The Day Before You
Written By: Ms. Maggs / Edited By: KJT

Chapter 9: Moments of Truth - Part 1

"Supper's ready!" Jillian Stokes announced as she walked into her son's living room. "I set it up buffet style since you don't have a big enough kitchen table for a sit-down meal. Y'all can fix a plate and bring it back to the living room to finish your game of Trivial Pursuit." Nick and Greg were partnered up against Dave, Jan and Jenni, and from the sound of things, she knew it was a heated competition.

Tantalized by the delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen, Jan was the first to stand. "Jilly, it was so nice of you to make a celebration dinner while the boys were sleeping and we were busy getting Jenni discharged."

The well-mannered Texan had given up trying to get the crazy California liberal to stop calling her by the nickname reserved for her husband and two closest friends. "Well, I wanted to cook Nicky all his childhood favorites before I returned home and he suggested we treat you tofu-eatin' beach bums to some cholesterol. Those were his words, not mine. I made cornbread with honey butter, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes with white gravy, fried okra, Grandma's Coconut-Pecan Frosted Texas Sheet Cake and sweet tea." Smiling, she said, "I have a waiver for y'all to sign. It states that you know you're eatin' the heart attack special and you won't sue me should your healthy bodies go into shock."

"Wait 'til you taste my mother's chicken-fried steak, G." After jumping up, Nick grabbed his partner's hand and yanked him to his feet. "It'll melt in your mouth."

"It smells fantastic." Greg mindlessly swooped in for a quick peck to his lover's lips. "How…" When he saw Jillian turn away in disgust, he groveled, "Sorry, Mrs. Stokes. That kiss wasn't intentional. I was just…"

"Acting like a madly in love normal person?" Jan huffed, but her husband stealthily covered her mouth before she could voice the rest of her opinion on the woman's ridiculous 'no PDA' rule.

But Jenni, an insatiably curious girl, freely asked, "Why can't they kiss?"

Jillian didn't hide her feelings on the subject, "Because it makes me uncomfortable to see members of the same sex kissing each other, dear, so I've asked them not to get physical in front of me."

"Really?" The teen giggled, "I think they look cute when they're all mushy in love."

Eager to avoid another heated debate, Dave said, "We better eat or supper's gonna get cold."

"That would be a crime." Nick tossed his arm around his mother and walked her into the kitchen.

While his father helped Jenni, Greg escorted his mother onto the back patio for a quick chat. "Please stop, Mom. Tomorrow is Friday and she'll be on her way home at noon. I don't want Nick to be stressed on his first night back at work."

"Don't you feel bad when she looks funny at you?"

"No, because people have been looking at me funny my whole life…for a variety of reasons," he laughed. "The only ones who concern me now are the ones who are looking at me funny because they want to hurt or kill me, other than that…" He shrugged, "Who cares? Chuck Stokes can call me a pillow biter until he's blue in the face, but it won't hurt me. I know my pillows are bite mark free. As for Jillian's look of horror, I don't hold it against her. It is weird to see two guys kiss each other if you're not used to it. Dad is just getting used to it and he hasn't had 73 years of conservative programming telling him that same sex couples are going to hell."

"I still think it's rude to openly show your disgust like she does."

"It's not disgust. Jillian is genuinely worried about her son's fate, that's why she gets freaked out. She truly believes every kiss pushes her baby boy a little closer to the eternal hellfire. Admit it - if I was doing something that you truly believed was going to make me suffer for eternity, you'd cringe, right? No, you'd scream at me."

"I hate debating with you."

"Because I always win," he chuckled "Now promise me you'll back off."

"Fine!" Jan tossed her arms in the air. "It's normal for the mother and mother-in-law to butt heads, right? I'll keep my mouth shut for the rest of the evening." When her son laughed in her face, she smacked his arm. "Okay, I'll try to keep my mouth shut, smart ass."

As Greg accompanied his mother into the house, he thought, now if only Hodges would do the same.


When Grissom saw Hodges strolling into the locker room several hours ahead of schedule, he asked, "What are you doing here so early?"

"I'm sucking up of course." The Lab Tech grinned as he strolled by his boss. "Is it working?"

"No," Grissom droned.

"I'm also here because I'm turning over a new leaf."

Remembering Sara's insight about his disdain for Hodges, Grissom softened slightly. "Fine, I'll bite. How are you turning over a new leaf?"

The giddy employee flipped open his messenger bag and informed his boss, "After hearing you say that I wasn't worthy of your company, I did some soul searching and concluded that I should be nicer to my co-workers, especially to co-workers who aren't my intellectual equals. After all, they don't intentionally try to annoy people like us, right? They're just incapable of keeping up with our superior minds."

Grissom rolled his eyes.

