My Way is Clear

by Simply Ginger

Nick meets a paramedic after getting injured at a crime scene. In an AU, this is their story. This is not a slash and all the characters from CSI show up eventually.

36. Lay It Down Slow

Chapter 36 – Lay It Down Slow

Three months later or sometime in early February

"Thank you." Diane reached up to hug me, "I told you I'd never get through this without you and I mean that."

I returned the hug, "You did fantastic." Releasing her, she moved closer to her sister who had come with her to the trial, "Without your testimony and the vivid details that you recalled, we would have been lost. You sent him away and he'll never be able to hurt anyone again and the citizens of Las Vegas owe you."

"No, I owe you." Diane hugged me again before she and her sister turned and left the courthouse.

Feeling proud of myself, I loosened my tie and checked my phone. Nothing from work so as far as I was concerned, I was able to leave and head home. Thankfully, I had the smarts enough to throw everything I'd need in the back of my Tahoe to save a ride back to the lab before I went home. Inevitably, half a dozen people would need something or the day shift supervisor would ask me to fill in for one of her guys on a "simple" case that would turn out to be a sixteen hour ordeal, one of which I'd have to spend a week and a half in court only to have the case thrown out because the defendant pled guilty and we weren't needed after all.

I said goodbye to Diane one more time on my way out. Her sister was doing the best she could to shield her from reporters. I felt bad for both of them and retraced my steps and helped out and got another hug and another thank you from both of them before they drove off.

Anxious to get home, I didn't waste any time leaving the parking lot. Once I got on to the highway to Summerlin, I drove a bit faster than I should have but was thankful when I finally got home that I didn't meet any Nevada Highway Patrolmen on my way home. Last thing I needed was a reprimand in my personnel file from Ecklie about getting a speeding ticket off duty in my company truck.

Anna was spread out in the laundry room on the floor folding towels. She had a stack behind her and a stack in front of her and was pulling them out of the dryer, "Everything go okay?"

"Yep." I bent down to kiss her while she went back to folding towels, "Slam dunk case. He pled not guilty of course but thanks to yours truly and the victim that lived, he's going away for a long time. Still got that stomach bug?" Anna took one look at me and dropped the towel she was holding and got up and ran back to the bathroom. I winced as I heard her getting sick, "I'll take that as a yes." Draco was worried about what was going on and trotted back to the bathroom while Cassie fell over in the laundry room and began to snore.

I didn't really want to hear her throwing up so I took refuge in our bedroom and left the door cracked. About half an hour later, Anna came in, looking like death. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel and was still wet from her shower. Lacking the energy, she fell back on the bed and looked up at me. I took the hint and propped her up while I dried her off and rubbed lotion all over her body. After I was done, I handed her one of my t-shirts and she got in bed and groaned, "Bryan Brooks must die."

Smiling, I got Anna's brush off of her nightstand and had her sit up long enough to brush the tangles out, "Why?"

"La sick, la puke, la die. He was sick last week, remember? He infected me with his cooties."

I laughed and gently brushed out Anna's hair while she used what little bit of strength she had left to sit up. When I was finished, she fell back and was asleep within minutes.

Two days later when it was time for her to go in to work, she felt much better. "See." She kissed me as she picked up her duty bag and jacket, "Just a stomach bug. I'm fine."

"You look pale though." I felt of her forehead and she felt normal to me, but Anna just didn't look right, "You could call in."

"And miss free donuts at work? Hell no. Anna must have donuts! Anna needs donuts to work properly."

I finally relaxed. Anna referring to herself in the third person always made me smile. Kissing me once more, I held the door open and kept the dogs from bolting out the door as Anna got in her truck and left.

I stayed up for a little bit and did some housework, but quickly found myself getting more exhausted with every step I took. I gave up and took a shower and went to bed myself.

When I got up, Anna had texted me asking if I'd bring a bottle of ginger ale by the station to calm her stomach. I dropped the bottle off at the station with one of the guys on the ambulance crew after he explained Anna and Bryan were on the engine today and they were out at a fire call in a subdivision not too far from the station. Well, at least I knew what my assignment was when I got to the lab. Arson calls always took up the better portion of my shift and I knew it'd make the fly by.

To my surprise, I wasn't assigned the arson call. I got an easy hit and run case which took up less than two hours of my time. I was just about to text Anna to see if she was free when my phone alerted me to another text.

"Shots fired off Highway 301 near the county line. Hurry. Grissom."

I never understood why he signed his own texts. It came from his number so we'd all know it was him, but he still signed his last name on all of his texts. Grabbing some fresh supplies for my field kit, I left the lab and headed out to the scene.

The scene was in a more remote part of Clark County. Almost to the edge of the next county, the highway was barren except for mountains on one side in the distance and a grove of trees to the other. Grissom wasted no time sprinting to my truck when he saw me arrive. "Got here as fast as I could."

