Nope...I STILL don't own CSI ...I don't own it...and I don't own it's characters either. Bummer.

RATED K - nothing objectionable at all in this story. Just fluffy dribble to give insight into the lives of Nick and Jules.

Reviews are so appreciated... I have so many hits and yet only a handful of reviews...I reallllly wish I had your input on my story! :o(

Chapter 37 - Gift Shop

Sitting in the chair by her bed, Nick was looking up at the ceiling. He yawned and stretched back in his chair. He felt stiff and cramped. He looked over at Warrick who was flipping the channels on the television hanging from high up on the wall. There were only a handful of channels to choose from on this T.V. so Nick knew he was flipping through them just out of sheer boredom. Nick reached over to Jules and rubbed her leg a bit as a small show of affection. He did that to her quite a lot. It was almost his way of letting her know she was always on his mind and he was still there beside her.

Twisting his neck from side to side, he stood up and leaned backward to crack his back.

"I am gonna go downstairs. You want anything, Rick?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Warrick answered also twisting his neck from side to side.

As Nick was headed out the door, Trista was walking in and they nearly collided.

"Hey, Nick, where you headed?" she asked.

"I'm gonna go take a walk downstairs," he smiled as he answered her. "Do you want anything?"

"Are you hitting the gift shop?" she raised her eyebrows as she asked.

"I could, I could," he smiled.

"Jules would love a People magazine...it's the new issue," she smirked.

Nick gave her a sleepy smile and nodded.

As Nick exited the elevator on the ground floor, he decided to hit the Gift Shop first. Walking straight for the magazine rack he passed a little bear in a diaper holding a balloon that said "It's a Boy". Nick stopped short and looked at it. He picked it up and stared at it thinking about the baby...his baby. He wondered how many weeks Jules would have been by the time they realized she was pregnant. Surely she would pop by her fifth month. Nick thought back to how she complained about being exhausted, and he had noticed she was a bit pale, but other than that, she had no real noticeable symptoms.

Nick began to wonder how they both would have reacted to the news of her pregnancy. They certainly hadn't planned on having a baby. Neither one of them even considered having a baby at this point in their lives. He had no doubt, they both would have been blown away and terrified. And yet now that there is a baby...his baby...their baby... suddenly that changed everything. Nick was shocked by how he felt about this baby. He hadn't expected to feel this way at all. Once again he was blindsided by his emotions.

Nick was startled from his thoughts by a perky, little, brown eyed teenager wearing a red and white apron that said GIFT SHOP across the front and a name tag that read *Katelyn*.

"Did you want to purchase that, Sir?" she asked him looking at the stuffed bear in his hands.

"Oh, no. No, I was just looking at it," he smiled placing it back on the shelf. "It's um, it's cute," he stuttered.

"Yeah, I think so too," she smiled. "We have the girl one too...did you want to see it?" she asked.

"No, no. I um, we don't know what it is yet," he said shocking himself with the realization that he was actually discussing his unborn baby with someone.

"You could always buy them both and then you can't go wrong, right?!" she giggled.

"Yes, I suppose that is very true, Katelyn, very true..but, I think I will just wait until it makes it's appearance," he smiled with pure Texas charm.

"Yeah, that makes more sense I guess," she smiled innocently.

Nick nodded before walking leisurely to the magazine rack. Perusing the selection he found exactly what he was looking for...the latest People magazine for Trista..

Walking up to the register to pay for the magazine, two packs of trail mix and a couple of bottles of water Nick spots a small, stuffed polar bear on the counter and he smiles at it. The young clerk yells to him from the back that she will be right there, and as Nick is waiting, he picks up the white bear and shakes it's head at himself. He smiles and adds it to his order.

"Aw, cute polar bear!" Katelyn the checkout girl exclaims when she arrives back at the register.

"I thought so, too," Nick smiles her and then at the stuffed bear.

"See! Now you can never go wrong with a white polar bear...a boy or a girl would like that!" she informs him excitedly.

"Yes, I suppose that is very true too, Katelyn. Very true, indeed," Nick says as he hands her his payment and tells her to keep the change.

Grabbing his bag Nick heads back up to the hospital room to sit beside the love of his life...and his baby.