Chapter Fourteen: Complications

Watching his fake fiancé parading around the lab with a smile on her face, brought the bile back to Greg's throat. He couldn't believe that he was being blackmailed into getting married, over a stupid mistake that happened a few weeks ago. He wanted to tell someone, rewind time or run back home where everything was fine and safe, but he was stuck. He was excited about Nick's return to Vegas, now he was dreading it, hoping the news hadn't yet spread to him.

"Hey, Greg. I've set a date." Molly hurried into the room, with a thick planning book in her arms. "I always wanted a June wedding..."

"But it's almost May."

"I know, nearly my future hubby's birthday." She smiled round at him. "I know it's a bit short notice, but I should still be able to fit into a dress by then, and it is my dream wedding. It'll give us just enough time to send out the save the dates, book transport and a location. I'm gonna need some help in the money department, but your parents are loaded, right? I know it's usually the bride's parents who pay... but I doubt mine will wonna come..."

"Molly, I don't want to marry you." He bluntly told her. "You can blackmail me into raising your kid with you, but I'm not marrying you."

"Greg." She sighed, turning to face him. "When are you gonna get it through that cute head of yours? I'm carrying your child. Our futures are bound together forever now, so it really doesn't make any difference if you marry me or not. But I'd rather you did." She excitedly giggled, rubbing her hand across her stomach. "And remember, I hold all the cards. If you don't marry me..."

"No one would ever believe you."

"Really?" Her sparkly eyes that Greg used to like, suddenly turned very cold. "My mother didn't call me a little drama queen for no reason. I was originally gonna become an actress, everyone thought I'd be great at it. Do you really want to test me?" She threatened him. "Do you want your wife and baby visiting you in jail for the rest of your life? I can just imagine it now, our little boy or girl, getting really excited around one weekend a month, just to see their Daddy. You won't be able to hug them or hold them like most parents, just watch them slowly growing up through the glass."

"Greg!" Catherine suddenly shouted from the hall, waving around an assignment slip in her hands.

Gulping hard, Greg nervously bit his lower lip as he stepped around Molly, wondering if she really could get him sent to jail for the rest of his life. He couldn't even think about the baby that she was carrying; the evil invading her heart was just too much for him to bear right now.

"Are you alright?" Catherine asked the younger man, leading the way into the locker room. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I wish." He dropped to the bench in the middle of the room, blankly staring at his locker in front of him.

"I bet you're excited for Nicky to return, huh? Any word on when he's getting back? He found Bradley, didn't he? I'm sure we'd have heard something if he didn't." Catherine babbled away, pulling her jacket on. She soon noticed that Greg wasn't paying any attention to her, making her concerned about him. "Hey." She took a seat beside him, gently tapping his leg. "What's the matter, Greggy? You look like a kid who just found out there's no Santa. Sorry, you did know, right?"

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes at her. "I figured that one out years ago. All on my own. I wasn't exactly upset or anything. I pretended to believe in him for a few more years for my parents' sake. I used to sit on the stairs and watch them putting all the presents under the tree. It made me feel safer knowing that it was them in the living room and not some weird fat guy in a red suit. My sister used to tell me that Santa murdered children if they saw him. I used to be terrified to go to sleep around Christmas."

"Aww." She gently rubbed her palm across his back. "Lindsey figured it out when she was about eight or nine. I was just setting up her presents under the tree on Christmas Eve, and she walked in on me. I tried to make up a story about Santa being too busy this year, so he just dumped the presents on the doorstep, but she didn't believe a word of it. She cried at first. I eventually calmed her down." She looked back at Greg as he seemed to space out again, smirking, "I can just imagine a little Greg sneaking down the stairs to watch his parents putting the presents under the tree. Spiky hair, cute little foot pyjamas..."

"I never wore foot pyjamas." He objected. "Past the age of five anyway."

"You're not the same without Nicky here." She noticed, putting her arm around his shoulders. "Is that what you're thinking about? This plan of yours didn't work out as well as you hoped, did it?"

Greg started to wish it was that simple, only things were never that simple.

"You can talk to me about it, Greggy. It must be hard dating a man with other priorities."

"I'm not dating him." Greg reminded her, abruptly climbing to his feet. "We should get going. We don't wonna be late for the case." He pointed out to her, wanting to do anything to take his mind off his current situation. "You can tell me all about how you delivered Grissom's twins." He grinned round at her.

"Didn't you hear? They have triplets." She announced, seeing the shocked look on his face. "I'll tell you all about it on the drive over. C'mon."

"Hey, Greg." Warrick caught up to him in the hall. "You got a minute?"

Greg looked at the serious look on the man's face, quickly shaking his head. "Nope, we're on our way to a crime scene."

"Greg!" Catherine called from the elevator.

"I gotta go." Greg tried to slip away, but Warrick caught his arm with his hand.

