Chapter Twelve: Lessons from our Elders

Entering his apartment after a long day at the lab, Greg gave out a heavy sigh as he dumped his keys onto the side table, hearing laughter coming from the next room. As he listened more carefully, Greg recognised the laughter as his mothers and Nick's. Hurrying into the next room, Greg widened his eyes as he saw his boyfriend sat down at the dinner table with his mother and cousin Lita. "Honey, you're home!" Jean shouted from the other end of the table, giggling as she looked towards Nick beside her, gently elbowing him. "Sorry Nicky, isn't that supposed to be your line?" She chortled to him.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Greg asked as he made his way into the room, wondering which part of the 'never talk to my boyfriend' rule she didn't understand.

"Nicky stopped by to return your jacket. He thought you might have needed it for your shift, but you had already left and the triplets insisted that he stuck around to play computers games with him, so I had to offer him dinner just to be polite." She simply explained, pulling out the seat the other side of her as she set down an empty plate for him to join them. "What are you doing home so early anyway?"

"I went in early." Greg reminded her, dropping into the empty seat opposite Nick. "Half of swing shift are out on maternity leave, so Sara and I had to take different shifts since Ecklie won't spare any of his precious CSI's."

"Half?" Lita inquired.

"Well technically it's one third." Nick corrected him. "Swing shift only has three CSI's at the moment due to the cut backs. Duncan is in the hospital after he got shot in the foot and Michelle is out on maternity leave." He explained for his boyfriend.

"Why are you covering swing shift if you work in the lab?" Jean asked her son as she set down a plate of Shepherd's pie in front of him.

"Um..." Greg nervously bit his lower lip as he tried to think up an excuse. "Well, maybe because..." Greg looked up at Nick, seeing the look in his eyes to convince him to tell his mother the truth. "Well Mom... it's because I don't work in the lab anymore," He explained, looking down at his hands in his lap a moment. "Mom, I took the field test for the field CSI position . . . and I passed . . . back in January."

Jean's jaw dropped as she looked across the table at her son. "January?" She exclaimed shocked. "It's nearly the end of November!" She suddenly shrieked, making Nick beside her wince from the high pitched sound. "How could you lie to me about something for this long Gregory Hojem Sanders?"

"Well I didn't tell you I was gay until after you walked in on me." He pointed out to her. "I started dating guys when I was fourteen."

Jean's jaw dropped again. "Four years? You told me that he was the first one."

"Well..." Greg realised he hadn't made the situation any better for himself. "That's not the point. You knew I wanted the field CSI position. You shoulda known that simply forbidding me to take it wouldn't have stopped me."

"But why didn't you tell me?" She shrieked.

"Because you made it pretty clear that you didn't want me to do it. So I figured telling you about it wasn't the best thing to do." He explained, leaning back in his seat as he looked into her eyes. "Dad knows." He added so she wouldn't kill him at the table. "So does Papa Olaf."

"They do?" Jean widened her eyes even more, feeling betrayed by her own father, husband and son. "I can't believe you, you little monster!" Loudly scraping back her chair, Jean gave her son one last look before she climbed to her feet, giving Nick an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Nicky. It was very nice to meet you. I hope to see you again soon. Lita, I'll be round in the morning for the girls." Jean glanced at her son one last time before she slipped out of the room. Grabbing her purse and jacket from the front door, Jean gave out a heavy sigh then made her way out of her son's apartment to head back home for the night and demand to know why her own husband lied to her before she spoke to her father.

"I told you that you shoulda told her sooner." Lita smirked in her cousin's direction.

"Ex-cuse me miss teen pregnancy, but who was the one to tell her parents that she was pregnant at four months?" Greg reminded her.

Lita gave out a heavy sigh then scraped back her own chair, climbing to her feet. "Nice to meet you Nick. Hope to see you again soon." Lita smiled in his direction then head off down the hall to check on her children.

Greg gave out his own heavy sigh, dropping his head into his hands as he looked across the table at Nick in front of him. "Want me to say something to you so you can make a huffy exit too?" He queried, looking into Nick's eyes.

"No, I'm good here." Nick gave him a soft smile. "Did you have a bad day at work?"

