Chapter Twenty Five
"I told you before, I don't know what happened. I wasn't there!" The woman screamed at him, lashing out at him this time. Her sharp glittered nails struck blood on his cheek, before the officers in the room had time to grab her. "I didn't do anything. Let go of me!"
"Stokes, you alright?" Deputy McKane checked on him, while the others were restraining the hysterical woman outside.
"Yeah." Nick touched his fingers to his cheek, seeing blood. "I'm alright. Can you call, Brass? Tell him we've still got nothin' on the mother. I'm headin' back to the lab, see of Doc Robbins has determined the COD for our vic." He collected up the files from the interrogation room table, receiving a call from his new partner, Carla. "Yeah?"
"Hi, it's me. I'm at the hospital. The little girl is awake. Doctor says we can talk to her, as long as we keep it brief."
"Okay," Nick checked the time on his watch, agreeing to meet her there. He still had a few hours left before they were due to leave for California, so he didn't have to worry about rushing home to start packing for the trip just yet.
"Mr Stokes," The receptionist caught up to him in the hall, handing him an invoice. "Oh, ow. Did you have a fight with a cat?" She noticed his cheek.
"No... it eh, doesn't matter." He tried to hide it by turning his head away from her.
"Okay. Well the delivery guys put the flat packed crib in Mr Sanders' office. I can arrange for it to be taken to your car if you'd like."
"No, thank you, Rosa." He gave the woman a warm smile. "Thanks for this."
"It's no problem." She assured him. "So, you've bought the crib, does that mean that you're starting to get the nursery ready for your little one? I remember with my first, we bought all the furniture and things when I was twenty weeks, but when the baby was born, we still hadn't put any of it together. She stayed in our room until she was nearly two, then I got pregnant with my second, so we had to get started on decorating the spare room."
"Greg's thirty weeks and we've only just got the crib. He didn't want to get anythin' too early, just in case."
"Thirty weeks." The woman whistled. "So close to his due date then. I think when I was thirty weeks, I started my nesting phase. My son was born at thirty three weeks, so it was in the normal time frame. I should have taken it as a sign that he was going to be early, but I just got on with. Sorted the whole house top to bottom, even did my mother's when we went over there for thanksgiving."
"I haven't seen him do anythin' like that." Nick smirked, as the younger man was doing the complete opposite of tidying at the moment. "Thanks again, Rosa, I'll talk to you later." He waved her off, relieved she didn't try and show him her c-section scar from her third child again. "Hey, Catherine." He caught the woman just coming in for her shift. "I just wanted to..."
"It's okay." She stopped him there, knowing what he was going to say before the words even left his lips. "I don't need another apology, Nicky. I think the last dozen or so were enough. I know that it wasn't your call. I just didn't want to lose my team again. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, and I hope I'm not the reason for your recent demotion." She motioned towards his CSI badge back in his shirt pocket.
"No." He shook his head. "I chose this."
"You chose to work back in the field with us, rather than management of this lab?" Catherine gave him a confused look, spotting the scratches to his face. "Seriously, why would you choose this over that? The pay rise and the power over dealing with people that try to scratch your eyes out? I would kill to have the chance that you had up there."
"You're welcome to it." Nick stepped around her, making his way towards the elevator. He held the door open for her, giving her a smile as she stepped into the elevator with him. "I'm grateful for your help to get the chance at that job though, but it really wasn't for me. I felt more like a personal errand boy than any kind of management."
"I feel like that all the time." She folded her arms across her chest, watching the numbers going up towards their floor. "I've been running a short staffed lab since Grissom decided to up and leave us. Warrick, Sara, you, Grissom... it all fell apart. We've had a few that really tried, but they don't fit in like we all did."
"We've been through a lot together." Nick pointed out to her. "We trusted each other with our lives a lot more than anyone else. Like a family. Nothin' can ever replace what we had. I know we all regret what's happened to us over the years, but if we never went through any of it, we wouldn't be the people we are today."
Catherine smiled in response, seeing a sign of the old Nicky again. "It's good to have you back. Even if you are on a different shift, it's good to have you back in the lab. So, how's it going on swing shift anyway?"
"Alright, I guess." He shrugged. He didn't have much experience with the shift at the moment, since it was only his second week, but he was starting to enjoy working in the day time. "It's not half as interestin' as workin' the graveyard shift. But it has it's perks. Colt finishes preschool when I finish, so I get to take him home and spend some time with him. Greg's hours are almost the same as mine, so I can see him whenever I like."