Either he didn't hear me or he didn't care. He jumped right into the scene description, "Driver was over there." Grissom motioned over his shoulder, "Shots came from over behind the trees. Highway patrol got the call and found the truck where it is now and called for LVFD. Driver wrecked and hit the wall and the tank caught fire. Fire department got the driver out and extinguished the flames then they called us. Catherine told me day shift worked a similar case on Boulder Canyon Highway a few days ago."

"So the shootings may be connected?"

"Not going there, Nick. You know I don't like to jump to conclusions without the proper evidence to back it up. That's how our judgment is skewed. When we do that, we see what we want to see to prove our theory and not what we have to see to make a valid case."

"Thanks, Confucius." I muttered under my breath so Grissom wouldn't hear me as I looked behind me to a grove of about five oak trees just off to the side of the road. Sara and Warrick were already over there processing as I started walking towards the wrecked tanker. "How's the driver?"

"On his way to Desert Palms. I think Sara said she overheard one of the paramedics saying something about a gunshot to the abdomen. I'm not really sure." Grissom was snapping on his gloves as a police officer held up the crime scene tape, "He'll need to be interviewed at some point in time after we're done here."

Keeping an eye on the surrounding area, the smoke from the tanker was almost gone. The fire department had been on the scene a bit longer than we had and got the blaze under control. I saw Bryan when I first got here, but hadn't laid eyes on Anna yet but one of her co-workers recognized me and said she was here somewhere. Grissom had busied himself with the highway officer who was first on the scene, which left me with nothing to do.

Finally spotting Anna next to the engine she was in today, I made my way over to where she was. Bryan was rolling the hose while Anna was holding the compartment door open for him to put the hoses inside, "Hey."

She looked over her shoulder, "Hey Nicky."

"CSI Man." Bryan shoved the roll of hose into the compartment and Anna let the door slam shut, "Haven't seen you in a while."

"It's been what? Twelve hours?" I had stopped by the station earlier last night to bring Anna her ginger ale and I know that the guy who saw me told them I stopped by, "Or are you being sarcastic?"

"He's being sarcastic." Anna yawned and took her helmet off and set it on the engine's metal step, "We're about finished here and are waiting on the Glow Worms to get finished, then we're gone."

"The who?"

Anna yawned again, "HAZMAT. We call them glow worms."

Bryan could tell I was still confused, "They deal with all sorts of hazardous stuff. You know? Becoming radioactive from job exposure hence glow worms."

"Cute." I turned my attention back to Anna, who had her head down and both her hands resting on the side of the engine, "Hon?" Without even acknowledging me, she ran around behind the fire truck and I heard her throw up. The sickly sweet smell of the foam the HAZMAT crews used to neutralize the chemicals in the tanker was thick and it made me a little ill to my stomach, but I held it in, "Anna?"

She came back around to my side of the truck and reached into another compartment and pulled out a chilled bottle of water, "That smell. It's just…"

"Thick?"

"Aggie threw up!" Bryan was yelling to the other guys across the road, "Hurry it up."

"Frog, I'm fine." Anna tried to shrug it off, "Ate too much at breakfast."

"You sure you're alright? You look pale." Bryan had put a hand on her forehead to check for her temperature, "You're hot."

"I am in turnouts in the heat in the desert."

"It's February."

"Fine." The firmness in her voice was melting into impatience now, "I am in turnouts in the desert next to a flaming truck. Of course I'm hot."

"You still don't look right. You need to sit down."

"Bryan, I'm fine!" Anna snapped, "Damn it, I threw up. I am fine!"

Bryan conceded defeat with a sigh, "Forgive me for giving a damn about you."

Anna unscrewed the top of the bottle and finished most of it before she picked up her helmet and heavy turnout coat that was hanging on a hook on the side of the engine and tossed them both into the back seat and shut the door. Bryan started to say something else to Anna, but he changed his mind and helped the other guys load the other two hoses, "I don't know what that guy was carrying, but that mixed with the foam was too much on top of the breakfast we had before we got the call."

I kept catching Anna staring at me as we watched everyone on the fire department finish up at the scene. The Glow Worms as she put it finally finished and gave us the all clear sign for us to start our investigation. Anna seemed to be debating with herself about something but she evidently decided against whatever it was and turned her attention back to Bryan and the three other guys approaching the engine. I recognized all of them but one. He stopped long enough to put another roll of hose in a compartment and went around the side of the truck Anna threw up on and got in, waiting on the others to they could leave, "Well, I guess we're off. We're done here."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She kissed me on the cheek, "I will be when we get back to the station and get a shower. I've got to stop by the store for some food and then I'll be home."

"See you then." I returned the kiss and watched as she got in the engine and Bryan got in beside her. Turning around, Anna waved at me from the back glass as Bryan blew me a kiss. I laughed to myself before I turned my full attention to the wreck site.

