DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: M - Mature (language, sexual situations, adult subject matter)
PAIRINGS: GSR & Yo!Bling pre-established in previous fics of this timeline.
SPOILERS: Sequel to "Displacement", "Transitions" and "Vicissitudes" - Number 5 in the Discovery Series
SUMMARY: Sometimes, the best way the deal with the changes all around you is to stop fighting and evolve in response to them. GSR/Yo!Bling/Nick-OC

A/N: A little progress report from another house. :D

REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

Chapter 10
15:00 – 2007.01.12
Willows/Brown Home

The kitchen was alive with activity. Lindsey was busy making pinwheels with cream cheese and different deli meats, while Catherine was hard at work basting the chicken wings for Warrick to cook once he woke up. The refrigerator was already filled with different trays of food; vegetables, cheeses, meats and dips. The whole scene gave promise to the success of the evening's festivities.

"So, Mom… What's Nick's niece really like? She's totally like Nick, huh?" Lindsey asked as she sliced through the rolled up food, making the pinwheel appetizers.

Catherine shook her head and said, "She's as much like Nick as you're like me…" Lindsey looked back at her mother in shock and then the two started to laugh.

"Shhhh… You'll wake the beast." Lindsey joked with her mother.

"You're right… I know he was still at the lab around ten, so he's probably exhausted." Catherine craned her neck trying to hear if their fit of laughter had disturbed her sleeping partner. "Anyway, she's like Nick in manners and appearances, but she's more blunt than Stephanie, and has a wicked sense of humor."

"No one is as blunt as Steph." That statement led to more giggles and admonitions to keep the noise down. "Has she been having fun at the lab this week?"

"All I know for sure is that she's got half the lab accessing the knowledge databases to answer her questions, and Wendy's already trying to get her to apply for the Summer Internship at the lab. She came to get the applications from me this morning." Catherine pulled out a strip of aluminum foil and sealed up the wings before tucking them into the fridge. "In general, it sounds like Nick was right to get her in there. She fits right in with the techs, she's really bright, and she's got this thing… I can't really put a finger on it, but she's got something that just makes you want to take her home and make her part of the family."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm being replaced?" Lindsey turned to her mother with her hand on her hip and an indignant look on her face.

"Oh, don't give me that… One teenager is bad enough, I don't need two of you making me old before my time." Catherine knew from the grin on her daughter's face that she was only kidding and she shook her head as she began to laugh at the situation. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Very much so, yeah." That was when the next giggling fit ensued. "Shhhh…" The request would have been better received had Lindsey not also been laughing.

"Okay, how much more do you have there?" Catherine worked to stifle her own laughter, once again looking to the hall for any signs their laughter had disturbed the sleeping man.

"Just one more… And you've got the wings ready, and the taco stuff is ready for throwing into one of those dishes Grandpa left here this morning." Lindsey called off the list as though she was the caterer for the event.

"I was just getting ready to call him… Where are they?" Catherine looked around the room for the electric chafing dishes she asked her father for earlier in the week,

"I had the guys leave them in the garage, so they'd be out of the way. I figured we'd need the room to get everything else ready." Lindsey continued to work at the last roll of pinwheels as she explained.

Catherine walked to the door leading to the garage and opened the door. "Oh good… I hadn't heard from him, so I was wondering if he'd made it over."

"Yeah, he got here right after you left this morning, and gave me a lift to rehearsal after he helped me cook the taco meat and chop veggies." Lindsey talked as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Wait a minute… Sam, our Sam, Sam Braun, my father…helped you cook?" Catherine stood at the door looking back into the kitchen in complete shock.

"Mom! You need to cut him a break." Lindsey once again had her hand on her hip for emphasis, and even through her shock, Catherine recognized that her daughter was definitely picking up on some of her traits. "He asked if I needed help, and he wanted to know when my next rehearsal was, so he helped me finish up so I could make it there." Lindsey turned back to slicing the pinwheels and added. "He even skipped work so I wouldn't have to miss today. He said that since Grams was busy and you were at work, he'd take his turn helping out. Sam even showed me how to chop up onions without crying so much, it was really cool."

"Okay, obviously I need to re-think my opinions about what he will and won't do." Catherine was still reeling from that little epiphany when Lindsey spoke again.

"Okay, all done… Everything else has to wait for Warrick, or for it to be closer to the party." She looked at her mother and asked, "Now what?"

Catherine looked around the disaster that was her kitchen and cocked an eyebrow at her daughter. Lindsey took the clue and checked around her as well. "Oh yeah… I guess we kinda need to clean up, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that." Catherine threw a sponge at her daughter and the two fell into another fit of laughter.

As they set about getting the kitchen back into proper order Lindsey had another question. "So, if his niece goes for that internship this summer, won't that cut into Nick's dating habits?"

"Probably!" That led to them both laughing again and just as quickly trying to quiet each other for fear of waking Warrick.

"It's just weird… Nick's always really cool around me, and you know, everyone else we know, but he's kinda never grown up when it comes to his dates." Lindsey's analysis of her friend had surprised Catherine, even though she knew it was no surprise that her daughter was bright. "I mean, look at that girl he brought to the last Halloween party… Could she even say a three syllable word? 'Cause I know she couldn't understand them."

"Lindsey!" That was simply too much for Catherine, and she burst out laughing, quickly joined by her daughter's giggling.

They continued, unbound until the appearance of a tall, rumpled, ruffled and possibly half asleep Warrick was found standing at the end of the hall. When Catherine looked up from her bout of laughter to find him standing there she was instantly sorry for having woken him. "Oh god… Warrick, did we wake you up?"

Warrick rubbed at his face as Lindsey was suddenly shocked silent. "Nah… I always-" His answer was interrupted by his yawning, "always sleep through two giggling females in the next room." Lindsey stood stock still, worried about having gotten him up far too early. His next words gave her reason to relax, "Don't worry about it… I can think of much worse ways to wake up than hearing two beautiful women laughing in my kitchen."

"Awww…" Catherine walked up to him and gave him a hug, which he gratefully accepted. "How about some coffee, or do you want to try and sleep a little longer now that we're done trying to bring the house down?"

Warrick closed his eyes for a moment, sucked in a deep breath and then said, "Nah, I should get those wings started for tonight. I made the sauce when I got home, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer."

Lindsey smiled proudly and said, "Then you're in luck! Mom already got the wings ready, so all you've got to do is cook 'em later."

Warrick was unable to resist the urge to smile as he looked down on the beaming teenager. "Well, then… How about somethin' to eat? I could fix us up som-"

"No way… We woke you up, so I'll fix something… You want eggs, or a sandwich, or-"

Warrick held up his hand to stop the girl and said, "If you think you can handle it… How about some eggs?"

"Comin' right up! And I'll start some coffee, too." Lindsey instantly went to work as Catherine led Warrick into the living room.

Once they were seated on the couch, Lindsey called into the room, "Mom, do you want any, too?"

"Ah, coffee, yes… Eggs, no." Catherine turned to Warrick with a smile on her face, but when she saw him leaning his head back with his eyes closed she found a lump rising in her throat.

She had spent a lifetime trying to squeeze in as much life as possible, doing everything she could think of to fill her life with excitement and adventure, but it was simply an exercise in futility. All of the best things in her life had come from sitting still and letting life happen to her. Her daughter, her father, her love, it all came to her in the guise of an accident that made her stop and see the truth. And as she snuggled into Warrick's side, listening to her daughter singing to herself in the kitchen, Catherine felt truly content with her life.