"No, just the usual." Greg hopped over one chair to his mother's seat, moving her half finished plate out of the way so he could move his own dinner over to sit next to his boyfriend. "Oh and Griss' back, so you won't get put down by Ecklie again."

"That's good." Resting on his elbow on the table, Nick became fascinated in the way Greg chewed his food. "Aren't you worried about your mom G?"

"Nope, she'll go home to talk to my dad then she'll come back here and apologise for her outburst, saying she still loves me and she supports my decision, she just wishes I had told her sooner." He spoke from past experiences then took another mouthful of his dinner. "The best thing about my mom is that she can never stay mad at me for more than eight hours at a time. It drives her completely insane." Greg finished his last mouthful then started clearing away the plates, stopping Nick from standing up to help him. "I'm just gonna put em in the dishwasher."

"Well let me help you." Climbing to his feet, Nick helped Greg carry some of the plates off to the kitchen, helping Greg to load the dishwasher. Unlike Nick, Greg had no system to his dishwasher. The plates just went wherever and the cutlery went in any slot that wasn't full up.

"See, I told you my mother would take it badly." Greg pointed out to him.

"Yeah, but its better that she knows. You can't keep somethin' this big from her. What if you got hurt out in the field?" Nick asked as he helped Greg clear the rest of the table then returned to the kitchen to help him wash up. "Would you rather explain to her that you work out in the field when you're in hospital with a gunshot wound?"

"No. Just don't tell that part to my mom." Greg warned him while he ran the tap to warm the water up. Greg gave Nick a wide grin as he reached for the towel, drying up everything he washed. "You really don't have to do that Nicky."

"If you were a girl, I'd agree with you. But we're men; I can help you and not feel as though I'm steppin' on yah toes." He smirked, laughing as Greg gave him a funny look. "What? You're the one who said I was the traditional guy."

"I said traditional romantic." Greg corrected him, handing Nick another saucepan. "As in the traditional dating sense. You're always punctual and look your best, although... I don't think you could ever look bad." He grinned round at him as he took a glance at the navy blue material of his shirt stretched across his broad chest. "You go out of your way to compliment me on dates and you always plan ahead for our dates, and they're always perfect because you have the need to control everything about them. Oh and the biggy, you're always a perfect gentleman, like the holding doors open for me, car doors... offering to help wash up." He smirked.

"Is that a good thing?" He asked as he leant his back against the counter beside Greg. "Do you like my gentleman, controllin' ways?"

"Like em? I love em." Greg assured him through a wide smile. "And the whole sex thing really doesn't bother me. People who have sex too quick in a relationship are telling one another that they're more interested in their physical characteristics rather than finding out who they really are as a person." Greg explained to him, smiling as he reached for the towel to dry his hands.

"Like findin' out you're a messy eater?" Nick indicated towards the sauce dribbled down his t-shirt. "You're supposed to eat it, not wear it G." He chuckled softly as he gently tugged Greg closer to wipe his t-shirt down for him. "So eh... you wonna come over mine?" He suggested as he dropped the towel back onto the counter behind him.

"You have work in an hour." Greg reminded him, turning Nick's wrist to show him the time on his watch. "Forty eight minutes actually, what did you have in mind?" He queried, tilting his head to the side as he looked into Nick's eyes. When Nick nervously looked down at his hands on his sides, Greg took a step closer towards him, gently lifting his hands from his hips into his own. "Did you maybe wonna spend some time with me?"

"I guess." Entwining his fingers with Greg's at their sides, Nick smiled as he looked into the younger mans hungry eyes. "You did install that lock on your door, right?"

"Did it yesterday." Greg nodded then slowly took a few steps backwards, tugging Nick along with him towards his bedroom down the hall. Nick relished the intimacy between the two of them, feeling both nervous and excited as he was led off into his boyfriend's bedroom for the first time.

Greg slid the lock into place then watched Nick's eyes as he scanned across his bedroom. "Not what you expected?" He queried, tossing the clothes off the bed onto the dresser in the corner then attempted to straighten the covers on the bed. "Sorry, I haven't exactly been in here lately to straighten up."

"I like it, it's all you." Nick steadied his nervous breathing then dropped onto the edge of Greg's bed, looking over at the wardrobe that was left open with all of the younger mans bright and colourful clothes brightening up the bland room. "So, now that you've got me in your bedroom Greg," Nick attempted to be brave in front of him, "What did you wonna do?"