Greg arrived a little bit after Anna left and together, the two of us pulled several bullets from the burned cab of the truck. Sara and Warrick found a few cartridge casings and a Coke can on the side of the road and we were hopeful that we'd find out who shot up the truck as it was on the road. Greg left the scene and went to the hospital after Grissom told him the driver was awake.

When I finished processing my portion of the evidence at the lab, I checked in with Grissom who told me to stop by the hospital on my way home, "Greg should have been back by now."

"He probably got side tracked or something. I'll let you know." I told Grissom I'd see him later and after a stop in the locker room to grab my stuff, I left the lab, thankful to have another day behind me.

After arriving at Desert Palms, I checked the driver's room for Greg. He told me that Greg had been gone for about half an hour. I thanked him and wished him well and headed back downstairs. I finally found Greg in a hallway right off the emergency department. A nurse had her hands on a gurney but she had stopped to talk to him. The closer I got to them, I could tell the person on the gurney was dead. This woman had actually stopped shoving a dead body to flirt and Greg had let her, "Ahem?"

He looked a bit embarrassed that he was caught, "Dominique, this is Nick Stokes. He works with me at the Crime Lab."

Dominique held out her hand and I shook it, "Pleased to meet you."

She leaned forward in an attempt to catch my eye again giving me a flirty smile, obviously trying to see where I stood, "I'm married." I held up my hand to show off my wedding ring, "See? And he's on the clock."

With a tiny laugh, she turned back to Greg, "Well, you have my number. I look forward to your call." She squeezed his hand before she started to push the gurney away, "Nice to meet you, Nick Stokes."

"Still married." The nurse walked off but not before turning around and giving Greg another flirty smile as she pushed the gurney around the corner. "Flirting over a DB. Nice."

"Like you have any room to talk. Physician heal thyself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Greg's attention was still focused on the hallway that his new interest went down, "You met Anna at a crime scene or did you forget that part?"

"Over here, Sanders." I popped him once on the shoulder to get him to focus back on me and our case, "Yeah but there wasn't a dead body. Just a dead flower pot. How's the driver?"

"After they had topped him off with a unit of blood, he had regained the use of most of his brain but he said he didn't see anything. He was on the highway headed towards Barstow when he heard this pop and felt something stabbing him in the gut. He swerved and ran off the road. Next thing he remembered was the ambulance crew pulling him to safety. That's it."

"Well, he's no help. Surgeons get the bullet out?"

Greg held up a plastic evidence baggie, "Yep. Right here. I was on my way back to the lab to drop this off with Bobby Dawson when Dominique stopped me."

I groaned at the way he pronounced Dominique. That woman was no more French than I was, yet Greg was saying her name as if she was, "Really?"

"What?"

I led him out of the ED doors and back to the parking lot, "She was pushing a dead body, man. You were flirting with her while a dead man was in between you."

"I doubt he minded at all. He's dead. But those eyes…" Greg got lost in a daze. "Did you see those eyes?"

"Yeah. She about burned a hole in my ass as she walked off. Speaking of asses, you better get back to the lab. Grissom was looking for you."

Greg checked his watch and uttered an explicative, "I didn't mean to stay so long, but it was…"

I interrupted, "Dominique. I know."

I stayed in the parking lot long enough to make sure Greg remembered that he was going back to the lab and not to find his new friend. After he successfully drove off, I put my field kit in the back seat and headed home.

The house was dark when I got home, except for the lamp next to the sofa. It was our custom that whoever got home first always turned that lamp on for the other one. Anna was home, but she said something about going to the store when I saw her earlier. I checked my watch and saw there was no way she could have left Las Vegas, stopped by the store and had time to get back to Summerlin in the time it took me to leave the lab and pry Greg away from his new conquest.

Putting my keys on the shelf of the bookcase where I kept them, I saw a note taped to the TV. 'In bed. Not feeling well and didn't go to the store. We can go later if you want. Love you.' On my way back to our bedroom, I put the note down on the counter and took a shower before I got in bed with Anna who didn't even wake up. Reaching over her shoulder, I felt of her neck and she was a little bit hot. She sighed in her sleep and moved over closer to me. I pulled the covers up and fell asleep beside her.

About ten hours later, I woke up with Anna still sleeping in the bed next to me. Turning on the TV in our room, I flipped through a few channels before I found a movie on HBO I wanted to watch again. Finally waking up, Anna yawned and stretched and reached over to pet Draco who woke up when she heard Anna stirring. "Hey."

"Feeling better?"

She shook her head and yawned, "Not really. I'm still a bit queasy but I'll manage." Snuggling up next to me, I put my right arm around Anna's shoulders and watched TV while she napped some more. When she finally woke up, we went to the store together and did our mandatory splitting of the list to make our trip faster. I took the grocery side of the list while Anna insisted on the other side. I knew I was out of shampoo and she needed deodorant but her insistence on taking that portion of the list surprised me, but I gave it to her.

We met up front at the check stands and being the dutiful husband I was, I offered to get the truck and meet her at the front door and did just that a few minutes later when she came out, pushing our haul.