Catherine chuckled softly, stepping out of the elevator as they reached their floor. "Every job has its perks, I guess. Won't be for much longer though right, I hear he's on maternity leave from the end of today."
"Yeah, his idea since he can't fit behind the table in the lab anymore." He followed her through the hall, receiving a file from one of the junior lab techs. "Thanks." He smiled at her, turning his attention back to Catherine beside him. "He's worried he's gonna knock over some of the lab equipment with his recent clumsiness. He's broken three plates and two glasses in the three weeks alone at home."
"I don't miss that. It's all that extra weight. I was always knocking things over and dropping them." Catherine chortled. "How much longer has he got to go?" She followed him towards the DNA lab, noticing some hesitation as the man tried to think. "What, what's wrong?"
"He's nearly thirty weeks now, so at our next appointment the doc's gonna tell us when the c-section is." Nick explained to her, stopping outside the lab to look at his other half. The younger man was sat at his desk, rubbing his hand across his stomach as he looked up some results on the computer in front of him. "It all depends on how the baby is and how much longer Greg's body can stand to house the baby inside him. His blood pressure has gone up a bit since our last visit, but the doc keeps tellin' us not to worry about it. If he can make it to May, the baby won't be too premature, so they won't have to spend any time in an incubator. And Greg won't have to spend too much time in hospital either."
"Greg was worrying about the exact same thing with Colt, but he made it to full term." She tried to put him at ease, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Try not to worry about it too much." The woman gave him a smile, making a beeline towards her office as her cell started to ring.
Turning for the lab door, Nick stepped around the desk where Greg was sat, gently placing his palm on the younger man's lower back. "Hey, baby. Miss me?" He usually kissed him on the neck when they had been apart for a while, but he had reluctantly agreed to keep the affectionate touches and kisses to minimum while they were working together. "You busy in here today?"
Greg shrugged his shoulders together, looking a little down in the dumps.
"Brass has been talkin' about this baby epidemic again, down in the station. Apparently there's three deputies currently out of action with baby's and there's another two that are pregnant. And I saw that Kyla Griffin that you were talkin' about this mornin'. I can't believe she's seven months along, she's smaller than you." As Greg rolled his eyes at him, Nick gave him an apologetic look. "I don't mean it like that. It is her first though. She recons hers is gonna be a girl."
"That's because she's studied her ultrasound pictures over and over."
"She tell you she's gonna call it, Glacier?" He asked, gently smoothing his palm up and down the younger man's back. "I guess we'll have to start thinkin' of some names soon. Do you want to put the crib together tonight, before we head of to your Mom's?"
"What do you want, Nick?" He suddenly snapped at him, pushing his hands away from him. "Can you step back? I feel like you're constantly hovering over me every minute. What do you want?"
"Sorry." Raising his hands like a suspect, Nick took a step away from him, asking, "Have you got the results that Doc Robbins sent up to you yet?"
"Yeah." The younger man lethargically handed them over, before he climbed to his feet, making his way to the other side of his lab. Nick read through the results, realising why he was so upset. "A definite overdose. Unless ten month olds suddenly figured out how to drink a whole bottle of cough syrup..."
"Yeah, I was on my way to talk to the sister at the hospital."
The Texan hated the fact that his last case before their holiday was the case of a ten month old baby boy and a six year old girl. The two of them were found during an apartment building fire. Another team on swing shift were working the fire case, trying to determine whether it was accidental or on purpose. Meanwhile, Nick and Carla were working the case of the ten month old boy that was found dead in one of the apartments, only he didn't die from smoke inhalation and there was no one looking after him or his sister, making the circumstances even more suspicious.
"I guess I better get goin' then." Nick turned for the door. "I'll meet you in your office later."
"Wait. What happened?" Greg finally noticed the cat like scratches to his husband's face. He touched his hand to his cheek, trying to see how deep they were. "Who did this to you?" He gave him a concerned look, acting as though the wound was a serious gunshot wound, rather than three little scratches.
"Oh, it's nothin'."
"This is not nothing, Nicky."
"The mother in the interrogation room. I was askin' her about the fire and all that, then I brought up the subject of why she left her six year old and ten month old alone in the apartment. She started shoutin' the odds of how she had to work for a livin' and all that, then she lashed out at me." He explained to him, looking into Greg's eyes as the younger man affectionately brushed his fingertips across the scratches on his cheek. "Thought I did somethin' to piss you off."