"Well," The nervous young man stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, giving Nick a nervous smile. "No one can get in, but the walls in this place are paper thin." He nervously rambled.

Nick threw his head back in laughter, glad Greg was nervous about something between them too. "Really Greg, you think I wonna strip you of all your clothes and take you here?" He smirked up at him then gently tugged him down onto the bed to sit him down beside him. "G, when we do finally... you know. I want it to be special. I've imagined it more than a thousand times, so it's gotta be special." He smiled through his nervousness. "You don't have to be worried about me... wantin' to jump you or anythin' like that, because I'm a traditional romantic after all."

"An adorably passionate sentimental romantic." Greg corrected him, giving him a wide grin as Nick looked round at him.

"Thanks G." Nick smiled back at him then dropped to his back on the bed, gently tugging Greg down beside him. "I can cross this one of my list."

"What one?" Greg queried.

"See the inside of your bedroom." He smirked, turning his head to look the patient lover beside him in the eye. "I never saw it when we were just friends. I always wanted to know what the inside of your bedroom looked like since you always kept your porn and music in the lab."

"Well I can't keep pawn in here anymore since the little ladies came into my life. This is the only room in my apartment that my mother isn't allowed to clean. And it's the only rule she ever obeys too." He smirked, rolling onto his side to look Nick in the eye. "Is there anything else on that list regarding my bedroom?" He cheekily grinned, licking his lower lip in Nick's direction.

"Well, I would like to kiss you." Moving his body closer against Greg's, Nick brushed his thumb across Greg's lower lip as he looked deep into his eyes. "You've filled this huge void in my life G. My life really is better with you." Nick moved his hand to the back of Greg's neck, bringing their lips together for a delicate velvety soft kiss.

Closing his eyes as Nick slowly deepened his kiss, Greg allowed Nick to pull his body closer against him, gently caressing his tongue with his own. "Mmmm," Greg purred as Nick pulled back for a gasp of breath, savouring the taste of Nick's scent in his mouth. "I love it when you kiss me like that."

Nick smiled against his parted lips as he slid his other hand beneath the back of Greg's t-shirt. "Well I love kissin' you like that, so it works out nicely." He chuckled softly, gently nipping at the soft lips poised in front of him. "You know I used to watch your mouth while you spoke. You know how I always asked you loads and loads of questions about my results you had just given me?" Greg gave him a slight nod. "It's because I wanted to watch your mouth movin'. I love that cute little half smile you always give me too."

"Aww, my Nicky's in love." He giggled, gently smoothing his fingers through Nick's soft hair. "Well I teased and joked around with you more than the others because I love your smile too Tex." He admitted, gently brushing a fingertip across the creases just below Nick's boyishly thick eyebrows then gently feathered it down his soft features to follow the gorgeous curves around his mouth as Nick gave him one of his wide welcoming smiles. "See, that's my reward."

"You know you're the only guy I've ever met that I actually think is cute." Touching his lips to Greg's again, Nick beamed another wide smile at him as he bravely slid his hand towards Greg's hip, moving his thigh between the younger mans legs.

Capturing Greg's lips between his own, Nick could feel Greg's body quivering as he slid his thigh higher between his legs, pressing gently against his crotch. Nick smiled as Greg moaned into his mouth, secretly thanking the girl that had done that to him in college. Nick remembered how stimulating it was when she did it to him, so he tried the same technique she had on his own boyfriend. He thought it was a little weird that he learned his move from a girl, but his reward outweighed the awkwardness by a long shot.

"Shit, I gotta go G." He announced as he spotted the time on his watch. "I don't wonna be late for work."

"So go, I'm not stopping you." Greg smiled as he removed his fingers from Nick's hair, giggling softly as Nick was the one to lean forwards and initiate a series of tender kisses to his lips, reluctantly pulling back as he realised he was getting too worked up and he really was going to be late for his shift.

"I'll call you later, or you call me." Nick tried his best not to sound too pathetic as he climbed off Greg's bed, flattening his hair with his shaky hands as he looked at his appearance in the mirror across the room. His hair wasn't the only thing that was different to him though. He could barely recognise his reflection in the mirror. He was no longer the suppressed good ole boy from Texas, he had just made out with his boyfriend and he didn't feel guilty about it one bit.