Anna said she was hungry and realizing I hadn't eaten since I got off work either, I decided against cooking and stopped by Subway on our way home and we were finished before we even got home.

It took three trips to the truck before we had everything inside the house. Anna tossed a couple of new rawhide chews down for the dogs so they'd leave us alone long enough to put everything up.

"Here. Put that up for me."

She handed me another sack full of groceries and as I started to pull out the bread to put in the cupboard, something at the bottom of the bag caught my eye. It was a pink box and the words Home Pregnancy Test were on the front in white lettering, "Um, Anna?"

"Oui, mon amor?"

I reached in the bag to get the test but stopped myself, "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Anna's face was blank, "I love you?"

"I love you, too but that's not what I meant." I reached in and got the box and held it up, "I meant this. This is why you didn't want to do the food side of our list?"

"Oh. Yeah." Her face flashed crimson red, "That." She took the box from me and hid it behind her back, "It's a pregnancy test."

"I can read. Are you…"

She shrugged, "I'm late. I got what I thought was a period in November then in December it was just one day but January nothing and this month nothing. Earlier at that tanker wreck when I threw up…I don't know. Stuff like that doesn't bother me. It never has. Bryan made a comment earlier about my donut consumption going up and as politely as he could, he said I was sort of busting out of my uniform shirt at the chest level."

"So you were planning on telling me when? When you were in labor?"

Anna groaned, "I doubt you'd be able to go that long without noticing." She put the box on the counter behind her and hugged me, "I wanted to be sure first. I was gonna pee on the little stick thing then see what it says. If it was positive, I'd tell you and if it wasn't, I didn't want to get your hopes up. I know how much you want a baby. That's why I went off the birth control pills I was on. I just didn't think it'd be this soon."

I hugged her back, "Go pee."

"Excuse me?"

"Go." I reached over and got the box, "Go. Pee now. I want to know one way or another. I'm in this with you no matter what the results are."

Anna took the box from me and hesitated before she went to the bathroom. A few moments later as I was putting away the last of the groceries, she came to the kitchen and leaned against the refrigerator, "Well?"

"I don't know. I'm scared to look." She checked her watch, "The instructions on the box said to wait five minutes. It's only been two."

"So now what?"

"We wait."

I started putting away the rest of the groceries as Anna helped me. She had the refrigerator door open and had a package of tomatoes in her hand and was staring at them, "Honey, you put them in the fridge and close the door."

Anna snapped out of her trance and dropped the tomatoes in the bin and closed the door, "I know. I was a little preoccupied. It's been five minutes."

"Want me to look?"

She stopped me before I could get back to our bathroom, "No. I'll go. You wait here."

Disappearing around the corner in the hallway, I leaned against the cabinets in the kitchen, waiting on her to get back. Cassie's food bucket was empty so in a small attempt to pass the time until Anna got back up front, I tore open the new bag of dog food we bought and dumped part of it into her bucket.

"Nicky! Get back here!"

I left the bag of dog food in the middle of the kitchen and ran to our bedroom. The light to our bathroom was on and the door was half closed. Anna had her head down and was staring at the pregnancy test in her hands, "Honey?"

The look on Anna's face went from blank to shock and awe, "Oh my…"

"Anna? Honey?"

"It's pink." Anna held the stick out towards me as she smiled, "Nicky, it's pink. I can't believe it. It's pink."

"Pink?" I could barely speak. I knew what it meant but my mind wasn't processing what was going on, "And that means?"

"What do you think it means?" Anna started to smile as she put her arms around my waist, "I'm pregnant. We're gonna have a baby."

I had to sit down. With my arm stretched behind me, I felt around until I found the edge of the bed and sat on it, "A baby? So it's…and you're…we're…oh…Wow."

"Not the reaction I expected you to have." She shoved me backwards on the bed so I wouldn't fall off, "I don't need you knocking yourself unconscious."

As I went to lie back, I pulled Anna on top of me, "You're pregnant?"

"You're not mad?"

"Why on earth would I be mad?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "We haven't even been married a year yet. Is it too soon?"

"No. I'm not mad and it's not too soon." Hugging Anna tightly I tried to reassure her, "I am happy. You know I wanted kids for a while but I didn't want to rush you."

"Good." Anna sighed, "Wow. I'm pregnant."

I sat up and almost knocked Anna off the bed, "So, there's a baby." I put my hand on her stomach, "In there?"

"Honey, you took biology. I know you know where babies grow." She put her hand across mine, "I'll make an appointment with my doctor to confirm it, but those tests are supposedly 99% accurate. I have to be pregnant. I threw up at that tanker fire scene earlier and for some reason, I want donuts and it explains why I was so sick earlier. It was morning sickness, not what Bryan had. I like donuts, but not that much."

"Your donut craving has always been there, but even I noticed you've been wolfing donuts down by the truckload." The shock of the news was still hitting me, "So now what?"