"If you did, you'd know about it." Greg lowered his hand to his side, making his way back to his seat. "It's not been an easy day. I'm fine though. I can't wait until this day is over though." He explained, wondering if Nick had even been down to autopsy yet. He knew that he couldn't face it himself. He hadn't been able to attend a child's autopsy since the day that Colt was born, Something like that would scar him for life now. He'd be forever fearing that it could be his child lying there one day.
"I'll see you later."
Ignoring the rule they had made up, Nick leant across the lab table, pressing a kiss to his partner's forehead. He gave him a smile as he walked away, finally making his way to the hospital to speak to the little girl about what happened to her little brother.
As soon as he arrived, his partner for the day was stood by the nurses stations, twirling her finger through her shoulder length black hair as she openly flirted with the male nurse stood in front of her. Nick had to admit that she was a knockout, but in the time he had known her, she wasn't really focused on the job at hand, which didn't really appeal to him.
"When you're ready, CSI Marsh." Nick startled her, ushering her away from the male nurse. "What was all that bull you told me last week about datin' a guy that was beneath you in the workin' world?"
"I know, but he's cute." Carla defended herself, leading the way towards paediatrics down the hall. "The doc said the kid's got minor burns and smoke inhalation. They called social services after they did some x-rays. They found several broken bones that have healed by themselves over time. Looks like long term physical abuse, but she won't say anything to the social worker about it. And she hasn't said a word to me." She pointed the man towards the room once she stopped. "Her name's Leah. She's five and three quarters and she loves Tinkerbelle the cartoon character."
"I thought you said she hasn't said a word to you?"
"She hasn't. She told that cute nurse. That's why I was talking to him." Carla gave him a grin, pushing the door open for him. "I'll head on back to the lab to get the rest of our results. Call me if you find out anything. And try not to get in anymore cat fights." She giggled, pointing to the scratches on his face.
"Yeah, thanks." Nick stepped into the room, giving the social worker a smile as she saw his badge. He took a few steps closer to the child's bed, resting his hands on the railing as he watched her drawing on the paper she had in front of her. "Fire truck." He immediately noticed what her drawing was. "My little boy love's fire trucks. He's never seen a real one before. Did you get to ride in the back of an ambulance too?"
The child nodded, without tearing her eyes away from her picture.
"Sweetie, my name's Nick Stokes. I work with the crime lab." He spoke softly. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about what happened to you?"
"I didn't do the fire." Leah glanced up at him, revealing her big innocent brown eyes to him.
"Do you know who did?" He gave her a suspicious look as she took a moment to shake her head. "Leah, why wasn't your Mommy at home with you? Does she usually get a babysitter or a family member to watch over you?"
Leah shook her head from side to side. "Mommy has to work."
"No babysitter at all?"
"Mommy says too expensive." She blurted it out, a lot more cooperative than her mother. "Where is my Mommy?"
"Eh," Glancing over his shoulder at the social worker, Nick tried to think of something other to say than 'Mommy tried to scratch my eye out, so she's spendin' the night in a cell.' He folded his arms across his chest, deciding to change the subject just like he did with his own child. Colt always seemed to forget what he had just asked after he did this, so he figured it would work with her too. "Sweetie, do you know what your Mommy does for work?"
Leah shook her head, anxiously looking at the social services woman in the room. "Is my Mommy in trouble?"
"Why would you say that?" He watched as she immediately closed up, a familiar sign that he had seen a lot of over the years. "Leah, does your Mommy usually leave you alone with your baby brother?"
"Harry's bad."
"Why's Harry bad?" He tilted his head to the side, not understanding how a ten month old could be bad.
"Mommy says he gives her a headache. She gives him special medicine to make him sleep." The child explained, while she coloured in her fire truck with the red crayon. The social worker behind Nick immediately perked up, curious to know what this special medicine was.
"Did Mommy give Harry some of this special medicine before she left for work today?" Nick asked her, getting a nod out of the child as she added a ladder to her fire truck. "Leah, do you remember how much she gave him?"
"He doesn't like the taste of it. I don't either. She puts in juice. Mommy says if you swallow it really fast, so it doesn't touch your tongue, you won't even taste it." She reached out for the yellow crayon beside Nick's hand, adding to the flames of her building.
