"So we should do something" Nick walked up behind Greg and rested his arm around the pregnant mans shoulders.
"Do something?" Greg asked confused, what was his buddy on about?
"Well your going on maternity leave tomorrow, we should take you out for breakfast or something, you know wish you luck" the Texan grinned as he looked at his friend. Greg was wearing low slung jeans that rested below his large bump and an oversized t-shirt bearing the logo 'wide load' that wasn't so oversized any more. He looked like he was ready to drop at any moment rather than the expected 7 weeks.
"Oh. Well eating is out, there's not exactly a lot of room in here at the moment" Greg smiled, running his hand down his front and pulling the t-shirt down a bit more.
"Hmmm ok and you can't drink and I'm guessing you're not in the mood for clubbing" Nick looked thoughtful.
Greg laughed "Clubbing! In my condition! Nick I can barely walk, let alone dance"
Nick laughed as well trying to imagine Greg dancing while almost 9 months pregnant with twins "Ok, ok, I'm thinking" he held his hands up for silence while trying to think of an alternative activity that Greg could actually do.
"What are we thinking about?" Catherine asked as she and Sara entered the small room to drop off evidence.
"Nick wants to celebrate me leaving, only we've crossed eating, drinking and dancing off the list and now he's stuck for ideas" Greg grinned, he was sitting on the edge of the desk and leaning on his hands comfortably, feeling fairly relaxed considering.
"We could throw you a baby shower" the strawberry blonde suggested quickly making the others look round.
"What's a baby shower?" Greg asked curiously, Nick and Sara seemed unsure as well.
With a sigh Catherine explained "A baby shower is like a party for an expectant mother, or in this case father. Guests buy presents for the new baby like diapers or clothes, stuff that is needed. And there are games like bingo or guess the sex or guess the mother's girth size. I have even been to one where they had guess the baby food flavour and we all had to taste four different bowls of baby food and write down what we thought it was. There is usually party food as well like little cakes or sandwiches."
"Sounds like hard work. I don't really feel like making cakes or sandwiches" Greg looked unsure.
"Oh you don't have to do anything. It's usually organised by friends" Catherine quickly added.
"Cath I hate to burst your bubble on this one but he is leaving tomorrow. I don't know about you but I can't organise a party in one day" Nick stepped in suddenly worried that his colleague was getting carried away with the idea.
"Well we don't have to have it tomorrow, we could organise it for sometime next week, during the day so we're all free and can come along…"
"So how is this something we can do to wish Greg good luck going on maternity leave? That was what we were making plans for." Nick hated to point out the obvious, but what was the use of planning something for next week to celebrate what was happening tomorrow.
"How do you feel about working another four days Greg, so we have enough time to organise your party" Sara smiled mischievously at the young man who was watching the argument going on between his two friends with a look of bemusement.
"Uh uh, No way. I can barely fit behind my desk now, four more days and I probably won't be able to get through the door. I almost couldn't do my seatbelt up this morning" Greg held his hands up in a stop right there motion. He'd been happy to work a couple more weeks after his meeting with Grissom but it was getting hard, he was constantly tired and felt like a beached whale most of the time. The summer heat was no help either, there was nothing worse than trying to sleep in 70 degree heat, and that was with the air con on.
"So what can we do then?" Catherine asked pointedly. Nick was silent; he hadn't been able to think of anything before. Why should he be able to think of something now?
"Hey guys, you know you don't have to do anything special tomorrow. Get me a card or something. I kinda like the idea of a party next week and I sure would like the company since I'm not going to be going out much now until the twins arrive" Greg carefully spoke, watching his friend's faces.
"If that's what you want" Nick spoke slowly, kind of glad that Greg was taking charge and letting them off the hook. Greg nodded enthusiastically.
"I guess that's that sorted then. What do you think Cath? You and me working together to organise this thing." the strawberry blonde nodded, she knew the elements of a baby shower and Nick knew Greg. It would be perfect.
Greg flopped onto his sofa with a sigh and rubbed his large bump tenderly "Wish you guys would get a move on, daddies getting a little fed up of being so big" he murmured quietly. Leaning back against a cushion he sighed again the babies were pushing up against his ribcage making him feel breathless and it was almost impossible to sleep now that he was restricted to lying on his side; the one position he'd never been able to sleep in!