Hodges lowered his voice to a whisper, "I'm starting with Nick and I'll work my way up from him in IQ order."

"How could you possibly know everyone's IQ?"

"I'll never tell."

"What is…" Grissom silently read the sign's message, which was fancily printed in flaming flamingo pink - Welcome back, Nick! Have a FABULOUS shift! He knows. But how does he know? I really doubt they'd tell him. The expert CSI began questioning the guilty party, "What was your inspiration for the message?"

"Well…" Hodges stared at the sign wearing a smirk. "He's returning, so I thought 'welcome back' was appropriate and since we all want him to do well tonight, I thought 'have a fabulous shift' fit the bill. Originally I put 'wonderful', but it wasn't enough. Magnificent was my next choice, but once I saw it on paper, it seemed like too much." His smirk expanded into a shit-eating grin before he lisped, "Fabulous, on the other hand, seemed jussssst right."

Before Grissom could ask another question, he received a text message. "I can't wait to see Nick's reaction," he huffed on his way out of the room. As soon as his feet hit the hallway, he glanced down to read the message from Sara.

Found your missing shoe…in Bruno's mouth.
Steamy sex later to ease the pain of your loss?

"That dog." He grinned. "You need to eat my shoes more often, Bru..."

"Grissom!" Ecklie shouted when the absentminded professor crashed into him, causing him to spill his gourmet iced coffee and drop his stainless steel mug. "Dammit!"

"Sorry, Conrad." Still stunned from the unexpected crash, Grissom didn't realize he had dropped his phone.

"Maybe you're getting too old to read and walk at the same time." When Ecklie crouched down to pick up his mug he snuck a peek at the message displayed on the dropped phone. "A promise of steamy sex from none other than CSI Sidle." He snatched the cell and handed it over with a smirk. "No wonder you were distracted." He cherished the aggravation building in Gil's eyes. "So, you took my advice and got a life. Good for you, Gil, good for you."

Although Grissom hated the thought of Ecklie knowing about him and Sara, he loathed the idea that the pompous jerk was taking credit for the relationship.

"Since your carelessness caused me to spill my coffee, you'll clean this mess." The Assistant Lab Director strolled away smirking. "And remember what I said, Gil…if you let the relationship interfere with work, I'll have no choice but to remove CSI Sidle from your team."

Grissom didn't dignify the threat with an answer.

"What happened, boss?" Hodges queried as he joined Grissom in front of a puddle of spilled coffee and ice cubes.

"I don't know," the irate Supervisor snapped, "but clean it up!" He marched for the exit, so he could call Sara and grab some fresh air.


"Let's take a stroll, Jenni." Dave Sanders suggested while bringing the girl's wheelchair over to the couch. "We'll walk the guys to the parking lot, wave them off to work, and then I'll take you around the neighborhood. You need as much fresh air as you can get after being holed up in that hospital for nearly two months."

"You got that right, Dad," the teen replied, eager to use the paternal term as much as possible. "I used to go running four times a week before the accident. I really miss it. Are you coming, Mom?"

Jan felt a tug on her heartstrings every time her new daughter used the maternal term. "Thanks, honey, but it wouldn't be fair to stick Jillian with the mess, so I'm going to stay back and help her tidy up."

"I can handle the clean up by myself." The mentally exhausted woman assured, "I'll be fine, you go on the stroll with your family."

"Don't be silly, Jilly," Jan cheerily donned a smile and an apron. "It'll give us more time to bond before you return home tomorrow."

That's what I was afraid of. Jillian forced a smile. "If you insist."

"I think it's best that we get closer since our sons are planning to spend the rest of their lives together." Jan tossed her arm around the crazy fundamentalist. "As different as we are, we can bond for the sake of our boys, right?"

"Yes, yes of course." With six annoying mother-in-law's to deal with already, the last thing she needed was another one.

"As the mother-of-the-bride," Jan joked, "hosting the commitment ceremony and reception is my responsibility, but I'd love to share my ideas with you and hear your thoughts about what I have planned. I'm willing to be flexible, but I'm going to have to insist on a kiss when they're pronounced life partners or whatever they choose to be called."

As she settled into her wheelchair, Jenni excitedly asked, "Do I get to be a bridesmaid since I'm the sister of the bride?"

"You bet, honey. Cassie too."

"Cool!"

Jillian found the idea of child bridesmaids at a faux marriage ceremony for gay men highly unnerving.

"Hey, Jilly," Jan queried, "Do you have a little granddaughter who could be the Flower Girl? What about a grandson to be Ring Bearer?"

"I'm sure Gwen would allow little Kayla to participate, she's four, but the only little boy is Chuck's son and he, like Eileen, Linda, Marcia and my husband have all informed me they will not be in attendance."

