Thanks for the reviews. Sorry it took so long for this to be posted. It's been a crazy busy week, and it will stay busy for me for the next while. I'll try and update as often as I can.

I disclaim . . . .

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She looked at herself in the mirror, noticing the bags under her eyes. Although she'd woken up only a few hours ago, she hadn't slept much the night before. She kept thinking about meeting his family. She was a nervous wreck and couldn't stop thinking about it. So, rather than just close her eyes and count sheep, she turned on his CD and listened to the songs his sweet voice sung to her. It was calming in a way, but she had silently let the tears fall.

She turned to look at her profile in the mirror and noticed that her abdomin had a slight swell. No one else would've noticed, but she knew. A smile tugged on her lips as she lifted up her shirt, exposing her skin. Her fingers skimmed her stomach, caressing her flesh. She looked at a picture of Nick that was sitting on the dresser -- it was a picture that his mother had put there especially for Sara. It was his official Dallas PD photo. Though it was an older picture, his smile beemed back at her. "It's our baby," she said, tears pooling again in her eyes as her free hand reached out and touched the contours of his face in the photo. "I wish you were here," she let her hand drop from her stomach as she spoke to the photo, picking up the frame and wandering over to the neatly made bed. "I miss you so much, Nick."

It was then that something really odd happened. If Sara hadn't been sitting there when it happened, if someone had said that something like this had happened to them, she wouldn't have believed it. But it was happening. The CD player had suddenly turned on and started playing Nick's CD -- only, it wasn't playing the first song on the CD. It was playing one in the middle. Yet another Garth Brooks song . . .

When the rain is blowing in your face

And the whole world is on your case

I would offer you a warm embrace

To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear

And there is no one to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

But I would never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

There's no doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue

I'd go crawling down the avenue

There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do

To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rollin' sea

Down the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowing wild and free

But you ain't seen nothing like me yet

There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the earth for you

Make you happy, make your dreams come true

To make you feel my love

There was a quiet knock at the door. "Sara?"

"Yes?" she called, standing up from the bed, and walking back to the dresser, Nick's picture in her hand. She used the back of her hand to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

Jillian poked her head inside the room and smiled softly. "Nicole is coming up the driveway. She came a little early with her kids and Sparky."

Sara's eyes shone brightly and Jillian recognized her smile as one that finally reached her eyes.

"Thanks," she answered. "I'll be down in just a sec."

She smiled at Sara. "OK."

Once the door had firmly clicked back in place, she turned around and stared at the CD player, which had now turned itself off. She chuckled slightly, half wondering if she'd just imagined that happening, but knowing she didn't.

She glanced around the room, feeling as though Nick's spirit were with her. Her hand touched the door knob and she turned it gently. "I love you," she whispered into his bedroom. Upon hearing the front door open, she sighed a little, smiling.

She quietly closed the door behind her and walked silently down the hallway, peering over the railing and into the foyer on the first floor of the home. She could see Nicole with her children, taking off their shoes. She could see Sparky wandering into the house pensively, and laying down beside the closet. She smiled a little at the dog, who hadn't seen her yet. Part of her was sad that Sparky was sad -- but the other part of her was jumping inside with anticipation.

Nicole could feel someones eyes on her and looked up. She saw Sara standing there and smiled slightly. "Hello."

"Hi," Sara greeted, a little embarrassed that she'd been caught. She hadn't meant to not say anything, but she was caught up in the dog. God, how she'd missed that dog. It was just one more link to Nick that had suddenly been taken from her.

Sparky's ears perked up at the sound of her voice and he looked up at Sara, his eyes immediately shining He leapt up from his place by the closet, and ran quickly up the stairs, wagging his tail furiously, making almost a doggie singing noise in greeting. He barked happily once he was at the top of the stairs and Sara laughed happily as she scratched him behind his ears. The dog sighed in contentment as he allowed Sara to scratch him, he licking her wrists.

"I've missed you too, Buddy," Sara smiled, her eyes misting over.

Jillian and Nicole stood there silently, smiling at the life that Sparky seemed to suddenly be energized with.