"Are you gonna be like this for the next nine months? I'll make the appointment with my doctor tomorrow and get a blood test to find out and after that, we'll go from there."

"I want you to know, I'm totally gonna be a hands on dad."

Anna looked pleased, "Well, that's good to know."

I started to smile, "Like if the baby needs a bottle in the middle of the night, I will totally keep your side of the bed warm until you get back. I'll even turn on a light or something for you." When Anna playfully hit me, I told her I was only kidding, "We'll figure it out at some point in time." A thought of Anna on top of a burning building frightened me, "What about work?" I put my other hand on her stomach as she scooted back towards the head of the bed and went to lie back against my chest, "I don't want my pregnant wife on top of a burning building dressed in a hundred pounds of fire fighting equipment."

"I'll have to ask my shift captain when I see him next. I'm sure I can get preferential treatment. I'll probably be assigned only to the ambulance from now on out and after a certain period of time, I'll probably be assigned to drive only and have Bryan or whoever the other medic is I'm working with in the back. There are ways around it you know. I'm not gonna put myself or this baby in danger." She turned her head to the side so she could see me, "I promise you I want this as much as you do but first things first. I'll have to confirm I'm pregnant first."

"Make the appointment for the doctor's visit now."

"Nicky, it's nine o'clock at night. I doubt the doctor's office is open."

I tightened my arms around Anna's chest, "I just want you healthy. You and the baby healthy."

"You should call your parents."

"Now? You don't wait to wait until you're sure after the doctor's visit?"

Anna shook her head, "It's up to you. I'll email mine. Like they'll care anyway."

I patted Anna on the shoulder and she sat up long enough for me to reach into my back pocket for my phone. "Here goes." I dialed my parents' number and waited on someone to answer. "Mom?"

"Nicholas! How are you?"

"I didn't call too late did I? Anna and I have something we wanted to tell you." After turning on the speaker, I put the phone down on the bed so Anna could hear what was going on as she put her arms around my neck and kissed me, just behind my ear. "She's here with me."

"Anna, how are you?"

Anna smiled at me as she sat back down on the bed, "I'm fine, mom. Can you get dad near the phone as well?"

"Sure." We listened as my mother called my father to the phone, "Nicholas and Anna have something they want to tell us." As soon as he go to the phone, my mother turned the speaker on their phone on so my father could hear, "What is it, Nicholas?"

I looked at Anna, "Should you?"

She shook her head, "No, this is your family. You do it."

My father cleared his throat, "Do what? Nicholas, what is going on? You're scaring your mother."

"Mom, I'm fine. Anna's fine. We were deciding on who should be the one to tell you that Anna is pregnant." My mother gasped and my father didn't say anything, "Mom? Dad?"

"Nicholas! It's about time." My mother was tearing up as she spoke, "I'm so happy for you both. How far along? What about names? Anna, how are you feeling?"

Anna started to smile, "I'm feeling fine apart from the morning sickness. I just found out and if I had to guess, I'm about ten weeks. I'll make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to get everything confirmed and we haven't though about any names just yet. We haven't gotten that far. We're still in shock. I just took a home pregnancy test earlier and it was positive. I'm pregnant."

"Well congratulations to both of you."

I listened as Anna and my parents talked some more about the pregnancy. When they finally hung up, I called in sick to work, too excited to go. Anna swore me to secrecy until she confirmed the pregnancy with her doctor and until she passed her first trimester. According to her, it was bad luck to tell people until then. I agreed to keep quiet but I did warn her that I do work with investigators and it is their job to get to the bottom of things.

A few hours later, we were back in bed and were watching TV when Anna muted the sound, "Nicky?"

"Mmm…"

She sat up in bed, "What if…" Anna grabbed one of my hands and held onto it, "What…"

I sat up in bed, "What is it?" Looking at her, she was on the verge of tears, "What if what?"

"What if I treat this baby like my mother treated me?" She started to cry, "What if I don't love my own baby?"

"Anna."

"Nick, I'm serious." Anna sniffled and wiped her tears with her shirt, "I never talked to my mother or asked her why she was so distanced from me and why she was so uninvolved to the point of Bryan's parents signing all my consent forms and permission slips for school. I ever tell you that?"

"No. You didn't." I should have been surprised, but given Anna's past, it didn't really shock me at all, "And the school allowed it?"

"Back then, no one cared. Bryan's mom would sign my report cards at parent teacher conferences most of the time. I should have asked why my mother didn't treat me the same way she treated Sam. I don't know if it was something I did or what, but what if when this baby's born, I don't feel anything." Anna started to cry again, "What if I don't love my own baby?"

"Honey." I pulled on Anna's arm and she fell back on the bed as I returned to my spot beside her. She moved in as close as she could to me without physically being on top of me, "I don't think you have any chance of ever turning out like your mother. I've never known two more different people. You and Bryan joke all the time about being long lost twins and in a way, I'm beginning to believe that in some soap opera fashion sense, his mother sold you to Celine because she couldn't afford you." I put my hand across Anna's stomach again, "What can I do to help? Anything?"