"Bye Nicky." Greg smiled as he sat up straight. "Don't work too hard."

"I won't." Nick assured him, licking the delicious Greg Sanders scent from his lips. "Sweet dreams G. And make it up with your mother; you don't know how lucky you are to have a mother like her." Leaning down to Greg's level, Nick pressed his lips to Greg's for a brief moment to give him a good night kiss. He then slowly turned for the door, reluctantly leaving to head into work when really he'd rather be curling up into bed with Greg at his side.

"Nicky, I want you to go down to autopsy!" Grissom shouted to Nick as soon as he entered the hall of the lab floor from the elevator. Nick watched Grissom quickly entering his office with Ecklie and the undersheriff behind him, closing the door once they were all inside.

"Nice to see you too." Nick muttered under his breath as he took a step back towards the elevator, taking it down to the autopsy room where he could hear country music blaring through the halls. Entering the icy cold autopsy room, Nick spotted Doctor Robbins leant over a body, inspecting the bullet wound to the females head. "Hey Doc." He called over to him as he grabbed one of the lab coats and some gloves so he wouldn't contaminate any evidence.

"Hey Nick." Turning his music off, Doc Robbins readjusted the glasses on his nose as he tweezed something from the victims wound. "You here for Grissom's case?" Nick nodded as he stepped up beside the cooling table. "Well, there's no mystery here." He indicated towards the bullet wound to her head. "Penetrating gunshot wound to the right temple killed our virgin Mary. I sent the bullet to ballistics a few minutes ago."

Nick gave him a quizzical look before he asked, "Virgin Mary?"

"Yeah, didn't Grissom tell you? They found her with a baby in her house." Doc Robbins explained to him. The confused expression on Nick's face gave him his answer though. "Hymen's intact which means she's never had intercourse, but she did give birth." The Doc removed the sheet covering her chest, showing Nick her caesarean scar.

"So, other than divine intervention, how do you explain this miraculous conception?"

"Well, the most obvious explanation would be frottage." He answered, watching Nick giving him a slight frown.

"You mean dry humpin'?"

Doc Robbins grinned widely, shaking his head slightly at the young CSI. "In sex Ed Nick, they teach that rubbing body parts is safe, but since the hymens not a barrier to semen, there's still a risk of pregnancy. Not to mention STD's." He added. "It's all about gravity Nick. You might wonna think about that the next time you..."

"Okay, sex lesson over." He held his hands up to stop him. "Thanks Doctor Ruth." He smirked before he head off out the room, shivering the disturbing sex talk from both Greg's mother earlier and now from the old guy in the autopsy room. Did they really think he was that clueless? He was thirty four years old; he had been having sex since he was seventeen, just not with the gender that was right for him.

"Hey Nicky." Catherine called him over, waving him over to where she was stood. "We're just heading over to the trace lab, you wonna come with?" Nick gave her a slight nod as he joined her in the hall. "What'd you get from autopsy?"

"Um... oh the bullets been sent to ballistics, and apparently our vic's a virgin but she did give birth." He reported, walking with her into the trace lab where Warrick was stood talking about something with Hodges.

"Nick, how you doing?" Hodges immediately asked as he entered the room, not catching onto Warrick's cut throat signal to stop him before he asked the question that annoyed Nick the most.

"Above ground." The Texan repeated his answer he had been giving everyone except Greg.

Hodges gave him a half smile then handed his findings over to Catherine. "Your black and white particles were composed of plagioclase, biotite, hornblende and pyroxene." He reported, looking at Warrick and Nick's expression as they both tried to think what that was.

"Diorite granite." Catherine answered, giving them both a superior grin as she got it first.

"You remember your geology." Hodges smiled proudly in her direction then directed a smug grin towards the jocks. "That's one for the ex-cheerleader, nil for the jocks."

"Actually, I was never a cheerleader, and senior year I took 'rocks for jocks'." Catherine reported, smiling towards Nick and Warrick as they gave her a quizzical look. "I dated the TA. He bought me flowers before every game."

"Lucky guy." Hodges enviously answered, wishing he had spent more time with the ladies when he was in school.

"And I'm sure you got an A." Warrick presumed.