"Come on, G!" Nick shouted as he hurried into the house. "Where is he?" he asked the family members loitering in the kitchen. "G! Let's go!" he yelled down the hall. "I packed my truck and your car already, what the heck is takin' so long?! You have thirty seconds, or I'm leavin' without ya!" Since Dr. Henry had fought to get him back at work a week early, he couldn't wait to prove to Ecklie that he wasn't incompetent. "I don't want to be late."

"Geeeeeeez! We're going in three hours early!" Greg reminded his partner when he rushed into the living room buttoning his shirt. "We can't be late if we're going in early."

Jan rushed over with open arms. "Have a great shift, Nicky!"

Jillian cringed every time she heard the other mother call her son by his childhood name. It's Nick to you! The only thing she could stand to hear even less was Greg referring to him as 'Cletus'.

"Save some mommy hugs for me, Cletus!" Greg half-joked.

Ugh. Jillian busied herself wiping the counter.

Dave couldn't decide who was more resentful of affection being showered on Nick – Greg or Jillian. "Don't forget to hug your son, Jan. He's looking a little green."

Realizing his father was right, Greg chuckled, "Hey, I went from being an only child to sharing my mommy with Nick and Jenni. You have to give this spoiled Mama's Boy time to adjust."

"Aww, come here, sweetie." Jan smothered her boy with kisses. "Better?"

"A batch of Snickerdoodles waiting for me on the kitchen counter when I get home would really help too." Greg ducked in time to miss his mother's playful smack.

While the carefree Sanders clan laughed and joked with one another, Jillian lovingly adjusted her son's shirt collar and quietly said, "Have a good shift, honey. Promise me you'll stay alert out there, okay?"

"I promise, Mama." The dutiful son placed a kiss on his mother's cheek. "With all the baggage I've dumped recently, I'm actually a whole lot less distracted."

"Good." She placed a palm on his cheek and whispered, "Would it be too much to ask you to come alone tomorrow for breakfast and drivin' me to the airport? It's hard to get a word in with this crowd, and I'd love to spend a little quiet time with you before leavin'."

"I already told Greg that I wanted to see you off alone. He understands." Nick waved goodnight. "I'll see you about 9:30."


"It's ten," Mandy whimpered as she sat on the couch wallowing in shame and regret. "Do I sound sick?" she asked her cats while doing her best nasal voice.

The aloof felines responded by slinking off.

"I heard you laugh at me!" She grabbed her cordless phone and punched in Grissom's number. "Hopefully he's not at his desk."

Three rings and the phone clicked to her Supervisor's voicemail. "Hi, Grissom, it's Mandy. I…" she inserted a phlegmy cough, "I'm really sorry, but I'm still too sick to come in tonight. I have a 103 fever and…" she forced a powerful sneeze, "I think it's flu. I hate to miss two nights in a row, but…" she added another cough for good measure. "I'll call Jacqui and make sure she knows about all my pending work. Thanks for understanding. I'll keep you posted. Bye."


"Hello there," Catherine greeted her bedmate when he opened his eyes. "Time to wake up."

Warrick brought a hand to his weary head. "Really?"

"Yep." With her mother at home with her daughter, Catherine had enjoyed her first sleepover party at her boyfriend's new apartment. "We should have gone to bed earlier."

"Yeah." Reaching over, he tucked his lover's tousled hair behind her ear. "We should have gone to bed years ago."

"Mmm, but it was worth the wait," she murmured as their lips met for a sultry kiss. "Mmm…keep kissing me like that and I won't want to get out of bed."

"Let's call in sick, baby," Warrick suggested while exploring the creamy expanse of Catherine's neck with his mouth.

"And miss Nick's first night back? I think he's counting on us to be there for moral support, don't you?"

Warrick's silence spoke volumes.

"You're worried about seeing him, aren't you?" She saw the answer in his eyes. "This is exactly why I told you to call him yesterday. You should have cleared the air before meeting up at work."

"Easier said than done, y'know? And I didn't think he'd be comin' back tonight, I thought I had a week." He quietly admitted, "I'm a little freaked to be totally honest. Nick is my best friend and it's so…so…"

"Awkward for you?"

"Yeah."

"He's the same guy he was a month ago," Catherine reminded him.

"Yeah, but I'm not the same guy. A month ago I didn't know Nick was having sex with Greg, but now I do." It was nice having someone around to confide in again. "It's gonna be hard not to think about that when I see him and when I do, I get uncomfortable." Snuggling closer, he whispered, "Nick's a perceptive guy. He's gonna see me struggling and I don't want him to, y'know? I don't want to hurt him like that. I just want the status quo. I want to be a great friend to him, but how can I be when I can't talk about his love life anymore?" Anxious laughter filled the room. "For the last eight years, him and me – we swapped stories about the ladies we went out with, I'm talkin' serious details." Crashing back on his pillow, he said, "But I guess he was bullshitting me, huh?"