"Come find me later, we need to talk." He said in a serious tone.

Gulping hard, Greg gave him a quick nod, before he slipped away to the elevator. "Your head in the clouds today, Greggy?" Catherine smirked, releasing the 'door close' button of the elevator, once he was inside. "You gonna be able to concentrate on this case?"

"Uh huh. I'm gonna pick Nick up from the airport at five, gives us plenty of time to get this case wrapped up. It's just a hit and run, right?"

"So it appears." She gave him a nod, checking the time on her watch. "Five am, huh? I thought Nicky said he was gonna grab a cab home. I already offered to pick him up."

"I wonna be there for him."

Catherine gave him a smile, just as the elevator doors opened to the parking lot. "My car's over there. I'll make sure to drop you back here in time to pick Nicky up."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She winked, leading him to her car.

"I'm flyin' back later today." Nick spoke softly, brushing down his son's tousled hair. "I'm gonna get Willa's room sorted out, and sort a few things out for work. Your Mom's gonna stay here with you while I'm gone. Once the doctor releases you, your Mom's gonna fly over with you to Vegas, and you're both gonna live with me for a while." He explained it to him, already seeing the fear in the boy's eyes. "I can call you as soon as I land, and you can call me whenever you like after that."

Bradley readjusted himself against his pillow, looking up into his father's eyes. "Can't I come back with you today?"

"No, sweetie, the doctor still wants to keep an eye on you. You took a very lethal dose of those pills. They just wonna be sure that they got it all out in time."

"I never meant to do it, Dad. I just wanted it to stop." He assured him, not wanting his father to be mad at him.

"I know that." His father pressed a kiss to his forehead, before he reached for his hand, holding it tightly in his own. "I don't blame you for any of this, darlin'. None of it was your fault. I shoulda been the one to make it stop, not you."

Gently rocking William in her arms, Sara looked towards her significant other across the room, smiling as she watched him doing the same with their son, Benjamin. "I can't wait to hold, Vivian." She spoke softly, placing her finger in William's hand, watching his little fingers curling around it. "How are we gonna manage with three kids? We were struggling with the thought of two."

"We'll manage; I've got loads saved up." He assured the mother of his children, carefully climbing to his feet with his son in his arms. "Just think about what you said before, we've got our big family, and you only had to go through the pregnancy once."

Sara gave him a smile, before she pressed a kiss to William's forehead. "I can't believe you're finally here. I feel as though I dreamt the past few months. I knew this would be the end result, but I never actually thought that I'd be holding a baby in arms. Our baby."

Grissom gave her a smile, perching himself on the side of her bed. "That's babies, all three of them. They're gonna ask us what we wonna put on the birth certificates soon. We're not exactly married, so I guess they should have the surname Sidle."

"No." She shook her head. "I want them to have their father's name, and no middle names; you know I hate double barrelled names and parents who obsess over their child's middle name, which never really gets used anyway."

"I know." He smiled at her, adjusting Benjamin in his arms, as the baby boy started to squirm. "Catherine's been telling everyone at the lab about our babies. She wants to come by and visit them later with Lindsey. And Nick's back tomorrow morning."

"And how are you feeling... Daddy?" She gave him a grin. "Do yah feel like a proud father of three?"

Grissom gave her a nod, looking at their boys in their arms. "I never thought this day would come. I've always wanted to be a father, but I never thought I'd be a father to three at once."

"What about me, I'm a mother to three." She pointed out to him, reaching out for one of his hands. "Yesterday I was just another single woman. Now, I'm a mother of three. I never thought I'd be a mother. I didn't exactly have the greatest parents myself, what if I let them down?"

"You won't, because you're nothing like them." He assured her. "Not everyone takes after their parents. You certainly haven't."

Hurrying through the lab after his partner, Greg held out the driver's licence he had found, explaining, "He only just got out for repeat DUI's a couple of months ago. He's down in lock up now. His sister came to pick him up. Her car headlight is smashed."

"You went and looked?" Catherine looked round at him surprised.

"I saw the keys in her hand. Same model we were looking for." He defended himself, presenting her with a photograph he had just printed out. "Brass said she's still waiting, so we can get a warrant to take a closer look at her car."

"How do you know this guy is our suspect?" She asked, holding up the driver's licence he had given her.

"Our vic, she used to be engaged to him and she has a restraining order out on him." He reported, showing her the file he had found. "I asked Brass to locate him, but they already had him in lockup."

"Nice work, Greggy." She winked at him, checking the time on her watch. "You better get going. I'll cover for you, and I promise not to take all the credit."

Greg chuckled softly in return, before turning for the locker room on his right, wanting to grab his jacket to leave. He still had a few minutes before Nick's flight arrived, but he wanted to get there slightly earlier, as the traffic around there was always a nightmare.