Today was the day of the baby shower, the brunette had never felt less like partying in his life, but it was too late to cancel now.
The doorbell rang and Greg pulled himself up, shuffling forwards on the seat so that he could actually stand up, honestly there were severe disadvantages to being this pregnant! "Just a minute" he called out, hoping that after all this effort it wasn't just going to be some dumb reporter that didn't understand the meaning of arranging an interview, or worse, someone selling something that he neither wanted or needed.
"Morning G" Nick grinned as Greg finally opened the door and stepped aside to let the Texan in.
"What's in the box?" Greg asked, his interest sparked by the large cardboard box his buddy was carrying.
"No peeping. This is party stuff, you'll just have to wait and see. Nick gently pushed his buddy away from the box and retreated into the hall to fetch the other bits.
Greg pouted "Aw come on, just one little peak" he pleaded.
"No way man, it's a surprise. Now what are you wearing?" The older man looked his friend up and down; Greg was wearing pyjamas with a picture of Mutley on and his housecoat, the one that he couldn't actually close over his middle any more.
"What you mean I can't wear this?"
"You're not serious!"
"Why what's wrong with it? It's comfy" Greg protested, comfort was everything right now; he was too big to worry about being fashionable.
"Well for a start it doesn't fit" Nick grinned and pushed Greg in front of the TV's reflective screen.
Greg glanced at his reflection and pulled a face as he realised his pants had slipped below the bulge; probably as he'd reached for a cereal bowl at 7.30am that morning, and were showing off his pregnant belly beautifully. He quickly pulled them back up. "Ok so I didn't notice they'd slipped down. Come on Nick I'm not in the mood for getting dressed up. Right now I am not even in the mood for a party and you know how much I love parties"
Nick stopped what he was doing and turned to look at his buddy with sympathy in his eyes "It's really getting hard isn't it?" he asked seriously.
"It's ok. I'm just having trouble sleeping at the moment. It's making me cranky" Greg carefully sat on the arm of the sofa and offered his usual lopsided grin.
"Looks like your getting breathless as well, are the babies really that big?" Nick was feeling worried, he could hear that his buddy was breathing harder, even if Greg hadn't noticed it.
"A little, it's not really size though, they are just sitting high up. Some days it's worse than others. I'd rather be breathless than have them sitting on my bladder and making me want to pee all the time"
"Sounds like fun. Right lets go find something for you to wear." Nick started towards Greg's bedroom, determined to get Greg out of the way if nothing else. "Let's see, it's informal so we don't need a shirt and tie" He spoke loudly enough that his buddy could hear everything, then leaned out of the door way and looked at Greg still sitting on the sofa "Are you going to help me or what" he asked.
Greg stood back up and waddled towards the bedroom "Okay Okay. I'll find a better top but let me wear sweat pants ok. I feel like I'm the size of a house, last thing I want to do is try and squeeze into something too small and feel uncomfortable all day."
Nick nodded his agreement "So you're going to have a shower, get changed… then stay in here till I tell you." he said.
Greg saluted "Sir, yes Sir"
Nick shook his head and grinned to himself, closing the door behind him as he left Greg to get ready and opened the box of decorations.
Half an hour later Greg was lying on the bed dressed in his favourite t-shirt at the moment, it was black; which he had read was flattering to the pregnant form, not that he could exactly hide his condition, with the logo "Does my bump look big in this?" hey he was pregnant why shouldn't he have some proper maternity wear. He heard the doorbell ring and Nick call out "Stay there Greg, I'll get it." Fine by him, the less moving he had to do the better.
Ten minutes later there was a knock at his bedroom door "Ok if I come in?" Catherine asked, opening the door when she heard an affirmative answer. "How are you feeling?" she asked looking fondly at the young man "Well I can't eat or sleep, I practically live in the bathroom and my back is killing me. Apart from that I'm fine." He grinned, perhaps Nick had been right; getting dressed had cheered him up.
"Awww" Catherine gently sat down beside her friend and encouraged him to sit up so she could rub his back.
Greg groaned happily "Mmmm that feels good" he murmured, the strawberry blonde had hit exactly the right spot and it was like the pain was melting away.
"So are you excited?" she asked, the tone of her voice giving way to her feelings on the subject. It was strange, all the other showers she had been to had been for friends and loved ones and yet she had only ever really gone out of a sense of duty. With Greg she actually wanted to be there and help him have fun.