"You think he was lying to you?"

"What would you call it?"

"He wasn't lying," she explained, "he was repressed and living a lie. He really did sleep with those women and the conversations he had with you were real. He wasn't yanking your chain or laughing at you behind your back."

Warrick chuckled at the hilarious memories, "He'd say he had a good time, but there would always be somethin' that turned him off and kept him from calling the lady or seein' her again. Sometimes it was big stuff like the time he hooked up with a devil worshipper on Halloween. He thought she was jokin' around, but when they got to her place, it was Satan's lair. Most of the time it would be stupid little stuff like she didn't enjoy country music or keep her fridge clean enough." Sighing, he said, "The only time he ever really fell for a girl was Kristy."

"Yeah, but now that I think about it in context, I think that was Nick the Hero in action, not Nick falling in love. He wanted to save Kristy and the rush he got from being her savior made him feel good."

"I guess." Inching closer still, Warrick confessed, "I'm open-minded and I'm happy that they're happy, I really am, but I gotta be honest, I can't deal with Nick tellin' me about him and Sanders gettin' it on and I can't imagine watchin' anything more than what we saw the other night."

"The finger sucking incident?"

The memory sent a shiver up his spine. "See, I can't go there. And how am I supposed to tell my best friend who has shared everything with me for years, that I don't want to know the details anymore? That I can talk about my romances, but his are off limits now. It sounds like shitty double standard, doesn't it? I should be able to hear him say that he's exhausted because he spent too much time gettin' his freak on with Greg. "

Seeing the distress on Warrick's face, Catherine sweetly counseled, "First of all, I really doubt he's going to share any details of his love life. Just like straight guys who dish about chicks they're dating stop talking about their love life once they marry a respectable woman, Nick's in committed relationship now and the details are off limits."

"Okay, yeah, I could see it that way. But I still don't know how I'm going to react when he sees me and says something."

"When I stopped by their place yesterday, he could barely look at me. I had to be the one to break the ice and after a few minutes and a couple of jokes, he was the same old Nick. He just needed to know that nothing changed."

"But it has!" Warrick nervously laughed. "He's sleeping with Sanders, that's a huge change in my book, Cath. Not only do I have to deal with the knowledge that my best friend of eight years is gay, I have to cope with the imagery of him giving it to Greg of all geeks."

"What makes you think he's doing all the giving? Lots of gay couples take turns in the driver's seat." Seeing the horror in her man's eyes, Catherine said, "Is that the face you don't want him to see?"

"Yeah."

"I don't blame you." She playfully shook him to his senses. "Grow up! Boys kiss. It's no big deal."

"I know!" Warrick covered his face with his hands. "I don't want to make the face!" He laughed, "It just happens. It's how I was raised. Boys don't play hide the salami in the hood. Well, I'm sure some of them do, but they sure as hell don't talk about it."

"Come on." Catherine tossed off the covers. "The sooner you see him and get it behind you, the better."

"Behind?"

She snickered, "Humor is the way to go with this. Just look for an opportunity to crack a joke that says 'no ifs ands or buts, you're still great friends'. Once he knows that you're still buds, you quietly and respectfully tell the cowboy that whatever happens on Brokeback Mountain is his business and you don't need the details. He'll be fine with that arrangement, trust me."

"You think?"

"No doubt in my mind."


"Having second thoughts?" Greg asked his significant other when he found him leaning against his truck in the Lab's parking lot.

"What? No." Nick anxiously replied, "I was just waitin' on you before goin' in. Where were you?"

Greg held up two Venti cups. "Starbucks, remember?"

"Right, right." Nick pulled in a healthy dose of night air.

"Coffee of the day, cream, no sugar, right?" When his partner nodded, Greg handed over the cup. "See, I know my guy. I know how he takes his coffee…I know he's worried about how people are going to look at him after his freak out on the job…I know he's worried that he's going to get the worst case imaginable on the first night back and have a relapse, and I know he worries way too much. You're gonna be fine, Cletus, and the sooner you get in that building, the sooner you'll prove it."

"Thanks for the kick in the ass." The nervous CSI lifted his cup. "And for the coffee."

"Let's go." Greg started for the door. "I don't know about you, but I can't wait to hear what Hodges has to say…not."

"He promised he wouldn't tell anyone and after talking with him, I really don't think he'll be an ass."

"But he's always an ass," Greg laughed.

"Except when he saved our lives by figurin' out the coffin would explode if Griss and Warrick pulled me out of it."

Greg's laughter ceased, "Okay, yeah. There's that, that was cool."

"If you think about it, he's technically responsible for our happiness right now."