"Just forgive the rantings of a messed up pregnant lady."

"I assure you," I brought Anna into a tight hug and kissed the side of her cheek, "Nothing like that is gonna happen to you. I promise you."

That seemed to pacify her enough so we could finish up the TV show I had started and after that was over with, we put in a couple movies to keep my schedule of being awake at night in tact. When daylight hit, I got up and made an early breakfast for us and we both fell asleep after we were finished eating.

Four days after the home pregnancy test and four nights of everyone at work pestering me as to why I was off work, I was sitting in the waiting room of Anna's doctor's office. The nurse had taken Anna on back and said she'd come get me in a little bit to talk things over. I was leafing through a magazine, bored out of my mind when the nurse came to get me and told me to follow her, finally stopping at the ultrasound door. Anna was on the table and reached for my hand, "I'm definitely pregnant. Blood test confirmed it."

"So why are you back here?" I pulled a stool closer to the exam table Anna was lying on and sat down, "They have to do something else?"

"Ultrasound, Nicky. The blood test only confirms I'm pregnant. The ultrasound will tell us how far along I really am. I do have a request when we're done here though."

I brushed a strand of hair out of Anna's eyes, "Anything."

"Donuts. I want donuts."

That set me off with a fit of laughter, "I guess I need to buy stock in Krispy Kreme huh?"

There was a knock at the door and an older lady with short black hair came in, "Mrs. Stokes?"

"Please call me Anna."

The lady held out her hand, "I'm Pam Elliott. I'll do your ultrasound today and see how far along you are." She eyed me, "You must be…"

"Oh, my husband. Nick."

Pam shook my hand then washed hers and got the bottle of ultrasound gel out of the cart and squirted enough on Anna's stomach to cover it three times. When she got the wand out of the side of the cart and hit the power button, I froze as my breath caught. This was it. "Let's see what we have here." Pam moved the ultrasound wand across Anna's stomach, "Oh, there you are." She pointed to a grainy blob on the screen. "You are 100% pregnant. Congratulations."

Anna's eyes were fixated on the monitor as I saw a smile slowly spread across her face, "That's the baby?"

"Yep." She continued to move the wand around, trying to get a better view, "Looks like from this and the date of your last period that you're about thirteen weeks. Good, strong heartbeat. You're almost in to your second trimester."

I had to sit down. The blurry blob on the screen was my child. My child was growing inside my wife. I was a father. "Can you tell what it is yet?"

"Nicky." Anna laughed, "It's way too early for that. All I care about is that it's healthy. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. Get your phone out so you can get a picture of the screen. I want to text a few people."

"Oh, I'll print out some pictures from the ultrasound if you want." Pam hit a button on the monitor and a picture printed out, "I'll print off some more, too."

Half an hour later, Anna was wiping gel off of her stomach as I helped her sit up. Anna's new doctor, Dr. Mary Anne Lindley, told Anna that everything was progressing nicely and wanted her back in a month or so for a follow up exam.

Hand in hand, we left the doctor's office. Anna had the ultrasound photos in her other hand and as we waited on the elevator, she dropped my hand and took a picture of one of the photos with her phone. The elevator dinged and the doors opened as she was busy attaching the photo to the text message, "Bryan?"

"Yeah, but I think I'll wait." She saved the text message and hugged me as the doors shut.

I led her out of the building, still shocked at the news we just heard. Opening the door for Anna, she sat down and started to fasten her seatbelt, but I stopped her, "Love you."

"Love you too, Nicky. Thank you for calming my fears last night."

I shut the door and got in on the other side and watched as Anna held up one of the ultrasound photos and took a picture of it, "Here goes."

Anna sent the text and by the time I got my truck started and my seatbelt on, Bryan was calling. I left the doctor's office as I listened in on her side of the conversation. Gone was the look of worry last night, having been replaced by a look of peacefulness and calm. I just hoped it was enough and that when our baby was born, Anna wouldn't turn out like her mother.

When the two of them finally ended their phone call, Anna said she needed to run by the station to talk to Zach about her scheduling, "Might as well get it over with. He should be there."

I was still in a fog about the baby news so I just nodded and turned at the next light to get me going in the right direction towards the fire station. Anna told me to come in with her when we got there, but I noticed she stuffed the ultrasound photos in her pocket, "I don't want everyone to know just yet. I'll tell them, but not right now." Again, I couldn't say anything so I just walked with her in silence.

"Aggie."

"Hey Moose." A fireman I had seen a few times stood up, "Remember my husband, right?"

"CSI Man. How could I forget?"

I had to smile knowing everyone in Anna's station referred to me as CSI Man. Even when I wasn't anywhere near Anna and caught a call with the LVFD, people still called me CSI Man. Apparently, the "tell a friend, telephone, tell a fireman" joke held true. I wasn't even sure if half of them knew my real name, "Hey." I was pleased with myself that my voice had returned.