"Hey." Warrick suddenly stepped into the locker room, closing the door behind him. "You forget that I wanted to talk to you?"

"I'm running late." Greg pulled his jacket on, pushing his locket door shut. "If it's about what happened at the hospital or our talk the other night, I've forgotten it."

"No, it's about you and Molly." Warrick gave the younger man an unexpected push backwards, sending him crashing against the side of his locker. "Here's what I don't get, you and Nick have been dating for a while, Nick comes out of the closet to me and his family, then breaks it off with you, because I didn't approve. You swear that you still love him anyway, and you're planning on getting back with him, but first, you decide to have a little fling with Molly. Knock her up, then promise to marry her?"

"It's really not what you think." Greg tried to defend himself.

"Really?" Warrick glared at him. "Does Nick know about you and her, or are you gonna break the news to him today? The man's only just got back, now he's gonna find out that you're a cheating liar?"

"No, because I'm not breaking up with Nick." Greg protested, peeling himself off the locker. "I told you, this thing with Molly; it really isn't what you think. I didn't even know she was pregnant, now she's telling everyone that we're engaged, but I haven't agreed to it, let alone proposed to her."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not! I'm in love with Nick."

"So you say." Warrick gave him another push, gripping a handful of the younger man's t-shirt in his fist. "If I find out that you're playing some kinda sick game with Nick," He threatened. "You'll be right back in that hospital, eating your meals through a straw."

Greg gulped hard, wishing that people would stop bullying him. He felt as though he was right back in Highschool again, only his friends were turning on him now. "Warrick, I respect that you're trying to protect your friend, but out of the two of us, I'm least likely to hurt Nick." He pushed him away from him, trying to show him he wasn't scared of him, even though he felt like screaming for help. "And as I said before, you have no idea what is going on. I swear, Warrick; I didn't even know she was pregnant. She's blackmailing me into marrying her, otherwise she's gonna tell people..."

"What?" Warrick snapped.

"I'm telling you the truth! Why don't you believe me?"

"It's not the first time you've lied to me." Warrick grabbed his ringing phone from his belt, angrily raising it to his ear. "Brown . . . what? Why? No, there is nothing wrong with my evidence! Brass! The guys a junky!" He snapped his phone shut, looking back at Greg. "I'm not done with you yet. I gotta go."

"Do you always have to do that?"

"Do what?" Warrick frowned at the younger man.

"You shout your mouth off to everything that doesn't go your way. You're gonna lose all your friends and your job, if you're not careful." He warned him, grabbing his car keys. "I have to be somewhere. I don't know why I ever bother to tell you anything. You don't listen, you just hear what you wonna hear." He stepped around Warrick, feeling his heart pounding, palms sweating and chest tightening, bringing on the familiar feeling that he was going to die.

After landing back in Vegas, Nick collected his duffel bag, spotting a familiar face in the crowd. He had told his friends that he would be landing today, but he never told them what time, assuring them he could get a cab back to his place. "Hey, what are you doin' here?" He greeted the younger man, pulling his baseball cap onto his head.

"I wanted to make sure you got back okay." Greg reached for his bag from his hands, giving the man a slight hug, so he wouldn't notice his shakiness. "Are you okay?"

"A little tired, but yeah, I'm okay." He nodded, wrapping one arm around his partner's waist. "Are you okay? I missed you." The younger man gave him a slight nod, keeping him at a distance, so he wouldn't feel him shaking. "Thanks for comin' to get me, even though I asked you not to." He smiled at him, seeing how tired the younger man looked. "Everythin' okay?"

"Yeah." He clearly lied to him, leading the way towards the exit. "Did you hear that Grissom and Sara have..."

"Twins, I know."

"No, they have triplets." The younger man smirked. "William, Benjamin and Vivian. Catherine delivered the boys at her house, then the ambulance drove them all off to the hospital. Sara was heavily bleeding, because the third baby's placenta had ruptured or something. But they didn't know that going in, until they found another baby. Their daughter is still in intensive care, but they recon she's gonna make it."

"Wow." Nick whistled, following Greg towards his car. "They're gonna have their hands full. And they called her Vivian? Pretty name. That was my grandmother's name, from my mother's side. She was really nice compared to the rest of my relatives. Always gave us chocolate chip cookies, whenever we went over there. She died when I was seven though. She was a bit like your Nana Olaf, only not quite as..."

"Wacky?" Greg smirked. "I think the name means lively. I had a girlfriend in Highschool called Vivian, Viv for short. She dated me for about a week, before she moved onto other things."

"You're better off without her." Nick gave him a smile, climbing into the passenger seat of the younger man's car.

Greg dumped the man's bag on the back seat of his car, before he climbed into the front beside him, starting up his car. He didn't quite know what to say to Nick after everything the man had told him on the phone, so he decided to turn his radio on to fill the silence, driving Nick back to his empty town house.