"I wasn't feeling very excited this morning, lack of sleep and everything just getting on top of me. Now I feel better" the young man admitted, eyes shut in ecstasy as Catherine gently rubbed away the pain in his back.
"It's difficult to feel like partying when you're feeling fed up and in pain. I remember when I was expecting Lindsey; towards the end I didn't want to see anyone, or do anything. I couldn't eat or sleep either so although he was trying his best back then Eddie usually ended up leaving me to it and escaping down the pub or the casino. Sometimes I had to just go and sit quietly in the nursery and remind myself that all the discomfort was worth it because I was going to be a mom and there is nothing better in the whole world Greg" she stopped massaging his back and leaned round to look her friend in the face.
"I am beginning to see that. From the first time Grissom confirmed that I was pregnant that was the thought that stuck in my head. It was what made it possible to deal with the nausea and the fatigue and having to endure the press conferences and pictures. You know when I had that scare it was like suddenly I can't believe it, I was nearly there, I nearly had a kid and I've ruined it. Now, it's hard work, sometimes I feel like I don't want to get out of bed in the morning or like I can't stand another day cooped up indoors. I am scared that I could go into labour at any moment but still there at the back of my mind is this little voice saying keep going, not long now." Greg leaned back on his hands and shrugged, he hadn't admitted his fears to anyone not even his mother and now he'd just spilled the beans and the woman opposite him was beaming.
Catherine leaned over and hugged him hard "I am so proud of you" she whispered.
"So you wanna see a different nursery?" Greg asked changing the subject before his face flushed any more.
"Sure" Catherine jumped off the bed and held her hands out to help the expectant father to his feet, then followed as he crossed the hall and opened a door.
The senior CSI gasped as she entered, it was beautiful "Who did you get to do this?" she asked, her eyes shining in wonder.
"What do you mean?" Greg asked confused at the question.
"Wait a minute… you painted this?" Catherine couldn't believe her eyes, it was perfect.
"I mean it's not like Sistine chapel quality but I like it" Greg was standing by the door watching his friends reaction, he'd shown his mother a few weeks ago and she had loved what he had done but Catherine's reaction was much better.
The four walls and ceiling had been painted a very pale blue colour with tinges of pink and orange highlighting the clouds that were so realistic that they seemed to be drifting lazily around the room of their own accord.
The bottom of the walls had been painted to look like grass and several realistic trees appeared to sprout from the skirting board.
A sign near the door explained everything, it read 'Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood' and all around the room the strawberry blonde officer could see the colourful characters of Pooh and Piglet and their friends springing from her own imagination onto the walls perfectly. Eeyore was sitting by the window trying to build his house again after Tigger on the opposite wall had clearly bounced through it. Owl was sitting in a tree with a poster below showing the alphabet and numbers. Pooh was looking up at a beehive wondering how he could fool the bees into letting him have some honey and rabbit was busy in his garden.
In this room it really felt like you had walked into the Hundred Acre Wood, Catherine was sure if she closed her eyes she could imagine the characters moving, going about their daily business.
"I had no idea you could draw… paint like this. It's wonderful" she breathed looking back at her friend who was grinning broadly.
"It's nothing really; I had a dragon on my bedroom wall when I was a teenager. Used to scared my friends ridged whenever they slept over."
"Is there anything you can't do?" the older woman heard herself saying.
Greg laughed "Lots of things. How do you think Nick's doing with the decorations" Greg looked towards the closed off den hopefully, longing to see the decorations that his friend had bought. Yep he was defiantly going to enjoy the party.
An hour later the party was in full swing, Greg was enjoying the attention being lavished on him, food had been laid out beautifully on the dining table and the room had been decorated with pink and blue ribbons, bows, and streamers that looked strangely like DNA.
It was time for the games to begin "Ok the first game is guess the fathers girth. You've all been given different coloured toilet rolls; you need to pull off as much as you think you need to go around Greggy's tummy. Closest measurement wins. Oh and Grissom, since we all know you have been carefully measuring Greg's waist over the past few months, we have made it so that the measurement is by eye only. No tape measures, no pacing it out, and no asking Greg to help you. Begin." Everyone quickly looked over at Greg sitting in his specially decorated shower throne and began pulling out lengths of toilet paper.
