CSI is not mine. I am merely the puppet master taking control of the characters' strings. Enjoy the read guys!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 8: Nine Months Later
Greg Sanders flew down the halls of Desert Palms hospital as fast as his burning legs would carry him. He passed several onlookers, many of who gave knowing nods and smiles. Greg Sanders had the look of a soon to be father and his heart and soul absolutely swelled with unadulterated delight at the new life that he had helped to create with the woman who would always be the love of his life.
He screeched to a halt outside a pair of doors and wondered if it was the right room for a moment. The thought was cut short as a loud shrill of pain pierced his ears through the doors. Yep, this is definitely it. He sighed, walking back into the delivery room.
"Greg Hojem Sanders, where the HELL have you been!!" Sara glared sharply at him as she clutched the bed sheets and continued to breathe heavily before another contraction overtook her and made her feel as if she was going to be split in half.
"I was in Summerlin on a case. I didn't even know you were in labor until Judy bothered to tell me when I came in with evidence." He spoke feebly, with fear dripping from every tone of his soft voice as he took Sara's hand in his.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ahaha AHH! My hand!" Greg winced as Sara's grip became like the vice-like grip of a snapping turtle's jaw when the contraction deepened.
"Oh, SHUT UP GREG!" She yelled, obviously in an intense amount of pain. "Your hand has NOTHING on my vagina…AHHH!" The contraction passed only to be followed immediately by another one.
"Okay…okay…okay. I'm sorry!" Greg writhed in pain at Sara's grip on his hand. The doctor, who had been silent under the sheet up to this point popped up and spoke.
"One more should do it, Miss Sidle."
"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME….AHHHOWWW!!!" Greg's heart wrenched at the last scream. He hated to see her in pain more than anything…especially when he was the cause of it. He just concentrated on the fact that it would be rewarding in the end.
"It's okay Sara. You can do it. Just one more and we'll have a baby girl." Greg cooed in Sara's ear…seemingly relaxing her a bit.
"Now!" The doctor ordered
A few more cries, screams, and tears later and the couple heard the sweet sound that they'd waited nine months to hear.
"Wow…" Greg breathed as a nurse laid the squirming baby in Sara's waiting arms. "I can't believe we made her. She's perfect." He murmured as tears threatened to spill from the corners of his eyes.
"Yeah. She's beautiful." Sara beamed as she rocked her daughter gently.
"Just like you, babe." Greg smiled blissfully as he took the scene in and watched Sara getting accustomed to her new role.
"Can I get a name?" a nurse asked as she came up with a pen and the birth certificate.
Greg looked at Sara expectantly, wondering what name she would choose. They had agreed that Sara would choose the first name and Greg would pick the middle name.
"Hope." Greg and Sara smiled at the symbolism of the name before Greg spoke. "Styrke." This earned odd looks from the nurse and Sara. "S-T-Y-R-K-E." Greg spelled it out for the nurse. "And the last name is Sanders." He smiled.
"Styrke?" Sara smiled, amusement dancing across her features.
"It's Norwegian for strength. Everybody in my mom's side of the family has a Norwegian name somewhere in their name so I thought she might as well have one too." He grinned impishly at her.
"And now the hard part…planning our wedding." Greg smiled
"Excuse me! I could plain ten weddings after what I just went through!" Sara gawked incredulously at Greg's teasing comment.
"Are you saying you want to have ten weddings in a row?" He quirked a brow
"No. One will suffice, thank you." She ruffled his hair a bit before pulling him to her by the collar and kissing him.
When she pulled away, Greg still had a dreamy look in his eyes and a goofy grin on his face.
"What are you thinking?" Sara asked with a curious expression on her face.
"I'm just thinking that I finally have a family…with my dream girl that I used to think I'd never have a chance with." He grinned at her.
She chuckled softly. "Go tell the team. I'm sure they're here. You know the room number.
He nodded, placing a kiss on the baby's head and Sara's lips before leaving.
----------------------------
Sara was right; everybody was sitting in the waiting area when Greg walked out. Even Brass and Sofia were there. He smiled as they all stood up to greet him and congratulate him.
"Congrats man!" Nick said, patting him on the back with a heavy Texan hand. Okay, well, it wasn't so much patting as it was beating the crap out of Greg.
"I think you've 'congratulated' him enough Nicky." Catherine said, rescuing Greg from his beating. "So, what's her name?"
"Hope Styrke Sanders." Greg answered, puffing out his chest as a visual of the pride that he felt inside.
"Styrke?" The group collectively asked, save Grissom, who answered for Greg.
"It's Norwegian. It means Strength. Am I right Greg?" He asked, looking to the youngest CSI, who nodded.
"So where is Hope?" Catherine asked
"Yeah, I wanna see my goddaughter!" Nick added excitedly, clapping Greg on the back AGAIN.
"She's in the room with Sara, follow me." Greg happily led the excited group down through the corridors and to room number 432.
"One hundred bucks she looks like Sara." Warrick whispered, leaning over to Nick's ear.
"Nah, man. I bet you a C-note she looks like Greggo." Nick shook Warrick's hand to seal their bet as Greg smiled, already knowing whom the winner would be.
"Oh, she's precious!" Catherine all but squealed as they entered the room.
Sara glared irritably, "And she's sleeping." She hissed quietly.
"Oh, sorry."
"Nick, I believe you owe me two hundred." Warrick's green eyes sparkled with mirth as he placed is palm up expectantly…waiting for Nick to drop the money in his hand.
"They bet on who the baby would look like." Catherine stated, looking at Sara with a pleading look. "Can I hold her?"
Sara smiled tiredly as she handed baby Hope over to the older mother and watched how she interacted with the now-awake baby.
"Hello. Oh you're so cute. Yes you are." Catherine made goo goo eyes at the little baby and laid her finger in the baby's palm for her to grasp. She walked over to Grissom and spoke:
"You wanna go to your Grandpa, huh?" Sara's eyes grew wide as Grissom took the baby.
"How long have they known, Griss?" She asked in surprise
"I let it slip the night you were abducted. I was thinking out loud." Grissom stated simply, turning his attention back to little Hope.
"I still can't picture you calling Grissom 'dad'." Nick said, "Why didn't ya'll tell anyone?"
"Well first of all, I've never called him dad. It never sounded right. Second, I knew I wanted to come to Vegas even before Grissom did. I just didn't get the chance to until he asked me when he became supervisor. Then, we hid it because I didn't want him to be accused of nepotism." Sara explained, laughing at the first part.
"Well now that that's out of the way, we're happy for you and Greg. For the baby and the engagement. When's the wedding?" Catherine asked
"It's three months from now at the Vegas sign. May 17th." Greg said, squeezing Sara's hand.
"We gotta find you a dress, Sidle." Catherine beamed wickedly at her.
"Oh joy." Cynicism dripped from Sara's exhausted voice as she fell back on the bed…dreading the thought of actually SHOPPING for the second biggest event of her life.
"Alright, everybody out. It's naptime." Greg ushered the group as the baby began to cry tiredly.
He rocked her in the chair next to Sara's bed as thoughts of bowties, ties, garters, tuxedoes, suits, flowers, caterers, rings, and wedding invitations filter in and out of his tired mind. Indeed it would be a grueling three months and he was terrified of facing the mountain of wedding arrangements. However, he was content in the knowledge that he wouldn't be the only one under stress. He smiled over at his precious angel: named Sara Marie Sidle before sleep came and washed over his body, numbing his mind and senses and lulling him into a peaceful sleep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, that's chapter 8. The next chapter will be the last chapter for this story but I'm already planning a short one-shot prequel. Please R & R