"What are you doing here? I know you're off because Frog's not here."

"Yeah, I am. I needed to talk to Captain a sec. I saw his truck outside."

Moose moved out of the way and led us back towards the Captain's office and he didn't even bother to knock before he held the door open, "Aggie's here with CSI Man." After Moose excused himself, Zach stood up and shook my hand.

"Aggie." He saw us together and he started to panic, "Jesus, you're quitting. You brought CSI Man here with you because you're quitting." Zach sat down behind his desk, "No. You can't quit. You're one of the best medics we have. Nick, please don't let your wife quit. We need her."

I hid a smile when he used my given name and was impressed that he actually knew it, "No one else will work with Bryan?"

"Precisely."

Anna started to laugh, "No, I'm not quitting, but Nick and I both needed to talk to you for a second."

"Well as long as you're not quitting. Sit." He shut the door behind us as Anna and I took the two chairs in front of Zach's desk, "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I think it's best if we show you." Anna handed over one of the ultrasound photos from earlier, "That."

"Well I'll be damned. It's a baby. You're pregnant." Zach held the picture in his hand and stared at it before he gave it back to Anna and motioned for the other ones she was holding, "Congratulations. Both of you."

"Thank you. I just confirmed it today that I'm thirteen weeks right now. Everything is going swimmingly. I do need to talk to you about my work schedule though."

"You're in luck." Zack pulled out a book from one of his desk drawers, "One of the other gals from another station is on maternity leave as we speak. I had to look this up for her a few months back. First trimester, we'll leave it up to your own accord. Do your job as you see fit. Second trimester, no fire calls. Period. Ambulance only. Seeing as how you're thirteen weeks now, I'll have your schedule rearranged so you're on the ambulance from here on out. Third trimester, we recommend taking maternity leave plus another two months after the baby is born."

Anna looked pale, "You mean I have to be off work for five months? Three months of the pregnancy then another two months after the baby is born?"

"We strongly suggest it but I can't force you to. It's up to you."

"She will." I wasn't going to let Anna's job interfere with this pregnancy, "I'll see to it."

"Nick!"

"Anna, listen to him. I don't want you putting this baby or yourself in danger."

"We'll talk about it later." Anna was glaring at me, "I guess the best thing to do would be just see how I'm feeling in my third trimester. If I'm feeling like this, I'll see if I can be a driver or something, but I can't guarantee it. I wouldn't want to subject five months of Bryan Brooks to some unsuspecting firefighter."

Zach laughed, "Actually, I'd probably be the one stuck with him for most of it."

Anna and Zach discussed some more about her pregnancy impacting the job while I stared down at the sonogram. It was a blurry image at best, but I thought I could vaguely make out the baby's features if I imagined hard enough, but it still looked like something out of an alien movie. How anyone could see a baby out of this blob was beyond me. I did some pregnancy research at work last night and learned some about fetal development, but not much. I needed to call Allison to ask her about that book she swore by when she was pregnant.

"Oh, and one more thing." I looked up as Anna stood up, "The other guys don't know yet so I'd appreciate no one knowing up here until I have a chance to tell everyone on my next shift. I'd never hear the end of it if someone else told everyone first."

"You got it. Guess we'll see you in a few days for work. If you need to go throw up or something due to morning sickness, we can put a puke bucket in the trucks."

Anna didn't know whether to laugh or if Zach was being serious, but when he cracked a smile, she laughed, "Thanks."

After leaving the station and the curious glances of her co-workers, I asked if she was hungry. Saying she was, but not for a big meal, I decided that going through a drive through for some sandwiches would work and after stopping at Subway, I got back on the highway and started home.

"Emily."

"Huh?"

"For a name. I like Emily."

Names. I had forgotten that we had to not only come up with but agree on a name for this baby, "I dated a girl named Emily in college."

"Scratch that." Anna took another bite of her sandwich, "For damn sure it won't be Meri-something. I'm not torturing my child like my mother did me."

"What?" I started to laugh, "No Meri-Anna the second?"

"Ugh, no. Nick Junior is fine if it's a boy, but there will be no Meri hyphen names and no French names."

I was laughing harder by now, "No Jacques? Pierre? Francois?"

"Francois?" Anna tossed a pickle off of her sandwich at me, "Pierre Jacques Stoke? No. Hell no."

"Oh come on." I picked the pickle up and ate it as I thought of a retort, "Pierre Jacques Stokes." I started to laugh, "Can you imagine the looks we'd get when we introduced him to my parents? My Texas living southern parents?" By now, I was laughing pretty hard, "We'd never hear the end of it."

"You're demented." Anna shook her head and got ready to launch part of a piece of lettuce at me before she stopped herself and stuffed it back inside her sandwich, "I guess we've got a while to decide on names. Oh lord…"

"What?"