Curving her lips into a naughty smile, Catherine brushed back her hair before she answered, "As a matter of fact, I did. But that was because I studied hard, not because I was dating the TA. That was just one of the perks." She assured him. "Our relationship was strictly professional."

"Mm-hmm." He smirked, not believing that for a second.

"You're a married man." Hodges reminded him. "Don't flirt." Warrick dropped his jaw and rolled his eyes at the lab tech that freely flirted with the girl next door in front of everyone, not to mention the ass kissing to Ecklie whenever he got the chance. "Anyway, diorite granite is used in high end bathroom vanities. Was there any recent construction at the house?"

"Nah," Warrick shook his head as he took the results from Catherine to take a look for himself. "I processed the bathroom and the countertops for some kind of plastic laminate."

Hodges reached for a piece of paper of the printer, handing it over to Warrick, "I made a few calls, there's only one slab yard in Clark County that works with diorite."

"Nicky, you coming?" Catherine queried, noticing how quiet he was lately. "You can drive if you want." Warrick frowned at her as he wanted to drive.

"No I'm good, I'm gonna run by ballistics." Nick snapped the gloves off he realised he was still wearing, heading off down the hall towards Bobby Dawson's lab.

"I'm worried about him." Catherine whispered to Warrick as they both head off towards the locker room to get ready for the field. "Do you think he's okay?"

Grabbing his vest from his locker, Warrick gave her a nod, "Yeah, he just needs people to stop dogging him. You shoulda seen him out in Lincoln; I've never seen him so focused."

"Sara said he went off the deep end."

"So what, he got rough with one of the suspects. We all lose it at one time or another, people are only psycho analysing him because he was recently buried alive." He defended his friends honour to her then grabbed his kit, checking it was all fully stocked. "Nick's still Nick. He's just going through some stuff, but he's not some nervous little kitten who's gonna break any second like everyone thinks. You just have to act normal around him."

"Like you, you mean?" She scowled, zipping her jacket up to her chin as it was pouring down with rain outside. "You barely say two words to him anymore. At least I'm trying to get through to him." Grabbing her kit off the bench, Catherine walked off out the locker room, leaving Warrick to think about what she had said for a moment.

"Hey Cath." He called out to her as he caught up at the elevators. "See, the thing is... I don't know what to say to him. Sara tried when we were all out, and he practically bit her head off. Greg seems to be the only one who can get through to him at the moment."

"Ah." Catherine's lips spread into a slight smile.

"I knew it." Warrick chuckled, joining her by one of the labs Denali's in the basement parking lot. "You know don't you?"

"Of course I know, how do you know?"

"Because Nick told me." Warrick gave out a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he unlocked the Denali. "Shoulda known that they wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret for long, they are working with a bunch of CSI's that are trained to notice these things after all. That's why you guys noticed my wedding ring the first day I was wearing it."

Catherine rolled her eyes as she climbed into the passenger seat; not wanting to talk about his marriage that she was pretending wasn't real as she hadn't yet met his wife, and she wasn't planning on doing it any time soon either.

Knocking harder on the door this time, Greg leant against the frame as he waited for his stubborn mother to open the door. "Mom! Please, it's raining out here. I could catch a cold!" He shouted then heard the lock of the door sliding open. Taking a step back into the pouring rain, Greg watched as his father pulled the door open, giving his son a look before he smiled and let him in. "How mad is she?" He immediately asked his father.

"She's on her fourth glass of wine." Taking his sons dripping wet coat for him, Daniel Sanders hung it over one of the pegs by the radiator then closed the front door. "You need a towel?" He smirked as the water was just pouring from him onto the doormat.

"Could do." Greg shivered, glad his father finally decided to let him in before he really did freeze to death out there.

Daniel fetched his son a towel to dry himself off them handed him one of his sweatshirts to keep him warm. Greg gratefully took the warm sweatshirt, removing his dripping wet hoody and t-shirt so his father's sweatshirt would warm him up quicker. Daniel still cringed at the sight of the scars covering his sons back. Every time he saw them he remembered the pain his child had endured, wishing he could have taken the pain for him so that he wouldn't have had to suffer.

"She's through there." Daniel pointed off towards the den as he took his sons wet clothing for him. He watched Greg removing his sneakers before he head off into the den where his mother was sat on the sofa with a glass of wine in her hands.