The perpetual smartass quietly replied, "No, I'm pretty positive you're responsible for my happiness today, not Hodges. That's why I was moaning 'So good, Cowboy' earlier instead of 'So good, Dorkboy'."

Nick shook his head. "You're too much sometimes."

"Really?" Greg caught his lover's eye, "Because I can never get enough of you."

"And here I thought I was the romantic one."

When Greg saw his partner's face light up, he sweetly whispered, "Have a great shift, CSI Stokes and if you have a problem while we're not working together tonight, you know I'm just a phone call away."


"That's my cell," Jillian remarked while at the sink with Jan. Grabbing a dishtowel, she dried her hands on the way to her purse. "It better not be Eileen again. The last time she called, she accused me of turning Injun."

"Turning Injun?" Jan huffed in disgust.

"You know…livin' with gay men is makin' me think there's nothin' wrong with their lifestyle."

"Yes, I understood why she said it, I was just stunned that the degrading phrase was still being uttered in 2007."

Jillian was grateful she had to answer the phone instead of replying.

"I'll give you some privacy." Jan hurried down the hall and into Greg's room. "My in-laws are a bunch of redneck wackos," she muttered while dumping laundry out of her son's hamper. "I can't believe…" She froze when she heard Jillian screaming in the kitchen. "What's wrong?!" She raced for the door. "What's going on?!"

When Jan reached the living room, she saw the 73 year old woman holding her head and clutching the phone to her ear. "What happened?"

"It's my granddaughter, Skye," Jillian replied as the first tears fell from her eyes.

From the look on the woman's face, Jan knew something terrible had happened. "What's wrong?"

"There's been an accident."

"How bad is it?"


"Things couldn't be better," Nick informed the Assistant Lab Director, who had been exiting the lab just as he was approaching with Greg. "And just like Dr. Henry told ya, I'm ready to get back to work. I even came in early, 'cause I'm excited to get back in the groove."

"Welcome back." Ecklie had to remind himself not to drool. "The place wasn't the same without you, Stokes." He had more fantasies about the Texan having his way with him than he could count on his hands. His favorite entailed the cowboy wearing skin tight Levis, a plaid flannel shirt, worn cowboy boots and a black Stetson.

"You wanted to see me, boss?" The cowboy pushed up the brim of his hat to reveal his intense brown eyes.

"Come in, Stokes." Ecklie walked around his desk to greet the Texan. "How was your shift?"

The CSI removed his hat and wiped his gritty brow. "Hot and dirty, just like I like it."

"Ecklie?" Nick gave the man a tap on the shoulder. "You seem a little preoccupied."

"Um." Although it was abundantly clear that the Ladies Man was a straight shooter, a guy could dream, especially a guy who had spent one too many decades in the closet. "If there's anything you need that you're not getting from Grissom," he dropped a hand on the cowboy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "you come see me, okay?"

"Uh…" Nick stammered as he bristled from the personal space violation, "Yeah, sure…sounds good, thanks."

It sounds heavenly actually. Ecklie reluctantly removed his hand. "And what about you, Sanders?" he snipped, having little tolerance for the sissified Mama's Boy. "How did it go with the family on your emergency vacation?"

"Great, thanks for asking."

"Really?" The suspicious boss wouldn't believe it without evidence. "Got any pictures from the occasion?"

"As a matter of fact I do." Since Grissom had warned him that Ecklie would passive-aggressively ask for proof, he pulled two photos from his jacket. "That's us at The Shark Reef together and the second one is us having dinner. We're one big happy family. It's great having a sibling after 32 years as an only child."

"No more time off until the new shift is in place, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Sir."

After sneering at Greg, Ecklie took one last opportunity to ogle Nick. "Stop by my office before you leave in the morning, Stokes. We'll chat about your first night back."

"Sure."

When the weasel was across the parking lot, Greg said, "Holy shit, he was totally cruising you!"

"What?!"

"The way he was looking at you, the shoulder squeeze. The line he laid on you." Greg mocked the man's voice, "If there's anything you need that you're not getting from Grissom…" He burst out laughing, "He think's your gay and hooked up with Grissom. He's trying to woo you away."

"Would you stop! Ecklie's not gay. He's just…weird."

"I'm serious, Cletus. I always had my suspicions about him, because I totally got a 'beard marriage' vibe when he introduced me to his wife a few years ago." Watching Ecklie zip out of the parking lot in his Mercedes convertible, Greg laughed, "Holy Sexual Harassment Suit, Batman! Ecklie wants to lasso my cowboy."

"I refuse to believe you." Nick's whole body cringed. "Because…eww! And it makes no sense, because if he's gay, why did he treat you like shit just now? You seem way gayer than me, so why not come on to you?"