Nicole's two kids looked on in awe.

"How'd you do that?" the little boy asked as Sara stood up and started to walk down the stairs, Sparky closely following behind. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he walked up to them, patting the dogs soft fur.

"I've known Sparky since he was a little puppy," Sara answered, smiling down at the little boy, who shared the same brown eyes as Nick. She couldn't help but wonder if she had a son, would he have Nick's eyes? "We go way back, don't we buddy?" she sratched his ears again, and he leaned his head into her touch, resting his head against her leg. He barked in answer.

The kids giggled.

"I'm Nicole," the blond woman smiled, holding her hand out for Sara.

Sara extended her own hand and when they shook hands, she immediately relaxed. "Sara. It's nice to meet you."

"Like wise," she looked down at her children who were playing with a now happy Sparky. "This is my son Noah. He's three. And this little Angel," she picked up her daughter quickly, her innocent giggles becoming a loud shriek as her mother picked her up suddenly, "is Elizabeth. She's a year and a half."

Sara smiled down at the little girl who had her mothers blond hair.

"Hi," the little girl giggled as her mother tickled her stomach.

"Hi," Sara smiled back. "That's a very pretty name, Elizabeth."

"Meh," she shrugged. "It's otay."

Nicole rolled her eyes and tried to hide her smirk and Jillian chuckled. Sara stood there shocked, not knowing what to say.

"Sorry," Nicole apologized. "That would be Jason's influence. He's the oldest. The little rat is at swimming practice. He's seven."

Sara laughed a little.

"Owder brodder is da best," her eyes shone brightly at Sara as her mother set her down on her feet.

"I had an older brother too," she smiled.

The little girl launched herself at Sara's leg and clung to her for a second before letting go and running off to play with Sparky and Noah

"So what brings you to Texas?" Nicole asked as she and Jillian led the way to the kitchen. Sara followed behind them and as Sparky saw her retreating from the room, he stood up and followed, the kids following him.

Sara glanced at Jillian who subtley shook her head, telling Sara that she hadn't told Nick's sisters.

"Why don't we wait for Maddy and Gabby?" Jillian suggested, pulling out some snacks from the cupboard for her grandkids.

Nicole glanced between the two and nodded her head. "Alright."

The three sat at the kitchen table and talked for a while until Maddy and Gabby arrived with their kids.

Maddy and her husband Lucas had three kids. Daniel, eight; Natalie, five; and Zachary, four.

Gabby and her husband William, had three kids as well. David, six; and twin, fraternal daughters, Rosalind and Isabel, three.

Around lunch time, the five women and the kids went outside.

"I can't wait until Zack goes to school," Maddy said. "A couple more months and I'll have the mornings too myself!"

Everyone laughed.

Nicole and Gabby agreed that that would be a dream come true when their little rug rats were all in Elementary school and they could have just a few hours in the morning to themselves, then the following year, an entire school day -- plus the travel time to and from school on the bus.

Being that summer vacation had just started, all the kids were excited at not needing to attend school for a few months.

Sara looked down at one of the twins who was tugging on her shirt gently to get her attention.

"Isabel!" Gabby chastised. "That is not nice."

"Sowwy," she looked down at the ground, upset that her mother was disappointed in her.

"It's OK," Sara smiled. "What would like, sweetie?" The little girl lifted her arms up to Sara in a silent request to be picked up. "Better?"

The little girl nodded and batted her blue eyes at Sara. "I wike wou."

"Thank you," Sara smiled down at the little girl. "I like you too."

Embarrassed, she shoved a thumb into her mouth.

"Izzy!" her mother scolded for a second time, and the little girl gropped her thumb from her mouth.

"Sowwy," she said again. But her eyes lit up with Rosalind ran towards them, stopping short at running straight into Sara's legs.

"Come pway!" she said to her sister, grabbing Izzy's hand. Sara helped her down off her lap and the two ran off towards the sand box and trampoline.

"So . . . " Nicole hedged, glancing at her sisters then to her mother and finally on Sara. "What brings you to Texas?"