"Mom, you know you love me really." He spoke in his sweetest voice as he slowly entered the room. "I didn't mean to upset you. You know when I want stuff I go for it. You shoulda known that I'd go for this no matter what you said."

"I would have supported you if you told me." She scowled up at him. "I didn't want you to go for it because it's dangerous."

"I was blown up in the lab." He pointed out to her.

"You were always telling me how Catherine got attacked at a crime scene. Nick was almost shot. Your supervisor was strangled..."

"That was in an interrogation room." Greg reminded her. "Mom, I'm careful. I always am. The team looks out for me. We have police officers with us all the time. Since Nick's abduction they've reinforced that rule so it doesn't happen again." He tried to assure her. "Warrick's been a CSI for years and he's never had to pull his gun on anyone. He's never been shot at either. Sara was only injured once in that lab explosion. Nick's... not a very good example, but not everyone gets hurt. I wanted to do the job to help people."

"But you never see the danger Gregory!" She snapped at him. "Nick has older sisters and a brother to keep his parents company if anything were to ever happen. Your boss Grissom doesn't have anyone. Sara doesn't have parents, and this Warrick doesn't have anyone either. You have a mother and father that care about you more than their own lives." She explained to him, trying not to shout as she didn't want to lose him. "My life isn't worth living if I don't have you honey."

"What about dad?"

Jean gave out a soft sigh. "Of course I love your father, and he'd be broken if anything were to ever happen to you too. You're the only person that can make him cry, you know that? Daniel's not a crier." She informed him. "He cried when you were born. He cried when you said your first word or even started to walk. When you broke your arm when you were little, he was a nervous wreck. The lab explosion was his own personal nightmare. He's never cried before; you bring that out in him. We both love you more than anything in the world, but you act as though you don't care." Jean complained as she ran a hand through her honey brown hair. "You took up a job in a lab so we assumed you'd be safe, but then we get a phone call saying you were in an explosion with third degree burns covering your back. Now you've taken up a job where people get kidnapped and buried alive. How could you?"

"Not everyone's kidnapped and buried alive." He defended himself. "That was just a onetime thing. I didn't want the job for the danger; I wanted the job so I could actually be involved in solving these people's murders." Greg desperately tried to think of a way how he could explain the thrill of working the job to his mother. "I'm not a kid anymore. I have a job that just happens to be a little bit dangerous. I have a boyfriend that could leave me for fear of being gay before we even get started, but I don't care. I'm living my life and I'm happy. Don't you care about that?"

"Of course I care. Just, why this job?"

"Nick, Warrick, Sara, Catherine and Grissom all got to be a part of these people's lives. I sat in a lab all day only knowing them by their DNA. I never saw their faces or knew how they lived. I knew them as a DNA sample. Sure my work was important to the case, but it didn't feel important enough to me. I wasn't physically doing enough to bring them justice. I was just the DNA lab dork. Now my job actually counts for something."

Sighing heavily in defeat as she saw the spark in Greg's eyes that was always there whenever he was talking about something he loved. She remembered it was there when he was six and discovered dinosaurs. She remembered the enthusiasm in his voice when he was seven and wanted to be a scientist or when he had discovered chess or his Papa Olaf's coin collection. She had made a promise to her baby boy on the eve of his birth that she would never crush his hopes and dreams, and she'd always be there to support him no matter what, so she reluctantly gave in, giving up the battle of trying to keep him safe.

"Okay honey, but now I'm going to have to insist that I get two phone calls a day." She warned him. "One before you head into work then one right after, just so I know that you're safe."

"Done." He beamed a wide smile at her.

"Now take those trousers off. You're dripping on my carpet!" She snapped as she climbed to her feet. "Your father probably has a pair you can borrow while I get these dry for you. Oh Gregory! You trudged your wet socks through here." She started complaining as she saw the damp patches on her carpet. "I've told you a hundred times not to walk on this carpet with wet or muddy feet. This is pure white! The dirt just doesn't come out!"

Greg couldn't help but laugh as he was so happy to have his mother talking to him again, even if she was moaning. She was the only mother he was ever going to get, and she was the best one in the world.

I hope you enjoyed that chapter and had a nice holiday! Don't forget to review!