"Duh." Greg released a giddy laugh. "Because he's a Big Nelly Bottom like me, so he's not attracted to me. All magnets are magnets, but some attract and some repel. Just because a guy is gay, doesn't mean he's attracted to every gay man. I'm a turn off, but you're just the top he's looking for."

"I still don't believe you," Nick laughed. "I mean, how many gay guys could be workin' here? What are the odds?"

"The lab is a microcosm and if ten percent of the population is gay, then it's quite possible that ten percent of the lab's population is gay."

"Really? Like who else?"

"Ballistics Bobby for sure."

"No way!" The Texan riotously laughed. "He's an Okie."

"Like there aren't gay people in Oklahoma?" Greg cracked up. "I saw the musical, believe me, those guys were gay with a capital G."

"Twenty bucks says Bobby's not gay."

"I'll take your action."

"I'd say Henry's the only one that's gay for sure."

"Henry's so not gay," Greg's laughter returned with a vengeance. "He's a showtune singing Mama's Boy, but he's straight as an arrow."

"Are you kiddin' me?"

Greg plucked a c-note from his wallet. "Not gay."

"The c-note plus two weeks of laundry."

Greg couldn't wait to watch his partner slaving over a hot dryer. "You're on." He started for the front door.

"Wanna keep going?"

"Hell, yes! Your gaydar sucks and I need spending money."

"Gaydar?" Nick rolled his eyes.

"What about Archie?" Greg asked while walking into the building.

"Not gay," Nick answered without hesitation. "He's dished about a couple of girls over the years."

"So have you." Greg weighed the evidence as he strolled into the locker room. "I'd say he's Bi leaning straight."

"What the…" Nick stood gaping at the flaming pink sign on his locker. "Fabulous?"

"Hodges," Greg droned.

"He's not gay," Nick huffed as his blood boiled, "he's a dead man."


"She could have died." Jillian wiped her eyes, but fresh tears kept coming. Sitting on the couch with Jan holding her hand, she said in a shaky voice, "Skye's best friend, Annie, told my daughter that she was terrified about the pregnancy and didn't want the baby. She didn't want to marry at 18 and she didn't want to lose out on Paris or Harvard. Annie offered to take her for an abortion, but she said Skye refused, sayin' that if her mother found out, she'd kick her out of the house, just like her cousin Roy was thrown out for bein' gay."

Jan handed over another clump of tissues.

"Her plan was to go for a ride on her horse and pretend it got spooked. She thought the fall would make her lose the baby like it did women on soap operas." Jillian's voice shook as he tried to make sense of it all as she retold the story. "Annie is goin' to A&M for pre-med and she says she warned her that it was too dangerous, that she could hemorrhage while losin' the baby or ruin her chances for children in the future, but she said Skye was adamant that she'd rather take a chance at preservin' the future she wanted, than to be stuck livin' one she didn't." Resting her head on Jan's shoulder, she said, "She thought she was in a soft pasture, but there were hidden rocks and when she threw herself off the horse, she smacked her head on one of them. Luckily Annie had her phone to call 911." Sobbing against the woman's sweater, she squeaked, "They had to drill holes in her head to relieve the pressure from the bleeding and they don't know if there's brain damage or…"

"Did she lose the baby?" Jan asked in a whisper as she hugged the devastated grandmother tight.

Jillian nodded. "And while everyone was at the hospital waitin' to hear if Skye would make it, there was a huge blow up over Nicky. Chuck said somethin' horrible and Gwen started yellin' at him and of course the twins jumped to his defense in the name of the Lord. In the heat of the moment, Gwen confessed that she had been in drug rehab for a month, not on a business trip like she and her husband had told us. She said that Nicky had given her the money to go and to pay off the bills that had piled up because of her wipin' out the savings account to feed her habit. She couldn't stand there and listen to Chuck say her brother was worthless when he meant the world to her and her family."

"I think I'm going to like Gwen."

"People had come from church to show their support and they heard everything…Skye pregnant, Nicky gay, and Gwen a recoverin' addict. We aren't the perfect Stokes family anymore." Clutching her throbbing head, she asked, "Why are so many members of my family fallin' apart?"

"Contents under pressure are bound to explode," Jan softly replied. "Perfection is too high of a standard, Jillian, it's too much. When Greg was five he was declared a prodigy and we were invited to join this special group for exceptional children and their parents. Dave and I took him and we immediately bought in to the insanity. Within a month's time we had Greg in piano lessons, violin lessons, doing math and science clubs for child prodigies. We were desperate to get him speaking a second foreign language, because it seemed that all the other kids spoke at least three fluently and Greg only spoke English and Norwegian. Not long after that, Disney tunes were replaced by classical music and his bike gathered dust, because he had to play chess with his tutor every day for an hour."

"Did something bad happen?"