"Mommy gives it to you?" The social worker asked the child, wondering if the doctor's had properly checked her when they brought her in. "Leah, did Mommy give it to you today?"
Leah nodded her little head, reaching for the stuffed bunny on her bed that was a little charred around the edges. She flipped it over on her lap, unzipping a zipper that ran down the bunny's back. "I didn't drink it. Mommy will be mad." She pulled out the sippy cup from inside, that still had juice inside.
Nick anxiously bit his lower lip as he saw it, wondering how this woman could do something like this to her kids, making them feel as though they had done something wrong by not doing as she asked. He bagged the sippy cup as evidence to take it back to the lab, eager to get this case over and done with.
He made his way back to the lab, handing his evidence in, before he started searching for his partner. "Hey, Tamsin." He called out to the on duty DNA lab tech. "Have you seen, Greg?"
"Yeah, he left about twenty minutes ago. He got a visitor at reception, asked me to fill in for him." She snapped her gloves off, ditching them on the desk beside her. "He told me to give you these when you came in." She grabbed for the file on the end of her desk, handing over the finished autopsy report to him. "Doc Robbins said you should take a look at the hospital records at the back. I can't believe the baby was only ten months. He's been in and out of hospital more than me."
Thanking the woman as he walked away, Nick continued to read through the report, only glancing up as he heard the familiar sound of Greg's voice. The younger man was stood beside the elevators at the reception desk, talking to a woman he had never seen before. She appeared to be a lot older than him. She had short dyed brown hair to her shoulders, wearing a dress that was fit for a woman twenty years younger than her.
From the way Greg was talking to her, they appeared to know each other quite well. She wasn't even disturbed by the fact that he was pregnant.
The woman gave him a hug, showing off her perfect white teeth as she gave him a smile. She stepped into the elevator as soon as it arrived, giving Greg a wave. The younger man held his sides as he turned to walk down the hall, spotting Nick staring at him as if he had just seen him for the first time.
"What's up?"
"Who was that?" Nick turned the question around on him. "I've never seen her before."
"Your jealous of an older woman?" Greg couldn't help but smile, relieved to know that Nick still thought he was worth fighting for while he was like this. "Her name is Faye Byrne. She used to work with my Dad about eight years ago. She's been living in Spain with her husband since. And I'm pretty sure she changed my diapers a few times when she used to babysit for my parents. So trust me, there's nothing to be jealous of."
"What's she doin' here then?"
"Her granddaughter, Annaliese Byrne is the new CSI recruit on night shift. She remembered my Mom telling her that I worked here, so she stopped by to see me after she dropped, Annaliese off. Relax Tex, you're still my number one." The younger man giggled softly, tapping his partner on the shoulder as he stepped past him. "I'll go get my coat. You gonna come get that box?"
"Yeah." Following him into his office, Nick slid his arms around Greg's waist from behind him, pressing a kiss to his neck. "I've missed you today. Are you okay, baby? You don't seem like yourself."
Leaning back into the older man's embrace, Greg closed his eyes, circling the man's arms around his stomach to support the extra weight. "Nothing, I'm just... I don't know." He didn't know how to explain what he was feeling. He was excited that the baby was going to be here soon, but he was also terrified about it at the same time. Finally taking his maternity leave meant he was one step closer to going through a risky operation for both him and his unborn baby. "I wonna go home." He knew that much at least, getting a smile out of his partner.
"Alright. You should get some sleep when we get back, you look exhausted." Nick affectionately stroked his fingers through the younger man's hair, before he released him from his embrace. "I'll drive us tonight."
"It's four hours."
"I'm not tired, or pregnant." He reminded him, grabbing the box that had their brand new crib inside. "Just let me look after you without a battle for once." He playfully poked him in the side. "It's not that hard, honestly. All you have to do is let me."
"I've never been the one in our relationship to just sit back and let you do everything though." Greg led the way to the elevator, holding the doors open so Nick could get the box inside. "Not unless it's something I want you to do, anyway."
Nick grinned in response, sensing what he was trying to say. "Speakin' of, I can't wait for this baby to come out. It feels like it's been ages since we last..." He leant back against the elevator wall, smiling as he realised Greg felt the same from the longing look in his eyes. It wasn't like they hadn't tried. It was just more difficult with a baby between them. They usually ended up giving up before they had even started, as it was so different from what they were used to.