"Your hands are shakin'." Nick noticed the younger man's hands, halfway down the road. He watched Greg trying to grip the steering wheel a little tighter, in an attempt to make them stop. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." He looked round at Nick, giving him a reassuring smile. "I swear, it's nothing. So eh, what are you gonna do today?" He changed the subject. "C'mon Nicky, I'm fine." He assured him.

"Well, I've gotta get the house ready." Nick reminded him. "I think I'll go over and see the girls later. I can shop for food and diapers, stuff like that before I go. I'm gonna ask Angela if she'll take em for one more day, so I have time to set the baby stuff up."

"I can help." He offered. "I'm no good with babies, but I'm sure there's something I can do to help."

"Thanks, maybe you can help assemble the crib." He suggested. "My sister left her old travel cot at my house, the last time she visited with the little ones. Her little ones are all grown up now, so I can use that one for the day. I just need somethin' for her to sleep in at night."

"Okay."

"You don't have to help right away though; I know you just got off shift. You're probably exhausted. I really need a shower and a shave anyway." He brushed his fingertips on the stubble across his chin, realising he hadn't shaved since he was last in Vegas.

Once they arrived, Nick flipped through the post Greg had left on his side table, dumping his bag at the door, while he grabbed himself a beer from the fridge. He wasn't about to go over to Angela's this early in the morning to pick up his daughter, so he decided to crash on the couch, relieved to have a moment to himself.

"Nothing good?" Greg smirked, as the man had dumped his post on the coffee table in front of him.

"Is there ever? You wonna beer?" He offered, holding up the cold one from his own.

"No, I'm good." Greg perched himself on the arm of the chair across the room, clasping his hands together on his lap.

"You look like hell." Nick suddenly blurted, climbing to his feet to take a closer. "You look worse than me, what's the matter?"

"Nothing." The younger man pushed his hands away from his face. "I'm fine, I swear. I'm a little tired myself." He climbed to his feet, walking towards Nick's kitchen.

"You can stay here . . . if you want to." He offered, watching him pouring himself a glass of water in the kitchen. "You don't have work tonight, right?"

Greg shook his head, making his way over to the couch. "I'm maxed out on overtime, but I'm on call." He tapped his phone on his belt, before dropping onto his friend's sofa. "There's no Grissom, Sara or you, so Catherine or Warrick could call at any moment."

"Stay then." Nick dropped onto the cushion beside Greg, putting his arm around his shoulders. "You don't have to talk to me, if you find it awkward. Just stay with me."

"I don't." Greg whispered, moving closer against Nick's side. "I don't feel awkward, I just... don't know what to say or do. I wonna help, but I don't know what to do."

"This is fine." Nick moved the younger man's arm around his waist, so he was holding him in his arms. "I don't even know what to do myself, and I'm his father. I'm supposed to make everythin' right for him, but I just make a mess of it, like always."

"Where is he?" Greg queried, titling his head back against Nick's shoulder.

"Still at the hospital." He closed his eyes, resting his chin against Greg's soft head of hair. "Once they release him, he's gonna fly over with his mother, to live with me for a while. Samantha's sellin' the house, so she's gonna need a place to stay for a while too. And I'm gonna have the girls livin' here, unless this custody thing doesn't work out."

"You really wonna go for full custody of Willa?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded, raising his beer to his lips for a swig. "I really do. She hasn't had the best start in life, but I believe I can give her a better chance, especially with her big sister around."

"I believe you can too." Greg whispered softly, closing his eyes too. "Willa doesn't know how lucky she is to have a guy like you looking out for her."

"I hope I don't screw it up."

"How could you?"

"Look at my track record with my own kids."

"None of that was your fault. Besides, you weren't a full time father then, you are now, and you're gonna do great at it." Greg assured him, tightening his grip around the man's warm body. "It feels like you've been gone forever. I feel as though I haven't seen you in weeks. I probably sound really pathetic." Keeping his eyes firmly closed, Greg slowly started to drift off to sleep, feeling completely exhausted.

"No, you don't." Nick shook his head, touching his lips to the younger man's forehead.

"I missed you too." He finally replied, wishing he had said it earlier. "Oh yeah . . . and if Warrick talks to you, ask me about it first." He sleepily murmured.

"Talks to me about what?" Nick gave him a confused look. He gently shook the warm body in his arms, realising that he had fallen asleep against him. "Sweet dreams, gorgeous." He whispered softly, touching his lips to the side of his partner's head, relieved to be back home.

I got the next chapter done a little earlier than I expected. Being home sick really gives you loads of time to write :D

Sorry if you didn't like the last chapter twist, but I needed something that would force Greg to make a difficult decision. As you know, Nick has been trying to make things up with him since the beginning, while his family has really needed him. Nick is unable to make the right decision, so I needed something to force Greg to do it.

Please Review!

~ Holly