"Wait, I think I need another roll" Nick grinned, standing up and heading over to supplies for another reel of green paper.
"Nick you're supposed to be guessing the size of my waist, not the size of your head" Greg retorted quickly, making the entire room laugh. It was a good job he wasn't self-conscious about his size with games like this being played.
"Ok and the winner is… Sara" Catherine looked at her chart to see who had the blue toilet paper.
Sara raised her arms in triumph "Yeah" the brunette cried, this was fun.
"Next game" Nick started, he and Catherine had decided on two games each, there was no point having a party that would continue for hours; Greg would get too tired. At the same time there was no point having a party that only lasted a few minutes. "I thought a little wager was in order for the next game. Guess the sex. Now remember everyone Greggo has two babies in there so you have to decide whether it is going to be two girls, two boys or one of each. It's up to you whether you take a chance or whether you want to try some old wives tales.
"As long as Greg doesn't mind that is" Catherine added looking towards her heavily pregnant friend who just shrugged, he didn't mind if they wanted to try and figure out the babies sex.
"Ok, let's see I remember something about heartbeat rate being a sign of sex" Catherine started "Mind if I have a listen honey?" she motioned towards his tummy.
"Feel free, just watch you don't get kicked." The young man answered back.
His colleague carefully squatted beside where he was sitting and pushing her short hair out of the way she gently pressed her ear against Greg's large tummy. Like most people starting out on their first pregnancy, Greg had assumed that because there was a baby growing inside him with bones and cartilage that his baby belly would be hard to the touch. In fact it wasn't true, the presence of a large amount of fluid around the foetus meant that his tummy was really quite soft, with hormones making his skin feel like silk. Catherine could feel that he was also really warm, although he hadn't said anything. She felt sorry for anyone being pregnant in the summer heat of Vegas; it was uncomfortable enough in winter.
"Ok, I've got my answer" she announced standing back up, "Whose next?"
After Sara had asked what foods Greg had been craving during pregnancy, Nick had checked whether Greg's tummy was oval or round, and Warrick had asked Greg to look in the mirror to check whether it would make his pupils dilate; a sure sign that a boy was on the way according to his grandmother, it was Grissom's turn.
"Greg show me your hands?" he asked.
Greg put his hands out palm up but then seemed to change his mind and turned them over. It was subtle but Grissom noticed immediately.
"Why did you turn your hands over just then?" he questioned carefully.
"I don't know. When you said show me your hands I thought ok palm side up but then as soon as I raised them that felt wrong so I turned them palm side down. Think it means something?"
"Maybe" the bearded supervisor was curious. Greg was carrying two babies and just now he had inadvertently shown both sides of his hands. If the old wives tale was to be taken literally then Greg should be having a girl and a boy.
The third game was guessing the time of the birth, another thing that they would have to wait to declare the winner on.
Then it was time for food, Greg managed to eat a little of the party food but it left him feeling very full up. It didn't seem that long ago when he could barely stop eating; now he was struggling with a very small amount 4 or 5 times a day. He breathed out and rubbed his belly "I think my stomach must be the size of a pea!" he groaned. His friends looked guilty they were enjoying the small cakes and sandwiches that Catherine and Lindsey had made. Greg quickly smiled to reassure them "Guess I am starting my diet a little early" he joked.
"Now then the last game" Nick grinned mischievously "Guess the baby food flavour" he'd had to have that game. That morning he'd gone shopping and bought 6 different jars of baby food; three sweet and three savoury and covered the labels with stickers telling the 'contestants' which number food it was. He'd printed out sheets so people could write down their answers and now he handed out spoons to the gathered party goers. "Dig in!" he said passing Sara the first jar.
Sara took a small bite of puree from the jar and screwed up her face "Euew, tastes like a three day old corpse" she moaned, grabbing a tissue and spitting the nasty tasting goo out.
"Ok, well write that down then" Nick instructed passing the jar along to Warrick who looked at it apprehensively before bravely taking a bite.
"Man!" he said, his eyes squeezed tightly shut "Tastes like something I scrapped off my shoe earlier. That is wrong."
Sitting to one side Greg fought the urge to laugh, this was hilarious.
Eventually after all six jars had been tasted, everyone had run out of disgusting descriptions, and Greg had had to visit the bathroom before laughing caused him to have an accident, it was time to find out the real flavours.