"You know what we should have done? When you first got back, we should have just taken our time then to get reacquainted with one another. Instead of rushing into this." He motioned towards his stomach, realising it was his fault for that as he was the one who wanted another baby so badly. "In all that time that we were dating before Colt, I never thought we'd go the married with kids route. I thought it would just be us."
"Are you glad it isn't or disappointed that it is?"
"Ask me again in ten years." He grinned at him. "I'm kidding. I love that life with you is always so complex, but full of surprises at the same time. It would be boring if it wasn't."
"Aww, I love you too, baby." Nick winked at him, lifting the box into his hands as they reached the parking lot. He led the way towards his car, loading the box into the back, before he gave Greg a hand into the passenger seat. He drove straight to Colt's preschool, leaving Greg in the car, while he went inside to get him.
"Daddy." Colt crawled to his feet, running straight into his father's open arms.
"Hey, darlin'." Climbing to his feet, Nick clutched his son tightly in his arms, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he adjusted him against his chest. After working the case of a baby all day, he was relieved to finally be holding his own in his arms again. "What have you been up to today then?"
"I painted." He pointed across the room, to the drying paintings that were hanging up against the window. Nick immediately recognised his son's art work in the middle, as it was the only painting of a bright red fire truck. He proudly pressed a kiss to his son's forehead, hoping he never had to go through what Leah went through, making him feel guilty for even thinking that.
"Mr Stokes." One of the women that worked at the preschool flagged him down, ushering him to one side away from the other parents. "Mr Stokes, I'm terribly sorry but there was a little accident today. Colt and one of our other boys took a tumble today. They had a disagreement over who got to ride the blue tractor. The other boy pushed Colt off in order to get on and Colt hit his head when he went down."
Nick looked at her wide eyed, wondering why they didn't call one of them to let them know.
"We had him checked over by our onsite nurse," She took a step closer, gently brushing aside Colt's hair to show him where it was. "There's no bump there, but it is a little bit red, so we thought we'd just let you know in case. We've been keeping a close eye on him, but he hasn't complained of any pain. The nurse has been checking on him too. He stopped crying almost immediately after we picked him up. I think it was just the shock of it that made him cry."
Nick inspected the red patch for himself, feeling for himself to see if there was a bump. He knew that a knock to the head could cause later problems, making him worry even more as sometimes there wasn't even any symptoms before they passed out from some kind of blood clot on their brain.
"Mr Stokes?" She gave him a curious look, hoping he wasn't going to settle this with a law suit of some kind. "The nurse can check him over again, if you'd like?"
"No, it's okay. Thank you." He carried his son away, checking him over for himself as he took him across the street to the car park. He sat him down in his car seat, checking for a bump on his head again, getting a curious look from Greg sat in the front. "He bumped his head today. I was just checkin'."
"He's bumped his head loads of times. Unless he's dizzy, sleepy or acting a little off, you're not supposed to worry." Greg informed him, having read more than a few books on the subject of kids injuring themselves around the house or out at the playground. "Can you feel a bump?" He turned as much as he could on his seat, looking at his toddler for himself.
"Nope."
"His eyes look okay and he's not throwing up or disorientated, so I think we're good." He gave his husband a reassuring smile. "The nurse there is really good anyway. If something was wrong, she woulda called us right after it happened."
Nick wasn't sure whether to trust this woman's opinion or not, so he kept a close eye on Colt as he drove them home. Greg wasn't worried as their son was his usual chatty self, asking questions about things he saw on the street. He didn't much care for a long explanation, he was just curious to know more about the world around him.
As soon as they returned home, Greg crashed straight into bed, falling asleep before Nick could even ask him if he was hungry. He left the younger man to his nap, getting himself and his son a sandwich instead. They had a few hours until dinner time, so it would fill them up for now, while they got on with trying to get things ready for the new baby.
"We build that?" Colt gave his father a curious look, pointing towards the box out in the hallway.
"Yep, we're goin' to build that for the new baby." Nick wiped his son's sticky fingers and chin with a cloth, returning to the kitchen to ditch it by the sink. "Hang on, bud. Don't open it down here. We'll take it upstairs and build it in the spare room."
"Daddy, if baby a guu-rl."
"A girl." Nick corrected him, kneeling down in front of his toddler to remove his dirty sneakers for him, before he brought all the dirt upstairs. "What if it is a girl?"
"Will dey stay with Nana?"