"Nursery." She dropped her sandwich, "We need a nursery. Cribs and diapers and stuff. Where should we even begin?"

"Relax. We've got plenty of time to get all that straightened out."

"Nick, the baby will be here before we know it. Which room do we want to even use for a nursery?"

I stopped to think. Our house had five bedrooms. One Anna and I were using as an office. One was set up as a guest room and one was just a hodgepodge of stuff we really didn't have room for and the back bedroom we used for more storage. "The back room? The one we use for our secondary storage room? It's the closest to the back of the house and is nearest to our bedroom." By this time, Anna was done with her sandwich and was holding her Sprite in her hands, running her right hand up and down the edge of the cup. "You look miles away."

She made a futile attempt to cover her thoughts, "Names, doctors' visits, a rearranged work schedule, baby monitors and cribs plus we'll have to paint and decorate and all that stuff. It's just so much."

Knowing what she was really thinking, I made her put down her drink so I could hold her hand, "Honey, you don't need to worry about not loving this baby. You won't be like your mother was to you."

"Scary how well you know me."

"I do know you, but I don't have to in order to know what you're thinking. Would it help to talk to your mother about all this?"

"Doubt it. She'd tell me she did the best she could or she'd make up some excuse. It'd do no good."

"Anna, you've got me. You've got my family. You've got a wonderful support system in place. I don't think you'll have a thing to worry about when Nick Junior comes."

That got her attention and she smiled, "Nick Junior?"

"Well, since you nixed the idea of Meri-Anna Junior."

I finally made her tension disappear slightly, "Just hope we don't need mediators to decide our child's name."

"It could be twins."

Anna blanched, "Nicky…"

"Or triplets. Or better yet, even four of them, whatever that'd be called." The look Anna was giving me made me laugh, "Relax, Multiples don't run in my family and you've never mentioned if they run in yours."

"As far as I know they don't. I don't have many cousins and the ones I do have, I haven't seen since I was five."

Another two weeks passed and Anna was still dealing with horrible morning sickness. Even at nearly sixteen weeks along, she was still feeling sick whenever she woke up. When she was at home, she had nothing to worry about but she was in a tizzy about work. Anna was still adamant about not telling anyone at work just yet, but I kept telling her that someone was about to find out. Everyone at work sensed something was up with us, but Anna's gag order had me staying silent on the baby news.

Not only was Anna busting out of her tops, but she was already about to reach the limits with her pre-pregnancy pants. Zach had ordered her several pairs of maternity pants and they had come in, but Anna was refusing to put them on until she split the seams on the pants she had on. Plus as small as she was, it was getting downright noticeable to anyone who saw her out and about.

I had just gotten home from work and I was exhausted. Anna wasn't home yet and as was our custom, I turned the lamp on in the living room and left all my gear on the couch where I dropped it. I knew I'd hear about it when Anna got home, but I was so exhausted. Between a steady week of court appearances plus work and living on less than four hours worth of sleep a night, I was about ready to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Anna gently nudged me when she got home to let me know she was okay. I stayed awake long enough to hear the water in the shower turn on, but didn't even realize when she got in bed. She was up before I was and had cooked lunch for us both and even brought my tray back to me. Her stomach was starting to expand and the tight t-shirt she had on over her yoga pants showed off her growing baby bump. "Well, everyone at the station knows thanks to Bryan."

I smiled. This had to be good seeing as how Anna was blaming Bryan for telling everyone, "And how do they know? Station announcement? Dancing pigeons? Airplane banner?"

"No. He made me drive all shift which was fine. Zach was actually worried about me working in the back. Anyway, Bryan and I were coming back to the station this morning and he was in front of me being protective. He was making people move and making sure no furniture was in my way so I couldn't trip." Anna groaned, "Anyway, I got annoyed with him making sure everyone was out of my way and I blurted out that I was pregnant, not blind."

"Classic."

"Now that's out in the open, I can freely have morning sickness all the time. The guys even voted on giving me my own bathroom near my bunk so if I have to go hurl, I don't have far to go."

"Awful nice of them."

I stabbed a bite of Anna's lasagna and watched as she looked down at it and ran to the bathroom, "Oh God!"

I had gotten used to hearing that over the past few weeks. Obviously lasagna is on her not to eat list, but I'll be damned if I put it on mine. Satisfied with myself, I took a bite but immediately felt guilty over Anna being sick. Putting my plate out of reach of the dogs, I toasted a bagel for Anna and left it dry and poured a glass of ginger ale, two things that she could keep down when morning sickness hit and started towards the bathroom. It was the least I could do. I left the plate and the cup on Anna's side of the bed and went to the bathroom to retrieve her and bring her back to bed.

A/N: So…Anna's pregnant. Surprise! I hope y'all like this. I actually wrote it a long time ago, but had to polish and piece together the finer points. Look for more pregnancy news next chapter when Nick tells everyone at work and Bryan starts a baby pool and you know it'll get interesting. :)