"Ok number one." Nick removed the covering label "Chicken casserole" howls of protest were heard round the room, no way was that chicken anything. "Number two, carrot and fennel"
"I thought it tasted like dodgy soup" Catherine grimaced, she hated fennel in anything.
"Three, sweet potato"
"Who would give a baby sweet potato, most adults won't even eat that" Sara protested, how was she supposed to know what that tasted like, even if it had tasted even vaguely like a vegetable.
"It's sweet. Babies mistrust bitter flavours at first, and they can't have sugar so manufacturers use foods that are naturally sweet" Catherine explained. At least the foods these days tasted like real food, when she'd been feeding Lindsey everything had been grey and bland.
"Right number four, apple. Five, plum pudding"
"Those were ok. I think fruity flavours must come out better" Warrick commented and the others nodded in agreement.
"Finally …" Nick prepared to reveal the last jar as Greg pummelled his hands gently on his bump and made a noise like a drum roll "Banana!"
"Made with real bananas or isoamyl acetate?" Grissom wanted to know.
"I'm guessing real bananas. Most people don't want to start filling their kids up on chemicals before they can even walk." Sara commented.
"True but bananas are an endangered species. How many parents would be able to tell the difference between banana oil artificially produced in a factory and bananas straight off the tree"
"Well if it was isoamyl acetate i.e. banana oil, they would have to put it on the jar." Catherine picked up the small pot and looked at the list of ingredients "It's says bananas" she shrugged.
"Well I don't care whether it's real or artificial. I feel sorry for any kid that has to eat any of those" Warrick quickly ended the debate. Real or not everyone agreed that the baby food was pretty disgusting.
"Hey how come Greg didn't have to take part in that game?" Sara complained, the horrible taste of the first jar still lingering in her mouth.
"Cruelty to animals?" the young brunette suggested.
"I figured Greg would be tasting and eating them soon enough when it comes round to weaning time" Nick smiled, knowing Greg and his normally wacky tastes in foods he would probably like it.
"Steady on mate. They're not even born yet" Greg protested; now his friends were going on about weaning the kids onto solid food!
"It's only a few months before they start eating solids Greg. Trust me it will fly by" Catherine smiled.
All too soon the party was over and everyone said their goodbyes and wished Greg good luck with the rest of the pregnancy.
"Take care of yourself ok?" Catherine gently kissed her friends cheek and gave him a little squeeze.
"I will" the young man smiled back.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do?" Warrick added with a grin.
"That doesn't leave a lot of options" Greg joked back. His friends had really lifted his spirits today, he was sorry to see them leaving.
Nick stayed behind "Thought I had better tidy up before I leave." He offered.
"Thanks" Greg yawned deeply
"Tired?" Nick asked looking round.
Greg nodded "Want any help?" he asked feeling guilty for being so lazy.
"Nah, its fine. Why don't you go lie down for a bit?" The Texan asked gently.
Greg shook his head and yawned again "If I don't sleep now, I may sleep later" he shrugged "At least that's the plan" he added.
Nick nodded and began taking the bright decorations off the wall and packing them away. "So Catherine tells me Leonardo has a rival."
"Huh? Leonardo who?" Greg looked confused, was his friend being cryptic or was he just too tired to get the point.
"Da Vinci. She said the nursery you decorated was really something" the Texan gave a broad grin, unlike Catharine he already knew Greg could draw having once caught him doodling cartoon versions of staff at the CSI building.
"Oh yeah, she seemed impressed" Greg shrugged, it wasn't like it was original, he'd just copied pictures of the Winnie the pooh characters from a couple of books.
"Your way too modest sometimes"
"I thought I was the loud showy offy one and you were the modest one"
"Showy offy?"
Greg shrugged again, his brain was sending loud sleep signals; how was he supposed to tell if he was making sense or not.
Nick shook his head and folded the flaps of the box down, the room was tidy again. He crossed to where Greg was slouching on the chair arm trying ardently to stay awake and wrapped him in a one arm bear hug "Take care man" he spoke and gently kissed his friends head like a brother.
Greg pushed him a way "Cut it out" he said, a laugh bubbling to his lips.
"I mean it. Text me if you need anything"
"Ok"
"See you later yeah buddy"
Greg held up his hand in a wave as Nick closed the door. This was it he was truly alone now.