"No." His father smirked, wondering what made his son think that. "If the baby is a girl, she'll stay here with us. This will be her bed. Or his bed, you could get a little brother." He set his son's sneakers by the front door, checking that it was locked, before he lifted the box into his hands. "C'mon bud, let's go upstairs."
Colt hurried towards the stairs, holding the banister above his head as he carefully made his way up them. A painstakingly single slow step at a time, with his father struggling with a box behind him, but they eventually made it to the top.
The toddler made his way towards the spare bedroom, climbing onto the double bed that his Nana and Granddad usually stayed in. He watched his father placing the box on the floor, removing his pen knife from his back pocket, so he could cut through the tape around the box. He had often asked if he could just hold it, but Nick was adamant about his rule of no touching knives of any sort.
He replaced the pen knife to his back pocket, taking out the parts for the flat packed crib. He had never built anything from a flat packed box before, so he wasn't quite sure where to start.
Seeing some interesting toys to play with, Colt slid off the bed, making his way over to them. He cautiously stepped across the pine rails of the edge of the crib, lifting the bag of nuts and bolts into his hands.
"Daddy, what dis?"
"Eh... they're the screws that will hold all this together. Don't lose em." He warned him, guessing he needed some tools to fit all this together, as there wasn't any provided in the box. "Stay there a sec, bud. I'll be right back." He quickly made his way back down the stairs, going through the cupboard by the front door. He didn't actually have a tool box, but they had a few of Greg's father's tools that he had left behind. He quickly grabbed the two screw drivers they did have, hoping they would do the job, as they were the only two he had.
Nick hurried back up the stairs, finding Colt stood against the locked safely gate at the top.
"I hold it." He reached his hand out for the tools in his father's hand. "What is it?" He curiously studied the object in his hands.
"It's a screw driver." Nick ushered him back towards the spare bedroom. "Are you gonna give me a hand with this then?" Searching the box for the instructions, Nick gave out a heavy sigh as there wasn't anything else in the box. He looked at the parts he had in front of him, figuring it would be pretty easy. "Maybe we shoulda just used your old crib." He looked at his toddler in front of him, wondering how broken the catch on the old crib was.
It got damaged in the move, meaning it slid down all the time, rather than remaining up, so the baby wouldn't fall out.
"Wouldn't you like to have a baby sister?" Nick took a seat on the floor, looking through the nuts and bolts to try and figure out which piece went where on his own. "I grew up with five sisters. They were a lot nicer than my brother."
"Papa no have brother or sisters." Colt knelt down in front of him, curiously looking at the pieces of wood on the floor. "What dat for, Daddy?"
"That... I think it's bottom support rail." He took a look for himself, brushing his fingertips across the holes in the piece of wood. "Looks like it's long enough to fit across the bottom." He placed it on the floor in front of him, grabbing one of the side pieces, which had the same holes across the bottom. He lay down the parts across the floor where he thought they went, getting a clearer idea of how to fit them together once they were separated. "You should be good at this, you watch that Bill the builder thing all the time."
"Bob da builder." Colt corrected his father, shrieking as his father tickled his sides. "Bob da builder. Can we fix it? Yes we can. Bob da builder." He started singing, drumming the end of the screw driver against the wood in front of him.
"Shh, Papa's sleepin'." Nick slid the screw driver out of the toddler's hands, sitting him down beside him. "I might need you to hold some pieces for me. Think you can do that?"
"Yes we can!" He giggled, rolling over onto his back as his father tickled him again. "Daddy, please can I have baby sister?"
"We don't know if the little baby is a girl yet, we have to wait and see when they're born."
"How you tell?" Colt crawled to his feet, giving the man a curious look. "Daddy."
"Eh..." He struggled to think of a way to explain it to him. "Well, if the baby is a girl, she'll be different to you."
"How?"
Nick anxiously bit his lower lip, explaining, "Well Papa, you and me are boys. Nana's a girl. Your cousin, Tyler is a girl." He figured it was the easiest way for his toddler to understand, and it seemed to do the trick as he accepted the answer and got on with trying to help.
With Colt helping him, it took a lot longer than expected, but he did try and help out. He managed to match the lengths of the right screws to hand his father, then gave him the right tool to match to tighten it up.
"We're missin' one of these." Nick held up the bolt to son, seeing if he could find it anywhere. They had just fitted the mattress support into place, but one of the bolts from the sliding side were missing. He searched the floor on his hands and knees with his son, smiling as Colt found the bolt under the spare bed.