"No, thankfully, my father snapped us to our senses. One day, when Greg was sitting at the piano crying because he hadn't been allowed to go swimming all summer, my father scooped him up in his arms and yelled 'the craziness stops now!'" She smiled at the bittersweet memory. "He thought Greg would be better off happy and mediocre than living as a miserable genius. He said 'I'm taking my grandson to the ocean for the day and when we get back, all the flashcards and stupidity better be gone'. He told us he'd sue for custody because he considered what we were doing to be child abuse and he feared that Greg would throw himself off a bridge by the time he was sixteen if things didn't change. He was right. One of the other boys in the group, Brandon Maynard, committed suicide at 16. That could have been Greg if we kept pushing him and making him a freak prodigy instead of letting him have a normal childhood."

"I need to get back to Dallas and the people who really do have problems." Bonding over tears, Jillian said, "I'm not needed here, because there's nothing wrong with Nicky. He's healthy and happy and loved by your son, that's been blatantly obvious the past few days." She lifted her soaked, red eyes to Jan's. "You raised a wonderful son."

"So have you." Jan smiled through her tears. "I know they're going to live happily ever after."

"Is it okay for the mother of the groom to wear off-white at her gay son's commitment ceremony or do the standard wedding rules apply?"

"I think you could wear a paper bag to the ceremony and look amazing in Nick's eyes." Tears of joy streaming from her eyes, Jan said, "Wear anything you want, just be there for your son on the happiest day of his life."


"This night stinks," Henry lamented when he found out that Mandy had called in sick again. She hadn't returned his phone calls or emails, not even to thank him for the dozen roses he had sent to her house. "I can't believe she's ignoring me." He paced his lab like a caged animal. "No wonder her cats don't like her. She's not nice. I know she's not really sick. She's faking! She's faking because she doesn't want to see me. She knows I have the next two nights off, so I bet she miraculously recovers tomorrow."

"Hey, Henry," Sara greeted the sweet Toxicologist that always treated her extra nice.

"What do you want, Sidle?!" he snarled.

"Uh…"

"Sorry." Henry dropped onto a stool. "I'm having a bad night."

"Henry!" Nick boisterously greeted the man he knew without a doubt was as gay as the Liberace museum. "What's up, man? Did you miss me?" While Greg waited in silence, Nick tried to get the evidence he needed to win a hundred bucks and two weeks of laundry.

"He's having a bad night," Sara announced. "Don't hassle him unless you want your head bitten off." She pointed to her neck. "I found out the hard way, see the bite marks?"

"I said I was sorry!" the heartbroken man yelled. "I'm having girlfriend problems."

Greg coughed loudly into his fist. "I think I caught what Mandy has." He mouthed 'laundry' at Nick while wishing he had upped the ante to include ironing.

"You caught what Mandy has?!" Henry blurted. "Then you must have a case of liar-itis! Because that's what she has! She's a liar. She's not really sick, she's avoiding me because she regrets sleeping with me not once, but thrice! And you should talk, Mister 'look at the cool bracelet I got from Cletus!' That's right! I overheard you and I know Cletus is Nick and I know you took Mandy on a beard date from hell, and because you did, she got drunk and had revenge sex with me, not once, but thrice!" He shivered. "I feel so used, and I can't believe we didn't use a condom the two out of three times. My mother will kill me if she finds out. She'll be too disgusted to take me on our annual Best of Broadway trip this year." When he saw three gaped-mouth people staring at him, he realized that he had indeed been speaking out loud. After a harsh clearing of his throat, the Tech said, "About those test results on the Stark case." He hurried to retriever the folder. "I've got them right here, Sara."

"Uh…" Sara decided to uncomplicate matters by pretending Henry hadn't been talking out loud.

Greg walked over to his partner and held out his palm. "I'm jonesing for some Red Vines from the vending machine, so I'll take that c-note right about now." He winked, "Laundry included sorting, right? I'll put my hamper in the hallway as soon as I get home."

Nick slapped a hundred dollar bill in his lover's hand.

"Cool." Greg placed his winnings in his wallet and then dug in his pockets for change to buy his Red Vines. "Uh, can I borrow 75 cents, Cletus?"

As Nick opened his hand full of change, Henry knocked over a beaker and startled him. "Shit!" When he jumped, all of his change went flying.

"Finders keepers!" Laughing, Greg dove for the money. "Papa needs a brand new bag of Red Vines!"

"Hey! Save some for me!" Nick raced to pick up his quarters.

"Henry!" Warrick cheerily greeted the Tech as he strolled in. "Do you have…" The sight of Greg on all fours with Nick behind him rendered him momentarily speechless. "Uh…you're swamped. I should come back later."

Waving two work slips, Grissom hurried into the room. "I wondered where everyone was. Nick and Warrick, you have a 419 at The Lava Room."