Jillian watched Sara for a moment, and smiled at her encouragingly.

"Sorry," Nicole appologized. "I don't mean to be blunt."

Sara smirked. "No, that's alright. I'm apparently pretty blunt too. At least, most of the time."

Nicole smirked. "No wonder we get along so well. I seem to irritate everyone when I just come out and ask something. Everyone tells me to use a little tact."

Sara laughed. "Funny, I've been told that a few times myself."

"I'm curious too," Maddy said and Gabby nodded her head.

"Mom told us that Nicky's girlfriend was here," Gabby said, "and that she wanted us to meet you. I'd say it's pretty safe to say that we were all pretty shocked. None of us knew that Nicky had a girlfriend."

Sara smiled. "We didn't tell anyone. At least, I didn't. But Nick told your Dad."

"What?" Maddy questioned, glancing at her mother. She held up her hands.

"I didn't know either," Jillian said.

"It's a long story, but I came here because I know that Nick would've wanted me too. We, uh, dated for a little less than a year," Sara started. "And I think things were getting pretty serious. You're brother was the best thing that ever happened to me. I loved him with everything that I have. With everything that I am. I still do. I'll never stop."

The three girls smiled at her. They could see it in her eyes. If Nicky were still there, they'd tell him that she was it. 'The One.'

"Uh, Nick didn't know. I didn't know, actually. Not until about a week ago, anyway. I'm pregnant."

The three girls smiles seemed to disappear for a moment before they all returned brightly and they rushed forward and enveloped Sara in a big, group hug, shocking her.

Jillian stood back and watched the scene unfolding, taking a picture with the digital camera that was sitting beside her. With having young grandchildren around, she'd gotten used to keeping a camera near by for moments that she'd like to remember. And this was definitely one of them.

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"Hey," Brass greeted as he walked into the break room. He and Grissom had just gotten finished interrogating a suspect and he was in desperate need of coffee.

Warrick nodded his head, glancing down at his laptop.

"Big case?" Jim asked.

Warrick shook his head. "No. Gris keeps telling us to be patient, ya know?" The irritation was evident in the mans voice. "But I have this nagging feeling . . ."

"About Kelly Gordon?" he asked, an eye brow raised.

"Yeah," he sighed, pushing back his chair and getting a refill of his own coffee.

"Found anything probative?"

"Depends," he shrugged. "It's probably nothing though."

"What is it?"

"I did some digging that I really shouldn't have," he said, looking at Brass to make sure he understood. "What I tell you, is strictly off the record and between friends, alright?"

Brass knew that this was Warrick's way of telling him that the digging he'd done wasn't exactly . . . legal. He nodded in confirmation, reaching for his badge and placing it on the table top. "No cops are here," he answered.

Warrick smirked. "So, Kelly Gordon was the Trustee of her Fathers Estate prior to her conviction. After she was sent to the prison, he changed his Will, making Sylvia Mullins his trustee."

"And . . . ?"

"Prior to his death, every cent of his money was accounted for," Warrick sat back down. "Money is leaving his accounts."

"That's to be expected," Brass answered. "House taxes, electric bills . . . just because a person dies doesn't mean that they no longer have to pay certain fees."

"I know that," Warrick answered, turning his laptop around and pushing it towards Brass. "But can you explain why there is close to three hundred thousand dollars suddenly unaccounted for?"

"Who has access?"

"Just Ms. Mullins," he answered.

"Fraud, I suppose," Brass said. "But this isn't information that we are supposed to have."

"And I got this information on the down low," Warrick sighed. "And without probable cause, there is no way of legally obtaining it."

"Our hands are tied until someone comes to the cops to report anything."

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The entire Stokes clan had been more than thrilled with the news of the impending arrival and had opened their arms, with no questions asked, to Sara. They were welcoming her into their family readily. And while she couldn't have been happier, it was bitter sweet without Nick sitting beside her whispering, "I told you they'd love you" in her ear.

She'd met Nicole, Maddy and Gabby's husbands - Jacob, Lucas, and William, as well as the older kids that she hadn't met during the day. And then met the rest of Nick's siblings, their spouses and their children.