"I put it in." Colt scrambled to his feet, hurrying over to the cot. He pushed the bolt into the small hole on the side, before he grabbed the screw driver off the floor to give to his father.
"Good, boy." The man tightened it into place, pressing a kiss to his son's forehead when they finished. "One final thing." Nick climbed to his feet, lifting Colt inside the crib. He slid the side of the crib up, checking it stayed in place and held his son's weight, before he gave out a sigh of relief. "Pretty good, doncha think?"
"Yeah." Colt placed his hands on the edge of the crib, testing the side for himself. "We did good."
"We did. I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty." He lifted the tot into his arms, carrying him to the top of the stairs. He fiddled with the catch of the safety gate, getting directed by his toddler on which bit to pull to open it. "You better not teach that to your little brother or sister when they get here." He smiled at him, taking him down the stairs towards the second safety gate.
Greg thought he was being a little too cautious with the double gating, but it kept their kids safe, so he agreed to let them stay.
"Your Papa better wake up soon, we still have to pack before we head off to Nana's." Nick sat his son on the counter, wishing he hadn't gone along with Greg's lazy approach to packing for a holiday. They were due to leave in a few hours, so Colt would sleep on the drive over, but they hadn't packed a thing for their weeklong vacation with his mother.
He poured himself a glass of water, filling Colt's sippy cup with apple juice, before he joined him at the island. His son took his first swig, while Nick double checked the red patch to his head to make sure there still wasn't a bump.
"When Papa going to born the baby?"
"Papa doesn't decide." Nick gave him a wide grin, adoring his over active little brain. "Most baby's have to stay inside their parents tummy for nine months, but some of them come a little earlier than that. They have to stay in there that long to grow all their little fingers and toes." He tickled his son's little toes, getting an adorable giggle out of him. "They don't look like a baby when they first start growin'. Remember we told you that they start growin' from an egg?"
"I grew from a egg too."
"A very special egg." His father smiled at him, playfully ruffling his fingers through his hair. "The new baby is almost done growin'. We won't have to wait much longer, but we've still got a lot of things to get ready before it gets here."
Colt nodded in understanding, taking another sip of his juice.
"How about we go and start packin' some things for our holiday?" He suggested, sweeping Colt into his arms. "We'll tackle your stuff first. You better find that fire truck if you wonna bring it." He reminded him, carrying him back up the stairs.
"It's in bath." Colt pointed to the bathroom as they walked past it. He slid out of his father's arms, hurrying towards the bath to find his fire truck. His toys for bath time were all kept in a drawer above the shampoos and shower gels, so it was easy to find his fire truck.
Carrying it by the extendable plastic ladder, Colt hurried across the hall to his bedroom, making an airplane crash noise as he tumbled into his father's arms. "You're a crazy little monkey, bubba." Nick tickled him in his arms, smiling as he tried to imagine what it would be like to have another little Colt running around the house. "Okay c'mon, what clothes do you want to take with us?"
Colt struggled to his feet, looking through the drawer of his clothes in front of them. He selected a few of his favourite t-shirts, unfolding them as he passed them to his father behind him.
Nick refolded them to fit in the suitcase, stopping Colt as soon as the t-shirt pile went over twelve. "We're only goin' for eight days, kiddo. You'll need some shorts and trousers. Not too many. Think you can handle that while I get your PJ's?"
"Yeah." Colt drove his truck across Nick's leg, struggling to his feet to get some of his trousers and shorts out. He quickly picked out a few more of his clothes, taking the crumpled pile over to his father. "Daddy, I want nap." He rubbed his eyes, leaning against the man's side.
"I told you no nap today. We've got a long drive to Nana's house. You won't be able to sleep if you have your nap now." He felt a little guilty for not allowing his child to take a nap, but it was almost dinner time anyway, so it was a little too late for a nap now. "C'mon sleepy head, let's go wake Papa up for dinner." He ditched the clothes into the suitcase, carrying Colt across the hall to his room, where Greg was still slumbering.
He set his son on the bed, allowing him to bounce up and down beside the younger man, so he could wake him up. He climbed onto Greg's chest as he didn't wake up, getting tickled onto his tummy, as his father suddenly woke up.
"Careful." Nick stopped his son from falling onto Greg's stomach. He took a seat beside the younger man, gently brushing his fingers through his hair as he started to wake up. "Hey, sleepy head. We've been busy. We put the crib together."