"Aww! No strip club for me?!" Greg laughed as he jumped to his feet.

Warrick snatched the slip from his boss. "I'll meet you there, buddy!" He bolted while he had the chance.

"Yeah, I guess so," Nick replied to the blur rushing out of the room. "I'll see you later, guys." He trudged out of the room wondering if his friend would ever look him in the eyes again.

"Fear not, Greg," Grissom couldn't contain his grin, "I have something very special for you." He handed over the slip. "B&E at Naughty World, a new adult store set to open next week."

"Yessssss! This is that upscale porn shop opening on the edge of a good neighborhood. They're trying to appeal to the upper-middle-class who won't shop at the dirty places."

Grissom praised his employee, "It's good to know you have your fingers on the pulse of the city, Greg."

"Thanks, boss," the CSI 1 beamed with pride. "I'm your go-to guy for erotica."

"Sara," Grissom cheerily dropped the bomb, "you're with Greg in a tutorial role, because he hasn't had a lot of B&E experience. Let him lead and correct him when necessary. Enjoy!"

"Wait! Why not Catherine?" Sara asked, not wanting to spend hours in an adult entertainment store being entertained by Greg.

"She's busy," he replied while heading for the door.

"Is this about your shoes?!" she yelled as she chased after her boss/lover.

"Hey, Henry," Greg walked over with a friendly smile. "Sorry to hear things didn't go so well with you and Mandy. If there's anything I can do to help…"

"I think you did enough damage already," Henry huffed as he swept up the last of the broken beaker. "You should have told her the truth at the grocery store, not asked her out on a fake date."

"I got painted into a corner and I panicked." Greg quietly explained, "You and I take a lot of shit around here for being lab geeks with questionable sexuality, but in here it's manageable. It's not as easy in the field. I've already taken a ton of abuse from cops for letting myself get beaten to a pulp and they'd have a field day if they found out Nick and I were together. I got scared and I went into self-preservation mode. I didn't mean to hurt Mandy and cause you any residual grief. I honestly thought we'd go out, the date would suck and we'd laugh it off."

"She really liked you," Henry scolded. "You had to know that, because I knew." He deflated, "I knew she liked you and was upset that you lied to her and...and...and I slept with her anyway." The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "I'm scum. No wonder she's not talking to me."

"You're not scum." Greg assured the panicked man,."You're like the nicest guy at the lab."

"A nice guy wouldn't have slept with Mandy when she was drunk and desperate."

"Why did you sleep with her?"

"Because I was drunk and desperate," Henry confessed, "and totally, madly in love with her. I have been for years, but I was invisible to her as a man and then suddenly...I wasn't. I couldn't stop myself."

Feeling terrible for the guy, Greg said, "If you think it will help, I'll talk to her. Maybe she's not angry at you, maybe she hates men because I used her and if I apologize, she'll stop taking it out on you."

"You think?"

"It couldn't hurt, right?" With a hopeful lilt in his voice, Greg said, "I'm sure she'll come to her senses and realize you're a great catch."

"Would you date me if I was gay?"

"No." Greg laughed, "Because it would be like dating myself. You're a scientist, you should know opposites attract. And you're a little over-the-top about the show tune thing to be completely honest. That wall of Playbills in your apartment and the pictures of you and your mother outside every theater marquis…not good. The Little Orphan Annie throw pillows…disastrous. Did you ever see the movie Fever Pitch? It's a chick flick about an obsessive Red Sox fan."

"I don't do football movies."

"Red Sox are baseball," Greg laughed, "geeks have to learn this stuff when they go into the field or the cops eat them alive." He headed for the door. "Rent the movie, you'll know why you needed to see it when you're watching it. Try to get Hodges and Archie to watch it with you, because they have the same issue."

"Greg!" Henry sweetly said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about Cletus."

"Thanks, dude." Grinning, Greg held up his cell. "And don't you worry, 'cause The Love Doctor is in da house!"


ANs:

I'm sure The Love Doctor will right the universe LOL or not. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I thought it tied up a lot of loose ends and set up some others to be handled in the next chapter, particularly the Nick and Warrick scene a lot of readers have been asking for.

Sorry for the delayed chapter. I thought it was going to be a quieter week, but it turned out to be my craziest yet.

I hope everyone is having a good week! Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter. I appreciate you still leaving reviews even though I haven't been able to reply every time! LOL I was happy to see that the awkwardness of the boys lackluster love scene was appreciated. I know it wasn't quite up to the pathetic level of Sara and Gil's infamous 'Flu Sex' in baby-making desperation chapter of Feasibility Study that some readers wanted for the guys, but that just means there's still a chance for a worse scenario in the future LOL

Thanks for reading,

Maggs