Rebecca was married to Mark, and they have four kids. Ten year old Faith, Victoria, nine, and another set of twins, a girl and boy, Penelope and Christopher, eight.

Charlotte was Nick's oldest sister, and her husband was Mark. They also had three kids. Hannah, fourteen, Adam, thirteen and Joesph, twelve.

Tom, Nick's only brother, and his wife Ella, also had three kids. Jeffrey, nineteen, Scott, fifteen, and Adrienne, fourteen.

Sara watched them all file out of the house and towards their cars with a smile on her face.

"So, did we overwhelm you?" Bill asked as he walked up to where she was standing, leaning up against the front door.

She smiled, "Yeah. A little. But it's a good overwhelmed, you know?"

Bill smiled.

"I watched you all tonight," she said softly. "How much you love each other. I saw the little disagreements and the bickering, but if push comes to shove, I can see that you'd all be there for each other."

"You too," he quickly including, receiving a smile. "You're family now, Sara."

She didn't quite know what to say. "I didn't grow up with a close family. Actually, at times I wondered if I'd ever know what it was, never mind experience it. When I first moved to Vegas, Nick would tell me about his big, crazy family. And I always wondered if he was exaggerating about how wonderful you all are. Tonight, I found out that he was telling the truth."

Bill smiled back at her. "Well, we are a big, crazy family."

Jillian made her way back up to the house after seeing the last of her children off. Each of her six remaining children had built homes on the ranch, which sprawled an impressive four thousand acres of lush, green land. "Would you like another piece of Strawberry pie, Sara?"

"Sounds like heaven," she smiled, "but I don't think I can eat any more."

"I'll make sure to save some for you for tomorrow," she smiled.

"Thanks," she breathed deeply, enjoying the cooler breeze of the evening air. It had been a humid day. Definitely not the type of heat she was used to in Vegas. It had been a long, and draining day. "I think I'm going to turn in."

"Alright," Bill smiled. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Good night."

"Good night," she smiled as he retreated into his study at the end of the hall.

"You feeling alright?" Jillian asked her, suddenly noticing that she was a little pale.

"Fine," she assured her. "I'm just a little tired."

"It's understandable," she said, guiding Sara towards the base of the stairs. "I'm going to clean up in the kitchen. Probably head off to bed shortly there after." She leaned in and hugged Sara. "Sleep well, dear."

"You too," Sara returned the hug.

The two women smiled at each other briefly before Jillian turned towards the kitchen to clean up what hadn't been taken care of, and Sara turned to head upstairs.

"Whoa boy," Sara whispered, stopping dead in her tracks about three quarters of the way up the stairs, one hand clutching the railing, the other coming up to her head which felt like it was spinning around as if it were the Tilt-A-Whirl ride.

As she moved to take another step, she felt her body flush with heat, and an overwhelming wave of nausea wash over her.

She lost her balance, and tumbled down the stairs with a sickening thud.

"Oh my!" Jillian shrieked, running out of the kitchen as she saw Sara's body come to a rest at the bottom of the stairs. "BILL!" she yelled.

Racing over to Sara, she whispered to the woman who was clutching her stomach, whimpering in pain. "Just hold still."

When Bill emerged from his Study, he saw Sara on the ground and grabbed the cordless, calling for an ambulance. "They'll be here soon," he told them.

"Oh, God," Sara whimpered in pain. She tried not to move, but with every cramp, her body jerked in spasm.

"Try and hold still," Jillian said, leaning over the woman and gently cupping her face in her hands. They held eye contact and Sara started to cry.

"What happened?" Bill asked.

Jillian looked her husband in the eye. "She fell down the stairs," Jillian answered. "I heard it, but I only saw as she landed down here."

Sara's arm went to her stomach as she pressed her palm flat against her skin, "hold on Baby. Please, hold on."

The husband and wife looked at each other, terrified that the woman before them was going miscarrying their sons child.

"I can't loose you too," she cried. "Please . . . ."

TBC . . . .