"You did?" Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Greg struggled to sit up, moving Colt to sit beside him so he could breathe again. "Is it okay?"
"Yeah, great considerin' the fact we didn't have any instructions."
Greg chuckled softly, rolling his eyes at Nick. "It's on the back of the box. There's diagrams and everything." He playfully ruffled his fingers through Nick's hair, giving him a wide smile as the man didn't even take any notice of the box. "I'm sure it's fine. Don't worry about it." He hugged his son against his side, looking at his sleepy little eyes. "Did you skip his nap?"
"Yep, we're just about to make dinner. You comin' down?"
"Help me up." Greg reached his hands out to him, wincing slightly from the pain in his back as his partner helped him out of bed. "Have you started packing yet?"
"We've done some of Colt's things." Nick gently smoothed his hand across the younger man's lower back, wishing he could take away all his pain. As much as he wanted to have another baby with Greg, he didn't want to see him in any more pain. "I should be able to fit my things in his suitcase, then we just need to pack some of your things."
"Okay, I'll be right there." Greg gave him a nod, holding his stomach as he made his way to the bathroom. He really didn't feel like driving over to his mother's for the week, but he couldn't ruin his son's birthday surprise.
He joined them downstairs once he was done, helping Nick to chop some vegetables for their dinner. Colt only managed to eat half of his dinner before he got too tired, getting cranky as he couldn't sleep in his bed.
"You're goin' to have to take him, I gotta go pack the rest of our things." Nick handed the cranky tot over his partner. "This wouldn't have happened if we started packin' earlier."
"Just go, Nicky." Greg carried his toddler through to the front room, laying him on the sofa beside him, so he could put him in his pyjamas. "Your Daddy gets cranky when things aren't done his way too."
"Daddy, mad?" Colt gave the man a curious look, before he had to lift his arms over his head so Greg could remove his t-shirt.
"No, Daddy's cranky because we didn't pack everything earlier. He doesn't like doing things last minute." Greg lifted him onto his lap, pulling his pyjama top down over his son's head. "When you wake up, we'll be at Nana's house. Daddy won't be so stressed either."
"I don't want sleep in car."
"You'll fall asleep here, so you won't even notice you're in the car." He explained to him, placing his son on the sofa beside him again, so he could put his pyjama trousers on for him. "You're going to have to start dressing yourself soon. You're going to be four, a big boy, and we'll have our hands full with the new baby."
"I don't want be big boy." Colt crawled across the sofa into his father's arms, resting his little head against the man's chest. "Papa, when baby come?"
"Not long now." He leant back against the sofa cushions, cradling his baby boy against his chest. "I won't love them anymore than I love you though. You'll both be my baby's. You'll help me with your little brother or sister, won't you?"
"Yeah. I want da baby be a girl."
"We won't know until they're born. None of us can decide what the baby is going to be. Just like none of us could decide if you were going to be a girl or a boy. Your DNA is the only thing that can do that."
Colt remembered his father explaining to him what his DNA what, but he still didn't quite understand it. "Papa, if we all boys, how baby be a girl?"
"That's a little more complex for you to understand." Greg climbed to his feet with his toddler in his arms, carrying him through to the playroom. "I'll tell you all about it when you're a little older. What story do you want to read tonight?" He sat down on the chair beside the book shelf, letting Colt out of his arms to select a book.
He climbed back into his arms as soon as he picked one, getting himself relaxed against his father's chest, so he was comfortable enough to fall asleep.
After packing up enough clothes to last them all the week, Nick made his way downstairs, finding Greg reading their sleeping child the end of the story. He pressed a kiss to the top of Greg's head as an apology for snapping at him, before he took a seat beside him. He listened to the end of the story, giving Greg a smile as the younger man pressed a kiss to his sleeping child's forehead at the end of it.
"Did you get it all okay?" He spoke softly, looking into Nick's eyes in front of him.
"Yeah, I packed my things in with Colt's. Your clothes are in my duffel. I packed you some of my sweatpants that you like. We should get goin' soon." He pointed out the time to him. "Is there anythin' else that you need?"
"The bathroom." Greg lifted his son as he climbed to his feet, handing him over to Nick. "Are you sure you can drive the full stretch?"
"Greg, what did I tell you earlier? Just trust me and let me take care of everythin'."