "You should lay off the snacks…" he felt dizzy he had to get out of there. Sliding off the table Greg made for the door unsteadily and gripped the doorframe wanting something real to hold on to.
"Are you ok Greg?" Grissom asked moments later, Greg looked very unsteady, dizzy, confused. It was a shock, perhaps he should have given the young man the news more gently but he'd been coping so well so far there was no reason to think he wouldn't handle this little bombshell as well.
"Y...y...yeah fine. Just remembered …something Sara asked me to do…" the young man spoke weakly, he hadn't been expecting that news at the first scan and it had completely thrown his carefree attitude for the moment.
"Come and sit down. Go home if you need to" the night shift supervisor called out. To Greg's ear, it sounded muffled, quiet. Like Grissom was in a different room. He swallowed hard.
"I'm ok; it was just a bit of a shock that's all. I wasn't as prepared as I thought. At least it explains a few things" Greg mumbled quietly, not sure if he was making sense.
Taking a couple of deep breaths the half-Nordic man reached down and ran his hand across his stomach feeling a broad smile fix itself onto his face as he did so. He turned back to the two men who had been quietly observing his behaviour, not sure whether to intervene or not and shrugged "I never did like to do things the easy way."